Heart, Hounds & Hobbies

Author: Marita

  • WIP Wednesday – Mystery SAL – January 11, 2017

    This first week and a half of 2017 I focused my crafty attention and free time on setting up my stitching rotation for the year as well as organizing my supplies. This year I will be doing a week by week rotation, so that means every week I’ll be switching projects, hopefully that also means every week I’ll have a different WIP to share.My plan is to write a Sunday Stitches & Stuff post this weekend to share my starting rotation for the year. This Wednesday I can share my first rotation piece progress, although it’s not much. Finally I was able to get started on my first stitch along (SAL) of the year. One of my Facebook groups is hosting a 2017 Mystery SAL, where we are sharing pictures of our work in progress as we go but not showing the finished design until we’re finished. So here is my fabric gridded and ready for the Q-snap. (This is my first time grinding a piece, so we will see how it goes.)
    photo-jan-11-10-06-53-pm
    Unfortunately, since I share my blog posts on Facebook, I must keep the project a mystery. I will say that this is a Dimensions kit that I got for a bargain when my local fabric store was going out of business. It was marked at $50, but after coupons, clearance and going out of discounts, I ended up getting it for $7! It was also a kit that I had been looking for a while, after seeing someone else’s finished piece in another Facebook group. So here is my starting point this week with the few stitches that I got in last night long after bedtime.
    photo-jan-12-9-23-36-am
    Thanks for reading and happy stitching.

  • My Timelord Name: The Optimist

    theoptimist

    From the Time Lord Name Generator, my Time Lord name is The Optimist. Here’s my back story:

    “Your original Gallifreyan name is Salgothbygoyongantecheg, or Salgoth for short. Back on Gallifrey, you led a dull and uninteresting life, working as a Temporal Theorist, Patrexe Academy – but now, you travel Time and Space in search of adventure!

    Your Type 72 TARDIS is currently stuck in disguise as a post-box, and your latest travelling companion is a 1950s daredevil test pilot, who has never seen a dangerous situation she couldn’t cope with.”

    This actually sounds like a spinoff show I would watch. Although I imagine my regenerations would look less humanoid and my gender would be very ambiguous.


    Get your own time lord name from the time lord name generator!

    Bow ties are cool!

  • River Song’s Last Night With The Doctor

    Christmas is wonderful for so many reasons, one of them being the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Now, my heart will always belong to Matt Smith, when it comes to Doctor Who. To paraphrase his last words: I will always remember when the Doctor was him. However, last year’s Christmas Special, was one of my favorites and this scene is one of my favorite scenes between the Doctor and River Song.

    Happy Christmas Eve!

     

  • WIP Wednesday – A FINISH! – December 21, 2016

    Oh my gosh I can’t believe there’s only three more days until Christmas! This year has gone by so fast and this week has been very busy. Just like most folks we are getting ready for the holidays; and not only getting ready for Christmas but also getting ready to travel up to Pennsylvania to visit with our families. Unfortunately, that means I haven’t had much time for stitching this past week.  However I was able to carve out some time on Monday night. In fact, I actually got nearly four hours of intermittent stitching time in, while I watched a series on A&E. Of course the residents of the animal house were not very happy that I was having a nice time of watching TV and stitching away, so there were breaks for feeding, play time, going out in the yard to pretend to potty, but not really potty and then have to go again in five minutes.  When I was able to keep the needle in my hand, I worked on my Bucilla Birdhouse kit, and it’s a FINISH!
     
    This is the mini kit that I picked out and took with me the weekend of my aunt’s funeral, October 22. That weekend I knew I would need a distraction and I thought the whimsical design would lift my spirits. Since this was one of my “purse projects”, there’s a total of two months stitching time. Being a purse project means it doesn’t really get dedicated time to be worked on, it’s really just there for when I have unexpected spare time while out of the house. The design was very cheery to stitch, but the confetti stitches where a bit of pain. On the plus side, I am loving the pin stitch for securing your thread. Right now the ultimate product of this finish is To Be Determined. Most of my mini kit finishes end up in a box until I need a gift or have an idea for a trinket. Now that this purse project is finished, I am ready to kit up a project that I have had in mind for a few months.
    Here is the progression of the Birdhouse:
    The Kit
    The Kit
    Getting started
    Getting started
    The house is built
    The house is built
    All that confetti!!!
    All that confetti!!!
    Finish!
    Finish!
    Thanks for reading and happy stitching!

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  • WIP Wednesday – Best Laid Plans – December 7, 2016

    WIP Wednesday – Best Laid Plans – December 7, 2016

    “The best laid plans of mice and men, often go astray.” (Robert Burns, 1785). This is probably the most consistent theme in my life, or as my mom and I say often, “I had a plan, then God laughed!” Yesterday was no exception. Originally, I had they day off and had planned an end of year, all day stitch-a-thon to attempt to finish as many WIPs as I could before the New Year. Unfortunately, on Tuesday, two of my clients had to cancel and reschedule for Wednesday. Now you would think that wouldn’t mess up the whole day, but since that meant I needed the car, that meant I had to get up at 6am and drive my husband to work, then pick him up in afternoon. My husband and I have been sharing a car for the past year and for the most part it has been great. It opened up our budget and has given us some quality time together in the mornings and evenings. However, when you plan a full day of stitching, while lounging in your PJs and sipping coffee/tea all day, losing nearly 5 hours (2 for driving him to/from work and 3 for the client sessions)  can put a damper on your plans. Fortunately, I do have off tomorrow and I have informed my husband that I will be having an all day stitching retreat at home. Which means, beyond feeding and caring for the dogs & cat, I will not be doing any housework, I am taking the day off. No dishes, no laundry, no picking up of yard, and certainly no cleaning of bathroom.

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  • WIP Wednesday – Dimensions Geisha – November 23, 2016

    WIP Wednesday – Dimensions Geisha – November 23, 2016

    Thanksgiving is definitely my holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas time and the season it brings, but it’s not really a holiday in my life, it is filled with a lot of hustle and bustle. On the other hand, Thanksgiving is a time when I am blessed to have four days at home, filled with cooking, laughter, and family. For me nothing is better. Today I am doing all my preparation work for my holiday, including prepping my meals and prepping the house for my parents visit. This week I really haven’t had a lot of time for stitching, but I expect to get some time in tomorrow morning and Friday morning. Right now I am still working on my Geisha from Dimensions. I really should have moved along in my rotation on Monday, but I am so close to having the back ground finished I just did not want to stop. Hopefully she will be fully finished before Christmas. (more…)

  • Introducing Gallifrey Geek’s World -Getting My First Blog Started (Again)

    Introducing Gallifrey Geek’s World -Getting My First Blog Started (Again)

    Okay, so truth be told, this is actually not my first blog, well actually that’s not true either, this is my first blog. Confused? Apparently so am I. So how should I begin this, at the beginning I suppose. Once upon a time, there was a fair maiden who wanted to share her innermost thoughts with the world…

    Really? I think that’s what Twitter is for now, right?

    In reality, I started my first WordPress blog back in 2010, it was called “chickwitbrains” and I can’t recall if I ever even posted more than an about me section. My recollection of blogs back then is that they were just on the cusps of becoming the technological machine of choice to connect with the world around us. Needless to say, amidst the distractions of life, my tiny little blog was abandoned.

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