I May Have a Problem, Part 2

Cross stitch.  I'm addicted.  That's all I wanted to do last year and it's all I want to do this year.  I've already featured some projects I got completed this year, with the baby announcement being the largest.  I do, however, take solace in the fact that I'm not as addicted as some of the people in the Stitch Maynia Facebook group I belong to.  They amaze me with the Heaven And Earth Designs that they tackle.  They are beautiful but sooooo detailed and using hundreds of colours.  I'm very intimidated by HAEDs so I don't see myself ordering one.  They have a beautiful Ravenclaw-themed one but it has 88 colours, all in blue, bronze & grey.  I'll just have to admire that on the internet cause I'm not ordering it.  

This is my longest work in progress (WIP).  It's so old that my dad was still alive when my parents bought it for me for Christmas in 2002.  I worked on it all that following spring but the frustration level with all the colour changes forced me to put it down by May 2003.  I picked it up again in 2005 and stitched the whole sky, then I did the bottom border so that at least I could see how much left I had to do.  I'd really like to finish it though.  Now that I don't live in Washington anymore, I'd like to have a reminder of the mountain I so desperately miss.

I just started this one for my friend Fernanda.  I made the other Hummel design for her last summer and she asked me if I would do this one for her.  

I haven't made much progress on the dragon because I've messed up the count so bad that I got frustrated and put it away about 3 years ago.  I'm not even sure where I messed up anymore. 

Just started this one too and I've messed this one up somehow, where the thread is trailing from.  I put it away to start the baby announcement before I figured out where I miscounted.

Four beaded cross stitch kits to do.  One Halloween themed and 2 winter themed.  These shouldn't take too long to do.

The hippie pattern won't take long either.  I want to make one for me and one for my friend Miki.  I am also eager to start the orcas.  I have all the floss for it but I need a larger piece of Aida cloth than any I have in my stash.

I can't remember where or how I scored the Butchart Gardens pattern but there is more than just that inside that little booklet.  There are at least 3 Victoria designs and I want to do them all.  I also couldn't resist that nature pattern on the right.

Two more Victoria BC pattern books with 3-4 inside each one.

And of course I had to buy patterns of all the states I've lived in (Maine was for my first two years of college).

I want to do all four pretty much as they are laid out in the two pictures, but it's going to require some math calculations that I'm not sure I can do without a lot of mulling, a calculator, pencil and paper.

Here's another one I bought about 10 years ago and forgot about.  I was surprised to see it surface in my needlework box as I dug for Mt. Rainier.  

These are embroidery patterns.  I got the small one in a thrift shop.  It was started and has all the yarn in it but I'd like to finish it.  Marsha found the bottom runner (it's longer than shown) in her mom's stuff and asked if I wanted it.  I'd need to get all the yarn but I bet it will be pretty.

So many kits, so little time!

April Is Getting Away From Me....

It's been a very chilly month with snow and cold wind.  Haven't done any spring cleaning or pruning outside.  I was busy cranking on a cross stitch I started in mid-March and finished that the first part of April.  I made it for my stepson & stepdaughter in law in Ohio.  

I pulled out this watch face when I was doing the resin crafts, found the back for it and decided to just fill it with some Swarovski crystal beads and glued the back on.  

There was a Pinterest pic going around also on Facebook, for 'glow stick bubbles'.  Filled a jar with the bubble solution and cut open the glow stick.  It worked great at first but the glow chemicals faded almost immediately.  

I added a second glow stick and ran outside to blow the bubbles before the light faded out.

The wand in the jar.  Unfortunately the bubbles themselves didn't glow at all.  I suspected that the walls of the bubbles would be too thin to see and that was the case.  I don't recommend cutting open glow sticks.  I've done it before and the stuff smells bad and you can't help having it spill or drip on stuff.

Had a stunning sunset on the 12th after pouring rain all day.

Still working on my calendar project and started a new cross stitch.  Pepper's not doing well at all so that's had me really down as well.  And on top of that, I've been bone weary exhausted, having bouts of anxiety and not sleeping well either.  Seriously been a 'blah' month.  Hopefully things will get better when we get some consistent days of warm weather.

I May Have a Problem, Part 1

I used to colour all the time, back before the internet and cell phones took over our lives.  I do have a (sort of) excuse in that back in Washington, I had a reclining love seat and was able to spread out all my pens and pencils next to me.  Here, I have a recliner and nowhere to put the pens and pencils, unless I want to hunch over the TV or craft table.

So the colouring books have started to accumulate and I keep promising myself NO MORE, then a new Harry Potter one comes out and I have to put it on my Amazon Wish List.  

This is my stash.  My daughter in law gave me the tiny book and Snowflakes one.  The top right is a Jody Bergsma Artbook.  I will have to look up the sites in San Francisco online and colour them based on the pics.

There's a new Harry Potter one that just came out that I have to get....

I bought all three of Johanna Basford's.  These are super detailed. 

Since the Victorian Houses one are actual houses, I have to look them up online, and colour them accordingly.

I started Out Of This World like 3 years ago and I'm having so much trouble with the ink bleeding through the pages.  It's been frustrating so I haven't worked on it in awhile.  But my OCD won't let me start a new book until that one is done.  

My count is 17 total, with just one started.  I just can't let myself get anymore till I make a dent in these!!!

I really thought we were done with winter.  I was skeptical when I saw snow in the forecast for Sunday, especially since it was so mild the day before.  But snow it did, big white puffy snowflakes. The biggest we've ever seen.  They were the size of cotton balls.  It was extremely windy though and my power flickered a lot for about an hour.

It stopped mid day and by late afternoon, almost all the snow was gone.  Got up on Monday and it had started again.  I didn't want to cancel my appt in Plymouth so I drove up there in sloppy, slushy conditions, especially on the side roads.  I was never so happy to get home safely.  So many more errands to do but I wasn't going back out again.  We were told it would change to rain by 2 pm.

But it didn't change to rain.  It snowed all day long and into the early evening.  Needless to say, I was not amused.  

At least it was done by Tuesday so that I could get out and finish everything that needed to be done. The melt started around noon and the icicles were pretty.

All the flowers and budding trees are covered in snow and I hope they don't die.

Those icicles were running a steady stream of water.  You can see narrow flowing water on the bottom, and a big droplet falling from the one on the right.

At least it will melt very quickly, but I sure hope we're done!

Resin Castings

There is definitely a learning curve to this resin stuff.  For one, I've now learned that I should've sealed the paper in clear packing tape so that it wouldn't get wet and turn dark.  The only one that still looks the same as before the stuff was poured on top is the pink/orange/red/yellow piece.  

For these cabochons, I used metal flowers, glitter and beads.  These came out the best.

That's a big marble on the left.  The center one is a blue bead but it was jammed so far into the mold that the resin didn't get under it so the top is flat.  The same thing happened with the glitter one on the right.  

These are old watch faces and backs for the most part.  Picture isn't that great.  The top one has a cubic zirconia in the center of a decorative watch face.  Then a turtle with blue beads.  2 watch backs with paper, the one in the center right is a cupcake.  The last row is a frame charm & watch face with paper inside.

These were my failures.  I started this project slowly and carefully, mixing the right proportions of resin and hardener, stirring then letting it rest before pouring.  However by the end of this project, I was sticky, the pouring cup was sticky, the bottles were sticky and I just wanted it done.  Unfortunately this meant very sloppy mixing and pouring.  As a result, these 4 pieces never cured.  3 marbles and a square pendant, hopelessly pliable and sticky.  I had to throw them out.  There was no way to salvage them.

I'll work with it again at some point but right now I'm in no big hurry to make another mess and have it taking up all the counter space in the kitchen while it cured.  In the meantime I should probably read and/or watch some tutorials.