First Big Happy Dance of 2011!!! & TUSAL

Yes, I know, I know I've been silent for days and days haven't I?  I've been quiet for two reasons, first of all I've been furiously stitching and second, I've been feeling meh again and haven't felt like doing anything!  Getting out of bed in the morning has been very difficult, I've had to really make myself go to work, I've not been motivated to exercise, and I have to admit I don't want to go anywhere lately.

Art Deco Spirits

c1996 Nora Corbett - Mirabilia

Stitched on 32ct Jazlyn with DMC, Kreinik #4, Rainbow Galleries Pettite Treasure Braid

I started Art Deco Spirits on January 1st of 2009 as a part of a Stitch-A-Long with my friends Kathy, Beatrice, and Christin.  Kathy and Beatrice were great to get their Mirabilias done that year, Christin and I ... well we took a little longer.  Other projects just kept grabbing my attention.  In 2010 instead of joining my friends in a New Year's Day start/SAL I decided it was the year I would start getting projects out of my stitching basket!  Art Deco Spirits was one of the projects that had been left unloved in my basket for far too long (but not as long as other projects).

Last year after finishing Celestial Dragon, it was Art Deco's turn to come out and play!  I have been plugging away at this beauty for some months now and I'm proud to say "Its Done!"

People are surprised to find out that  yes, this piece is a Miriabilia an early one, number 19 to be exact.  I bought the chart during my first trip to the Creativ Festival in Toronto back in 2001 where I saw it on display as a model.  It took far too many years to come to the top of the must stitch pile and I spent far too long working ignoring it once started.  Despite all the metallics it was a joy to stitch!

I am so happy with this piece.

I did make some slight changes with the metallic threads.  The model which is stitched on 32ct is stitched with #8 braid.  Right away, I changed that to #4 braid.  Also the gold metallic is supposed to be DMC 284Z which is the worst stuff on earth!  I used Rainbow Galleries Pettite Treasure Braid PB01 instead, lovely to work with.

So what's next on the horizon you may ask?  I have a bunch of quilt blocks to stitch up, for a quilt my dear friend Marie-Paule is helping me with.  She had this completed back in August and I fell in love with it!  Marie-Paule offered to hook me up to copy what she created.  I've also got some stitching friends lined up to help me out.  These will also be my travel stitching in two weeks when I head down to the Dominican Republic on a third world experience for one week.  There is also my upcoming March Break trip to Arizona, I'll be travelling and sitting in airports for 11-12 hours there and back, lots of stitching time!!!

My Focus project is going to be Enchantment Of Winter by Dimples Designs (Terrance Nolan), which I made a small start on in the fall.  This piece is going to be a challenge for sure!  I'm stitching it on the recommended 32ct linen and the whole center of the design is stitched over one!  My friend Ann, owner of Knowledge and Needles sells these great LED light/magnifiers and I'll be buying one soon for sure!  This piece will be a labour of love for sure!

Of course I'm going to continue my 10x10 daily blocks on the Accolade, which I'm ashamed to say I haven't touched since I could see Art Deco's finish line so close!

Thursday was the New Moon so time for the TUSAL!  Here is my jar looking quite prettyful filled with lots of threads from Art Deco Spirits.  I love watching the layers of my projects develop.  Now the colours will change to purple and gold as I work on Enchantment!

Stitching Progress & Photo Hunt

Boy, all I wanted to do this week was STITCH!  Too bad silly things like work, and exercise kept getting in the way!  Besides those silly things I think I did well this week.

Teresa Wentzler's Byzantine Ornament #3

The Accolade, almost finished another row on this!

The end of Art Deco Spirits is getting closer and closer!  I'm filling in all the black at the moment

I missed last week's PhotoHunt, so I'll get us caught up on that before I get to this week's in my next post.  The theme for last week was "Hands"

This is from my friend Jason's wedding in July of 2010, I stitched Wedding Row for Jason & Roxanne

First Annual Knowledge & Needles January Retreat

Early on in the fall Ann, owner of Knowledge and Needles decided  to host a new retreat for 2011.  She wanted to open up a retreat to a different group of stitchers, instead of the usual suspects you have seen in quite a few of my past retreat reports.  She set this one up first for her Friday Stitchers and then the remaining spots were opened up.  I of course e-mailed Ann back in September letting her know if there were any extra spots or drop outs that I would be happy to come.  The retreat took place at the usual spot, the Timberhouse Bed & Breakfast in Brighton.

Snowy, cold weather kept us inside stitching

I had met some of the Friday stitchers on past visits to Brighton, so I knew some of the ladies.  Also some of my good stitching friends were there, some of the usual suspects you have seen in the past on this blog.  This retreat, my roommate was Bonnie, we had the same room as we did back in November which was nice, we had a King Sized bed!!!  Boy did we stitch this weekend!  The weather really helped in this endeavour because it snowed and it was cold!  During the spring and fall retreats I always do my best to get out for a run each morning, now I am a fair weather runner, there is no way you're going to catch me out in the snow running!

I think at this point, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking!

The ladies chatting over Saturday morning breakfast

Ann & Sharon consulting over the DMC colour card

Sharon was pooped from stitching!  She couldn't make it in November I was so glad to see her this weekend.  She's moved further away so I dearly miss her!

The "stitching room" at Ann's set  up for lunch

Loot bags at our place settings

Chef Butthead aka "Dan" explaining Saturday's lunch menu

Ham, amazing potatoes and broccoli for lunch.  Ann made a great marmalade cake which I forgot to photograph

Saturday night I lit a bunch of candles for atmosphere and I got this awesome picture!

Ann (not Knowledge & Needles Ann) was so intent on her work this weekend!  Her enthusiasm was contagious!

Brenda was fairly new to the group and we had a few good chats

Judie checking out Fran's work

Wendy, I've not seen her in awhile either!

Clare intent on a happy dance this past weekend!  I love getting  to see Clare its just too bad she lives over 5 hours from me!

Back in September Bonnie showed up to our get together with a great stitching bag... well they're becoming popular... notice we're in alphabetical order?

So ladies, another fantastic retreat!  I can't wait for the next one in March at the tail end of March Break!  I'm coming back from Arizona just in time to attend!

So what did I get done this weekend?  Lots!

Art Deco Spirits - Air

The Accolade

Stitching Progress

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, there's been two reasons... first of all I'm enjoying my stitching so much that I haven't wanted to "distract" myself with the computer.  On top of really wanting to stitch I've been physically and mentally exhausted.  I've been pushing myself to stay up to my regular bed time just so I can stitch more.

So here's the progress on my WIPs as of bedtime Wednesday...

Art Deco Spirits, Water is coming along beautifully and I'm enjoying her!  Its also been nice to know that when I am done with a particular colour... I'm done!  Its such a nice feeling to know you won't be working with that colour again.

The Accolade, I've been working on this every day, a 10x10 block at a time before I pick up Art Deco Spirits.  I am loving it!  There is something just so pleasing about stitching over one!  Yes, yes, I'm a sick, sick girl.

I finished another snowflake... just one more to go!  I still haven't done the finishing, yet can't let that resolution slip yet!

Snowflake Cross Stitch Gold

Stitched on 28ct Ivory Jubilee

Stitched with DMC floss

I went to Tuesday stitching again this week, really enjoyed it again, my friend Amy from work joined me too!  She's not a die-hard stitcher like the rest of us... but she shall be converted!  Yes Amy, I've got you in my sights (she's a blog lurker)!  I did cut out early for two reasons though, bad weather and I was just exhausted!

I have some new stash to share with you... but I forgot to photograph it and well I can't be bothered to get the camera back out, so you'll just have to wait.

On Monday... it was FREAKIN' cold out... that's my weather station, so it really was -26 Celsius at my house and that didn't include the wind chill.  We've been having a cold week and I don't like it at all.

Hunter was being cute again... we caught him beating up my lunch bag Sunday afternoon!  Gosh he's so easy to photograph!

This Week's Stitchy Porgress & Photo Hunt

Once again I think I've spent more time on my laptop than I have stitching.  I've spent a lot of time today visiting blogs, and getting caught up.  You see its a personal policy of mine that every comment I receive stays in my inbox until I've had a chance to visit you back.  I've been doing a lot of that today between putting in stitches.

I did start and finish yet another snowflake today... and I did the finishing too!  I'm getting quite a little collection of these. I changed up the beading on the edge of this one.

Snowflake Cross Stitch Gold

Stitched on 28ct Ivory Jubilee

Stitched with DMC floss

When I haven't been working on those adorable snowflakes I've either been working on my two main WIPs:

Art Deco Spirits - Water panel, seas and seas of white again!

The Accolade - I'm almost at the top right hand corner on page 1!

Here's this week's PhotoHunt, and it was a free week so we could pick any photo we wanted to!

I took this picture back in December when we were having some freezing rain, we were out and about and Todd had to get some gas for the truck.  The icicles dripping off of this car wash sign caught my eye.

2010, The Year In Review

Sorry about the delay in getting my annual "Year In Review" post up, I had really intended to do it yesterday, then the letter "i" broke on my laptop keyboard.  Do you know how hard it is to get by without the letter i?  Pretty darned hard.  So today when the shops opened up not only did we do the grocery shopping, I got a new wireless keyboard, wireless printer (silly me though its not compatible with the air print on my iPhone... shoulda done my research first but it was dirt cheap!), and a new laptop.  Did I REALLY need a new laptop?  No, my old one has been performing beautifully but all of you know I do hit the roads quite regularly and you loose the point of a laptop when you have to have a keyboard, it kinda becomes a glorified desktop computer.  The reason we did get the new keyboard for it is so that Todd can inherit it.  He's been using a really old laptop for sometime now and I'm tired of hearing him curse and swear over it so in the end it will reduce my stress level.  I've moved up in the world to a 17.6 inch monitor and I quite like it.  I'll probably change my mind when I lug it with me!

Let's get to the interesting stuff first....

The ceremonial emptying of the Ort Jar on New Year's Day!  I've noticed many of my online stitching friends have adopted this annual tradition as well.  Doesn't it feel great/therapeutic to dispose of all of those orts to start fresh?  I think this year I'll have to hit some of those neat shops I went to in the fall with my friend Tracey to find myself a nicer, more interesting ort jar than a plain old Mason Jar.

The Ort Jar stuffed full by December 31, 2010

Emptied and awaiting 2011 orts!

Stitching Year In Review :

I completed 30 projects in 2010 all of varying sizes from the tiny to the very big!  The finishes I'm most proud of are :

Tour des Marques by The Silver Lining

(psst I have another SL waiting in the wings)

Celestial Dragon by Teresa Wentzler

I had hoped to finish Art Deco Spirits as well in 2010 but I got close, with finishing up 3/4 on New Year's Day ( I didn't quite make the midnight deadline, but I was backstitching as the clock struck midnight at Rebecca's).

3/4 of Art Deco Spirits completed

Air Panel finished on New Year's Day

So this year there's not big New Year's Day start as there has been in previous years. My good friends Bonnie and Christin (she's got a pic of the flower frog I bought her on her blog go take a look!) indulged themselves by starting Ink Circle's Cirque des Cirques. I may join them later in the year.  For now I'm going to carry on with last year's focus, to empty out what's left in my stitching basket!  I did very well this past year with finishing off Tour Des Marques and Celestial Dragon, both very big projects!

Here's what's left to stitch up in 2011

Art Deco Spirits by Mirabilia

The Accolade - Timeless Designs, Gitta's

Delightful Dragon Fob by Teresa Wentzler

Enchantment of Winter by Dimples Designs -- my next focus piece

This little kit I started on my DR trip last year and I've had no interest in picking it back up

Byzantine Ornament #3 by Teresa Wenztler

I of course will be continuing my ornament a month which I have been doing for years!  I think this year I'll be stitching up all the JBW mittens to match the stockings I gave the girls in the office for Christmas this past year, and I'll finish up the Teresa Wentzler Byzantine Ornaments.

Personal Highlights of 2010....

My Dominican Experience Trip for sure!  What an amazing experience (see my posts from March 2010), and to share it with teenagers just made it so much more rewarding.  I'm very fortunate and my Principal has allowed me to run the trip again for 2011 and in a few short weeks I'll be back in The Dominican Republic again, this time with 12 different students!  I'm looking forward to my trip February 18-25th, and of course I will have photos for you!

My summer vacation was just so wonderful this year!  I got to spend a couple of days up in the gorgeous Georgian Bay area with my friend Sheila, it was a treat for sure!

Then I got to spend 3 days in Quebec City with my Mum.  If you're ever in Canada or are a Canadian everyone should make a trip to Quebec City once in their lives!  I definitely want to go back and explore it some more.

Of  course there have been the wonderful retreats and get togethers I've been lucky to attend this last year!  I enjoy and cherish each an every one of them.  There's nothing more pleasing than being in a room full of people intent on one purpose that's to stitch!!!  I of course am looking forward to more of these great days with friends in 2011!!!

Billy Talent

Nickleback

Concerts!  There's not been too many of them in 2010 here in Ottawa but I did get to go to two great shows with Christin early on in the year, Billy Talent and Nickleback!  Two of my favourite bands!

I got to see a once in a lifetime show this fall with my Mum when Roger Waters went on tour with Pink Floyd's The Wall from start to finish.  Wow!  What a show!

There was a hurricane named after me this year!  However I do think it was a fairly well behaved hurricane... as well as a hurricane can be.

I participated in my 3rd Run For the Cure and thanks to many of you I raised $1,410.00 for breast cancer research.  I'll be running again the first Sunday in October of 2011.  Speaking of running I've set two goals for myself this year and they're BIG!  I've already registered for the 10K in the Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday May 28th.  This will be my first official timed race!  I'm hoping this will lead to registering and completing the Ottawa Army Run Half Marathon in September (not yet registered for).

Despite running this blog for 7 years, in July I stared a second blog : Battle of the Bulge, I wanted to separate my stitching blog from my weight loss experience.  Over at my new blog I'm sharing my weekly progress, Weight Watchers meeting topics, ideas and insights.  Speaking of my weight, I rung in the New Years 2lbs lighter than before the Christmas holidays started!  I was so happy to come out of this holiday season with a loss (very hard to do).  Ideally I'd like to loose 6 more pounds to get within my "healthy" BMI.  This year has definitely been a challenge to maintain my weight loss, back in March I gained about 6-8 lbs and it took me until August to get those pesky pounds off... they went on in 3 weeks and took me MONTHS to get off again.  Since then I've maintained my goal weight and have even dipped a little bit below every once in awhile.

This fall I was back to teaching at Taekwon-Do after a very long break (like 3 years!), its great to be back at the front of the class again.  I'm teaching the "Little Tigers" 4-6 year olds and loving it!  They are so much fun and life is just so simple and straightforward to them.  I also competed for the first time in just as long, coming home from a friendship tournament with a gold and bronze medals.  I look forward to competing some more this year.

I was very proud this year to remember to and fully participate in NaBloPoMo!  I posted once a day on TWO blogs for the whole month of November.  Imagine doing 60 blog entries in 30 days?  Yup I'm that crazy!

I've enjoyed getting back to sharing my PhotoHunt pictures with you in 2010 and I intend to continue in 2011.  I've got some catching up to do!!!

Finally on the fun side of life, I got to drive a Corvette for the first time ever!

So I think that covers EVERYTHING!  What I have done and what I hope to do both in my stitching life and my personal life.  I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year!