I hope you don't mind if I vent a bit. I know I do that an awful lot, but It's not something I can vent about to my family - they don't understand. So I rely on my stitchy friends to listen when something in the world of needles and threads is on my mind.
A friend brought my attention to a message board post, ranting about the materials designers use, and suggesting that designers are being paid to promote expensive threads and/or that we don't live in the real world.
Are you kidding me?
Would you tell a painter what kind of canvas or paint to use? Probably not. Can someone explain to me, what's the difference? Is what we do as designers not artwork?
I use what I enjoy using. I enjoy using silks. If I did as the people in that thread suggest, I wouldn't be a designer. Heck, I wouldn't even be a stitcher. I have a huge selection of threads to choose from, and when I pick a colour it's because to me, that colour is the absolute perfect colour for that part of the design. I test stitch like mad to determine what I like best, and I go with my heart when selecting the colours, in other words, the colours that make me fall in love with the design. I don't simply lay threads on fabric and say that'll do. I agonize for ages about what the perfect choices are. They may or may not be your favourite threads or colours, but this is a creative hobby. If you don't like them, but you like the design, you can change them to whatever you are happy with. I include a DMC conversion where possible, and if none exists, I'll suggest a colour in keeping with the overall theme of the design. Better still, you want to switch to something other than DMC? Drop me an email. I'm happy to help as best I can. If you want to use something I don't have on hand, I'll drive the 45 minutes to the LNS to do a comparison for you. I've done it before, I honestly don't mind. That said, I'm not required to do conversions, but I happily do them, because just as I'm addicted to silk threads and love using them, I understand that lots of people don't feel that way and are just as happy to use DMC or cotton overdyes. Or that some threads aren't as easily accessible as others, so I'll help in any way I can.
I do not get paid to use certain brands of threads, and I do not know anyone who does. Some of my model threads I get free from the dyer, some I pay wholesale price for, and some I pay retail price for. Fabric I pay retail or wholesale for. It depends on the brand I go with. Does the cost to me determine which one I use? Absolutely not. If something is the best colour available, I don't care how much it costs me to use, simply because it IS the best colour available for what I want to do. Period.
I DO live in the real world. I have invested a lot of my hard earned money on thread samples for test stitching. I have complete collections of several brands of thread on hand for that purpose, that I paid for. We live on a budget, yet I manage to do it just fine without running up the credit cards. If I want something badly enough, I'll save my money to get it. Why do I do that instead of just using cheap stuff? Because I don't enjoy the cheap stuff, I don't even use it for my personal stitching, so why would it be a consideration.
Would I sell more charts if I charted with DMC? Possibly, but that doesn't really matter to me, I have fun creating in my own way. I'm sorry, but DMC doesn't inspire me. I have a more or less full time job (30-40+ hours per week) and I do my designing in my spare time. I couldn't even consider giving up the day job, I'd starve to death. Income from designing goes straight back into the business on thread and fabric samples and materials for future projects. If I have enough left over, I might pick up a chart or a few threads for personal stitching, but most of my personal stitching stash comes from birthday or Christmas money. If I don't frame a model, it's because I can't afford to pay to have it done and still get stuff for the next model. I barely break even on what I spend on supplies and colour palettes so it's a choice of kitting up the next couple of designs or framing the current one and I opt for kitting the next one. I don't actually get paid for my time to create, model stitch and chart a design unless I sell hundreds of copies so maybe in five years I'll get paid for my time.
So why do I do it? Because it's fun to do and I enjoy it. When I read things like this, it totally turns me off, and I can understand why so many designers go out of business. You need a very thick skin in this business which I don't have, so I don't know how long I'll be able to do it. It's heartbreaking when you release a design that you have spent hundreds of hours on and you love with all your heart to hear nothing but complaints or nasty comments. But those comments when people say they love it do make it worth the effort. And regardless of whether anyone bought my designs or not, I'd STILL do it, because I enjoy doing it.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Busy, busy, busy
For the last few weeks I've been glued to the computer. With the temperatures climbing well into the 30's and humidity into the 40's it's just too hot to stitch much.
So what HAVE I been doing? Well, I've been finishing up a bunch of designs I'd started on, but hadn't finished. I've got 2 in the flower series ready to stitch (materials ordered), 2 more almost finished (materials ordered), 4 more started, and a new band sampler almost finished as well - spent the last four or five days on that one almost exclusively, and it's really starting to take shape, thanks to some friends for their help on dimensions and ideas. I really wanted to keep this one fairly narrow, a stitching friend of mine has problems with her shoulders and can't stitch anything too wide. She helps me out with so much, that I wanted her to be able to stitch at least ONE of my designs! I've ordered thread samples for this one too, and will definitely be diving into it as soon as they come. I can't decide on colourway for it, I may need to enlist some help with model stitching, so one of us can stitch the bright colourway, and one of us can stitch the more muted sampler colourway. I've also been hard at work researching antique lace patterns and converting them into cross stitch/specialty stitches for another new project I'm designing. So lots of new stuff coming. :)
It's been a bad month otherwise. I'm looking for a new job - somewhere where I'm actually appreciated. Long story short, after 3 months of hearing that they were waiting for authorization to fill the full time job at work, they filled it. And not with any of us from the department, store, or company, but someone from outside the store entirely. This after me spending months putting in overtime, taking extra shifts, giving up days off (including a weekend away for my birthday that we'd already paid for and missing my cousin's wedding). Since it happened I've taken a lot of time off work. I just don't care anymore. I took the weekend after I found out off - I was livid and didn't really want to be fired for saying something I shouldn't, and this weekend because I had a wicked migraine. I normally wouldn't have, but I don't feel like I owe them anything. I feel total contempt for the place now, but I can't be without a job, so I can't give my notice until I find something else. I'm not capable of being there and not giving 110% - that's just the way I am, but I feel stupid doing it. Not to mention having to train the new person - who, I'm sorry, is supposedly more qualified than all of us, so why should I? I just try and avoid it by staying totally away from her. BUT, I also can't be mean or spiteful, it's just not me. So I come home most days, have a good cry, and go back the next day and pretend everything's fine. I'm tired of pretending. Time to find something else.
Oh, I did have a stitching finish now that I think of it. I finished Jardin d'Jour by Needlemania. It's been a little over a year since Marc's passing, and I thought I'd honour him by finishing it. Will post a pic next time!
So what HAVE I been doing? Well, I've been finishing up a bunch of designs I'd started on, but hadn't finished. I've got 2 in the flower series ready to stitch (materials ordered), 2 more almost finished (materials ordered), 4 more started, and a new band sampler almost finished as well - spent the last four or five days on that one almost exclusively, and it's really starting to take shape, thanks to some friends for their help on dimensions and ideas. I really wanted to keep this one fairly narrow, a stitching friend of mine has problems with her shoulders and can't stitch anything too wide. She helps me out with so much, that I wanted her to be able to stitch at least ONE of my designs! I've ordered thread samples for this one too, and will definitely be diving into it as soon as they come. I can't decide on colourway for it, I may need to enlist some help with model stitching, so one of us can stitch the bright colourway, and one of us can stitch the more muted sampler colourway. I've also been hard at work researching antique lace patterns and converting them into cross stitch/specialty stitches for another new project I'm designing. So lots of new stuff coming. :)
It's been a bad month otherwise. I'm looking for a new job - somewhere where I'm actually appreciated. Long story short, after 3 months of hearing that they were waiting for authorization to fill the full time job at work, they filled it. And not with any of us from the department, store, or company, but someone from outside the store entirely. This after me spending months putting in overtime, taking extra shifts, giving up days off (including a weekend away for my birthday that we'd already paid for and missing my cousin's wedding). Since it happened I've taken a lot of time off work. I just don't care anymore. I took the weekend after I found out off - I was livid and didn't really want to be fired for saying something I shouldn't, and this weekend because I had a wicked migraine. I normally wouldn't have, but I don't feel like I owe them anything. I feel total contempt for the place now, but I can't be without a job, so I can't give my notice until I find something else. I'm not capable of being there and not giving 110% - that's just the way I am, but I feel stupid doing it. Not to mention having to train the new person - who, I'm sorry, is supposedly more qualified than all of us, so why should I? I just try and avoid it by staying totally away from her. BUT, I also can't be mean or spiteful, it's just not me. So I come home most days, have a good cry, and go back the next day and pretend everything's fine. I'm tired of pretending. Time to find something else.
Oh, I did have a stitching finish now that I think of it. I finished Jardin d'Jour by Needlemania. It's been a little over a year since Marc's passing, and I thought I'd honour him by finishing it. Will post a pic next time!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
And it's official...
Hearts Entwined is up on the European Crosstitch website, and officially available for sale. :)
Yes, I know, the picture is small. I've sent a bigger one to Cindy and Angie!
Though while I'm here, I suppose I could do that here too.
The chart is a big one - 23 pages of instructions and diagrams and tips on how to add your own bands of text to make it a wedding or anniversary sampler. Hope you like it!
Yes, I know, the picture is small. I've sent a bigger one to Cindy and Angie!
Though while I'm here, I suppose I could do that here too.
The chart is a big one - 23 pages of instructions and diagrams and tips on how to add your own bands of text to make it a wedding or anniversary sampler. Hope you like it!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Some finishes and a much needed vent!
Okay, I'll do the vent first and get it over with. Charting and instructions are sooooooo tedious. Sometimes I really wish I did more charts that were just cross stitch. It would save me ever so much time. I also wish I was a programmer and could come up with better and more efficient software. These are ridiculous.
It's been very hectic the past few weeks. Work is crazy and I'm working 5, 6, 7 (or more) day stretches with only one day off before the next one starts. When I do get a day off, I have stuff I have to do around here - housework, laundry, errands, so I don't get much done on the computer other than answer a few emails. I've been doing charting here and there when I have time, but I generally like to do it when I have at least 4 or 5 hours to devote to it and I have the house to myself. It requires a lot of concentration doing the diagrams and I don't like being distracted. If I only have an hour or two, I don't usually bother because I know I won't get much accomplished and I'll just be getting into the swing of things and have to stop. I have the whole weekend off work, plus TWO days off next week because of the July 1 holiday, so I'm hoping to finish it up then. I put in 8 hours today and I'm about 1/3 done, but a lot of the diagrams from here on are a bit simpler. I'd keep going but my brain needed to rest, I was messing things up terribly. Maybe I'll go back to it in a little while. :)
I have been stitching here and there, trying to put in an hour or two in the evenings, and I've managed a couple of finishes. Both, in their own way, were major PITA projects so I'm really glad to have them done and out of the way.
A few weeks ago I finished Blackstone Fantasy Garden. Why was this a PITA you may ask? Only because my total silk snobbery has me so spoiled that working with cotton gives me nightmares. It feels awful to the touch, like twine!! Anyway, this was my last official work done in cotton. Nothing left to finish. A few kitted that I'll likely sell the kits for and re-kit in silk. Also, it was done on 32 count lugana with 2 strands of thread. The only thing worse than cotton thread is multiple strands of cotton thread. Anyway, the particulars - Blackstone Fantasy Garden is an Ink Circles design, and I stitched it in the suggested colours of Carrie's Creations floss, on 32 count Parkland Lugana from Silkweaver. I am happy with the finish, it is gorgeous, and Tracy's choice of colours is fantastic, I'm just glad to be done with it. Colours are pretty accurate in the picture.
The other PITA I finished is Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds. Again, a lovely design, looks gorgeous finished. This one WAS stitched in silk, so why the groaning? CONFETTI. One stitch here. One stitch there. 2 stitches here. 3 stitches there. I had 2 choices - change colours of thread every second stitch, or try to stitch all of one colour in an area and have to count and count like crazy to find where the next stitch was. And because of all the confetti, it was really easy to miss one stitch here or there and have to pull that colour out again anyway. GRRRRRRRR. It did finish up very nicely, I'm happy I stitched it, it will look pretty on my wall, and I'm even happier I finished it because it drove me to distraction. Particulars for this one - I wanted to stay fairly close to the original colours but there was absolutely no way I was using cotton. So I converted the colours to HDF. Some are from the BE line, some are random d-bag skeins. And of course, I stitched it on 40 count so I could use ONE strand. Thank god, confetti and mutiple strands, I'd have probably burned it before I was through the first page. The fabric is Sassy's French Vanilla and it's gorgeous fabric. Highly recommended. Again, colours came out pretty accurate in the picture. For anyone wondering, I only used about half a 5 yard skein of each colour.
I had to put down EWS. I was working so much that it was hard to concentrate on something that intense, and white on white (or rather cream on cream) wasn't helping matters. Since finishing Quaker Diamonds last week (I think it was last week, days blur anymore - is it Saturday still?) I pulled out Alpine Seasons. Why oh why. More confetti, but at least this time I can be lazy if I want and carry floss behind because it's solid stitching. ;) I'm waiting for model threads for Forget Me Not and will start that when they get here. That one will be a breeze - it's all cross stitch.
I think I'll stitch some now. I worked hard today, I earned it. :)
It's been very hectic the past few weeks. Work is crazy and I'm working 5, 6, 7 (or more) day stretches with only one day off before the next one starts. When I do get a day off, I have stuff I have to do around here - housework, laundry, errands, so I don't get much done on the computer other than answer a few emails. I've been doing charting here and there when I have time, but I generally like to do it when I have at least 4 or 5 hours to devote to it and I have the house to myself. It requires a lot of concentration doing the diagrams and I don't like being distracted. If I only have an hour or two, I don't usually bother because I know I won't get much accomplished and I'll just be getting into the swing of things and have to stop. I have the whole weekend off work, plus TWO days off next week because of the July 1 holiday, so I'm hoping to finish it up then. I put in 8 hours today and I'm about 1/3 done, but a lot of the diagrams from here on are a bit simpler. I'd keep going but my brain needed to rest, I was messing things up terribly. Maybe I'll go back to it in a little while. :)
I have been stitching here and there, trying to put in an hour or two in the evenings, and I've managed a couple of finishes. Both, in their own way, were major PITA projects so I'm really glad to have them done and out of the way.
A few weeks ago I finished Blackstone Fantasy Garden. Why was this a PITA you may ask? Only because my total silk snobbery has me so spoiled that working with cotton gives me nightmares. It feels awful to the touch, like twine!! Anyway, this was my last official work done in cotton. Nothing left to finish. A few kitted that I'll likely sell the kits for and re-kit in silk. Also, it was done on 32 count lugana with 2 strands of thread. The only thing worse than cotton thread is multiple strands of cotton thread. Anyway, the particulars - Blackstone Fantasy Garden is an Ink Circles design, and I stitched it in the suggested colours of Carrie's Creations floss, on 32 count Parkland Lugana from Silkweaver. I am happy with the finish, it is gorgeous, and Tracy's choice of colours is fantastic, I'm just glad to be done with it. Colours are pretty accurate in the picture.
The other PITA I finished is Rosewood Manor's Quaker Diamonds. Again, a lovely design, looks gorgeous finished. This one WAS stitched in silk, so why the groaning? CONFETTI. One stitch here. One stitch there. 2 stitches here. 3 stitches there. I had 2 choices - change colours of thread every second stitch, or try to stitch all of one colour in an area and have to count and count like crazy to find where the next stitch was. And because of all the confetti, it was really easy to miss one stitch here or there and have to pull that colour out again anyway. GRRRRRRRR. It did finish up very nicely, I'm happy I stitched it, it will look pretty on my wall, and I'm even happier I finished it because it drove me to distraction. Particulars for this one - I wanted to stay fairly close to the original colours but there was absolutely no way I was using cotton. So I converted the colours to HDF. Some are from the BE line, some are random d-bag skeins. And of course, I stitched it on 40 count so I could use ONE strand. Thank god, confetti and mutiple strands, I'd have probably burned it before I was through the first page. The fabric is Sassy's French Vanilla and it's gorgeous fabric. Highly recommended. Again, colours came out pretty accurate in the picture. For anyone wondering, I only used about half a 5 yard skein of each colour.I had to put down EWS. I was working so much that it was hard to concentrate on something that intense, and white on white (or rather cream on cream) wasn't helping matters. Since finishing Quaker Diamonds last week (I think it was last week, days blur anymore - is it Saturday still?) I pulled out Alpine Seasons. Why oh why. More confetti, but at least this time I can be lazy if I want and carry floss behind because it's solid stitching. ;) I'm waiting for model threads for Forget Me Not and will start that when they get here. That one will be a breeze - it's all cross stitch.
I think I'll stitch some now. I worked hard today, I earned it. :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Oooooh.... new silks!
I was checking my facebook this morning and I noticed a link to Valdani and the word SILK. So of course I had to check it out!! I LOVE their colours, but of course I'm a total silk snob. So far it's just perle #12 - well actually it's AVAS Soie Perlee, which is somewhere between a #8 and #12 - and just a few colours, but I'll be keeping an eye out for the possible and hopeful addition of silk floss in their lovely colours! Just what I need, another company doing silk. My bank account won't be happy!
I also noticed that Threadworx has started dying Soie D'Alger and Vineyard Silk. Given that I love both of those, I'll definitely be picking up some of each of those. Only 20 colours in each so far, but I'll also be keeping an eye out. Really bright vibrant colours btw - and the food related colour names are making me hungry!
Other notes... I've started work on the chart and instructions for Hearts Entwinted. Yes, I finally decided on a name for it. :) Time permitting, it should be ready by the end of the month. Work is crazed right now, so it's a bit tough to put a date on it.
I've finally decided on colours for the next two designs and possibly the two after that. There are still four more I need to pick stuff for, but I figure I've got a bit of time. lol I suppose it's about time given that I've had the fabric here for ages and ages. Strangely enough, after a lot of back and forth, asking opinions, and general indecision, after test stitching the colours I chose were the ones I'd originally picked out months ago.
I got some stash for my birthday! Between money, gifts and gift certificates, it was a pretty good year. lol It felt SOOOOO good to buy something that wasn't for a model! It's been a few months since I could. I got the two celtic charts from Needle's Prayse and the threads to stitch them with. I'm sure I have a piece or two of linen I can use around here somewhere. ;) Surprisingly, I'm stitching them in the suggested NPI colours. I love how they look in the pictures, so really no need to change them. Plus, I've become re-addicted to NPI lately, they stitch so nicely.
I also picked up the newest colours of Gloriana and Dinky Dyes to keep my collections up to date. Just watch, the day they arrive, there will be MORE new colours. lol Really curious to see what they look like IRL, they all look so pretty online! I never thought, I should have ordered a few skeins of the Gloriana Florimel silk too - I want to compare it to the regular silk and see if there is a big difference in how the colours dye up.
And I started another new one. I finally caved and started the English Whitework Sampler. I was going to use Valdani on it but then Vikki put hanks of perle on sale so I'm doing it in Examplar White Chocolate on Ivory Ricamo linen. In retrospect, the Ricamo may have been a silly choice, it's not very well suited to pulled work - because it's so dense, it's a bit tough to get the holes to open well, I probably should have gone with something more open. But alas, it's started now, and I'm down to the first band of eyelet alphabet. You'd think after Hearts Entwinted I'd be sick of eyelets, but I'm still enjoying them.
It was actually a stupid mistake on my part that made me start it in the first place. I had gone to mom's for my birthday dinner, and of course she insisted I take H.E. so she could see it finished, and my test stitching for the next ones so she could "approve" my choice of colours. While I was rushing around trying to get ready to go, I just shoved it into a project bag that was on my stitching table. The project bag also had in it the threads for Blackstone Fantasy Garden, because that was what I had been working on. So why was that cause for a new start? Because I'm a dolt and forgot it at mom's. She was happy because that meant she got to take H.E. to work and show it off, but I really wanted to finish BFG!! So to cheer myself up, I started EWS. The project bag is home now, but since I've already got EWS in the q-snaps, I see no need to change it. lol
TANGENT ALERT - Does the acronym BFG remind anyone else of Doom or am I the only one? I've heard talk that a new Doom game is in the works, and I'm SOOOO excited. I've spent thousands of hours of my life on those games, it's one of my all time favourites. They really messed up on the movie though. While it was okay, and the first person bit was really cool, why the heck did they have to change the story??? The story in the game was that during teleportation experiments on Mars, they accidentally open a portal to Hell, which turns the surrounding marines into various sorts of zombies and lets in a host of other demons, which you have to destroy before they are able to invade earth. Great plot, and pretty darn scary, especially the levels in Hell. In the movie, the "demons" are the result of genetic experiments. Would have been an okay plot if it was a standalone movie, but not when you're basing it on a hugely popular game which people the world over know and love. But I digress...
I also have to report that my mother got me one of the coolest gifts I could ever have imagined. She got me an emerald. It's absolutely beautiful. My aunt was on a trip to Colombia recently and my mom asked her to bring one back for me. :) Now I need to decide, ring or pendant? She also got me a wind up alarm clock, which had me in hysterics. One of the joys of living in a small town is that everytime we get a thunderstorm, the power goes out at least once or twice. Every clock in my house is electric, except the battery powered clock on the wall that's needed new batteries for a year. And each time we get a nighttime storm, I call mom and ask if she'll phone me in the morning to wake me up - just in case the power goes out while I'm asleep and I lose my alarm clock. This has been a ritual since I moved here, and I think she finally got tired of it.
Speaking of weather, what is up with it???? We had an unseasonably warm winter, not much snow to speak of this year. Spring started pretty early, March was pretty much above zero. April we had a couple weeks of very nice weather, and then a couple weeks of hot, hot weather. May started out terribly - rain, rain, and more rain, and very cold. Then all of a sudden, two weeks ago it got hot and humid - like hovering around 30 hot with humidity pushing it into the high 30's. Now we get weather that hot quite frequently over the summer, but it feels so much worse right now because there was just no gradual change. It literally went from cold to hot in the span of two days. The rain today seems to have cooled it down a touch, hopefully we get some nice low 20's for a while.
That's it for today's novel. And they all lived happily ever after.
I also noticed that Threadworx has started dying Soie D'Alger and Vineyard Silk. Given that I love both of those, I'll definitely be picking up some of each of those. Only 20 colours in each so far, but I'll also be keeping an eye out. Really bright vibrant colours btw - and the food related colour names are making me hungry!
Other notes... I've started work on the chart and instructions for Hearts Entwinted. Yes, I finally decided on a name for it. :) Time permitting, it should be ready by the end of the month. Work is crazed right now, so it's a bit tough to put a date on it.
I've finally decided on colours for the next two designs and possibly the two after that. There are still four more I need to pick stuff for, but I figure I've got a bit of time. lol I suppose it's about time given that I've had the fabric here for ages and ages. Strangely enough, after a lot of back and forth, asking opinions, and general indecision, after test stitching the colours I chose were the ones I'd originally picked out months ago.
I got some stash for my birthday! Between money, gifts and gift certificates, it was a pretty good year. lol It felt SOOOOO good to buy something that wasn't for a model! It's been a few months since I could. I got the two celtic charts from Needle's Prayse and the threads to stitch them with. I'm sure I have a piece or two of linen I can use around here somewhere. ;) Surprisingly, I'm stitching them in the suggested NPI colours. I love how they look in the pictures, so really no need to change them. Plus, I've become re-addicted to NPI lately, they stitch so nicely.
I also picked up the newest colours of Gloriana and Dinky Dyes to keep my collections up to date. Just watch, the day they arrive, there will be MORE new colours. lol Really curious to see what they look like IRL, they all look so pretty online! I never thought, I should have ordered a few skeins of the Gloriana Florimel silk too - I want to compare it to the regular silk and see if there is a big difference in how the colours dye up.
And I started another new one. I finally caved and started the English Whitework Sampler. I was going to use Valdani on it but then Vikki put hanks of perle on sale so I'm doing it in Examplar White Chocolate on Ivory Ricamo linen. In retrospect, the Ricamo may have been a silly choice, it's not very well suited to pulled work - because it's so dense, it's a bit tough to get the holes to open well, I probably should have gone with something more open. But alas, it's started now, and I'm down to the first band of eyelet alphabet. You'd think after Hearts Entwinted I'd be sick of eyelets, but I'm still enjoying them.
It was actually a stupid mistake on my part that made me start it in the first place. I had gone to mom's for my birthday dinner, and of course she insisted I take H.E. so she could see it finished, and my test stitching for the next ones so she could "approve" my choice of colours. While I was rushing around trying to get ready to go, I just shoved it into a project bag that was on my stitching table. The project bag also had in it the threads for Blackstone Fantasy Garden, because that was what I had been working on. So why was that cause for a new start? Because I'm a dolt and forgot it at mom's. She was happy because that meant she got to take H.E. to work and show it off, but I really wanted to finish BFG!! So to cheer myself up, I started EWS. The project bag is home now, but since I've already got EWS in the q-snaps, I see no need to change it. lol
TANGENT ALERT - Does the acronym BFG remind anyone else of Doom or am I the only one? I've heard talk that a new Doom game is in the works, and I'm SOOOO excited. I've spent thousands of hours of my life on those games, it's one of my all time favourites. They really messed up on the movie though. While it was okay, and the first person bit was really cool, why the heck did they have to change the story??? The story in the game was that during teleportation experiments on Mars, they accidentally open a portal to Hell, which turns the surrounding marines into various sorts of zombies and lets in a host of other demons, which you have to destroy before they are able to invade earth. Great plot, and pretty darn scary, especially the levels in Hell. In the movie, the "demons" are the result of genetic experiments. Would have been an okay plot if it was a standalone movie, but not when you're basing it on a hugely popular game which people the world over know and love. But I digress...
I also have to report that my mother got me one of the coolest gifts I could ever have imagined. She got me an emerald. It's absolutely beautiful. My aunt was on a trip to Colombia recently and my mom asked her to bring one back for me. :) Now I need to decide, ring or pendant? She also got me a wind up alarm clock, which had me in hysterics. One of the joys of living in a small town is that everytime we get a thunderstorm, the power goes out at least once or twice. Every clock in my house is electric, except the battery powered clock on the wall that's needed new batteries for a year. And each time we get a nighttime storm, I call mom and ask if she'll phone me in the morning to wake me up - just in case the power goes out while I'm asleep and I lose my alarm clock. This has been a ritual since I moved here, and I think she finally got tired of it.
Speaking of weather, what is up with it???? We had an unseasonably warm winter, not much snow to speak of this year. Spring started pretty early, March was pretty much above zero. April we had a couple weeks of very nice weather, and then a couple weeks of hot, hot weather. May started out terribly - rain, rain, and more rain, and very cold. Then all of a sudden, two weeks ago it got hot and humid - like hovering around 30 hot with humidity pushing it into the high 30's. Now we get weather that hot quite frequently over the summer, but it feels so much worse right now because there was just no gradual change. It literally went from cold to hot in the span of two days. The rain today seems to have cooled it down a touch, hopefully we get some nice low 20's for a while.
That's it for today's novel. And they all lived happily ever after.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Hearts are finished
I finished it!! WOO HOO!! I'm so happy with how this turned out. :)
The design is stitched 1x2 on 36 ct Lakeside Light Examplar, using 2 colours of NPI and Gloriana in silk floss and Princess Perle Petite. It's got a ton of specialty stitches, various rhodes stitches, satin stitch, eyelets, queen stitches, hungarian stitches, smyrna crosses, and a variety of pulled stitches... so it's challenging, but I had lots of fun with it. :)
Now I just need to finally decide on a name and finish the chart!
The design is stitched 1x2 on 36 ct Lakeside Light Examplar, using 2 colours of NPI and Gloriana in silk floss and Princess Perle Petite. It's got a ton of specialty stitches, various rhodes stitches, satin stitch, eyelets, queen stitches, hungarian stitches, smyrna crosses, and a variety of pulled stitches... so it's challenging, but I had lots of fun with it. :)Now I just need to finally decide on a name and finish the chart!
Monday, May 10, 2010
A Kaleidescopic finish
Well it's done. Actually it was done on Saturday night, but I finally got Nate to bring the camera down. lol
This is stitched in silks (of course) that I bought off ebay years ago. They're flat, untwisted filament silks from Suzhou, China. I turned the brightness up a few notches - I tried hard to get the colours in the picture accurate, but with colours this bright it's difficult. I took this in direct sunlight and it's about as close as I can get! It's still much brighter in person though. I wish the camera could pick up the shine, it's amazing! For the black I used HDF, and looking at the finish I probably should have doubled up, it's a bit thin in spots. The fabric is 40 count linen from HDF which is supposed to be an evenweave, though as you can probably tell from the pictures, it's not. The design finished up 7 inches by 7 1/2 inches, so there is definitely a difference in the warp and weft. Overall, I'm very happy with it though, and it was a delightfully fun project. Taming the threads was a bit of a challenge with my frightfully rough hands, but I enjoyed it. :)
I didn't stitch last night, just wasn't feeling up to it. It's that time of the month when I curse being a woman, and the cramps were just awful. Plus, I was supposed to go visit mom after work, but the car isn't co-operating. I could smell gas something terrible on the way home last night, and Jon checked it out and we have a leak in the tank. So after his test run at the shoe store today, he's taking it in.
So now to decide... I'm off for the day today, and I want to spend the day stitching my heart out. Should I start Triangles? Should I finish hearts? Hmmm....
This is stitched in silks (of course) that I bought off ebay years ago. They're flat, untwisted filament silks from Suzhou, China. I turned the brightness up a few notches - I tried hard to get the colours in the picture accurate, but with colours this bright it's difficult. I took this in direct sunlight and it's about as close as I can get! It's still much brighter in person though. I wish the camera could pick up the shine, it's amazing! For the black I used HDF, and looking at the finish I probably should have doubled up, it's a bit thin in spots. The fabric is 40 count linen from HDF which is supposed to be an evenweave, though as you can probably tell from the pictures, it's not. The design finished up 7 inches by 7 1/2 inches, so there is definitely a difference in the warp and weft. Overall, I'm very happy with it though, and it was a delightfully fun project. Taming the threads was a bit of a challenge with my frightfully rough hands, but I enjoyed it. :)I didn't stitch last night, just wasn't feeling up to it. It's that time of the month when I curse being a woman, and the cramps were just awful. Plus, I was supposed to go visit mom after work, but the car isn't co-operating. I could smell gas something terrible on the way home last night, and Jon checked it out and we have a leak in the tank. So after his test run at the shoe store today, he's taking it in.
So now to decide... I'm off for the day today, and I want to spend the day stitching my heart out. Should I start Triangles? Should I finish hearts? Hmmm....
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