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Thursday 25 August 2016

August Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Heather from Stitching Lotus

This year I have two Small Challenges:


For the Hallowe'en Blog I have done something a little different this year, I've chosen a band sampler by Just Nan called Counting Bats and each band corresponds to the monthly themes on the blog.  For August we had Spooky Words and this band completes the Counting Bats rhyme:


The whole piece, nearly finished now:


For the Christmas Ornie SAL we had Christmas Clothing as the theme:

The only change I made was to stitch the pompom with satin stitch rather than cross stitches.

Christmas Cubes by The Primitive Hare

All six so far:

 


We had a Fifth Friday at the end of July so I started the second Byzantine Ornament by Teresa Wentzler and finished it for the Gold Day of the Olympic Challenge:


I used the same fabric, threads and bead as Byzantine Ornament I



I completed the Mill Hill Trumpet I started for the Olympic Challenge:


I substituted green Magnificas for the petite green beads and some red for the charted cranberry which I didn't have.  I stitched this on 14 count Christmas Green aida rather than the perforated paper provided so I could use two strands instead of three,

One for the scrapbook

I continued with the 1862 Snowflake from JCS 2010 and started adding the beads.  I am not sure I like the centre fully covered with beads and may just do the crystal ones and remove the petite white.

stitched on 28 Colonial Blue evenweave

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I've continued with the Daily Art Challenge on FB.

Day 23 - Abstract


Day 24 - Bed


Day 25 - Door


Finally, several people have commented on how organised I am and wonder how I ever keep up with all the SALs.  I have a simple diary, one double page per week and I write down all the SALs in the notebook section at the end and then each day I jot down which projects I worked on.  I do have the X-Stitch app on my iPad and I keep that up-to-date with all my charts and WIPs but it is easier to use pen and paper.

Why am I so organised though?  I worked for an international insurance brokers for 17 years in the North European Documentation team.  I had six major clients, each of whom had several fleets they were responsible for.  Each fleet had 20-50 vessels with an typical value of US$ 20,000,000 each vessel.  As well as the renewals for each fleet, things were constantly happening throughout the year - new additions, sales, values increased, values decreased, voyages into dodgy areas etc.  I had to keep track of all of this and make sure the documentation was accurate and up-to-date, also making sure the client paid on time and we paid the underwriters on time too!  If you are not organised you don't last long!  

Of course when you stop doing a job like that, all that brain power has to go somewhere.  When I gave up work I felt like my brain could suddenly do what it wanted to do, rather than spend all it's time working for someone else.  It's so liberating  not having to work for someone else and be free to think about anything you want.  Now I work part-time so I still have the freedom to use my brain energy how I want to.  Although, like most people I do find myself thinking about work-related things on my days off!  Fortunately it's all about books now rather than Marine Insurance.

Just to prove it - here's some book art:
Please note - this was a proof copy not a real book. The pages are only folded, not cut or glued. No books were harmed in the making of this project.
Instructions can be found here - Instructables.com

27 comments:

  1. I'm impressed! I too juggle seemingly endless documentation at work, chasing the managers to have reports done on time etc but for my stitching I have a basket for my WIPs and no more than three in it:-). Works for me. Well done for your progress on smalls.

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  2. Everything is lovely. I tried a computer record of all my stitching as well, but I also prefer pen and paper record. lol Also as an administrator for many years some things still remain very organized! :)

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  3. Just love all your smalls. Now we all know why you are so organized!!

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  4. The ornament is lovely - I do love TW's designs. And I love the Bats sampler. Can I confess you've sucked me in? I am picking out threads for a small (gasp) Halloween project! I think you'll lose the effect of the snowflake if you fill in the centre.

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  5. All is amazing as always. I love your idea of changing the pompom bit to look more like a pompom than stitching it. And wheeeee on the sparkly beaded trumpet. Beautiful finish.
    xo Alicia

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  6. Counting Bats looks great, as well as the ornies. I've been eyeing that Sleeping Beauty for so looong but I know itll take me eons to get it done haha. I do tend to use paper and pen still to keep organized (even shopping lists) rather than my cellphone but some stuff really need to be saved in computer, ah so much work, LOL.

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  7. I really love your finish and your WIPS are cute too.

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  8. All the smalls are lovely.Thank you for sharing how you organize your stitching calendar.

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  9. As always I am amazed at all your beautiful stitching. I really loved the trumpet! Great job! Now I understand how you keep it all straight and organized. Yes, when work steps aside and a powerful brain has time, personal life items can get organized.

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  10. Beautiful progress! Love all your projects. Wow what a job you had. I don't blame you for needing to keep your brain busy. I enjoy keeping track of things too. I think some people just need to organize to be happy. Love the folded book pages. We saw a booth like that this weekend at a festival. So amazing to see.

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  11. Love your finish on your green aida - very pretty. Thanks for explaining how you stay so organised and about your previous job. It sounds like it was a very serious job, I am so impressed! I have started using an app on my new phone - Keep - which is really helping me keep track of my project progress. But it always seems to be an uphill battle, especially as I am back working full-time for a little while!

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  12. Awesome progress on your WIPs! Gorgeous finishes too. And that book art is so cool! :D

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  13. I'm very impressed! I've noticed that a lot of stitchers are VERY organized and usually have a intensive and time consuming jobs.

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  14. Thank you for the insight into your background!

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  15. You worked on so many beautiful projects. What an interesting job you had. And people think I'm organized! LOL (I would never be able to keep so many balls in the air, as it were.)

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  16. They're all lovely. Folding book pages though? How could you? :D My DH will not use a bookmark, and folds the corners on my precious books all the time. There are some that I'm simply not prepared to let him read because of it

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  17. Great progress on all these lovely projects. Really very impressive.
    I also prefer pen and paper for my organization, and it works very well for me - although I'm not such an organized person as you are. I was more organized in my job because I had to but now it's not that important any longer. It must just be good enough for my pleasure, lol.

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  18. Your work looks great - and I love that book art - I might have to make some for myself :)

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  19. I love your Christmas stitching. Who is that pattern by?

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  20. Love your finishes and progress. Thanks for the link for the book art. Now you have me wanting to visit the thrift store to find some old books. Noooooooo more projects she says to her self :-)

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  21. The halloween piece is so sweet.
    Love the satin stitch.
    The Mill Hill piece is cute!

    Beautiful stitching!
    Hugs,
    Lili

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  22. Great post! Ju have so many lovely smalls going on. I'm excited Counting Bats is almost finished, and I love those pansies (?) you used for the abstract theme.
    I admire people who are super organized - I'm usually super chaotic and just recently started using a bullet journal, which is already a great step forward for me.

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  23. Lovely to see all the small finishes together and no wonder you're so organized. An excellently trained brain indeed! I spent last night adding most of my WIPs to the Xstitch app and I think that will help me be more organized too. I'm also a fan of pen and paper though.

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  24. Thanks for give me hope, your trumpett on 14 Aïda let me think how I'll be able to use some old colored stash bought before I re-orient my work on linen or smaller stitches.

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  25. I nearly died when I saw the folded book pages.... but I will let you off after reading the explanation!! LOL
    I am a paper and pen person too! I have tried different task apps and not one does what I what! I do have the x-stitch app which I use for my threads and charts/projects but for notes on SAL plans & what I stitched on each day nothing beats a notebook/diary! I just bought myself a new notebook (Paperblanks one) the other day to start writing down snippets from Flosstube and blogs so that I don't forget the wonderful things I see out there!
    Your old job sounds amazing... can see why you are so organised with everything you do!!
    Hugs xx

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  26. Wow Jo more amazing progress!

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