Violet's Blue by Blackbird Designs

Finally, finally a finish on this neglected WIP.  So glad it's done, now I don't have to feel guilty about it and especially since I have had my stash increased by an arrival of an OOP SL chart that I am super lucky to get - The Louise Earle Sampler. Enjoy the eye candy!

P.S. I am still working hard on my Anne Depauw Sampler will share photos next time.

Much love

Amanda

The Anne Depauw Sampler

Another Scarlet Letter piece I have started stitching The Anne Depauw Sampler, this one dated 1714. 

I have been a little obsessed with this sampler and probably won't work on anything else until she's done. Just love the pastel colours. It's all been stitching up fairly quickly til now, as you can see I am working an area with all over one stitching, the linen which was supplied with the kit is 35 count so the over one is taking a fair while, however never mind that's the way it is with stitching, sometimes fast sometimes slow, I am having fun and that's the main thing. 

I have another Scarlet Letter kit in the mail, hopefully arrive here soon, was an OOP design but Martha owner of The Scarlet Letter found some charts hiding in storage, lucky me, can't wait to show you, she's simple yet beautiful. 

Wishing your day full of happy little x's,

Amanda

Mary Baker Sampler finished!

As promised I have a Sampler finish to share. This is Mary Baker from The Scarlet Letter.  A simple Sampler but one I very much enjoyed stitching.  Notice the little r crammed in at the end of Father in the verse?  I had a little chuckle when I stitched that, no way was Mary going to frog!  Very charming.

I am back to working on Snooty Parrots, hope to have a progress picture soon.

Amanda Chen

Hooray a finish!

Always feels good to have a finish especially when you are struggling on a piece. 

This is my first over one thread finish and I had a little trouble with the thread twisting on me and not laying straight so the stitching is not as neat as I would like it to be however I have since learnt some tips which may help me on my next over one project, we shall see. 

Love this fruitful series from The Hearts Content, hope you do too as I have a few more to stitch, lol!

The Heart's Content - Fruitful IV - stitched over one thread on 28 count. 

I have another Sampler I have almost finished, this one a reproduction Sampler from The Scarlet Letter, hope to show you soon. 

Amanda Chen

It's been a while since I last blogged ...

In fact it's been a very long while since I last blogged!  Lot's to catch up on!
The year has been tough on me, living in a foreign country without friends or family and trying to look after a family on my own finally caught up to me and I had a series of mental breakdowns.  Luckily I have a Mother and Husband who love me very much, that combined with an utter determination to focus on the positive and keep moving forward making small changes here and there I am slowly becoming my old self again but stronger and wiser.
So!  As I said, lot's to catch up on!
I think in this post I am just going to show some finishes I've had so far this year, because of my ups and downs earlier in the year I many starts which I will show as I work on them.
But hey at least I have finishes, so a big Hooray for that!

Pumpkin Brew by With thy Needle and Thread

35 count Old Mill Java Linen - Overdyed cotton threads

 Mary Ann Farmer by The Scarlett House

 40 count Antique White Linen - NPI Silks - 2 threads over 2!

(go on take a closer look, this was a lot of work!)

Swan Valley Revisited by Carriage House Samplings

40 count Parchment Linen - NPI Silks

Spring Issue of SANQ Magazine

25 count Cream evenweave (those red lines will wash out)

3 strands DMC

Sub Rosa freebie pattern

http://e-subrosa.blogspot.tw/2012/02/happy-day-free.html

The Bremen Town Musicians by The Prairie Schooler

28 count Natural Linen - DMC threads

Alphabet Rhyme by Little House of Needleworks

28 count Vintage Examplar - Crescent Colours threads

Heritage Crafts John Clayton Miniature

Woodland Path (kit 27 count dmc threads)

Hope there was something here that you enjoyed looking at.  Now I am off to work on a Hardanger piece by the Nostalgic Needle, it's very small so hopefully I will have a finish soon and then I will post my finish and perhaps also share a few starts.

Take Care,

Amanda Chen

Awesome start to a New Year!

Brrr it's cold tonight!  I had all intention of showing my Mary Ann Farmer tonight but I had a rather intense frogging session so I am rather not impressed with her, she's been causing me trouble right from the first x I put into her and have now run out of thread, so will have to go in tomorrow and pick up some more - now these two samplers have been well behaved even though one of them had a run in with a dog as you can see the tear in my Sweet Humility sampler by Carriage House Samplings in the first photo - I had to fray check the tear and hopefully I can leave it like this without further damage incurring - I have one more page of writing to do and then on to some flowers down the bottom and my Sweet Humility will be finished.

 this next sampler is my Christmas Band Sampler by Heartstring Samplery, again run out of thread will hopefully pick up some more tomorrow ..

I hope everyone had a great start to the year - I celebrated with my husband and friends - thought I'd share some photos of my night - why didn't I get a photo of my dress?  I had a fabulous dress on, a missed opportunity as I may never fit into it again!  Anyway these photos are taken here in Taipei City, Taiwan right next to Taipei 101 which for one very short period of time was the tallest building in the world - from the beginning to the end it was a pretty awesome night - 

Have a good one and let's all have an awesome year of stitching! ... and maybe a few nights of partying ... if I can find a babysitter that is :)
Amanda
P.S. Have been hanging out on Facebook quite a bit lately following the stitching scene there, anyone else doing the same?

Busy busy busy!

As I am sure we all are especially those with family.  Seems like every year that passes the more busier I become, mind you I don't suppose it has helped that the whole family has come down with a nasty virus and we had a moment of temporary insanity and decided to go down to the pound and adopt a dog.
Now you don't want to adopt an energetic street dog that's used to doing it's own thing when you are sick and looking after 3 sick children who are also sick, it's only been two days and I've spent the whole time cleaning up dog doo doo and pee, cleaning up children's vomit, mopping floors, vacuuming excessively due to the dog malting also excessively (I have polished tile on the ground floor there is no hiding that dog hair which of course is not the dogs fault but after a bath and a groom, really?!) and walking the dog every 2 hours trying to convince the dog outside is a good place to pee, not in the comfort of my home!  Anyhoo the timing is wrong I think to adopt an animal, I thought I could handle kids and dog but obviously I can't, nice dog but I will be taking the dog back Monday when the pound opens - don't worry this place dosn't put animals to sleep and is one of the busiest places for adoptions so hopefully someone with a but more energy than myself will come along and give this dog a chance.  Sometimes I hate myself for the decisions I make, I guess I am used to the living conditions in NZ where we have front lawns and backyards and footpaths to walk on, a place not only more ideal for dogs but children also.
  I have a couple of Samplers to show today, one (yes I am complaining here) the dog jumped all over not once but three times no matter where I put it! but despite this received no damage and this Sampler is The Humility Sampler by Carriage House Samplings which I really love working on as you become used to working the letters and can set up a rhythm without having to search for the next symbol.

Excuse me for not taking it out of my hoop but I'm still working on it and it's in a good position for me.  Just a note here as well, even though this is in a hoop I do use the method of one hand under one hand on top to stitch, I do this by sitting the hoop off to one side on my lap, I hope that makes sense.

 Mary Ann Farmer by The Scarlett House

This just arrived in the mail, happy me - Metta Putfarcken 1848 by Samplers Berlin

Something for the year 2014 :)  

I heard of a lady finishing her Metta in just 3 months!  Hear me choking!  Well I am not sure how long this one will take me but just lettin you know, don't hold your breath!  Probably be working this one in HDF silks and use her linen as well and do a tea dye on the linen.

Anyone else have an exciting new project they can't wait to make a start on for the year 2014?

Much love,

Amanda

Sampler Sunday

Okay short post tonight, the wee ones have worn me out for the day ..
.. the first photo was taken friday daytime but I managed to do a bit more the same day so I just took a quick snap now - I do love this piece so and wish I had more time to stitch on it but then I guess that is always the way isn't it?

Mary Ann Farmer

The Scarlett House

xxx

Amanda

Hope everyone is shopping to save money -

If you havn't already pop on over to ABC Stitch Therapy they are having an awesome 20 percent off everything!  Their shipping rates are reasonable for people like me who don't live in the USA - I just managed to save 35 dollars on my order!  Awesome!!
Want to know what I put in my basket?  Well I decided to join the Sampler World Snooty Parrots SAL 2014. so supplies for that went in - anyone else going to join me?  Plus I put in a half yard of Sheeps Straw Linen for a couple of BBD charts I have and a fat quarter of Cashel Linen for a project I saw in Cross stitch and Needlework Magazine - Now I had better get off this computer and clean the house :(
Love to hear if anyone else saved some money shopping the sales this week - any good deals?
Amanda

Sampler Sunday

What do you think of the post title?  I think I will make Sunday my post day for whatever Sampler I have picked up during the week and made some progress on - also I have put up some pages for my Samplers that I have either finished or am currently working on that I will slowly add to over the next few days, kinda organize my blog a bit.
So here it is - Sampler Sunday

Hey and thanks to everyone that made a comment about some paint colours for my house, it really helped clear my head a bit on what would look good - I have narrowed my paint choices down to just a few so will pick up some paint samples to see how they look in my home.

I am also hoping to pick up some bug off frog spray, my home has been really badly infested with the little buggers lately - Bug off Frog!

Happy Stitching - 

Amanda

Paint color ideas - anyone?

 Not much stitching to show I'm afraid - another new start this time on Mary Ann Farmer from The Scarlett House - this one is gorgeous, how could I resist?  Stats: 40 count Antique White Newcastle Linen - NPI Silks 2 over 2.

I have wanted to paint the interior walls of my house for several years now, a couple of weeks ago I decided to go ahead and do it myself - after agonizing over paint colors I decided to take it slow and paint room by room before deciding on the next's rooms color - I thought this pale blue was the way to go for my dining room and my stairs - now that it's done I don't like it at all - I have a lot of dark wood in my house and this pale blue makes everything look cold.  So I've put my paint brush down and am scratching my head on what would look good with all this dark wood?  I am thinking perhaps some strong colors - red keeps popping into my head, but do I want red?  Turquoise?  And then what shade?  I've ordered a green paint from the paint shop too but now realize that no that won't work either - Any suggestions from anyone?
Yes my living room is a mess - I have been painting - so a lot of stuff has been moved up to second floor and I'm a bit behind on house duties so I've been trying to play catch up on some washing etc so please ignore the chaos!

 As some of you know I recently purchased a new car and mentioned that I would share some photos - unfortunately I couldn't get a photo without my husbands butt sticking out from the car!  Wish he would leave the car alone, he's installed everything known to man in the thing and keeps going onto the Ford Fiesta forum to see what other modifications he can do, it's starting to look a little boy racer's car, not a 39 year old mother's of four.

On another note I want to thank everyone for their kind words and support in my last post - we went to court yesterday and manged to walk away with just a warning - a big sigh of relief!

Please help me with some paint ideas - I have my entire house to paint yet and I'm stuck on the 1st floor!

Much love,

Amanda

Sometimes life ain't fair.



 

 

 

Sometimes life isn't fair.  It's my birthday in a couple of weeks I will be turning 39, I decided it would be a good idea to clean out my wardrobe and get rid of anything that I wouldn't use or couldn't get away wearing anymore, so with that intention I cleaned out my wardrobe donated a lot of my clothing and some accessories to a charity organisation and the rest I decided to take photos of and put up on the local auction pages here in Taiwan as I had a fair bit of stuff I didn't think was suited for charity. 

Now one of the items I listed was a imitation Louis Vuitton bag which I bought on my first trip to Taiwan 13 years ago, this was my first trip to an asian country I was from a small town in New Zealand and we didn't have any big label designers like Louis Vuitton in the country at that time.  So I was out doing the tourist thing and shopping at one of the big department stores here in Taipei called Sogo, I walked outside and down the street a little and there on the side of the road were a few people selling things and one of these people were selling bags lots of bags I would say several hundred and these bags were gorgeous, we had nothing like this back in New Zealand so I stopped to have a look and realised these were copy bags of many well known bag designers, I mean once you were up close you could tell straight away they were copy even me who had never seen a real one could tell this, however it was night time on a very busy street and I was very excited to be in such a developed city and was having a great time so with much convincing by the salesperson I bought myself a imitation LV bag. 

During my first visit to Taiwan I became friends with a Taiwanese man whom later would become my husband :)

I had second thoughts about my LV bag purchase and decided I didn't want it and left it in it's dust jacket at my Taiwanese friends home and went back to New Zealand, after a few more visits to Taiwan the man that was my friend became my fiance then 5 years later my husband - fast forward to present day 3 kids and 13 years later, my fake LV bag remained in it's dust jacket never once removed and used in the back of my wardrobe until that is I decided it was time to get rid of all and anything not wanted or used!

I put this bag up for auction making it clear that this bag even though it had written all over it Louis Vuitton it was in fact not a genuine article and the giveaway price also reflected this, this item was listed alongside other unwanted personal items and the very next day the police showed up at our door and arrested my husband for illegaly selling a fake LV bag - which okay our or at least my bad - unfortunately it gets worse, a lawyer called up yesterday and informed us that Louis Vuitton is suing us for two hundred thousand Taiwanese dollars or $6,800 US dollars !!!!!

 

So sometimes life ain't fair and that's my story for today and I have just made myself a bourbon and coke and after posting this plan to go blog reading all the while feeling very sorry for myself.

 

hope everyone out there is having a better day than me - see told you, feeling sorry for myself.

Much love,

Amanda

A Christmas Theme: PS Santa's - Xmas Teddy's - A Christmas Sampler and a New Car!

Hello, hope today finds you in a good mood, I know I am ... and you will find out why at the end of this post ... first up - finished stitching another PS Santa and started another ...

... got side tracked by Fizzy Moon and his little friend rushing out into the snow to play...

 ... just have to finish the back-stitching ...

... started a Christmas Sampler by Scarlet Letter, been a slow start with this one, I am new to counted satin stitch and just couldn't get that flower looking right - I stopped counting after I got to 7 as to how many times I cut the flower out and restarted and I actually completed the whole flower twice before once again cutting it out and restarting - anyhoo.. the threads on the fabric did become weak in that area, I took a weeks break from it and woke up one morning determined to conquer all - 3 hours later flower done!! Also ripped out the eyelet border that I had stitched with one thread and restitched with 2 .. I still have a long way to go with this one so hopefully I have gotten a good understanding of counted satin now otherwise it will be a few more christmas's to pass before this will be completed ...

... now, on to why I am so happy today - New Car, New Car!  Went out and bought myself a new car and get to pick it up today - so excited!  It won't be blue like in the picture, I chose white and also will be having the windows tinted fairly dark like in the photo because we saw a customers car at the shop done this way and it looked really good.  So happy day!

 Had better get ready to go pick up my new ride - my daughter wants me to pick her up from school so she can come with me as she's excited too - I told her she can talk to the car and the car will respond that's why she's so excited - modern technology can be so much fun - so that's all from me for now, will share photo's - take care and hugs ~
Amanda