New linky-link

*puts Fudgey's word back*

Fibrant Living. Stumbled across it yesterday while reading other answers for the SBQ. I have fibromyalgia and am still learning how to cope with it and continue doing the things that I love. Getting used to the constant muscle and joint pain has not been easy or fun, but I'm getting there. Most days now I can block it out. The first half of this week was rough, REALLY rough. The second half has been much better and tomorrow I get to SLEEP!! So I'll definitely feel better.

I wonder if anyone has ever done any studies in regards to fibrmyalgia and dreaming. I had some really strange dreams last night and I can't decide if it was because of lack of sleep earlier in the week due to fibro or if it was because I watched Supernatural last night... One of the dreams had supernatural elements so I'm leaning towards the fact that it was because I watched Supernatural. But if that's the case why was Johnny Depp in it instead of Dean????

WIP pictures and SBQ

This is a picture post! You've been given fair warning, lol. I've finally gotten my rotation up and running and am loving every minute of it! This past Sunday I finally started Dimples St. Basil's Cathedral. It's stitched on 32ct SW Jamaica Sparkle on linen. This is the tallest spire, the scaley part of it. (for lack of a better word)







This next one is Spring Cameo, HAED. The artist is Deborah Grieves. Looking at the artwork, this is her left eye. IRL it would be her right eye, lol. I started drooling over this one before HAED even signed Deb as an artist. Needless to say I was THRILLED when it came out. I'm stitching 1x1 on 25ct cream Pearl linen and this is after one rotation. In my defense I was rather under the weather those two weeks and didn't do my normal amount of stitching.



And this is Paula Vaughn, "Iris" from her Pillows From Paula's Garden book. My room is done in irises and eventually this will be a throw pillow in my wicker rocking chair or on my bed. Wherever the mood strikes for that day, lol. It's done 3x2 on 28ct SW Meadow Mist lugana. I can tolerate the lugana because it's dyed, therefore making it softer. But I don't like 3x2. It's too bulky for my tastes. I considered converting to 2x2, but there were too many blends and I was afraid that would mess up the shading.



Alrighty, SBQ for this week! The question is from Cheryl and she asks:
What do you do with your charts once you've stitched them? Do you keep
them or dispose of them? If you keep them, do you organize them in a
way that is different from the way you keep your unstitched charts?

I've only completed one BIG project and I kept that chart. I have a feeling I'll mostly be a keeper. I'm a pack rat by nature. I'll tackle the storage issue once I get to that point, lol. I'm still more focused on keeping unstitched patterns organized!

And one final thought. Feel free to skip because it's all over the boards by now.

Marilyn Leavitt Imblum makes me SO MAD!!! She's accused Laura Latuada of Passione Ricamo of copying her designs! Where on earth does the woman get such a high opinion of designs? Laura's work and Marilyn's work are worlds apart in my eyes. There isn't a single L&L design that truly calls to me. My wish list of PR designs grows every time I see a new WIP picture on the board! I'm not usually a fairy person but I'm lusting after her Winter and Summer Fairy Spirits. They have such an ethereal quality to them that I just love.

If anybody is copying designs, it's Marilyn IMO. Her Firefly Fairies design is a direct rip-off of a Sleeping Beauty movie poster from the original release in 1959. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if Disney holds a copyright for 3 fairies wearing pink, green and blue. If anybody's going to get sued it'll be Marilyn if Disney's legal department gets ahold of the design. All around in this fiasco Marilyn loses. I've seen messages from numerous people saying they're left her Yahoo group and every board I visit has spitting mad posters who are all coming out in support of Laura.

This just cements my decision to put Winter Beauty Princess into the next open slot on my rotation. *steps off her soapbox*

I'm home!

I am back from vacation! Tanned, relaxed and finally all unpacked. Took 2 days to do that. Mostly because I'm slow, lol.

I do have pictures up. Me, my sister and our good friend Joanna went. We seem to be making a tradition out of this three-some vacation. Last year we went to New York, this year Gulf Shores, next year L.A.

Did get quite a bit done on my PV Iris pillow while I was gone. I have a picture, but it's on my laptop at home so I'll put it up later.

My mom and I are going to start taking knitting lessons at my LNS. I have Tuesday afternoons off, so we're going to give it a whirl. I want to know the basics, I don't really care if I never master anything else. Don't know when we'll start though because next week my dad's off and Mama doesn't like to go places and leave him at home.

And that's all for now!

Vacation!

It's here. VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gulf Shores, Alabama. For a whole week. *sigh* Life is good.

Picture heavy SBQ

So I'll be doing links so those with slow connections can at least read what I'm saying, lol. This one is a two-parter.

#1 from Vash, she wants to see backs!

So, backs here I come! This first one is the back of my HAED "Earth Mermaid Quick Stitch". This little baby has 90 colors and is heavy on the confetti but oh my word she's stunning!!! It's kinda messy by my standards, but VERY neat compared to the fountain scene on my TW English Garden Sampler. (which I left at work and can't take a picture of).

This second one is my Mirabilia Queen Mermaid. The white threads running all over the back is from the beading, which I do last. Can't stand my floss getting wrapped around the beads, lol.

Part 2 from Singular Stitches:

"a pictorial tour of [the] special place that you go to create yourwonderful stitched creations."

I have one spot, my stitching chair. Everything I need is spread out right there where I'm sitting. The thing draped across the back arm of the chair holds my scissors and highlighters- it also has a pincushion on top but I don't use that part it, my Gazelle of course, then the little trunk holds misc. floss and hoops and such and my unopened needle packages. The makeup of the bookcase has changed somewhat since I took this picture back in the winter. It's been completely re-arranged so that most of my charts are now in a 3-ring binder and they stand up to make fondling easier.

But my laptop no longer resides there on the footstool! I didn't have a desk in my room when I bought it last fall so it stayed by my chair.

Art gush!!

Josephine Wall is AMAZING!!!!!!! I was browsing her site this afternoon while clock-watching and stumbled across "Alternative Reality". (if the link doesn't work, it's in the "Surreal" gallery) WOWZERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I find it absolutely breathtaking and the Victorian romantic in me is going nuts silently pleading for Michelle to chart her. The colors are so beautiful and so ME, the look on her face is exquisite and I absolutely ove the Victorian dark Gothic warring with her "real life". It's just so exquisitely beautiful to me. And she has it as a wallpaper! Three guesses as to what my current one is, lol.

Also Stairway of Dreams strikes a cord with me. Again, the Victorian romanticism (very appropriate since Jo lives in England), combined with books. I've often wished I could wander off into the worlds of the books I read, even if just in my dreams.

Silkweaver is back!!!!

Silkweaver is back online and shipping orders!!!!!! I'm so happy. :D Once the website gets updated this weekend I'll be checking the FOTM pages again and if the Wishlist option is still there I shall make my list and join for a year. There are so many linen FQ's that I want and since I pick fabric for specific projects well in advance of stitching said project, the Wishlist option would work best for me.

And there are new colors going up with the site update. :D:D:D:D:D:D

No stitching last night. I sat on the couch with one of the cats and watched the Everwood series finale. It ended well I think. Not as perfectly as Will and Grace, but that finale will live on as one of the best ever filmed, IMO.


I'm sauteing shrimp tonight. I'll cook with some of it then pop the rest in the freezer. Need to clean the fridge out too, there's hardly any room in there! Cooked shrimp absorbs the flavors and odors of other things in the fridge and after a few days it starts to taste REALLY funny, in a bad way. I'm also going to try out the fried calamari rings that my mom bought at Sam's last week. I love calamari. (and octopus too!)

To-do list

#1: Vacuum cat hair out of car. (that is what happens when you take a long-haired cat to the vet who absolutely will not get into a carrier)

#2: Lace up Newborn Joy so that I can take it to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and get the frame. After a quick measurement this morning, an 8x10 frame will be perfect! And frames and pre-cut mats are on sale this week so I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow.

#3: Do my checkbook

#4: Stitch on Spring Cameo!

At last!

I started Spring Cameo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now Blogger is being a royal pain in the you-know-where and won't let me post a picture. Hmph. So here's a link to the picture. It's her left eye. I couldn't get the picture any brighter without losing definition. *sigh* I really shouldn't try to take pictures at 10:30 at night....

But I'm getting a new and better digital camera next month so I won't have to mess with brightness and contrast before I post pictures.

Oh, and I finished Newborn Joy too except for attaching the name card. Will do that tomorrow, then I need to take it to Hobby Lobby and see if I can find a frame for it. I have a lot of extra fabric so I should be able to put it easily into an 8x10 frame.

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!

And I am oh so glad it is Friday! No alarm in the morning, no absolutely having to get up. The only thing on tap is doing some preliminary shopping for our vacation. Which starts in exactly 8 days!!!!!! We're going to the beach in Gulf Shores for 6 whole days. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I need this so bad it's not even funny. I even ordered a new 2-piece bathing suit. It's purple of course, lol.

The only hard part about this trip is deciding what project to take with me! Do I take my PV iris pillow? Or St. Basil's? Or Spring Cameo? Or PV In A Mother's Eyes? I can't decide! Any votes? (can't start Pirate and Mermaid, doing a private SAL on it and my partner isn't ready to start yet)

I'm also experimenting with mouse positions today. Starting to have some wrist problems again from constant mouse useage so I moved it up a little higher. Going to leave it there for a few days and see if my wrist improves. I know it's not the mouse itself as the one I have is ergonomic and fits my hand beautifully. It's all about height. It's just that in order to get it up high enough, it's on a seperate part of my desk from my keyboard so that's a little awkward.