Wednesday, 20 February 2008

    My heart has become able
    to take on all forms.

    It is a pasture for gazelles,
    for monks, an abbey.
    It is a temple for idols,
    and for whoever walks around it, the Kaaba.
    It is the tablets of the Torah,
    and also the leaves of the Qur’an!

    I believe in the religion of Love,
    whatever direction its caravans may take,
    for Love is my religion and my faith.

    -- Ibn Arabi

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."
-- The Dalai Lama

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."
-- Shakyamuni Buddha

Monday, 18 February 2008

Stitch-A-Thon


Well, I didn't manage my goal as I had a nasty migraine Friday/ Saturday and I spent half of the Sunday chatting with the dear Wolf (it doesn't happen too often so I let stitching suffer when it does - and I got to verify one theory of mine, which wasn't actually too good for my mood even I was right and the theory itself was a rather positive one... blah, life... men! ) and the other half nodding, but at least I got something done.

 

Terri's ornament is actually completely stitched, but just in case she follows my blog I give only a sneak peek.

And as you haven't seen kitties for a while *grin*....

Clean laundry is so nice, don't you think?

Thursday, 14 February 2008

SBQ: Repetitio est mater studiorum


This week's

Stitching Bloggers' Question

was suggested by Loretta and is:
Do you have any projects that you have scrapped and started over? What made you start over from scratch?
I can recall only one: the 'Quaker Medallion Strawberry Pinkeep' I stitched for Simone in SBEBB's monochrome exchange last year.
I was about half done when I noticed that I had started the design from wrong part of the fabric and the design would have fit, but I couldn't have finished it as a strawberry emery if I hadn't restarted it completely.

Other than that I can't recall doing that to any other design.

/me tired... New designs!


Also known as: What I have been up to.

Violarium Collection

A new series of stitcher's tools. White/violet is model stitched by Leena so I am only the evil mastermind behind that one.
I stitched the white/red one and enjoyed all those confetti stitches on it tremendously. Maybe I am sick? *grin*

 

New parts will follow each other every few months - the series is exclusively available through Violarium.

And the six others

  
  

And the seventh other....

Periphaeria's birthday is soon!
It was 1st of March, 2007 when Periphaeria Designs' first site went officially live... As much I would loved to invite you all over for coffee and cookies (those chocolate chip cookies are ALL mine! ) it's a logistic impossibility so I came up with another good idea, and this one has zero calories: "Heartfelt".

Available for limited time from the "old place". *grin*

Now... my cookies await me.

Wednesday, 13 February 2008

Monday, 11 February 2008

Valentine's Exchange has landed!


I just heard that Michelle has received her Valentine's Exchange item, and as there's only couple of days until the launch pictures will follow right about... now!

Info:

    Design: 'Bumblehearts', will be available 14th of February.
    Designer: Lady Periphaeria, Periphaeria Designs
    Fabric: 30 count black linen
    Floss: As charted
    Bead: Generic transparent red heart bead
The picture does not show the colours very well, as it had to be taken in artificial light. Nevertheless I am totally in love with this design, and it was a sheer pleasure to stitch so I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of those designs I will stitch several times in future.
I sent some goodies, but didn't take a picture of them - in the end this was the important thing.

Kiss the cook!


I decided to participate the challenge (at HDF's forum) to stitch 12 strands to some old WIP over the weekend (6 in Saturday, 6 in Sunday) and chose Ezzy. Due the deadline blackout (I think I should actually get back to bed for a while, I am tired...) I only managed ten, but that is ten more than there was!

 

Sunday, 10 February 2008

Damn, I'm fine!

Launch related happy dance!

Designs are ready and emailed. Now I just have to model stitch the complimentary design and write the new design pages.

Friday, 8 February 2008

Just a quickie


Hop at the Periphaeria Designs' Community and read about the Spanish Sampler Mystery Stitch-A-Long I am organizing - for free!
It starts officially 15th of March, but project info and the gridding line chart has been posted so you have enough time to grid the blocks to their rightful places.

See you there!

You'd think that shoes are made for walking...


Wouldn't you?

Well, those army boots I bought less than two years ago have come to the end of their life for the oddest reason: their inner and outer soles are so worn off that there are minor cracks in their soles, which, as you can imagine, leak. (And leaking shoes are not actually something you want to have in February, even less in February like this: WET.)
Only reason I can imagine is that I walk a lot. Apparently.

This also tells something of the state of so called Finnish quality nowadays... My previous army boots were my main shoes for 12 months of every year and they lasted for TEN years and still the soles were crackless and not too worn when the heel broke down. Lesson learnt: if you want to walk, buy what army buys, even if it is more expensive, as it will save you loads.

Then, I found these from one Finnish online store:

They fill the most important criterias:

  1. Not too expensive (39€).
  2. Moisture and cold resistant (up to -20° C) coating.
  3. Big enough size and as they are Finnish they may be wide enough for my feet.
  4. Black.
  5. Shiny.
  6. Simple and stylish design.
  7. Some heel (I can't use shoes without any heel).
  8. They go over the ankle.
Now I just need to hope that my old shoes behave for those two weeks it takes before I get the new ones and that the new ones fit. (And, while at it I also bought myself new spring shoes - loud mouths claim those are for men... naah, they should fit (being measured for male foot), they look reasonable and weren't too expensive.)
I should probably also buy new sneakers... for walking, to spare the good shoes.

Stash saves the day!


(Firstly: Angela, I am working on the YMMD, but neither of my brain cells function properly at the moment.)

My first order from Hand-dyedfibers.com came!

The timing couldn't have been better: my asthma has been behaving badly last days - today it decided to freak out completely - and I needed a lift-up.

The colours look just what I anticipated, so I can say right now that the DMC-HDF conversion table Vikki has created is very accurate - but DMC can never look this pretty...

Thursday, 7 February 2008

And some stitchy content with SBQ


Happy dance №7

And as shocking it is I may have the designs ready to be emailed to Jenna day after tomorrow latest... O_o (Remember, the next launch is in Valentine's Day!)

And I still suffer from insomnia caused by creative activity, no matter how much I wanted to sleep - and it shows in my peak flows, last two mornings have been bad in comparison to the previous week. I wouldn't wonder if the doctor would want to check my medication and either up the dosage or change the cortisone completely.
Though, last night's streak was quite a pleasant one (started from one tiny motif I had in my head and evolved to a pile of sketches).

But to the regularly scheduled memesy: this week's

Stitching Bloggers' Question

was suggested by Kathryn and is:
Are there other crafts that you have tried and abandoned? Why do you like stitching better?
I used to be a knitter in my teens and I actually wanted to become a knitted garment designer when I was young. (Well, I became an artisan of textile designing and manufacturing, but majored in weaves and weaving techniques, and ten years later begun to use my skills for good in form of cross stitch designing...)
Nowadays my issue with knitting is that... I have became very easily bored and I always had issues with not being able to make anything too detailed with knitting needles, no matter how small.
In theory I do still like knitting and would like to do it more often, but those tiny crosses just seem to be more suitable to my anal character...

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

Go nuts...


... eatMacadamia.
I like musicians who share their music under Creative Commons.

Monday, 4 February 2008

The insanity of creative mind


... also known as flow. Some would call it mania.

My luck is that my mania doesn't end with depression. My mania ended when I had an asthma attack while I slept. It was yesterday and now, even I slept last night quite well, I am exhausted to put it mildly.
All of me is exhausted, not just my mind, though it's no wonder... My mind was seven days in state which could be described as Energizer bunny on amphetamine.

I loved every second of it, now all I want to do is to drown into bowl of run chocolate/ rum raisin ice cream... which I am intending to do right about.... now.

(Well, it is a healthy sign, having enough energy to have creative mania.)

Dragon Dreams' Valentine Dragon!


Ok, it is a relaunch, but I don't have it as it is from time when I wasn't even aware that Dragon Dreams exists. So, click your way to Dragon Dreams and fetch the 2003 Valentine Dragon while it is up!

Noticing that it is cute as heck I may have to stitch it some of these days... ^^

Unconscious Mutterings


A day late.

Week 261

I say ... and you think ... ?

  1. What women want :: Generalisation
  2. Epidemic :: Illness
  3. Taxes :: Money
  4. Hello :: Kitty
  5. Confidential :: Secret-y
  6. Lights :: Northern
  7. Summation :: Equals
  8. Hard feelings :: Pain
  9. Electric :: Eclectic (hmm....)
  10. Fresh start :: Second life

Saturday, 2 February 2008

And she had S.E.X.!


But, I didn't fail my goal of not buying more stash as this stash is for a new project, a Mystery SAL to-be, organized by Lady Periphaeria... (More about it later, but quite soon.)
I have been hanging around at Hand-dyedfibers.com's forum for a while and drooled after all the lovely VC silks in the store... then I went and designed something just to try certain style and it ended up to be a project which demanded silks - and as I don't have that much experience on Vikki's silks I decided to give them a try.

"To try" may not be an approriate term for the whole purchase: I bought 31 five yard skeins of six stranded silks. (The order has already been shipped!)

Family can shock you

When I left to grocery store yesterday I turned lights off... and when I came home I saw a light in my bedroom window.
I can say that I was a bit "WTH!", but as I wanted to know why the light was on I went home and what did I found? bits_2_whole had popped by to fix my desktop computer.

Lesson learnt: giving your key to your family members can lead to confusion.

Another thing I have learnt during last two days is that scripts which are claimed to be easy by their developers rarely are so - but it seems to me that I eventually found a suitable (easy enough, clear enough and has all the basics I need) online community script.

A tease, aren't I? *grin*

Friday, 1 February 2008

Happy Dance № 6


Fifth model done! (This time a nice foggy teaser...) And I can say that it was done in January as I am still living in January.

While stitching it came to remind me of one person on my P-I-F list (I am so behind....) and therefore it will be moving out right after I get it done, photographed and stitched a tiny something to accompany it.