My Guardian Angel or something sinister?

Hey Stunners!

I know it's only been 2 days since my last blog, but I had a weird experience last night and as it had to do with cross stitching I thought I would share.

I went to bed around 3am as I was still stuck in nightshift mode and couldn't sleep. I was working on Spring to Life (finished page 5 - YAY!) prior to this and thinking how slow the progress on her was and started to worry that there is a chance I may not see alot of my projects completed.

Page 5 - done and done with a little start on page 2!

So with this thought I lay my head down to sleep. Seconds later I was being fiercely embraced by an unseen being. It was soothing at first but then it became uncomfortable as I couldn't move and I started to fret, then I felt extremely light like I was being lifted but still held firm.

My first thought (and this is how I am a certifiable lunatic) was OMG I'm dead and now I won't get to finish Faces of Faery 88 by the next craft show to show the blokes from the Sewitall store and they will think I lied to them and Mrs. D has won the Golden Wood cross stitch competition and I won't even get to enjoy the seafood lunch as the loser!

So I struggled against what I thought was the Angel of Death - and then the grip got even tighter if that were at all possible.  Next with no words spoken I felt this serene feeling come over me and I was elated as somehow I knew that I was going to finish all my cross stitches. I believe it was my Guardian Angel reassuring me that he was on the job and not to fear leaving UFO's before my timely end. When I was released there was no waking up period. I was awake still.

Sooooooo I got out of bed and headed to HAED and bought 5 more charts!!!!



Guardian Angel - L.A Williams

OMG!! It was meant to be. I searched on guardian angel and out of the 4 angels that appeared this just struck a massive chord in me. It was perfect and exactly how I envisoned him. A little scary but strong and protective, with massive wings to either shield you or fly you away from harm.  So beautiful. So this was the first chart I bought as a tribute to my angel.

Next was "The dreamer" by Julie Fain. I searched on dream and out of the 100 over charts this one appealed the most. I always wanted one of her charts but could never decide, but after my experience the choice was easy!

I haven't bought a Selina Fenech for a while and I remembered I had purchased a chart from her ages ago called "The guardian" so was going to leave it at that but I've had this chart "Winged things" in my WL for ages so decided to buy it. I liked the dragon and the girl theme and that it seemed like a companion to her so decided to keep with the theme and bought it too. Here also is the chart "Guardian" which was one of my earlier purchases from HAED 3 or so years ago. It would seem I have always had this guardian angel wahoo going on! 



The next 2 charts I bought have storm themes. I love love love storms and have alot of stormy charts. I bought these 2 charts because I have always thought that my last day on earth was going to be a stormy one and I mean in the weather sense. LOL! So I have an affinity with storms!  So in light of the theme I had going on I bought these 2 beauties!

Storm Runes - Nene Thomas

Cello Storm - Jasmine Becket-Griffith

So there you go. Judge for yourself. I either need to be committed or I had a visit from a ethereal being who took the time to reassure me that it was okay to buy more charts as I am going to be around for a while. However I'm not going to push my luck as my angel didn't mention immortality so therefore I won't be buying anymore charts -- for like ages and ages anyway!

Thanx for reading if you still are and haven't unfollowed me or left in that way people do when they come across a loony - you know the slow backing away and trying to maintain eye contact until it's deemed safe to run away! 

Wishing a happy and safe Easter to you and all your loved ones. Eats lots of chocolate and enjoy the break. I will be working most of Easter but I will be taking my cross stitch in with me so all good!!

Take care stunners

Alicia xo

Every Princess loves a sale!

Stitching this week was very slow to say the least. Mostly because of a toothache, apathy and sloth! I managed to get a bit of Spring to life completed thanks to a lovely day spent at Mrs. Dibble's and an overtime nightshift that was quiet and I managed to get a bit in. Of stitching that is, bwah hah hah!

I took this picture in my craft room when the morning sun hit my craft bed and it really brought out the pink in the Fairy forest fabric in the photo. I've only got the flower armband and the rest of her arm to go and it's a page 5 finish.  I want to continue to the final partial page which is page 4 and joins on the left. However, Mrs. Dibble thinks I should complete page 2 next which goes on top so the project will start to look like a block of work rather than a border.

What do you guys think? Mind you page 2 is a full page!

NOW ONTO MY NEW BABIES!!!

Heaven and Earth designs sale ended today.

I bought 11 more charts which also added 10 more years to my life expectancy. YAY! I was so depressed after the Fragile Heart fiasco and then having all sorts of fabric dyeing problems over the week, I decided there was only one thing that was going to lift my spirits - MORE CHARTS!!!!

So I played it fair and bought 2 or 3 of each kind (except for the biggest charts I bought 4 of them as I couldn't decide between the 2 WALL designs so bought them both. Hey I did mention that I am a lunaticlike Princess!)

For smallish charts I bought:

Faces of Faery 14 - JBG



 SK Rose Adagio - Nene Thomas

How cute are the 2 star clips in her hair and those big beautiful sad blue eyes.

I loved this Nene Thomas picture in the full version so was very excited when I came across the SK of it as I have more chance of completing a small chart.



    For quickstitches the winners were:



QS Nina - Hannah Lynn



     

QS Shimmering Night -Ching Chou Kuik



These are 2 of my favourite artists. I always buy a Hannah in every sale and there is always one in my rotation. Actually there's currently 2 in my rotation! Shimmering Nights was released as a fund raiser for the Japan quake relief. And it's very pretty - a mermaid on the moon with pink hair. It's screaming The Crafty Princess.

Medium charts winners :





Wizards Lab - David Penfound

This is my first chart by this artist. So very excited! Plus I decided I need alot more magic in my life. I love all the variety of colours but most of all the open book in the foreground captivated me. I just wanted to read it. So the next best thing was to stitch it. I can't wait to see how Michele charted that particular bit of the chart. 



Forsaken - Adele Lorienne Sessler

Forsaken - I love this chart! It reflected exactly how I was feeling at the time. I have been rather let down by a few friends lately (Not you Mrs. D you're an awesome friend and sister of the thread).  But decided instead of feeling dejected about it I would stitch about it! LOL! Also my first Sessler chart but definitely won't be my last have an eye on "Healing Touch" as well. SIGH

Mystique - Rachel Anderson



How could I not purchase an Anderson chart in a sale. Impossible!

Now for the BAP's!

The first BAP award goes to: -

Winged Companions - Anne Stokes

OMG I so so love dragons.  I like the cutesy Spangler dragons but the real dragons I truly love are the fierce fire-breathing menancing ones like this fine speciemen. To have a dragon companion would be my ultimate dream come true. This is very strange behaviour as usually Dragons and Princesses are foes and not friends.

 

Past Present Future - Aimee Stewart

I fell in awe of this chart when I first saw it. Aimee Stewart is a recent addition to the HAED artists and I am so happy for it. Her art is mysterious, ghostly, evocative and dreamy. I love this picture as I'm going through a life transformation and really getting in touch with what this life thing is truly all about. So this chart is perfect. Only problem is I wanna START IT NOW!!!

Princess of Light - Josephine Wall

I think this one is pretty self explanatory! Princess - Light - Wall - SOLD!

 

Nature's Embrace - J. Wall

This was the other WALL chart that I couldn't decide between Princess of Light. Life's too short - sale ending today - what the hell - buy it now! That's pretty much my thinking behind this one. I've always loved this chart though, I love nature and anything romantic and embracing. It's why I picked "Lost in You" as well by Rachel Marks.

Nothing beats a warm embrace and a sincere kiss!

That's all for this week. I intend to finish page 5 on Spring to life. Will probably make a start on Fragile Heart, but I really need to get stuck into FOF 88 as June is only around the corner and I have yet to complete a page on her, though about 3/4 of the way through page 1 and 2 combined.

Take care everyone especially on the roads. Seems to have been alot of road accidents recently and I want you all to stay safe and injury free so you can keep stitching for a long long long time more.

xoxo Alicia

OMG HOLEY OF HOLES!!!

My heart is heavy as I write this. As my previous entry I mentioned that I had to frog approx 600 stitches on Fragile Heart. Well I completely and utterly screwed up. I had managed to frog about 450 stitches when I got a tad impatient and started to snip. And yes you guessed it I managed to snip a massive hole in the fabric.

So after many tears and glasses of wine and a phone call to my mummy I googled fix its for holes. I tried glueing , weaving excess fibers from the edge and crossed my fingers. The next day when the glue dried I tried to stitch through it and.....sob, cry, throw things, stamp foot,  it didn't work. Now the poor fragile hearter looks like she had a bad nose job done by a backyard quack.

So today I drove out to my local craft shop bought some black dye and will have to (wail wail more sobbing) RESTART!! I decided to stick to 22ct hardanger but will try it on dark/black fabric so it will kinda feel like a new start on a new project and not a (gulp) restart. I'm hoping all that vibrant pink will just pop on a black fabric. Had to dye it as I have over 2 metres of the stuff and no one sells black 22ct fabric anywhere!!!!

Very very sad Princess this week .

So no progress on this weeks HAED Freebie SAL in fact I'm 2 pages behind now. All good I think I will buy another chart or two from the HAED sale to cheer myself up.

There feeling better already!

I hope everyone else is having a much better crafty time this week than me. Love u all!

Alicia xo

A gift for Princess and some Wips

Wow can't believe it's been 2 weeks. Time can really fly and it's hard to ascertain what exactly I've been up to that I haven't blogged for 2 weeks. Well it hasn't been stitching unfortunately. The only real stitching I've managed to get done has been whilst at work. Love that paid employment that allows you to stitch as well as servicing the community. Ooh that sounds a little suspect but its really above board. Just ask Mrs. Dibble.

I worked on Spring to Life mainly because it coincided with the HAED SAL theme of Seasons but also because I love all the colours. I will have to put her down for this week as it's the Freebie SAL week and I really haven't done as much on Fragile Heart as I would have liked. And sob sob I'm about to sit down and do a bit of frogging on her. Due to a batch colour discrepancy for the skin I really couldn't let it go. I wish I hadn't stitched as much before deciding the colour lot was too different. So sadly I have to frog about 600 stitches otherwise she looks like she has a dirty nose. Oh well I am armed with a bottle of Tempus Two chardonnay and the house to myself. Which is a good thing as no one likes the sound of a Princess crying.

Probably the highlight of the week was meeting up with my parents in Fingal Bay and taking the brand new car for it's first long drive. She held up beautifully and I was even more proud that I didn't smoke at all whilst driving. Yay Princess!!

Also I here is a picture of my new bobbins chest. I thought I was well overdue for a present to myself so I indulged in a wooden bobbin chest. It's so beautiful. It will (eventually) hold the bobbins that I have finished with when a project has been completed. So will be empty for a bit LOL!! Hopefully the bobbins from Faces of Faery 88 will be it's first guests in June. It holds 450 bobbins...sweeetttt!

I managed to get 2000 stitches put into Spring to Life for the week so happy at least about that. Which means I'm very near to completing page 4. Can I hear another YAY!  Also managed to finish all the confetti stitches on faeries left eye and now she has 2 eyebrows...I think another "oh yeah!!" for that achievement.

Spring to Life - working on Page 4

But back to another Hannah Lynn for the week. Here's a photo of her pre frog, can you see the difference in the colour. Hint it's the last column down her face. It probably doesn't look so bad in the photo but in reality it's just too noticeable for my liking. And though at times I cut corners essentially I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my cross stitching and I can't let it go. Plus she is too beautiful to let her down now!! That baleful eye stares out at me and the guilt sets in. So I will do her the honour of fixing her makeup afterall next to cross stitch makeup is another obsession of mine, which is how I got the nickname of Princess at work in the first place.

SOB SOB

Faces of Faery 88

Once I have finished FOF 88 I will definitely get back to my rotation. I got caught up with the HAED SAL's and abandoned it. But this means that I only work on HAED's. Though I love them, I truly adore and miss my other projects namely my Scarlet Quince project - Medea, which is a woman that poisoned her treacherous lover (what is there not to love about that???) and my Golden Kite project - Coign of Vantage. These projects involve alot of blended colours which is 2 strands of 2 different colours for one stitch and that provides a level of challenge that HAED doesn't. One day I will purchase the Coign of Vantage offered by HAED and complete it as well. Just as an experiment to see whether blending works better than the use of just solid colours. Why you may ask well the answer is in my profile. I am a lunatic. But hopefully in a good way! LOL!

Happy stitching everyone and enjoy everything you do this week.

xoxo Alicia

My quote for the week is :

I wish I was a glow worm,
A glow worm's never glum.
'Cos how can you be grumpy
When the sun shines out your bum!
~Author Unknown



Update on my Hannah's!

This fortnight appears to have become a Hannah Lynn fortnight! Possibly due to having the second page of "Fragile Heart" sent to us by HAED in the first week of March. I managed to get 2 and a half columns completed but I was a little side tracked by the delivery of my new car. It's so beautiful and the colour matches the background of "Spring to Life" (DMC 995) love that blue!

So here are my girls....

Spring to Life
Pages 3 and 6 complete

The pic for Spring to Life doesn't do the colours justice. They are so vibrant in reality but this could possibly be that I took the photo at night under the daylight lamp. Next time I won't be so impatient and just wait till the next morning to do it. As for Fragile Heart - the little heart on her forehead and the white bits on her eyeball has sparkly Krenik thread on it which doesn't show up in the pic either. I will have to ask my photographer friend Danni Nix how to photograph these Wips' to reflect their real colours and bling bling.

Had a busy week with my return to work on the 6th March. Though not a bad thing as I missed my team and since I can cross stitch at work it wasn't a chore to have to go back.

Thursday I went to the Craft show at Rosehill racecourse with mummy (aka Crafty Queen - good one Mrs D), Mrs Dibble and Jen. I refused to make promises to myself to NOT buy any more charts or kits because I knew I would. Although in my defence I went to buy fabric for 5 new charts I have in my stash however, Stitches and Spice didn't have a stall at the show (pout pout). So I had to spend my hard earned cash on something. SO you guessed it I bought 3 new kits from the "gorjuss" range, 2 small Gold dimensions kits, and a Heaven and Earth designs chart by Steve A Roberts - Lady in the Woods. I seem to like this forest and woods theme.

Luckily, Wayne and Pete from sewitall.com.au had their stall there. They are these 2 awesome guys who sell a variety of fabrics in a variety of colours. Pete even developed and patented his own stitching frame - I think it's called grab and stitch or something like that where it actually pierces the fabric so unlike Qsnaps it always remains taunt without any adjustment required. Wayne is the mathematical genius who can calculate fabric sizes for different counts in seconds without a calculator.

They both think Mrs Dibble and I are crazy to even attempt HAED charts so they were flabbergasted when Mrs. D divulged that I had 15 in my rotation. So promises were made (not by me mind you but somehow I am involved!!!) that by the next show which is in June we will both have to produce a finished cross stitch. So I will be working hard on Faces of Faery 88 as it's the closest to finishing and ironically it is being stitched on the fabric "purple haze" which I bought from Pete and Wayne last year at the show. Good god another deadline!!!

Lady of the Woods

Gorjuss Girls :-  Puddles of Love; Ruby; Winter Friend

       

All in all it was a great day and when I got home my new car had arrived so had all these new toys to play with.

Truly awesome week!

Happy stitching everyone and love to you all!

xoxo Alicia

New Start (D'oh) + Progress on Hannah Lynn Swip - Intervention required STAT!

Hi Stunners! Firstly welcome to my new followers! Thanks so much for taking an interest, it's greatly appreciated. I didn't realise that comments were blocked on my blog but I fixed the prob and received all of your fun remarks. Thank you!! I hope I don't scare you away too quickly. LOL!!

Okay I know this blog was started as a means for me to cure or at least curb my addiction of new starts, buutttttt - Heaven and Earth designs keep extending the damn Valentines Day sale end date and now I have found myself to be the proud but ashamed owner of 15 new charts!!! Good GOD. It's not my fault. Myself thought that since I cleaned my bedroom she would reward me with 3 new charts, and you can't return a gift that would be so rude! So thanx to me for the charts. Sigh!

So progress so far for the week

Emerald Forest - almost half page done

Spring to Life by Hannah Lynn (another HAED chart) is an ongoing project. I haven't really included this one in the rotation as I'm completing 2 sets of her. One is a gift for a work colleague's daughter as a present for when she was born (The kid is now 3!!) and the other one is for me. The featured project is my one as I haven't started the gift one yet - I'm so hopeless!!! So I kinda pick her up every now and then when I get bored of the one currently being worked on in the rotation and try and chuck about 500 or so stitches into her. It's 6 pages but only 2 are full ones so hopefully won't be too long.

Page 6 completed



Progress for the week 

The lovely fairy is being completed on 25ct Fairy Forest (how apt) Lugana from Stitches and Spice, using 1 strand over 1 full crosses. It's really fun to stitch as the colours are so vibrant and loving the fabric.

And now (drum roll) for the new start. It's another HAED from Jessica Galbreth's "The Vintage Angel" collection called "Release." It's such a beautiful collection. I had to buy "release" as I'm working through the Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin and it's all about releasing negative feelings and letting go in order to reach a level of peace in your life surrounded by an ocean of love yadda yadda yadda and I thought in my infinite wisdom this would be perfect to remind me to just let go...unfortunately that meant a new start. But I promise to the universe, god and everyone this will be my last start (fingers crossed) until I finish one of my forever seemingly ongoing cross stitches. Honest!



See so pretty. I'm trying out tent stitching for the first time. She's being completed on 28ct White Lugana 2 over 1 tent. So far not so sure how I feel about this method. I've only completed 500 or so stitches so early days. It does of course stitch up much faster but I'm worried about the coverage. What do you think??

Have a great week stunners! Thanks for reading (that's is if you're still reading!) Happy stitching and enjoy every day to the fullest. Mwah xox Alicia





Happy Valentine's Day

Hi Stunners!

I managed to complete Page 1 of Fragile Heart on Valentine's Day weirdly enough. Not that I have a fragile heart or anything.

Fragile Heart - progress as of V Day!

I received an awesome Valentine's gift.  TWELVE new charts from the HAED website for their Valentine's Day sale. How lucky am I? And I hear you asking what thoughtful person would give me such a wondrous gift??? Well ME of course. 

I just couldn't help but reward me for my friendship to myself. I always feed me when I'm hungry, provide beverages when I'm thirsty, I know just what I'm thinking and going to say next, I always make sure I have fun things planned for me to do everyday, I enjoy the same movies, music, games and books as myself. And most importantly I'm obsessed with craft just like me! So therefore had to give myself the kind of Valentine's day gift that I would have loved to receive. Makes sense??? Well it does to me and I did warn you as stated above - I am a lunatic!!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Happy stitching and always have fun in whatever you are doing!

Going to do a bit of stitching on Emerald Forest before making myself a beautiful meal for me. I hope myself can make it as I've got enough ingredients to feed an army not to mention a few bottles of champas - Yum!

xo Alicia

Going to the Forest and not the Wood



Page 1 completed

Well this is what I have accomplished on my "Valentine" rotation.
It kinda dragged over 2 weeks as I had a swing shift in the middle of my days off and it really throws your energy and body clock around. So instead of only getting 2 days on another project I just continued with her.  I managed to complete page 1 (yay - take celebratory sip of charddy) and a column and a bit of page 2. A bit excited as I've actually made a start on her, that's the top of her pigtail on the bottom right. Awesome!

Fragile Heart

This week is the Heaven and Earth designs freebie SAL (stitch a long) finishing on Friday morning. So I have been working on "Fragile Heart" a Hannah Lynn design.  I need to complete at least one row per day to finish the page. It's a really cool idea. Sign up on the HAED bb was end of last year. They send you the stash chart first and then on the 1st January 2011 the SAL began and page one only was emailed to you. We receive one page every 2 months. The entire chart is 6 pages so with this one hopefully everyone that joined in will have a completed cross stitch by the end of the year. The next page is due in March so I want to get her finished this week and then I don't have to worry about her for a while. There were 183 participants and 7 different charts to choose from. All you have to do is post a few Wips (works in progress) on the bb and you will qualify to have all 7 charts emailed to you for free, even if you don't finish you're chosen design. How good is that???

I was supposed to start Golden Wood this week but unfortunately those lovely ladies in the wood have been bumped yet again to the next rotation. Reason being is that I am very far behind Mrs. Dibble in the competition to finish Golden Wood. So wanted to work on them when I only had to concentrate on them and not on Fragile Heart as well.

So this week will be working on Emerald Forest as I am up to "Other" category on my rotation list. Other is pretty much made up of charts that are not Mystic stitches, Heaven and Earth designs or other BAP's (big ass projects).  So all my Mirabilia's, Passione Ricamo's, Dimensions etc etc charts come under this rotation. 

Emerald Forest is design by Collin Bogle. It's being completed on 14ct Khaki Aida 3 over 1 full crosses. This was purchased by my ex boyfriend back in mid 2009 as he loved it upon sight, but of course I was meant to stitch it. Well in the redistribution of property during the break up. I forgot all about it and so it's still in my possession.  I was going to give it away to someone else to do but as I had already started it when we were together and recall how much I actually enjoyed stitching it. I've decided to keep it. Besides there is no hard feelings between us, but when finished I think I may give it away as a gift to someone else. Or keep it as I would like to have an African animals collection...sigh...someday!





Well that's all for now. I've just started a month's leave so hopefully this blog will get updated more often and that I will have a hellava lot to show.

Take care my sisters and brothers of the thread

Happy stitching

xox Alicia

Still Lost but one page closer to a finish!



Page 1 Complete

Lost in You - Rachel Marks





I managed to finish page 1 on Lost in You! It's beginning to feel alot like progress. I also entered this project in the HAED confetti SAL so killed 2 birds so to speak. For my next rotation it will be another Jasmine Becket-Griffith (sorry Mrs. D I know you don't like her artwork) "Where is my Valentine?" This chart was the very first chart that I bought off the HAED website. I just fell in love with it. What's not to love she reminded myself of me! A little impudent girl with a hand on her hip demanding her Valentine!!! Plus it was sooo PINK.

However she also served in the beginning of my demise. There was a time believe it or not when I was only a one project at a time girl. But I couldn't wait to start her and once she was downloaded I was in my car and on the way to Spotlight to buy all the required stuff.

Now if you get away with convincing yourself to start a project whilst another is still going once then trust me you can do it 15 times. Which is why I find myself in a position where rotations are required if I'm ever going to achieve a finish in my lifetime!!!

I also realised that I haven't added the links to all the projects. So I have gone through my blog and added the links. If you click on the title of a chart in the text that is blue it will take you to the website I purchased it from and you can also view other charts by the same artist.

Where is my Valentine?

 

Isn't she gorgeous?? Got a long way to go though but she is fun to stitch and that's all that counts.

 Golden Wood was next in the rotation but after stitching for over a week on a monochrome project I just needed to work on a vibrant project. Golden Wood is pretty but with all the browns and yellow hues it was just not calling to me. So decided to swap those 2 in the rotation. Will head to the Woods next week.

I hope everyone is enjoying life and only seeing rainbows. Happy stitching to my sisters and brothers of the thread. Good to see some males are into cross stitching and breaking those gender stereotypes. I will speak to you next week. Take care stunners!

xox Alicia



Tragedy in Queensland

I watched the tragedy unfold on the news all day today whilst at work. The floods in Queensland are devastating. At the last count 8 people were killed including children and 72 are missing. It was horrible to witness a family trapped in a car and then being whisked away by the torrential water. I only pray that they are now safe and we didn't watch their demise. To all those affected by this my heart goes out to you and I hope that all Australians rally together in support of our northern neighbours. I recall in the Victorian fires that women bought and sent cross stitch kits to the families that lost all their belongings in a bid for them to start new heirlooms. I think crafters have the greatest hearts.

I pray the waters subside and the families can find each other and rebuild their lives. It is a lesson in gratitude and reminds me to be grateful for all the wonderful family and friends that I have, especially my sisters of the thread.

Everyone give your loved ones an extra special hug tonight and eat a huge gob of icecream just because you can.

On a lovely note though, congratulations to my parents Brian and Jeannie on their 41st wedding anniversary. They are celebrating this monumental event in Bali. Have a Pina Colada for me guys I love you very much.

xoxo Crafty Princess - Alicia