Stitchy Fingers

Today's Google logo is to commemorate the 166th birthday of Carl Fabergé ... I don't think I need to introduce the man who's famous for having created more than 50 precious Russian Imperial Eggs. Here's what Wikipedia says: Peter Carl Fabergé also known as "Karl Gustavovich Fabergé" (May 30, 1846 – September 24, 1920) was a Russian jeweller, best known for the famous Fabergé eggs, made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials. In 1882, Carl Fabergé took sole responsibility for running the company. Carl was awarded the title Master Goldsmith, which permitted him to use his own hallmark in addition to that of the firm. Carl Fabergé’s reputation was so high that the normal three-day examination was waived. His brother, Agathon, an extremely talented and creative designer, joined the business from Dresden, where he had also possibly studied at the Arts and Crafts School. Carl and Agat...

Hi all, Our long weekend was great ... There was plenty of sunshine and according temperatures, we BBQ'ed three times in a row and took a dive in our swimming pool (not the rich man's stuff only an inflateable one) ... life is/was good ... today it's back to work :-( Stitching wise I finished the other three panel outlines and now it's only special stitches left. I'm not happy with them I can tell you ... First of all there were the hutt's roofs and now I'm considering of doing the panels' "roofs" in another stitch. I really don't like the large algerian eyelets that should be stitched on the three sides of the panels (one batch in the "roof" and the other two in the flanking borders). I'm OR going to stich smaller algerian eyelets OR rhodes stitches with one ply ... Still undecided! We also went to the bookmarket in open air on Sunday ... This event falls makes part of a bigger one that takes the whole weekend namel...

Hi all, Today I'm not going to talk about cross stitching, crochet, quilting or anything hobby/crafts related .... no, this couch potatoe is going to talk about health - oyoy :-) You know ... yours truly should have to lose 15 kg at least and therefor I decided it was time to change my habits a little bit (now there's still time - I'm 37 and I was always told that after 40 it would be even more difficult "shedding" some weight). So what am I going to do? I started with Weight Watchers again and decided to do something "sporty" ;-) (me ... who hasn't got one ounce of sporty genes :-). I started to run. I'm not kidding, it's the name of the program = "Start to Run". You get 27 lessons on your MP3 player and the goal is that after that you'll be able to run for 5 kilometres (non-stop that is). This is a concept in Belgium started around 2001 an promoted by a lovely young lady called Evy Gruyaert (one of our lady presenta...

Hello everyone, This weekend we had the IHSW. I admit that I "cheated" a little bit, since we had a long weekend ... a bank holiday on Thursday, followed by a day off on Friday :-). May and November are fabulous months for us having two sometimes three longer weekends like that! I can only say that it was great! The weather previsions first talked about wind and rain but we had some marvellous weather on Saturday and Sunday, which allowed me to stitch in my garden! Yay ... at long last spring is coming! So what did I do? I continued on Serengeti mandala and almost finished the first panel (I only need to backstitch the giraffe and tree and longstitch the grasses). The construction of four hutts began under the supervision of yours truly, but I'm not completely convinced by / happy with the roofs. I think I'll be switching the perlé with a normal thread in order to work out the diamond stitch to my likes. Do you see that white line going away from the gira...

Hi my lovelies! I had a busy week and weekend hence almost no updates the last week :-( First of all I would like to show you my progress on Serengeti mandala (part 4) which is all but finalised :-)! I'm now starting to realise how big it will get ... there are three panels that have to be stitched yet followed by flowers, trees, medallions and a huge border! Trying to keep up means I won't have time for stitching other things untill this one is finished (which should be February 2013 :-)! I did obtain two snowglobes for both my daughters in which you can insert a picture. Of course, being a stitcher this means a stitched piece in over-one crosses! I'm thinking on stitching the new TraLaLa - Jardin de Roses :-) Once with a pink dress for my eldest and once with a purple or lilac or blue dress for my youngest!  Another thing why I was so busy this weekend! I did some baking ... don't know why but the last couple of weeks I feel like usin...

One of my favourite craft fairs that I try to visit each year is the Open European Quilt Championships in Veldhoven (Holland). It is a good mix of exhibition, championship and shops :-) Since three years they have changed the venue to a complex of a beautifull hotel with different meeting rooms. Here's an idea of all the beautifull things I've seen. For me the two things I liked most were the quilts presented by the Egyptian tentmakers and the creations of Japanese quilters (like Yoko Saito and Reiko Kato) that are amongst the most refined ones in the world = lots and lots of work, details, stitching and beautifull features like crochet that they incorporate in their designs ... for me each of their quilts are true works of art. Wildknitting at the entrance of the hall A couple of my favourites (it's obvious I like the colour red :-) The Egyptian tentmakers' quilts The Japane...