What I did in February - part I

Early February was the mailout date for 3 exchanges I participated in.

MYS Surprise Exchange 2006 is a whole-year commitment exchange. We are required to stitch 6 items (bookmark, needlecase, bookmark, biscornu, stitching pouch & tuckpillow) and each item will be mailed out every 2 months. The surprise/suspense part is everyone of us will not stitch the same item and mail it out to the same recipient for the particular mailout date. And at the end of the year, every one of us will still receive the 6 stitched items. It is something like a 'wait and see' game

For the 1st mailout, i stitched a biscornu for Wendy .

It was not really easy for me to adapt a chart for stitching a biscornu. After so much browsing and hesitation, I settled for a freebie border from a Bulgarian site (if I'm not mistaken) with some adjustment. Decided to stitch a dual tone - one on grey linen and the other on colonial blue lugana (I don't have a matching linen)

And it was a pleasant surprise to receive a biscornu from Roz for this particular mailout date. It is very lovely, you should visit her blog. BTW, I only received one of those shown in the pix: the other one is for Roz's another exchange partner

MYS Valentine Stitched Card Exchange 2006 - I happened to stitch several pieces before I settled with this :
Simply stitching 'love' using several alphabet charts. Padded the back of the stitched piece heavily with batting and embellished with ribbons and 'heart' bead mimicking a floating big heart-shaped balloon. Sent out to Bee Ee together with some beads & buttons and floss. She really like it and in return she mailed me the Women Weekly. I'm very excited as it had been a long time I didn't read/buy such magazine. I think I read/bought too many craft mags lately

And I received such an interesting card from Lillie - with dangling heart , 'open sesame' birdhouse and etc. And a lovely needlecase and beeswax candle. Visit her blog and you will know what I mean.

Needlecrafter Valentine Stitched Card 2006 - this is the 1st time I used perforated paper for stitching card (I've done a bookmark before). A simple patchwork heart pattern (I forgot the designer, will check it out later). With layers of organza, lace and craft paper, it turned out the way I wanted it to be. Sent out to Hani together with some stitching goodies.
In return, received a card from Rozie together with bead bracelets and pin. Thank you Rozie. sorry, I haven't upload the photos yet. will do it later.

Stitching Blogger's (s') Question(s) of the Week(s)

What cross-stitch magazines or other publications (as opposed to blogs) do you read on a regular basis? What do you like about them? What do you not like? What would your perfect publication include?

I read/purchase several craft magazines monthly and The World of Cross Stitching (WOCS) is the XS magazine that I buy on regular basis. I wouldn't say it is perfect but WOCS is just what I look in a XS magazine - contains small, medium & large charts, tips and nice freebies. My intrepretation of perfect publication might not be a perfect one for others as my personal preference would include charts that I'd like to stitch for my kids (e.g. Pooh, Barney, Elmo & Mickey), charts for my hubby - golf and stuff, specialty stitches charts, insects & garden charts especially the buzzing bees and nice freebies e.g. coaster, fridgie, mini frame, buttons & etc

I recently started to purchase Papercraft Inspirations magazine. I can say this the perfect papercraft magazine for me. I like everything that comes with it - projects, tips, ideas, gallery and freebies

Do you have an organizational system for your patterns? If so, how do you organize them? If not, have you considered organizing them?

Yes, I do have an organizational system eventhough it is not as organized as it should be Basically, I have 5 differents folders namely - regular XS, specialty stitches, freebies, magazines (charts) and the last one is for my WIP. I don't separate them by 'designers' as I don't really have a very large collection.

Blog Anniversary

Hi everyone! I'm back!

Today is my blog's 1st anniversary and I'm back to the blogging world. I wanted to blog earlier but I was down with stomach upset in the beginning of the month. I feel very healthy now and have actively stitching for the exchanges that to be mailed out on 1st April.

I've thought of stitching a memento for my blog anniversary but I'm too tied up with my kids and stitching for exchanges. Nevertheless, I've managed to upload 'step by step' photos in my PictureTrail album (initiated by an enquiry from Lee Ann in Hong Kong Thanks Ann) I had emailed to few of you regarding these photos and here I would to share them with everyone.

Please click HERE to view the photos. Enjoy and Happy Stitching to all of you. I will be back with photos of finishes and etc

Tribute to a Dear Friend

I have not been blogging and blog hopping for quite sometime. Apart from busy with the kids, I was bogged down with sadness.

A good friend of mine passed away 2 months ago. At that time around, my lil Alya was merely one-month old and I was barely recovered from the c-sect operation. I needed a good rest and tried not to be so sad over the loss. But it was kind of denial coz deep down in my heart, I have some regrets for not being in touch with her last year. I was dumbstruck by her death as I didn't know that she was very sick and bedridden in a hospital.

I started to know her during a Mother's Day luncheon several years ago. She was a happy-go-lucky gal had the lunch with several of her closest friends and I was on a part-time job helping to run a catwalk show for one local designer. After the show, some of us stayed back at the club enjoying the music. I had a chitchat with her and exchanged phone number. Since then, we became closer. Some friends called her 'a pain in the ass', some women called her 'bitchy', some men called her 'flirt' . Yes, we didn't agree for several matters of life but we didn't stop to care and support each other when one of us were in trouble & misery. Our friendship was kind of unique, we hate and love each other. I guess that is what sibling rivalry means, she told me that I was like a little sister to her. I'm not so close to my brothers and I hardly knew my half-sister (she passed away in 2004), and so I treasure every friendship I have.

After I got married, I followed my hubby overseas. My friend and I, didn't kept in touch frequently as she was not very IT literate. Time and distance had drew us apart. I lead a different lifestyle and busy with dear hubby and kids. Eventhough we came back to Malaysia for good, but the place where we are residing now is still far away from the metropolitan, Kuala Lumpur. My friend and I did rang up each other several times before early 2005, but she never mention that she is sick (she died of cancer).

I was very sad losing her as I didn't have the last chance to meet her. I'm feeling much better now after talking to a physician, initially I thought I was sick but he has confirmed that pathologically, I am very healthy. He said that I was too upset over something and it made me feel sick. He asked me not bottle up what I feel.

THANK YOU to my dear hubby who being very supportive, to my lil Hanie who never fail to ask me "Are you OK, mom?" every time I threw up in the bathroom, to my darling Shasha & Alya who always brings smile to my face, to my friends who listens to my ramblings, to my blog visitors who leaves some comments and emails me. All of you have inspired me to blog again and made me feel much much much better. THANK YOU.

**
Lillie - sorry for not replying your email yet, will do it soon
Gina - I had promised to email you but haven't do so, will do it soon
Ann - I'm preparing the step-by-step pics, will upload to my webshots when I'm done

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

With the exception of your online stitching friends, do you have any other stitching buddies?

I used to have a stitching buddy, she is the wife to friend of DH actually. She lived nearby and we did have tea together and talk about stitching, unfortunately she has moved to another city last year. Nevertheless, I have met up with several of my online stitching friends (from Yahoo Groups) and I'm really glad that I found more stitching friends in blogging world *wink*

Meme of 'Fours'

Saw this interesting meme in Harsha's blog. Since she wrote 'If you're reading (and you haven't answered this set of question) consider yourself tagged ;) ', I considered myself tagged *LOL*

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:
1 - factory worker (killing my time as well as gaining some money while waiting for other jobs after graduation)
2 - accounting clerk (my supervisor was edgy when he got to know that I'm overqualified for this post duhh)
3 - Tutor ( I love teaching bunch of kids who really want to learn)
4 - Administrator

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again:
1 - My Bestfriend's Wedding
2 - Troy
3 - Sepet
4 - Green Mile

Four Places I Have Lived:
1 - Selangor/Kuala Lumpur
2 - Terengganu
3 - Khartoum
4 - Miri

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1 - CSI (Vegas & Miami)
2 - The Shield
3 - Desperate Housewives
4 - House

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
1 - Cairo
2 - Alexandria
3 - Amsterdam
4 - Dubai

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1 - Stormpay (bcoz they pay me *wink*)
2 - Yahoo Groups
3 - email websites
4 - The Star (online newspaper)

Four of My Favorite Foods:
1 - Fried Chicken with chilli
2 - Tom Yam
3 - Sushi
4 - Tiramisu

Four Albums I Can't Live Without:
1 - M Nasir
2 - Armageddon Soundtrack
3 - Sheila On 7
4 - Creed

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
1 - a salon/spa (God knows how much I need this ROTFLOL)
2 - an island surrounded by cyrstal clear water, where I can go snorkelling and enjoying the beautiful sights of coral reef and underwater life
3 - a luxurious and spacious hotel room/suite
4 - LNS, where I can spend hours and hours and the owner is very friendly *wink*

Well, to follow suit, If you're reading (and you haven't answered this set of question) consider yourself tagged *wink*