Monday 15 July 2013

Attitude of Gratitude

Hi Stunners!!!



As the end of last month was my birthday month this post is all about gratitude! 

To start with I would love to thank and welcome my lastest 5 followers. Welcome Randi Martin, Marcy, Kathy Denehey, Linda and Nurdan Kanber. Thanks so much for stopping by and joining the followship of the Crafty Lunatic Princess.

By the way if any of you received a scam email from my email address neon_princess33 stating that I had been robbed in the Philippines and to send me money. I truly apologise as my email account had been hacked. I'm ok and still in Australia and thank you to all that offered to send me money. And to Kim (scullys cross stitching) who knew it was a scam as she stated on my fb page that if it were really me I would be asking for fabric and thread...You're such a scream Kim and you know me so well LOL! I have changed the password and security questions and lodged a complaint with Yahoo mail so it should be safe now.


And to the following people thank you for your lovely Crafty gifts that I have received this year.


Mrs Dibble was at the Salvation Army store recently trying to acquire some old furniture to refurnish as a project and came across this old DMC thread sample chart for 50 cents!! I would have paid 50 bucks for it. Which she gave to me as a "just cos your my friend and I thought you would like this gift"!


 

 
Jo (who can't think of a clever nickname - Serendipitous stitching) designed, stitched and sent me this card for Chrissy. It just made it into January so it still counts. Isn't it too perfectly cool?? I'm working on something special for Jo at the moment but it's a surprise so please don't mention it to her.



 
 

 
My mum busted me gazing wistfully at the Needle Needs website at the Millennium Frame and then to my huge surprise I also received the Millennium frame with 2 lots of stretcher bars for Christmas AND a Bottle of Chardonnay. Princess parents rock! (It counts as they ordered it in December but I didn't receive it till March!)


Millenium Needlework Frame 

Nina (Pistellen-Stitching) honoured me greatly by awarding my blog the AGI Award. Thank you Nina you really keep me motivated and love my stitching even more. Plus you've inspired me in other areas of my life with your thoughtful emails. Thank you again stunner xo

Unrelated fairy pic that I like.

And thank you to my Bff Lori "Angel" Marlow for my lovely birthday cake. It's not cross stitch related technically but cake making is still a craft. How cute are the little icing Princesses? And the candles indicate my mental age. Bless you Angel cakes. You can't even see the bit that Zac (her beautiful doggie) licked. Somehow he managed to get a tongue under the cake cover and lick all the icing off one side. Ha ha! and Yes we didn't eat that bit...
 
 


Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You stunning stunners for my beautiful gifts and award!


And for my self gifting I bought a few new stash enhancements from the 50% off HAED sale



Darkness Falls MG
Darkness Falls - Maxine GADD

Hidden
Hidden - Bente Schlick

Primrose JG
Primrose - Jessica Galbreth

The Dreaming Tree
The Dreaming Tree - Aimee Stewart

QS Tarot Fairy 12 - Babette Vanderberg

  

Tarot Fairy 12

I was going to buy the full size chart (as above) but I thought she looked a little weird. By the position of her left leg it kinda looked like her head was on backwards and she should have been walking forward. But the more I looked at the QS the more I liked it better anyway. Does anyone else see this in the full size or is just me??

Candied Apples and Candy Corn
Candied Apples and Candy Corn - Jane Wooster Scott
Isn't Candied Apples wild? There's just something going on in every part of the picture and when I get a little weary of confetti - there's that lovely chunks of colour in the sky!


Mini Steampunk iThing - Chris Down


Cherry Blossom Lake
Cherry Blossom Lake - Gordon Fitchett
This is possibly going to be my next SAL with Mrs. Dibble.

and last but not least from Paine Free Crafts



Apocalypse Princesses - Tess Fowler

 

Baby Dragon with Hot Sauce - John R Wohland

OMG how cute is he??? This is exactly the same pose I strike when I receive Crafty Parcels in the mail...

and this is the expression of my postman after he hands them to me!!


 




Now for the stitching progress:


 
I've decided to abandon all stitching schedules, rules and other restrictive wahoos. I find that I spend so much time devising them and then stick to them for a whole 10 minutes and end up just stitching what I like anyway but feel guilty about it. I really do have the attention span of a tiny tiny gnat. 

So I think this is the best practice for me and it means I stitch more as I don't feel compelled to, the only side effect is that I am constantly starting new charts. But hey ho. Remember my motto stunners - "To achieve a finish, one must first make a start" Sounds a bit Yoda-like I think the force is with me on this. 

I have 6 new starts in the wings. So in the next 6 posts or so I will feature the progress on each. I'm hoping to get a least a page finish on all before I post but I will see how that goes!!!

After that I will have 37 charts in my rotation and I will stick to these like glue until I get some substantial finishes. This isn't a rule as such more of a Princess promise to myself.


Here are the WIP Pictures!!!

Faery 2 
 
Initially I was working this chart one row at time, then it went to 10x10 blocks across the entire chart. Now it's "bugger it I'll stitch the bits of the pic that I love first". So as I couldn't wait to reach the Castle, I just...stitched the castle. Man it was so liberating to do this!! I have no idea why I have restricted myself all these years to just do page by page in chronological order. Silly Princess!

I was a little disappointed when working on the castle as I thought it looked quite blobby and wasn't capturing the detail of the original art but then I guess it looks ok when you step back a bit. Hmmm.




 
 
 


 

Where is my Valentine?



 
Once again - how awesome is my new camera??? It makes such a difference.

 

Purple Orchid
 


 
 
Ok the fabric isn't as vibrant as all that, I've been mucking around with the settings but it's much closer than with the old camera which looks like it's just on plain grey fabric. And that my friends is a page finish for Purple Orchid..woo hoo!


 

That's all from me stunners. Now that I've abandoned that ridiculous schedule  I will have updates more frequently and therefore my posts won't be as huge.  I didn't like to post unless I had something worthwhile to show you and as the schedule was only stitching 400 or so stitches before moving on it didn't make for great progress pics.  So as I'm stitching something when I like, for as long as I like in the rotation I should have quicker progress pics.


 
Love you all and thanx for stopping by!

Have fun in everything you do.

xox Alicia 






10 comments:

  1. I was waiting to see this post! Awesome new stashes and starts! I do really like the expression of the postman though :D. Anw, happy belated birthday Alicia! Wish you all the best!

    P.S: What kind of stand do you use for millennium frame?

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  2. Great to see your work again =) I love your new stash and I am looking forward to see your new starts =) I hope it won't take you to long to post them ;-)
    I hope you had a wonderful birthday, with all these lovely goodies it must have been fantastic! =) Take care of yourself and have another wonderful year =)
    I ordered my Millennium Frame in November last year and it arrive right before Christmas ;-) /except for the fact that they forgot to sent me the floor stand, so I waited until January to get started on it....), I hope you'll have a lot of fun with that frame ;-) I dan't want to be without mine anymore ;-)

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  3. Belated happy birthday. Lovely new stash and amazing progress on everything. I too find that when I restrict myself with my stitching I get very unhappy with it. I have tried to stick with a limited number of WIPs but other than that I stitch on whichever project takes my fancy. It makes stitching so much nicer. Looking forward to seeing your new starts.

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  4. Oh no....I can't believe I didn't know it was your birthday :( Belated Happy Birthday, hope you had a great day!

    I love all the gifts, how are you finding the Millennium frame?

    I am always surprised at how similar our stitching tastes are, I love your new stash purchases and I also own a fair few of them! I agree about the Tarot Fairy, it does seem like her head is the wrong way around, although it is possible she's stepping backwards!

    Well done on liberating yourself......stitching wise anyway! I ditched all my stitching rules a short while ago and I think I've made more progress that way. As I always say, it's a hobby not a job so it's all about the fun and if that's not happening then something isn't right!

    Great progress on those WIP's you've shown! I especially love the castle in Faery 2; it definitely looks awesome, with a lot of these projects taking that step backwards makes all the difference!

    It's great news that you'll be posting more often, I love reading your blog, it always puts a smile on my face. Take care sweetie xx

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  5. I so look foward to your blog updates. Reading your blog always makes me feel so comfortable with being just ME.

    I have added two new charts to my wish list Apocalypse Princesses - Tess Fowler is the one I think I must have first. And then Cherry Blossom Lake.

    Thank you for Sharing..

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  6. Love your new charts and look forward to your new starts. Happy Belated Birthday! And who could blame the poor doggie. The cake looks totally yummy:)

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  7. Hi You always make me smile. I'm glad you will be posting more as I love your stitching. Can not wait for your next post. Oh and happy birthday.

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  8. Happy birthday that was..that was some good stuff you got. I too have abandoned a rotation and am so far enjoying the more randomness of it. Looking forward to seeing your new starts.

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  9. "Don't tell Jo" - so do you think I don't read your blog then? LOL. It's OK, I can keep a secret! Actually I will probably walk away from the computer and forget straightaway.

    Out of all the new charts I love the little dragon with the hot sauce bottle the best. And yes, the lady in the white dress does look like she's doing an Exorcist pose.

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  10. Hello

    Just found your blog.
    Happy belated birthday to you!
    You got some lovely presents.
    Love the little dragon hugging the bottle chart.
    Your stitching looks great!

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Hello Stunner! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it made sense as I can rave on lunatic style when left unchecked. Any comment is appreciated and thank you for taking the time and brightening my day! xoxo