Various Bits and Pieces

I keep making mental notes of things I see around t'internet and thinking "I must tell people about that", so here are a few of them.

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Now, I'm annoyed because I kept this post in my reader especially to share and it's gone!  It was someone who'd visited a house which had rooms decorated with the most amazing button collection.  If that was you or you remember whose blog it was PLEASE tell me!

Edit to add:  It was Ellen's blog post here.  Ellen herself recognised it as did two other kind people.  Good job some people have better memories than me!!


The second thing is a new blogger in town, Yana Hanim.  She left a comment on my blog so off I hopped to return the following (as I do with all my new followers, probably why my Reader is choc-a-block full!).  This is how she describes herself:

"An Indonesian wife to a Turkish husband, a full time mum of two children. Graduated in water quality management from an agricultural university in Indonesia, worked in a national park in westernmost tip of Java island, studied park tourism management in New Zealand. After our glorious student life in Lincoln (Selwyn District) and Hornby (Christchurch) ended, we lived in Konya (Turkey), Aleppo (Syrian Arab Republic), and now Amman (The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). I need to work on my Turkish (kolay gelsin!) and start to learn Arabic (Insha Allah)."

If that doesn't make you want to read more then I don't know what will!  How about this quote "I almost couldn't get this clock because bombs exploded in Aleppo just a day before I was going to collect it."

I hope that Yana doesn't mind me quoting from her blog but I think she sounds fascinating and deserves to have lots of lovely followers.  I'm really looking forward to reading more and seeing more of her stitching.

Talking of stitching, here's a new little finish:

This comes from Vavi's blog - Voyage sur Toile.  It was released as a 4 part SAL.  I stitched it on 40count linen over 2.  The original design was a long thin one but I changed it into a rectangle by stitching parts 3 and 4 underneath parts 1 and 2 instead of alongside.  On reflection I think it would have looked better as a long thin design.  Which is why Vavi is a successful designer and I'm not!  But I still like it and have scrapbooked it for my collection.

I do like the way I mounted this one.  I stuck the fabric onto a piece of plain white paper then I removed one thread all the way round 20 threads in on each side.  Then I stuck the paper to the pink mount.  You can see the pink through the edges of the fabric but not the middle so the stitching stands out.  Simple but effective.

Here's a new Facebook page and a SAL:

Seba Designs

Banu Demirel is a Turkish designer, this is her original website which apparently has had problems in Turkey so she will be releasing her SALs via Facebook.  Just what I need - another SAL!

Finally, don't forget my giveaway of your choice of one of Yiota's Cross Stitch Kits.  Draw will take place after 31st May.

Theme-a-licious Looking Backward and Forward IV

You do know that Theme-a-licious is a "It's Geek to Me" activity, don't you? 
Click the above pic to find out more.

April's Theme was Amazon April or your biggest projects.  I decided that BAP stands for Big Alphabet Project and worked on both Dark Alphabet and my Turquoise Baby Alphabet.  I also worked on My Lovely Sewing Tools (which actually has an alphabet in it, scattered around the piece) and had a completely unexpected start in Papillon's Around the World in 80 Stitches.

ATW80S is certainly an enormous piece of fabric for me and it's a full two years project so that will definitely count as a BAP.

Pictures:

Papillon Around the World

My Lovely Sewing Tools (includes an alphabet!)

Turquoise Baby Alphabet

Please come and follow The Stitching Gift blog.  There are a group of us who love the Gift of Stitching magazine and are going to be showcasing our WIPS and finishes from the magazine.  The final issue came out this weekend and it's a great finale.  Kirsten will still be involved in designing and sending out her newsletter.  She will also continue to offer the old issues to buy as bundles or individually.  There is currently a sale on, where everything is half-price!  You can get a whole year's bundle for only US$12.  Amazing.

May Memories -

Remember when you took that class? Or decided to commemorate that event? And then abandoned your poor WIP? Take a stroll down memory lane by working on it again.

Green Goddess is becoming a distant memory!  So maybe I should give her some love.  I also have an old Autumn sampler in my stash chest I could dig out.  Or I could decide to make some new memories - stitching things which relate to my blogging friends, charts they have sent me or recommended the designer.

I have signed up for a couple of small partwork SALs.  No, ATW80S is not counted as one of them.  First was a Hungarian Mini Mystery SAL from Manka's Blog which I found via Blu's SAL Directory Blog.  Manka blogs in Hungarian, English, and other languages too.  I do love multi-lingual bloggers, as Google Translate should be renamed Giggle Translate due to the weird translations it comes up with.

(edit to add - when you go to Manka's blog, the cursor turns into a little rose!  Even cuter than falling things!)

The 2nd small SAL I found via Dulcinella's blog.  It's from a French blog Voyage sur Toile.  You need to sign up for the newsletter and you will get Parts 1-3 with Part 4 due soon (Dimanche is Sunday, right?).  There is a Translate button at the top but for some reason my brain thinks it can read French although it can't.  Saying the words with a fake French accent is not the same as understanding what they say!

Finally, I have switched to Photobucket for my photo storage, my Picasa album was nearly full due to the fact I don't make my photos smaller before loading them on!  I could not be bothered to resize every photo in my blog so I've switched.  Sheila said she has trouble seeing the photos last post, so here is a link to the album.  If anyone else has difficulty seeing them on the blog, please let me know and I'll think again.

edit July2017 - switching to Photobucket was a huge mistake!  They decided to start charging for storage at no notice whatsoever and are holding our photos to ransom.  I can't even download my own photos from my folder there, so I'm having to photograph my screen to get them!