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!