A fun stitching quiz

1. What are you stitching at the moment?
Actually nothing! I just finished a purple design to make a cupcake out of (purple fabric, mauve silk thread, monochrome design). Next up I'll have to dig out a hand towel and one of the freebie monochrome repeat patterns I have and start a gift for DS's school teacher. School's out in a few short weeks, so I'll need to do that soon.

2. How many finishes have you had this year? Small? Medium? Large? Extra Large?
Thanks to my wonderful blogging skills, I can easily tell you that! 12 stitching ones and 2 knitted scarves. The cross stitch ones would have to be 8 small, 2 medium & 2 large. By my standards anyway.

3. Do you think you will finish any more in the next month and a half before the end of the year?
Yes, I'd better! I want to stitch the hand towel for DS's teacher and maybe another cupcake or two. Or maybe Christmas ornaments instead.

4. If you could buy 1 thing for yourself what would it be? (Doesn't have to be stitching)
A housekeeper ;-)

5. What is the best thing you have ever stitched?
The project that I enjoyed the most would have to be one I've just finished, "Christmas Calories" by Sue Hillis. It was just so cute and easy to stitch and pretty when done.

6. Do you like making lists?
Yes, I'd be lost without them. My brain can't cope with information overload!

7. Do you stitch in rotation (how does it work?) or OAAT?
I'm a one-project-at-a-time kinda gal.

8. What is the next thing you plan to stitch?
A hand towel for my DS's teacher.

9. What is your fave ONS? And why?
Easy! 123stitch. They may be in the USA, but shipping is super fast, and often cheaper than Aussie companies. Prices are good, variety is great. What more can I say?

10. Do you have a stitching chair?
Does the corner of the couch count? If so, yes.

11. Do your children/pets get into your stitching things?
YES!! Kids that is. They are always playing with some bits and pieces of mine and leaving them God only knows where.

12. Do you participate in any stitching forums?
Regularly at 123stitch and sometimes at others here and there.

If you want to copy and paste the questions into your own blog, they can be found on Stitchitandie's blog

Please pass the bubble wrap!

And the calamine lotion and anti-histamines! So it's not quite December but the fun has started!

On the way home from school yesterday, DS broke out in another one of the rashes he is prone to. It's usually just a mild-ish allergic reaction to something plant based from what we can gather. It mainly appears on his arms and legs, just red with small, circular, raised, itchy bumps. Not yesterday!

We'd been in the car for an hour when his brother looked at his face and saw that is was beet red with large welts all over it. Thankfully no swelling, but I turned the car around and we headed for the doctor. We ended up waiting half an hour to see him, and by that time he had returned to normal. Of course! The rash had come up in no more than 20 minutes, when we'd only been in the car for the last hour, with windows up and vents closed. We did stop at the drive-thru of Golden Arches for a burger, but it's a burger he has eaten several times before. Unfortunately there's no preventative medicine to give him, so we have to just wait and treat it should it come up again. We can start the allergy testing process, but I fear there's not much that can be done if it's a common plant he's allergic to.

It's nearly December - so where's the bubble wrap?

Ok, so I've nicknamed December "bubble-wrap-tember". There's a running joke that if it's December, it's time to wrap my 8 YO son in bubble wrap, and quarantine him for his own safety.  Here's why:

• Christmas 2002: Thankfully uneventful. 
• Christmas 2003: Ditto
• Christmas 2004: Ditto
• Christmas 2005: His brother picked him up in a so-called harmless bear hug and put him down again. End result? Broken leg, with a lovely green cast (you know, it was Christmas after all. We had to co-ordinate with the colours of the season!)
• Christmas 2006: As a parting gift, before all the kids separated and went to different schools, another child from kinder gave him chicken pox. Merry Christmas to you too!
• Christmas 2007: Thankfully nothing too extreme this time. He'd been sick in the lead up to Christmas, and lost his voice for the big day. Could have been worse. Could have been Christmas 2008!
• Christmas 2008: While decorating the tree, he tripped and cut just above his eye on the rounded edge of the coffee table. (yes, we planned for accident prone children when buying furniture - didn't help!) Of course, he waited for the 3.4 seconds I was out of the room before doing it, so I couldn't cushion the fall. Thankfully glue worked with no need for stitches. And yes, we have broached the subject of frequent flyer miles, fly buys points or some sort of VIP service at the local hospital. 
• Christmas 2009: Broke his arm after falling backwards off a 4-5 foot fence while attempting to get a stray ball. Fetching blue cast this time, because green casts are soooo 2005. And yes, we are on a first name basis at the local hospital. I keep expecting a knock on the door from Child Protective Services too.
• Christmas 2010: All donations of bubble wrap are gratefully accepted! Cross your fingers for us, that this year we break the curse and the bubble wrap isn't needed!

Another Calisthenics Year Over

Well we had our concert a week ago and I'd like to say it went off without a hitch, but it didn't quite. We had a bit of drama with the music, especially for our concert item featuring the whole club that was meant to be at the start. It meant an extra change of clothes or two, but the show did go on with this item being performed just before interval instead. During the presentations I got this lovely floral arrangement from the club for being a coach:

I also got this bright and beautiful bunch of flowers from the team I coach:

Although I didn't take a picture (it wouldn't show up well), I also got a black handbag from the club for being the secretary of our group.

It's all over for another year, time to get the thinking cap on and start planning music and choreography for 2011!

9 Days Of Stitching

And here's where I'm at. I'm sad it's working up so quickly as I'm really enjoying it. I'm still hoping to find just the right embellishments to add to it, but I bet the going will be tough. You never can find those obscure bits and pieces when you're actually looking for them, but when you're not you come across all sorts of weird and wonderful things!

   Here's what I'm hoping to add to it:

• 2 cherry buttons
• Seed & bugle bead sprinkles
• A pinky/red heart button 
• Seed beads for the holly decoration 

A Pretty Find That Followed Me Home

I was at one of the local sewing stores today and happened upon these cuties. There were 3 other colours, but the pink jumped out at me. I need another pair of scissors like I need another hole in the head, but at $4.95 who could resist? Not me :-)

4 days of stitching on "Christmas Calories"

And here's where I'm at now. A little bit blurry because I scanned it in the q-snaps:

My smoking needle

I got a heap of stitching in over the weekend and I'm loving how this design is turning out, including my choice of fabric :-) I awoke with a pounding headache on Saturday that stuck around most of the weekend, so when faced with vacuuming or stitching, it wasn't a hard choice to stitch! I'm thinking of adding a few sequins & charms to replace some of the cake decorations. It will give it a 3D effect, a little like a gingerbread house.