Wishing you and all of yours a Wonderful and Joyous Holiday Season!

New Dyes

Christmas is almost here and I still havent done a thing! No decorating, no baking. nothing. I am sure though, that when Marie and the rest of the family arrive we will be cooking and playing away!
I spent the morning trying to fix my chair. My brand new chair that D bought me before we moved broke. I am so sad. The store we bought it from is a gazillion miles away so no hope to return it and fixing it is proving a bit of a challenge. I now lean to the left quite precariously and wonder how this will afect my stitching *grin* I will test it tonight ^^
SO I rigged up an area on my dye table where I could do some flat dyeing.I have been wanting to try this method for awhile and just didnt have the space or the equipment. Well the equipment part I solved with a big sheet of florist plastic. I just taped up the sides to make a nice big tray and there you go! I love this idea because its like painting almost. You only use enough dye to get the job done.No waste. but then...all the methods I use are the type that use little dye. So here is my first flat dye, what do you think?


Also, here is a pic of a few more of my ornies finished


Now I am off to fix some lunch.

Your Boss said WHAT?!?

I have been reluctant to pull out any of my big projects. I have made one excuse after the other, each feeling valid in it's own right but looking back they all seem excuses to me anyway. I just don't feel settled here. I'm not sure why. I love this place. Love the city. Love the apartment. My little room to work in is wonderful although again, not settled. It is set up perfect to sit and stitch on little things. No real area to do bigger work. No place to lay things spread out to look at them. This is important to me. You must be able to look, to gaze for days if needed, to get the feel for something. It carries you on to the next step. I am lacking that here. I could fix this I'm sure with a few more pieces of furniture, a fabric wall, etc. but I'm not going to. I will not be working on any big projects in the near future and here is why...
D is being considered for a new job. He was approached and asked if he was interested. Seems they find his communication skills excellent and wish to put him at the projects base area to better communicate. It's a big step. Just as the last one was. He has stated what his requirements are and they are flying him up there for an interview next month. The project's head has requested him. So, if all goes as planned we will be moving again in April to Strasburg. Quite an upheaval, and very unexpected...
so I dont see myself becoming settled here. Even if I want it. I am not going to jump to conclusioins and say we are definitely moving but I know my husbands capabilities and I think it is a likely conclusion.
Therefore I will content myself with simple stitching for now. Making pretties for my shop, dyeing beautiful fabrics and threads. These I feel comfortable working on here and hopefully if we move, I will find a good place to settle.

In the meantime, I have started on my new project.


I did a preliminary sketch the other night then I photographed it.


Uploaded the pic to photoshop and stretched it out.


Afterwards I fues a piece of black satin to some cotton fabric for stability and fused a few of the design elements on top.


Now it is ready to stitch!


We were also visited with a wonderful snowfall! I am just LOVING it!

I HAZ TEH INTERNETZ

Finally, FINALLY, after a long wait we have the internet. We actually had to cancel our original order and switch over to another company. It's really crazy what we had to go through to get it, and unfortunately this one doesnt have the bandwidth we are used to. It's much better than using a hotspot though!!

So yesterday I was able to upload ALL of my photos. Something that would have taken me days before. I have them all ready to start listing my flosses and velvets. Only need to finish naming things. This is one of my favorite new floss...of course XD

Coffee and Cream

and one of my favorite velvets...

Mermaid's Garden 2

I like them all so much though. They are just GORGEOUS!


I am also still working on finishing up these ornaments. Almost done now but need to spend one more evening on them.


This one is waiting for it's ribbon to be sewn on..


Then I have a whole new project in mind but I have to do some preliminary sketches. With D's whole family coming up for Chistmas I might not have much time this next week. That's ok though. I cant wait to see them =D

Time Flies

It seems Christmas is almost upon us. How did it sneak up on me so fast?


I have so much to do but little motivation. D's family is flying in, which means I need to shop for an air mattress and sheets. We need a tree and such. I need to plan a menu...


Instead of doing these things though...I have been stitching.


I AM in the mood for Christmas even with all the pressing to-do's on my mind as you can see from what I'm stitching :)


Hope all your holiday plans are going smoothly!

Christmas Goodies

I managed to get some of my dyeing done.Six new velvet quarters and 7 floss. I have yet to get the photos finished though. In the meantime I thought I would post a few pictures of what I am working on right now.


I am trying my had at a few embroidered christmas ornaments. These are just two of them and I havent ffinished either yet. I am also working with some burgundy and metallic ones which I will post pics of soon.



Hope you have all had a good week...TGIF!

I see light at the end of the tunnel!

Each day has been a slow improvement. I have had trouble with my neck for years. In and out of chiropracters, etc. I never realized though, just how debilitating a serious neck injury can be. The nausea, dizzyness and fatigue have just been crushing. Today I sit here feeling close to my usual self again thankfully. D says there is still a swollen area down my back but he says it gets smaller every day. He has been much help with massages and just being understanding. I went and sat in the park Saturday and watched him play basketball. It was a glorious day!


Best news of all, I was finally able to do some dyeing last evening. I am sitting here now listening to the washing machine run...waiting for my new batch of dyes to come out. I even feel well enough I am considering getting some stitching out tonight! Maybe tomorrow I can post some pics for you :)

Hope you all are well!

Moving Forward

So today I made a decision. I went to my bloated blog reader and made a new folder called 'Daily Reads'. Into this folder I moved a selected number of blogs and I'm determined to put an effort towards trying to read at least those every day. This doesnt mean I will stop reading the others, just trying to take some of the pressure off myself. I so enjoy reading everybody's blogs and find them all so interesting but time after time I look at my reader and see 1000+ posts to read and become overwhelmed. I find myself skimming through them to try to reduce the number. Even skipping whole posts or more likely just not reading any that day as it seems a chore. I dont want this to happen! I started reading them for a reason. I love all of you! You have opened up a whole new world to me and given me so much insight and inspiration. So now maybe I can enter that page with a little less guilt. Settle down with my coffee and spend some time with my friends. The people who's blogs I will read daily are the ones who I feel a personal connection with. People who I have talked with, shared ideas, etc. I have been shorting myself by not spending time with them each day. So that's a big load off my mind as it's been bothering me for awhile and I really felt like I was missing out!

Today I woke up to find myself with a little more mobility. The muscle running down from my neck along my spine on the left side was still quite swollen last night and this seems where the greatest problem lies. I cannot turn my head too far to either side. My hip is also affected and of course my poor bruised knee!It's amazing how you can be walking along just having the best of times and then WHAM! everything changes in a heartbeat. I am grateful though that I didn't break any bones and that my recovery does seem on it's way! Here's to being well enough on Sunday for the trip my honey promised me. We are supposed to go visit the village up above us in the mountains. Take a train up there and spend the day. Sounds exciting!

I have all my dyes mixed now. It took a few days since I really couldn't move much but I was so excited when I received them that I wanted to mix them right away! I have a pile of floss tied and ready to dye. I tied them all when I was sitting in my old apartment with it all packed up waiting to move. I'm so glad that part is out of the way as I dont think my arms would cooperate with that process right now LOL! So I think I might try my hand at a little dyeing today. I dont think it will be too much for me. If so, I will stop and wait till tomorrow!

If all goes well I will have some pretty colors to show you soon. Hope you are all having a good week!

In the meantime...

...and look what came in the mail!

Just call me Grace...

Monday while out shopping in downtown Grenoble with my mother-in-law I slipped on a pile of snow and fell right on my left knee. At first I thought I had only hurtmy knee, although my reaction to falling was unusual as I immediately felt very hot, lightheaded and sick. Woke up that night in bed wth extreme pain in my neck. Seems I got whiplash also from my fall. Yesterday I spent the entire day in bed. I tried this morning to get up and do things but I think iit's back to bed for me. Thank god I didn't want to be a ballerina....

Hippie Embroidery

I had a photo of mine published as an example in this article written by Arlee Barr on the Mr Xstitch site. Click on the link to read it. It's a great article and it made me realize that yes...my work is hippie embroidery

Arteries – Hippie Embroidery

Pictures Finally!

SO I was determined today to get some pics uploaded. I knew it would take half the afternoon so I just sat here and winded trims while they loaded. I have been busy organizing my studio still. Cant get over how much organizing I seem to be doing. Was it really that much of a mess? BTW! great idea about the door Arlee but there really doesnt seem to be anyplace around here TO scrounge. I did find an ikea table for 45 euros though. I am saving ;)

Here are a few shots of my little shoes I have been making.

I just SO love to make these I'm not sure why I stopped. I think they would make great christmas ornaments. They are only 2" long! SO I may make some more of them. Don't know yet.


Also worked on this stocking. I love blue even in christmas.


In fact, I tend toward unconventional even during christmas.


My tree was always white lights and crystal with hints of gold. I do miss all my christmas ornaments. This will be my first year with a tree here. We have went to Moirax to the familys the last two years so no need for a tree. This year they are all flying up HERE! Even grandfather. The doctor cleared him for the flight so we are very lucky to get to have him for christmas. I am very happy about it. I have no decorations for my tree though :p Guess I better get busy ^_^

Still slow

The wait for my own internet is dragging out unbearably. I had heard stories of how bad it could be but I thought they were exaggerated. They aren't.
Now I'm not sure if I have my facts straight on this so dont quote me on it, but here is how I understand the situation to be. There is one company here in France that controls all the lines. The other companies rent the lines from them. Supposedly if you move into a house or apartment where the line wasnt activated with the company you are chosing to use, the company that owns the lines has been known to take their own sweet time in activating it for you. Such a situation seems to be the one we have ran into. D has spoken to them several times and they say everything is taken care of. We are still waiting....
In the meantime I find myself putting off posting as I dont want to battle the internet to upload my pictures. Today I chose to post without pics. Too many days have gone by without.
I havent let the internet problem slow me down though. I have been busy. I am still settling into my studio and I think I will be for awhile. I need a few pieces of furniture to make it more workable and frankly we can'tafford it at the moment. Moving here pretty much broke the bank! It is set up well enough for me to do some work though. I need a table for cutting, laying out, etc so all big projects are on hold.I dont want to be moving back and forth between this room and the dining room table. This week I worked on another crazy quilt stocking, this one in blues. All the embroidery is finished on that and I only need to sew it up. Two velvet bags have their embroidery finished also and again...just need to be sewn up. I also put together two sweet little fairy boots for christmas ornaments. They are all finished and I promise I will post pics of them soon.As soon as I can brave the uploads...

Echirolles

Fall Colors


and Snowy Mountains


just a couple of the reasons I think I'm going to like it here :)

I am busy!

Things are still slow here with the internet...and with me. I went and hurt my back this weekend and I have been a crip ever since. Not being able to get around means plenty of time to sew though! I finished this sweet little celtic heart bag


and went on to start this harvest moon bag


and also this spiral sun bag


plus I have been busy uploading photos...which takes all of my patience...and put a few new listings on my cymberrain shop.


A few of my bags and a christmas stocking.


I hope to finish more listings tonight or tomorrrow.


So how has your week been so far?

Poor Internet

How I wish I had a decent connection again. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for what I have, but I'm afraid that I can't get much done these days with such a slow connection. Loading pictures is a long boring process and I find myself giving up long before even half of them are taken care of.I already feel so behind having put my life on hold for a month to move. Every minute I waste with this messy connection is one less minute to sew! So...forgive me if I havent been posting much. It's only a temporary thing. I have lots I want to tell you all every day, and then I remember what a pain it is to get on and I don't.
I have finished several velvet bags and all three of my christmas stockings I was working on. I still don't have pics of them all but here is a shot of some of my bags.

I do love working on these. Right now that's about all I can do. Too many things on my mind to work on anything more complicated. These are my therapy! *grin*
Hope you are all havinga good week!

I slowly settle in...

The plaza near our house

Two weeks have passed since I first came here and I have slowly settled in. I still bump into walls in the middle of the night and the space just doesn't feel right yet. All that will come in time though. I am slowly finding a place for everything and relaxing enough to enjoy this beautiful place.

Taken from the tram in Grenoble

Both weekends we have ventured into town and I have ventured out twice on my own.

We found two asian stores right on the tram stop.

We came back loaded down!

I have started to sew...

Pics!

I have been promising you pictures for awhile and I finally got them uploaded to my computer. So here you go...a little taste of the move!


This is the last picture I took in Talence, the night before I moved, out the livingroom window.


The weather was interesting to say the least on our way to Grenoble, here are a few shots of the clouds.


I thought they were amazing. Especially the alien ship one!


I didn't have much of the house unpacked when I took these shots. The only sane areas of the house were the hall and kitchen. This gives you an idea of the spaciousness of the apartment though. I took this standing in the entry hall. The hall is long and wide and lends to the feeling of a house not an apartment.


This is just one half of the kitchen, you cant see the sink, dishwasher and cabinets on the other side, but it gives you an idea of how it looks and its very nice. I love the lighting inside of the cabinet for the glasses and the under cabinet lighting for food preperation. The vitreo ceramic cooktop took some getting used to and I'm still learning how to use my oven...it even has a rotisserie!


This is the view I wake up to in the morning. I really can't complain....


These are a few shots off the balcony. This first is a big long mountain off to our right. It was a very hazy day so this doesnt really do it justice. You should see it in the morning when the sun is rising and hits it...It glows rose!

This second shot off the balcony is the private garden. It's a nice little area but since the apartment is new the trees are fairly small. It will be much more pleasant in a few years if we are still here *grin*


I also took a few shots of downtown Grenoble on our first trip there. It was rainy so we cut our trip short. In this first shot of a nice square we chanced upon there was a little market set up on the other side. If you look close in the picture across the green on the right are the tents. DH bought me some lovely soaps and a scarf there. It looks to be a wonderful place to shop or just sit and enjoy the scenery.

I love the wonderful old lampposts in this area and the lovely ornate buildings. It certainly has it's charm!

Hope you enjoyed your visit with me!