Dreaming...

Firstly, today's my mum's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mum!

It's surprising how hard it is to get back to blogging once I stopped. They say life is full of ups and downs. That accurately describes my life for the past few months.

My grandfather on my dad's side passed away peacefully in his sleep on 2 November 2012. Even though his health has been gradually deteriorating, it was rather unexpected and was quite a shock to the family. I didn't know my grandfather well as he wasn't an easy man to get close to. However, he had always shown us, through his actions, that he loved us.

He had been living with us for a few months due to his health prior to his passing. When he was living in Sungai Petani, Kedah with my grandmother, we would visit them annually, especially during Chinese New Year. He'd always buy us a lot of seafood. If the rambutan tree in his garden is bearing fruit, he'd also climb the tree at his own risk to harvest the fruits for us to bring home. I was told that one time, he accidentally fell from the tree (I was still too young to realize what had happened). Luckily he recovered from his fall.

I'd mentioned before that my favourite food is petai. Every time we visit, he would buy a bunch of petai from the local market for my grandmother to cook for me. Only for me because no one else in the family loves petai as much as I do.

Another food I love is a type of shellfish also known as blood cockle. This love was cultivated by my grandfather. One of my most vivid memories with him was me standing on a stool at the kitchen sink while he painstakingly opened the shells before popping the boiled cockles into my mouth. I was perhaps five or six? Still too short to reach the kitchen sink, hence the stool :P

Wherever he is now, I hope he is at peace and pain free. We miss you, grandfather.

Also in November, I had the opportunity to visit Sungai Lembing with my church group. A lovely place for some well needed R&R, it boasts wonderful views like this:

 

Taken at Panorama Hill. And this:

Aptly named Rainbow Waterfall, it was the highlight of the entire trip. There's nothing like seeing a rainbow up close and personal. Have I ever mentioned that the rainbow is my namesake? Yup, my Chinese name is named after the rainbow ^.^

Then, in December, there was my birthday. I've been interested in photography for over a year now. Before investing in a dSLR though, I did a lot of reading and research. Finally, this is what I got for my birthday:

Yup, a Canon EOS 650D aka Rebel T4i in US. Believe me when I said I've been debating between Canon and Nikon for months now. The decision wasn't easy but the 650D along with its touch screen and hybrid AF system won me over. Hopefully, you'll see an improvement in the quality of my photos overtime.

And me, being me, a complete and total girl, I just gotta get my camera one of these:

Epiphan!e's Lola in red. Can you believe this is actually a camera bag? Or camera purse as I call it. I fell head over heels in love with it the moment I saw it. It spots the cutest, most adorable camera tag too.

I figured what better time to buy it than Christmas? Hehe... Special thanks to Mikey for shipping it to me all the way from US.

Of course, there were also a lot of World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 gaming involved in between. Don't worry, my needle hasn't been completely idle the whole time. There are stitching updates in this post, which I bet is what you're here for :P I'll admit it has been a struggle to get anything finished. In fact, this is all I have to show during all those months I was MIA.

Design: The Dreamer

Designer: Mirabilia

Fabric: 32 count Silkweaver Solo Opalescent Belfast

Fibers: DMC

Embelishment: Mill Hill Beads

This final square is for Renée's RR. This is actually the second time I've been in an RR with her. Oh, how impatient she must be by now to have it returned to her. I apologize again for the delay, Renée.

As you can see, I've flipped The Dreamer around to mirror Enchanted Dreamer.

She has such a sweet face. Perhaps that's the reason the frogs wouldn't leave her alone?

Not a very blingy design but I think the bright colours more than make up for that.

I feel that this is perhaps the hardest Mirabilia I've stitched to date with the sheer number of colours involved. Tons of colour changes and confetti stitches do not make me a happy camper.

Not to mention the amount of blending involved. If you're planning to stitch this design, consider yourself forewarned. Of course, if you have truckloads of patience and determination, go for it. After all, The Dreamer is absolutely one pretty lady :)

Until next time, Happy Stitching!