Thursday 29 December 2016

Final Finish of the Year

I did the year end round up last blog, but I have two more finishes  to add, I finished the quilt and snowman that I turned into an ornament and then sold to a co-worker for them to use for their secret Santa gift
And the Owl Baby announcement thingy for my nephew’s son is done.  Of course his sister had a baby Christmas eve so I have another one to make, but I couldn’t find anything I like so I’m attempting to design it myself.
I have started one more small for the year, a little mandala, not likely to finish before new year’s but it shant take too long,
New Year’s day I will start the fractal, I’m looking forward to it so much,
So happy rest of the holidays to everyone, here’s to lots of stitching in the new year.

As for what I watched.
Gilmore Girls  S05-18 to S07-14  The bingeing continues

Christmas in Connecticut - Cute and funny and  a must watch every year

White Christmas - One of my favorite movies, period.








A Christmas Carol - The best version, we were a day late in watching it this year

Sense8 - A Christmas Special - Setting up for what should be a great second
season







Top Hat - Cute little romance with mistaken identities, which is really just an excuse for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to dance beautifully.  The funny thing about this is, I swore I had seen this movie and while I know the music, this is after all where Dancing Cheek To Cheek comes from, I, in no way recognize the story, How did I miss seeing this before?


Friday 16 December 2016

WIPocalypse Year End Round Up

No finish this week, but both my projects are really close,

and there is even a small possibility of one more before the new year if I choose something small, and then it will be onto the fractal, I have done very well in delaying it till 2017

The WIPocalypse question of the month is -  Recap your accomplishments for the year! (Your finishes, your final before/after photos, etc).

I have so many finishes this year compared to most, I finished the Magical ornaments,
a bunch of Christmas smalls,




 a baby thing,
a chess pilllow,
and Mulan,
Of course the big finish of the year was the two year long project of Cindy, who I never tire of looking at.



As for what I watched.
Critical Role - The almost conclusion of the Chroma Conclave arc, but now we have to wait till January to see what happens.. Cliffhangers everywhere.

Gilmore Girls - S04-15 to S05-18

Santa Claus 2 and 3 - Two is one of my all time favourite Christmas movies





The Polar Express - The holiday train came through town the night we watched this

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - It’s not Christmas until you watch this







The Muppet Christmas Carol - Really it’s perhaps the best version other than the Alistair Sim on, which is watched as close to Christmas as possible.


Friday 2 December 2016

Whatever happened to....

Whatever happened to the Movie Project you ask, actually you didn’t, but I do, I was so ready to watch all my movies, so many movies. It was three years ago now that I started and I’m only a third of the way through and haven’t watched any at all in the last couple weeks, I got out of the habit of watching one a day, Several things kept interrupting me and then my schedule kept shifting and I couldn’t always figure out where to fit the movie in. But it has not died, the “T’s” are lined up and ready to go, so maybe next year I’ll get a rhythm going again. Wish me luck

I have two updates and a finish this time.  My month of smalls has been a lot  fun, the current small is a little larger than the last couple, I am doing this one on 25ct 2 over 1. Most of the large HAED and similar patterns call for the 25ct and since I have 5 such patterns, I thought I would try it out on a small project, have to say I rather like working with it,



An update on the Owl is more than over due, but as we go into Christmas movie season it will go faster, hopefully the baby will get it before their first birthday.


My finish is this cute little penguin card that was a free kit from The World of Cross Stitching magazine, not sure if it’s from one I bought or one that Carla sent me, either way, it’s cute.


As for what I watched.
Critical Role

Gilmore Girls - S03-14 to S04-14  Bingeing continues in fine form




Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Christmas season has begun

Santa Claus - Usually the first Christmas movie of the season an this year is no exception

Saturday 19 November 2016

November WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse for November: the question is What pattern (or designer) is on your must-try-to-stitch bucket list?
I think the designer that I most want to do next is Ursula Michaels designs, those pretty word pictures.  Me being me though  I have this vague plan of changing all the words, but not the design to make them suitable to give as gifts to the Critical Role stars, cause that’s fun, but  this would be a very long project and  who knows how long the show will run.  Maybe at least one for Marisha as she seems to love embroidery,

 I’m really enjoying this whole do small projects till the end of the year thing, though I don’t know if I’ll actually last that long. I am itching to start the fractal.
I finished the ornament for the secret Santa at work, much earlier than last year when I started after the names were given and it came out so pretty


Now onto a tiny penguin for a card
I’ll have pics up of the owl next journals



As for what I watched.
Critical Role:

Attack on Titan E06-25  What a great show, this is all Netflix has, don’t know if there is more or not., but I loved it.

Gilmore Girls S02 E06 - S03 E13  So I’ve been bingeing this one lately, it
took me a while to get into it, but I’m going great now






The Great British Bake Off - I have no idea which season, the Knowledge Network just throws random seasons at us,  but Mom and I love this show, not the greatest to stitch to as I like to watch the techniques used

Doctor Strange - Marvel’s consistency continues, this one was fun

Saturday 5 November 2016

Dala

As promised, I decided to do a few small things before starting my next BAP.  Given the time of year it should come as no surprise that I'm making ornaments.  First up, a little Dala horse.
Approx 4"x 4" on 14ct perforated paper
Three floss colours and 5 bead colours
Started designing October 26th, not sure when I started actually stitching it. Finished November 3rd
I made this one for an entry into the Stitching Pirates Tiny Toys contest, as I judge I can't win, but it's fun to participate. When  I decided to "enter" the contest, these little horses came to mind, with a Swedish Father they are all around the house and I played with them when I was a kid, so I went looking for patterns, there are quite a few and I liked none of them, so I made my own.  Dad has already claimed this one and asked when I will do a blue one to go with it.

As for what I watched - it will return next blog

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Mucha Mulan




She's finished, my glorious Mulan, the details are as follows
Hannah Alexander's Mucha Mulan
Pattern by Pinky at  Make it Pink 
23”x8” on 32ct “Peach Poppies” Wexford Linen from Silkweaver Fabrics
31 solid colours, 21 blended
Full stitch, ¾ and ¼ stitch, some one over one, a ton of backstitching and some beading,
Started February 10th ,2014 Finished October 25th 2016,
I don't know if she seemed fast to do because she was, or whether every BAP from now on will be compared to Cindy,
My next BAP will be the Fractal, but I think I'll wait till January first to start that one, and do some smaller projects for the next couple months, I want to do a Dala horse ornament, finish Hedwig, figure out what to make for my neice's baby announcement, make an ornament for works secret santa and check the LIST for what I should be planning.,

Monday 17 October 2016

Final WIP

Just a quick update, and WIPocalypse question of the month.
 Thanksgiving at the bakery was survived and quite successful in fact, Thanksgiving at home was delicious.
The question of the month is
 What online stitching communities do you enjoy?  I'm not a horrible active person in communities, there are a couple on facebook that I pop in on now and then, however I am highly involved with the DeviantArt group Stitching Pirates and have been a member there literally since day one.  This is where I found my amazing group of stitching friends, a friendship that has gone far beyond a group of fellow crafters.

I have a bit done on Hedwig,
but have been concentrating on Mulan, this will be the final WIP pic of her, next time you hear from me she will be finished.
As for what I watched.
Art by Requiem Man
Critical Role - DRAGON

Luke Cage - S01 - All of it. - Power Man and Iron Fist were some of my favourite comics growing up, so I’ve been looking forward to this one , and it was worth the wait. Especially the actor they got to play Luke, he’s so well cast.







Gilmore Girls,- S02 E03-E05 - I like it, but only in small doses

Attack on Titan  S01 E01- E5  I haven’t watched any new  anime in a long time, I started with this one because it looked good and some of my Critical Role people dub it.  However this is the subtitled version, so no Matt Mercer and no stitching, good show though.




Ender’s Game - A wonderful dark and well written sci-fi movie.


To Catch a Thief - I love caper movies and this is Hitchcock so even better, A former thief sets out to catch the cat burglar that is impersonating him. Also I want a Barbie of every dress Grace Kelley wears.

Thursday 29 September 2016

October Chaos

I’m in the calm before the storm work wise.  The main baker has surgery on Friday and will be off for 4 to 6 weeks, meaning I will be back up baker as the present back up will be taking over, except he has a funeral he must go to on Thanksgiving weekend, the second biggest food holiday of the year and I will be the only baker there Ack!!!! Which means for the next month or so I will be back on my early morning shifts, so no Jeopardy, lots of naps, and possibly no watching Critical Role live sighhhhhhhhhhh.

On the other hand , Hedwig is finally coming along well

a
And I finished the cross stitching on Mulan, now onto the backstitching.



As for what I watched.

Critical Role - Are you supposed to get emotionally devastated by a fictional show?

Galavant  - All of it, what a lot of fun this one was and essentially a season is the length of a long movie so quick to watch and enjoy


Executive Decision - A Die Hard type movie, a plane is taken hostage and a team of experts have to take out the bad guy and of course they have along the one guy that is just there to give them information that of course has to end up landing the plane,  It’s a cliché from start to finish, but still a good adventure. 

Eight Below - Through unfortunate circumstances, eight sled dogs get left behind in the Antarctic and this is the story of their survival and the attempts to rescue them it’s a wonderfully heart-warming story and holds a special place in my heart as it’s one of the very few movies that can make me cry.

Bad Co. Live At Wembley - A concert DVD. I became of mild fan of Bad Co. because of Supernatural, and then a friend talked me into going to their concert (it didn’t take much talking) and they were phenomenal so I bought this DVD cause why not.

Ella Enchanted - Another take on Cinderella, in this case poor Ella is given the gift of obedience by a fairy  and must do everything she is told. Including killing the prince.