Halloween Ornament Exchange, meeting online folks, earrings and life

I have been in a blogging mood for few days already, but for some reason I have felt like I couldn't say what I am thinking so I have let it be. I am still not sure, but there is one beautiful biscofleur to show so I can not delay this longer even though my brains have vanished somewhere (I apologize about the appalling "quality" of this entry).

EMS Halloween Ornament Exchange

After a long, long absence I returned to EMS Cross Stitch Forum and participated Halloween Ornament Exchange as I have sorely missed exchanges (and the excuse they give to disregard housework and stitch).

Few days ago I received the prettiest little Halloween biscofleur from Samantha! See and drool!

Beautiful! Thank you Samantha for bringing this loveliness into my life!

Samantha told me that she wanted to try (yes, this is her first if I understood correctly!) this finishing method and maybe *ahem* inspire my dear alter ego to design some pretty biscofleur patterns (cunning woman I must say - Samantha, not my alter ego. Lady P. is just a bit cooky).

Meeting people

I thought of tens of different ways to sound smart, but I guess it's better that I stick to my usual style... what ever that is.

Anyway, few days ago I spent a lovely morning with tamaraland and her boys here (or rather there as I don't live there) in Helsinki.
We went to the Natural History Museum to see... dinosaurs!
It was great fun (I may be a bit geeky, though the company was very good) and it was really great to meet tamaraland (and the boys) in person.

Jewellery

I have always been and I still am very picky about my jewellery, and I have wanted to learn how to make them for quite a some time, because of my pickiness, and therefore I headed to a jewellery course yesterday.

It was for learning "twisted links", which proved to be easier than it sounded even though my links are really twisted due lack of practise: see for youself.

Yes, turquoise is the new black, at least in jewellery. Though I am still looking for the perfect shade.

And yes, I really need yet another addictive and expensive hobby.

I was planning to blabber much more, but as I mistype half of the words and can't think straight (when I have been able to do that?!) I guess it's time to drag myself to bed and continue about other things later.

Life, cross stitching and everything

Actually I am still alive, even though I haven't blogged in whole month. It all started with a cold, which, even after I "got better" continued keeping my energy levels somewhere (way) down below and... then I caught bacterial infection (IIRC the latter sick leave paper I got says something about laryngitis and sinus (sinus sphenoidalis was doctor's guess as it wasn't visible in the sonar thing they use) infection)... you know how it goes.

But on a brighter note my last course of antibiotics was almost six months ago! Houston, we seem to have improvement!

Somebody stop me!

I was updating my badly outdated freebie library at Be Courtadet's blog, saw a beautiful house at the sidebar, stumbled upon the album page and found these (charts can be found here - and the rest are in here).
And after seeing this and this (small world, I think she's one of my FB friends) I was sold (that's how Finns would say it, being "sold" over something absolutely wonderful) and now I am trying to remind myself of those two drawers etc. full of WIPs. (If someone suggests SAL promise to stab you with tapestry needles as you know how *weak* I am! (Please do, I need an excuse to increase my stash! *slaps herself*)

And signs of improvement

After being a zombie for few weeks and sleeping most of the weekend after the illness got me I have actually had energy to design new winter freebie and start to stitch it (when I have actually been awake... which is not much *grin*)!
Of course I can't share it with you yet, but here are the supplies (I am thinking one with beads and one without) for you to drool:

Fabrics in question are 32 count Belfast linen - for once I was able to find two different colours suitable for the theme, and I still have that Millenium Blue which I might want to use too...

31 years

Yikes! I am old and grey!

Or maybe not, let's just say that I do not feel like 31 - but I guess not many actually do at this age, really. But, let's skip all that and get into business i.e. to lovely stash!

 

These here are the lovelies Jenna sent me: the design has been on my wsh list for ages, but Jenna, being the sweet person she is, sent me the whole kit! Thank you once again Jenna!

And of course I made a small stashy purchase today... for my birthday... And some floss for the Lady...

It wasn't me...

... it was a pink elephant, called Lou, sitting on my right shoulder...

...and Lou went crazy at 1-2-3 Stitch! some time ago.

Twice, actually.

And as you may have noticed from the picture with floss I still have my turquoise period: I accidentally ordered five skeins of Weeks Dye Works' Blue Topaz.

"Ooops", in a good way.

And that scrumptious purple linen - also by WDW - is something I just had to buy because of the colour - and it is cheap(ish) too! (There was also a beautiful shipment of gorgeous earrings from KittyAndMe's Etsy store - but I will share them later, when I am able to get a decent picture of them.)

In other news: thyroxine seems to be working! ^^

Medication through mail

It is too bad you are not sitting here on the sofa with me. If you were you could smell the divine smell of Echinacea Mixed Herbal Tea I am drinking and fondle the beauty of a Silkweaver Lugana.

But you are not here and it is all mine, MINE! *insane giggling*

Quite some time ago kill_the_onions sent me some "fun mail" inspired by our little conversation in the comment section of one of my FB status updates, and finally, after taking scenic route from Turkey to Finland the fun has arrived!

Teas are Turkish, but the card is from China, but beautiful nevertheless.

kill_the_onions is a tea afecionado, and I am becoming one, again (after few years of not being able to drink tea at all - it's odd how Mr. Wonderful affects my body) so what is better than be able to taste some tea from country far away? (It is even better because I have never been to Turkey.)

But lo and behold, there was more great mail waiting for me... Belinda asked some time ago at FB would someone like to have Mirabilia's "Madonna of the Garden" and I was first one to say yes!

I had been over the Moon just to have the design itself, but Belinda added her leftover beads, metallics and delicas and piece of 19'' x 26'' 32 count hand-dyed Lugana from Silkweaver!

Now I just need to win the lottery and quit working... well, I have great reason to start this design soon, right? I have beads, design and fabric... I just can't let them gather dust, right?
Actually my fingers itch to stitch it already, but it is half past five in the morning and I haven't slept in last... 18 hours - which is quite a lot when you have laryngitis and bronchitis and you should be resting (though it's difficult to sleep when you are coughing sticky mucus...).

(Though I have been surprisingly productive stitching wise while sick: I have very small projects I have been working on when I have felt like it.)

Looking for "King Above"and "Stitcher's World" September 1995 issue. Also incl. new stash

I was piling my stacked away charts and magazines into keep/ don't keep piles and while I was browsing one of the magazines I found a design I want! (You know how it goes...)

The design in question should have been in "The Stitchery Magazine"'s August 1998 issue and is called "King Above (picture here).

While doing that I also noticed that there is one design in Stitcher's World Sept. 1995 issue and couldn't find it from eBay, so in case you have that particular issue or you see it somewhere I am here wanting to buy/ exchange it.

New stash

Honestly it just came out of the blue...

I had placed an order at Crafter's Market few weeks ago and had actually forgot the whole thing before my lovelies arrived yesterday:

The best bit in this is, IMHO, that Once Upon A Time... was only $2.49 (~1,75€) whereas it seems to be anything from $7 to $21.20 everywhere else.

And my excuse this time is that all this stash shopping has been good for my mojo! I started my day by cataloging(sp?) my book/ booklet/ pattern stash (got about 40% done) and after that I have been *gasp* stitching my own *gasp* design.

Off to stitch some more!

Exchange goodies and belated birthday gift ^^

I actually received Cathy's exchange some time ago, but it has been insane at work so it took this long for me to post pictures for you to admire...

Cathy stitched me gorgeous pinkeep using a design on my wishlist and she made it even more perfect as the colours match the pinkeep I received in Here's to Ewe!
She also added some lovely goodies so I was really pampered to bits!

Thank you Cathy!

With stitching friends you can have your birthday more than once every year

For aforementioned reason I haven't blogged about belated birthday gift I got from Leena either...

Leena stitched me cute little Halloweeny ornaments and sent me magazine where the designs are from and skein of Pomme de Pin hand-dyed, which is completely new brand to me (the colour is much better in person, flash just does things to colours) and looks absolutely yummy.

Thank you Leena!

Life in general

There has been annoyance and good things in my life lately, but just to end this entry with positive things a little rant:

I sold some stuff at local auction site in last month and one of the winners has been a nuisance... I sent her win to her about three weeks ago and accidentally found out that she had complaints about the postages (which she accepted and paid when requested) - her claim is that she paid more than the postage was (she should try eBay some day: that is SO common). Accidentally because she had left, excuse my French, paranoia filled rant in my feedback (and of course she gave me negative) without trying to contact me in ANY way before that (she knew my email, of course). Of course I got annoyed and left her negative feedback in return just because she obviously is not a good customer even though she paid quickly... after this she started to harass me in quite threatening way and sent me an SMS threatening to come behind my door (she lives on the other side of the country...) if I don't answer to her call right now...
I sent her courteously chilly SMS that she should read her email and that I do not answer to personal calls while I am at work (it's very common for people to be at work around 8:30 in the morning).

At the moment I am intentionally communicating slowly with her through email trying to help her to see the plain stupidity of her claim: if she had contacted me right after she got the item and asked me for a refund I would have said yes without thinking twice, but after coping with her ignorance, plain stupidity, harassment and obvious lack of sense of reality I am not very fond of the idea. Eventually I may refund her as a charitable action (if her finances depend on those three euros she needs charity!), but she will never get the other things she wants from me: positive feedback. Why would I give to her? She's real pain in my behind and I don't want that anyone else has to suffer from her...

On brighter side of things: I have lately begun to receive my purchases from eBay so I have had lovely stash filled days and pile of new and new/ used stuff waiting for to be blogged about.

But, great things last: first of all I have two whole days off starting tomorrow!
Secondly I have been praised today by our area manager and SALO (our branch's quality control/ improvement and work effectivity program) trainer, which feels good for several reasons. ^^

But now I must run: I just got an email from Mr. Wonderful. ^^

Cross posting: This the Season to Be Jolly

The Gift of Stitching's ornament number was published earlier than normal this year and I can't say anything else, but WOW!
It is filled with beautiful designs from several designers one of them being Frosty Pinecones from Periphaeria Designs!

I have loved the design since I designed it ages ago and when I was looking for ornament design for TGOS' ornament issue it was an obvious choice.
The design style is generally very traditionally Slavic (the name comes from the "pinecone" motif within the whole design), but I wanted to give it a special twist and make it suitable also for those stitchers who don't live in Northern Hemisphere and decided to go with shades of raspberry and rose to make an example of how varying the design is.

It was originally planned to be stitched with only one colour, but my household gnomes hid not one, but two skeins while I was model stitching the design and it ended to have three colours - very succesfully, if you ask my opinion. :)
The design can, of course, be stitched with just one colour or three colours of your own preference.

Feel free to play with the colours and I hope you enjoy stitching the design! I did.

(Originally posted to Tales from Periphaeria.)

Happy Samhain i.e. suitable seasonal exchanges

I have heard that my Halloween ornament has been received by Amaali in Malaysia and my Pumpkin Patch item has been received by Tuula so it is time for some stitchy content.

Tidbits:

• Design: One of the Halloween Ornaments by Periphaeria Designs
• Designer: Lady Periphaeria
• Fabric: 32 count linen
• Floss: Misc. hand-dyeds

Tidbits:

• Design:Three Pumpkins Scissor Fob by xstitchhappy
• Designer:xstitchhappy
• Fabric: 28 count Star Sapphire Jobelan
• Floss: Misc. hand-dyeds

Either picture isn't too bad because they have been taken in evening and during this season that means using flash and not so good pictures.

Guess why I like over one so much?

As I may have mentioned I was indifferent with this design at first, but during the months it grew in me and Linda and I planned a little miniature stitch-a-long of it, which eventually evolved to be Ellen's Rose Sampler for Late Bloomers at EMS Cross Stitch Board.

Since the very first time I saw this design I knew that if I ever stitch it I will stitch it multi-coloured on black fabric and here is how the first take looks like.

Doesn't it look so intricate stitched on one? I am really pleased with my decision to stitch this over one, it will be gorgeous when finished.

And by looking at the colour choices you could almost think that I have certain signature colour scheme...

Yeah, I know I am sick...

• Creepy Crawly
• Flamingo Sunset
• Baby Sleeping
• Card Purse (Quaker Pocket Needfuls)
• Checkbook Keeper (Quaker Pocket Needfuls)
• Spectacles Pocket (Quaker Pocket Needfuls)
• #55 Samplers III
• Elephants
• Four Seasons Cats #114
• Pair of Cats
• Lenny (Snowballz)
• Love You (Snowballz)
• Meri Mistletoe (Snowballz)
• Twinkles (Snowballz)
• Perfect Snowman
• Snowman Love Story
• Fun Flakes
• More Fun Flakes
• Snowmen Thru The Year
• Be You To Others Sampler
• Cat In Snowman's Clothing
• Virtue Sampler
• Reindeer Yule
• Sweet Baby
• Whimsical Heart
• Primitive Heart
• Primitive Sunflower
• Curious Visitor
• Dance of the Swans
• Dragonfly Dreams

Did I tell you that I placed an order at 1-2-3 Stitch! last week? My excuse is that I wanted to get the JCS ornament issue - and I happened to find few Schooler Santas from the clearance bin... and then couple of designs just kind of stuck... honestly the order was under 30 euros!

Work

It seems to me that I am riddled with lousy luck regarding employment at this moment: the job was told to be 5 days a week from this week forward. B*llocks, I say. I found out in Sunday that there's nothing for this week.

Luckily I had applied to my old employer last week when I met an old work mate of mine and he told they need more staff - today I received a call from the company and I have an interview tomorrow morning.
I know that he has a place thought for me already so unless I screw up the interview very badly I should get a new job.

Design It Yourself Biscornu Exchange

I got to hear few days ago that my little biscornu had arrived safely to Sandra in Venezuela and that she loved the little jewel I had sent to her!

The design is, as the exchange name reveals, designed by me and now that it has been received I intend to publish it later this year as a complimentary design (/me thinks it would make a wonderful wintery ornament stitched on icy fabric with white floss and white metallic).

Tidbits:

• Design: Anonymous at the moment
• Designer:Lady Periphaeria of Periphaeria Designs
• Fabric: 32 count Wild Raspberry linen
• Flosses: DMC 3802 and Kreinik #4 braid 007

It looks much better in person and I have to admit that I had difficulties to send it away, but I also knew that it would get a good home at Sandra's so off it went with some extra goodies Sandra can't find from Venezuela (Dinky Dyes silk, Atalie's silk, some Crescent Colours cottons, piece of linen and The Courtyard of Alhambra).