A Teeny Hallowe'en Blog Hop!

Helloooo, blogland~ I hope you guys are ready for another fun Blog Hop courtesy of our Spooktacular Hostess, Jo! I've been remarkably (regrettably) remiss with blogging this latter part of the year but how can I miss these fun hops?!  If you're happening upon my post randomly, please start your journey at Jo's blog to collect the letters in order~

Google-y Oogley

This year I accomplished a tiny finish of a Mill Hill kit. I bought this in a thrift store when visiting my Grandma last year, and I brought it back to her house this year to work on! Grandmas make enthusiastic observers and she was suitably impressed with the tiny beads, teasing me for stitching with "grains of sand".

Wendy's Rosey's cat

Obviously I had to have this one because of the black cat, right!  I really liked the black "rainbow" beads.  It's like they were a beaded oil slick of color.  This is the first Mill Hill I've worked on where it had one of the special, fancy beads (the pumpkin collar charm).  Of course I made a few minor changes because what's a piece without personalization~?  I regret not using more floss though.  The kit suggested using three strands for the cross-stitches but I like my loop starts.  This has been done in two strands and hindsight being 20/20, I should've gone up to four strands.  There were definitely enough materials to do so!  So kitty looks a little bald in spots haha~  It's mostly noticeable here in the photos; it's not bad in person.

oil slick black beads

To finish it off, I glued (eeeeek!) some black felt to the back to hide protect the stitches, and then attached the magnet that came with the kit.  I considered making this another ornament finish but now I can decorate my fridge for Hallowe'en instead of an ornament tree that I don't have. Win/win!

Technical Details

• "Wendy's Cat" - MH18-5206, a counted glass bead kit by Mill Hill.
• Perforated paper, teeny tiny beads (most were petites), magnet.
• Started October 4, 2019; finished October 18, 2019; unknown hours.

🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃💀👻🎃
And of course, you're here for the letter!

capital i, not lowercase L!

So ghoul your way on to the next haunting, which is Tiffstitches a Blog! She always has some awesome Hallowe'eny stuff.   Since I schedule these posts for the early morning hours, I'll come back and edit the links to go to the specific pages once they're (and I'm!) up.

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

Easter Treasure Hunt - A Blog Hop!

Hooray, it's time for Jo's Easter Blog Hop! Please start at her blog and hop around like the little bunny you are and collect the letters.  Spring is Best Season so of course any excuse is good to work up more seasonal goodies for this hop.

old readers - remember these guys?

Here is my contribution for this year! I actually wasn't sure I would be able to get anything done due to a whole lotta life happening this past month but I did manage to squeak in a finish just in time for the hop and last-second-begged asked to be included.

some flowers for you

Beads!  It is not my first beaded piece, though it is my first fully beaded piece!  What a fun thing to try.  This little kit was picked up in a thrift store (are you familiar with that phrase yet?) and has an option to make the piece into a brooch.  I do not think I am going to go that way as it is quite large for a brooch, at least, larger than I'd wear without fear of it getting damaged!  Instead I finished it off into a little hanging ornament to put out with other Easter decorations.  I like ornaments.  And seasonal decorations.

sparkly

There were a few small issues with this kit.  Veterans of older Mill Hill kits may know this but there was no way to tell what colors were what and of course they come all jumbled together.  I had to make Educated(?) Guesses about the differences between the various pinks and blues which all look mighty similar in the container although their differences are obvious worked up.  I found out early on I couldn't rely on the finished image either!  Oh well, we all like winging it, right? :D

Technical Details

• "Floral Bouquet" #MHSB10, a counted glass bead ornament kit by Mill Hill
• Perforated paper, glass beads
• Started: March 20, Finished: March 27, ~4 hours.  

And here's what you've all been waiting breathlessly for -- the letter!

the letter S

Thanks for stopping by! :D  I am the last stop so you should be heading back to Jo's blog to assemble your collected letters!  I hope you all have (had) a lovely Good Friday and a Joyous Easter!

As usual with these blog hops, I've scheduled this post to appear overnight here so the people in the future (read: the rest of the world) can have the post in a timely fashion.  I am also linking up with the Small SAL as this is really quite small!

Jo's 500 Followers Blog Hop - Vickie!

In celebration of Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching reaching an amazing 500 followers, she's having a little blog hop! A birdie (budgie?) pulled Vickie at A Stitcher's Story out of the hat for me to ramble on, how awesome is that~ :D

Vickie is new to me so after taking a peek at her blog the first thing I noticed was pink and poodles! I cannot escape pink!! ;) I must admit I don't have much experience with poodles as I am a Crazy Cat Lady. When I was a wee Rosey, my auntie had a mini one. Her toenails were always painted, usually a stunningly brilliant red. I'm not sure if that is advisable in the dog world but Missy lived to be a ripe old age and was spoiled rotten so I suppose it didn't bother her!

Another thing I noticed is that she loves her flowers! Yay!

African Violet - Pink!

A dear neighbor had the most magnificent collection of African Violets. Since they can be started from a leaf, she gave me a handful or two -- this is my only pink one!

Martha Washington Geranium - White & Pink!

And here we have a Martha Washington geranium. I also have the pinker version but it is currently very grumpy about being in a new pot and not showing off its lovely colors for you, Vickie!

I haven't stitched any poodley things and I definitely don't have anything that compares to the awesomelygiant Theotokos she stitched (without going crazy!) but all the beading on that project reminded me of Ruby Angel.

Framed, and in sunlight!

Beading was an interesting experience and I should probably be kept away from beading needles for my own safety. Ow!

I hope y'all enjoyed this momentary break from your productive fingers. I need to get back to the Magical Fall Housecleaning (a bit late, but I was waiting for the farmers to plow under the fields... and it never happened!!). I'll get an update on MMMM sometime this week when I can sit down again~

Framed, Fo' Realz!

Hello, hello! First of all, welcome to my new followers! It's so exciting to pop online (at a local library this time) and see more lovely stitchers! I am alive somewhatish and have some news! After the tragedy of the last post, I went on a desperate search for a way to fix that horrifying mistake.

My fabric is not PINK~!

I read up on lemon juice, salt, oxyclean, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and a whole other plethora of crazy advice and scandalized criticism (how dare I be so dirty my projects need washed?!). I like natural solutions so I decided to try the lemon juice and salt combo first. Yeah... That didn't go over so well. I think it actually made it worse! Aaaaaaa, I felt like I was going crazy! So frustrating that I dug out something I knew would work, and something that I can hear screams of horror from the stitching community -- bleach. Yes. I used bleach on my project. I tried it out on a corner of the project just to make sure no crazy shenanigans would happen and once I was convinced the fabric wouldn't dissolve or turn neon green, I got a trusty lil' Q-tip, dipped it water, then the bleach (so it wouldn't be quite so deadly) and suuuuuper carefully tapped around the area of disaster. I left it on for approximately 2 minutes before I started rinsing.

I rinsed. And I rinsed. When I was sure it was all rinsed away, I rinsed some more. Victory! I had no more pink fabric blob! A small casualty was a portion of offending floss against the stained area but as it is covered by a bead, not noticeable.

Goodbye, pink! :D

50 years from now there will probably be a terrible yellowed spot or a hole (Heaven forbid!) but perhaps the stitchers of the future will have discovered a restorative draught for pieces of the ancient past!

After it was ironed and dry, I set to work figuring out how to get it framed. I've never laced a project before (lolol, what project of mine has ever been framed, laaa~) but decided to give it a try. I used leftover bits of floss in random colors (I know something stronger would've been better but it is a small piece and I used what I had available). I think I did a fairly neat job given it was my first attempt. I had a lot of fun with clothespins and figuring out straight lines, ahaha.

Framed, and in sunlight!

Mandatory angle shot!

Who says stitching is a relaxing hobby, LOL!

Plus, just because he is so cute and I have no idea how on earth he finds this weirdo position comfortable, have a Peanut! He's sound asleep. With his head resting on his back right leg.

Kitty Yoga?

Thanks for stoppin' by! :D I'm so happy to have a framed project, who knows, it might kick my butt in gear and get everything else finished and framed (hah!). I forgot to take a picture of my TUSAL jar before coming to the library so that will have to be some other time (this weekend?).

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!!

Argh, Ruby Angel BLED. *cry* Of course I didn't discover it until after it was dry! It's sorta faint but still visible. I could probably fix it by stitching in another row of her dress as the pattern originally called for but but but!!! Maybe I could take some lemon juice to it...?

Lil' pink splotch, argh.

This makes me absolutely paranoid about washing FFVIII with all its red.

*sob*

A... Frame?! And TUSAL!

Hello, wonderful world~ There is actually a picture of stitching this time; don't y'all pass out at once! ;) I'm also including the July TUSAL (wat. it is still July thankyouverymuch.). Not much went in there as I went on a vacation and forgot to bring my travel stitch box (*cry*)!

Yet another C&H book! :D

I think I may have found a frame for a finish! It's (of course) a thrift store find and I thought it might be suitable for Miss Christmas Moth. It was found at the same thrift store the kit was picked up which is kind of amazing! Sorry for these horrible cell phone images but I was way too excited to wait for the weekend, haha. Don't mind the sticker gunk on the frame or the wrinkles on the stitches or the crookedlyness of it -- this was the "does it work?" test. I think it looks kinda nice in this frame (or am I decoratively challenged?) so yay!

The scrolls are cutout, not shiny!

I'm so pleased to have found a frame but now I have the problem of washing, mounting, centering, etc. I've never done anything like this before so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for looking! Yay, frame, yaaaaay~

Edited on August 05, 2012!

Christmas Moth, 終わりました！

I HAVE A PICTURE. One. I have no idea where the TUSAL pictures went. I remember taking them and then...???? Evaporated, apparently! I'll have to check on my mother's camera. But for now, on to the finish, woo!!

She is playing a fanfare of completion joy.

Isn't she lovely?!

Original pattern; find the differences!

I modified the pattern a little bit. I thought the extra robe on back was making her look a little awkward so I cut out a row of red/beads. That edit required me to adjust the arch width as well. I also extended the right side vines a tad. The two trailing lines weren't level in the original pattern and that bothered me. I think maybe I could've designed the vines a bit better (they look a little stiff), but I may or may not have been in the EEEEE, SO CLOSE TO FINISHING stage of excitement. ;)

AAA! I forgot her halo! LOL. Whoops, still not done. All aboard the Rosey FailBoat. Ahahah, just use your imagination and transpose the halo from the kit image onto mine, mkay?

TUSAL #1 & Christmas Moth Finish... For Now!

Hello, stitchers~

Yes, as the exciting title declares, I have TUSAL pictures and my beading project finished! Well, sorta finished. It's quite amazing how much not having Internet aids stitching (Reaper, you were right! XD). When Skyrim doesn't get in the way, of course. I love Blackmageheart's idea of stitching the achievement logos. I particularly like the Dragon Soul and the Standing Stones icons, probably because of their Celtic knot influence. But first I have to stop playing the game long enough to get more stitching done. 8D

And now, TUSAL~ Only a week after the full moon. If'n I'd been smart, I'd've taken the picture last weekend and set the posting for that day. But alas. :) My jar was found by rummaging around in my mother's old food shed. We think the bottle was originally for some sort of pickled good.

 

 

January TUSAL!

In there we have some gold and green and ecru ORTs from my finish as well as some bright red mystery thread I found on the carpet. I think it came from my guy's bathrobe but the birds will like it all the same!

Now for the beads! Tah-dah!

 

 

Show me some beads!

Wait... that's not finished...

...

I ran out of sparkly floss. You'll have to use your imagination to finish the arch until I can actually get replacement floss, haha. I decided to go ahead and do the backstitching and beading on the part that was finished. I was really curious about the "bead posies"...and I love them! I think they're the cutest little things and not at all difficult to stitch! They were a little difficult to anchor though; I can see from the scan one looks to be too loose.

I made a minor adjustment to the angel. Her robe would have had another row of red and beads behind the wing (see original here) but I thought it looked a little awkward and not at all graceful like I imagine Christmas moths to be. So, I cut out that row. I'll have to make adjustments to the arch as a consequence but that's not a big deal (or so I hope).

In retrospect, I believe I may have misinterpreted the directions. They stated: "Use 2 strands of floss for cross stitch, backstitch and beading. Use the gold metallic as it comes, do not divide." I didn't divide it, but I did double it up to use "2 strands" as I thought the directions meant. It's the only thing I ran out of despite being frugal with floss so I can only guess that was the problem!

I haven't any previous experience with Mill Hill kits but does anyone know if I can call/write to them and get some extra floss to finish the kit? I've read Dimensions will. It's an older kit (1995) so they might not honor a request, I dunno.

Anyway, happy, happy stitching for another week! I can't believe January is almost over already, eek~

Another week, another SAL update!

I'm just gonna jump right in with the pictures, haha.

Before!

After~ Not just a flying head!

Sorry for the ultra-bright picture! I used a different camera and was unfamiliar with the settings. I feel like I'm not making substantial progress on her but I'm so busy packing and flailing my arms around that it leaves very little time to stitch (or anything else, really)!

Because I left it on the hoop, you can just barely see my edge-binding method: painter's tape! I don't really like masking tape because it always seems to leave a funk behind on my projects. Painter's tape doesn't leave the funk, but it can be hard to stick to certain types of fabric. I seem to be too impatient to fold and baste my edges, haha. Well, that's all for today! I hope everyone has a lovely stitching atmosphere for the next week, too~!

Question and SAL Update!

We had a gorgeously heavy frost last night and the world is a million sparkles this morning. I love wintery sorts of times!

Question: Is there something going on with the blogger dashboard? Some journals randomly appear and disappear in my reading list (usually I have to refresh several times just to make sure I get them all and even then, I'm not sure). I like the streamlined look of the new blogger interface but it seems awfully buggy and counter-intuitive (unless the old one was this way as well and I hadn't used it long enough to notice?). Even on my blog itself, the minions members widget fluctuates between the number of followers, usually hiding the newest followers... and then showing them the next time.

SAL Update! I worked a little bit on my Christmas piece for Julie's SAL! Suddenly, it looks a bit less like a moth.

Maybe if I add antennae?

My beading is not quite exquisite, haha. I've worked a little past this point (very little); I'm filling in her robes. Which involve beads. SO MANY BEADS. I'm really impressed with how much a beaded piece weighs and I'm not even finished. I wonder if this would make a good choice for one of those no-sew cubes? I don't have any fabric though, so I guess I'll have to smile sweetly and bat my eyes for my guy to take me to a local quilting shop~ ;)