Some stitching progress!

Here is Stargazer - I've been working on her quite a bit for the last week or so, and loving her :) I'm at a point now where a few good stitching days and I'll have the crosses finished ... this lady has a LOT of beads though, and I have to admit that beading is far from my favourite thing - they'll be worth the hard work, but I'm not looking forward to them!

and just because I can't do a blog entry later without a bit of paper art ... here is the canvas I forgot to photograph the other day - this is my DH with a little 2yo Rhiannon (she is 8yo now) - I think Rhiannon might be looking at a dog, she is now petrified of them - and I can see the worry in her eyes even in this photo ;)

Righty oh - I need to go get some dinner on etc etc ... I'm working again tomorrow, and Friday - I really wanted to get my sewing machine out and do some finishing this week, but it just hasn't happened (and yes, Deb - try a bag as well! LOL) - maybe this weekend, Sunday might be quiet ... if not, roll on next week!

Cards, cards, cards ... and no stitchy photos!

I think I need to change from "Stitchie" Kiwi to ... um ... something else Kiwi! LOL I have stitched, I joined in the needleroll SAL last week, but stitched a little something, plus a matching little something for an exchange so I can't show you pictures. Then I got really busy this week and hardly had time to stitch at all. I think I said that I'd started doing the accounts for DH's work - planning on doing them once a week - well they are SUCH a mess from not being done properly for a couple of months, plus Head Office were screaming for them to be sorted out so I ended up working Wed, Thurs and Fri last week - as well as the usual ferrying kids around - all that working time eats into precious stitching time! Even my normal job was busy on Thursday night ... not good planning at all ;) I'm planning on a full day back at DH's office tomorrow, Mondays are our no after school activities day so I'll get the teenager to baby sit and work until 5.00pmish - hopefully meaning I'll finish everything off ... I have to do the big reconcile, so we'll see.

I have been making cards though :) These are a couple of weeks worth - The blue and pink dresses below, I did yesterday - the "bees" I did last week sometime - I came across a tutorial on adding ribbons in a blog somewhere last week, so suddenly I'm using even more ribbon LOL

These ones I did last weekend - I was trying to make cards with the cool paper I've picked up, and not a lot of stamping, and these were the result :) The Friendship one is based on a sketch - probably from 2 Peas? I've been doing a lot of surfing for ideas, and should really write down where I get them from! Anyway - I really like the layout of that particular card - and used again as I did with the Bee one in the picture above.

and these ones are from maybe the week before - just trying to do different things with the same stamp. I am seriously stamp challenged - I have discovered LOTS I love on Trademe and Ebay ... but finances rule at the moment so I can't go and spend what I'd like ... which probably isn't a bad thing!
and lastly - this is one Charlotte and I made for Daddy yesterday - she wanted to do one "with" me ... she coloured in the soccer balls while I stuck the paper on, I then put the cellotape on and she "placed" the soccer balls ... she wrote on the inside.

and speaking of Charlotte - here she is at gym last week - she has started the "pre" competitive class this year and is loving it - I wanted at least one good photo and this is the best I got - I told her to stand still but she just couldn't quite do it ... so we lost her arms ;)

They are entering these girls into a "general" gym competition to give them a taste of the real thing - I think its in May - so they're practicing very simple beam, bar, vault and floor routines - they're very cute ;) Rhiannon is doing Level 3 this year and working really hard - so, between the two of them I think we spend about 8hrs/week at the gym - I need to start a new piece of knitting!

Rhiannon and I are doing a Parent and Child class at the local scrap booking shop this afternoon - should be a lot of fun ... we're making a box, I'm picking a pretty simple one as its aimed to kids, but Rhiannon loves that sort of thing, and loves one on one with her Mummy - DH has been busy working and with Cameron's Cricket Rep team for what seems countless weekends lately, so I'm looking forward to a few hours out and leaving him with the mess of the house and running around after the other kids.

Hopefully I'll have more stitching updates next week! I was aiming for Thursday being a VERY stitchy day last week and it just didn't happen ... maybe this week it will :)

Gosh, I uploaded these pictures on Monday, so I could update my blog at work - and then haven't got to it! So once again, its been nearly a week :)

These are the three squares I've stitched for the JBW Advent Calendar us NZ Gals are doing as a stitch-along - I'll try and do three of these, plus two of the L*K Blessings over the next couple of months to catch me up and give me time to do the borders when I finally get to ordering the extra threads I need.

and here are the two Blessings - see the light blue in the hat of "Charity"? I stitched most of that light blue on Sunday night and then had to unpick it on Monday ... I was so tired I felt like I was stitching under the influence ... I looked at it Monday and the stitching was awful, I'd missed a couple of holes and even funnier, had used three threads - I really think I was stitching it while asleep ... asleep with my eyes almost open LOL (I stitch Charity and Hope this month).

and here's what I've been stitching this past week - just couldn't quite put her down to do anything else! I will now though and do a needleroll for the SAL weekend - not sure which one yet though!

Have a nice weekend wherever you are, and whatever you are doing!

February to March

February Round Up - I met ALL of my goals this month, isn't that exciting!!

Finish Ashley's Roses - DONE
Stitch 2 Sampler Gameboard Squares - DONE
Participate in the Needleroll SAL - DONE
Stitch one ornament for the ornament SAL - DONE
Work on at least two other WIPs - DONE
Re-start Faery Tales -DONE
Stitch 2 Advent Calendar Squares - DONE
Stitch one L*K Blessing - DONE

March Goals - which will be very similar to Februarys, especially as that particular rotation/aspirations seems to be working :)

1. Work on Stargazer
2. Stitch 2 Sampler Gameboard Squares
3. Participate in the Needleroll SAL
4. Stitch one ornament for the ornament SAL
5. Pin Keep Exchange
6. Love of Needlework Exchange
7. Stitch on Faery Tales
8. Stitch three Advent squares (already done!)
9. Stitch two Blessings (one done, other one should be this afternoon)
10. Work on five PIF gifts - I don't think these are going to be stitched ;)

Rotation will stay the same, I can't say I've been completely sticking to it, but enough so that it seems to be working really well - do you think I might have found a formula that works? A few SALs to participate in to keep my interest levels high, a couple of definite days for definite projects, and a few days where I basically stitch what I feel like ... my crafting life/world is GOOD :)

Another week, another update

Gosh, a week goes by fast! ... I admire the people who can update their blogs daily ;)

Nothing terribly exciting happening in my world - so I'll leave you with a photo update -

Here is my ornament from February's Christmas Ornament SAL - "Joy Tree" from M Designs, from the 2005 JCS Ornament Magazine (I think 2005). I picked the cotton first (a Needle Necessities), and then was lucky enough to have the perfect coloured petite beads in my bag of odds and ends - I love it when it works like that :)

and here is what I've been doing in my spare time this week - rather than stitching or blogging ;) ... my walking buddie mentioned on Monday morning that she needed to find a gift for an exchange at the school she works at - so I offered to cover a notebook for her, as I said, any excuse to shut myself away and create! So here is Joan's notebook -

Then of course another friend saw it and asked if I'd do one for her daughter to give her friend for her 16th Birthday this weekend ... then David asked if I'd get a gift for another girl whom birthday he was going to - funny enough, both were Rebeccas - but Becki and Bex ... I worked on those two at the same time and did mostly the same.

.. of course, I have been stitching, I still like my time in front of the telly at night with needle in hand. I've done a bit of work on Stargazer, and will work on her Monday and Tuesday evenings this week too, I'll take a picture after that - I'm hoping she will be my next Mirabilia finish before starting Rose of Sharon with Pat as a SAL ... if I can get two finished and only start one, I'll feel so much better about my WIP list LOL.

Time to go off and update how I went with my goals in February and set new ones for March :)

As always - thank you for all the lovely comments :)

Sara - I'm not sure why I put Ashleys Roses down for so long - I think that 2000/01 time was a time when I started a LOT of things (being absolutely overwhelmed by suddening discovering all that was out there), but was also the time I had Charlotte and started my soccer work, both which suddenly sent me into a way too busy, and I think slightly depressed, state - so lots of starts and not a lot of finishes happened in that time of my life :)