Tuesday, January 22, 2013

IHSW results - Greek Mandala, part 1!

Finished, minus the beads of course! Without further ado...

Before:


Now:


I can't BELIEVE how beautiful it is. The colors in the photo are somewhat washed out because I was too impatient to wait for natural light, and it's not perfect because I'm still very new at specialty stitches, but I do love the way that it has turned out. The whole mandala is going to be stunning when finished... you know... whenever that is. I do have to say, I'm very proud of myself.

I love it! Handsome helpful boyfriend helped me a lot by being very very supportive while I stitched this and whined.

Moving on, I start school tomorrow. BOOOOO. I'm not looking forward to it, but I will tackle it head-on. Here are some of my goals for this quarter:
1. Don't freak out. Take it one step at a time and one day at a time.
2. Don't procrastinate. Start working on a project early and finish it calmly. There's no point in leaving it until the last minute and freaking out about it.
3. Keep up with my discussion forums. I think this will be the most difficult part since it's what I enjoy least.
4. Take every opportunity to keep up with my reading.
5. Make an effort to stitch every night, even if it's just an hour.

I know I know, kind of difficult but when I have structure I work better so there it is. And I know that Handsome Helpful Boyfriend always helps me out when I'm in school - makes dinner, brings me tea, gives me foot rubs, brings me treats, whatever I need.

And finally I set up some goals for 2013. I don't know how successful I'll be, but again, I work better with structure, so here goes:


Finish College of Magical Knowledge
Finish Riding the Wave
Finish "Secret Stitch"
Finish Santa and the Mouse
Finish Woodhouse Ornament
Mario pages 13-21
Medieval Shelf pages 1-6
Middle Earf pages 2-6
Greek Mandala parts 1-6
First 10 colors of Empress
Parrot pages 1-10
6 coffee cups

The coffee cups are an Alessandra Adelaide design my mom wants me to stitch for her several times into napkins. Which is cool. It'll be a fun and quick stitch to distract me from BAPs.

And with that I say goodnight. Work tomorrow and first day of school and I have to be ready to take on both, so that I have time for stitching, of course ;)

21 comments:

Rhona said...

The mandala looks stunning! Love the colours...even though you say they are washed out, they look amazing.

the Wild One in the DC area said...

I'm in from IHSW also and that is very pretty even though it isn't my style to stitch. You have done a great job on it. I also will have my next school class starting in a week or 2 so I have the same issues going on tho I also have DH and a DD in high school.

sharine said...

The mandala is looking beautiful. Good luck for your first day back at school.

Kaisievic said...

This is absolutely stunning! Gorgeous rich colours.

cucki said...

The mandala looks so pretty..
i Love the colours..
hugs xxx

Annie said...

It's wonderful! You have every reason to be proud! Good luck with school today:)

Linda said...

The mandala is absolutely stunning. Congrats. Good luck with school and your goals.

Linda

Minnie said...

Good luck in school and don't worry yourself, you can do anything you want, as long as you want it bad enough.

Claudette497 said...

Ha ha! I hate discussion forums too, which is pretty funny considering how much time I spend online. I gag on the whole "I agree with Schmoo, and am reminded of the passage on page 123 in which the author states blah blah". I'm so glad I'm done with school! I hope you finish soon so you can do more of your beautiful work - mandala is stunning!

Melissa said...

Beautiful! You got a lot done. I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of this one :)

Good luck with school this semester.

Anonymous said...

Oh how beautiful this looks =)
I can't wait to see the beads added =)
Good luck with school =)
You have a tough stitching plan for this year ;-)

Alanna said...

The Mandala is absolutely gorgeous! Great job on the beautiful finish! Very happy for you!

Unknown said...

Looking forward to your wips as always - you do have a grand 2013 goals list.

Also I am taking a hint from your goals for this current school quarter, sounds like they will fit into my life perfectly

lesli said...

You KICKED BUTT on hermit weekend! LOVE those stitches on your mandala...I know you worked very hard on them!! :)

Kate said...

Gorgeous!! Great goals you have there, school will be just fine. Keep up the wonderful progress!

Mountain Ash said...

Love your Greek Mandala. Hope school is going well.

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

gorgeous stitching :D Such a wonderful finish or at least a part finish :D

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Love your turquoise Chatelaine, the colours are so vibrant.
Good luck back at school. The discussion forum thing is new to me!
Your goals are good but that last one should be "drink 6 coffee cups" to keep you awake after a hard day at school!

The Crafty Princess said...

Holy crap batman!!! That's quite a list you have there. I do love a girl with ambition though I wholly support you. I think I'll leave the foot rubs to handsome and helpful though. LOL!!

You're mandala is truly stunning stunner. Major progress for the ihsw good going Ewa.

Looking forward to more from you.

You would have completed your first week back at school by now. I hope it went really well and not too much freaking out occurred. You have a good schedule that will see you sail through it easily. You know if you stick to it. Good luck with it all. Xox Alicia

Liesbeth said...

Your mandala is stunning! Can't wait to see the beads on it!!

Good luck with school. You've set reasonable goals I think so I haven no doubt everything will be ok!

ricketyjo said...

Oh my gosh, that looks absolutely stunning! Well done, it must have been a lot of work :)