Great Wave Off Kanagawa - Cross Stitch - Pt 2 / FP

In my catching up, I found I never did share with you all the Finished Project (FP) of the Great Wave Off Kanagawa cross stitch piece I did for my brother!!

Well, I have plenty of pictures along the way, but I unfortunately don't recall the amount of time it took to finish, so please don't hate me, but please do enjoy the FP!!

So here's where we left off with the 1st half...

Next, to work on quadrant 3 which is like, 99% taupe... uuuugh.....

The taupe.... it just keeps going!!!........

Alright!! Done with Q3!!

Note to self though: Don't ever use pencil again in a pinch when I can't find my disappearing ink pen to mark my grid... **siigh** Hubby says it's not as noticeable to him as it is to me, so I'll just have to finish at this point, and if it doesn't wash out when I'm done, well, fingers crossed my brother doesn't really notice, either!

Waaaaait a minute.....

Aww crud!!

Ok, so I couldn't tell at home, but taking this project with me to the bar we frequent, that has a patio, where I can stitch outdoors in the natural light of the sun... 

I used the wrong white in Q3 than I used in Q1 and Q2!!! DARNIT!! I haaate frogging!

But frog I did, and got back to work.......

**********************************************************************

Working hard, or hardly working.... eh?? 😉😁

This is my setup at work on a few lunch hours at this point...once I fixed the wrong white!!

Halfway done with Q4! I can just TASTE the finish line!! 

Almost there.......

Sooooo cloooose.......

Aaaaaaand... done!! Ain't that purty?!

That's a pretty clean back, too, if I don't say so myself!!

W00t!! So glad that's done!!

......Now on to the next project! LOL


Craft ya lataz!!

Piece 2 of a pair for Mom

A couple years ago, I did a cross stitch piece for my Mom, Spring Flowers in Blue, from one of my favorite stitch pattern websites for simple patterns: Daily Cross Stitch.

Anywho, I found a pair of flower patterns that I thought my mom would enjoy, with this one being the first:

And this one being the second:

I finished the first one, and gave it to her...

...but stole it back so I could make the second one on the same fabric (wanted to make sure they matched), and so I could try and frame them both and get them back to her as an actual completed pair.

I started the second one last Wednesday, and my progress so far...

It's hard to tell which picture shows the yellows better, with flash...

Or without flash...

I hope to finish this piece in the next couple days so by the weekend they're ready to get to her again (time to wash/iron and determine best frame options), and will show you how they look at that time!

UPDATE: Yellow flowers is done!!

And the pair together look great!!

Obviously I haven't washed/ironed this one, but wanted to share as soon as I got done!

I'll see how I get them framed, and perhaps share again! :)

Until then...

Craft ya laters!!

Monthly Flowers - March Done!

I unfortunately didn't take too many pictures of the work in progress, but wanted to share that I've (finally!!) finished March's flowers!!

Finished piece first because that's how I roll:

And of course, folks love to see the backs of projects:

Something I wanted to share however was the before and after of the back-stitching in the pattern around the flowers, and how much of a difference it can make!!

This is before any back-stitching:

And of course, the back-side at that time:

And this is the middle point, where I back-stitched one flower, and left the other bare so you can see the comparison:

So there you have it!

I've gotten 3 of 12 done, so I have 9 more to go, plus the base calendar grid, to be done with this major project!!

Craft ya laters!!

Monthly Flowers Calendar in Cross Stitch - Update 1

I told you all back in November last year that I was going to start a "Monthly Calendar" in flowers cross stitch project, found here.

I haven't worked on them in quite a while, but I wanted to update you on how far I did get before life got in the way!

Straight lines and single Xs are so easy, but it might get tedious after doing this border 13 times.... lol

First off, January - Carnations:

Started with the leaves first on the carnations

Got really excited and ran through the greens I did have, then started on pinks...

Previous pic, no flash

Got some darker pink added

Previous pic, no flash

Carnations done!!

Carnations done!!!,... no flash

 Next up, February - Violets:

First sitting working with the violets for February

First violets sitting, no flash

Little more work on the violets

And a little more... 

Almost there.....

Almost there, no flash

And done!!

Done, no flash

I hope I can get started on the March flowers soon, but I have a lot of unfinished projects I need to work through at some point!

Craft ya laters!! :)

'Sover. ...Takeaways? ... Next!

While unemployed my 2nd time this year, I decided to check out a local group called the "LaunchPad Job Club". The facilitator/trainer is actually a trainer from the local WorkForce so she's able to give real advice and guidance on all things related to job hunting. 

At a meeting, she did a presentation all around the idea that once you lose a job, or have a major life occurrence, you have a process that should happen on your way to moving on and up. 

- Realize that first, it's over. There's nothing you can do about it, whatever the situation was (didn't get along with co-workers, company's view and future didn't align with yours, etc), you're no longer in that position. 'Sover. 

- Reflect on what the situation was: was there anything you could have done better? Is there anything you could look out for in the future to not get into situations like you did to make you leave/get let go? What did you learn from working there, doing your job, your assignments, working with other teams, etc. Basically, what experience, knowledge, growth items can you take with you to your next job? What are your 'Takeaways'?

- Prepare for what's next! Get excited for a new adventure, a new company, new co-workers, new friends, new challenges, all that comes with taking that next step! Stop being sad for what's gone and look forward to whatever comes next in your life! Next!

I personally have trouble letting things go, and was especially having trouble with having lost a long-time job (9 years) and then a new job I'd been excited for with all the new challenges and experiences I'd get to have, and got let go (after only 2 months) as it just wasn't going to be a good fit personality-wise.

I was looking for new jobs left and right, and getting very discouraged and depressed by not being able to find anything. After this presentation though, I think I was able to re-focus and calm down a bit. I have learned over the last few years the benefits of self-evaluation and just taking time to assess situations you've been through/found yourself in and how you got through it, what you could have done differently, etc, so this new mantra of sorts made sense to me!

As such, I wanted a little visual reminder, so I decided to draft a simple pattern and...

Do you see what I did there with the punctuation and the color choices? 

'Sover. - it's done, over, STOP thinking about it, period, RED
Takeaways? - think it over, you're getting ready to start moving again, but not quite yet... but question marks prompt thought/response, so, ? and YELLOW
Next! - Obviously you're ready to go! And exclamations promote excitement, right? so, GREEN

GET IT?!?!! MWAHAHAHA

And with black outline/backstitching. It looks MUCH better with this, doesn't it? :) 

I then decided to go ahead and frame it as-is. I somewhat wanted to add some sort of border or flowers or something, and I still can later if I take it off the foamcore and out of the frame, but for now, I like the simplicity of these words, in the simple espresso frame.

What do you all think? Is this a mantra that you could perhaps use in your life? What other mantras have been strong/powerful for you in getting through tough situations?

Until next time, craft ya laters! :)