Update Butterfly Wood 6

It has been a while since my last update. Lots happened in my personal life. Lots of worries. It's funny, as soon one problem solves another one arises. We are hoping for a good outcome but the Mr and I both feel 2014 will be an interesting year!

So yes, I've been stitching the last few months, but not as much as I wanted to!

Girl1 has found a love for my embroidery scissors so I really have to hide it for her. LOL I can't have more accidents!

And now I have to find a solution for my broken washing machine. Yes, two days for Christmas it broke. Argh.

Happy Holidays everyone! May 2014 be gentle for all of us.

Update Butterfly Wood 5: why you should never leave your sewing out in the open

I wish I could give you a very happy update but no. Yesterday I let my sewing unattended in the living room, I was baking pancakes in the kitchen. Just when the Girl was bored. I know she truly just wanted to help but she used my scissors and cut three times in my Butterfly Wood. To say I was pissed is an understatement. Maybe you can see the thin red lines I added with my photo software?

I was really mad. She got scared, she cried, I almost cried and we went outside for a walk in order to cool off. You can't really punish (no more pancakes for you!) a kid with autism because they (she) really don't (doesn't) understand why it is wrong what they did and what pancakes have to do with it.
We talked about what she did. "I cut your sewing Liesbeth", "Yeah, and were you allowed to do that?", "No", "So you did something naughty?", "Yes", "Did I like that?", "No you didn't", "What will you do in the future?", "Not cut your sewing". "Good, come and give me a hug. I still love you". "I love you too, Liesbeth".
And then we walked to the park and played on the swings. She still talked about cutting my sewing so we repeated our talk a few times and then we went home.

When I got home, I started working on the repairs. I knew the first and last cuts were easy repairs. But the middle one? Ugh.

So this is what came out of it. I am not really happy but it will have to do. Embrace imperfection right?

Let's just say I learned my lesson!

Update Butterfly Wood 4

It's windy outside, we have our first autumn storm and I am inside my cosy house, together with my two loves. We are loving our new space!! I am glad the main work is done because at the end I was seriously questioning my insanity LOL. It didn't help that it was also busy at my work and that the Mr. has a high demanding job! But I'm glad we survived hahaha

Now I have time to stitch again and I worked hard!

As you can see I finished page 1 and have almost finished page 2. I am flying through page 2 thanks to the color 3865! I didn't expect the first butterflies to appear, but here they are!

Thank you all for reading and have a lovely Sunday!

I'm still here!!

Hello my dear friends!

I realize it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy busy busy. First I was on holiday and after that I got the keys of my new house! I had to do tons of work: with the help of some friends we've painted all of the upstairs and downstairs, our bathrooms got mildew treatments and I got a couple of new heaters (the old ones were leaking). We are also in the process of putting in new floors. The upstairs (laminate floors with a whitewash/greyish look) is already done and we have just started downstairs. The downstairs floors are a bit of a pain (whitewashed oak floors), but we still have a week untill moving day! In between we celebrated the birthdays of the Girl and myself.

I already moved lots of stuff to the upstairs and attic. I promised the Mr. I will downsize on my craft supplies. I moved an insane amount of stuff I know I will no longer use. Also: I still had text books from high school! I have no energy to purge right now, so I just dumped it all in the attic. The Mr. has to purge as well, he has too many shirts he doesn't wear and I swear he collects old computer parts! I moved it all

For me it is really empowering to see I can DIY and move lots of things myself. The Mr. has huge deadlines at work so he can't help all the time. I feel like a strong woman!

Don't let me fool you, it is the most stressful experience I've ever had and at times I really loose it. I try to look at it as a race: the end is almost there!

Next month: a "normal" update of my stitching!!

Update and some big news!!

Goodmorning!!

Today probably is the hottest day of the year in the Netherlands and I am home, packing my bags. Tomorrow we will leave for France, I cannot wait!!! We are all very excited! Too bad tomorrow is one of France's Black Saturdays, when the roads are so busy it sometimes takes hours just to travel a few kilometers. Thank God we have no deadline for getting at our destination!

Ofcourse Butterfly Wood will travel with me! Just like the previous vacations, my cross stitching is packed in a laptop bag, it fits perfectly!

On the left: my floss box and pattern, on the right: my HAED, some extra floss and I have a pencil tucked in.

In other good news: yesterday I signed the lease for a new apartment! I cannot believe how much luck I have in my life right now! The Mr. has been high fiving me a lot lately LOL.

The day after we come back from vacation, I get the key and I will start cleaning and painting. The Mr. will put in new floors. In the Netherlands we can paint the walls of a rented property and install our own floors. We also bring our own appliances. So basically when you rent, you get a bare space (unless you agreed with the previous renters to take over floors, curtains and other things). Allthough I do not have a lot of budget for a move, I've decided to do it because the rent is acceptable and the apartment has a lot more space than I have now! As soon as the Mr. gets a permanent contract from work (probably in April), we will get married.

Ofcourse I have been stitching this past month! I also ordered a qsnap huggie (actually, I ordered two) from Christine and I like it a lot! It's still a bit of a pain to roll up the fabric nicely but now it doesn't rub my skin anymore. Plus I LOVE the fabric (Hawaiian flowers).

I have almost finished my first page of Butterfly Wood! I am loving the shades of beige and green I am using. It is not too much confetti so it's a pretty easy stitch so far!

Maybe after the vacation I have a page finish to show, but I'm not going to give myself a deadline this vacation!! I only know I will drink a glass of French red wine in two days, woohoo!!

Hope to check in soon, but it will probably take a few weeks! Enjoy the summer, enjoy stitching and talk to you later!!

Butterfly Wood, update 2

Oh how addicting is a new start! I am stitching any moment I can!! Right now there isn't too much confetti and I am just enjoying myself. 

Untill next time!

And so the journey begins...

Thank you all for your comments on finishing Train of Dreams!

I spent last weekend wrapping floss around bobbins and preparing the fabric for Butterfly Wood. The fabric is huge!!!! I worked 27 months on Train, so this will be a five year project?? Also, the colors are so different than Train! I am still missing a few colors but when the rain stops, I will walk to the store to get the remaining colors.

These are my supplies: a DMC floss box (with room for my bobbin winder, scissors, thimble, extra needles and my gridding thread), my ORT-jar (basically an empty creme brulee pot), a magnetic pattern holder, a pencil so I can cross off the sections I've done (I try to switch colors every two pages, just to keep it fun) and the color codes.

 I bought the large format and it has 56 pages. A substantial amount of them are partial pages

Tuesday I made my first crosses, this is the result of two days stitching:

See what I mean by totally different colors? It is hard to take a picture! The fabric is 18ct Ivory Aida.

Talk to you later!