Archive for stitching

waving ‘bye

12.14.09 at 2:39 pm · Filed under arden, moving, stitching

Oh my heavens, it’s our last day in Gouda! We started off with a 9 am appointment at the notary to get some legal stuff settled, and then rushed over to the supermarket to get some diapers. While Niek took the animals to the place where they’re fitted for their shipping crates, I took the kids to the vet to ensure that the furbabies’  paperwork is in order and there won’t be any unexpected hold-ups when Niek leaves next week. Then I came home and quickly put the last stitches in this, which will be Arden’s 2009 ornament from me. The design is part two from Praiseworthy Stitches’ My First Christmas. (Does anyone out there have parts one and three? ) I’ve stitched it over one (except the border, which would’ve been stitched over four) on 36 ct cream linen from Vikki Clayton using WDW and GAST fibers.

MyFirstChristmasSamplerPart2 by Praiseworthy Stitches

I will need to double check all the suitcases, pick up an extra asthma inhaler from the pharmacy, return library books and pay any outstanding fines, and that sort of busywork, but overall it is a remarkably uncluttered day.

Here’s Arden saying goodbye. See you on the other side of the ocean! :D

last day in gouda 005

Comments (43)

tucking in the ends

12.13.09 at 3:23 pm · Filed under freebie links, life stuff, moving, stitching

I remember longing to have perfect backs when I was fairly new to cross stitching. It seemed like when I could do that, I would finally know I’d arrived - you know, become more than just a wannabe stitcher. LOL. My backs are usually pretty neat now, although I never reached the level where my backs could actually be mistaken for the fronts. (And guess what? I don’t care anymore. LOL!)

My True Love Gave To Me freebie from The Sampler Girl
(slightly altered; will put date or initials in blank corner)
stitched on 36 ct HDF cream
GAST Pine and Pomegranate, WDW Whiskey
(cool frame from picnik.com)
SamplerGirl Xmas freebie 004

SamplerGirl Xmas freebie back

But what I’m actually referring to is the tying up of loose ends before our rapidly-approaching departure. One big change will be my email address – what a silly thing to cause such a lot of work! But I used my email address as my user name and contact for almost EVERYTHING I do online (and I have to admit that I do a lot online!). I think I’ve managed to switch everything over to my gmail address, and I’d like to remind anyone who emails me that they will need to make the switch. To keep it simple, my Blogger profile now has an ‘email’ link that you can refer to. :)

Another big loose end that Niek tied up or tucked under last night was resurrecting my ‘puter, which I’m now calling Lazarus. ;) Yep, he managed to extract nearly all the “lost” information and transfer it to our external backup. Then he magically wiped the Dell clean and then painstakingly re-installed everything. Some things might be missing or might be in a different place but it’ll sort itself out. This should mean that I will have online access after our move. Not at the rental house (it’s taking forever to get that arranged because the house has never been wired for cable) but through the various free hotspots around town where you can get a free internet connection. So … hopefully we’ll be able to stay in contact from next week through the New Year. Hooray! :D

I’ve visited with several dear friends and family members and said goodbye the best I can (I am really bad at this!). The suitcases are mostly packed. Things are about as orderly as possible and I’m hoping for timely flight connections and clear weather when we arrive in Maine. For those worried about our warmth, the kids will be bundled up to the best of my ability. Shopping trips for real winter boots will be necessary after our arrival, but we have plenty of jackets, scarves, hats & mittens. :)

Comments (21)

friday fun with annemarie

12.12.09 at 1:48 am · Filed under friends, kids, moving, stitching

Waaaayyy back a bunch of years ago, when I first got back into stitching and was looking for some inspiration I came across Annemarie’s online gallery. She was so wonderful about sharing information with me, encouraging me, and just being all-around fabulous … and yet, I think nearly two years went by before we actually met face-to-face. We’ve been fortunate enough to see a fair bit of one another in the years since then, and it will be difficult to accept the fact that we won’t be able to see each other so easily in the upcoming years. But … you know when friends are really true friends of the heart, distance just doesn’t matter. I know that’s how it’ll be for Annemarie and me. After all, we were already friends long before we first got together IRL, so why should an ocean between us make a dent in our friendship?

annemarie's visit

We even got a little bit of stitching done while she was here. :D I could admire the lovely BBD sampler she’s working on for her parents and I put the last couple of stitches into a small design I was making for one of my aunts. Actually, I’ve now managed to stitch something for each of my Mom’s sisters – kinda surprised myself with that. ;) I won’t be able to do the finish-finishing till I’m in the US (no finishing supplies) but I should still have them done in time for Christmas. Not too bad for a last-minute thought. Of course now I feel a little guilty that I can’t make something for ALL the wonderful family and friends who deserve a handmade gift, but heck, there are only so many hours in the day, right?

For Aunt Kathy, who’ll be picking us up and housing us that first night in Maine, I stitched a lighthouse design from a Dimensions kit. Didn’t like the kit, but did like the design. Kathy collects lighthouses.

DimensionsLighthouse 001

For Aunt Joyce, who’ll also meet us at the airport and help us find our way to our rental house, I stitched this sweetie designed by Niky’s Creations and called simply Yo-Yo #3. Aunt Joyce has a doll collection, and this was the closest I could come to a doll from the designs I didn’t ship.

NikysCreations yoyo pinkeep 3 003

For Aunt Cindy, who I hope will help me become a better Dog Mommy to Lola in the future, I stitched this too-cute design from Blue Whale Designs called Santa’s Parade. Cindy loves all animals, and knows more about animals than pretty much anyone I’ve ever met. (Lola has a few persistent behavioral problems that I’m pretty much stumped by and I hope a fresh perspective will help out.)

Blue Whale Santa's Parade

At the moment I’m stitching a Christmas ornament for Niek. And then … it’s a good thing I’ll be stuck on a plane because I’ll be pretty much out of stuff to stitch! LOL!

The kids have had their last day of school and said goodbye to everyone. I’ve been so touched by how sweet some of their classmates are, and by how much the kids are liked by their friends and teachers. Rowen’s party was yesterday afternoon and was as fun as Nick’s. Max’s was Thursday morning, but parents and cameras were banned at his request. Gotta respect their privacy … but I wish I’d been able to peek in. ;)

RowensGoingAwayParty 009

Comments (16)

resurfacing, with lots to share

12.06.09 at 3:18 pm · Filed under UFOs and WIPs, exchanges, finishing, kids, life stuff, moving, stitching

Oh, what a week it’s been! Nearly everyone here at Chateau Chaos came down with a stomach bug and some of us still aren’t feeling 100% but we’re all at least feeling better than we did.

lazy days

Because life doesn’t stop just because you feel awful, a lot was going on during our Sick Week.

The international movers came and took all our good stuff away. (Ugh, I lost the picture of Arden amidst the boxes!)

I finished and posted my Christmas exchange (and my partner has received it). The stitching part of the exchange was pretty skimpy because I just didn’t have any decent finishing  materials and my creativity had fled the scene, so I tried to make up for it by packing in lots of other goodies. Chris assures me she’s happy with it, but I always have such performance anxiety with these things! (This is the Vautier freebie I mentioned recently, btw, stitched in HDF Gandy Dancer silk on HDF 36 ct linen.)

closeup of finished ornie

I finished a UFO. This darling design, Fair, Kind, True,  is by Deborah of Midsummer Night Designs. I’ve stitched it on a high count of Lakeside Linens Tallahassee Teal using Paper Roses premium silk by Vikki Clayton. I suspect it will reappear around our wedding anniversary in May, hopefully transformed into something lovely.

FairKindTrue by Midsummersummer Night Designs

I also finished A Winter’s Nap by Erica Michaels. I had to make a few changes to the suggested colors, as they didn’t show up on this ivory banding. The banding was a total PITA to work with and I’m not satisfied with the coverage, although in the end it doesn’t look as bad as I’d feared it would.

A Winter's Nap by Erica Michaels

And I finished Beth Twist’s adorable A Partrige, A Pare & A Turtledove design. I converted the called-for DMC to HDF silks and stitched it on 36 ct Cream HDF linen. I also corrected the spelling because the deliberate misspelling glared out at me and detracted from my enjoyment of the design. I love this one and plan to keep it.

Heartstring Designs

And last but far from least, we celebrated pakjesavond. It was a quieter affair than usual with fewer gifts, less noise, and Max’s absence was keenly felt, but we had fun anyway.

Sinterklaas pakjesavond

To catch up on mundane matters, my computer is d-e-a-d. Niek’s taking it work to try to salvage the lost data, but it’s a serious PITA because of course I don’t know all my passwords, usernames, etc. and emailing is a nightmare from Niek’s PC. I haven’t spent much time online due to the frustration of nothing working like I want it to, and of course because I’ve felt sort of craptastic all week.

Niek’s work visa came in and he’s now able to enter the US. He’s booked tickets for himself and the pets and will arrive in time for Christmas. Hooray!

The upcoming week will be filled with the kids’ going-away parties for school and extra-curricular groups, and I’ll hopefully see a last couple of friends (fingers crossed!). I’m cheating and buying treats for the kids’ parties, but I figure this one time it’s okay not to go homemade all the way. ;)

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit with me! :D

Comments (27)

november is the month to cut your thumb

11.28.09 at 8:58 pm · Filed under NaBloPoMo, life stuff, stitching

Out of curiosity (after reading Berit’s post), I flipped back to see what I was doing this time last year, and almost laughed out loud when one of the first things I saw was that I’d cut my thumb. Because believe it or not, I cut my left thumb while making dinner Thursday night. What a buggery place to have a cut – it really interferes with stitching! That night I stitched with a bandage on it – very slowly, and threading the needle was really a laugh as I had to do it with my index and middle fingers. (Today it looks a lot better, btw.) But after Harmien’s visit, I was eager to stitch and couldn’t let the evening pass without at least an attempt to keep the fire stoked. ;) During her visit, I got an astounding 12 stitches made. Yeah, I know that’s pathetic, but I had to convert Beth’s DMC thread choices to Vikki Clayton silks (the only floss I did not pack) and that was surprisingly time-consuming. Here’s where I left off at bedtime. Not too bad for one-handed stitching, LOL.

Beth Twist design wip day one

Since Thursday night,  in between errands and while enjoying some very rare bursts of sunshine, I made a little more progress. As I told Beth, I was drawn to the design because it’s pleasantly different from the usual holiday offerings. :)

Beth Twist design wip

(For anyone interested, or so I can remember later, here’s my conversion for A Partridge, A Pare, & A Turtledove:
355 – Quince 1411
420 – BeWooded
677 – Yellow Spice 4161
729 – Gilded Cage
839 – BeSeeded
3782 – Bird Feathers 4101
3345 – Luteousness)

Niek’s been busy bringing boxes back from the storage unit so they’ll be here later in the week when the international movers show up. Everything has to be under the same roof before they’ll handle it. The house is going to be full of boxes for a few days! (It’s tempting to try to find the boxes with my stash, I have to admit!)

Thanks for coming to visit! I hope your weekend is full of joy!

ta ta for now

Comments (7)

giving thanks

11.26.09 at 9:00 am · Filed under stitching

Seeing as how November has 30 days, I’ll list 30 things for which I’m grateful. :)

Of all the blessings in my life, thirty for which I am particularly grateful are:

  1. My children.
  2. My husband.
  3. My family – parents and aunts and uncles and cousins and more; those who are here and those who’ve passed on.
  4. My friends.
  5. The way my kids have pushed me to be more than I was before they came along.
  6. The amazing relationship I had with my grandparents.
  7. My husband’s encouragement and support.
  8. The unique personalities of my three wonderful parents and how much I’ve learned from them all.
  9. My step-mothers, Gaby and Mary, who love my fathers and remind them of how special they are.
  10. For the travelling and experimenting I did in my youth, which has probably balanced and deepened these quieter years of middle age.
  11. For the wonderful women who are not related to me but who have guided and aided me in my growing up years.
  12. I’m grateful that I could attend university, even though things didn’t work out the way they were ”supposed” to.
  13. I’m grateful that my parents taught me early on how to plow on despite failure or setbacks.
  14. I’m grateful I was taught to work hard and be honest, even if those traits have become old-fashioned.
  15. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to be active in various forms of volunteer work and for all that it has shown me about different people and different ways of living.
  16. I’m grateful that when my Mom needed help, there were those ready and willing to offer it.
  17. I’m grateful that despite serious health issues, both my fathers are now healthy and happy.
  18. I’m grateful that it really is never too late to try.
  19. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to earn a living from writing for nearly my entire professional life.
  20. For the beauty in small things – an autumn leaf, a still bird in a tree, a sparkling spider’s web.
  21. For books – all the places they’ve taken me, all the people they’ve introduced me to, all the solace they’ve brought.
  22. The failures that have made me keep trying harder.
  23. A good cup of tea at the end of a difficult day.
  24. The wonderful pets I have and have had, and the unconditional love they’ve given me even when I wasn’t worthy of it.
  25. My health.
  26. My creativity – even though it’s limited and faulty, it’s enough to make me feel hopeful about expressing myself.
  27. Special memories that I can re-visit whenever I want or need to.
  28. Laughter.
  29. Kind words that came at rough times.
  30. I’m grateful to be moving home to Maine.

Don’t forget to laugh when you count your blessings!
where's the turkey

Comments (11)

seeing red … silk, that is

11.19.09 at 5:52 pm · Filed under NaBloPoMo, life stuff, moving, stitching

I liked that design by Isabelle Vautier so much that I stitched a small section of it last night to use as a seasonal ornament. :)

Vautier design

Isa Vautier design 002

Not much has been going on that makes for an interesting blog post. It’s been really busy and having the kids ill feels like someone’s tied my hands behind my back. I know it’ll get done, but it will also be such a relief to have this behind us. Last night, Niek started the paperwork for our shipment of belongings (Monique, it’s going by ship over the Atlantic) and became convined that we’d be hit by import tax for it all. Groan. The expenses keep mounting, despite our attempts to find the most inexpensive solutions.

Oh well, the sun has tried to come out today and Rowen felt well enough to try going to school for the last two hours this afternoon. I hope you’re keeping healthy and enjoying some sunlight. :D

Comments (15)

stitching and sickness

11.16.09 at 8:00 pm · Filed under NaBloPoMo, kids, life stuff, stitching

I’d hoped to do lots of stitching while I was without a ‘puter, and it was actually a very productive period – I not only did some stitching but I also did some designing and writing. All on paper, so now I have the joy of putting it on the ‘puter, but hey, no one said life was perfect. LOL. Here are the three ornaments I stitched on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. :) All are stitched on 36 ct white HDF linen using Vikki’s silks in my choice of colors (but selected to resemble the models).

ornaments collage

On a less happy note, the Bug returned during this period, too and both Arden and Rowen are once again ill. My poor babies. I’d so gladly absorb it from them, be sick in their places, if only such a thing were possible. Arden, as I type this, seems to be on the mend again but it appears that Rowen will be spending several more days at home with mama.

sick kids

There was also the excitement of Sinterklaas making his appearance in the Netherlands, but I’ll save something for tomorrow’s post. Thanks for continuing to visit with me despite a few days of rather dry posts. To those who enjoyed the poem yesterday, thanks for commenting. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I do love the way a finely-wrought poem gets me thinking … and then keeps me thinking. ;)

Take care, all. Stay healthy!

Comments (18)

’tis the season

11.11.09 at 9:00 am · Filed under NaBloPoMo, arden, furbabies, moving, stitching

angel detail from CHS WIPWe remembered to tell family that we weren’t “doing” Christmas this year (as in, no gifts). The kids are bummed, but with the move taking place right around the holidays, whatever they recieved would just have to be packed up anyway. And I certainly have no time to buy or make gifts this year. I’m not sure I’ll even have a chance to stitch ornaments for Niek and kids, although this has become something of a tradition the last few years. I’m curious to hear how (or if) you celebrate the holiday season, whether it’s Christmas or another seasonal celebration.

Yesterday necessitated some re-cleaning to prepare things for the rescheduled showing taking place early this morning (I’m not really here, actually, this is a scheduled post … just love that feature!). Arden’s feeling ever so much better and just couldn’t wait to get started on the day’s activities.

Hmmm. What sort of mischief can I get away with and still have her think I’m adorable?
the wheels are turning

Oh, I just love cleaning rags! They’re so versatile!
the hooded one

Now, where did Mommy put that bucket of soapy water?
Mr Clean

Yesterday I finally addressed what’s probably the unhappiest aspect of our upcoming move – putting Gilbert and Nachtegaal up as being available for re-homing. Naturally, nut jobs started coming out of the woodwork.
“If they’re free, I’ll take them both” and that sort of thing, despite my carefully worded ad that these are very special creatures in search of very special people. It’s next to impossible to imagine not having Gilbert commenting on everything around him, trying to groom Spin, and generally contributing to every moment of our family life. :( The few times I’ve had to do this in the past, the right person has finally appeared on the scene. I’ll just have to be patient and hopeful till she or he shows up.
Nachtegaal
augustus 2006 GilEatsApple

Comments (22)

family fun

11.09.09 at 9:05 am · Filed under NaBloPoMo, family, freebie links, freebies, moving, stitching

Did anyone else, as a kid, spend lots of Sundays visiting their grandparents? As I remember it, we spent nearly every Sunday with one set of grandparents or another and it was usually great good fun. (Okay, I will admit that I remember being bored out of my wits from time to time, but my brother and I usually created some adventure if nothing else came up.) Anyway, yesterday we spent a very pleasurable afternoon visiting Niek’s parents and his grandmother. I really love doing family stuff like that. :) I took over 50 pictures (!) but I’ll spare you and only show one collage.

sunday with family collage

And, hold on to your hats, some stitching has been done. When I saw this freebie from Plum Street Samplers, I pulled out a piece of linen and my little orts box and got right to work on it. I haven’t stitched the ‘bok bok’ part of the design because I’m thinking of making this into a 2-sided ornament and putting that part on the back. I blended threads to try to create an overdyed look. I’m not sure I really succeeded, but I had fun trying. (Excuse me for not ironing this before taking a photo.)

BokBok freebie

The linen is white 35 ct HDF linen that I abused first with Chinese herbal dregs and then with a wild concotion that included red onion skins and chestnut shells. It’s dyed, overdyed, and then rinsed out (becasue it came out too dark). The many shades give the larger piece of linen a really nice depth, but I like my smaller, first experiment better. Sigh…

Today’s showing number three on our house. Please cross your fingers and toes for a sale!

Comments (23)

Older Posts »