WIL-week

Time flies! I guess the school-thing is taking a lot more pondering than I thought - my head is sore...

This week I'll be on WIL - "work-integrated learning" on a local health care center. Well, it's not that local, I have to drive half an hour north of here to get there, but compared to most of my student colleagues I've got a really close one. Some of them have to travel for over an hour to get to their WIL... I'll be studying how the nurses (and other medical staff) greet the patients, what kind of language they use, how they explain things, what they do and how and so on - basic communication. It will be interesting to see the hcc from the other point of view, usually I go there because H is sick or something...
I've even got a badge with my name on it! :D It says "student nurse from x school" and is to be worn at all times so people know who I am and why. *Gee, I didn't know that was why medical staff always wear name badges...* o_O

I've actually got a bit of stitching done - I started the 12 houses sampler from The Drawn Thread when we were in Dalarna, but put it away when I 'suddenly' discovered that I had signed for two exchanges that needed prioritizing ;) Now when I've finished those two, I've started my sampler again. It's working up quite fast, although there are some speciality stitches - it's a lot easier when you can say "today I finished two houses and a tree".

Picture time!
Yup, this is the 12 days sampler - I've actually finished three trees, one house and two rooftops since this pic was taken :)







And then the initial scissor fob exchange over EMS - I got Jeanie from Singapore, so this little one had to go halfway across the globe to find her home! H helped me choose the blue beads on the edge ;)

I've got another exchange item to post as well, but I'll wait until I've heard from Lynne in Scotland that it's arrived. Don't want to spoil the surprise!

TGIF!

Life is looking a little better today!
First of all - it's friday!
Second - we made a new training program yesterday, with new exercises that will certainly be tough... I think it will be fun, though!
Third - I got chocolate hearts from hubby yesterday; a little chocolate always lifts the spirits! And then he told me I looked good - talking about being starved for compliments, when that little remark made my day sooooo much better...

I hope everyone had a good day yesterday?

On the stitching side I've almost completed the stitching on the Be Glad stitching pouch - the flowery border thing is all that is left, and then some finishing. I think I'll do some alternative thinking there, some cardboard "inside" the pages to stiffen them (kind of like a ornament) and pockets for scissors, bobbins and needlebook. Not sure what to do with the last page though (there are four)? We'll see, first I have to complete the stitching!

And you just have to love this:

Startitis and WIP-list

I'm experiencing severe startitis at the moment - can't seem to settle on any one project these days... So here's my list, to try and organize my head!


WIPs:
1. Caro's stitch SAL (http://tites-croix-de-caro.over-blog.com/) - trying to find a suitable swedish or norwegian quote in stead of the french one, so it's currently not being stitched

2. Angela's little something - needs finishing somehow. I made a huge boo-boo when I began the finishing, so I ended up with practically NO seam allowance. Pondering on how to fix that - or I'll just start over with more seam allowance.

3. BeGlad stitching pouch (http://swappons.oldiblog.com/) for myself, started 21st of January 2008. I want it to end up kind of like this:
I've started it on white 16-count Aida with 498 for the borders, but haven't decided on more colors yet. Will see when I get there...


To be started:
VIP: My sister's christmas table cloth. I've actually marked out the center and made a couple of starting stitches, but it's a HUGE prickly linen fabric so I have doubts about taking it into the living room, where I usually stitch. Any ideas? I haven't made any promises about when it should be finished, but I was kind of hoping she could use it next christmas. I've only had it for a year...

A birth sampler for my brother's new baby. It's due 23rd of February, so the date is rapidly closing in... Still haven't decided what to stitch, though... An EMS animal baby?

A bourse for my sister; she saw my mum's bourse
and very quickly decided she wanted one too. It would've been a quick fix if I wasn't always striving to improve on stuff - I'm thinking of making a channel for the ribbons, so you can lay it completely flat and still get the best "fold-up" where nothing slips under the ribbons.
And that's why I've been completely hung up on fabrics lately - I've been shopping half a metre of this and half a metre of that for two months now, so my fabric stash is huge now compared to last January... But I actually think I found the perfect fabric for my sis last wednesday, when I was in Gothenburg with work. (Got a couple of hours free time - spent shopping, of course!)


Edit: I got some help on the html-link stuff - I hope it's working as it should! (Thanks, Angela!)

This past weekend

Whew - the weekend is over! I love my parents and my nephew, but I'm not used to having that much NOISE around me! My nephew and H played really well together, despite the 5 year difference in age - they kicked some ball in the hallway (all doors closed makes a fab 4-meter stretch), beaded a bit, chased eachother... :) All was well and H loved her first birthday party! :)She got a beautiful red watch from her grandad, and it almost hasn't left her arm since. She keeps checking what time it is... She also got really nice presents from her auntie (my sis), my brother's kids, and a beautiful little porcelain figurine with a child saying the Lord's prayer from my brother; that one has to stand at her place at the dining table so she can admire it all the time...

Friday was a pain in the B... Snowing and raining, early start in the dark, so it was really hard on the eyes. Then a few more ok hours in the car, we went to the meeting like we were supposed to, and then head back - and the snowing started again. This time the snow was dry though, so the visibility was good. I made a stop at IKEA to buy some shelves for my "crafties" and a very nice man helped me load the (surprisingly heavy) shelves in the car. TG for Estate cars and helpful strangers!
I started driving at 6 in the morning and got home at 7 in the evening, so it was a really long day. I was exhausted and fell asleep at 10 without as much as making a stitch...

My dad helped hubby put the book shelves together on saturday and took the old shelves apart and put it in their van. I think we made a really good deal - I got two bookshelves (Billy 80x194) and they got my old one (120x190). They needed it for stuff in their bedroom... Of course there were two screws missing from the IKEA doors, but IKEA is always very helpful when it comes to nuts and bolts - just give them a call and they'll put whatever is missing in an envelope and send it to you. :) So I now have excellent shelving for my stuff - I could even fit my sewing machine! I don't think I'll post any pics though, I need some boxes to put my fabrics in before it looks perfect behind the doors... But now at least I have doors I can close on my mess, and hubby is happy he doesn't have to see it! :)

On the stitching side of things I discovered a band sampler SAL over at http://tites-croix-de-caro.over-blog.com with great pics of all the stitches, so I had to start it yesterday. So far, I've finished the three first bands - I HAD to do something other than my secret stitching, although I should really get a move on that now... Xmas is closing faster than I thought, I have to finish H's advent calendar as well. At least now when I've got my new shelves, I know where the hangers for her calendar are! ;)

Pics will come when the timing is right... Until then, happy stitching!

Secrets...

I don't have much to post now, as I'm working on a secret project for someone who occasionally reads this blog. But I promise to show pics once the project is completed and delivered! :)

I've been really lazy with the SBQ's lately as well; I will try to do better from now on!

I'm going to meet one of our biggest customers on Friday; first we were planning on taking the train there, and then it turned out I wouldn't be back here until 8 in the evening, so now I'm planning to take the company car there and back. It's a four hour drive each way, so it will be a long day no matter how I try to twist my tail... My parents are coming this weekend to celebrate little H's 4th birthday (the 27th), so the big question is wether they'll be here on Friday or Saturday? Will I be home when they get here? How many cars can we fit on our driveway? One in the garage, one outside - can we squeeze in two cars outside, or should I take the company car back to work asap on saturday morning? Questions, questions... I'll let you know the answers to all of this when it is all over! :)

Picture time!

I finally got my camera out - I even found the USB-cable so I could transfer the pics from the camera to my computer! :)

So, without much further ado, here are the pics of my little cartonnage-project. It was great fun, lots of fiddly bits (my favourites!) and a small mistake in the final stage, but hey, who cares - I think it looks great and so does little H too! I've already had to promise her I'd make her one as well, now I just have to find something to stitch for the lid!


A close-up of the lid:


and what does the insides look like? No need to keep you wondering, here's a pic with my laces in it:


If you're wondering about the specifics, all sides are 10x10 cms - my cutting mat has grids every 5 cms so that was very practical! ;) I used normal white kiddy craft glue - worked very well with a brush to get an even layer of glue on the surfaces, plus it dries clear. I'm not counting on this to last forever, so I wasn't too concerned with acidity and such - I'm a lot more picky when it comes to framing my xs pictures!
The chart for the lid is an extract from a freebie from Anne les petites croix called 9 carrés.

That's all for now, folks - please come join me again some time mid next week! :)

Long time no write...

I can't believe it's actually been almost a month since the last time I posted! I just have to face it - blogging regularly isn't my thing... I hope you won't hate me for that? *trying to look extremely cute*

I've been extremely busy at work; actually I have about a dozen things I need to do right now as well, but my guilty conscious was running havoc on me. The thing is, they've given our department more things to do, which we haven't done before, and we haven't been given the manhours to do them. So we stress on, and before long we will snap and crackle before the boss' office door. We've been told to prioritize - as if we weren't already doing that! At least we have been heard complaining about the situation, even if nothing really has changed. Some people here still don't think we have anything to do in my department, but they also think that sales and marketing can be removed completely from a company without anyone really noticing...

At home, I've been working my way through the three last Harry Potter books in english. I'm on the last one now, so don't expect me to come out of hiding again for a couple of days! The final battle is drawing close...

I've been working on my L&L angel as well, she's got a face, wings and all, now it's down to the beads and the PB01-gold :) Feels good, I might actually finish her before Christmas! ;) Updated WIP-pic will come when I've finished my HP book!

I've started pondering Christmas pressies too - some, like my sis, will get a nice lavender bag to keep in their underwear drawer or somewhere else where they might want something to smell nice. I've already completed the bag for my sis, I just need the final finishing touches - a ribbon to tie it on top, and the lavender itself. I have it all at home, so it's the same thing there - pic coming when I come out of my HP obsession :)

Well, I've got to finish the last 100 pages of HP now, so I can get everything else done! Tada for now!

Biscornu exchange

So I mailed my biscornu for the EMS exchange yesterday - I forgot my camera, so I took pics of it with my mobile phone. Needless to say, the quality was less than excellent... I can't show the pics here yet anyway, as I don't know if my exchange partner has received it yet! I don't want to spoil the surprise... ;)

I've got a small project for myself too - I'm moving all the new freebies from the laptop to the stationary computer. And I can't seem to find the USB cable, so I use my USB memory stick as temporary storage - it'll probably take a little while to move everything, and then I have to sort the freebies into the correct folders as well... Why oh why do I do these things to myself! I really need to get an external hard drive to keep all my stitchy files in! :)

I've started my second L&L angel as well - nothing to show yet, but I will post pics as soon as it looks like something!

It's show and tell time!

I thought I'd show you my latest happy dance! I got my kreinik's and beads from my "mummy" in the US (thank you, Angela aka. Patternnuts! :) ) and could finally finish my L&L freebie angel! This is what she looks like now, not finished as anything yet - I think I'll frame her and hang her on the wall for christmas!

And then I couldn't resist showing you how the christmas stocking for Hannah is doing; I'm slowly but surely moving along... I don't know how this would've looked if I hadn't received the roller frame from my "stepmum" Tracy aka iagal - I still owe you a big thank you! :)

Oh, my goodness...

I didn't realize it'd been that long since my last post! Been busy with work and all that...

I've mailed my application for the fall, to start training to be a nurse. I finally figured out that although it is nice to make money, I don't want that to interfere with me being happy with what I do in the future! And if I want to study, I have to do it now, before I get too old and lazy to be poor again... + it's really good hours for my "baby" Hannah while she is small. I know I'll be accepted, so now it's only a matter of working my way through the days until then, trying to save up as much money as I can to have SOMETHING to fall back on.

I've ordered some stuff from a swedish company that is going bancrupt (no, I'm not so stupid that I payed beforehand) - some linen threads, buttons, some stork scissors and a HUGE table cloth for christmas. I got some good discount, so it won't be as expensive as usual. BTW, this part of the post is totally contradictory to the last paragraph... Saving money AND shopping for stash? Oh well, I can't think of everything!

Got word from my "mum" that my Kreiniks are on their way... Yay! In not too long I can finish my L&L angel!

Last bit of info from the land up north: Our first spring flowers have sprung! The crocus are blooming in the front flowerbed, now I'm just waiting for my favourites, the red tulips!

I'm off from work today - they closed on me! lol It's great, I get a whole 6 hours to myself, to clean the house and wrap the last gifts for Hannah. I've got the Christmas cd's on and try to find the Christmas spirit in all of this hot weather.

My parents came to pick up all their gifts on Wednesday, and thank God we were a little unwilling to say goodbye... If they had left 30 minutes earlier, they would've been dragged along in a land slide! The road just collapsed, taking 8 cars and two trucks with it. The news are all over the media, blaming the department of Transportation for pushing the build of the new road there so there wasn't enough time for measuring and anchoring the ground before completing the road. So now travels to my family in Norway will take even longer - it was the main highway from the swedish west coast to Norway. They have no idea when the road will be ok again, so traffic will be in chaos for a long time.

Stitchy note: I'm getting there on my christmas stocking, but it won't be ready for this christmas... I'll see what to do in the mean time, I really want Hannah to get a christmas stocking in the morning! I can't find my camera either, so no pic today! :(

WIP's and happy dances

I finally got the camera with me, so I could upload some pics! *happy dance*

First off, here's the angel I stitched in remembrance of my fathers mother:

And then there's the stocking for Hannah (which I'm getting more used to now, the floss isn't THAT bad...) I took a pic of the chart as well, so you can see what it's supposed to look like! :)

Bye for now - it's dinner time!