memory jars - Cross Stitcher 334

What a great wee surprise to come back to from holiday: Susan Bates` memory jars pic is out in the latest issue of Cross Stitcher! 😃

"Surprise" because it was supposed to be in issue 335, according to my paperwork, but some projects must have been shuffled around - maybe just to amaze me with yet another strange little coincidence in life? (Yeah, coz the universe is out there to amuse me.) 😆 Anyway, so while on holiday, we went to see my BFF, who works as an event organiser for one of the museums in Budapest, and they recently opened a Frida Kahlo exhibition.

Obviously, that is not inside the museum: it`s the Wee Man posing with Eugene of Savoy just outside, because he has to climb up on every single thing. (My son, not Eugene of Savoy). Anyway, so imagine my surprise when I came back and saw this cover:

What are the odds, eh? *shakes head, bemused* And the next surprise was to finally learn the name of the designer of the memory jars (for some reason, it`s never included on the paperwork that I get with Stitcher projects). Although with this one, I had my suspicions. 😉 My first clue was the beach scene, but the warm yellows, reds and oranges seemed familiar too, I think they`re very characteristic of her designs, and now the mag confirmed that it is, indeed, by Susan Bates. 😊

I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this project. Each jar took 4-5 hours (40 hours in total), so I did 1 or 2 a day, depending on my mood, just revelling in the feeling of accomplishment that you get when you stitch card-sized designs that you can start and finish within one day. The colours are gorgeous, the backstitch gave each little pic amazing detail, the captions were quick work, loved the easiness of the aida... as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole project. 😉 I took a photo of each individual wee scene, the lighting (as usual) is not the greatest but hopefully, you can nevertheless see a bit more detail. Happy stitching!

surprise post

This post is not only a surprise to those who thought I`d disappeared (it is truly shocking how long I`ve neglected my blog!), but the title also refers to the surprise I got a few minutes ago. I was looking for a Riolis design and while browsing the Sew and So website, I spotted Twilleys on their list. I clicked on it, and sure enough, I came across some familiar pictures! :) I stitched these for Twilleys of Stamford such a long time ago that I can`t even remember where I saved the photos, so I`ll use Sew and So`s links. I worked this poppy wreath sometime last autumn, and this beach sign... oh, it must have been over a year ago now...? Gosh, and as I`m scrolling down the Sew and So page, I`ve just discovered some bookmarks here and here that were also stitched by me - wow, what a strange `reunion`!

That reminds me: this year it`ll be 20 years since we`ve graduated from high school and my old classmates are busy organising the party - for the first weekend in September! :( If everything goes according to plan, we`re going to Hungary in July for a wee holiday, so I`m going to miss this reunion again - such a pity, I`d love to see the old faces after all this time! Ach, well, I just have to wait another 5 years now... ;)

In other news, the reason why I`ve been neglecting my blog is that I`m super-busy with more (!) Christmas stitching - big piccies, cards, you name it. I`ve been humming Jingle Bells since the end of March now but photos, alas, I can`t show you yet - my next project will be in Gold 112*, out around the middle of June. So until then: happy stitching!

* Technically, if you`ve seen issue 111, you`ve probably seen my pic too in next month`s preview, but I`m such a tease, I won`t even tell you it`s the pa... oooops, it almost slipped out! :)

Nana`s gift for Mothers` Day

Just a quick update on today`s update - since I`m feeling rather prolific! The shamrock is not a mere sheet of plastic canvas any more: it`s a necklace-with-medallion type of thing that my son will probably VERY categorically refuse to wear but I`m sick of making badges for him for every occasion. And (drum roll, please) I managed to finish Nana`s prezzie as well:

Actually, this wasn`t too big an achievement after all, considering how tiny the stitched motif is... to be quite honest, it was a bigger challenge to a) find a photo in which all three of us look more or less normal and b) try to squeeze said photo into this limited space. Oh, and in case you think the stitching is SOOO tiny you can`t even see it, here`s a close-up:

lesson learnt

I hope you forgive me but this is not going to be an oh-so-happy blog. You see, it is the story of a lost loved one. Would you like to see a picture of my beloved? Here you are:

I can almost hear some of you saying now, "Surely, Laura, you don`t mean to say that this awesome thing of beauty... which must be, by the way, at least 25x35 centimetres in size... got lost somehow???" The answer, my friends, is: yes (sorry if you expected something more climactic - although I almost wrote "climatic" here just now which would`ve been rather silly).
Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, the poppies...
I started this picture (dimensions: see above) almost two years ago but to give it its due, it didn`t take that long to finish, it just almost became a UFO [for non-stitchers: UnFinished Object] somewhere down the line, until I picked it up again last August when I stopped smoking and I relished this big challenge that kept my hands occupied for hours. Actually, I got on so well with it that by the end of September I could see the end of the tunnel and decided to send it back to Hungary for my granny as a Christmas present. But (and again, I can almost see some of you gape in horror) I never thought of sending it with registered post. Cue my ranting concerning the postal service:
For you see, one never really sets out thinking, "Ooh, I`d better make sure we can track this parcel somehow in case it gets lost or stolen" - why would it, right? When I post, say, a letter, I expect everybody along the line to do their job properly until my letter reaches its destination at the other end. OK, I`m aware, of course, that things might go wrong, accidents do happen, etc., etc. but to be honest, I had such a rigmarole with the framing and the wrapping (I also sent some stuff for my uncle and my parents and by the third time I had to repack my parcels, I felt like I should maybe move in the post office to save me from shuffling home with my ever-increasing number of packages every time). Because, and I don`t think I`m alone with this, one always tries to be as economical as possible, thus my one big parcel first divided itself into two, and eventually I posted my little prezzies in 3 smallish packages - obviously, by this stage it never even occured to me that whatever I saved on this redistribution of towels and cross stitch pictures, I should spend on registering my three parcels. And would you believe it? ALL THREE GOT LOST!
So to finish my ranting, for which I profusely apologise, here`s my rhetoric question to all the dishonest postal workers in the world: when you decide to risk your job and open somebody else`s mail in the hope of a few pennies, do you ever stop and think about the people you rob? Did the postman who opened my parcel wondered how many months someone must have worked on this picture? Did he take it home and hung it on his wall with a clear conscience? Or, if that would have been too much for him, did he instead just chuck it in the bin? Did the same thing happen to my cross stitched Mothers` Day cards a couple of years ago? "Oh, nice thick padded envelopes, there must be some money in these... let`s see... hm, nothing, just a bunch of stitched flowers... drat!" Is this really the way forward that in future I shouldn`t send anything valuable - valuable to me, at least - without registered post? How sad is that...