Friday, August 31, 2012

eyes are tough!

Had my surgery this morning and all went well!  Apparently I spent way more time being prepped and waking up afterward than I did in actual surgery, so that's good. :)  The white of my eye is now RED, but other than a little soreness (praise vicodin, bwahaha) I'm feeling fine!  There's some double vision and weirdness with focusing, but that was expected and should fade over the next few days.  I look forward to giving everyone the evil bloody stinkeye when I go back to work. :p

I've been able to stitch a little today, with my new glasses on!  I always had to take them off and hold my work very close to stitch, so this is a nice improvement. :)

I also, er, bought three more HAED charts.  I heard that the company was having issues with copyright infringement, like many other stitchy places these days.  I wanted to show a little support AND get the last few items on my wishlist that I would truly regret not having in case something happens. :(


When I get around to stitching Iris, I'll be cropping her like this, or maybe a little more.  I'm not stitching those iris flowers in the bottom left again! :p


I also went to various artist sites and bookmarked the prints I want to buy later!  I've discovered several artists I like by browsing HAED, but I don't want to stitch all of them... no time for so many complex patterns, and while stitching is great, the original artwork will have better clarity and detail.

There's also a ridiculous package of stash that finally arrived from Stitching Bits & Bobs, but I already put it all away!  Just know that there is a serious Brooke's Books thing going on around here... I love her dimensional ornaments on perforated paper.  I haven't started one yet, but soon!

Also, you should check out Dylimes' blog - she's stitching Transcendence on black just like I plan to, and he is amaaaaazing!

Monday, August 27, 2012

early goals post

Posting early as I know this week will be in-freakin-sane!

August goals were:
- Finish beading part 3 of Octopus Treasure Cave - YES!
- Stitch part 4 of Octopus Treasure Cave - YES!
- Stitch part 2 of the PR SAL - YES!
- Frame the Lesley Teare mermaid - in progress (ran out of masking tape!)
- Finish page 2 of HAED QS Iris - YES!
- NO shopping at all, no excuses, no exceptions! - of course not...

It's pretty clear to me that no shopping at all isn't going to be a realistic goal.  I did manage to go to the LNS and buy only what I actually needed for a project, and I shouldn't count the fabric and threads my wife ordered from Etsy against myself... but I did spend some.  I picked up a larger cut of 28ct black evenweave for Transcendence, plus a piece of white Cashel for a project my wife wants to stitch. 

My big confession is spending $50 during HAED's last 50% off sale of the year.  I suppose I can't confess to that without at least sharing pictures of the art that tempted me. :)




So much for being one of the HAED doubters.  I can say one thing for sure... I've discovered some artists I truly enjoy and I'll be buying some prints to pretty up my walls at home!

Well, now that I've rambled a lot, I suppose I should set some goals for next month.

September goals:
- Frame the Lesley Teare mermaid (if it's not finished in August)
- Finish Wisteria
- Stitch part 3 of the PR SAL

That's it.  I need to keep it light because I don't know how soon I'll be able to stitch again after my eye surgery, and... we're going to Ireland for a week at the end of September!  Which, of course, is why I need eye surgery - don't want be wearing my stupid glasses in vacation pics!

Of course, I'll be stitching on the plane... on the world's longest flight... *sigh*

Sunday, August 26, 2012

giveaway winners, stash, and wisteria!

It's time for winners to be posted! :D

Winner of Set #1 is Topcho!
Winner of Set #2 is Eyani Ryou!

Please contact me at rahenna@rahenna.com with your mailing address. :)

And I've received a couple of amazing giveaways recently!  First, we started going to knitting group again, and someone there asked about my stitching - I'm not much of a knitter so sometimes I rebel and bring a cross stitch project instead.  She'd found some angel patterns while looking for something else in her garage and wanted to know if I was interested.  From her description, I knew they were MLI Lavender & Lace patterns, and this Thursday I received this lovely bit of stash:


As you can see, there are two duplicates... so expect another giveaway before too long! :)

AND I won a lovely prize in Karen's big giveaway... I was incredibly lucky and won prize pack #2, which seemed to be the most coveted of the five!  In addition to the pretty towels and threads (I loooove threads!) she also included a handmade stitch counter AND a q-snap cover!  Holy cow! :D


And to prove that I am not (just) a stashaholic, here's an update on Wisteria!  I haven't touched this one in ages!  I feel like I'm miles away from finishing but looking at the entire piece makes me realize it's not quite THAT bad.  But those wisteria flowers are some dense stitching!


A closeup of the part I'm working on... there are only six shades of purple but the detail is amazing.


I'm having eye surgery on the 31st so this may be the last stitchy weekend for a little while... but I fully intend to stitch a lot this week before the surgery!  Oh, and no worries, there's nothing really wrong with my eye, but my left eye is misaligned (strabismus, commonly known as "lazy eye") and I have to wear really goofy glasses to correct my double vision.  I'm tired of that, so it's time for a permanent fix.  I just want to wear contacts again. :p

So much rambling... happy weekend, everyone!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Octopus Treasure Cave - part 4!


Woohoo, just finished part four!  I decided to outline the starfish in blue PTB instead of black DMC because... well, this part needed more sparkle!  I'm surprised there's no beads here!



Now I'll have to put this away until October... it'll be so hard to wait for the next part!

I finished all my stitching goals for the month!  I wonder what I should work on now...

Sunday, August 19, 2012

oops giveaway #2 :D

Oops strikes again. :p  In this case, the two Elizabeth's Designs leaflets are the oops purchases.  The Oregano kit was a duplicate in a lot of stuff from eBay, and the Sweetheart Tree design is one I stitched. :)

So... if you'd like to win one of these sets, just leave a comment!  The rules are:

1.  Please be a follower.
2.  New followers welcome!  It's okay even if this is the first time you've seen my blog. :)
3.  Comment to say which set you like best - 1 or 2.
4.  I will ship anywhere in the world, so all are welcome!
5.  Winners will be posted on August 27 - enter by August 26 to be sure you don't miss your chance!

And the goodies for your consideration...

Set 1:
Pine Tree Cottage (Elizabeth's Designs)
Oregano Plant Poke (NMI kit)

Set 2:
Bluebird Cottage (Elizabeth's Designs)
Enchantment (Sweetheart Tree)

FYI, this is what Enchantment looks like when it's completed. :)  The leaflet in this giveaway includes the round silver paillettes, but NOT the heart charm or beads.  Just want to be sure you know. :)


I've also been stitching this weekend, but I'll post about that later!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

octopus goal #1

Yes, another post for today. :p

Finally finished getting all those beads on that octopus!  There's a lot more than you'd expect just by looking at the chart, but it looks amazing now that it's done. :)




Time to start part four!

happy moon

Part two of the PR SAL is finished!  Well, as finished as it's going to be... I won't start the thing on the right side until next month, when more of it is revealed.  I don't want to end up with page lines or do a lot of color changes for a small area when more will be coming soon.


The picture is pretty dark but I didn't want to use the flash, since that makes everything look weird.  I stitched the moon with one strand of DMC then went back over all the stitches with the petite braid, but just a half-stitch.  There was no way I was blending DMC and PTB in the needle!

Next up... Octopus Treasure Cave. :D

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

one goal reached :D

Just finished up page two of QS Iris!


I already have the next part of the PR SAL printed and ready to go.  PROGRESS! :D

Sunday, August 05, 2012

giveaway winners!

Yes, that's winners, as in more than one!  Because... the first number I drew was 3, for Kaye of Kitten Stitching, who said in her comment that she already has the April cottage and would just like the Spring sampler. :)  So that means a second winner, and that's Heli of Heli's Stitchery!

Kaye and Heli, could you please email me your mailing addresses so I can get the charts out to you? :)
rahenna@rahenna.com

And a quick WIPocalypse post... working on page 2 of QS Iris for my monthly goal.  This picture came out really blurry and doesn't look like much!  Plus it's only the bottom half of page 2 because I had to move the q-snap onto the stitching to give myself more room to work.  I'll take a good picture once I finish page 2 because I need this snap for the PR SAL. :p


That's all for now!  Back to work... :)

...here's a new picture, a lot clearer and showing more of the image. The top is still cut off, though.


Wednesday, August 01, 2012

August goals

Before I start... don't forget my giveaway!
Rahenna's OOPS giveaway :)

July goals were:
- Finish beading part 3 of Octopus Treasure Cave - Nope.
- Finish angel #4 on Angel Procession - YES!
- Stitch part 1 of the PR SAL - YES!
- Stitch at least five nights each week :) - YES!
- Do not buy anything EXCEPT threads needed for the PR SAL and PTP fabrics during the Christmas in July sale! - I was good up until the end of the month, then majorly bad. :(
- Frame the Lesley Teare mermaid and Chelsea - framed Chelsea but not the mermaid...


August goals are:
- Finish beading part 3 of Octopus Treasure Cave
- Stitch part 4 of Octopus Treasure Cave
- Stitch part 2 of the PR SAL
- Frame the Lesley Teare mermaid
- Finish page 2 of HAED QS Iris
- NO shopping at all, no excuses, no exceptions!

I need to put myself on the No Stash plan until the end of the year.  My spending isn't causing financial ruin or anything, but I've more than used up the entire reasonable 2012 stash budget.  The only thing I should be buying between now and the end of the year is DMC.  There is plenty of everything else!

Live and learn, I guess!  I've always been a bit of a crazy shopper, it's just taken different forms over the years.  I have to remember that I can go shopping in my stash and enjoy what's already there.  Why have it if it's not going to be appreciated, right?  SALs alone will keep me busy for the rest of the year.

Suck it up, spendy Rahenna! :p