Updates! Life keeps taking over!

Life, huh.

Still crazy.

Still super busy.

My last post I mentioned working on a second birthday present. I have 7 days to finish and frame it.

I started my course this week as well.

4 days a week, starting at 9.30am for 5 hours each day.

Doesn't seem like a huge deal, but I'm having issues with my insomnia and sleep habits.

So it's been pretty full on.

Not to mention we're playing classroom roulette, because the classrooms and staffroom for the communities sector are closed off.

Thanks to all those crazy storms, we have sections of roof that have collapsed.

So we don't have actual classrooms, we end up having to find out when we get there in the morning.

Other downsides include the lifts being out of order as well.

Looking like a 3-6 week wait for them to be repaired, and that's only if we don't have anymore storms.

The course itself is looking to be interesting, and a little fun at the moment.

I know it won't always be, I know there are going to be some things that pop up that will be a little uncomfortable, a little emotional.

But it's all part of learning to help people.

As for stitching, I've not done much. 

All my TAFE teachers have given me permission to stitch in classes, so I will get more done that way :)

But then I decided to take part in Stitch Maynia.

The crazy creation of Coffee Stitcher and A.Stitch.In.Time

15 new starts.

1 for each of the first 15 days in May.

I've picked my projects, picked out fabrics. 

I haven't photocopied working copies or floss picked, but I can do that each day.

The plan is to take pictures of each one, then I'm going to do blog posts and videos for them.

Just got to get used to studying again and settle into a routine.

So back to sporadic posts and videos :P

Some photos!

Terry Pratchett shirt <3 RIP Sir Pratchett

The storms hit here with sunlight, hail, winds and rain. 

Later there was rainbows, hail and lightning.

The floodway behind my house rose up really quickly. 

Thankfully it didn't get much higher than this.

Spider's don't like wet weather, they come indoors and eat other bugs.

This is a Spider Bro.

They typically don't bother humans, just other spiders and bugs.

Got this sharpener from TYPO.

Gotta use the butt :p

HAED Sale, of course I did :p

Cute little glass jars I can use as ORT jars

Andrew has finished the outline on his first project

Stitch Maynia plans

Best. cup. Ever.

I'm thinking of giving the ort jar away with the present because it looks pretty cool.

First project for Stitch Maynia

Second project for Stitch Maynia

How awesome would this be to cross stitch?

I'd just settle for the Spiderman part :p

St Patrick's Day SAL

I started my St Pat's SAL in March, and finished it yesterday.

Anyone who watched my last video knows about the floss related issue I had with this pattern, but apart from that it was really easy to stitch.

And now it's finished.
Only thing left to do is to get it framed.
Because it's a memorial piece I want it done properly, so now I have to find somewhere in Sydney that frames cross stitch.

My Grandfather was a great person and he meant a lot to me. Sadly he passed away late 2012.
His birthday was St Patrick's Day, so I thought about doing a memorial piece for the Stitch A Long with Cross Stitch It's Fun.
I trawled Pinterest and google until I found something that would be easy to modify, and wasn't too cliche'd.

So here it is :)
Unframed as of yet, but finished :)

I stitched this on 18 count aida, from Colour Cascades Fabrics on Silver Springs.
The flosses were from Weeks Dye Works, and if you want to stitch this one yourself, get yourself 2 skeins of the green colour, Lucky. I used all but four strands of a short length for this.

I made a Q Snap cover!

First time I've used a sewing machine since 2001 and that was for maybe 4 hours in total. 

Now to learn to switch the threads so I won't have to stitch everything in white...

Recent Finish - WOCS Sampler SAL

This was a Stitch A Long by The World of Cross Stitching Magazine from last year.

By the time I had started quite a few people had finished so I just stitched at my own pace.

I challenged myself with this project as well by not making a working copy.

I wish I had of, because Illidan (Mr kitty who hasn't learnt not to jump on my desk yet) knocked over a small drink and then clawed some the pages when he freaked and jumped off.

So the pattern isn't quite usable anymore.

I made a few mistakes in this, mostly with miscounting or mixing colours up, but there is only one that is outwardly noticeable.

But I did enjoy this project, it was fun to stitch, and this big, tough goth girl loves the flowers :p

This was stitched on 14 count hand dyed fabric.

The fabric is 'Silver Springs' by Colour Cascades :)

Older finishes

I took some photos of some of my older finishes from the last few years. 

I tend to give them away as gifts most of the time, so I don't have too many finished pieces laying around.

But here are some of the ones I do have, and some backs.

So you can giggle at how atrocious some of them are!

:p

This is a small Misfits logo stitched in glow in the dark thread, which I cut out and glued onto the canvas.

I met the Misfits when they played Sydney last and got them to sign it for me :)

This was a card kit from the Cross Stitch Magic magazine that used to be in circulation in Australia.

The card is pretty dodgy, I will be getting some card stock soon to cover the back up better.

This is a better card, also from a magazine.

Another stitched canvas piece, this time for musician Otep.

Also signed by the artist :)

Illidan stitched on plastic canvas

Sparkly aida!

This is the first ever cross stitch project I ever did.

Yeap.

I went big straight out the gate.