Sunday, May 31, 2020

Once Upon a Fairy Tale SSMC 3 - Page Finish

I stitched like a fiend this weekend and over the last 7 days of this SAL managed to meet my goal of finishing page 33!

Before:

After:


The little confetti stitches in the SSMC charts are killer but I have to say I'm quite happy with how the page turned out. I'm not quite sure which page I'll tackle next. To the right will be more sky/castle/moon, to the left, castle wall with some gorgeous ivy, above is the shelf border with some mushrooms, and below more grass and a shelf border with a scroll. I'll make H³ decide and you'll get to see next month! My goal will be to finish a half page. I'm not a particularly fast stitcher so that in and of itself is a bit of a lofty goal, but it'll give me something to work toward.

I think I've mentioned it on this blog before but I do creative writing on the side. I'm not a great writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I really enjoy doing it and publish my stuff on FictionPress. Either way, lately I've been completely consumed by a story idea. It has infiltrated my dreams and basically every waking moment. I write via Scrivener, so when I'm not working or stitching (my brain has a tendency to mull things over when it's occupied elsewhere so stitching is extremely conducive to my writing) I have Scrivener open and I've been world building and outlining like no one's business. When I'm not writing character profiles or plot outlines I'm reading other books for research. It's all a little overwhelming. I kind of feel like I'm not actually writing anything but discovering something that was already there.

I hope you're all well and staying safe. Until next time, happy stitching!

Monday, May 25, 2020

Legendary Creatures - August

My stitching dreams are coming true. I'm getting more stitching done and meeting my goals. With that, I finished August's installment of Legendary Creatures just in time to start this month's installment of Once Upon a Fairy Tale SAL.

Before:

After:

I actually had a really rough week, emotionally, this week. In the middle of it I screwed up on the "P" in this piece and I just wanted to throw it right in the bin and give up. H³ convinced me not to and I worked around it. But yeah. I know there's a mistake in there. I hate that there's a mistake in there. But it is what it is. I'll be giving this piece away when it's done anyway so that's that.

I finished the above Saturday night and the Once Upon a Fairy Tale SAL starts today so yesterday I worked a little bit on Medieval Shelf. I'll go back to it after this month's SAL but have it timed out for number of stitches so that I finish it by next month's SAL. Hopefully I can make it!

With that, I gotta get to it! I want to finish the current page of the SAL this month which will require some hunkering down! Happy stitching!

Monday, May 18, 2020

Flapping Parrot 28 - page finish

I finished page 12 late last night! It was too late to post here, but it was a relief as my goal was to finish the page before the next round of Once Upon a Time SAL and I finished with a week to spare. Maybe even enough time to finish August's installment of the Legendary Creatures SAL. I'm not sure, but I'll try!

Before:

After:

I took a much needed day off today as a mental health day. I haven't been sleeping well and, naturally, my emotions have been all over the place. Honestly I can relax as much as I want but if I'm not sleeping everything goes to hell. So I took an extra day today, I'll have two three day weekends in a row, and I already feel loads better. Today I was a potato and alternated between video games (Spyro remake) and reading a trashy romance novel. H³ made me an espresso (that espresso machine is the gift that keeps on giving) - I had it with some ladyfingers and just feel like I've been living my best life today. Back to work tomorrow, but so glad I just TOOK a day. I also have so much PTO I'm going to max out soon so I should take the odd day here and there anywhere.

Tonight I'll start work on Legendary Creatures again for the week before the next Fairy Tale SAL, but for now I'm going to walk the dog as she's staring at me and urging me on.

Until next time, stay safe and happy stitching.

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Flapping Parrot 27

Now that we're not working overtime anymore due to the cuts at work I've had more time to both read and stitch so, best of both worlds!

Before:

After:

Page 12 is about halfway done so the next time I update I'll have a page finish! The whole project is almost a quarter of the way done!

I've been reading House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas and I'm addicted. I can't put it down. I'm always looking for that thrill - the book that calls to me and when I'm not reading it all I want to do is read it. So mission accomplished on that front.

Today's plan: alternate between reading and stitching. I just hope H³ is ready to pick some symbols today.

Happy stitching, everyone!

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Once Upon a Fairy Tale SSMC 002

I had another round of Fairy Tale SAL with Lesli!

Before:

After:


It was an extremely productive 7 days and I had a great time. I'm hoping to finish this up next time around.

I don't have much new to announce. We're still on shelter-in-place so there's not much to be done. But I have been working out more and more in the pursuit of "abs" as I call it. I've been keeping up with my workouts, been sensible with my food, and even got a PR running today (fastest mile pace since the lifetime of acquiring my running watch ~3 years). I take progress photos once a week. Whether or not I get "abs" or not doesn't matter at the end of the day. I'm at least keeping myself busy.

My stitching goal is to finish the current page of the Parrot plus August Legendary Creatures before the next Fairy Tale SAL and then finish the current page of Fairy Tale during May's turn. We'll see how I do! I'll check in at the halfway point of the current page of the Flapping Parrot, which should be pretty soon.

Happy Stitching!