The busy month of Feb

It's nearly the end of another month. This year is certainly going by quickly! It's been a busy one as well, with meetings, theatre trips (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - which I highly recommend) and friends getting married. I've also been pestered by some friends to do the "Tough Mudder" in October - but as I'm not getting far with the 10k training, and this is 13 miles (of torture - electric shock, icy water) I may give it a miss. Google it to see what I mean, it's certainly not something to enter into lightly.

I feel like it's been a resonably productive month. The bolero is coming along nicely, with the back and the left front finished. I started on the right front last night, and then I just need to do 2 sleeves and sew it together.

I spent the weekend working on the cross stitch of  M'aiq the Liar, and have realised that I'm missing most of the threads I need, so these were ordered last night. Hopefully I'll get a little more done of him next week.

Also, at least one of the swap gifts I made for Sprite Stitch was recieved, and as the other one was sent a couple of weeks earlier, I'm going to assume that's been received as well, and post some photos.

 

Silly me forgot to take a photo BEFORE putting it into the frame, leaving me with a nice shiny reflection. Gears of War logo, complete with dripping blood ont he bottom left. You can't tell from the pic, but I used DMC colour variation thread just so it wasn't all completely one colour. I really liked the effect, and the bf wants me to make one for his cousin (I politely suggested the bf learned to cross stitch if he wanted one for his cousin. He didn't seem so keen on that plan)

I had been wondering what to try out my punch needle on first, and decided that this was the project. A nice, fluffy Arcanine, which I then stitched onto a black cotton bag, securing it on with an orange and black border. Pretty happy with how this turned out, although I wish it was a little easier to pick out detail - for example he looks a little odd with completly black eyes. The trickiest bit was getting the design onto the aida - I'm no good at freehand drawing, and ended up tracing an outline from my laptop screen onto some paper, and then trying to transfer the image. Since then, I've found some simpler ways to transfer the image thankfully. The actual punch needle-ing wasn't too tricky, and quite therapeutic once I got going - stab, stab, stab into the cloth. The ladies at the craft group seemed to like it, and I said I'd bring the stuff with me to the next meeting so they can have a go.

Almost March - and I know for a fact that March will be a crazy month, with work travel and people's birthdays. Still, better busy than bored!

Long time no blog

Ooops, it's been a while since my last blog.  I've been busy with beer festivals and all sorts. I managed to finish both swap projects for Sprite Stitch, and will post photos once the recipients have got them. Started a small cross stitch kit of a lion cub over the weekend, as I didn't fancy a night out in Burnley with the bf and his mates, and didn't have time to collect all the bits and pieces I would have needed for any of the projects I'm in the middle of. This means that I have 3 cross stitch projects on the go, and can't see me finishing any of them soon sadly.

I've also started on a knitted bolero, using Sirdar Firefly yarn. Here is a pic of the yarn (it's ribbon like, but not too difficult to knit with) and also a blurry pic of the back of the bolero. The yarn is quite stretchy, and is a little "scrunched" together on the needles in the above pic. I'm hoping it'll stretch to fit! I even made a tension square for this project - although with the yarn being s stretchy, it wasn't very useful. Is a tension square supposed to stretch to the correct size, or is it supposed to just *be* the right size? I'm hoping it's the first one.

Another quick project I did this weekend was an earring holder. Really simple and easy to do, but displays earrings nicely, I'm really happy with how this turned out, as it'll save me time when I want to find a pair of earrings.

I was asked by a friend doing the 10k run how my training was going earlier today. My answer was that it wasn't going great! I did the first run of week 3 on the couch to 5k plan last night, 9 days after the last run of week 2. I really must make more effort to go down to the gym more often. Sometimes I don't feel like running, and tend to do more cycling/rowing etc, and it's nice to do the occassional class, but it's tricky doing those along with 3 runs a week! Must try harder. The bf is away with work some of next week - shall have to see if I can motivate myself to go to the gym alone and run. Wish me luck!

Cheeky attempt to win an Amazon voucher

To celebrate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to cinema, this is my entry to win an Amazon voucher with Appliances Online:”

As promised, he's back. Arnie is coming back to the big screen, wooo! If I'm honest, I've never been a huge Arnie fan. I've only seen the first Terminator film all the way through (I know, I'm rubbish) and I don't think I've seen Kindergarten Cop. I loved his appearance in the Expendables though, and he was excellent as Mr Freeze in Batman and Robin (I love really really bad films) Twins was an excellent film as well, I loved watching that growing up.

You have to give the man credit - and not just for his films. He shows true determination, going from Austrian bodybuilder, to movie star, to Governor of California and back to movie star. How many other stars do you know that could do something similar? The only slightly similar ones coming to my mind are Hulk Hogan (3 Ninjas on High Noon at Mega Mountain) and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson - neither of which I can see getting far in politics, no offense. I'm guessing that in his return to cinema, he will bring with him a new army of fans, people that have looked up to him as a Governor, who may not have known him from films before.

I'm really looking forward to Arnie's latest film, The Last Stand. Lots of action, lots of explosions - what more could you ask for from a film? The cast list is impressive too - I love Johnny Knoxville, and Forest Whittaker isn't exactly a small name nowadays. Definately one to watch on the big screen.

To sum up Arnie - he's a sports icon, movie star, politician and family man. Possibly the greatest man ever! A true Mr Universe.

January drawing to a close

Is it just me, or has January gone really quickly? Like, really REALLY quick? I'm sure time goes faster as you get older. Speaking of which, it suddenly hit me last night that this year I'm 27, which seems really old. 27. What have I done with my life?! Crazy.

This week, I've been busy finishing projects. The twirly scarf is done (still no pictures, as didn't like how they turned out) and the chocobo magnet is complete!

Quite happy with how it's turned out, although I probably could have cut the canvas better. I also managed to finish stitching a small thing for the Sprite Stitch swap, and just need to frame it somehow. I'll try to post a pic once they've received it. I haven't done much more on M'aiq the Liar - been busy with the other things, but will pick him up again (and the Epic Pokemon) once the 2nd swap gift is completed. I'm trying out the punch needle, and so far haven't done much (and what I have done may need to be re-done)

Running-wise - Did the c25k week 2 run 2 on Tuesday, and went to the gym again last night to do some non-running stuff. I ache quite a bit today, perhaps going on two consecutive days isn't wise...

I'm looking forward to the weekend - I've managed to get tickets for the Macc Town vs Wigan football game, and it should be good! Hopefully it won't interfere too much with the crafting.

Update on running/crafting

Yesterday, I finished my third and final run of the couch to 5km week 1. Boyfriend was laughing at me, as I seemed to spend more time walking than running. He doesn't understand that you have to take it slowly at the beginning, and work up to running longer/faster! I managed to do 3.3km (roughly 2miles) in slightly over 30minutes, which I'm quite happy with, especially for the first week. 8 more weeks to go!

Crafting wise - Still working on my twirly scarf (really should take some pictures!) Epic Pokemon is waiting for lots more stitches, Am getting on ok with M'aiq, and need to make a couple of small projects for people (I've got one project in mind, but am still playing with ideas for the other one - I'm thinking of trying out the punch needle!) Crafting has been a little slow lately, weekend was busy, I've been playing Resident Evil 5, and I've also been really distracted with a couple of books (Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy). Hopefully this week will have fewer distractions, and I'll get more done!

Also, did I mention I finally finished the teddy bear onesy? I was stitching popper buttons onto it Christmas day, so it was a little late... Forgot to take photo's though, as I'm silly! Hopefully will remember to take photos of everything soon, and will try to get a photo of my neice in her outfit.

First "training" session

I went to the gym last night, and wasn't really in the mood for it. I've had a couple of busy nights (Beer festival meetings, Bobbins meetings) and haven't had much "me" time - and I quite like my me time!

In the gym, I decided to give the Couch to 5k podcast I'd downloaded a go, as I'd like to improve my stamina and be able to run longer distances. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but I'm really glad I did it! Running broken up with brisk walking, over 30mins. The woman on the podcast was quite supportive, and I left the gym feeling more energised than I have in a while. The best part - I don't have any aches or pains today! Not sure if that's anything to do with the fact I actually did the warm up and warm down, or if it's because I had a nice soothing bath afterwards. Now I just need to do this another couple of times this week, and then the rest of the podcasts for the next 8 weeks.... I still haven't decided if I'll sign up for the 10k run, hopefully will decide in the next few weeks.

I didn't even pick up any of my projects last night - and I still haven't got around to photographing them. Still doing my twirly scarf and have also started a cross stitch pattern of M'aiq the Liar from The Elder Scrolls games. I also have a couple of small projects to start for people on Sprite Stitch who didn't receive gifts in the Sept/Oct Mini Swap, and will possibly start them this weekend/early next week. I also want to try out my punch needle equipment... Too many things, too little time!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone, I hope that 2013 is a good one for you.

This year, I'm hoping to blog a little bit more, and post more WIP pictures. Got a nice camera for Xmas, so the pictures should be better quality!

What did I get up to over the Xmas break? I did a little bit more of the Epic Pokemon and started a twirly scarf (pics to come soon) I also discovered that I really like playing co op Resident Evil 5, even though I'm not very good at it! Lots of relaxing and seeing friends and family was done as well, it was a really good break.

But now, it's back to work, and there's a beer festival to organise later this year. Things are only going to get busier!

Another aim of this year is to spend less on craft supplies. The local craft shop closed down recently and reduced all their prices, so I stocked up on a few things I needed, as well as a few things I didn't (such as a sew your own dinosaur book!). I've also ordered a needle punch tool, and want to give that a go. It looks interesting, and I really like the effect it produces. I just need to find the time to play with it now!

Last resolution - not to buy any more wool until I've used up at least half of what I have, as I have lots of patterns with appropriate wool sitting around!


In none crafty news, some of my friends are trying to convince me to do a 10k run with them. I'm still not sure about it, but I'm to try a couch to 5km training programme and see how that goes. The run isn't until May, so I have plenty of time. I would like to get fitter, and having a goal to work towards might motivate me. However, I've NEVER enjoyed running long distances (and to me, 5/10k seems a long distance to run!) The training programme I've been looking at has had some good reviews, shall update the blog with how I'm doing.