Unveiling!!!...

So finally after about 50 days of being in transit, my bookmark finally reached Bonnie. Shipped from Bangalore on 29th June, recd by Bonnie on 17th August...

When Bonnie did not get it even a month and a week later, i had decided i will work on another bookmark for her. But exactly at that time, Bonnie received mail from Canada Customs. What a relief that was!! Just knowing that the peice i worked for her was not "lost", but held up at Customs made me relax for a bit!! I think close to two weeks later Bonnie has received it from the Customs office.

Now i had put in a Friends Forever button in there (and floss too but that must have got a pass!), which i guess made all the Post Office personnel suspicious. I will never the forget the fear that my precious bookmark has gone to some place where it will lie unloved and unattended and alone and what-nots, and added to that was the sadness/irritation that it must have caused Bonnie that she had not yet received her due...

So without further delay, let us see the bookmarks. First the ones i received from Bonnie. As i said in my earlier post, Bonnie has sent me not one but TWO bookmarks and couple of DMC Rayon floss... Her stitching is spectacular... So neat!! Thanks Bonnie for such wonderful bookmarks, there are also three birdie babies in there in one of them, and do check the activity in both the bookmarks what they are both doing.... Thank you Bonnie for bringing my love for birds and my therapeutic hobby!

And then there is my gift to her... I do not have the pic of the button and the floss. After all the button made us experience, i think it deserves a pic. I will see to that soon. And the floss was variegated Anchor #1212

The chart was from a Leisure Arts booklet i purchased from ecrater. The bookmark fabric i purchased via ebay from Canada!! And the stitched bookmark went back to Canada, LOL. This was my very first exchange (was organised in 123MB), and i am happy it received a happy ending. At least i will now venture into more exchanges!! Talking of ventures, i have joined in one of my stitch groups to stitch a little sumthn for a sweet and wonderful som'un... I plan to work on that project this weekend, but will take a looooong time to get to my blog. Psst Psst!!

Mid-Month Milestone

Two weeks since my last post!! I have been busy, yes, and also not much to show on the stitchy side either.

Two weeks however bring my next milestone for the Lilies progress, and here is how it is at the moment... I am happy at 47% of the overall progress, and 700-odd stitches remaining of the current page... The top portion has some confetti to be done, otherwise it is peacefully serenely completing its journey...

Each time i think i will mention how i came about these dangling threads, and then postpone it. Not this time though, so here is my answer to questions from some of you!!

They kind of evolved, LOL. When i began i used to stitch and snip then and there. This i find took too much of my time. Also selecting floss from my thread-cards after every other stitch or two was very frustrating. So i decided i leave the threads, and take them through the floss web network (just me trying to be smart *wink*) underneath a grid or so beyond. That is how emerged my dangling threads routine.

I "do" take time to know which code a specific thread is but it still is lesser than looking up the thread-card, and taking the required floss out and putting through the eye of the needle et cetera... When i used to see pics with parked threads, i used to be overwhelmed. Even though i read their instructions, i never ventured to follow them till necessity demanding my attention!!

I have completed the Sticklounge SAL - the first SAL after our group was renamed from Marquoir to Sticklounge. This is called Topiary Garden by Debbie Draper... I am so happy with my chosen colors, and thanks to all of you readers who liked the combination too!! I had finished all sans the border a week back, but the border got its place only end of last week... And now this one joins my ever-increasing pile of completed projects not yet framed/finished.

I did put in some time on BOINK, but nothing to pic about. So we will leave it for another week. Weekends have been pretty busy with lot of visiting out and guests, so not much justice has been done to BOINK this weekend. I am now outlining (almost done) my second cat. Now that i have reached the final stages of the Lilies page, i do not aim to work on BOINK during the week (night time stitching).

My bookmark has not yet reached Bonnie, although she has heard from Canada Customs - so while it is a relief it has crossed the borders/oceans et al, it has still not reached her. So i am waiting to put both the pics once she receives my bookmark. Her stitching is fabulous, and i have got TWO cute bookmarks and some floss too...Pls pray that she receives my stuff soon, and then i can post pics!!

And August 15th - we celerbated our 63rd Independence Day... Here is a pic i grabbed, this is rangoli done with flower petals...

And here a closeup:

 

Here's wishing all a great week!! Let us all hope to meet needle and thread..

Month-end Milestone

My Lilies after one month of working on Page 9... Am loving stitchig on this, especially since i have reached the other end, and each time i am holding this side, i know Page 10 is just round the corner *and* much lesser to stitch than the other pages *and* of course, another row done!! Lesser confetti here, and hope that is how it will be for whatever is remaining of the page.

Here is Page 3 of Debbie Draper SAL done. I am so happy with my choice of colors, thanks ladies for your comments on my choice. I kind of know what is coming in the final part... And of course i still have the border to do!

I finished this on Saturday, and if all things went the stitchy way would have stitched on BOINK. But it was not to be. Between myhusband's neice visiting us, attending an 8-year-olds birthday, and my husband's cousin and his wife visiting us in the evening. We had a busy, fun-filled day. We did enjoy - a lot and that was fun - such fun that my son did not want me to leave to office this morning... Hmmm, welll

Last night, i know first of the month, and i did not take up Lilies. It was v. late, and i took up the BOINK - finished the fourth maze and started outlining the top left cat. No pics tho.

If you remember, i had stitched a bookmark as part of the bookmark exchange thing. This was the first bookmark i had stitched, this was the first exchange i had participated in. Sadly the packet has not reached the recepient yet, not after over a month of taking it to the post office. So, i have decided, this Thursday which is the dayBonnie checks her mail very week, if she has still not received i will prepare for another bookmark. Stitching will start on the weekend. I am really upset about this as this was my first exchange, it kind of feels like a bad omen... I am upset for Bonnie too as she has not yet received what she was supposed to receive.

Wishing you all a great week!

Month-end Milestone!

Back with pics!! Here is my Lilies, completed on Thursday night although i could have cleaned the dangling threads a bit more. It was close to 1 when i slept, and we had to leave at 5AM the next day.

Isnt it a beauty?? I am only 8/20 so far, so it really is a long way to go, and i can definitely do with comments that help me surge ahead:)

When i went to my parents', i had taken all the 3 projects i mentioned earlier. I completed the bookmark on Saturday night, and it is now mailed to Canada!!! This is my first exchange, and i really really hope it is liked. I am now to wait for 10 days, and then hope it reaches on time, and is liked:) And once i know it has been received, the pic will come up in this blog.

I also did quite a bit of Solo Brode although i could not complete this at my parents'. The final stitches of this part were compelted last night after reaching Bangalore. I might have to redo the birdhouse, because the birdie seems to be one square away from her birdhouse. Since i put all my free time on the exchange project, i finished this part of Solo Brode quite late. With all the earlier parts, i was done in couple of days of receivng the chart. We now receive the next part tomorrow.

I finally dedicate time to BOINK - the last two nights of June. I should complete the final block, and then only the outer frame remains. That reminds me i have to get the pages for Lilies page 9 ready...

I have also taken pics of loads of stash that was piling up for me. I will put them in another post, shortly... Back to work now, where backlog awaits me, LOL. See i did not even talk about visiting those blogs that i have not checked after Thursday last...

Shopping Online...

Looks like it has been a long time since i posted here!! although that was [only] 4 days ago, LOL.

My husband had gone a work related trip to the US, so i thought i should take advantage of that;-) and give his address as the shipping address. And save on exorbitant shipping costs. No i did not order kits or anything, that i can do from here [surreptitiously, LOL]!!!

I ordered this FA Edmunds scroll bar set from Amazon. This reached him early this week.

I also ordered couple of books (which were hard to buy here) from Abebooks. As of yesterday morning, he had not recieved them. And i have today and half of tomorrow to try my luck. Hmm, let us see.

I have hardly had time to visit blogs this week, and i am not liking that. Only good thing is i have not neglected work.

This weekend, i plan to kit my the bookmark for the exchange i have signed for, if not start stitching. Let us see how much i can accomplish!

Milestones!!

Here is the pic of Lilies with Page 7 completed. I am almost 37% done in the whole project! I took two hours to 'pack off' all the dangling threads!! May 1st, I start Page 8. Which means i get 3 nights of stitching on other projects. And which means i have 3 days to print Page 8. Page 8 will be printed on to two fully-filled A4 size pages to reduce the eye strain, LOL.

Last night i completed the finishing of this humbug. My first time experience with a humbug and my first time experience with cording too!! Hmm, not bad. Indeed it was fun doing the cording! This humbug is for my husband

I have signed up for a bookmark exchange on 123MB, and the bookmark patterns (received) and bookmark fabrics have been ordered from eBay. The mail date is July 1st, so there is ample time. I do have some bookmark patterns off magazines, so there will be some choosing to do shortly! I am very excited, as this is my first exchange. Most of the exchanges i see happening around in blogland - i find them way above my 'finish' experience, bookmarks however look to be fun, and shipping will not give me nightmares as it will go into an envelope. There will be no 'curious' adventures, you know!

I should very soon have a pic of BOINk, i am waiting for the current block to complete. Very soon if not tonight, i will also start a Quaker project on the Marquoir group. Hope to bring these pics before April ends!!

Thanks to all of you who visit me and comment. I love reading your comments and appreciate your coming by!