New template

As the first step of the re-launch of my blog, I downloaded and added this beautiful template you can see right now from the Blogger Templates site. I wasn't sure I can do it, but there is also a very helpful tutorial that finally did the trick for me.

I still owe you the finished image of the seasonal stitch I have done last summer. It was a model stitching job and was featured in the yearbook of the Hungarian cross stitch mag. Have a look:

From Finished stitching

Speed stitching

Winter is done, summer is in progress. I should finish it by Monday, which means that I must spend the whole weekend stitching. If you see smoke rising in Hungary, it must be my needle. Here are some early WIP scans of these two seasons:

Two down, two to go

I am stitching now every day as much as I can without straining my hands. I have finished two seasons (autumn and spring) already and started working on winter. Summer is my favourite so I decided to leave it last. Unfortunately, since it's a model stitching job, I am not allowed to show you my finished pieces, but I think there is no harm in showing some in-progress scans.

So here is the very early autumn and the already blooming spring. I can't wait to show you what they look like together!

I'm a cover girl!

I have made it! Well, not me as a person, but as a model stitcher! I have been working on this wonderful design for the past two months and now I am able to share it with you. It's done on 14 ct black aida with Madeira floss and I am more than delighted with the way it turned out.

Right now I am putting the finishing backstitches on my next assignment. I can't share that with you yet, but I can tell you that it will be featured in the upcoming cross stich yearbook. Every year there is a special theme the majority of charts will represent and this year it's seasons. I will do my happy dance later tonight for a pretty spring design and then start, or should I say continue working on the next ones. I have to do all four seasons in nice, secession style squares. That one is done on rustic aida that I love so much!

No news on anything else yet. Tamara is vacationing at my parents' place. She has her own backyard playground there, so she is having the time of her life. My little angel. She's got her set of swings and a slide. Plus an inflatable mini pool. And my mom plans to buy a lockable plastic sandbox so Tami can build castles all day long. :) Nothing's too good for granma's little girl!

Trouble in paradise

I know I disappeared for a long time. My years-long war with depression took another turn this winter/spring and my foe seemed to conquer. I'm very, VERY slowly getting back on my feet. Right now I don't get professional help, as I can't afford it. I don't even have health insurance! I do take some purely herbal meds though, plus I resumed tanning (didn't do that for a decade), made some new friends, planning to exercise more and resume my blogging as well. So please, leave nice comments!

Stitchingwise I haven't got much to show, I have completed Bunnymoon of the Somebunny To Love series, but apart from that, only a few freebies and mostly model stitching for the Hungarian cross stitch mag.

Here's a recent piece in its almost-finished status. I forgot to scan it when it was done. I'll scan it from next month's mag.

Other troubles in our personal paradise? Well, I tried to ignore it, I tried to hide it, I tried to deny it, but finally I have to face it. Our marriage is in the pits. He no longer shows any interest in me, and I definitely fell out of love with him. It's been almost a year since I know that it's kinda over. None of us really wanna divorce, but we are truly miserable together. No idea where we'll go from here. I'll keep you updated.
Tamara, snapped here in the Budapest Zoo, suspects nothing.

So much to stitch...

I have been soooo busy these past weeks! First of all, I was working on my model stitch. It has two cartoon characters on it, so it uses only a few colours and is not very difficult. I am done with the crosses and now I am doing the backstitch. I really hated all the half stitches in it, as I got a very stiff aida to work on, and I can hardly understand 1) why not use linen for a design with so many half stitches, and 2) why are those half stitches needed at all, when the backstitch doesn't follow the stitching outline. Anyway, I'll be done in a few days.

In the meantime, I got further news that are - in a way - connected to stitching. We got invitations for two weddings, one from DH's former classmates and one from one of his cousins, Roland. We also heard that another one of his cousins is going to get married next May! Plus, if all goes well, my sister will marry her NZ beloved this September, along with one of our best friends! That makes FIVE weddings = five wedding samplers! ;) One of our friends is expecting a baby for July, so there is one more gift to stitch... and then I didn't mention all my WIPs or future plans!

I also had a birthday, you know. :) I turned 32 last week. I had a day off from my usual daily duties. I used the chance to get back to my old feminine self, waxed my legs and visited the hairdresser, had a copper red dye and a cut. I also got a new, pretty top from my MIL and bought a light green one to match my new, bright hair colour. No more running around in jumpers or worn jeans and T-shirts! I can wear skirts again! It's summer! All I need now is the weather to realize that. As one of my friends said in a message board: it'd be time to tell the global warming that it's happening! :P It is cold, really cold here! :(

Back to my birthday... I also got some stash, a few Light Effects floss and a kit called Wildflower Trio from Dimensions. I love it! I already have the floss sorted, and cannot wait to get started!

About my weekend: we spent Sunday at my FIL's and MIL's place, and on Monday we visited DH's grandmothers. They both live in small villages, not too far from each other - not by car, anyway. DH's maternal granny had her 83rd birthday this week, so that was an extra reason for our visit. She is a darling, I love her as if she was my Granny, and in a way, she is. I showed her the semi-finished Ice Angel, as it is going to be hers once it is finished and framed. She loved it. Tamara fell asleep on her couch, so we had some time to chat and I was stitching on the angel's skirt quite a lot.


After Tami woke we said our good-byes and left to visit the other Granny. We were taken by surprise as she was not alone, FIL's siblings and their spouses were there as well, plus two of DH's cousins - that is where we got the invite I mentioned earlier. :) Everyone wanted to see my baby! Tamara was extra cute, she was amazed to see all the animals: she loved the hens and was awed by the rooster; everything was full of the song of birds, and most of all, there were cats wherever she went! There were three cats in Granma's yard and several others all around! She kept running to catch one but they eluded her. She wasn't very disappointed though. Running is half the fun, after all. :)
Anyway, we went back to DH's parents' place and spent most of Tuesday there. We got home late in the afternoon. Tami barely wanted to let her grandparents go. Anyway, we are back to our everydays now.

Oh, one more thing: I mentioned that I had some plans regarding cross stitch I wouldn't talk about. I'm telling you now as it seems I had to give it up for now. There was a vacancy at a needlework store and I wanted to apply for the job. I had some doubts whether it's a good idea or not, mainly because of Tamara. But you see, Oliver has serious difficulties getting a daytime job, as he has little working experience, and without that or without degree rarely anyone can get a good job nowadays. So he voulenteered to be a stay-at-home-dad. I should work about 13-15 days a month, from 10 to 20 hours, so he said he could cope with Tami and also be able to continue his translating job. BUT. But then he got a phone call from his boss saying that the deadline for his present work is now set to July 1. And that he had better not miss that. Which means, that now he has to work all day, every day. Even now as I type, he is looking over my shoulder, waiting for the keyboard to be freed from my fingers. :) Anyway, I had to postpone my plans of working in the cross stitch industry. Maybe later. Who knows, maybe they won't find anyone until July... we shall see what happens. I'll keep you updated.

Stitching for (a) living

Yeeeaah! I always wanted to give it a try, but never really had the courage. But my recent WIPs were such a challenge, and I managed to stitch them so nicely, that when the chief editor of Keresztszemes Magazin (Hungarian X-stitch mag) posted a note on her portal saying basically "we need more model stitchers", I have decided to try it. I had to send pictures of my pieces so far, including backside. And yes! I got the job! I wasn't sure how fast I can be when needed, so I chose the smallest pattern. I got the floss, aida and chart yesterday and I'm already about 1/5th through with it! Wow!
My fingers ache pretty bad because the aida is unusually stiff and the design has lots of half stitches but I don't really care. It's my job and I will do it right! I am right on track and will finish this piece within a week or so. With a July deadline, I think it will do me good, as I am infamous of not being able to finish stuff in time. :)
Anyway, that was one big dream of mine. I have several dreams in connection with cross stitch. One of those is owning a CS webshop, another one is designing charts. And there is one more that might be fulfilled in the near future, and if it does, it will change the whole life of the family... but being as superstitious as I am, I will not tell you of it untill it's fulfilled! :P