Keebles World

I have begun the newbies! I'm finding it hard to not do a little on one and then switch and work on the other. The original plan was to work on one, then the next day work on the other, but I feel guilty about ignoring the other, so right now they are getting equal face time! So first off, progress on A Summer Ball - it's a little hard to see because the color is a very pale blue, but here it is: And here is A Walk Through The Highlands - I'm finding the lugana a bit difficult, not because of the small size, but because it's way too soft...I definitely prefer aida. I started out using 1x1, but I just didn't like the coverage, so I switched to 2x1. I know it's a bit heavy, but I think that's one of the things I usually don't like about any of the other projects I've done on aida, the thread doesn't cover the material...not a problem here! Plus, because the lugana is so delicate, I'm stitching much slower than I normally would. But w...

So T and I went to see The Three Musketeers on Friday night. Yes, I know it's bombing at the box office, but I have just two words that made it all worth while (at least for me)....Matthew MacFadyen. If those two didn't work, how about two more...Orlando Bloom? Luke Evans? Well then, how about the best two-worded surprise of the entire movie...James Corden! I knew James was in it, but I had no idea he would literally almost steal the entire movie away from Matthew! But I'm jumping the gun here. As a child of the 80's, I have the "Brat Pack" running through my veins, so MY "Three Musketeers" is the '93 version with Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Oliver Platt, and a very very young Chris O'Donnell. Not one single version (in my eyes) has topped it since (as an added bonus it was a Disney production...although I'm sure those boys got up to very un-Disney like behavior on set). So, this new version had a lot to live up to! For...

I just realized that it's been a while since I posted a video, and I've been in a nostalgic mood lately, so here's a classic Take That: It's funny to watch how young they were, but at the same time, I've always had a weakness for a boy band and Mark was so cute (as he still is today)! If you'd told me then that I'd fancy Howard now as well, I'd called you crazy (but then again, I only fancy Howard now because of a series of dreams I had about him after using a specific Scentsy scent next to my bed - which I have no clue why it caused Howie dreams, but it did...My Dear Watson in case you were wondering, or wanted to have Howard dreams too, and if you happen to know of a Mark scent-causing dream...please let me know)! And I've always wondered if you didn't see Gary much in this video because he was pissed because Robbie was singing! Guess we'll never know! Enjoy!

I've read numerous threads about floss storage and people questioning what is the best way to store floss. I don't have that problem, they are all in order, labeled, and contained...I'm completely organized on that front: What I have a problem with is stash storage and I have yet to come across one single discussion about stash storage: Kits, printouts, leaflets, magazines, all piled willy-nilly and it DRIVES ME NUTS!!! I want to find a way to organize it in one convenient location and in something attractive to look at. But as of yet, I have found nothing. I've looked at plastic bins (but I hate plastic), I've looked at hinged boxes, I've looked at baskets, wicker drawers, and just about every other storage system in my price range (which is not very high). I don't have room to put something too large either, another hurtle! I'm sure eventually I'll find something to appease me, but you'd think with all the merchandise out there for...

First off, thanks to everyone for your congratulations on my finishing Mickey And Friends! I've been taking a well deserved break from stitching for the past couple of days, getting ready for the next projects. But I did decide not to do the intended three I had planned to do. I am going to still do A Walk Through The Highlands: But instead of the other two, I'm going to do this one I just recently ran across: I just bought the chart, but it was so Jane Austen, I just couldn't pass it up and I'm dying to start it!! I do really have a problem with the simplicity of the faces, but I'll worry about that when the time comes. Maybe I can adjust the backstitching enough to not make them seem so simplistic. If things get too dull and I find myself start to get bored, I'll start a Disney one just to keep my motivation up.

I have purchased a lot of stash, but I also have stitch software. I have actually charted quite a few patterns, but have not actually ever stitched one of them. The biggest project that's on the table for me is, of course, the one I've been hinting about and I've finally perfected it! It's big because they are 22ct aida, 11x32 with 200 colors per pic! They are huge, but they are pretty realistic which is what I wanted. I am a Disney freak, as I think I may have mentioned a couple of times, and the Haunted Mansion is my favorite ride at Disney World. I am a Disney purest as well, and as much as I love Marc Davis, I don't think his original Stretching Room portraits would translate well to stitches because they are line heavy. On another Disney front, I've also charted another Mickey and Friends pic, but right now I can't stand to look at another Mickey and Friends!: What I may not have mentioned is the first I went to college when I was 17, I major...

It's done! I feel like I've finally given birth or something!! I'm just more glad it's over than feel like I've accomplished something....at least for now. That will change eventually. and here's it in it's whole: Now I just have to wash it and get it framed! And it's time to move on to the next!

I didn't really work too hard this weekend... I slept a lot and I started re-watching the Vicar of Dibley and I'm about to get to the Holy Wholly Happy Ending and that pretty much guarantees that I won't be taking my eyes off the screen!! Anyone who's seen it knows why! But anyhoo...here's the progress (which also means I can take my time to finish and don't have to rush through it):

I have four colors left! I knew I'd jinx myself by saying I'd have plenty of time this week to work on it, so I'm definitely keeping my mouth shut for the weekend!! Then there will be the fun task of sorting the threads and winding the bobbins and labeling the thread boxes and scrolling and gridding the fabric before the new projects can even be started!! I got a new stand but I don't know how it's gonna work out. It doesn't look as good in person as it did online. What made this one exciting was the fact that you can spin the scroll bar around, it has an attachment for using your own scroll bars that also spins, and it has a built in pattern stand. No more chip clips or weird internet quick-fixes for holding patterns. Plus, I can't stop buying stash! Only I'm buying patterns, which means I'll also eventually have to buy thread, and fabric and needles! And it's not like I can pop over to the local stitching shop and pick up those ...

Not much progress on Mickey and Friends tonight, so not much to show, but thanks to everyone for the encouraging words...I was really bummed that I hadn't gotten very far at all and now I ain't feelin so bad! Now, if my stupid head would just cooperate and stop being cantankerous!! But on the decision front, I have made my three choices. My HAED has already been chosen, I discussed a while back why I selected this particular stitch and how it pretty much personified me to a tee, which is why I picked it. It's not my tartan, but it's pretty close (well, minus the yellow, but if the pattern doesn't look too bad, I could change it to white and it could almost be my dress tartan), ...so project #1 and main project will be A Walk Through The Highlands by Jasmine Becket-Griffith. Project #2 is the oldest of my stash and has been crying to get out of the bottom of the stash box for well over 20 years now and I think it's time to let it out. It's on 18ct aid...

So, I tried really hard to meet my goal, but my stupid head wouldn't cooperate. I came home with a migraine Friday night, so Friday was screwed. I ended up sleeping through most of Saturday, but when I did finally get up, I did get a lot accomplished: But today was a bit of a relapse, and I couldn't focus enough on the project to work on it, plus I got the news that I have to work a double shift tomorrow, so today got cut short anyway, so this is as far as I made it: I will say that the ton of same color stuff wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I actually couldn't wait to get back to the confetti! I may have been stitching for years, but this is my first 18ct and it feels like I'm stitching a bloody poster!! But I did make a decision about what project to do next. I'm gonna give multi-managing a go. I am definitely gonna start my HAED, but anytime in the past when I haven't done a Disney project, I end up putting the non-Dis aside for yea...

So this is where I am: Wednesday night: and tonight: Page 1 is done! Only two more pages to go!! I fully intended to start my HAED next, but I've been thinking about it today, and maybe I should do a few "smaller" ones between this one and the HAED. This one has about 40,000 stitches and I'm just not sure I want to jump right into another one so massive. Overall, I've really only spent a few months doing this one (counting actual work time), but it's been pretty intense (ah, the power of OCD!!). I have all the elements for Tanglewood. But then again, maybe I'm just scared of the HAED...it has over 165,000 stitches on 25ct! I do have numerous kits I could choose from as well. Guess it gives me something to dwell on while I stitch this weekend!! Good luck to everyone and enjoy being a hermit for the weekend! There's nothing I'd rather be (and typically am anyway!).

Most of you know I'm an Janeite. Well, I also tend to gobble up any fan-fiction type books as well. Variations on theme, re-tellings, etc., etc. Most Austen fandoms tend to center around Pride and Prejudice, so a Persuasion one is a real rarity! But they also scare me. Persuasion is my absolute favorite Austen novel and I'm extremely protective of it. I relate to Anne Elliot in more ways than one (other than having a gorgeous, rich, Naval Captain who looks like Rupert Penry-Jones totally in love with me...but we can't have everything). Persuade Me by Juliet Archer is a modern re-telling of Persuasion and it's pretty much spot on with storyline and characters, just brought up-to-date. But there was one addition that should have made me cringe, but didn't...the one thing that happens in every modern romance novel when the girl and the guy finally get together...the sex scene (although it was pretty tame by romance novel standards)! To tell you the truth, I...

My baby son is eleven!! I can hardly believe it! It seems like only yesterday he looked like this: It's been two and a half years since his brother Zander passed now. Zach loved his big bro and Zan was the love of my life. These are my favorite shots of the two of them: But, now it's just the two of us. I thought the loss of Zander would kill me. He was sick for so long, but Zachary is the reason why I pulled through. He was the strong one and he needed me to be strong for him, so I did. So to my little baby boy, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and as many hugs and kisses as you can stand! Taken tonight (he can't stand the camera, so I had to trick him with food!)

I can't believe it's time for the International Hermit and Stitch weekend again! It doesn't seem like it's been a month! My goal is going to be CRAZY! I'm planning on finishing page 1 this week and it shouldn't be hard, but the goal for the weekend is to finish both page 4 and page 7, the last two pages! I think it's possible because other than Mickey's ears, it's all background and should be easy. There is only about four color changes. But this is how far I've come: I probably would have gotten further tonight, but I was at work to late. But what little time I did stitch was all background and it did go really quick which is way I think I can really do two pages in two days. I am so glad I got little-bit's hair cut last weekend! (I left his demon-eyes in the pic because he's been giving me the demon eyes ever since I gave him the hair cut!).

So Kate, I've tried and tried to post comments on your blog and I just can't get it to work, so I'm gonna answer you question on my own blog! My three hotters actually show my age because they are all in their late 30's early 40's...Richard Armitage, Michael Fassbender, and Rupert Penry-Jones. If I bumped the list to five, I'd add Max Beesley and Jamie Draven (wow...large quantity of Mancunians on this list!). Bumping up to ten - David Tennant, Mark Owen, Jonny Lee Miller, JJ Feild, and Colin Firth (wow, I could do this all day!). Popular hotters that I think are total notters are Brad Pitt, Patrick Dempsey, and my total least favorite is Tom Cruise. I've never understood any of their appeals. Different strokes for different folks! Hope this helps you!

My my, time flies when you're not posting! I haven't really been stitching alot, but what I have been doing hasn't been showing much progress because of the confetti, but finally, through the confetti, a Goofy is appearing! I also finally got my magnifying light I've been drooling over at Hobby Lobby. I was disappointed at the amount of light it put off at first, but it being a true whitish light really ended up helping in the end. I still have to use my lamp as well, but, you do what you have to, right? I also got the thread for both Tanglewood and the Bramble and The Rose. I've never seen silk thread before....considering the expense, I'm really not impressed. I just hope it stitches well. But on the Mickey and Friends front...I'm ready to be done with it. I don't necessarily think I'm bored with it, I just think I'm ready to do all the other projects I've got lined up. Even if I could manage to allow myself to work on tw...

I'll try to summarize without giving away the ending...basically it's the story of Scarlett whose over-protective dad and over-bearing finance think she's wasting her life because she's obsessed with movies. She gets an opportunity to flat-sit in Notting Hill for a month and decides to prove to everyone that life can be like a movie. She meets new friends including super-hot neighbor Sean who is a bit too much like a cross between Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy! Scarlett and neighbor Sean find themselves on the hunt for the mom that deserted Scarlett as a child, trying to obtain the goal of four weddings (but hopefully not a funeral), and along the way ends up running into Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and the real Daniel Cleaver himself! But in the end does she end up choosing her fiance or the neighbor and will she finally prove that real life and the movies go hand in hand! It's been a while since I've had a chance to actually read anything. This one has ...

Well, they are done! After spending weeks watching 13 series of a single show, you become attached to the characters, and the locations, and everything. When it's all over, it's almost like a loss! I miss it! I spent Sunday watching Kingdom Hospital that my sister lent me, but about halfway through, I remembered why I quit watching it when it originally aired...I got bored. I finished it this time, but no need to watch it again or buy it for myself. At least there wasn't a clown that turned into a giant spider (always a good thing in a Stephen King ending). Maybe I just don't like spontaneous Glee moments in my horror. Then again, even after the explanation of the ant-eater, I still thought it was stupid (sorry Am, but true). So after that I got back to what I know and started the Complete series for Gavin and Stacey. I've only watched the first couple of episodes, so it's early to tell, but so far it's great!! I also did the "big replac...

I've been offline for a few days out of sheer terror! Friday night I went to make a payment on my credit card when I noticed that the balance was WAY too high. So I started looking at the purchases (I rarely ever use it) and sure enough, there were two $250 charges and another $250 pending charge from Facebook! I completely panicked! I called the credit card company immediately and reported it as fraud and they cancelled the card and then I went to Facebook. Now, I don't use my Facebook account for much of anything. Birthday wishes or the occasional messages from someone, but other than that, it's completely useless to me. Facebook is for social people...of which I am not! I don't play games or most messages like everyone else..."going to the bathroom every five minutes". I just don't get it! Plus, the one that really gets me, is all the people who post all the religious comments and I know for a fact that most of those people don't have a s...

I tried everything to fix the hole. I tried to stitch over it but there was no way that was going to work. I pulled the patch out and was hoping the threads would hold it together, but they wouldn't even come close. Then I tried the stupidest idea of all, I tried a band-aid, one on each side! But the needle kept getting gummy from the band-aid sticky. In the end, I cut a section from another piece of 18ct, larger than the hole, and lined it up evenly and went to town and it worked! If you look close (it's where the ocre and black humps meet), it's really ugly stitching, but you can't tell there are two pieces of aida together, so that's good at least. So here's Sunday night: And here's tonight: Not much progress, but there is a lot of confetti here for some reason! I figured once I got to the top where there wasn't a lot of design, it would get easier. But, I guess that's what I get for thinking!! I ordered the thread for both Tan...