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Wednesday 27 May 2015

WIP Wednesday


So I've been stitching on my Afternoon Tea - HAED. I've managed to get half way down one column but I know I will hit a snag soon as I hit the confetti of the purple seat thingy. I'm still finally working on this again ... which is a big step for me. I'm loving working on it.



And here is the close up. It's so much fun to work on.


 And my granny stripe is slowly moving forward. I just love the colours of this.


Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Thursday 21 May 2015

My Favourite Posts



It's one of those funny things. This was Tuesdays prompt but I wasn't in the mood to post but I don't really have much to say about my camera today so I'm going digging through my archives. I looked at my most popular posts but the most popular is me talking about the labels of moda vera changing to four seasons. Which is something that is interesting but it's definitely not my favourite post.

Then I thought about it some more and my favourite posts are quite often my tutorial or teaching posts so here they are.

I love this post where I go through how to finish your bookmark. 



Or this one where I showed how to make the fabric book covers that I used for my journal. I LOVE these covers and will have to make more of them.


And I love these mug cosies that I made for Christmas gifts.



Wow I have many different crafts that I do! But I sure had fun looking through my archives.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

WIP Wednesday



So this week has been an awesome week. Not much cross stitch happening but that's because it's been cold and I've been wanting to curl up under my blanket and crochet.



I'm so happy with the way this is going. Though I think I have to tighten up my stitches again it's starting to buckle a little I seem to go through stages because it takes so long to do so I'm not as consistent over long periods of time.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

P.S. I know this is a day late but I'm pretending it is still Wednesday.

Monday 18 May 2015

Hello Monday



So today hasn't gone as planned. I've had two pathetically sick children home all day. They weren't dying sick but they were sick enough that I didn't want them going to school on a wet day but they were well enough to be annoying. Hopefully though the lazy day has helped them to get better.

So how was my weekend? Fairly laid back.

On Saturday morning we went shopping to ALDI to shop their snow sale. We needed some thermal underwear for the kids and that was a great way to stock up on warm stuff ready for camping. The days will be pleasant but I know the mornings/evenings will be freezing.

I had a rehearsal on Saturday afternoon for my concert coming up next weekend but other than that I haven't had much to do. I'm getting really nervous and excited. I'm the one in charge of the brass band that we've put together and it's making me just a little nervous.

Then Sunday we visited the Library and then headed over to my parents for Sunday night dinner. I love having dinner over at my parents house. Mum cooked up a double roast and some spaghetti and cheese. It was absolutely delicious. A great way to end the weekend.

Oh and with all the lovely cold weather I have had lots of fun and managed to get more rows of my granny stripes done. I've also been quilting as the deadline for my chevron quilt is getting closer. The baby shower is next month and I'd love to have it finished in time. I'll show you pictures later this week... I'm hoping to get better light.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Saturday 16 May 2015

In my feeds this week....



This week I've been reading all sorts of fun stuff. I found an awesome article about Nerd vs. Geek and what makes it. It's a really interesting article with a cool graph... which makes it all worthwhile. And that is my nerd coming out in me as I found out I'm more nerd than geek.

I have been going crazy for crochet which you would know if you follow my pinterest at all... I've been finding and pinning all sorts of cool projects. I am currently lusting over the Sophie's universe CAL. I really want to do it but I need to finish the blanket I've got going first.

I've also gone planner crazy. I follow a couple of youtubers that vlog about their planners and how they stay motivated. You can check them out at Strange & Charmed and Paper & Glam. I find them both fascinating and absolutely wonderful though I mainly listen to them on their youtube.

I don't know what it is at the moment but I find planners and washi tape fascinating I think because it means sorting out what I'm doing and giving my days that seem endless a bit of purpose. I really need to find some solid work, being jobless is not helping me at all.

The next week will be absolutely crazy, I have a performance next weekend and I've been in charge of getting the brass section ready for it. I think we are there but it's the first time we've had a brass choir perform and I hope we're up to the standard.


Happy Stitching,
Caitlin


Thursday 14 May 2015

How to ... Untangle Yarn and keep it untangled

How To Untangle Yarn


So the prompt for today was to write a tutorial on something it could be something proper or something tongue in cheek. I decided to mix it up.

I opened up my bag to do some crochet last night. and I had an absolute MESS. If you follow my instagram or facebook you would have seen the image last night of the mess of purple and pink yarns that greeted me. Below is the pink that was still tangled when I woke up this morning.



Now this is a little bit tongue in cheek but how do you untangle all this mess of yarn. I hope most people can work this out for yourself but maybe you may learn a trick you don't currently use that will be quicker for you.

1. DON'T tighten the yarn. The worst thing you can do is start pulling and yanking it tight.
To start you loosen the yarn and pull it apart so that you can start to untangle it.


2. Find an end and start working it back through the pile.


Winding the end up as you go so it's not a large tail. If the ball of wool starts to get tight make sure you loosen it up again before you start pulling. You can't unwind it if you can't get your little ball through the gaps.



 3. When you're finished wind it all around one ball of wool and you have one untangled ball of yarn.


4. Put the balls somewhere where they can't get tangled again. I've put all my yarn balls into plastic bags so they can't roll around. Hopefully this is the last time I have to deal with this tangle.

Bagged and Sorted Yarn

I hope this keeps my yarn sorted.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Wednesday 13 May 2015

WIP Wordless Wednesday



Ohk so no words... this is what I'm working on see if you can guess.


Happy Stitching, 
Caitlin

Monday 11 May 2015

Hello Monday!



and Hello to everyone!!!


My gosh the weekend was crazy! I had a wonderful Mother's day. I woke to presents and tea. I got the Divergent book series so I may not be as active as I finally read through that series. I've already finished one of the books. 

I spent Saturday and Friday night playing trumpet. I did three performances of Oliver for a local school to help them boost their band. The photo above is from the Friday night with all my mutes set up ready to go. I also had a rehearsal for another upcoming performance on Saturday morning. So let's just say it was extremely busy. I didn't have much time to think on Saturday and today I'm finally taking the time to sit and rest. Yes it is Monday and maybe I should have taken more time yesterday to rest but I still had to shop for my mother and it just gets crazy busy around here on the weekends. 

So we were asked to set a goal for this week that we have been putting off. This isn't a crafting goal but it is one that I am getting kinda desperate to do. 

I NEED to go through my cupboard and CLEAN and sort my clothes. I am in transition a little at the moment but I have been reading about Capsule Closets a lot recently and I think that I really need to limit the clothes in my closet so I can enjoy wearing my clothes instead of throwing on anything that fits... maybe. I couldn't even tell you half of the clothes in there and I know I don't wear them all. Some stuff doesn't fit me and some I just don't like but I keep because I feel I should. 

James complained about the mess in the cupboard a couple of weeks ago but it has been something that has been going through my head for the last couple of months. His complaining just put it into the front of my mind and I know I want to attack it. 

SO my plan of attack is:

1.
Write out a list of the uses I have for clothes at the moment. So for my music I need black clothes, the work I'm looking for needs smart casual/professional clothes etc. Knowing what I need clothes for will help me decide what I should keep. 

2.
Go through my clothes and get rid of all the broken and ripped clothing, and items that I don't like. 

3. 
Sort the clothes left into uses and seasons. I don't need all my singlets at this time of year so I can put them away and keep out more of my warm clothes. I don't need to sort through my singlets everytime I want to find something warm. 

4. 
Show you a beautiful neat closet that I can use and will use the items in it. I love the idea of a closet where I will use ALL the clothes not just some because I felt like buying them. It will make my days much better and I know that I won't have to think about clothes I will know what I have.


DO you think I could manage something like this for my craft stuff too? Probably not but I know it's achievable for my cupboard as it's in desperate need to be sorted. 

Happy Stitching and CLEANING :D

Caitlin 

Saturday 9 May 2015

Blogs I Read



Now the prompt for today was what are you reading blog wise this week. Share the love around. I follow a LOT of blogs. It's part of the problem I never manage to get through all of them each week but there are some I always make sure I read.

I read a lot of blogs some are craft ones some aren't here are some of my favourites:

CROSS STITCH


She's an awesome cross stitch designer and the projects she works on are lovely. I love seeing and reading about her new adventures.


She's amazing. She has three lovely girls and manages to find time to stitch constantly she has numerous HAEDs on the go and makes great progress on them. I love her princess Izzy project.

Keeble's World

This lovely blog is about a Disney crazy Stitcher and coping with Aspergers and the world. 


CROCHET


I have been following her blog for a couple of years now since before she had her eldest child. I love the projects she comes up with and all the beautiful colours she uses in her blankets.


I have been following this one as long as I've been following Little Tin Bird for much of the same reasons. She makes some gorgeous gorgeous blankets and stuff and the colours she picks are amazing. 


I love her blog she always speaks honestly. She talks about a little bit of everything. She was a crochet blog but now she talks about a bit of everything. I enjoy reading her honest opinion. 

SEWING


I love the projects this lady manages to make. She makes all the clothes that her daughter wears. They are stunning and look wonderful. It is an inspiration to make more clothes. 


RANDOM


I try to read this blog often as I find it inspiring. They are good about anything creative and quite often I find they help with finding inspiration.

Life Behind The Purple Door

So this is the blog that started it all. Well at least the reason I'm posting through May. I like reading about her journey and she is inspiring... She's also essentially my SIL.

And Sew We Craft

I love this blog.... I'm kinda biased now as I started writing for it but I love the broad range of crafts and all the inspiration and projects that are available. 

 Hope you enjoy this list.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Thursday 7 May 2015

A-Z Reflections

I have been thinking about this a little bit and today hasn't been the best day trying to keep my head on straight. Dealing with banks and their beaurocracy is no fun. It's funny though because I walked right out of the A-Z challenge into another May challenge to post everyday.

 I thought it would be hard but I got in the habit by the end of April and into a really nice rhythm and it works. I've never been an easy writer as the words quite often take a while to come but since doing the challenge I have found it easier to just sit down and write.

I don't struggle to get my thoughts on paper / computer as much and I even managed to finish another unit of my course during that time.

I am still highly distracted though and easily end up taking ages to do something simple. Like this post... I keep getting distracted reading other blogs... But I have been managing to post each day. (Most days... I only missed one and I made it up the next day.)

I also found some crafts were really easy to write about and some weren't next time I'm going to have to think about it a bit harder and find something easier and simpler to talk about... Actually after watching all the A-Z stitching I kinda want to do them.

Anyway I'm rambling because I'm absolutely exhausted and my day isn't over yet.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Oh P.S. I've got an awesome cross stitch series happening at the moment over on www.andsewwecraft.com and I'd love it if you could join me over there I'm explaining all that you need to know to cross stitch. EVERYTHING.... It's a VERY big list!




Favourite Movies - of ALL TIME!!!


Ohk, maybe that title is a bit dramatic but that is what the prompt was about. I have been wracking and wracking my brain trying to come up with movies that I love and I'm really struggling.

I thought about The Hunger Games series and I love them. I thought about all the disney I used to watch and I love all of them too. But nothing leapt out then I remembered.

I don't watch movies. What I always go back to is TV shows.

SO instead of movies I'm going to talk about TV shows.

CHARMED

I LOVE this show. Always have since the time I was allowed to watch it. I love the idea of magic and everything involved in it.

CASTLE / NUMB3RS / NCIS

Ohk that is three shows but they are all crime shows and I love all of them. I constantly go back and watch old episodes. The interactions between the characters is awesome. I'm currently watching through Season 3 NCIS and I started the show in tears. I hate sad starts for a season.

BABYLON 5 / STARGATE

And here is the other obsession I seem to have. I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I have all the Babylon 5 seasons and I've watched them and stargate many many times,

So what was a talk about movies turned into TV shows. What do you obsess about?

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Wednesday 6 May 2015

WIP Wednesday


Well this week I have a lot to share. I've made some great progress on my little lighthouse and I've done some project life. I finally just got the photos printed for February and March. Yes I know 5th month in and I was already months behind.

I used my gorgeous new Heidi Swapp journalling cards to decorate my album this month. Actually I think I'll use them for most of the year. The colours are gorgeous.











I used stamps and pretty inks on the journal cards as well and I love the effect. They weren't overly busy months so there aren't many pages... I know I have MANY MANY pages for April going already and I'm only a week in! That's the thing with holidays we get out and do stuff I can take pictures of.

And if you aren't too sick of all the photos here is Beacon at Daybreak a Dimension petite gold kit. It's interesting to work on with the different thicknesses and some half and some full crosses. It definitely keeps your head working!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Please share what you're currently working on. I love to hear about what you're doing.

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Post from the Archives



Oh gosh this one was really hard. I started looking through past Mays. It was asked to pick something older than 2 years so last year was out. I searched through looking for something to share then I remembered...

Back in May, 2011 I managed to complete my Land In Sight by Hummel. It was my entry that year into the Ekka and won me a prize. It still sits in pride of place at my Grandma's house right in front of her TV.

LINK HERE

So please go enjoy my finished cross stitch Land In Sight before I framed it.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Monday 4 May 2015

Hello Monday



Ohk so we have to say hello to MONDAY! Make Monday a good day instead of one that we want to avoid.

So what makes this week so good?


  1. The kids are in district cross country tomorrow which is awesome for them. 
  2. I woke up this morning despite a bad sleep feeling happy with where I am and knowing where I'm going. 
  3. I have a whole series of posts ready to put up for andsewwecraft.com about beginner cross stitch but in order to do that I need to go visit spotlight. I always love to visit spotlight!
  4. I've got my first performances for Oliver this weekend which I'm really looking forward to. 
  5. I've got band on Thursday as well but thankfully have a break this Wednesday. 
  6. I'm about to go and put my resume in. It's not a big job just something down at the local IGA but it may make a difference. 
SO I'm sure I could find a lot more that I'm happy about but I want to get this out. ... Now I need to go through my May Archives ready for tomorrow! 

If you want to find out more about what I'm posting about. I'm joining www.BehindthePurpleDoor.com with posting every day in May.

Happy Stitching, 
Caitlin


Sunday 3 May 2015

Favourite Quote



When I started this year I put the phrase Live Laugh Love at the beginning of my journal. I put it there and then sort of forgot about it.

It's been there for a while and the more I think about it the more important it needs to be.

I often forget to laugh. I get so involved and serious about something that I can't see the fun side. I try to always see the fun side but that doesn't always happen.

I know also over the holidays that I thought about live, about getting out there and making sure to take the kids to the park and just get out. We had fun over the holidays because we got out and actually lived.

and love is important as well because without those you love around you life is a lot harder.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Saturday 2 May 2015

Reading now...



I try to make an effort to get out to the Library with the kids more often now as they both have reading for homework and they don't borrow many books from the Library at school. (actually it's more complicated than that, they keep the school books to read at school makes it easier) Over the holidays I got them cards for our local Library. We sit on the border between the two councils here so the kids had cards to one place but not the other.

Books

So books... I'm reading a number of books at the moment. I don't have just one on the go. That would be too easy.

I'm reading the chocolate clown corpse by JoAnna Carl and so far I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'll give you a better update on it when I finish.



I'm also reading Heat Rises by Richard Castle. Yes it is the Richard Castle from the TV show.... or it's someone ghost writing as the Richard Castle. It's good and I'm enjoying it so we shall see.



It's the funny thing with my reading this month I'm usually a fantasy romance reader and I have a number of crime books. It must be something to do with my obsession with Castle and NCIS.


Magazines

I don't read many magazines but I bought this one at the beginning of the week because I love Oriental designs and it's got some gorgeous stuff.


Blogs

So what blogs have I been reading a lot of this week. I always make sure that I read up on www.notalwaysright.com they are funny and I always try and catch my cross stitch blogs.

Other than that I have been reading a mix of blogs at the moment. My feed is full of lots of cross stitch stuff and I'm trying to go through the A-Z list and slowly read them. I will get there but there were over 1000 participants. 

So Happy Stitching/ Reading on this wonderful Saturday. 

Caitlin




Friday 1 May 2015

My Family Right Now



I'm very very crazy. I only just finished the A-Z challenge and I agreed to blog everyday in May as well!

My sister-in-law or the closest thing I have to one (my partner's sister) wrote about how she intends to write every day in May. She gave a set of prompts for May that I just love. You can find the blog post here. She blogs at behind the purple door.

So the first prompt was my family right now. My family has changed so much over the last couple of years. I was in a destructive relationship that thankfully I got out of but it's been on my mind a lot lately as I'm finally in the process of finalising the financial side and I am so grateful for what I have now. 

I've found someone who actually understands me and wants me to be me. He's happy with who I am and he wants me to be happy. Also his kids are absolutely wonderful, most of the time. They're still kids and have their ups and downs.


So my family now:

He hates getting photos taken but he likes all the photos I'm getting of the kids. 
He supports me through so much at the moment. 
His shoulder is almost fully healed from his operation at the beginning of the year. 
He wants another job but the market at the moment is too picky.

He is doing great in school but needs to learn how to be a little more quiet when in the classroom. 
He's very grumpy at the moment and complaining of sore limbs so he's about to get taller again. 
He loves to dance around the house until he realises that someone else can see him.


 She's doing great in school particularly since she got glasses at the beginning of the term. 
She likes to be in charge of everything but also loves to help as much as she can.
She's going through tween mood swings and arguments but when she's happy it's great.

And now to me. 
I'm still looking for work but I'm making steps forward by completing more training.
I found I loved blogging most days last month and it got easier to write as the month went on.
I signed up to do 2 musicals on top of my normal band, Jazz band and Brass Ensemble this month it's a little overwhelming.
I've got a head swimming full of craft projects and ideas so we shall see if I manage to get any of it out this month or not.


Happy Stitching, 
Caitlin

I'll catch you around here over the next month. I have a lot to share and I look forward to continuing to post. 



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