who can think of titles all the damn time?!

I stitched! How wonderful is that.

Since my last barely visable picture, I have finished miss Gardenia's dress, the lower portion anyway, and have started on her arms!

All the empty spots are where the beads are going to go. That dress was kind of sort of tedious to work on. Especially that last colour in the middle, the off white or whatever it's supposed to be. I am trying to get this one knocked out soon becaaaauuse I may or may not have ordered Nora Corbett's Black Forest Pixie Blossom Collector. I couldn't resist.. she's pink. very PINK. Hopefully I have a fabric that'll be nice with her. I'll do a floss toss or two. I might even have a PtP fabric that'll work. We'll see!

In other news, my bed is better dressed than I am these days!

And there is a reason for that! I finally started taking my health way super srs and have lost 35 pounds! I have a lot more to go, but that's a great accomplishment. I don't want to buy new clothes so mine are a little loose at the moment haha. My mom is losing weight as well but she is a lot more caring about not looking like a total slob so we are going out today to get her some new pants.

She is doing better, too. She's on dialysis now and we are jumping through all the hoops to get her on the kidney transplant list. Today is to get her booster shots (wait, isn't that for pets? I guess she's kinda like my pet!) and I think she needs a couple more random doctor visits, and a dentist visit, and then she'll be on it. plus, since her blood type is really common, the docs figure she'll be getting a kidney within a year or two. :)

Anyway, I better stop rambling and wrap this up!

*wave*

I am trying everything to get back into stitching. My newest idea is to have it out where I have to look at it. thus, after a trip to IKEA and putting the table together twice because apparently you can put the legs on backwards, I have my stitching out where I can see it.

I'm all about that pink. Hopefully this works, otherwise I just bought an expensive tv tray haha.

I went through all my stash recently and donated a bunch to the thrift store that I knew I wasn't going to work on. Last year I also gave the cross stitch group on reddit a bunch of patterns I wasn't going to do/already had done (but man, that was expensive in postage!)

I found patterns and fibers I don't even remember buying! One of the funny things was that I've been eyeing up Nora Corbetts Wisteria fairy for ages, and after going through my things, found the pattern, all the beads, and all the DMC/specialty threads for it. Oops. For about a year I was randomly buying patterns and whatnot that caught my fancy and then stuffing it in the ALEX drawers thinking I'll get around to sorting it out sooner or later.

Oh yeah, and since the last post, We moved! I really like the new place, though the area is a little more unsavory than I'd like but it was the only place that would allow all our pets! I went out with the old unmatched furniture and in with the new! I also went bold with the walls in a pink that is very in your FACE! Not all the walls, just one and a half. The other walls are painting in a very light gray. the curtains are gray and my bedding is gray, while all the new furniture is white to try and offset the boldness of the pink haha.

The bums

And I added some new artwork (Thanks to Etsy!)

Overall, I am very happy with the move! it feels so fresh to be out of that house and into something a lot smaller and easier to care for.

So from here on out I am going to try and keep up with stitching and updating. I really do miss my craft and I need to make time for it. I have three days off after work today, hurray!

The Last Unicorn

I bought this pattern because it reminds me of my favourite childhood movie by the same name.

It's really going to POP on that black fabric once I get more colours in there. :) I haven't worked on 14 count AIDA in a long time, it's stiff and weird. :D

WTB MOJO

Seriously need some mojo!

I'm forcing myself to cross stitch. I mean, once I get doing it, I really enjoy it. Just seems like parking myself in the chair and putting something on to watch feels like SO MUCH EFFORT.

Anyway, I've been working on Gardenia Fairy yesterday and today and got a good chunk done.

I have to admit I was kinda worried as I worked up from the bottom of the left side that the stitches would not meet properly with the rest of her dress/wing.

If that had happened, I probably would have quit FOREVER.

Here is the updated picture

My birthday is coming up on Saturday, and since I'll be working, we are having Chinese food and cake tonight.

I did not buy myself any more stash for my birthday, but I did splurge on a bunch of video games! (which is why I am not stitching as much..)

I ordered!

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse for the Wii U
Mario and Donkey Kong Tipping Stars 3DS/Wii U
Final Fantasy Curtain Call 3DS
Final Fantasy III 3DS
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate 3DS
Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask 3DS

 I also Preordered Grand Theft Auto 5 for the PC
and bought Starcraft 2 + expansion for the PC

Whew. We are also in the process of selling the house/moving at some point so I've packed away a lot of my stash already. I kept out Gardenia as you can see, also The Last Unicorn which I should take a picture of soon. I tend to work on that when I have a 4 hour respite client, and a small Mill Hill beaded ornament kit. I keep hoping that once we finally get moved and settled, I'll have everything set up for stitching comfortably again.

So lots of things going on, hoping to keep on trucking with my stitching!

WIP Time!

It's been slow going, but here is Gardenia Fairy on her way..

Look at me gooo. Slowly. :)

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Needle Needs

So back in July, I decided to order a Millennium Frame from Needle Needs. They're a small company based in England that hand make scroll frames for needlework. I watched the videos and checked out what other people though about them by doing internet searches and what some people were saying on the message board I frequent.

These are expensive. It cost me 140ish dollars to have them made and shipped to me. The website claims: Although we normally endevour to deliver orders within 28 days, due to an unprecedented demand for our products and their bespoke, handmade nature, it can on occasion take a little longer for deliveries. We are ever evolving the nature of our manufacturing processes however and our ultimate aim is to deliver within 28 days.

Close to 3 months later I had not received my frame nor have I gotten any updates from them about my order, so I emailed them asking what was up.

3 weeks after that, I had gotten no reply and at this point I was getting a little miffed. I posted on the message board with my frustration and someone replied that someone within the company was going through medical testing or whatever. Nowhere on their site says anything about delays from that. I had no received any email to say they were having issues. I emailed again, with no reply. I then started revising my internet searches to find out if other people were having issues with this company. I found a blog post detailing their frustration with the lack of communication, and excessive time to get their product. Other people on the message board who had ordered a month before me still hadn't gotten their product.

November 19th, almost 4 months later,  I finally receive an email saying my order was being processed. Then nothing.

November 25th I got a card in my mailbox to go pick it up from the post office. it has now been 4 months since my order was placed.

Their lack of communication is unacceptable. if the demand is too high, don't take so many orders. If you have someone who is sick, find a replacement to cover for it. Or even update the website to say expect your product in 4-6 months, so they don't have people wondering why it's taking so freaking LONG. That would have been totally acceptable to me, that I know upfront that the wait would be that long.

I have absolutely nothing against the frame itself. The craftsmanship is amazing and I can't wait to start using it.I am putting this blog post out there for others to make a more informed choice on whether or not they want to deal with a company that has such terrible communication, but a good product if you happen to want to wait for it.

I come with a WIP and some fabrics!

I actually started this when I was in Montreal.. that's how long it's been since I've touched it. This is Gardenia garden Pixie by Nora Corbett. I am using all the materials on the pattern, with a white evenweave fabric in 28 count.

Her wings are done on that side, and now I am working on the dress. Wee!

I participated in the Picture This Plus Christmas in July fabric sale this year, and I got my fabrics today. It was a long wait, but very very worth it. I bought all Crystal fabrics in a choice of colours. Haunted, Heroic, Nocturne, Pansy, Carnival, and Echo.

Aww yeah, try not to drool over them. :) All that fabric will be 12 projects worth, so it was great value to buy during the sale.

Things are changing very rapidly, and money will be tight tight tight, so this has to be the last of my stash buying for awhile. Thankfully I have a lot of things to work on while I weather this storm called life!

Now that fall is in full swing and winter is around the corner, I feel that very familiar urge to stitch happening again and I couldn't be happier for it to be back.