Happy New Year!!

It's the last day of 2009 here in Australia so:

I hope you had a great 2009 and that 2010 is a happy, healthy and successful year for you.

More cupcake finishes

I forgot I'd finished the pink one and started and finished the green one on Sunday. Unfortunately, I've gone through all my freebie cross stitch patterns and can't find the design for the pink one. I'm 99% sure it was a freebie too. GRR. Don't you hate that??

Here they are:


Here's the details of the green one:

• Name of the design - Elisa Coeur Noel 2003 - the bottom design
  
• Chart - a freebie from this site
  
• Fabric is a unique piece of 28ct opalescent green lugana from silkweavers
  
• Thread is DMC 913
  
• Stitch count is 31 x 33
  
• Completed in December 2009

Here's the details of the pink one:

• Name of the design - a freebie I can't find for the life of me
  
• Chart - it's out there somewhere!
  
• Fabric is called "Fairy kisses - painted" and is a 28 ct Monaco from Enchanted Fabrics
  
• Thread is a variegated pink from Anchor - #1320
  
• Stitch count is 31 x 31
  
• Completed in November 2009. I also added a hot pink glittery button for a bit of interest
  

Have a great Christmas!

Another finish

A quilt square for Scarlett at Coles Quilts this time. This design was on my wish list and I splurged and bought it with some money I got as a gift. I really like the look of these bright designs but unfortunately I didn't really enjoy stitching it. It was a colour chart which I find a little hard to read, and there were a lot of weird fractional stitches too. By the time I got to the background, I wasn't in the mood for the fiddly change of colours so made an executive decision and chose one colour to just stitch half stitches. I do like how it turned out though.

Here's the details:

• Name of the design - Roses & Butterflies #601
  
• Chart - From Cinnamon Cat Designs
  
• Fabric is white aida
  
• Thread is DMC cotton
• Stitch count is 79 x 79
  
• Completed in December 2009

Chess Board Finish!

Here's the chess board I have been working on, finished, framed and presented to DS's school teacher. He seemed to really appreciate it. I painted some cheap chess pieces black and white and put them into small white drawstring bags to go with it.



Here's the details:

• Name of the design - Kim's chess board I guess
• Chart is one I designed and can be found as a freebie on this blog
• Fabric is white evenweave
• Thread is DMC cotton
• Stitch count is 122 x 122
• Completed in December 2009
  

So many things, so little time

Whew, it's been a busy few weeks! Let's see....
First of all DS #1 was awarded the annual "Outstanding Student" award at his primary school this year, which was exciting. Last year he won the English one and the year before that the Maths one! Little Mr Brainiac :-) I'm not sure if any student has won 3 in a row, none that I can recall anyway.

Then, the very next day he won another academic award during the grade 6 graduation. The award was given by the Apex or Rotary club or something similar. He won a Coles voucher for his troubles. On the night he even got up and made a speech and gift presentation to his teacher too, in front of 90 odd kids and their families.

Both kids recently had their school concert and performed well. DS #1 even had a main part. His grade did songs from the production they performed earlier in the year, and he even had a solo singing part during it. I still can't believe he did it, and so confidently too!

DS #2 looks like trying out for the state karate team next year too. He is about to turn 8 and will be in the 9 years and under age group, so will be up against slightly older and more experienced kids. We'll see how he goes, it will be great experience and he should learn a lot from the process.

Oh, and I almost forgot!! DS #2 has broken his right arm too. He was outside and kicked his soccer ball over the neighbours fence. He climbed the 5 foot high fence to get it, and fell backwards from the top, ending on the wrong side of the fence. He broke the bone right near the wrist, and had a massive bruise on his left thigh. Thankfully we got treated at the hospital quickly and they x-rayed it straight away, showing the break. He is now sporting a bright blue cast for Christmas. This is my child who, by his current age of 7, has had several bad Christmases. He's spent one in a cast on his leg for another broken bone, had Chicken Pox for another, tripped while decorating the tree and cut his brow- just missing his eye, and lost his voice. I think he's had 2 "normal" Christmases in his life, whatever that is! Next year he's going in bubble wrap for the whole month of December!

I also finished the chess board cross stitch design for DS #1's teacher which went over well. I also gave DS #2's teacher a stitched hand towel and found out she is an ex stitcher! She seemed to appreciate the time and effort involved and we talked shop a little. It's nice to know someone who speaks cross stitch!

Free Blackwork Chess Board Design

I designed this to stitch for my DS's school teacher to give him at the end of the year. I'm going to backstitch "property of X Y" around the outside to make it personal and I have the perfect sized black frame to mount it in, and some chess pieces. I couldn't find any black and white pieces so will paint some brown and bone ones, hopefully they work out OK. I also have some black and white checkered fabric that would make a great drawstring bag for the pieces, too bad I don't actually sew! I think I'll get started on this tonight if I have the right sized fabric.

Feel free to save a copy for yourself. Please, if you do, leave me a comment to let me know! It's no good offering freebies if no-one wants them, LOL. If you have any trouble saving it and getting it to print at a stitch-able size, just email me with "free chess board design" in the subject line, and I'll email you a copy. jakt70 at gmail dot com

3 on 3 Karate Tournament

Posted better late than never! DS #2 had his club 3-on-3 team tournament at the end of October. He is 7 and was in the 6-7 year age group. There were 5 teams and his team won, yay!! From memory, (FYI - Mine is shocking!) I think his team got a bye in the first round and then won the next two to take first place. The points were accumulated each round, so every flag in kata or point in sparring helped his team to win. I'm pretty sure he won all his kata rounds, but maybe not his sparring. He is working on tactics with his sparring but sometimes he seems to forget that the name of the game is actually to score, LOL.
A few of the kids in the 8-9 year age group failed to show up so DS and his 2 team mates were asked to fill in, which he was rapt about. He held his own, winning his kata 3-0, losing his sparring, but coming out with more points than his opponent which was the aim. Unfortunately his team lost in the first round, but he got an encouragement medal for his efforts.
He also has another grading coming up soon and will be an orange striped belt. The grading after that he will have to spar all the rest of the kids, which will be funny to watch. Most of them going for their orange belt or higher are a bit older and much taller, he'll be lucky if he can reach their kneecaps! LOL

Calisthenics - End of another year!

It's hard to believe but we've had our annual concert, costume return and there's only the kids break up party and adults dinner to go before the whole year is done and dusted. This year we had the concert at a new venue with a bigger stage, proper stadium seating and better lighting. The only problem was the "professional" lighting technician didn't show up and we were left to fiddle around with the equipment trying to work out the mic, lights and music. Thankfully we were able to get the basics working and the show went on! It was a little hectic in the first half trying to get changed and help side stage whenever I could, but it was much quieter in the second half. Our revue was the last item of the day and was well received, we got a few laughs. We also did the presentation a little differently too, introducing all the pupils by name and getting them to come up and get their medals which was nice. Despite the problems (we also got locked into the car park for a brief moment!) I think it ran pretty smoothly. I got some lovely gifts for being the Masters coach and also the class secretary, will have to post pics of the flowers and hydrangea plant I got. Very pretty! Now to think ahead to music, costumes and choreography for 2010!

Bushfire Ornaments - Before & After

OK, so I finally got off my butt, with days to spare, and finished off my ornaments. I've said it a million times before, but I'll say it again - I'm not good at finishing. I don't really enjoy it (though I do like the finished results) and it's fiddly and I'm not very patient. The end result is some are better than others, LOL. Once I got into the rhythmn and had a plan of attack, they came together OK. They've been sent off to, and received by, Nise. It makes the total of over 500! Fantastic effort Nise, and to all the stitcher's involved.

Items for trade/sale

Another "Photo Flicker" from Picturetrail. I think I have a new addiction, LOL

Cupcake #3

I've cross stitched another cupcake and am on to my 4th! I might just get them all stitched this year, it's the finishing that might never happen, LOL! Here's a pic:

And here's the details:

• Name of the design it just saved as "aunts_attic_00018a_esther"
  
• Chart was a freebie at http://myauntsattic.web-log.nl/
  
• Fabric is an off cut of dusty pink evenweave
  
• Thread is 2 different shades of mystery thread I bought at the Stitches & Craft show. They had no identifying details on the tags.
  
• Stitch count is 37 x 37
  
• Completed in October 2009
  

Just testing....

Just testing "Photo Flick" from Picturetrail. I'll play around some more and see what works best as some of the odd sized pics don't show up well.

Another karate tournament for DS

And this time we made it on time, despite leaving later than I'd hoped, an unscheduled toilet stop and then not being able to get back onto the freeway! I wasn't quite sure how he would go at this tournament, as he seemed to forget all his katas and get them mixed up when we were practicing over the school holidays. Once there he went through them all and he was fine. There were a total of 13 competitors, and he made the final again, against the same kid who beat him last time. (Last time DS lost 0-3). This time around he lost 1-3, but worked really well. He didn't get quite so far in his sparring this time, losing out in the second round 1-2. He did fight well, it was just his opponent scored a little better. The boy who won kata also won sparring. (both this time and last time). His next tournament is the end of October, a 3 person team event at his club. Then the next one will be in the new year, when he joins the "big kids" and reality, with only the top 3 placegetters winning trophies/medals.

Some cupcake stitching

I've been toying with the idea of buying a cupcake stand to fill with cross stitched cupcakes, and finally found a cute one for a reasonable price, so I just HAD to buy it. Of course it does hold 23, so I'd better get stitching! I haven't really decided on a theme, so far the idea is to stitching colour co-ordinated ones. I've got an orange fluted cupcake holder, I've matched some orange fabric and a button to it, and stitched a design in 2 contrasting orange threads. I've also got a blue cupcake, matching fabric and a contrasting thread to do another one. I have pins with the head the same colour, so might add them for a bit of interest. I think I'm addicted! Here's a pic of my orange design finished and the blue one started:

It's my birthday - again!

Or so it seems. I had some birthday money to spend and decided to order some more hand dyed monaco fabric (a recent discovery and now my favourite fabric) . I was going to order from www.enchantedfabrics.com but before I got the chance, I learnt they were having a 20% off sale the first week in September. Needless to say I held off so I could get more bang for my buck!
Here's what I chose:

From left to right, my rainbow of colours are hocus pocus flair, fairy kisses painted (I bought this colour in flair last time and have already stitched on it - I wanted to compare the flair to the painted), fairy tears painted, fairy blush flair, eire flair, pumpkin pizazz flair and margarita flair. Most seem a little duller in person than the pics on the website, but a couple seem more vibrant. Either way I'm happy with what I chose.

Charity stitching finishes

Here's a couple of cross stitch finishes that just need washing, ironing and mailing. Of course I will cut the evil masking tape from the edges first :-). These are to be made into a quilt featuring just designs from Ellen Maurer-Stroh's animal baby series. It will be donated to the CFA (Country Fire Authority) to raffle off for much needed funds. This project came about after the devastating bushfires that hit Victoria earlier in 2009. Our upcoming bushfire season is also being tipped as potentially horrific too.

• Names of the designs are "Ladybug Baby" and "Bunny Baby"
  
• Charts were purchased from www.patternsonline.com and are designed by Ellen Maurer-Stroh
  
• Fabric is a 28 count white evenweave
  
• Thread is DMC cotton
• Stitch count 80 x 94 for Ladybug Baby and 86 x 90 for Bunny Baby
  
• Completed in September 2009 for Ladybug Baby and July 2009 for Bunny Baby
  

A whole lotta stitching goin' on

At least it looks that way. I have accumulated quite a few cross stitched pieces that need "finishing". They are all for Nise's bushfire survivors project, you can see the album of finished ornaments here. (Stitched items to be distributed at a Christmas lunch to those recovering from the deadly bushfires of early '09) I'm hoping that I'll soon be able to post the "after" pics, when they are all nicely completed and ready for mailing. Yeah, right, LOL!! They are due early November so I do have some time up my sleeve, and it is school holidays so maybe, just maybe I can get them done in the next fortnight?? Don't hold your breath!

Finally back to cross stitching

After some busy weeks where I had to concentrate on making and decorating bits and pieces for calisthenics, I can go back to cross stitching. At the moment I have a few things on the go. Somewhere I have a WIP of a welcome banner to be donated to the bushfire survivors. I'm not really liking the shading, a little too harsh for my liking but I'll keep plugging away at it I guess. The other is a quilt square to be made into a quilt to go to the CFA (Country Fire Authority) for fundraising purposes. That design is the ladybug baby from Ellen Maurer - Stroh and has caused me headaches as the key, symbols and chart did not match. I have it worked out now though and should be finished soon, especially considering it's due at the end of Septemeber! Speaking of September, I'm also organising a stitched cupcake exchange, due to be mailed about now and I haven't started. ARGH! I have a clue on what to stitch but just need to do it, it really shouldn't take too long.

Calisthenics Championships!!!!

What a crazy few weeks! With 2 weeks to go until the Calisthenics Victoria Inc. State Titles, our team lost it's 8th member. 8 is the minimum number for a full team, any less and you lose points. We were lucky enough to have one new lady join about a week beforehand and she filled in for 1 1/2 items. We also had another lady learn a bit more of 2 items, and the principal coach of the club learnt the remaining 2 1/2 items. All in all, a lot of stress building up to the big day! Not too mention I was still finishing off costumes.
We worked really well (the DVD is proof of that!) and gained 2nd place for all our items, except rods. Unfortunately we received a penalty due to a timing error and came 4th. Without the penalty we would have been equal 1st!! We came 2nd overall!!!! It's my 3rd year coaching, and our first year with a full team in every item. I am still on cloud nine! Our scores were really high and the crit papers encouraging. I got near perfect scores for my choreography and wonderful comments too.
Here's a picture of the trophy our team received.

Karate Tournaments

My 7 YO son had his first real karate tournament against other clubs recently. We got there just in the nick of time as the freeway was closed for 99% of the way, there was traffic everywhere, we got every red light known to man (and woman), I missed the turn off to get back onto the freeway, then I didn't know the way because of our detour off the freeway, etc, etc. I tried really hard not to let DS know how stressed and panic stricken I was. I'd have felt SOOOO guilty if we missed his first event, they always seem to start with his age group, (the youngest kids) so I knew we had to push it. We arrived just as they were organising the kids, phew!!

First up was his kata against about 13 other kids. He was lucky enough to get a bye in the first round, and won his 2nd round (and I think there was a 3rd round) both 3-0. Then he made the final and made a bit of a mistake, and lost 0-3 to take out 2nd place. The boy who won was strong, and obviously experienced in tournaments. DS did really well, he didn't really look nervous, although he said he was. The winner won a large trophy, while every one else got a smaller 2nd place trophy as "everyone's a winner" in their age group. The Australian government has made a recommendation to clubs that sporting events for kids under 7 be free from too much competitiveness and having "winners" and "losers".

Next up was his kumite, which he isn't quite as good at. He won his first round, 2-0 but met the eventual winner (the same boy who won kata) in the 2nd round. Again this boy was strong and very aggresive. DS lost his balance and fell to ground, before getting up and getting punched in the nose which is obviously against the rules. He did have headgear on, as well as body armour, gloves, mouthguard and shin and foot protecters on, he looked like the Michelan man! He was OK, and wanted to continue his match. His opponent got a warning and lost a point, while DS gained a point due to the illegal move. At the end of the round the score was even, 2 -2 I think. They went into overtime, with the score even again at the end. Then the referees voted on who they thought was best, and DS lost 0-2 knocking him out of the competition. It was unfortunate he got that opponent as he probably could have beaten most of the other kids. He did enjoy himself and had 2 trophies to show for his efforts. There were a few young first timers from our club there, and they all got 1st, 2nd or 3rd places.




On the weekend, our club had about 15 kids attend the AKF National Championships in Adelaide. They made up the bulk of the Victorian team I believe, as they tend to do each year. They all did well and took home a total of something like 6 gold, 6 silver and several bronze. DS is aiming for a place on the Victorian squad one day, hey he's even aiming for the Olympics and karate isn't even an Olympic sport, LOL (yet!)

It's lamb season!

And we have 3 more, a single birth, then twins. That takes the tally to 11, as we sold an adult. The twins were tiny. My kids, being the creative beings they are, named the twins "tiny" and "quiet".  

Not to be left out, there's also a pic of Stamper, the rescued hand reared lamb. He's now 3 months old and accepted the fact he lives in the field. He still doesn't hang with the rest of the sheep, and will come running for a pat like a pet dog. 

Same day....another finish!

My needle is smokin'. This is the cross stitch design I thought I had enough thread for, but ended up having to order another skein. This is going to be another ornament, maybe for myself, maybe for Nise's project. I started this on July 1oth and finished on the 16th.

• Name of the design is "Ink Spot #4"
• Chart is a freebie from
• Fabric is a 28 count white opalescent from www.sewitall.com
• Thread is cotton, in "Enchantment" from the Aussie company www.stitchesandspice.com.au
• Stitch count is 35 x 35
• Completed in July 2009
  
  

I really need to learn to iron :-(

Finishes that is. I am in such a hurry to post my latest cross stitch pics that I forget they look less than impressive all wrinkled with hoops marks. This one looks like it's slightly lacking, so I might find some buttons or charms or something to add to the middle somewhere. This is going to be an ornament for Nise's bushfire survivors project. I started this on the 12th of July and finished on the 16th. (P.S It really helps if you remember to post the PIC!!)

I also got the skein of "enchantment" in the mail today, so can finish the design from the post below.

• Name of the design is "Christmas Ornament 29"
• Design is from a pack of cards with charts, titled "Coloured Strings - Designs by Amy"
• Fabric is a 28 count white opalescent from www.sewitall.com
• Thread is cotton, in "Peacock Fantasy" - I think, I lost the tag - from the Aussie company www.stitchesandspice.com.au
• Stitch count is 42 x 42
• Completed in July 2009.

More "Works In Progress"

Back to the topic of cross stitch again! I am right into monochrome designs at the moment, using specialty threads (silks, variegated cottons etc). I decided to use up some left over cotton from www.stitchesandspice.com.au (in "enchanted" colour) and chose a 35 x 35 stitch count freebie. I figured I'd have enough to finish it, but did I mention estimation IS NOT my strong point? Needless to say, I ran out! I ordered some more so hopefully it will get here soon and I can finish it off. The greenish coloured one is also from stitches and spice, but I'm not sure of the colour as I lost the tag. I'd better have enough to finish it off or I'll be in trouble! LOL

Another day, another stitching finish!

I started cross stitching this on July 8th and finished July 9th. I left the middle stitching out, as I want to find a funky button to go there instead. I also have a matching hot pink tassle for it, I'm going to turn it on the angle and make it a diamond shaped ornament, with the tassle hanging at the bottom. It was intended to be donated to Nise's bushfire survivors project, but I think I like it too much, LOL. Update: Hot pink funky buttons are hard to come by. Instead I bought a plain round button, but it is hot pink, and glittery too!

• Name of the design - It saved as " Rosace-mini-aurore"
  
• Freebie from - Frimousse's blog - translated to English: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leschroniquesdefrimousse.com%2F&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
  
• Fabric is a 28 count white opalescent from www.sewitall.com
  
• Thread is silk, in "Hibiscus" from Vikki Clayton - www.hand-dyedfibers.com.
  
• Stitch count is 66 x 66
• Completed in July 2009.

More stitching

Although I should be working on calisthenics costumes instead of cross stitching :-(




It's been in progress for a while, mainly because I haven't been doing much on it. I made a bit of a mistake when stitching it, and changed the feet so they were mirror images of each other, but apart from that it's stitched as the design calls for. This design was the subject for my cross stitch contest earlier on this blog, which Alex won. Here's the design details:

• Name of the design - Technically it doesn't have a name but I've called it "Red Santa".
  
• Leaflet is titled "Simply Red Ornaments" designed by Diane Arthurs for Imaginating Inc.
  
• Fabric is a 28 count white opalescent from www.sewitall.com
  
• Thread is a variegated DMC stranded cotton, number 115.
  
• Stitch count is 58 x 65
• Completed in July 2009.

You are a lamb, NOT a human!

Our lamb has been drinking us out of house and home. I never really stopped to think how much milk he was going to consume when we first got him, but let me tell you it's a LOT!! Thankfully he is old enough to be weaned, and our research (gotta love google) tells us that cold turkey is the way to go. Poor thing, not only is he an orphan, but he gets the milk ripped out from under him too. So far he has been coping OK though. We've made him a lovely grass cordial which we've been feeding him instead of the milk. Although he has access to water, we haven't seen him drink yet so want to make sure he keeps his fluids up. He seems to look forward to his feeds, regardless of what's in the bottle. He has taken to nibbling at various grass and weeds so we know he's not going to starve.

He will come and stand at the downstairs door and baa when it's time for a feed. If he see's me down there he pushes up against the glass door as if he can just force his way in. Once inside he'll have his bottle, then try his best to hide so he doesn't have to go out again. Just this morning he climbed the stairs and tried his best to be invisible. I coaxed him back down but it was an effort. Then he tried to play chasy around the room, until I grabbed him and basically forced him out. He reminds me of a cheeky toddler who doesn't want his nappy changed.

Yesterday when the other 8 sheep were up near the house, I took the lamb out for a walk in the paddocks. I took some old bread to feed to the sheep too.  We went right up to the grandpa of the flock and the lamb had a bit of a sniff at him. I walked down to the dam with all the sheep, but once the bread ran out, they stopped following. Of course, the obedient little lamb followed me though. I'd go left, he'd go left. I'd stop, he'd stop. The plan was to get him to feed on what little grass we have, and to join the flock and go live in the paddocks with them. He had other ideas! 

I left him in the paddock while I checked the letterbox, and heard him baaing to me. Once I  got back though, he'd gone and I dared to hope he'd gone off to find the other sheep. No such luck! I got back to the house and who was patiently waiting in the backyard for me? I'll give you one guess. Not sure how he found his way in, but he did! He's now got access to the front and back yards, and will not listen when I tell him he is a sheep and must go and live with his kind. I'm happy for him to live where he pleases, but he hasn't got enough food where he is, and no company. The cat is still scared of him and keeps his distance. 

Here's another few pics of the lamb, he's 3 weeks old here. He's actually getting to be a handful, he's a big boy now and isn't exactly gentle. I had a massive bruise on my thigh because he stood on me in his frenzy to be fed. He races up whenever it's feed time and nearly bowls me over. He also thinks he's an indoor pet, as I feed him downstairs. He is very reluctant to leave afterwards, I have to force him out the door. He remembers the old lounge chair he used to sleep on when he was a newborn and jumps up there and tries to settle in for a sleep. He's a pretty clean animal, if we could house train him, he could live downstairs! He's also adept at climbing up and down stairs too!

How I started stitching

I'm always interested in how others started their stitching journeys, so thought I'd share mine. I had always been somewhat creative and interested in crafts, but hadn't found my "thing". Anyway, I wound up hospitalised (for a total of 5 weeks!) when I was pregnant with DS #1 and the hospital had a trolley with various bits and pieces on it go around the wards. I bought a clown mobile kit to make from it and after I finished that my MIL brought me a teddy bear long stitch kit to do, which I completed in record time. Once DS was born and I was back in the real world, I bought a cheap and nasty stamped cross stitch kit. I can't even recall what the design was, just that you could not tell what colour went where as the lines were all over the place. In the end I tossed it.

From there I tried my hand at stitching a greeting card for my sister. I seem to recall the pattern came from a book, maybe from the library? It was an urn with flowers in it, and a small bird. Even back then I changed patterns to suit myself, as I decided to balance things up and add another bird on the other side, LOL. The rest, as they say, is history! Here's a pic of it, bottom row, middle card:

I can't really remember what the rest of the pictured designs are but I'll give it a shot. The top left one was another card for a baby in my mother's group. The design may have come from one of the UK magazines, Cross Stitch Crazy or Quick & Easy Cross Stitch maybe. The top middle design was for my step-grandmother and came from a book. The cat card (top right) was also for her, from a UK magazine again. The golfer one (bottom left) was for my dad, as was the bottom right seahorse design, both from a UK magazine.

We have a winner......

I'm surprised the "guess my cross stitch WIP" contest was won so quickly. Well done to Alex, who guessed my project was the Santa from the "Simply Red Ornaments" leaflet by Imaginating.  I'll email you shortly Alex.

I actually have 3 cross stitch projects on the go right now, very unlike me. I've started another EMS animal baby design for the bushfire fundraising quilt, I'm working on the Santa, and I've still got the welcome banner going, to go to the bushfire survivors.

My WIP Contest

OK, so I've decided to have a cross stitch contest. I'll post a pic of my current stitching project, and you need to guess the name of the cross stitch design/kit/leaflet/whatever. If you want to guess, please post your guess in the comment box, with your email address so I can contact you. Periodically, I'll either post an updated progress pic, or a clue about the design. The first to post the correct answer in the comment box will be declared the winner. The prize? $5 worth of stuff from my sale album. I'm hoping to add more stuff to the album soon. Sounds easy enough, right? Open to anyone, anywhere. Here's the first progress pic:

CLUE #1:

CLUE #2:

This design is from a leaflet, and it's available to buy from

www.123stitch.com.

On the sheep front, here's a pic of baa lamby at 2 weeks old. He has taken to nibbling at me and trying to climb up my legs.

The lamb.....a week old

Well "Stamper" (I call him baa lamby) is now over a week old and growing strong. He still comes racing up at feed times, wagging his tail. Someone should really tell him he's too big for my lap now though. We have 2 of our other sheep in the backyard with him, but they keep much to themselves. I did see the little one go up and sniff one of them, then try to feed from her!

As I mentioned, I've not been cross stitching much lately. I've been disciplined and sewing sequins for calisthenics. I'm onto number 5 of 9 leotards. They actually work up quickly, the fiddliest bit is lining up the hooks and eyes and sewing them on the back. These are going to be aesthetics dresses, with matching green nylon ankle length skirts. We are going to be turning to the back of the stage, unclipping the flower, and clipping it onto a matching wristband, then turning back around to the front. 

Just call me Mary...

Mary had a little lamb that is. On Tuesday 12/5/09 my DH spotted a newborn lamb on the side of the road. It wasn't fenced in and there were no houses or other sheep around. It was at most a few days old, but potentially born that day. We just had to rescue him! He's just like a baby, being bottle fed every few hours, and has even fallen asleep in my arms a few times. He's even started to frolic, if we run around like idiots, he jumps around too. He's like a little shadow, baaing everytime we leave him. We've introduced a couple of our other sheep to him, but he's still more interested in us, and they couldn't really care less about him. At the moment we have him sleeping downstairs, which was the cat's bedroom. Jazz is not impressed he has been relegated to the bathroom. He's a big scaredy cat, not sure what to make of another small white creature stealing the love of his humans. I think the lamb will go into the garage tonight so Jazz can have his room back and life can go somewhat back to normal!

On top of feeding and cleaning up after a newborn lamb, my DS woke up on 13/5/09 sick. Of course it just happened to be his 12th birthday too, poor kid! We had to postpone plans for dinner at Taco Bill's and a white chocolate and honeycomb mud cake, but he was up to opening his gifts. No surprises there, LOL! He got a lot better, but last night he went downhill again. Might have to take another trip to the doctor if he doesn't improve. The original diagnosis was gastro, but that should have cleared up after 4 days. He was well enough to sit an entrance exam on Saturday for our preferred secondary school for next year, so that was a bonus.


I have been somewhat busy, as you can tell, so there's been no cross stitching for me lately. I have been sequining costumes for calisthenics though, I'm onto number 4 of 9. The cross stitched piece I've been working on hasn't been doing much for me, so being disciplined and prioritising my time hasn't been hard. I also would like to start another EMS baby animal for the stitched quilt that Terry Louise is organising, but I still have a month to do that. Actually a month doesn't sound that long when you think about it :-)

Cross stitched items for sale!

Pics are thumbnails, click on them to enlarge in a new window.

Prices are in Australian dollars and do not include postage and packaging, which will be actual costs. From aussie buyers, I accept money orders, bank cheques, direct deposit, paypal (no credit cards) or a gift voucher to my choice of online store. From international buyers, I accept paypal (no credit cards) or a gift voucher to my choice of online store. If you have any questions, want better pics, or want to purchase something, please email me at jakt70 at gmail dot com (you know what to do!)

• Bambi framed piece - $10
• Celtic knot framed piece - $10
• Piglet framed piece - $10
• Monochrome green framed piece - $10
• Snow White framed piece - $10
• Monochrome heart framed piece - $10
• Pooh framed piece - $10

• Red & green Christmas stocking ornament - $4
• Variegated blue footprint ornament - $4
• Blue floral ornament - $4
• Variegated pink footprint ornament - $4
• Variegated blue handprint ornament - $4
• Variegated green ornament - $4
• Green/cream & gold ornament - $4
• Variegated red/orange/yellow ornament - $4
• Pink & silver sequined ornament - $4
• Red & gold diamond ornament - $4
• Red & green "blackwork" ornament - $4
• Red & gold floral ornament - $4

• Yellow framed fish - $6
• Pink hand towel with burgandy "blackwork" design - $15
• Blackwork bookmark - $5
• Cherry pie pot holder - $6 SOLD
• White floral hand towel - $15
• White and pink "blackwork" cushion - $15
• Ladybug bookmark - $4 (has a couple of very faint marks on it)
• Variegated purple bookmark - $5
• Blue framed helicopter - $6

• Variegated blue "Feed me!" bib - $10
• Aqua t-shirt size 0, featuring a dog holding 2 balloons - $10
• Green gingham cat bib - $10
• Royal blue t-shirt size 1, featuring a pale blue elephant - $10
• Apple green t-shirt size 1, featuring a "cheeky monkey" design - $10

• "Big boy boxers" framed piece - $10
• Breast cancer ribbon framed piece - $10
• "Nobody is perfect" framed piece - $10
• "Big girl panties" framed piece - $10
• "Viola" framed piece - $10

• "Eeyore" blank papercraft greeting card - $3
• Tulip blank greeting card - $3
• Cottage blank greeting card - $3
• Turtle blank greeting card - $3
• Floral blank greeting card - $3
• Clematis blank greeting card - $3
• Cow blank greeting card - $3

My WIP

Until recently I have been the type of stitcher who starts a project, works on said project, and finishes the project. I can't imagine working in rotation, or having a WIP list as long as my arm. (But never say never!) I've got 2 designs on the go at the moment because I started a small project for carting around with me. It's much easier to work on something simple and small in the car, or at karate, or wherever I might be.


Yellow Awareness Ribbon - I started this one last night, using a scrap of white evenweave and some discontinued variegated yellow thread. This is to be donated to the bushfire survivors closer to Christmas time, as a yellow ribbon has come to symbolise the tragic bushfires earlier this year.

Bunny Baby from Ellen Maurer-Stroh. It's a quilt square and the completed quilt is to be donated to a wildlife rescue organisation to raffle or sell for much needed funds. I started this a few weeks ago I think. It's truly not an evil bunny, it just looks that way without eyes, LOL.