Birthday Giveaway Winners

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Everyone! (Pic is Margaret Sherry’s Santa Claus which I stitched a few years back for one of my still uncompleted round robin)

I’m so tired after a long, busy day. It’s already nearly midnight and Christmas is almost over in my part of the world so without further ado, here are the winners of my Birthday Giveaway:

• Nina
• Margaret
• Kathy

Congratulations to all the winners! Please email me your mailing address so I could get the packages out to you.

Thank you to everyone who participate. I really wish I could have given each and every one of you a gift but unfortunately, that’s not possible.

I've really enjoyed holding this giveaway. I hope to have another one again in the near future. May your hopes and dreams be fulfilled in the new year.

Birthday Giveaway Unveiled - Part 4

A while ago, I mentioned that I was trying my hand at tatting. I was intrigued by the elegance and delicacy of this art. While still an amateur, I think I’ve sufficiently mastered it enough to show you a few of my handiwork.

These are bookmarks which I’ll be included with my giveaway pouches. Yes, you’ve guessed it. I'll come clean and admit that this is part of the reason for the delay. Not the greatest of photos I'm afraid as they're taken in poor lighting but you get the idea.

First from left is a pattern taken from Faizon's Learning Shuttle Tatting book. The middle Lacy Bookmark is an online freebie and the one on the right is a Jessica Bookmark, another freebie.

Last but not least, I’m also including five different cuts of lace with each pouch.

Once again, winners will be drawn on Christmas Day so if there is still time if you would like to participate in my Birthday Giveaway. Just remember to leave a comment on that post only.
Thank you for dropping by. I really appreciate it. Happy Stitching!

Birthday Giveaway Unveiled - Part 3

To those who are waiting for me to draw the winners’ names, please accept my humble apology. I’ll be postponing that until Christmas Day – 25 December 2010. Truth is, I was still getting the packages ready when I posted about it. I’ve been busy and couldn’t make it in time :(

Anyway, on to today’s preview... Another of my greatest stitching love is variegated threads.

Be the color changes subtle or obvious, I love them all.

These threads are taken from my own stash. I hope you don’t mind but a few are slightly used. Most, however, are brand new.

Thank you for your patience. Once again, I’m sorry for the delay. Happy Stitching!

Birthday Giveaway Unveiled - Part 2

As a stitcher/crafter, I could never resist fabrics. Ever. I love fabrics of every color and hue, be it bright and bold or soft and sweet. Now, my fabric collection is not that extensive… yet. Still, I figured I’ll share this passion with you by offering three pieces of fabric with each drawstring pouch.

These are Japanese cotton and measures approximately 20” x 22.5”.

Any ideas on how you’ll be using them yet?

I look forward to hearing them :)

Birthday Giveaway Unveiled - Part 1

I’ve been remiss in my promise to show you what’s in the drawstring pouches but before I do, I just have one question for you.

Do you like ribbons and trims?

I know I do…

I hope you do too.

Assorted ribbons and trims.

More will be revealed soon.

Birthday Giveaway!

It’s my birthday today and if that's not a good enough reason to have a giveaway, I don't know what is.

Even though it's been a rocky first half of the year for me with the end of a six year relationship and a job that I hated, I've been blessed for the second half of the year. I got family and friends who loves me (you know who you are) and whom I very much love back, a job that I love and on top of that, a sewing machine :P Hehehe... Oh,and I'm also at nearly 100 Followers too! Definitely cause for a giveaway celebration.

Okay, okay, I know you're all dying to hear what I got up my sleeves this time. Yes? No? Aww come on, show a bit more enthusiasm.

Anyway, remember my last finish? Renato Parolin's Camille, Paul Et Myrtille?

With the help of Maccabags' tutorial, here they are, hot off my sewing machine, transformed into drawstring pouches! I lined them with the Christmasy fabric in the background.

In case you're wondering, yes, I'm giving all three away to three lucky winners.

So what do you need to do to be eligible? Just comment on this post. That's it, no catches. However, I do require you to leave an email address if it's not listed in your profile in order for me to contact you if you win.

I'll really appreciate if you decide to tell other stitches about my giveaway though. The more the merrier :) And if you become a Follower to help me reach 100, you'll be making this birthday girl very happy ^.^

Birthday Giveaway deadline is 20 December 2010.

One last thing, if you're curious to see what else is included in the giveaway, do check back regularly prior to that. I'll be revealing the contents in the pouches periodically until then.

Thanx for visiting. Happy stitching!

Renato Parolin

I've been stitching up a storm this week and what's more, I actually have a finish to show! Let me introduce you to Camille...

Camille turned up real prettily in HDF BeCreamed.

This is Paul.

Paul is dressed in HDF Examplar Fried Pickles.

And last but not least is Myrtille.

Myrtille decided to make its appearance in HDF Old Maid of the Heart.

All three of them, ready to party!

Design: Camille, Paul Et Myrtille

Designer: Renato Parolin

Fabric: Natural Italian 32 count linen

Fibers: Hand Dyed Fibers Silk

Four pairs of scissors that I bought from Ebay arrived in my mailbox last Friday. I've been drooling over these Retro Scissors when I first saw them appear on stitchers' blogs.

I finally treated myself to them. My excuse? For my birthday! Aren't they pretty?

Recently, I won some tatted ornaments made by Cathy's mum. Don't you think these are just so delicate and exquisite? Huge thanks to both Cathy and her mum for having the giveaway. They'll definitely be treasured.

I had a BOMB on Saturday, attending NNC Yahoo Group's Stitching Bee. Wonder why it's called a Stitching Bee... never got around to asking but I digress. Anyway, thanks to Faizon I got a better understanding of tatting. I left the Bee with these...

The book is written by Faizon with clear, concise and easy-to-understand instructions. The threads are courtesy of Zarina. Two balls of size 50 threads and a yummy skein of "Orchid Garden" hand dyed by Zarina. In order to be able to use them, I must first master tatting :) Zarina also sells her threads on Etsy. Check out her Etsy shop here. Thank you so much again, ladies.

I'm planning to have another giveaway again soon so do drop by again in the next few days. Happy stitching!

Stitching Again

Slowly but surely, I'm stitching again! I recently went through some of my oldest WiP and came up with this:

Granted, this is technically not a WiP since it's released separately and I've finished four parts so far but it's been a three year span since I started this series. Hence I decided to pick it up again.

Design: Iced Tea

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric: Zweigart's Vintage Country Mocha (Marbled) 32 count Belfast linen

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie

Five down. One more to go. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the last one before the year is out.

All but one of my giveaway scissors fob have arrived at their destinations. (What's going on with Canadian Post? Sigh!) Among those that are now residing with their new owners are the three surprise fobs so now I can finally show you what I made.

Princess Ivy for Hazel

Liberty's Dream for Deborah

Scarlet Jinx for Carin

I've been trying my hand at new things recently. Beading, as you know, being one of them. I bought my first tatting shuttle along with some thread couple of weekends ago. I managed to get the basics down... Double stitch, Picot and Close Ring. Still trying to figure out the rest. Will see how that goes. If not, hopefully Faizon, our Malaysian Needles & Crafts group tatting guru and Zarina, will be able to shed some light this coming Saturday during our December Stitching Bee.

On top of that, I went on an all out splurge this past Saturday and bought a sewing machine. My birthday is coming up and this is the present I gave myself – among other things :P.

It’s a Bernina E82e, exactly like the one shown except that it’s silver instead of purple. I was told that’s because it’s imported from Europe (hence the E). It only differs from the one available in USA in appearance (and voltage, I think). Since I prefer silver over purple, I’m happy with that.

I’m not a novice to using a sewing machine. After all, I’ve been taking part time tailoring lessons for quite a while now but this is the first time I have an electronic sewing machine with all these fun features to play with.

I look forward to exploring different finishing techniques and perhaps venture into patchwork/quilting and maybe even bag making. It’s a whole new world of possibilities that has just been opened to me!

Thanx for stopping by. Happy Stitching!
P.S. To Karen who asked about my scissors, they’re Gingher’s silver Lion’s Tail Embroidery Scissors. I wish I own a Dovo though. They’re so pretty but too expensive for me.

StarZanite Webshop is Up!

After nearly two weeks of being sick, I'm well on the road back to full recovery. It started two Sundays ago with a slight fever and sore throat. Come Monday, I was pretty much down for the count. Took the day off work and visited the doctor which I was given antibiotics, painkillers and a couple other medicines for my fever and throat.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, I’m allergic to painkillers similar to Aspirin and I had specifically told the doctor that. She had even assured me that the painkillers she had prescribed me are not Aspirin. So I went home, took my medicines after eating and went to bed. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Lo and behold, I woke up with both my eyes swollen as big as saucers – allergic reaction from the painkillers. Luckily it wasn’t worse than that.

Went back to work the next day since I was only given one day of medical leave. My eyes were still slightly swollen but not noticeable with make up on ^.^ Spent the week finishing off the remaining antibiotics and I thought I had recovered. Alas, that was not the case. Friday, Saturday and Sunday was spent sniffling my head off. I figured it’s only a flu/running nose. I can handle this. Monday was when the diarrhea started… While I was at work nonetheless!

Left work and went to see another doctor (family specialist doctor this time) and was told unfortunately, antibiotics not only kill the bad bacterial but also the good ones which resulted in diarrhea due to bacterial imbalance in my body. Yet at the same time, it had not done its job properly hence my prevailing symptoms.

That was the reason I took so long to send out my giveaway prizes. Thank you for being so patient with me. Finally, thanks to my dad who braved the post office for me, the packages were mailed yesterday.

I’ve never had so many packages sent at one time. I kinda felt like Santa Claus. Hehehe… So winners, start watching your mailboxes soon. Don’t worry, your last name and the first line of your address has been taken out of the picture to protect your privacy.

30 October was Needles n Craft (NNC) Yahoo Group’s Stitching Bee meet up. Coincidentally, it was also the group’s 4th year anniversary. The group’s founder, Nik Ainun has prepared special gifts for all who attended the Bee. This was the package I received.

I can assured you, the contents are as scrumptious as the presentation.

It’s a machine embroidered pincushion with a beautiful matching piece of fabric. Nik is very talented with her sewing machine. Do check out her blog. More photos of the day (along with ugly pictures of me :P) can be found here.

I haven’t been stitching much, hence no stitching updates… Not a good idea to stitch when sick. I won’t be able to complete my goal for the Mirabilia Stitchers Competition :'(

However, I do have more beaded scissors fobs to show :D

Prismatic Night

Caribbean Breeze

Serene Ripples

Sandy Shores

Summer Mist

Pictures of the three surprise fobs will only be posted once they have been received.

Last but not least, I’ll like to announce that my StarZanite Webshop on an alternate page of my blog is now up and running.

I’m so excited. Please do check it out. This is the first time I’ve set up something like this so please let me know if you encounter any problems. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for sticking with me through such a long post. Happy Stitching!

Giveaway Winners!

It’s time for the drawing… Here are all the entries.

Couple of weekends ago, I bought a flower pot from IKEA on a whim. I was really taken in by its color. Since no plant currently calls it home yet, I converted it into the Flower Pot of Luck ^.^

Here are the winners!

Due to the overwhelming response (I was hoping for but not really expecting 50 comments), I decided to draw eight names instead.

• Hazel
• Carol - Grape Ink
• Blu - Ocean Waterlilies
• Christy - Winter Cherries
• Deborah
• Belinda - Desert Rose
• Carin
• Virpi - Tropical Jade

Winners get their fob of choice in the order their name is drawn. As Deborah, Hazel and Carin did not mention specific favourites, I’ll be sending you a surprise fob . Sure hope you’ll like it :)

Please email me with your mailing address within the week. If I don’t hear from you after the week is up, I’ll draw another name. I’ll try to send out the fobs as soon as I receive your email. However, as I’m feeling a little under the weather, it might take me a few days. I hope you understand.

Thank you, everyone for participating. I really had fun organizing this giveaway. Take care!

Beading & Stitching Along

First off, wow! A huge THANK YOU to everyone for the wonderful comments you’ve left on my Giveaway post. You’re awesome! I’ve had over 50 comments which is an all time high for me. If you’ve yet to participate on my “StarZanite Giveaway”, do drop by. I’ll be drawing the winners on 1 November so there’s still plenty of time to join in the fun.

Well, your interest has spurred me to make more fobs. This is what I came up with so far:

This time, I’ve decided to take the close up pictures on a white background as I think this shows off the colours much nicely. (Should have done that the first time round.)

Ice Storm

Mango Confetti

Mike and I have been having trouble agreeing on whether the colour on the beads are yellow or green. Which do you think it is?

Amber Voyage

Chili Pebbles

Yes, the “misspelling” of Chili Pebbles is intentional. It’s a word play on Chili Peppers because I think the brown beads look like pebbles.

Frosted Sapphire

Cathy asked if I have any prices in mind. I’m thinking US$15–US$18 per fob plus shipping. Opinions? Do you think that’s asking too much? I plan on setting up a Paypal WebShop on a separate page right here on my blog. Have yet to get around to that but if you see something you like, feel free to email me.

On the stitching front, progress on Garden Verses has been slow. (Gee, I wonder why?) Here’s a photo to give you an idea.

I don’t think I’ll be able to complete my goal in time for the competition unless I buck up and stop messing with my beads.

Thanx for staying with my ramblings this far. I truly appreciate it.

StarZanite Giveaway

Lately, I've been lagging on my stitching. Thus, there is not enough progress on Garden Verses to warrant a photo. Instead, I’ve a newfound obsession hobby – beading. To be exact, I’ve been making beaded scissors fobs.

The stitching community has been more than generous to me and it's my turn to give a little back. Hence, of the five scissors fobs I made, I’ll be giving them all away. Yes, that’s right! There will be five winners :)

To be honest, I’m thinking of making more and perhaps selling some in the future if there’s enough interest. So I guess this giveaway is kinda a blatant “testing of the waters” if I may. I even have the name of my shop already in mind – StarZanite. I think it suits the glitter and sparkle of beads, don’t you think?

With that said, this will be the StarZanite Giveaway!

To be eligible for this giveaway, please...

1. Leave a comment on this post only that you would like to be included and also state your favourite fob/s. (I rather the winners receive one to their liking if possible.)
2. Post about this giveaway on your blog with a link to mine for a second entry. You can use the picture above.
3. Become a Follower or let me know that you’re an existing reader of my blog for yet another chance to win!

Please also remember to leave a way for me to get in touch with you if you win. This giveaway will close in two weeks. Names will be drawn on 1 November 2010.

Here are more detailed photos for a clearer view. As you can see, I also gave each of them names ^.^

Tropical Jade

Grape Ink

Winter Cherries

Ocean Waterlilies

Desert Rose

This is my first attempt making beaded scissors fobs. As such, they are by no means perfect. I chose to use cell phone straps instead of lobster clasps because they are more flexible. (Think flash drive fobs, cell phone fobs, rear view mirror fobs, camera/camera case fobs, ornaments, etc... the possibilities are endless!) Moreover, it would not wear away your fine scissors finishing due to friction.

I really hope you like them. Opinions and comments welcomed.