Christmas Ornaments WIP

It's either I'm too late or too early for Christmas:). I picked two designs small enough to fit my scraps-- pillow ornaments from Wit and Wisdom by Joan Elliott. Here they are:

Let it Snow 

and 

Be Jolly

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Oriental Lady Finish (the Agony and the Ecstasy)

I had been a mad stitcher on a mission. Kept the blog hopping to a minimum (so hard to do!), backstitched after work, just before sleeptime, or until my eyes shut, haha. Got to finish her before I start one or else she'll be another UFO. So the needle was on fire, while Adele, Bruno Mars, Style Council, Everything but the Girl (to name a few) kept me sane during my mad hours of stitching. I.Will.Prevail... And.I.Did!

Poor needle had to retire though (lol). Found a sturdier one in my case. Almost 2 skeins of black DMC floss. 2 skeins!for the black backstitch alone. I started with the green, sienna, brown, then the black. Then came the gold trimming, it kept shredding... still I persevered and was rewarded!

Each passing day I was satisfied, as I made peace with backstitch, one by one they popped out- her skirt, her face, her fan... now she's complete! A happy dance before the unveiling...

Here she is:

Some close-ups:

 

 

 

What to do next? Blog hopping time!

Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

Teaser plus another Art

Hello there! To date, Oriental Lady is still taking her sweet time straightening her kimono. Ok, ok, I've done quite a considerable amount of backstitching these past few days, and I can say I'm kinda proud of myself for sticking to my resolutions (smug!). Here's a sneak peek (I'm just gonna surprise you one day):

Since I was talking about the Japanese 5s method in my last post and doing this oriental thingy, my mind drifted to another place again (yep, just to get away from the backstitch for a minute or two). See what I dug up from my photo files (I took these way back November 2012 at Narita airport):

Ushering in the Christmas season (I think that's my letter Santa was reading eh! *thread, aida, patterns*)

 Cinderella at 12mn... Run, girl, run!

Lovely flowers! 

 Inspired by the barrage of eye candy, I reached for a paper and started folding, folding, folding, folding, folding....... wwwwaaaaiiiitttt for it......

TA-DA!!!

Okay, you may laugh, lol. I'm going back to stitching now before origami makes me totally crazy.
Thanks for visiting. Happy Stitching!

2015 Goals and Resolutions

Two heavy words. So let's start with my lighter interpretation: (btw, this post includes images of past projects, don't be confused and say "Whoa! She's a fast stitcher!" NUH-UH!)
GOALS:
1. Sampler- It has been a while since my last sampler-like project(maybe 3 years ago, pictured below). For this year I still want a simple one. Currently browsing the net, preferably one with sheep on it (since it's their year!). So far, I've found the Lost Sheep. No time yet to look into books and magazines.

2. Black fabric - I'm considering this as "the Challenge." I dread stitching in black as much as I love white aida. The puppy is my only finished xstitch in black (I couldn't just say no to this puppy). It was intended then for my brother who adored his dog "Buffy". Unfortunately, Buffy "left" during bro's college years T-T 

For this goal, I might start this kit (once Oriental Lady is done): 

 Sunflower Vase -   Drawn to it by the vibrant colors, originally saw this kit priced $54 at a hobby shop. Looked it up in amazon and voila! bought it for under $14. Wasn't that a steal?!?

 I'm now feeling more confident on this one because I have found this:

It was the last piece dangling up, up there at Michaels. Grabbed it and bought with my 50% discount coupon. Yippee!

 3. Restart the BAP - the operative word here is "restart." Finish is too strong a word. Moving on...
4. Person or Face - Can be group of people, woman, man, kids, fairies, angels. Does not have to be full body, may or may not be a herculean task, does not have to be done within the year. Search ongoing.
5. Magazine chart - Find a pattern or two so I can reduce my scraps.
6. Christmas theme - does not have to be elaborate (because it needs to be done by December!) I wish I had a picture to show here- of one I did way way back, forgot the pattern title but it was bought at LNS. It's of dogs with Santa hats lined up singing a Christmas carol. It's a very simple chart, with 10 colors at most. It's on display every Christmas at the in-laws'.

RESOLUTIONS:
1. Have the tenacity for b-a-c-k-s-t-i-t-c-h. You read it right. This has been my Achilles heel (French knots come in second). The culprit for all my UFOs. Case in point:

You get that urge to just start stitching anything, anywhere? This is one of those moments. Did not care for the cloth size, planning nada. Book borrowed multiple times at the library, until I decided to buy the book at amazon. Now what have I done... Seeing that narrow space-- nah, I'm done with you. Another excuse to avoid the Backstitch. I hope I won't do it this year (fingers crossed).

Oh, here are two projects that I have lost the patterns, might have lent it to someone eons ago: 

2. Apply the LEAN 5s: Seiri (sort), Seiton (straighten), Seiso (shine), Seiketso (standardize), Shitsuke (sustain). Last weekend I started "bobbinating" my other threads (the ones for the BAP that became UFO), wiped my unused/empty cases with alcohol pads (what!?!), and used it for other stuff. Arranged my cloths in expandable plastic tube (will be buying more if I get a chance). Now the last one is to sustain the method, we'll see... 

3. Use the stepper. I also dusted off our humble stepper. Must admit, when one starts stitching, time flies you never notice you've been sitting there for so long. Please, please, please try to avoid getting DVT. I will be taking this break every hour. (see how my mind works when confronted with Backstitch). Just trying to squeeze in a little workout here. 

4. Be a conscious buyer. I don't really overspend, I try to get the best deals, but the problem comes when there are good sales/discounts everywhere, finding it hard to resist. Here's a confession of my SINS last year (stuff i'll never stitch; books and mags not included): 

That's it for today. Hope everyone can stick to their lists =^.^= (may the force be with you).

Thanks for visiting. Happy stitching!