Friday, March 30, 2012

Liebster - thank you! :)

Thanks to shazzump, Southpaw Stitcher, and Julie for sharing an award with me. :)


I'm sure everyone has seen the information, so I'll make it a little smaller here. :3

Liebster is a German word, meaning favorite, dearest or beloved, and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:
1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

I choose... :)
1.  Lilly at Stitchy Lilly, who is one of my good friends.  She just started craft blogging. :3
2.  Lindsay at Caring Stitcher, who is a talented beader as well as stitcher!
3.  Arthemise at Arthemise's (Mostly) Stitching Blog, with some great round robin projects. :)
4.  Wagapapa at Wagapapa's Creations, with lots of cute and detailed project photos!
5.  Meredith at Hardcore Stitchcorps, who sells her own patterns on Etsy. :3

And as for facts about me...
1.  My hair is so long I can sit on it. :D
2.  I am a huge video game nerd.  HUGE.  Here's proof.  My favorite games are Phantasy Star I and Morrowind... and maybe Skyrim, too, if it would stop crashing!
3.  My dream job would be something in the graphic design field... but I'm also afraid of attempting something that kind of requires creativity on demand!
4.  I like to write in my spare time and I've used the same characters (in multiple stories) since 2004.  Sometimes I think I know those guys better than I know myself!
5.  I love Sailor Moon and I've been collecting cards and dolls from the series since 1995. :3

I'll leave you with this nerdy picture of SOME of my Sailor Moon collection.  This is only about a quarter of my doll collection.


Told you I was a nerd. XD

Thursday, March 29, 2012

spring swap, anyone?

I've been feeling the urge to stitch something small lately... probably because everything I work on tends to be a BAP.  Hmm, how did that happen?

Since I had so much fun with my ornament exchange last year, I thought I'd see if anyone is interested in a spring swap.  Here's what I had in mind...

- It can be any type of small... ornament, bookmark, biscornu, whatever you fancy!
- You don't have to be an experienced finisher, I'm happy with anything I receive. :)
- The "spring" theme can be interpreted however you like... colors, motifs, etc.
- Please no Easter/religious designs for me.  I'm happy to stitch one for you, though!
- Stitch on evenweave or linen, no aida.
- Mailing date should be no later than May 1.

How does that sound? :) 

If it helps you decide, things I like are... flowers, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, geometric designs, and spring colors (pink/green/blue/purple).  I don't like buildings/houses, people, country/rustic or Quaker designs.  (Unless it's CCN, apparently. :p)

I did four swaps last time, and that was a bit much... so I'm limiting the number of swaps to two this time. :)  Please comment with your email address if you're interested! :D

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I lied :p

I didn't work on Octopus Treasure Cave at all this weekend... 
I started Spring Knotgarden instead. :p

Part one is nearly complete - just some more beads to do, plus the flowers in the corners (you can see the stems for the first bunch in the upper left).  The picture is terrible, it seems like it's impossible to capture the look of these designs in a photo!  It's MUCH prettier in real life and VERY sparkly!


I thought this was going to be a super-fast stitch (part one, anyway!) but there's a lot of detail in a small space, so this is about three days of work already.  Still, I'll be on to part two before the weekend... but that part's huuuuge.  And gorgeous!

By the way, the magazine offers from the UK turned out to be legit!  I sent in the subscription request for both without prepaying, and as of today I've received sample issues for both.  Now I have to decide if I really want to get them... they're expensive, but so much better than the outdated garbage that's filled 90% of JCS recently.  I know that sounds mean, but the last few issues of JCS haven't had a single design I'd actually stitch!

Enough rambling, time to relax. :D

Friday, March 23, 2012

super-late WIPocalypse post!

Hmm, this is going to be a boring post as I won't be including any pictures.  Well, maybe...

What I accomplished since last check-in:
- finished Cirque des Cercles!
- finished Cherry Hill!
- made tons of progress on Titania
- started Butterfly Garden
- did most of part one on Octopus Treasure Cave

I also did some stitching on Wisteria, but I don't have a new picture.  Same for Octopus Treasure Cave, but I'm still fighting with that horrible Princess Perle Petite on the backstitching.  That stuff is NASTY. :x

So, my goal for this weekend is to finish up Octopus (beads too!) and to try NOT to start Spring Knotgarden. We'll see how that goes... :p

Sunday, March 18, 2012

IHSW success - Cirque all done!

The title says it all!  Check it out! :D
All of the pictures enlarge if you click them!

The entire piece:


And now some closeup shots:




Whew, I'm glad it's finished!  And to think I just bought another Cirque design... well, that one will have to wait a while.  I need a break from geometric goodness for a while.

If anyone's interested, the colors I used were:
- brown borders = Crescent Colors Caterpillar
- lightest green = Gentle Art Spring Green
- medium green = DMC 4045
- darkest green = Crescent Colors Bewitched
- light blue = DMC 4025
- purple = Crescent Colors Pansy Purple
- red = DMC 4210
- yellow = DMC 4075

Hmm, it seems like DMC has some new Color Variations colors out now... bummer, because 4077 would probably be a better yellow, as 4075 has some greenish-brown bits in it that I had to cut out.

And now I'm off to work on my Octopus Treasure Cave!  Speaking of Chatelaine... I'll be picking up the kit for Herbularius in another paycheck or two.  Which fabric color looks best?  I know there's not much of a difference, but I'm leaning toward the one on the right, which is a little more orange.  Maybe someone else is stitching this beauty and has a recommendation? :3


Hope everyone else has made good progress too! :D

Saturday, March 10, 2012

giveaway, Cirque, and stash!

Let's do the important stuff first. :D

Jo wins Cherry Hill!
StitchyWoman wins Tree of Hope!
Veronica wins Pumpkin Flower Sampler!
and Anne wins Bumble Bee!

Can each of you please send your mailing address to me at rahenna[at]rahenna.com? :)

Next, here's some updated pictures of Cirque!  I've already started the brown outlines in the lower left, but that's not pictured yet.  I can't believe how much I've finished in the last two weeks.  It's really flown by, and it's hard to believe there's only about 20% of the stitching left!


And since I started my shiny new job this week (after 7 months out of work!), we decided to make a trip to the LNS and have fun since we don't have to be as careful with money now.  I was really happy to find Plum Pudding by Glendon Place on the new arrivals table, and somehow another Cirque managed to sneak into the "must have" pile.

I did have a list, but the only things on it were the two skeins of DMC you see in the second picture.  Oops.  At least I'm supporting local business, right? :)


I get the feeling it's time for a WIPocalypse check-in, but I'll do that tomorrow since this post is already long and all over the place...