I said I was gonna try and get my butt on here before the end of the week and work out what SALs I was gonna do for 2014, but due to emotional exhaustion and rediscovery of my love of reading (turns out The Hunger Games is a great trilogy, if you haven't read it) that never happened. But, it's Monday, it's two days before Christmas, I've just given blood and have no energy to do anything heavy-duty, so I thought, "Why not; it's about time I worked out what I was doing."
So, essentially, next year I'm doing EVERYTHING. No, seriously, I'm planning to do:
-Turtle Trot 2014 (10 pieces - more on this later)
-WIPocalypse 2014 (10 pieces)
-TUSAL 2014
-Theme-a-licious 2014 (mostly to focus my stitching!)
-YOTA 2014 (one piece)
-AAN Facebook Mystery SAL
-Thread Pickerz Facebook SAL
-A private SAL with my momma
-The monthly IHSW
-The hinted-at Passione Ricamo Mystery SAL 3
This looks like a hell of a lot more than it actually is. 10 pieces for Turtle Trot, 10 for Wipocalypse, one YOTA piece, and four one-piece SALs. Theme-a-licious will help me pick out the pieces I stitch each month, using the monthly themes to guide me, and IHSW will give me an uninterrupted weekend of stitchy time.
I won't tell you what I'm stitching for each SAL just yet - you'll have to wait until 2014 to hear about most of them! - but I will tell you about the SAL my mum and I are doing. She's going to be stitching Nora Corbett's Trick or Treat Fairy and I'm going to be stitching the Elegant Scarecrow from the JCS Autumn issue. They're gonna be companion pieces and hang next to each other, when they're done - and I'll try to keep you updated on both!
Now, Turtle Trot is what I'm doing instead of my weird Crazy January... thing. I'm taking the 10 pieces and starting one a day for the first 10 days of January, as planned - and then, by the first post on January 10th, I'll have my 10 UFOs to work on! It's a little less crazy that way, and Turtle Trot is just that bit more relaxed than crazy January. So that's less stress for me!
I decided not to do the Stitch from Stash 2014 challenge, for the one reason that I want my spending limit to be more fluid than the $25 set by the challenge (and stitchy bits are more expensive in the UK anyway, and converting everything is a bit of a nightmare... Essentially it's just not worth it). So, I'm gonna come up with and set my own challenge - probably a yearly stitching spending limit, or a specific limit on the number of patterns I buy, or something like that.
So, come January 1st, I'm gonna have a LOT of stitching to do! I also have a self-imposed work routine to get back into from then on, so it's gonna be quite tough fitting things all in. And I'm gonna give myself book challenges too, so it's gonna be a busy year.
Hopefully I'll be back within the next couple of days with a finish on TARDIS. It's looking great (though I have no photo because the current light doesn't do it justice).
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Monday, 23 December 2013
Monday, 16 December 2013
AAN "Tea"
Yup, I'm still here, and with a FINISH!
Design: Tea
Designer: Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks
Fabric: 28ct Beetle Shell (Jodyri Designs)
Threads: Oink! and Perfect Purples (Jodyri Designs)
Started: 7th November 2013
Finished: 10th December 2013
I really enjoyed this stitch, which I did as a SAL on Facebook with four other ladies. There's talk of doing Hot Chocolate and Coffee from the same series next year, which is very tempting, so this has gone to the side, in the hopes that I can afford one day to get them framed together. This is the first time I've tried railroading, too, and I've been pretty pleased at how easy it is.
I've moved onto the Jodyri Designs' TARDIS I started a while back, and I'm trying to get in a 10x10 square a day on Mourning by Austitch. Meanwhile, I'm still working out what SALs I'm gonna do next year, since new exciting ones keep appearing, and Jo who can't think of a clever nickname brought a few more to my attention. Hopefully I'll get my brain in gear in the next few days and work out my 2014 stitching plan!
Happy stitching :)
Heather xx
Design: Tea
Designer: Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks
Fabric: 28ct Beetle Shell (Jodyri Designs)
Threads: Oink! and Perfect Purples (Jodyri Designs)
Started: 7th November 2013
Finished: 10th December 2013
I really enjoyed this stitch, which I did as a SAL on Facebook with four other ladies. There's talk of doing Hot Chocolate and Coffee from the same series next year, which is very tempting, so this has gone to the side, in the hopes that I can afford one day to get them framed together. This is the first time I've tried railroading, too, and I've been pretty pleased at how easy it is.
I've moved onto the Jodyri Designs' TARDIS I started a while back, and I'm trying to get in a 10x10 square a day on Mourning by Austitch. Meanwhile, I'm still working out what SALs I'm gonna do next year, since new exciting ones keep appearing, and Jo who can't think of a clever nickname brought a few more to my attention. Hopefully I'll get my brain in gear in the next few days and work out my 2014 stitching plan!
Happy stitching :)
Heather xx
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
I'm back!
So it's been about 500 years since I last posted on my blog. Life's been quite complicated recently, as does happen sometimes, but I am definitely still alive and stitching. I'm hoping to get back to blogging regularly now, so if you don't hear from me again for a long time, I give you all permission to whip me into shape in the comments section! :D
The long and short of it is, I'm no longer in Spain, and I've recently found myself single (not by choice), so I've taken some time to just get my head back together. The good news is that that's involved a LOT of stitching! I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I'm currently working on AAN's Tea and Mourning by Austitch (the artist, Omnipah, is my sister, and I'm SO proud of her for getting herself signed as an artist at the tender age of 16).
I've also continued to read everyone's blogs, and I'm not all caught up as there were a few weeks where I got behind and I still haven't managed to make up for that so currently I have about 275 unread blog posts on my Feedly, but I've loved seeing everyone's WIPs during my time away, which has really kept me excited for stitching (and, of course, my wish list has grown a LOT in that time).
So, I've had a few ideas for SALs for 2014. Crafty Rahenna suggested something the other day that's been on my mind a lot, which is a "Stitch From Stash SAL", and given my current surplus of free time, I think I'd be happy to set it up and run it, at least for the coming year. The basic premise would be to limit the amount of stash participants buy, and everyone would be able to set their own limits - my own, for instance, would be that I'm only allowed to buy a new pattern when I finish a design from my stash, but you could limit yours to a pattern a month, or two patterns a month, or a fabric a month, or absolutely nothing for the whole year, or only buying things to kit up patterns you have, or... well, you get the idea. Please let me know if you're interested in the comments below!
I've also thought about starting a Dragon Dreams "12 Dragonlets of Christmas" SAL and a Mirabilia/Lavender and Lace Christmas Freebies Ornament SAL, but I'm less sure about these. I have about 20 WIPs at the moment and I'm not really sure I need to add too many more, but again, if you're interested, let me know.
Other than that, I have plans to take part in WIPocalypse 2014, and a condensed version of Crazy January (doing 10 projects instead of 15), but I've also thought about Turtle Trot, Theme-a-licious and YOTA. Are there any other SALs I should consider? TUSAL I'll definitely be doing too.
It's nice to be back on my blog again. I'm gonna try and comment more on people's blogs in the future, as I read them all but I'm very bad about actually commenting. Feedly + tablet =/= many comments from me.
Happy stitching :)
Heather xx
The long and short of it is, I'm no longer in Spain, and I've recently found myself single (not by choice), so I've taken some time to just get my head back together. The good news is that that's involved a LOT of stitching! I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I'm currently working on AAN's Tea and Mourning by Austitch (the artist, Omnipah, is my sister, and I'm SO proud of her for getting herself signed as an artist at the tender age of 16).
I've also continued to read everyone's blogs, and I'm not all caught up as there were a few weeks where I got behind and I still haven't managed to make up for that so currently I have about 275 unread blog posts on my Feedly, but I've loved seeing everyone's WIPs during my time away, which has really kept me excited for stitching (and, of course, my wish list has grown a LOT in that time).
So, I've had a few ideas for SALs for 2014. Crafty Rahenna suggested something the other day that's been on my mind a lot, which is a "Stitch From Stash SAL", and given my current surplus of free time, I think I'd be happy to set it up and run it, at least for the coming year. The basic premise would be to limit the amount of stash participants buy, and everyone would be able to set their own limits - my own, for instance, would be that I'm only allowed to buy a new pattern when I finish a design from my stash, but you could limit yours to a pattern a month, or two patterns a month, or a fabric a month, or absolutely nothing for the whole year, or only buying things to kit up patterns you have, or... well, you get the idea. Please let me know if you're interested in the comments below!
I've also thought about starting a Dragon Dreams "12 Dragonlets of Christmas" SAL and a Mirabilia/Lavender and Lace Christmas Freebies Ornament SAL, but I'm less sure about these. I have about 20 WIPs at the moment and I'm not really sure I need to add too many more, but again, if you're interested, let me know.
Other than that, I have plans to take part in WIPocalypse 2014, and a condensed version of Crazy January (doing 10 projects instead of 15), but I've also thought about Turtle Trot, Theme-a-licious and YOTA. Are there any other SALs I should consider? TUSAL I'll definitely be doing too.
It's nice to be back on my blog again. I'm gonna try and comment more on people's blogs in the future, as I read them all but I'm very bad about actually commenting. Feedly + tablet =/= many comments from me.
Happy stitching :)
Heather xx
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Hola from Barcelona!
I just wanted to check in to let you know I'm alive and well and living (more or less) happily in Barcelona! The experience is providing its fair share of stress, but hey, this city has more than enough culture to sink a ship, so I'm not gonna get bored while I'm here!
I've done very little stitching since I got here (maybe 50 stitches total?), and I've been here just over a week, so there're no updates there, but there is a giveaway you should definitely check out!
LindaLee is having a mystery giveaway over at Cross'N My Stitches, and it's open until 26th of September! It's not entirely stitchy, but hey, go ahead and enter anyway! :)
Hopefully the stitchybug will return soon (because I really miss enjoying stitching), and as classes start soon, I'll have a chance to settle back into a routine, and getting stuff done. I do have a tour to organise, though, as well as a a 6000-word research project to start on, so who knows...
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
I've done very little stitching since I got here (maybe 50 stitches total?), and I've been here just over a week, so there're no updates there, but there is a giveaway you should definitely check out!
LindaLee is having a mystery giveaway over at Cross'N My Stitches, and it's open until 26th of September! It's not entirely stitchy, but hey, go ahead and enter anyway! :)
Hopefully the stitchybug will return soon (because I really miss enjoying stitching), and as classes start soon, I'll have a chance to settle back into a routine, and getting stuff done. I do have a tour to organise, though, as well as a a 6000-word research project to start on, so who knows...
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Oh God Oh God Oh God
So, in less than a week, I'm going to live in Spain for 9 and a half months. I'm absolutely terrified about this (which I think is sorta fair enough, especially since I'm going by myself and know only one other girl who'll be at the same university as me.
I'm currently planning what to pack, with the actual packing beginning tomorrow. The big question is, what stitching do I take with me?! My plan at the moment is to take my WIP bag (which has a fair few pieces in it), along with a couple of new pieces to start when I'm there. This shouldn't take up too much space, since all my stitching is in bags, so there are no bulky boxes.
I put about 50 stitches into An Important Flower over my holiday, so there's no real update there. However, I do have a couple of framed pieces to share - and I don't get to keep either of them!
The first, is the Dragon Dreams freebie I was stitching for my grandparents' 80th birthdays this autumn. The fabby is Aurora Borealis by Jodyri Designs, and I've not yet stitched on a fabby I've loved more.
The second is one you'll have seen before, if you've followed my blog for a while. It was a birthday present for my sister's 16th birthday (we frequently tell each other we're adopted, hate each other, are fat, etc.)
Soooo, that's all with me for the moment, except for the stress I've been under for the last week (I didn't recieve a blogging scholarship for my year abroad blog that I would've liked, and I spent Monday crying over that... and then realised on Tuesday that I'd completely overreacted. My emotions are everywhere this week.) But hey, in a week, I'll be in sunny Spain, and from then until my Christmas break I get to enjoy a little multicultural freedom!
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Friday, 30 August 2013
Oops.
I did that thing again where I accidentally neglected my blog for weeks. Thing is, my blogging mojo just isn't quite there at the moment, and that's partly because, when I have heaps of free time, my stitching mojo is at its most shouty. Consequently I've managed to get a few finishes in.
First, though, I wanted to show off my gifts from the lovely Bernadett. I won a giveaway at her blog a month or so ago, and received some lovely bits and pieces...
The mug warmer is currently on the train mug the Other Half gave me last summer (my ORT bucket is there on the left and my Yoda USB stick is sitting behind). The tea bag pouch has carefully been kept away from any tea. It's too nice to get tea-y!
Now for my finishes...
1) Lesbian Love by Austitch. This was a model stitch, and it whilst it looks great, I got reaaaaally fed up of all the black in it. I'd have like to have done the lesbian symbol in a rainbow thread. I think this will be going to my sister, eventually.
2) Shower of Hearts by Anchor. This is one of the first kits I ever bought and I let it sit after the first Tatty Teddy kit and the backstitch was a nightmare, but I changed the needle from the one that was in the kit to a sharper one and it got much, much easier.
3) The unnamed Janlynn fruits kit. I finished the cross stitch on this a few weeks ago but finally did the backstich in an evening.
Passenger Train also came out while the Other Half was on holiday but I had to finish Lesbian Love in the first week, so didn't get as much done as I'd like, and then it went away as soon as he came back. Now we're going on holiday for a week together and I'm bringing a few projects with me.
(This update was brought to you with help from my new Nexus 7 tablet. This is so exciting!)
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Sunday, 4 August 2013
And the winner iiiiiis...
Well, you'll have to wait to find out for just a few lines of text longer!
Sadly my giveaway is over; thank you to all who entered. I don't know when my next giveaway will be, but in the meantime, there are always others going on in the world of stitching...
The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe giveaway. There are going to be a hundred winners, so go ahead and enter... and don't forget to mention I sent you! [Closes August 14th]
Chris of Always Smiling's giveaway. She's offering two charts AND a beautiful finished pillow. [Closes August 9th]
Also, for those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans, Peter Capaldi was just announced as 12th Doctor, so prepare to be drowned in "OMG DOCTOR WHO YAAAAY" stuff over the coming months.
Okay, okay, so you've all really come here for the giveaway. Thank you to all my entrants...
1: Gizzimomo
2: Lija Broka
3: Lija Broka
4: Bernadett Rauski
5: Bernadett Rauski
6: Stamatia
7: Stamatia
8: Катерина Нуйкина
9: Катерина Нуйкина
10: Daphne
11: Daphne
12: Kaisievic
13: Kaisievic
14: Kim M
15: Kim M
16: Gill
17: Phyllis
18: Eva
19: Monica Silva
20: Monica Silva
21: Katie
22: Katie
23: Kay Eyles
24: inga
25: inga
26: lapappilon
27: lapappilon
And since I have no furbabies or cute children to help me pick the winner, random.org helped pick for me! The winner is...
Sadly my giveaway is over; thank you to all who entered. I don't know when my next giveaway will be, but in the meantime, there are always others going on in the world of stitching...
The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe giveaway. There are going to be a hundred winners, so go ahead and enter... and don't forget to mention I sent you! [Closes August 14th]
Chris of Always Smiling's giveaway. She's offering two charts AND a beautiful finished pillow. [Closes August 9th]
Also, for those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans, Peter Capaldi was just announced as 12th Doctor, so prepare to be drowned in "OMG DOCTOR WHO YAAAAY" stuff over the coming months.
Okay, okay, so you've all really come here for the giveaway. Thank you to all my entrants...
1: Gizzimomo
2: Lija Broka
3: Lija Broka
4: Bernadett Rauski
5: Bernadett Rauski
6: Stamatia
7: Stamatia
8: Катерина Нуйкина
9: Катерина Нуйкина
10: Daphne
11: Daphne
12: Kaisievic
13: Kaisievic
14: Kim M
15: Kim M
16: Gill
17: Phyllis
18: Eva
19: Monica Silva
20: Monica Silva
21: Katie
22: Katie
23: Kay Eyles
24: inga
25: inga
26: lapappilon
27: lapappilon
And since I have no furbabies or cute children to help me pick the winner, random.org helped pick for me! The winner is...
11. Daphne of Daphne en de Wereld
Congratulations, Daphne! Please email me at breza_juanita@live.co.uk with your address so I can get your gifts sent to you as soon as possible :) To everyone else, thank you for entering! I'm sure there'll be further giveaways in the future - and now I know to go follow your blogs too!
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
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