tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229599472024-03-07T19:08:05.445-04:00Ramblings of a Scattered MindMusings from a Mommy of two, a stitcher, a scrapbooker and a completely scattered mind!Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-58884353717099679782012-02-11T21:21:00.003-04:002012-02-11T21:49:11.452-04:00WIPocalypse #2Boy has the past month ever flew by. I completely forgot about the WIPocalypse challenge and working on my stitching after the first little rush I had at the first of last month. I did work a little bit on something I'm stitching for a friend, but I can't post it on here because I'm not sure if she'll read this or not. So, instead I'll post my teeny tiny progress in other areas for the month. <div><br /></div><div>I got a whopping 3 hours work done on Fairy Moon. LMAO. I normally wouldn't even bother taking a picture of it, but I needed to be able to post something, so here's Moony at 78 hours.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2311811810094516364qZmHtN"><img src="http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/47450/2311811810094516364S425x425Q85.jpg" alt="Fairy Moon - 78 hours" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I also managed to dig out a few smalls I did in 2007 and FINALLY got them framed. I did these for my two girls when they were tiny. They're bigger now, but they still love them. My oldest and I always read the book "Guess How Much I Love You" in which the final line is "I love you to the moon and back", and this became our key phrase for many years to tell the other that we loved them. So when I saw the "I Love You To The Moon" kit from Waxing Moon Designs, I HAD to have it! I got it off eBay and stitched it up quickly. </div><div><br /></div><div>My youngest and I read this book as well and said the same things, but when it was time to do one for her I saw the "You're My Sunshine" kit from Waxing Moon Designs it was perfect. My youngest daughter had a thing for the song You Are My Sunshine. My Mother-in-Law sang it to her every time she saw her and Littlest DD always referred to it as her "special Nanny song". It was such a special song for her that at one point, I wasn't even allowed to sing it to her, only Nanny could. lol</div><div><br /></div><div>So, after only 4-5 years of sitting in the finished container, I managed to get them framed for the girls. Here they are.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2182323970094516364yfDteJ"><img src="http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/46934/2182323970094516364S425x425Q85.jpg" alt="You Are My Sunshine and Love You To The Moon" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Hopefully next month I'll be able to post a little more visible progress, but for now Happy Stitching!</div></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-41761276561955340592012-01-09T21:08:00.002-04:002012-01-10T21:05:34.059-04:00WIPocalypse!Well, it's been several years since I've posted, or stitched for that matter but a friend of mine, <a href="http://coffeecupthoughts.wordpress.com/">Christine</a>, posted on her blog that she was going to join WIPocalypse and after reading a bit more about it (<a href="http://measi.net/measiblog/2012-wipocalypse/">here</a>) I decided I wanted to join also. I'm hoping that it will give me back my stitching mojo, which has been sorely missing for a few years now.<div><br /></div><div>So, I guess in lieu of doing a "progress" post for the first full moon of the year, I'm merely doing a small introduction post with a list of the WIPs I'll be working on, and maybe a few I'd like to start.</div><div><br /></div><div>First of all, the two main ones I've had sitting around for forever and a day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fairy Moon - Mirabilia</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the last picture I took of this WiP at 58.5 hours. It was taken nearly 4 years ago in April 2008! (see what I mean about getting my stitching mojo back?!)</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2684337380094516364lDaGOL"><img src="http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/42518/2684337380094516364S425x425Q85.jpg" alt="Fairy Moon - 58.5 Hrs" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>EDIT: </div><div>Once I finished my post and dug out my stitching to get started I was pleasantly surprised. I had over 70 hours completed, but I'd just never taken a picture. I stitched for a few more hours last night and today and took this picture when I reached the 75 hour mark!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2210098360094516364ztPDBH"><img src="http://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/49354/2210098360094516364S425x425Q85.jpg" alt="Fairy Moon - 75 hours - Jan 10 2012" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>End Edit.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Summer Blooms. </div><div><br /></div><div>This came from a magazine somewhere, I'm not sure which one. I LOVE the piece, but have the hardest time getting into it. I hate stitching it, but I know it'll be worth it when I'm finished. </div><div><br /></div><div>Summer Blooms - 20 Hours - August 2007</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2742317460094516364FkMtFg"><img src="http://inlinethumb45.webshots.com/47532/2742317460094516364S200x200Q85.jpg" alt="Summer Blooms - 20 Hours" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>What Summer Blooms will look like when it's finished! I only hope I make it there someday!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2760531800094516364mrAMcI"><img src="http://inlinethumb22.webshots.com/4437/2760531800094516364S425x425Q85.jpg" alt="Summer Blooms" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Dream Sampler by Dragon Dreams</div><div><br /></div><div>Another one I'd like to add to my list is Dream Sampler by Dragon Dreams. I did this for my oldest daughter a few years ago and would like to do another for my younger. I've even gone so far as to buy the fabric and work the outline grid on it already. I just need to get my lazy butt in gear on this one. Here's the finished version of the last one I did.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2289520810094516364eOQstf"><img src="http://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/48256/2289520810094516364S200x200Q85.jpg" alt="Dream Sampler - Dragon Dreams" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There are others I'd love to add to the list, for example, I've already collected the patterns for Celtic Spring, Celtic Summer and Celtic Autumn by Lavender and Lace as well as the pattern for Romantic Stitcher by Passione Ricamo but I think the ones I have here with a few Christmas Ornaments from the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issues I've collected over the last few years should be sufficient for now. However, I reserve the right to change my mind at any given time. ;)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Stitching</div><div>Christine</div><div><br /></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-14837491732788015592009-06-12T22:24:00.006-03:002009-06-12T23:33:12.875-03:00Wow!Well, It's been over a year since the last time I posted anything and almost a year and a half since I was posting regularly. I have no excuse. I'm lazy and I should be shot. Ok, that last one is taking things a bit far, but seriously I used to love reading blogs and posting to mine, but I can't even remember the last blog I read. Oh wait, I lie. I was looking at <a href="http://coffeecupthoughts.wordpress.com/">Christine's blog</a> yesterday for the first time in forever after getting a notification on facebook from her. But other than that I can't remember the last time I checked one of my fave blogs....<br /><br />Oh well, here's one post and here's hoping that I can get back into the swing of things with both reading and posting.<br /><br />I won't go into long boring details of my life in the last year, because I'd end up writing too much, then I'd get bored and never finish the post. Instead I'll tell you about my year in point form. Too bad I don't have time or I'd do a powerpoint presentation and load it up..... heyyy..... that's an idea! <em>No, No, Bad Christine</em>. If I do this in point form I <em><strong>might</strong> </em>actually finish it.<br /><br /><ul><li>Olivia started kindergarten last September. She loved it for all of one day before she started asking if she could sleep for "just 5 more minutes". Though she does still love school, she just hates getting up.<br /></li><li>I started working in mid September as a teller at the Bank in my town. (no names mentioned here) I've been there for 10 months and I don't hate it yet. I think that's a record for me. :)<br /></li><li>I haven't stitched more than a few dozen stitches since I last posted an update on my stitching. I seem to have lost my stitching mojo.<br /></li><li>I have been making more cakes lately and I'm really enjoying that.<br /></li><li>We finally got Rachel potty trained after many many MANY months of false starts. She had no desire for the longest time and I'd have to force her to sit on the toilet, but she's finally good, though we still use pullups at bedtime. We're not completely done with diapers yet. Soon hopefully.<br /></li><li>Rachel is finally old enough (3) to farm her out to the grandparents for sleepovers! (Can I get a 'Booyah' here? - Sorry, too much Kim Possible!) and she's had a few of them recently.<br /></li><li>I've been to the funeral home twice for two different people in the last week, so it's been a fairly sad week overall.<br /></li><li>My DH, Jason lost over 50 pounds in the past year. He even came in first place in a "biggest loser" weight loss competition at his work and ended up winning $500.00 in gift cards.<br /></li><li>We used the $500.00 to go towards a big swingset/Jungle jym for the kids.<br /></li><li>We had a bear in the yard a few weeks ago, now I'm scared to let the kids go out to play on their new swingset.<br /></li><li>I, unfortunately, haven't lost 50 pounds. I haven't even lost 5 pounds. :(<br /></li><li>I'm very excited that Torchwood will be airing in Britian starting next week and I'm looking forward to watching the new adventures of Captain Jack Harkness and his band of merry men, (god I'm such a geek. lol) even if it is only 5 episodes.<br /></li><li>I think I actually cried when I found out David Tennant will be leaving Doctor Who. *sobs*</li><li>We got a new kitty at the Fredericton SPCA a few months ago. He's doing great. He has to be the most patient cat in the world to put up with my kids. He's a big Orange Long Haired tabby. The kids named him Fluffy, though Rachel couldn't remember that for a while and kept calling him Fuzzy instead.</li></ul><p>I'm reaching at this point to think of anything else, so I think I'll end with a few pictures of some of the cakes I've done since I last posted some.</p><p></p><p align="center"><strong>Olivia's "Totally Spooktacular" 5th Birthday Cake</strong></p><p align="center"><strong>October 2008</strong></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggU7Kq1-egNDQtluY-c1iOMp20Ti6cLAuBUR_Z253zx_CWTbf0g9_sgqsjrURUFdz6WO1hOfEdi8LPXZibtlIEIfh6YChBJV941MSP0TfNKdZBQ3bA1YUSaB32DXZFo9MqmMcT/s1600-h/DSC05081.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346624494912432562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggU7Kq1-egNDQtluY-c1iOMp20Ti6cLAuBUR_Z253zx_CWTbf0g9_sgqsjrURUFdz6WO1hOfEdi8LPXZibtlIEIfh6YChBJV941MSP0TfNKdZBQ3bA1YUSaB32DXZFo9MqmMcT/s320/DSC05081.jpg" /></a></p><p align="left">We had a dressup Halloween party for Olivia's 5th birthday since she's so close to Halloween and she decided she wanted a "Witch Barbie" cake. I ended up having to special order the Barbie off of Ebay because apparently Mattel only makes the Halloween Witch Barbie for "Target" each year at Halloween ... So, since there are no Target stores in Canada I paid WAY too much for the doll on Ebay.<br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyFK08pkshrkZUCfXCZHhWvE70HjX-eAdCjMV-dNfbywb6h9qIgxcdIie6htr9Q_Jq28JWL-kXO-WfRP5oxP6yauLQgIv5USv_4HSGRl5MYzq-LTpxpJiA1pPPAgiBYOVS6pP/s1600-h/DSC05089.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346624494842644130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyFK08pkshrkZUCfXCZHhWvE70HjX-eAdCjMV-dNfbywb6h9qIgxcdIie6htr9Q_Jq28JWL-kXO-WfRP5oxP6yauLQgIv5USv_4HSGRl5MYzq-LTpxpJiA1pPPAgiBYOVS6pP/s320/DSC05089.jpg" /></a></p><p align="left">Here is the second cake I made for Olivia's birthday. We rented the Bowling Alley and invited pretty much the entire class to the party and I didn't know for sure how many would show up so I made a second cake in case the first one wasn't enough for all the kids and parents who were there. I ended up taking 3/4 of it home. lol.</p><div align="center"><strong>Rachel's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" 3rd Birthday Cake</strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong> </div><div align="center"><strong></strong> </div><div align="center"><strong>April 2009</strong></div><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuXGXx-EVi-KuMa57zhBMtRY694V_lKbKFyiGHCrKZvriVRMx5OnFcU4g0JbjTw5zdS1dIWX7CD9zdIgSDH89FfStsp6gCq2CxfLQ0v4ei1AXCN8kgL82nIsy1ElhBUSsGWtp/s1600-h/DSC06726-2.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346624511909742642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuXGXx-EVi-KuMa57zhBMtRY694V_lKbKFyiGHCrKZvriVRMx5OnFcU4g0JbjTw5zdS1dIWX7CD9zdIgSDH89FfStsp6gCq2CxfLQ0v4ei1AXCN8kgL82nIsy1ElhBUSsGWtp/s320/DSC06726-2.jpg" /></a></p><div>This was Rachel's 3rd Birthday cake. She wanted a "Somewhere over the Rainbow" party. Do you know how freaking hard it is to do "Somewhere over the Rainbow" that has nothing to do with Wizard of Oz? HARD! </div><div></div><div>I managed to find items in rainbow colours instead of actual rainbow stuff for the most part. The rainbow on the cake is made of Royal Icing made several days in advance, the border is Smarties. (I had a huge bowl of pink and brown ones left over afterwards.) The rest of the cake is just blue buttercream icing and white buttercream icing. </div><div></div><div>But then look what the inside looks like!</div><div></div><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOPEYMrklSgvgI7uT6wX0yXI7eUvgLtD7z2dZ_hhfFtO6ZMSAW42TE7nx4tz7yUytgmzjGayawEf52Ja1wdwKQhzFf4DEP_1Lxg4YT0HlvEhX1k-TKeWCr6gqjHMVDDPhYAPa/s1600-h/DSC06741-2.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346624513791647426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOPEYMrklSgvgI7uT6wX0yXI7eUvgLtD7z2dZ_hhfFtO6ZMSAW42TE7nx4tz7yUytgmzjGayawEf52Ja1wdwKQhzFf4DEP_1Lxg4YT0HlvEhX1k-TKeWCr6gqjHMVDDPhYAPa/s320/DSC06741-2.jpg" /></a></p><p align="left">This was pretty neat. <a href="http://www.hostessblog.com/2009/02/fabulous-rainbow-cake-tutorial/">Find the tutorial here.</a> </p><p align="left">I had taken the rainbow off the top of the cake when I was cutting it and I put it back on to take this picture of the inside. I didn't realize until later that day that it was on backwards with the broken side of the rainbow showing instead of the good side. </p><p align="left"></p><p align="center"><strong>Johnny's "John Deere" 60th Birthday Cake</strong></p><p align="center"><strong>June 2009</strong></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsMNYQhWUDGvR8cfrP6b0pCIs6vJbjPzgkR6fT2MdiwF7syj93Ic6OdpVLlgcmesNGRuyXikYk_-ILwZByfgLyQG9q9LGSf3ZwtQ4Jf9el_tD4HAeTaycQPapajrXgE8FJuHp/s1600-h/DSC06813.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346625004049556514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsMNYQhWUDGvR8cfrP6b0pCIs6vJbjPzgkR6fT2MdiwF7syj93Ic6OdpVLlgcmesNGRuyXikYk_-ILwZByfgLyQG9q9LGSf3ZwtQ4Jf9el_tD4HAeTaycQPapajrXgE8FJuHp/s320/DSC06813.jpg" /></a></p><p align="left">My most recent cake was a John Deere cake for my Father-in-Law's 60th Birthday. This one is just plain Buttercream and a printed John Deere logo that I cut out and traced onto the white buttercream with a toothpick. I then filled it in with a #16 star tip and yellow and green buttercream icing I coloured myself. It came out pretty good except for the little wow in the front of the cake where it's not quite even. </p><p align="left">Well, that's all for now. Hopefully this won't be the last you hear from me for another year.<br /></p><p align="left">(Side note: it's been over a year and I see Blogger still has the freaky formatting problems that drive me completely batty. I've already had to stop myself three times from throwing my mouse against the wall when trying to get the post looking right after I uploaded my pictures.)</p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-47892054370766813612008-07-23T14:36:00.006-03:002008-07-23T15:53:32.131-03:00Cakes and Cake Wrecks<span style="font-family:georgia;">My aunt sent me a link today to what has to be one of the funniest sites I've seen in a while. Maybe it's so funny to me because I've been doing more cake decorating of late than I have been stitching. It's a blog dedicated to finding the worst of the worst in PROFESSIONAL cakes out there. This doesn't count cakes that Moms like me make for their kids, but ones that people actually PAY professional cake decorators for. OMG I can't believe what some people will try to charge people money for. it's AWFUL!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Anyway, if you want to check it out it's called Cake Wrecks and the address is </span><a href="http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:georgia;">http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Speaking of cakes I realize that I haven't posted anything much since January when I put up a picture of Rickey's cake. So, I've missed putting up Rachel's 2nd birthday cake and the Bridal shower cake I did for my friend Bridget just the other day. So, here are a few pics.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJaN6_8-vsdzRuk9RBaWJ9XYZo72TSP9UXIS8sg4hWW-_pEFqM9oGg851robkzbxpdetpchmFqc7MnJd7V1uU2xExXxCDy2_BdtYjcZghOJKytdyRz6GjM6xkkIHn8KXVcA3N/s1600-h/DSC03802.jpg"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226266631204938482" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJaN6_8-vsdzRuk9RBaWJ9XYZo72TSP9UXIS8sg4hWW-_pEFqM9oGg851robkzbxpdetpchmFqc7MnJd7V1uU2xExXxCDy2_BdtYjcZghOJKytdyRz6GjM6xkkIHn8KXVcA3N/s320/DSC03802.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></p><span style="font-family:georgia;">First, here's Rachel's <em>Mickey Mouse Clubhouse</em> Birthday cake the morning of her birthday party before the kids got up. On top of the cake it says Happy 2nd Birthday Rachel in my in my "Oh-So-Awesome Icing Cursive"(TM). </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The cake itself is a simple slab cake for the bottom layer. It's iced with plain buttercream icing tinted green, but I forgot that I had bought some green color spray so I wouldn't <em>have</em> to tint the icing. I decided to be smart and spray it over top of the original green anyway- since I had already bought the color spray and didn't want to waste it. *lol* (This will come back into play later in the story. )</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The red dome for the clubhouse is made using half of the Wilton's Sports Ball Cake pan and covered in red marshmallow fondant. (known as MMF from now on) </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The foot is shaped using yellow MMF and the hand is shaped using plain white MMF. The fingers were stuck on using toothpicks and laid flat to dry for several days. The black arm, leg and neck are made using a length of PVC pipe (bought at the local cake store(*1)) which was inserted into the hand/leg/head and then covered with black MMF for an inch or two below that point. I left enough PVC at the bottom for the head and hand that the PVC goes all the way down to the cake board for extra support. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The Head was made of three styrofoam balls (one 6" ball and two 4" balls) found in the floral section at Walmart and painted black. Here's a tip, don't try and use spray paint on styrofoam. It WILL melt the styrofoam. I found this out first hand two days before the party with no trips planned to go to Fredericton so I could get replacement foam balls. Luckily I always plan my kids parties for Sunday afternoons so that way everyone still has their Saturdays to do their normal running around, so I got my father in law to pick up a new 6" styrofoam ball (the last one in the store!!) and a small can of glossy black paint so I could paint a new one before the party on Sunday. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The fence is yellow MMF rolled out and then cut with a curved top using my pizza roller. The gate is just white with some yellow 'snakes'(*2) on top and then a little curve cut out of the top with my apple corer. Yes, I said apple corer... I also used it to cut the MMF circles that I used on </span><a href="http://scrappychic77.blogspot.com/2008/01/cake-cake-and-more-cake.html"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Janice's birthday cake</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> back in January. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I then tinted a small amount of MMF blue and made some windows using the blue fondant and a few black fondant 'snakes'. I also used the black to make the door frame and a small door knob. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">*1 Note: I have no idea if there is a difference between PVC pipe you'd buy at the hardware store and the stuff sold for use in food, but just to be on the safe side I'd stick with stuff that you find marketed especially for food rather than take any chances.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">*2 Snakes refer to when you used to play with Play-doh as a kid (or as an adult with your own kids) and would roll out the dough in your hands and make a long squiggly snake. </span><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nce8Rcchks2bWmEmUezVRbw73CGXgQu907e8DiTi0CHKh4kxrp57gq67O-lpLRmve57sPlM2aHEDV1wBX4nv7bXIJOw5Dgmp9F42t9do5FI5gCN0r8XXHXogtkCF42XDEFtM/s1600-h/DSC03858.jpg"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226266635277443346" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nce8Rcchks2bWmEmUezVRbw73CGXgQu907e8DiTi0CHKh4kxrp57gq67O-lpLRmve57sPlM2aHEDV1wBX4nv7bXIJOw5Dgmp9F42t9do5FI5gCN0r8XXHXogtkCF42XDEFtM/s320/DSC03858.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Here's a picture of the same cake at the party. Notice that it only says "Happy Birthday" instead of the original "Happy 2nd Birthday Rachel"?? </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Well I had forgotten that we had gone to the Disney Store the last time we were in Moncton and bought the small plastic <em>Mickey Mouse Clubhouse </em>figureines to put on top of the cake. Anyway when it came time to put them on there wasn't enough room for the figurines and the two candles, so I had to scrape the "2nd" and "Rachel" off the cake. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Now this wouldn't have been so bad, but remember my smart idea to use the green color spray on top of the grass? (even though I didn't need it) Well, the icing from the lettering dampened the color spray underneath it and when I took the lettering off, it took the extra green off as well, leaving the original green color of the icing underneath it. lol. I had to do a lot of frigging to get it looking half decent again. You can't really see anything wrong in this picture but in real life you could still see the lighter colour where the letters had been. Or, rather, I could still see it. I don't know if anyone else noticed it or if I only saw it because I knew it was there. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Oh, stop making fun of me... you know you do the same thing too!</span></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIeBeAFUCu2VSe73jxDr8qebXwvo59JOjHsJNnHDXUV0zXKjuhwRXVvajBJYYsSkHWGJfxHP5d4TPtiZvBpVwdpZjSN-qUimSFC9Uf7KLvewf78ZeX4b2xXovDF-MUzNrh51oR/s1600-h/Mickey+Mouse+Clubhouse+Picture.jpg"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226266632555921922" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIeBeAFUCu2VSe73jxDr8qebXwvo59JOjHsJNnHDXUV0zXKjuhwRXVvajBJYYsSkHWGJfxHP5d4TPtiZvBpVwdpZjSN-qUimSFC9Uf7KLvewf78ZeX4b2xXovDF-MUzNrh51oR/s320/Mickey+Mouse+Clubhouse+Picture.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></p><span style="font-family:georgia;">In case you've never seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, here's a picture from the Disney Website that I scammed so I could make sure it looked fairly close. The only thing I left off was the blue slide on the side of the clubhouse.<br /></span><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduG2ZlQUtAJlZpSsZp5Iy7Ylpw7r-_tlJjLwhyphenhyphen1M9ZWOwnv8bvpKfbP8OJV0S1qhbpii5k4fcrz159-pxvXAY6Te2dUdhDhLcZMH-5mmZqjYDXQW-tIiQMLFZz8rmBLUofj_Y/s1600-h/DSC04470.jpg"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226266634029050210" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduG2ZlQUtAJlZpSsZp5Iy7Ylpw7r-_tlJjLwhyphenhyphen1M9ZWOwnv8bvpKfbP8OJV0S1qhbpii5k4fcrz159-pxvXAY6Te2dUdhDhLcZMH-5mmZqjYDXQW-tIiQMLFZz8rmBLUofj_Y/s320/DSC04470.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Here's a more recent cake I did. It's a wedding shower cake I did for my friend Bridget just last weekend. It's done with white MMF and sage green icing (I used Wilton's Concentrated Paste in Juniper to dye it this colour) and a sage green ribbon I found at Walmart. The topping is just three roses I got at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chipman-NB/Chipman-Flower-Gift-Shoppe/5798628605?ref=ts">my local flower shop</a> and arranged into a small glass votive holder that I then sunk into the top of the cake.</span></p><p align="left">The cake was a 10" cake (3" deep) for the bottom layer and then 3 regular 8" cakes for the top layer. (It was Marble Cake per the bride's request)</p><p align="left">Anyway, Hopefully I can get back into posting again, and it won't be nearly so long until my next post as it has been since my last one. (I don't actually count the <em>"Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"</em> post as an actual post... It's just a "go here before it's too late and you can't see it for free anymore" kind of post.)</p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-45618436648837481362008-07-18T12:42:00.004-03:002008-07-18T12:48:06.627-03:00Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog<span style="font-size:130%;">A campy, fun musical about a villan, a superhero and a girl.<br /><br />Written and directed by Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and other great shows) Go visit it. Like, NOW!! It's only available to see for free until July 20th, after that you'll have to pay to download it! </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Click on the picture to visit the site or go directly to </span><a href="http://www.drhorrible.com/"><span style="font-size:130%;">www.drhorrible.com</span></a><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://www.drhorrible.com/"><img src="http://www.drhorrible.com/images/banners/banner2.gif" border="0" /></a></p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-88865879618036695502008-01-20T20:47:00.000-04:002008-01-20T21:04:02.364-04:00Happy Birthday (party) Rickey<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2v6jGBQD99a7UrAPfpCeDeHeeXuyNd2vf9GChjhhQdh_0LAX7KD5HbPZC_7UzD-QP512h69sxKk8qn2KDlVjN_Tdg4mXAbxO9btcyiVvWl4pyG2vUHzKaF5-lgm7gJF_KwD1/s1600-h/Dsc03014.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157725645669871650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2v6jGBQD99a7UrAPfpCeDeHeeXuyNd2vf9GChjhhQdh_0LAX7KD5HbPZC_7UzD-QP512h69sxKk8qn2KDlVjN_Tdg4mXAbxO9btcyiVvWl4pyG2vUHzKaF5-lgm7gJF_KwD1/s400/Dsc03014.jpg" border="0" /></a>Today is my step-father's birthday. Well, not his birthday, that's not until Tuesday, but today WAS his birthday party. Mmmm... Turkey supper with all the fixins. Gotta love a FREE turkey supper.<br /><br />Here was my contribution to the celebration. This "Maple Leafs" Birthday Cake!<br /><p>Rickey is a HUGE Leafs fan, and has a rather large collection of Leafs memorabilia, most of which NEVER EVER gets used. The two coffee cups with the Leafs logos on them that we gave him for Christmas several years ago sit on a shelf in the kitchen. He won't use them. The Zippo lighter with the Leafs logo that my Mom got him for Christmas one year isn't even out of the package, and the rest is the same. So, when we walked in today with this cake he was pleasantly surprised, expecting just a plain Chocolate cake with chocolate icing. But he then proceeded to tell me that he loves it but "we can't eat it!" Lol. Well, too bad, there were four little kids running around that put a stop to THAT idea rather quickly.</p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-28958786783180960262008-01-20T10:37:00.000-04:002008-01-20T20:45:24.878-04:00Random Winter Pictures<div align="center"></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDRfedJoU2TgMBaRJ1pZsU4hHawGbeciykT1ufMLgwhO8lnk4y99Mh0utWCNKmIpdu_QS14FB00hgJ36_8HQRmAVkM7_pR0OUQY0HwSHvp2Nb_LNZoz3z3OiSYTJtryRb5U76/s1600-h/Dsc03005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157571679682244626" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDRfedJoU2TgMBaRJ1pZsU4hHawGbeciykT1ufMLgwhO8lnk4y99Mh0utWCNKmIpdu_QS14FB00hgJ36_8HQRmAVkM7_pR0OUQY0HwSHvp2Nb_LNZoz3z3OiSYTJtryRb5U76/s400/Dsc03005.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div align="center">A shot of my backyard in mid afternoon with the moon above the trees.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinYgsGvHspWzTaqjTD34chUyQfI21Nu0gq6yB_nzH9E7NEb7jDbN4hJyXcgg1ADZbXqHJhLi4jj6uBEm5SM3hIfCEGyFO_AbGVawY13foXWLqmxAFHe8rUIKMu96FCXfxu2ISJ/s1600-h/Dsc03006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157571233005645826" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinYgsGvHspWzTaqjTD34chUyQfI21Nu0gq6yB_nzH9E7NEb7jDbN4hJyXcgg1ADZbXqHJhLi4jj6uBEm5SM3hIfCEGyFO_AbGVawY13foXWLqmxAFHe8rUIKMu96FCXfxu2ISJ/s400/Dsc03006.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Same location, just a closeup of the snow covered fence. </div><div align="center"><br /><br /> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcTpeqT9eMJcb-iMk2oRzA8yHg04NO5oSlYAZ3cGbxDWeFfhsMzb3zF02eMfS5Do8TMpuCarjlrf43YGhpMvqVhBhZSno7Gx_jTHAy1HWMEj-dI29B7siBxnTK0VXW_e1yoy_/s1600-h/Dsc02977.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157569253025722354" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcTpeqT9eMJcb-iMk2oRzA8yHg04NO5oSlYAZ3cGbxDWeFfhsMzb3zF02eMfS5Do8TMpuCarjlrf43YGhpMvqVhBhZSno7Gx_jTHAy1HWMEj-dI29B7siBxnTK0VXW_e1yoy_/s400/Dsc02977.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Olivia, Rachel and Jason out playing in the snow.</div><div align="center"><br /><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jQvW8aDGA4ykXZK-hLuIndaITxNPsAR6cRQHKPqHFiI-OTSLMigingg6bA2G5Lg1c_8j4u9ZOsfexl0y3puaYpXGiisCwN7w10AwEq-rloxjmSO3wGw0CpFaWOkacVrfBNTk/s1600-h/Dsc02983.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157568548651085794" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jQvW8aDGA4ykXZK-hLuIndaITxNPsAR6cRQHKPqHFiI-OTSLMigingg6bA2G5Lg1c_8j4u9ZOsfexl0y3puaYpXGiisCwN7w10AwEq-rloxjmSO3wGw0CpFaWOkacVrfBNTk/s400/Dsc02983.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><div align="center">My kids and husband in their first snowfort.<br /><br /><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjA745s8gibIjYvB4qVM_fFFqBf2Yff77TUrJh1ssKAV4EQzVHr-RcwA1EmE98beGkNaqjD3ZinelKQ0nhTjIoxUkpoyxajRWoSfM78n2yRvlxtcJSEkwg82xjGAAjrLWTnge/s1600-h/Dsc02989.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157568381147361234" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjA745s8gibIjYvB4qVM_fFFqBf2Yff77TUrJh1ssKAV4EQzVHr-RcwA1EmE98beGkNaqjD3ZinelKQ0nhTjIoxUkpoyxajRWoSfM78n2yRvlxtcJSEkwg82xjGAAjrLWTnge/s400/Dsc02989.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />"Pew Pew" - Olivia pretending to shoot at me from lazerbeams on her wrists.</div><div align="center">(She's been watching Buzz Lightyear on Playhouse Disney lately) </div><div align="center"><br /><br /> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoE2vKOQ8AdX8MHmntU8ly2OY1U0u5yTBPSBH0CiotF9JDw0Fet4Pwc9Yy8moQSBtgOIOERC_t6GITXvLfKnDz-pOlW_pdXiMx8BNbSIipI73MEz88urhkTTO5N9dEyRsFMaI/s1600-h/Dsc02994.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157568243708407746" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoE2vKOQ8AdX8MHmntU8ly2OY1U0u5yTBPSBH0CiotF9JDw0Fet4Pwc9Yy8moQSBtgOIOERC_t6GITXvLfKnDz-pOlW_pdXiMx8BNbSIipI73MEz88urhkTTO5N9dEyRsFMaI/s400/Dsc02994.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Rachel eating snow. Don't worry it wasn't yellow. *heehee*<br /><br /></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-61589441913793855702008-01-17T18:51:00.000-04:002008-01-17T19:04:54.423-04:00One Smart Dog!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNNAM4qWsNOfscS6EiLuY0lMSTFUAmaoZEYQ03lS1572F0s9yqJkWLxoGxCaNcpObT-hnp9w1DTcCA8DOktTspCWppMMk0vaZiMKVuhnQrXgLVc8kctEyr0xXdQdH7ycn0s-e/s1600-h/sleeping+dog.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5156585280313175986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNNAM4qWsNOfscS6EiLuY0lMSTFUAmaoZEYQ03lS1572F0s9yqJkWLxoGxCaNcpObT-hnp9w1DTcCA8DOktTspCWppMMk0vaZiMKVuhnQrXgLVc8kctEyr0xXdQdH7ycn0s-e/s320/sleeping+dog.jpg" border="0" /></a> An old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home. He followed me into the house, down the hall, and fell asleep in a corner. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.<br /><br />The next day he was back, resumed his position in the hall, and slept for an hour. This continued for several weeks.<br /><br />Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."<br /><br />The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with ten children -- he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?"<br /><br />Note: This is NOT my picture, it just came with the email joke, so I thought I'd include it here.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-10029342179830646582008-01-15T01:01:00.000-04:002008-01-15T01:13:18.090-04:00Visions of Dragons<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqdzOIZaKNkR3PCWfBtmkIjTaYhGhc8yYW8G_peoEBSnzwUyYCAm480Zxm-qMo4n3cS_sOFjgJGK0aG4YtG9Oin_sD9W0wCQ42_ZU139Tg7BNWvKujBgcAgV9VAPLrFYz_86p/s1600-h/Dsc02975.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155565053781684082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqdzOIZaKNkR3PCWfBtmkIjTaYhGhc8yYW8G_peoEBSnzwUyYCAm480Zxm-qMo4n3cS_sOFjgJGK0aG4YtG9Oin_sD9W0wCQ42_ZU139Tg7BNWvKujBgcAgV9VAPLrFYz_86p/s400/Dsc02975.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I Finally finished stitching my Dream Sampler from <a href="http://dragondreams.accra.ca/">Dragon Dreams</a>. I've got 45 hours total stitching time on it. I didn't end up frogging out the Watercolors in the fairy's skirt. It looked fine with half stitches of the MUCH thicker Watercolors fibres, rather than the Waterlilies that it called for. I did, however frog the backstitching around the fairy's wings (what a chore that was!) and the backstitch swirls beside the fairy's wings. (which is much harder to see with the finer thread)<br /><br />This one is for Olivia. I do plan on stitching it again for Rachel once I find a fabric that I suits it.<br /><br />When I get around to getting it framed I'll post another picture.<br /><br />Oh, I forgot to mention that it's stitched on 32 ct Iris Garden Opalescent Lugana from <a href="http://www.silkweaver.com/">Silkweaver</a>.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-68917916786684621982008-01-13T13:36:00.000-04:002008-01-13T14:29:36.461-04:00Cake Cake and more Cake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVdkwITTXrDZQjRSsalxf3NJnwh6k2ziV_98qwVpLlKqBemQ750QMlhceUlYT_j0F2TXMrRlUI-3bh_r73W6Ht1jdxIuUVBE0lAvLuh94_fKdT2xtz-Gqn_tf45gvjS23fm7m/s1600-h/Dsc02966.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155024682471337746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVdkwITTXrDZQjRSsalxf3NJnwh6k2ziV_98qwVpLlKqBemQ750QMlhceUlYT_j0F2TXMrRlUI-3bh_r73W6Ht1jdxIuUVBE0lAvLuh94_fKdT2xtz-Gqn_tf45gvjS23fm7m/s400/Dsc02966.jpg" border="0" /></a>Well, I still havn't gotten any stitching done lately. My cousin and best friend, Janice is celebrating her 29th birthday on Wednesday, and was having a birthday party last night, so I decided to bake a cake for her.<br /><br />Here is the cake I ended up making.<br /><br />This was my first attempt at using rolled fondant, and I decided to try making Marshmallow Fondant. I loved it! It wasn't nearly as tricky to work with as I thought it would be. The only thing I'd do differently is I wouldn't make a square cake using fondant again. the corners were really very tricky. But the idea behind the cake was for it to look like two stacked presents, so I could get away with folding the corners on it, which I gratefully did.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjPpBkb3aEOzEjnxn0eqWClHDBMobW_SwQMKjc7pYQchTfPLi5GEgPEPfs9GMmLGyJDTAtpwIqr45RF3dC3ynqIt2afu_A0kqwkaEr70tSqUwhsfG_RLJ6rh3_Ldqm7tyoCcy/s1600-h/Dsc02964.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155028358963343202" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjPpBkb3aEOzEjnxn0eqWClHDBMobW_SwQMKjc7pYQchTfPLi5GEgPEPfs9GMmLGyJDTAtpwIqr45RF3dC3ynqIt2afu_A0kqwkaEr70tSqUwhsfG_RLJ6rh3_Ldqm7tyoCcy/s320/Dsc02964.jpg" border="0" /></a>I decided on these colours because it matches her bedroom, which she reedecorated just last spring.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here is a quick picture of Olivia on Friday afternoon as we finished mixing up the cake mix and she was happily licking the spoon and beaters while the cake was baking.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_ev4K-ulHIXsYqaZBO3lmIwcvFXc0ucMclXd03hhmwxYJLoNdDZfE7NIvkYVZfg1ZkELZ1Tv4vp8Yx-QB3MvQvQs9VCcmobhXu7rNnzH0Arzh5XC8s28c30o7mSRHZhdOluI/s1600-h/Dsc02958.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5155028131330076498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_ev4K-ulHIXsYqaZBO3lmIwcvFXc0ucMclXd03hhmwxYJLoNdDZfE7NIvkYVZfg1ZkELZ1Tv4vp8Yx-QB3MvQvQs9VCcmobhXu7rNnzH0Arzh5XC8s28c30o7mSRHZhdOluI/s320/Dsc02958.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"> </p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-26838819507359635952008-01-11T19:22:00.000-04:002008-01-11T19:35:20.681-04:00Cat 3<p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZruVyksi40HK5IbNIsGZ-1jI34jWJPMwNxXUWhW8WeUt34zoslBCnve2NAhXrJnV52QTEypGHClopfjq1hJ8aSuHOfNdFqVWsADDRadNKZ0ikts6SHa4ykqm0AAf9SdBoXnH/s1600-h/Away.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154365546725322498" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfZruVyksi40HK5IbNIsGZ-1jI34jWJPMwNxXUWhW8WeUt34zoslBCnve2NAhXrJnV52QTEypGHClopfjq1hJ8aSuHOfNdFqVWsADDRadNKZ0ikts6SHa4ykqm0AAf9SdBoXnH/s400/Away.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center">Picture is not mine. Just posting it for fun</p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-68467272605526526842008-01-10T11:46:00.000-04:002008-01-10T12:20:11.959-04:00I need to ventToday's post has nothing to do with stitching, although I am only a day away from finishing Dream Sampler -- I'll post a picture as soon as it's done. It also has nothing to do with the Christmas pictures that I promised to post the last time I wrote, though hopefully I'll get off my duff and actually post them soon. It also has nothing to do with what I've been up to lately, which usually involves listening to either the new "Ultimate Santana" CD or the new Colbie Callait CD "CoCo" (which is great by the way) and reading online fanfic. Todays post is me venting about the freaking NB Health Care System.<br /><br />Every child in New Brunswick (and I'm assuming all of Canada as well) goes for a 3 1/2 year checkup with the public health nurses, they make sure her eyesight is fine, check her hearing and speech as well as some general things like recognition of shapes, colours, etc. Basically just looking to see if there's anything that you're child is signifigantly behind on before they get to school. Well, Olivia had her 3 1/2 year checkup in May of 2007. (8 months ago) A speech therapist from the Parle Moi/Talk With Me program here in NB was there and mentioned that she thought that Olivia needed to be referred to see a speech therapist for her "imprecision" in her speech. She said that it's not a big problem, but something that should be looked into before school started if possible.<br /><br />"Great! No problem." I said. "When do we go?" So then she tells me that the waiting list to get into a speech therapist in the Fredericton/Oromocto region is 8-10 months because they are short of speech therapists at the moment. A few weeks later I received a letter from the Speech Language Pathology Outpatient Department that said basically the same thing. 8-10 months. Ok, I can deal with that. They're dealing with staff shortages, there's not much I can do about it so there's not much sense in complaining. Right? Or, at lest, complaining isn't going to get me in any faster so no sense in getting myself all agrivated and worked up over something that I have no control over and no chance of changing.<br /><br />Anyway, my cousin Janice asked me a few weeks ago if I'd ever heard any more about it and I said no I hadn't. She suggested calling to find out how much longer the wait would be since it was soon approaching 8 months since I was referred, and I hadn't yet received call to schedule an appointment within the next little while.<br /><br />So, this morning I called the Audiology dept (same dept as speech therapist) and asked what how far up on the list Olivia currently was since we had been on the list since May of last year. She advises me she'll find out and give me a call back later this morning. About an hour later I get a call back and she informs me that they are still short staffed and it'll be at LEAST another YEAR befor we can get in. I nearly lost it. I know it's not her fault personally, and that thought is the only thing that kept me from completely going off on her about it. I said, something along the line of "So she's going to be in SCHOOL before she can get into a therapist?" and she said that was right, but that if I wanted her to get the speech help she needs before school I'd have to see a private speech therapist at a cost of $70-$80 per HOUR.<br /><br />And, you know what makes me the angriest of all? I asked the "Parle Moi/Talk With Me" speech therapist whether Olivia needed to see someone at least TWICE in the year prior to her 3 1/2 year screening and she told me that Olivia was fine and her speech was just developing and would be fine. But during our meeting after the screening she told me that a parent usually notices the problems early on and they (the speech therapists) usually take that into account. If she had actually listened to me when I asked her about it the first few times, Olivia may have been into see a therapist by now and I wouldn't be going through this.<br /><br />Aaaarghhhh...Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-23981142027960214552008-01-01T16:57:00.000-04:002008-01-01T19:13:26.559-04:00Welcome 2008<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtZxhp1e6x96EclnUS-GgDSbnD5iqnNpGBlVbWm21eN6AYAnZ4SKc16l_Fs0ewx7lNtbnxD_SgMXM9M0Ji_sgghWFih_D0VohaduPs7HwweeSffe7KZyrYrOyUuzcu1QRzSN4/s1600-h/Family+Picture+2007+Small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5150648226760830690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtZxhp1e6x96EclnUS-GgDSbnD5iqnNpGBlVbWm21eN6AYAnZ4SKc16l_Fs0ewx7lNtbnxD_SgMXM9M0Ji_sgghWFih_D0VohaduPs7HwweeSffe7KZyrYrOyUuzcu1QRzSN4/s400/Family+Picture+2007+Small.jpg" border="0" /></a>Well, Happy New Year for those of you who still check my Blog periodically. I rarely post anymore and I blame it all on the addiction that is Fanfiction. I've been stuck on a site (<a href="http://www.tthfanfic.com/">Twisting the Hellmouth</a> - A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Crossover Fanfic site) for several months now. I've been giving less attention to my husband and kids (to some extent), my housework and most of all my stitching. DH and DD's and my housework have been getting a little less attention than normal, but my stitching has been almost completely non existant since that site started sucking up all my free time.<br /><br />Here's a Family Picture that we had done in early December by a local Fredericton Photographer. We got them done just barely in time to go out with our Christmas Cards.<br /><br /><p>I've decided to run down my "To Do List" that I posted at the end of last year and see which ones have been accomplished and which ones have not. I commented after each item on whether it was a success or not. Blue text means I was successful with that item for 2007 and red text means I wasn't successful.</p><p>2007 To Do List<br /></p><ol><li>Play with and read to my kids more - <span style="color:#6633ff;">Yes, for a good part of the year until my Fanfic addiction took hold the last few months I was doing good with this.</span> </li><li>Try to keep up with my housework (or at least a little more than usual) - <span style="color:#ff0000;">HA, not likely. </span></li><li>Post on my blog at least once a week - <span style="color:#ff0000;">This might have happened for the first month or so, but definitely a failure if we look at it long term.</span></li><li>Post more to the email lists I belong to (no more lurking!) -<span style="color:#ff0000;"> I think I did good with this one for a while as well, but I haven't even CHECKED my email on that account for at least 6 months! A Dismal failure on that one ;)</span></li><li>Comment more on other's blogs. - I always complain that no one (or rather very few people) comment on my blog, but I'm guilty of reading and running as well. But not anymore! - <span style="color:#ff0000;">Again, I did well for a while but fell off the wagon early.</span></li><li>Try and stitch at least two nights per week (EVERY week) - <span style="color:#ff0000;">Nope</span></li><li>Finish "Waiting" - <span style="color:#6633ff;">YES YES YES!</span></li><li>Start "Summer Blooms" (It's the second picture in <a href="http://scrappychic77.blogspot.com/2006/07/stitching-and-waiting.html">this</a> post) - <span style="color:#6666cc;">Yep</span></li><li>Finish "Summer Blooms" - <span style="color:#ff0000;">Nope</span></li><li>Start "Fairy Moon" - <span style="color:#6666cc;">Yep</span> </li><li>Finish "Fairy Moon" (though not likely!) - <span style="color:#ff0000;">Nope (though as you can see I wasn't really expecting to)</span></li><li>Stitch "Quilt" (a DMC freebie I picked up online. See the <a href="http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2765451870094516364onZSXG">pic</a> here) and make it into a needlebook - <span style="color:#6666cc;">Yep, though I never did finish stitching around the outside edge after finishing the needlebook</span></li><li>Stitch and "finish" 3 new Christmas Ornaments for 2007 - <span style="color:#ff0000;">HA. I never even got one finished. I stitched it and it sat there for a month waiting for me to put the beads on it. Never got to it yet. </span></li><li>"finish" 3rd Ornament from 2006 (<a href="http://scrappychic77.blogspot.com/2006/12/new-ornament-front-stitched.html">Blackwork Noel</a>) - <span style="color:#ff0000;">Nope... damn I'm lazy when it comes to finishing.</span></li><li>Get started on a scrapbook for Rachel. - <span style="color:#6666cc;">I got a few pages done, but never went further... though since I only said get "STARTED" on a scrapbook I guess this is a success *Woohoo*</span></li><li>Make a monthly "to do" list each month to help keep me on track. - <span style="color:#ff0000;">teeheehee... Nope, I think I did this in January and maybe one other month... 2 out of 12 - a success? I think not.</span><br /></li></ol><p>Ok, I think we can all agree that there is substantially more red than blue on the list, which means I need to either a) be more realistic in my goals or b) get off my tush and actually work on the things I WANT to accomplish and not assume that they're just going to happen on their own. </p><p>That being said, here are a few things I want to accomplish in 2008.</p><strong>General Goals</strong><br /><br /><ol><li>Spend more time playing with my kids and NOT sit on my butt in front of the computer while Olivia asks me to play with her. There's only so long when your kids actually WANT to be with you and be seen with you. I want to take advantage of those short years as much as possible.</li><li>Walk on the treadmill at least 3 times a week. I got a treadmill in the late spring and I need to use it more</li><li>Lose 20 lbs. (this kind of goes with #2)</li><li>Reconnect with some of my Fredericton friends that I've lost touch with over the past year and a half - Most of whom I only hear about second hand through my friend Bridget.</li><li>Write one multi-chapter Fanfic at TtH, instead of just lurking and reading all the wonderful (and in <em>some</em> cases - not so wonderful) stories.</li></ol><strong>Stitching Goals</strong><br /><br /><ol><li>Finish Olivia's Dream Sampler - I'm nearly done now as it is.</li><li>Finish Summer Blooms</li><li>Finish (or at least make substantial progress on) Fairy Moon</li><li>Start Mother's Tree (Lavender & Lace) (deciding on the fabric to stitch this on should be one task all on it's own)</li><li>Start a second Dream Sampler for Rachel (again, once I figure out which fabric to use)</li><li>Start Romantic Stitcher (Passione Ricamo)</li><li>Start my Peace Snowglobe</li><li>Finish my Peace Snowglobe</li><li>Start Fairy Celebration 2</li><li>Finish Fairy Celebration 2</li><li>Have one Ornament weekend each month where I try to stitch one ornament a month -- If I don't get 12 made, I'd settle for one "finished" ornament for each of us. (As well as finishing the ones that I didn't from previous years.)</li></ol><p><em>Heh, talk about being unrealistic. lol</em></p><p>I'll try to remember to post again tomorrow and put up a couple of pics from the holidays. If I just save this as a draft and attempt to add to it later when I have time I may NEVER get this one posted. At least this way I've posted <em>something!</em></p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-52000277891844776202007-11-29T08:02:00.000-04:002007-11-29T08:09:33.365-04:0039 Things(My favourite is #27!! Ain't it the truth sister!)<br /><br /><br /><br />1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.<br /><br />2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.<br /><br />3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.<br /><br />4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.<br /><br />5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.<br /><br />6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.<br /><br />7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.<br /><br />8. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.<br /><br />9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.<br /><br />10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.<br /><br />11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of cheques.<br /><br />12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.<br /><br />13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.<br /><br />14. Men are from earth, Women are from earth... Deal with it.<br /><br />15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.<br /><br />16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.<br /><br />17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.<br /><br />18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.<br /><br />19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.<br /><br />20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.<br /><br />21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.<br /><br />22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.<br /><br />23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy fridge.<br /><br />24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.<br /><br />25. It's not the jeans that make your bum look fat.<br /><br />26. If you had to identify, in 1 word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, & never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings".<br /><br />27. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness".<br /><br />28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.<br /><br />29. You should not confuse your career with your life.<br /><br />30. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.<br /><br />31. Never lick a steak knife.<br /><br />32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.<br /><br />33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we put the clocks back.<br /><br />34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.<br /><br />35. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday.. That time is age eleven.<br /><br />36. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers..<br /><br />37. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.<br /><br />38. Your friends love you anyway.<br /><br />39. Never be afraid to try something new.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-91921445515283401022007-11-16T07:40:00.000-04:002007-11-16T07:42:31.544-04:00Finally!!!<p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcKRUW2nF2Li9Oq88J8wSiBaV3ZCN8XSWlCOI2cdpkJxpBsI1tZcQT20A3_wEgROmV5Tzt_mfWkLDUeAsvX9BqTUKfoPeXeyhm7usiMt1iox41Me1Egqx9j8GhL-j3VNvg8UQ/s1600-h/Woman's+Remote.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133402158832070930" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcKRUW2nF2Li9Oq88J8wSiBaV3ZCN8XSWlCOI2cdpkJxpBsI1tZcQT20A3_wEgROmV5Tzt_mfWkLDUeAsvX9BqTUKfoPeXeyhm7usiMt1iox41Me1Egqx9j8GhL-j3VNvg8UQ/s400/Woman's+Remote.jpg" border="0" /></a></p>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-149606301706096472007-11-15T10:57:00.000-04:002007-11-15T11:12:51.358-04:00Halloween Pics<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zbse0EWI2DhukqqeaaBuXHyYbaGx08liXys2ywD8AAgRAlbjX7_ojsO4J458d65F63rsMWu0pNztBgHoNR9yCuMsgC2dN_HnxxY5k6tp2Wg39T5sV86_ixWQD_d__sxwQf6E/s1600-h/Dsc02783.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133081651192574146" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zbse0EWI2DhukqqeaaBuXHyYbaGx08liXys2ywD8AAgRAlbjX7_ojsO4J458d65F63rsMWu0pNztBgHoNR9yCuMsgC2dN_HnxxY5k6tp2Wg39T5sV86_ixWQD_d__sxwQf6E/s320/Dsc02783.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The three of us Halloween morning getting ready for<br />a Halloween Party at our local drop in play group.<br />Rachel as a Turtle, Me as a Juliet (without my wig) and Olivia as Snow White<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBPa9tRPcdIeLVPaXkWJhUJyH_-xfc-VNu6TT0_GXT5zSU-KqG0ckuo69EVAVli4Nkb7kIvGGaDWASxOTWbHvhSuGu1cj-4VfL2kS0k5X5sWlMFfeaTsnZBf23_f6z64X53dN/s1600-h/Halloween02.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133081994789957842" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBPa9tRPcdIeLVPaXkWJhUJyH_-xfc-VNu6TT0_GXT5zSU-KqG0ckuo69EVAVli4Nkb7kIvGGaDWASxOTWbHvhSuGu1cj-4VfL2kS0k5X5sWlMFfeaTsnZBf23_f6z64X53dN/s320/Halloween02.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Rachel the Turtle (too bad I don't have any<br />pictures where you can see her little shell!)<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_uqVbQjEVdMic8u-wmrsWU2_NM2AGftms7sGaOkyab7gyqLRixAdKgHf-SQOCwOBkHF_i88rS6akOUu-3bHnCQS-mkYaoMMmSYDQ24RK_kO5Ys9CRJV4esdnrkrIsMEtdgdU/s1600-h/Dsc02814.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133082127933944034" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_uqVbQjEVdMic8u-wmrsWU2_NM2AGftms7sGaOkyab7gyqLRixAdKgHf-SQOCwOBkHF_i88rS6akOUu-3bHnCQS-mkYaoMMmSYDQ24RK_kO5Ys9CRJV4esdnrkrIsMEtdgdU/s320/Dsc02814.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Olivia with all her treats on Halloween Night after I put Rachel to bed.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KQmD_5ynKTHhn2FLhwo5xc0JwkluNqjc2iDXiDGes8gqJcOZYaJLJC_A9PvkUlF4877iwI-26RcKm0fy2E_-iLYluGAfQ6Sm8MzG51LQhDK1P2ZfznKRVNj6KeFvzngJHGYG/s1600-h/Dsc02662.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133082291142701298" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KQmD_5ynKTHhn2FLhwo5xc0JwkluNqjc2iDXiDGes8gqJcOZYaJLJC_A9PvkUlF4877iwI-26RcKm0fy2E_-iLYluGAfQ6Sm8MzG51LQhDK1P2ZfznKRVNj6KeFvzngJHGYG/s320/Dsc02662.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Our Dora Jack-o-Lantern the night I carved it.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijH_6Mu3v_YN7tv5mmXY9FEdcAIg0ieJRpWKVgTIxaOY8SNKxtRux63xcxOUoxC7jbCeEurRkEfASnW4Xz-2EUxshYTVJYwNRk-TVHA5U6OwB3iSeZcmSnx-IRLnLYP25LqTQs/s1600-h/Dsc02666.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133082845193482498" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijH_6Mu3v_YN7tv5mmXY9FEdcAIg0ieJRpWKVgTIxaOY8SNKxtRux63xcxOUoxC7jbCeEurRkEfASnW4Xz-2EUxshYTVJYwNRk-TVHA5U6OwB3iSeZcmSnx-IRLnLYP25LqTQs/s320/Dsc02666.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Our Dora Jack-o-Lantern the next morning<br />when Rachel punched her in the face! </div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-26550204880501294042007-11-15T09:04:00.000-04:002007-11-15T10:50:56.732-04:00Not much going onLife's been pretty tame in small town New Brunswick lately. I haven't done much other than watch the tube and play with the kids... oh, other than nearly break my big toe the other day.<br /><br /><br />For some of you who know, we've got a wood furnace and the other night (Sunday) I went downstairs to throw a few logs in the fire and managed to drop one on my big toe. I don't think it would have been nearly as bad if I had actually been holding it and dropped it, but instead it slipped from my grip before I even had it off the top of the wood pile. Our small wood room in the basement has 9ft ceilings and the wood is piled in three tiers over 7ft tall... (I have to get on my tiptoes to get the wood at the very top) So, a log around 18" long and probably 9" in diameter when whole (it was split in half) fell 7 ft and landed on my big toe... needless to say I couldn't walk well for the next couple of days. Yesterday was the first day that I was actually walking without pain most of the time, though it was also the first day my toe turned purple, and an awfully pretty shade it was!<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvqLMYZEw6lCftUuImAOauqM1QkVoQ6SZIKHUCOucpYwHLrk9krO6gL3-ATSsqHPXcEVkTp6n3MnqFmlYm4aLJCzRzO0af75R4GEoY9NdA8mxo1wWIMNohxYl4Kf_u6qUQ7ew/s1600-h/John+Deere+Nov+2+2007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5133068212239904898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvqLMYZEw6lCftUuImAOauqM1QkVoQ6SZIKHUCOucpYwHLrk9krO6gL3-ATSsqHPXcEVkTp6n3MnqFmlYm4aLJCzRzO0af75R4GEoY9NdA8mxo1wWIMNohxYl4Kf_u6qUQ7ew/s200/John+Deere+Nov+2+2007.jpg" border="0" /></a>I haven't been doing much stitching lately. I managed to finish the John Deere Tractor I was stitching for my FIL. It was supposed to have text at the bottom telling the year of the tractor, but I left them off because his old John Deere tractor looks very similar to the pattern, but is a different year. I considered putting something like "Nothing Runs like a Deere" or just "John Deere" at the bottom, but honestly... I doubt he'll mistake it for anything else, so I just left it as it is, very simple.<br /><br /><br /><br />I started working on Christmas Ornies for this year. I know, I know...I'm cutting it kind of close, but I just don't get the urge to work on Christmas stuff until nearly Christmas. I'm starting with the one I'm doing for Jason and I. (I plan on doing 3 each year -- one for each girl and one for Jason and I) It's the Joy ornament by Sweetheart Tree that's in the 2006 JCS Ornament Issue. I should be done in a day or two (it's not very big) and I'll post a pic then.<br /><br /><br /><br />Two Christmas presents arrived last week, We ordered a new computer desk for ourselves as a Christmas present for all of us. Right now we've just got a cheap "student" style desk. Everything is open and no drawers etc... not the best thing with a very grabby baby in the house, so we ordered <a href="http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=98%2C107,109&webid=578042&affixedcode=WW">this one</a> from Staples and it arrived the next day. (Note to Future Shop. Please please PLEASE take some lessons on home delivery from Staples!!) It's got a hutch on the top to keep things up high and away from curious little hands. It also has doors in several places to store all our junk that looks so cluttered and messy sitting out in the open right now. I tell you it'll be so nice to be a little more organized than we are now. And it's so hard not to just set it up and be done with it now, but it IS a Christmas present so Jason's adamant that it stay in the box until Christmas Day.<br /><br /><br /><br />The other present that arrived was one I ordered for myself from Ebay. I've wanted to stitch Mother's Tree for a while now, and found it on Ebay for only a few dollars (including shipping I think I paid around $6.00.) So I thought it would be a good present for the girls to give to me. I won't be stitching it until sometime in the spring. I want to get substantially further in my rotation before I take on another big project. I think I'd get too scattered with another big one right now -- Medium one, maybe... but not a biggun. Unfortunately, blogger won't let me upload a picture now, if you don't know the pattern and want to take a peek, <a href="http://www.tiag.com/designs/LL-38.html">here it is</a>. And if you want to see a gorgeous one that I found online, check <a href="http://autumncro.blogspot.com/2005/12/mothers-tree_28.html">this post</a> out! She doesn't post much, but I LOVE her version of this pattern. Strangely enough when I did the research on my family tree on Ancestry.com I found that we actually have the first two ancestors on her tree in common. Neat!<br /><br /><br /><br />Last of all, I realized that I never posted any Halloween Pictures of the kids but blogger is not cooperating on the photo front, so I'll try to remember to do a seperate post later.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-58548128234055925032007-11-14T09:21:00.000-04:002007-11-14T09:23:06.113-04:00Fun Little QuizRules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.And remember - you CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.<br /><br />Your Name: Christine<br />Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Christina Aguilera<br />A song: Come Together (by the Beatles)<br />4 letter word: Cape<br />Color: Cyan<br />Gifts/present: Candle<br />Vehicle: Cadilac<br />Animal: Cat<br />TV Show: Cosby Show<br />Location: Cardiff (in Wales -- I purposely didn't use the very obvious choice of Canada *lol*)<br />Boy Name: Connor<br />Girl Name: Charlotte<br />Drink: Coke<br />Occupation: Chiropractor<br />Sport: Curling<br />Flower: Chrysanthemum<br />Celebrity: Courtney Cox-Arquette<br />Food: Caviar<br />Something found in a kitchen: Cabinets<br />Reason for Being Late: Car broke down<br />Cartoon Character: CinderellaChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-40982960100905083272007-10-24T15:19:00.000-03:002007-11-02T10:54:57.238-03:00Happy 4th Birthday Olivia!<div>I started this post on October 24th, but things have been pretty hectic lately and so here I am over a week later, finally getting around to putting up pictures from Olivia's Birthday, and in the next post some Halloween ones as well. </div><div><br />Here are a few pictures from Olivia's Strawberry Shortcake themed 4th birthday party.</div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_u4hr2NziPLzD1GtpK0rSvE0NcIh7cFJpiG_Ns63ZXJdxl0QmXV6A1w4tkMkXKCrJqYE_EuoegH-9kLCBxeaLsk_WugGwihB3_Kttmb3yp5rhUDkTI7jybNqvIAcQchvSb50m/s1600-h/DSC02700.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128237158644009986" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_u4hr2NziPLzD1GtpK0rSvE0NcIh7cFJpiG_Ns63ZXJdxl0QmXV6A1w4tkMkXKCrJqYE_EuoegH-9kLCBxeaLsk_WugGwihB3_Kttmb3yp5rhUDkTI7jybNqvIAcQchvSb50m/s320/DSC02700.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">"The Birthday Girl" Olivia</div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjciRVDpEL4zo6O0B7R7d5dJ1zywcG6e-U_U1YQHrfcgvkv82fnxV-em-cwEDuhUGj7rCOpUhwCZgS7MNEU87Xps6bLdKcMXq9LdmOU7A5aSpgNuvlZhlbh70IH7RjsOU4oM3Z_/s1600-h/DSC02695.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128237360507472914" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjciRVDpEL4zo6O0B7R7d5dJ1zywcG6e-U_U1YQHrfcgvkv82fnxV-em-cwEDuhUGj7rCOpUhwCZgS7MNEU87Xps6bLdKcMXq9LdmOU7A5aSpgNuvlZhlbh70IH7RjsOU4oM3Z_/s320/DSC02695.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div align="center">"Little Sister" Rachel</div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTxBAKObfUPMz10Avq-T0qK_1Z7TrXqcp6HXZr4p_ksu-N4xC_lvWcRoENETUWX_4Jgg9_86KAQ0XgdvJm0vPe0OGiAv5SdjWqDwOKud0sVcBgD6ODMhCTzI3fjI0UFS0N14y/s1600-h/DSC02703.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128236952485579762" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTxBAKObfUPMz10Avq-T0qK_1Z7TrXqcp6HXZr4p_ksu-N4xC_lvWcRoENETUWX_4Jgg9_86KAQ0XgdvJm0vPe0OGiAv5SdjWqDwOKud0sVcBgD6ODMhCTzI3fjI0UFS0N14y/s320/DSC02703.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Getting ready to blow out the candles on her Strawberry Shortcake Hat cake. </div><div align="center">(Yes, I made the hat myself *Tadaa*)</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9REv6ipyYg7xUG6fsNg97MePuK6hSI7_dxgQzxQjslyHbVi0c-IDjFUbIfHsAlpCuNOg0mG1eyrL6GVqR3nMdDZzkKAmhjUYEwyRK_oteHgoyGYeeGXWgHBngEZG7Z3K1atv/s1600-h/Dsc02684.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128239804343864354" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9REv6ipyYg7xUG6fsNg97MePuK6hSI7_dxgQzxQjslyHbVi0c-IDjFUbIfHsAlpCuNOg0mG1eyrL6GVqR3nMdDZzkKAmhjUYEwyRK_oteHgoyGYeeGXWgHBngEZG7Z3K1atv/s320/Dsc02684.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">A close up of the cake before I put the candles on it. </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">The cake was made using a 9" round pan and half of Wilton's sports ball pan. I used regular icing from a jar and coloured it pink. The strawberries I made a few days ahead using Royal Icing (I got the recipe from the <a href="http://www.wilton.com/">Wilton website</a>) The red ribbon around the hat is just red fruit by the foot and the green ribbon is a real ribbon made into a bow.<br /></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ju6JvOZoCovTayEOi7oNeakGAC_bNjhHzGW4NyBG36COt8JJMqyXuKWjybnxuIFDumf-j6p4pOzh7KAbbjbxfYwilSlgCOIZRNV5rxESXLTlnlYLV0NsLkBwb_ZwWs_hWZDI/s1600-h/DSC02707.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128236836521462754" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ju6JvOZoCovTayEOi7oNeakGAC_bNjhHzGW4NyBG36COt8JJMqyXuKWjybnxuIFDumf-j6p4pOzh7KAbbjbxfYwilSlgCOIZRNV5rxESXLTlnlYLV0NsLkBwb_ZwWs_hWZDI/s320/DSC02707.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Olivia and her party guests eating cake and ice cream.</div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAe82zZC8rRZESfyHQ2QDnUuX3u2CjtA43jsJu-gaw5t5XP8agAUeqFYAFiZN6bYjJ6ezw2vsrEhqEhi5sXKuF9beDstlWbNzakgVRUa1urZd22KJczh2RydvEnevBFu03gPp/s1600-h/DSC02709.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128236673312705490" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAe82zZC8rRZESfyHQ2QDnUuX3u2CjtA43jsJu-gaw5t5XP8agAUeqFYAFiZN6bYjJ6ezw2vsrEhqEhi5sXKuF9beDstlWbNzakgVRUa1urZd22KJczh2RydvEnevBFu03gPp/s320/DSC02709.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Rachel eating cake and "i-beem". (that's what she calls Ice cream)</div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9mKMAMpCLwNxNKcC7B-o_xhWkHZy5X241XLBUVtBBFdYX6pBp7HjqK-R5tcmqZaM4i86_PnH8pVvYHd19ddeqY4Ae08gYXi61zBqGIMBrHmyTJJ2AsaNMTbPazkd-USfWEYi/s1600-h/DSC02720.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128236497219046338" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9mKMAMpCLwNxNKcC7B-o_xhWkHZy5X241XLBUVtBBFdYX6pBp7HjqK-R5tcmqZaM4i86_PnH8pVvYHd19ddeqY4Ae08gYXi61zBqGIMBrHmyTJJ2AsaNMTbPazkd-USfWEYi/s320/DSC02720.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Rachel and Grammy (my mom) cuddling. I love this shot!</div><br /><div align="center"><br /> </div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMtRqGVeAFgS_3hG8txROMzbPqwqwFXlwHlSL_4bT8WmCT5C8jR_yLwbodJXm4RR3oX-_MFC20Ogr7FeMe368lRQ16yTGrhmA7CJAIzD9iyLWbXTUXrkT7p3zPr9s0VFVBWS1/s1600-h/DSC02725.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128236355485125554" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkMtRqGVeAFgS_3hG8txROMzbPqwqwFXlwHlSL_4bT8WmCT5C8jR_yLwbodJXm4RR3oX-_MFC20Ogr7FeMe368lRQ16yTGrhmA7CJAIzD9iyLWbXTUXrkT7p3zPr9s0VFVBWS1/s320/DSC02725.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div align="center">Olivia opening her presents.</div><div align="center"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw8SMhQIHGiHmHQAqg8tl7o3hjqUkHyIp-9W5O9o0AxyBetdhndXrKvMTFxolS-Nk8hz-SFgU6uJdA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div align="center"></div><div align="center">A video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to Olivia.</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-22564549136751506132007-10-10T20:29:00.000-03:002007-10-10T21:39:34.255-03:00Has it been that long? Oh My...<div><div><div><div>It's been a while, and I haven't been doing much for stitching. I just haven't been in the mood for it lately. But now that the new TV season is back upon us I may get a bit more done while I sit my chubby little butt in front of the idiot box for hours on end.<br /></div><br /><div>I actually just realized how much I watch that damn thing. I always knew it was a lot, but just today I commented on <a href="http://blackcatryan.blogspot.com/">another blog</a> about which shows we watch and I now realize that I'm totally and completely addicted to TV! Here's our list of the shows we are watching this season.<br /></div><br /><div>Sunday nights we watch: Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, Dexter and Family Guy<br /></div><br /><div>Monday nights we watch: How I Met Your Mother, Journeyman, Stargate: Atlantis, Heroes, Chuck and Californication<br /></div><br /><div>Tuesday nights we watch: The Rick Mercer Report, Air Farce, Law & Order: SVU, House, The Tudors, Reaper and Pushing Daisies<br /></div><br /><div>Wednesday nights we watch: Back To You, Private Practice, Criminal Minds, Life(haven't seen this one yet, but it's taped) and The Bionic Woman.<br /></div><br /><div>Thursday nights we watch: CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Survivor and soon Lost<br /></div><br /><div>Friday nights we watch:Ghost Whisperer, Las Vegas, Torchwood, Moonlight<br /></div><br /><div>Phew... it makes me tired just typing it. Damn it that's a lot of shows to watch EVERY week. That reminds me... Private Practice is starting in 5 minutes so I should hurry this post up.</div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WkZM5LbmJpl2vSzGGNZcNPP4DR5JHqfjnpacGeyMYHncS5Ye2QBP9ZaUTX_8W_r-VaN2qTCthssOJ_BeIiLZM7F_FuGeqAxbbBn-JYufs6tBzznVa-7nnTZ65FbaMuiZQkof/s1600-h/Fairy+Moon+28+Hours+-+Sept+6+2007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119862749902862226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WkZM5LbmJpl2vSzGGNZcNPP4DR5JHqfjnpacGeyMYHncS5Ye2QBP9ZaUTX_8W_r-VaN2qTCthssOJ_BeIiLZM7F_FuGeqAxbbBn-JYufs6tBzznVa-7nnTZ65FbaMuiZQkof/s320/Fairy+Moon+28+Hours+-+Sept+6+2007.jpg" border="0" /></a>Even though I haven't been stitching much, I do have some progress pictures to show.<br /></div><br /><div>I realized that I never did post my latest progress on Fairy Moon, so here she is at 28 hours work on September 6, 2007</div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu3X-kWJDulM79h-wInPaYeNwG2_JbUstBMvE4NY7yhNmg9M5uo5QahtPmuE4j5In96oSixCVkMsdfN_TF0tC5HPasa9kNCwDtd9eUX_xcWo4SgPLRLopu-uLucRwJSHJSXnH/s1600-h/John+Deere-+October+9+2007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119864794307295138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu3X-kWJDulM79h-wInPaYeNwG2_JbUstBMvE4NY7yhNmg9M5uo5QahtPmuE4j5In96oSixCVkMsdfN_TF0tC5HPasa9kNCwDtd9eUX_xcWo4SgPLRLopu-uLucRwJSHJSXnH/s320/John+Deere-+October+9+2007.jpg" border="0" /></a>I've also been working on another project for Christmas. It's safe to show it here because it's for my Father in Law who doesn't own a computer. It's a John Deere pattern I took from one of the Cross Stitcher magazines I have upstairs. I don't remember when it was published, but I saw it one day when I was going through my pile o mags and knew it was perfect for him. He loves anything to do with John Deere. He's got an old OLD Deere tractor that he kept using up until last year when the costs for repairs became more than managable. So he went out and bought a new one. Anyhow, I saw this and decided to stitch it for his birthday (June!) but that never happened and I'm now attempting to stick with it long enough to finish it before Christmas. If I can stay with it and not switch to any other projects I just might do it. </div><div><br />In other, non-stitchy news I took Olivia today to get her hair cut at the hair dresser for the very first time. Many people who know me in person know the trouble I've been having with trying to convince Rachel that pulling out big chunks of Olivia's hair is not a suitable passtime. </div><br /><p>Anyway, it finally got to be too much for me. Her long hair was too easy to latch on to and I found that if I put Olivia's hair in a ponytail Rachel got a hold of it once in a while, but not nearly as much... so I went one step further with this and decided to get it cut. It had gotten to the point where Olivia is getting bald spots on the top of her head where it's all getting pulled out. It's also looking very messy and unkempt because there was so much breakage further down on her hair. So, lo and behold here is her new look. Don't mind the blurry pictures. My flash is acting up on me and hasn't been working this evening. </p><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nG61ZVHYD204LwqWtU3F7MmL5S1Qzb8TCA69XzX0MPzw7An35lH1GRN1EPv6JIqdtgb3neKtNWmyXIM44KyFI6jdyZQ5kv0Zc0oDcN0LAdIKoJurSHy__azXZvaB25Xu4QcU/s1600-h/Dsc02585.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119869956857984946" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nG61ZVHYD204LwqWtU3F7MmL5S1Qzb8TCA69XzX0MPzw7An35lH1GRN1EPv6JIqdtgb3neKtNWmyXIM44KyFI6jdyZQ5kv0Zc0oDcN0LAdIKoJurSHy__azXZvaB25Xu4QcU/s200/Dsc02585.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DI5HxpUbCuZgI6lpa_ULaUNXfZFwtgnaTb_B6qrVl99aHLvNLONNseik5T4GHrLUyKWR6ipEumrBxGAAFrIkZrGiLm8DCYXwAiFONbpyAe1CY4B_FZ81L8m5VLEnm_bg7KMo/s1600-h/Dsc02588.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119870098591905730" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DI5HxpUbCuZgI6lpa_ULaUNXfZFwtgnaTb_B6qrVl99aHLvNLONNseik5T4GHrLUyKWR6ipEumrBxGAAFrIkZrGiLm8DCYXwAiFONbpyAe1CY4B_FZ81L8m5VLEnm_bg7KMo/s200/Dsc02588.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><div align="center"></div><div align="left">In case any of you needed reminded what her hair looked like before here's a shot. Her hair was in a ponytail for the first picture. Jason took these before we left for Sandy's (my hairdresser) but he didn't take her elastic out right away. I reminded him to, but he never thought to take more than one shot of front or back with the hair down and the front shot is horrible. She's making one of the strangest faces I've ever seen. So I guess you guys get to see the before with her elastic in. After all, that is what she looked like most of the time.</div><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UElwGhXvxiHCZvKWOwrBfWoHHYs9rb_UHMuqxHBvFIVnSCe-dFlD0TJWY6Jl3NqrVd2pmzxvENKaYxMNSW7ut0CwI4By7f0cQr2PkSUBCaI1FfodtcuV9q67axKD44a_YG-W/s1600-h/Dsc02556.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119870682707458002" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UElwGhXvxiHCZvKWOwrBfWoHHYs9rb_UHMuqxHBvFIVnSCe-dFlD0TJWY6Jl3NqrVd2pmzxvENKaYxMNSW7ut0CwI4By7f0cQr2PkSUBCaI1FfodtcuV9q67axKD44a_YG-W/s200/Dsc02556.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhOMydO6KGAYysJp6ciD0gjckZ5Tsht5AhelkJ7awpYALsf-ud02ivMDpRrQmG8pnk2_zQM6A_05SNgQ1S_r169ZOWFcQ9-tyyGjmzw9p5fhWJvmuPimVoYDxb8XIFOD4Zbmy/s1600-h/Dsc02558.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119870974765234146" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhOMydO6KGAYysJp6ciD0gjckZ5Tsht5AhelkJ7awpYALsf-ud02ivMDpRrQmG8pnk2_zQM6A_05SNgQ1S_r169ZOWFcQ9-tyyGjmzw9p5fhWJvmuPimVoYDxb8XIFOD4Zbmy/s200/Dsc02558.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">I've got more to post about, but don't have time tonight. I guess that's what happens when you wait more than a month between posts... </div></div></div></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-26025051459986864792007-09-07T09:33:00.000-03:002007-09-07T11:07:17.693-03:00Dream Sampler<div>Well, another few weeks since my last post in blogland and really not all that much to say. I've got some more stitching done. I finished the next section on Dream Sampler, with the exception of the specialty stitches running between the lines of text that I STILL don't have the silk threads for.<br /></div><div>I ordered (and paid for) them at my LNS June 2nd and I still don't have anything. I called a week and a half ago to check on it and was told that they'd be <em>putting the order in </em>"next week". I mean, god!!! If there was no plan to order it for over nearly three months, just let me know and I'll get them somewhere else!!! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_RjT3PVtGxJlEMT56jxxlEwidzahwG7Kf9R_yXyXKyaCdPwu_-fdzF5CkjhJjdHlDRNOdCyvGbPEz8Kw6WFrY2Xm0oXodUW6gUUOSM-Tz944RPF7dpB4iDJMf0-e20XGCc-r/s1600-h/26.5+Hours+-+Sept+2+2007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107458042450991234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_RjT3PVtGxJlEMT56jxxlEwidzahwG7Kf9R_yXyXKyaCdPwu_-fdzF5CkjhJjdHlDRNOdCyvGbPEz8Kw6WFrY2Xm0oXodUW6gUUOSM-Tz944RPF7dpB4iDJMf0-e20XGCc-r/s320/26.5+Hours+-+Sept+2+2007.jpg" border="0" /></a>(Note: I just called them and the order should be at the store "any time now". I guess we'll see how long it takes. Because then they still have to send it to me. I'm not very happy with my experience ordering specialty threads... I waited two months for the first batch only to find out I ordered the wrong thing, then I order again from my LNS expecting a little better service and it's 3 months now... </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, enough ranting for now, you guys don't need to hear it... Here's a progress picture of Dream Sampler at 26.5 hours. I went on two days past the "week" thing because I wanted to finish the section. I'm big on working in sections. I don't think the strict 10 hours/week rotation is working very well. I think I'll still use that as a general guideline, but I won't stick with it too hard if I need to finish a section. </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbICnM7n0uQU-3-T5lMrYo34Z_nrh_KvNbVp78mQvAP5vMpmwCwsDPvsP9wclkpmhv5Z8dMZuoRDBpX006L30BfFiVNAeSrJGRGl14NDlp-HK-2x3vtGrO213jnxOBHWrEsb4/s1600-h/26.5+Hours+-+Sept+2+2007+-+snippity+snip.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107459940826536082" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbICnM7n0uQU-3-T5lMrYo34Z_nrh_KvNbVp78mQvAP5vMpmwCwsDPvsP9wclkpmhv5Z8dMZuoRDBpX006L30BfFiVNAeSrJGRGl14NDlp-HK-2x3vtGrO213jnxOBHWrEsb4/s320/26.5+Hours+-+Sept+2+2007+-+snippity+snip.jpg" border="0" /></a>The highlight of my freaking week last week was when I was sitting stitching and looked down at the bottom corner of my fabric and found THIS.</div><div> </div><div>Olivia had decided that my fabric looked like it needed a trim! The cut is about an inch from the bottom at the highest spot and about 2.5 inches long. Luckily there is a bit of extra material at the top and bottom, but I was looking to frame it with a large mat... and this limits the size frame I can use by a bit. I may have to eliminate the mat altogether. I plan on trying to sew a piece of fabric on the back of the bottom corner so I can possibly still use the whole size when stretching and framing the piece. I don't know how the stretching will go if both pieces of fabric have different amounts of give to them, but all I can do is try. </div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-90848517545324028872007-08-23T20:14:00.000-03:002007-08-23T20:29:47.959-03:00A Little More Summer<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygU21LuKHO1MZogRtVG70gUbl8nDwCdH8PlubXVNfhYzedeFIWjTsn3vucNu_19FwTDKqFXZB_YfJ_2sfxZdpjWVexymBKMEyYzG4pm8coIgqdHHtkvRziinDaR7AXr2A-3Ty/s1600-h/Summer+Blooms+-+20+Hours+-+Aug+20+2007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5102042032856160322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygU21LuKHO1MZogRtVG70gUbl8nDwCdH8PlubXVNfhYzedeFIWjTsn3vucNu_19FwTDKqFXZB_YfJ_2sfxZdpjWVexymBKMEyYzG4pm8coIgqdHHtkvRziinDaR7AXr2A-3Ty/s320/Summer+Blooms+-+20+Hours+-+Aug+20+2007.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Summer Blooms that is...</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I finally got back into stitching a bit and have finished another 10 hours on Summer blooms. I was going to try and do a full week stitching, but the main reason I haven't been stitching lately is that I can't get into it with this pattern. I LOVE the pattern, and it's super easy, mostly full stitches with a few quarter stitches on the flowers, but I just can't get into it like I can with the others... Anyway, once I got to the 10 hour mark I gladly put it down to pick up Dream Sampler again. I had only one evening done on that when I got a call from my local library to let me know that my wait was finally over and the new Harry Potter had arrived with my number on it. (Woohoo!!) So, I started reading that last night. I should be done The Deathly Hallows in another day or so, but another book I'd ordered in at the library has arrived as well, with a third one on the way... so It looks like even though I finally got my groove back, my stitching may still be sporadic until I finish these three books. But luckily I'm a fast reader and it shouldn't take me longer than a week to polish off these three. (that's if I'm taking my time *lol*)</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Anyway, here's the most recent picture of Summer Blooms at 20 hours work, taken on Aug 20 2007. I love it, and I can't wait until it's finished. (in more ways than one)</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Click on the "Summer Blooms" tag at the bottom to see the previous posts about this pattern.</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-77304410074953068822007-08-19T23:04:00.000-03:002008-01-11T19:38:04.520-04:00I've been stitching! Woohoo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqKTzvaY_EZMnH17BAvI_tV2fflqzOX2MsytvOpiBi4UwDR8-6PY2xbd5QNVpuGQkwewcdfcW3UiBkwzi4w1zfr9QacUHlNsdARX7f6iCJLurMVTS3jR-7Rw-wjET3QEMMrYV/s1600-h/Karate.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100600510451718754" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqKTzvaY_EZMnH17BAvI_tV2fflqzOX2MsytvOpiBi4UwDR8-6PY2xbd5QNVpuGQkwewcdfcW3UiBkwzi4w1zfr9QacUHlNsdARX7f6iCJLurMVTS3jR-7Rw-wjET3QEMMrYV/s320/Karate.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yes, it's true... I've actually gotten a minute amount of stitching done in the past few days. Not enough to warrant a progress picture, but at least it's something. Mind you, I think it's probably just my way of avoiding doing housework. I always find something more interesting to do when that comes my way. <div><div><br /><div></div><div>Since I have no pictures to upload of my progress I thought I'd add another "cat picture". <a href="http://scrappychic77.blogspot.com/2007/05/dude.html">A few months ago</a> I said that once in a while I'd upload one of many funny cat pictures I received via email. I promptly forgot all about this. So, for the record. Here is picture number 2. </div></div></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-72843916628531895822007-08-18T21:41:00.000-03:002007-08-18T22:30:05.197-03:00A new lookI was sitting in front of the computer today and started playing with making a titlebar for my page... well that half hour job turned into an entire evening picking and plucking away at my page. Colours, fonts, widgets, etc etc etc...<br /><br />Anyhow, here's what I came up with... hope you like it.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22959947.post-51267896588403766852007-08-18T08:21:00.000-03:002007-08-18T23:13:35.907-03:00It's been a while<a href="http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2007/08/omg-sbq/">Today’s SBQ</a> was suggested by <a href="http://astitchinwrinkledtime.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer</a> and is:<br /><span><span><blockquote><span><span></span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span><span>How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you?</span></span></blockquote></span></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTnjLRoz4lui50zzUIg-L8gGlPeCM44i9u61N6HfARcKCJluz0vf8HUfN5DaTIXPJUw7aexN7Q2OnfBNxL7ra_h40rwWDUNQU-A52S8X7HdN5MBP5fQfgmIQ5xBL_m2aGzlQF/s1600-h/1990+-+I+Luv+You+Bear.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100007860799445490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTnjLRoz4lui50zzUIg-L8gGlPeCM44i9u61N6HfARcKCJluz0vf8HUfN5DaTIXPJUw7aexN7Q2OnfBNxL7ra_h40rwWDUNQU-A52S8X7HdN5MBP5fQfgmIQ5xBL_m2aGzlQF/s200/1990+-+I+Luv+You+Bear.JPG" border="0" /></a>Well, my first foray into the world of stitching was when I was 12 or 13 years old. I picked up one of those 99 cent cross stitch patterns and stitched it as a Christmas present for Mom. She recently found it and gave it back to me all these years later. Here's a picture I snapped of it this morning, nestled into the vase of Gladiolius that I picked from my garden yesterday. Nothing fancy, but for a 13 year old I was quite proud of my work.<br /><br />I recently picked up a pattern around the same size at a yard sale, intending to keep it for when Olivia gets a bit older. When my Uncle Stephen and his girlfriend Ellie were home from BC for a visit a few weeks ago, Ellie expressed an interest in learning to Cross stitch. So, I explained the basics to her and passed on my little pattern to her to give it a shot. Hopefully we've got another addict in the making! *lol*<br /><br />Anyway, back to the story of how I started stitching.<br /><br />Well, I never stitched anything else that I can remember for several years, even though Mom had picked up a magazine or two for me. (I still have my very first issue of "The Cross Stitcher" that she got me with a large unicorn pattern on the cover! -- I was a unicorn freak at the time.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7r3AEuXIsVMbmAiHBRU_iDcjGEQhRXkt8jOIuCNHa8UvP71eRET8bnpOTSffCPwFfj_iKSJhFGYhtchxrdcS2BhusqTbjbLzqy7TiBpzWljFaQwDWuM418czPSPYtbIv9P70K/s1600-h/2000+-+The+Sorceress.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100012134291905026" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7r3AEuXIsVMbmAiHBRU_iDcjGEQhRXkt8jOIuCNHa8UvP71eRET8bnpOTSffCPwFfj_iKSJhFGYhtchxrdcS2BhusqTbjbLzqy7TiBpzWljFaQwDWuM418czPSPYtbIv9P70K/s200/2000+-+The+Sorceress.JPG" border="0" /></a>It wasn't until I was working at NB Power in 1999 that I caught the stitching bug again. Several of the women that I worked with were all stitchers, and wonderful stitchers at that -- and they inspired me to start stitching. Here's a picture of the first project I stitched. A 5x7 Dimensions kit I picked up at the local craft store. I never did finish it. I ran out of several colours in the kit and put it away for a while until I could get my hands on more of the same colours, then after stitching a few other projects I realized how bad it looks. The stitches are all going in different directions, and really messy. So, I made the decision that this would be a UFO forever. I'll never pick it back up again. I may someday decide to stitch it again from scratch , but I'll never finish this one.<br /><br /><br />I only did a few small projects in the next few years, and last year when I had Rachel I had signed up to some Yahoo groups and they inspired me to pick the needle back up again after a rest of a few years.<br /><br /><br />So, I guess my friends at NB Power, and my online friends were the people who inspired me to start (or re-start) stitching.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491442330003219764noreply@blogger.com1