Still Talking About Beading

As my bead stash increased tremendously, I knew I had to do some re-organization to make my life a lot easier, or should I say to save time when I need to look for a specific bead item. But first, I wanna show some of my recent purchases... freshwater pearls and crystals. These are just about 1/3 of what I got.

Bless DH heart for getting me containers. LOL I think I now have about 20 of these and I love them! They really come handy and serve their purpose very well. I just need to label them and am done. I use them for my focal beads, pearls, cabs and findings.

As for the seed beads (11's, 8's, 6's), I relied on sterilite clear boxes for storage. Whenever I open a new package, I simply transfer them on a 3"x4" ziplock and circular tin boxes (see last photo).

And of course, I need to prepare a to-go stash whenever the IA weather is unfriendly or whenever me and DH has to stay at the hotel where he works. It's pretty common during wintertime that we have no choice but to stay there ya know.:) Here are some of the mini boxes I used for those times. But of course, I also have a cross-stitch to-go!

Lastly, here's a glimpse of my work-in-progress bead stitching. I prefer to use a frame (with velvet or felt) as my tray and dump my beads there instead of working on top of the table. This way, I can put the frame on my lap, yet work easily.

I hope everybody's having a great day!

TGOSM 2009 Ornie Exchange From Las Vegas

I partake in this year's ornament exchange at TGOSM group and Mary from Las Vegas is my partner. I recieved this fabulous package yesterday filled with lovely flatfold and goodies. Thank you so much for everything Mary! I love them all!

Flatfold from Mary

2009 TGOSM Ornament Exchange

Goodies from Mary: Chocolates and Poker Cards

I finally found the other beads I got from Manila (I know there's more... LOL), so here they are. Some of these will be used on my on-going projects. Will talk about it on my next post!

More Yummy Glass Beads from Manila

Have a great stitching day everybody!

Stashing Back Home

I think a crafter will always find way to stash wherever she/he is. Though I didn't able to visit my favorite stitching shop in Pasig (Metro Manila), I managed to get stash from different places... items were purchased accordingly from my hometown and Manila!

Fabrics... fabrics... fabrics! These were my first "stash" purchase from my hometown. There were a lot of choices and I wish I could buy more but I knew I have limited amount of luggage to consider. These fabrics are only 1 to 3 yards each... not good as finishing materials for my smalls but would be great for tote bags (I think) or crazy quilting. Most are textured and thick but very soft, so I'm thinking these are curtain fabbies. I already sew a couple of pouch bags while I was back home - for my nieces Lian & LJ - using one of the variegated fabric... both turned out cute but forgot to take pics of them. I used shoe strings for closure.

Beads... beads... beads! Who wouldn't get them when you see these yummy colors? I bought mostly seed beads but there are some E-beads too. My faves are the variegated ones! Majority are czech but some are japanese beads. If I remember it right, these beads are over 150 packs. I'm thinking of using these on my bead embroidery projects and embellishing smalls. I also bought some fancy glass beads which will be used for my jewelries but will share photo of those next time. Purchased during my first visit in Manila.

Linen... linen... linen! The stitcher part of me always on a look-out of linen. I purchased this linen from the same shop I got the beads, but didn't notice till my second visit. The size is approximately 30 count. The look is kinda similar to natural irish linen, but the texture is rougher and harder. I think I purchased 10 yards of this. Tested the fabric right away when I had the chance, using one of my designs with cutwork then finished it into a biscornu.
And lastly, I couldn't resist these embroidered handkies and pouches when I saw them at the Filipiniana section of my favorite mall. I doubt if these hankies are handstitched aside from the ones made of pina cloth (with pink). Some of the handkies had cutwork andpulled thread techniques. The top 3 boxes contains surface embroidery though.
The above are just "part" of the stash I brought from Philippines... more photos to come. I alloted one luggage for stash, while the other for pasalubong (gifts) as all my clothes were left for my sister and mom... uhum, we wear the same sizes.

More posts coming up!

More Packages From Australia

I had been blessed with wonderful stitching friends, suppliers and editor. I couldn't ask for more. The following packages were sent by two wonderful friends from down-under.

I recieved this package from Naomi of Stitches and Spice while I was in the Philippines. There were fats hand-dyed linen and lots of hand-dyed threads: stranded cotton, sampler, and silks. Thanks so much for your generosity Naomi. I really appreciate what you're doing.

These sets of thread winders are so lovely... and are must-haves to any stitcher's collection. Kirsten surprised me with her complete set of winders and a lovely scissors from Dinky Dyes. This package came along with my needle etui model below. Thank you so much for this fabulous collection Kirsten. I can't wait to incoporate them with my models.

Watch out for more posts... I have more to share later. Have a great stitching day everybody!

Great Monday Mail Day: Surprises From Dinky Dyes

I wish you can see how big my smile is after opening a package from Dinky Dyes. Jo sent me her entire line of silk threads! How cool is that? I had to admit I drooled over them for alonngggggggg time. LOL

Thanks so much for the threads Jo. I'm now reorganizing my new designs and will definitely stitch them with your fabulous silks. I can't wait to see a finished piece.

I hope everybody's having a great stitching day!

An Award And Other Stuffs

Astrid emailed me over a week ago about this award -Have a Wonderful Day Award. Unfortunately, I was extremely busy finishing some models that I didn't able to post about it right away. Thank you so much for the award Astrid. I am honor that you included me in the list.

There's a lot of blogs from all sorts of crafts that I admire therefore picking only 8 is extremely hard. Therefore, I'm giving this award to everybody who wanna grab it and please post it on your blog.

I ordered another batch of books from CVCEGA and I got them all in the mail few days ago. They range from needlepoint, hardanger, cross stitch and reference books. I enjoyed browsing them but one of my fave from this batch is the "Free Embroidery Stitches by Mary Hickmott". The pocketbook size is perfect to carry in purse.

Needlework Books from CVCEGA

My fingers has been busy stabbing linen the last two weeks as I had to finish some models for magazine publication, and some exchanges. My models went in the mail by mid-week, and now I'll be able to work on the next batch. I'm currently finishing some models for Embroidery & Cross Stitch magazine, which has been long overdue. The finishing technique I'm trying on is kinda new to me, and that slows my production. As I've mentioned before, I wanna perfect my technique so I can answer any queries from cutomers. It's the main reason why I prefer to do my models, though there were times that I'm considering hiring stitchers to increase my finishing time. Maybe in the future...:)

July Packages

We have lots of mulberry trees in our yard and there's this particular tree that gives us lots of them each year. Last week, me and DH picked a lot as majority are already ripe. By the time we stopped picking, our fingers are kinda purple already as they stain.

2009 Mulberries

That's all for now everybody! A wonderful stitching day to all!

Initial MA Theme From Malaysia

I recieved this wonderful MA from Joanne of Malaysia last Monday. She stitched both my initials and were both adorned with flowers, perfect for summer. Thank you so much for stitching this for me Joanne. I love everything in it. The stash will be use pretty soon. I love those sheep clips, they're so cute.:)

Initial Theme MA from Joanne of Malaysia

Recieved July 6th, 2009

Happy stitching everybody!

Wonderful Book Stash

I have been on stashing diet for a long while now since my suppliers are sooooooo kind enough to provide the materials for my models. Thank you so much to Charles Craft and Stitches & Spice.

I've been in book heaven since I recieved these needlework related books in the mail on Wednesday... a total of 29 books. LOL They were left-over from the garage sale of the EGA chapter I'm into. Proceeds of the sale will be donated to the EGA chapter. I'm extremely happy with my purchase as majority of them are Dover Needlework Series, in which I started collecting years ago. Majority of the books were published on 1960's & 1970's, a big big plus. I love old books, period!

Needlework Books from CVCEGA Members

I wish I could complete my collection of SANQ as well but with no luck. I try to bid at ebay once in a while they go really high at times (at least the ones I want).

How about you fellow fabric stabbers, what's your new needlework/stash purchase that you enjoy most lately?

A Fabulous Stashing Weekend

Last weekend was the first time this year that we (me and DH) went on a yard sale. It was of course craft related. I got a bunch of vintage magazines, patterns and books ranging from quilting, sewing, and cross stitch. I also got yardages of fabrics and some knick-knacks which I couldn't resist. I look forward formore craft related yard sale in the coming weeks.

Some Stash from Yard Sale

I attended a Tax Session at the local library this morning conducted by Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) of Des Moines. Most participants are small business owners and representatives of various corporations. I'm so glad I signed up for this session as I gained lots of knowledge about do's and don't of tax related stuffs. We had 3 speakers, who were all fabulous. Thanks IWD!

And finally, a new HP desktop! DH ordered it from Tiger Direct on June 2nd, then it arrived on June 3rd. Since then, I've been busy sorting and transferring files from our old PC to an external hard drive. Hopefully, I get everything done tonight so we can switch to the new one this week.

HP Desktop

I did lots of stitching last week and hope to do the same this week. I hope everybody's having a great stitching day.

New Fabric Stash

Here's another batch of fabrics I got yesterday. I wanted more but limit myself on 4 kinds only. The last 3 are 100% cotton, while the first one in the photo is poly-cotton with a linen look. I might try to stitch a counted thread design on it or simply use it as lining material.

May 2009 fabric stash

DH sprayed weeds on the ditches yesterday morning then spotted some asparagus, so we went asparagus hunting in the afternoon. This is the first year I got some asparagus from the ditches in our area... and they sure taste good!

Asparagus from the ditches

Have a great stitching weekend everybody!

More products at www.lodyscreations.com

I finally decided to add more items at Lody's Creations. Here's the Spring 2009 Newsletter for further news.

Still busy repacking stuffs here, and will keep on updating the pages in weeks ahead. So sorry for the slow process as I'm a beginner in web developing. On the positive note, I already know how to incorporate "Add to Cart" or "Buy-It-Now" buttons but will work on those once mopst, if not all, of the items are added. Photos below are some of the stuffs already packed, from fat quarters, embellishments, charms, Mother-of-Pearl thread holders (rings), and finishing supplies. Thanks to those of you who already placed orders on Skirtex, fats and MOP's.:) Your business is highly appreciated.

Products at Lody's Creations

I'm currently working on a Ring & Ribbon Chatelaine Sewing Set. These kind of sewing sets started to get published and eventually got famous on late 1800's ~ early 1900's. I hope you'll consider to add them on your needlework collection as they're super fast and fun to do!

Played some more on my delica beads last week and managed to finish this jewellery set. The entire pendant is made of burgundy and crystal delicas, weaved using peyote stitch. The 6 petals were weaved individually, I then added a pewter rose with "Swarovski Crystal" at the center. The necklace chain and loop earrings were mainly made of mix emerald E-beads, pewter spacers and findings. I love the heart clasp on this necklace so I decided to place it in front.

Spring Fling Jewellery Set

Beadworks By Lody

So sorry for still being invisible in the groups...:( Life's still busy here! I hope everybody's having a great stitching weekend!

Happy Birthday Mom

Me and DH had to finalize our shopping for MIL's gifts on Thursday. We decided to go at Hobby Lobby in Ames first thing in the morning. But first, we dropped by at Walmart-Ames to check out MASH Season 1 & 2 DVD set. We're supposed to include both sets at MIL's gifts but Walmart in town & in Ames both run out of them. So we agreed to just get MIL a HB gift card and some knick-knacks. I also made some bracelets for her aside from the DVD's, CD's, Fons & Porters Triangle, rotary cutter blades, Fons and Porters Quilting Magazine Subscription, Sensor, Ped-egg, books, coat, etc. Aunt R hosted Mom's party and I was in-charge on the dessert. MIL requested a strawberry shortcake. MIL and Aunt R prepared the main course. It was another very simple gathering but everybody had a great time!

Anyway, I didn't get any cross stitch item at Hobby Lobby this time. I just focused on the jewelry supplies isle and got me a bunch of beads (seed 11/0 and E 6/0). The photo below is just some of them! As always, while I was busy at HB, DH was at the moviestore (I think bought 2 or 3 DVD's). Around 10:30AM, we're already on our way to my favorite Asian Resto in Ames but they're still close when we got there so we spend some time first at K-Mart (it's just next to the resto) first and I ended up buying a pair of slippers. By the time we headed home, it's almost noon already...

Various Beads and Beading Thread (Nymo) from Hobby Lobby

It's been a while since the last time I visited JoAnn's despite the fact that it's just few stalls away from HB. Often than not, by the time I'm done browsing at HB, I'm broke already coz I always ended up buying "this and that". I'm sure you know what I mean.:)

Hope everybody's having a great stitching day!

backdated post: 2009-0322

Just Another Day of Blogging

Can you tell I'm a fish lover? DH knows how much I love ANY kind of fish and GREEN veggies so early last week (Tuesday), he went straight at the supermarket after work. Despite the fact that our fridge & frezzer is overflowing with various veggies and philippine kind fishes like tilapia (both whole and fillet kinds), milkfish (bangus), red snapper, etc. It's his another way of small surprises!

To cut the story short, the salmon he bought was our lunch that day. I baked it then served it with baby spinach salad drizzled with pistachio nuts. My dressing is made of EVOO and cajun mustard... sooooo yummy! Thanks to DH for buying a huge salmon that there's enough left-over for my the next day's lunch. This time though, I sauteed the spinach with a clove of garlic, sweet onion, seeded dice tomato and pistachio nuts on EVOO plus a pinch of salt & pepper. And had to eat it with plain rice & dipping sauce made of Asian soy sauce-lemon-ground red pepper... yummy!

Baked Salmon & Baby Spinach Salad

Here's the other thing that's filling my hands lately... repacking stuffs - particularly stitching & sewing accessories. I've been busy making STITCHING HELPERS too, i.e. linen markers, stitch counters, tail catchers, beaded fobs, etc. When I mailed some "smalls" models to Kirsten (The Gift of Stitching Magazine) last year, one of which is the Neck Purse set accompanied by a STITCHING HELPER detachable on a mini-biscornu. The said neck purse set was/will be published in 3 parts, from January 2009 up to March 2009. Subscribe on the magazine today to see how the set is assembled.

Stitching Helpers & Embellishments for TCN & Lody's Creations

Me and DH went at a booksale yesterday and got myself 24 various books... one of which is Poems of a Russian poet wile the rest are all about crafts, of course. I was hoping I could find more specific books about assissi, open-work, and pulled-work but I was still lucky to get about 4 needlework books with topics of the mentioned. I'm even surprise to be able to purchase a beadbook.

My New "OLD" Various Needlework Books

from Febuary 21, 2009 Booksale

I couldn't resist the "Grandma Moses" book too so I had to grab it for myself... and I had to indulge myself with it this morning, it's full of inspiration, I love it! DH bought a couple of sports books & a Dr. Phil (about losing weight) for him and we also managed to get 3 novels for MIL.

More books for me, DH and MIL

And lastly, I've been corresponding last week with Ms. Dorothy (in-charge on the Fabric & Threads Division of Iowa State Fair) and we already finalized my teaching schedule at this year's Fair. After 2 emails or so, she increased my slots from from 2 classes to 4 classes. I'm sooooooooo excited! Anyway, here's the further details of my teaching schedule:

• Class: 3D NEEDLEWORK HAND-FINISHING
• Dates: August 13, 2009 (Thursday, first day of the Fair) & August 21, 2009 (Friday)
• Time : 10:00AM - 12 noon & 1:30PM- 3:30PM on both dates above

I already finalized the "simple, quick to stitch designs" the other day. I just need to stitch and finish them this week so I can start to present them to Ms. Dorothy soon.

That's all for now folks. I will post a photo of the models once I get them done. Happy stitching!

Books and Stash

First of, I'm ok now! Been down with colds and annoying cough last week until early this week... which means no stitching for me again. But I did some beadworks though and a lil bit of ebay shopping. Speaking of ebay, I recently recieved the following

BEADING BOOKS: "The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving" is kinda pricy for me so I look for alternative. I got lucky to win "Beginner's Guide to Beadwork" though I'm quite familiar with the stitches in there already, i.e. peyote, herringbone, etc. Nevertheless, I enjoyed all the lovely project photos. The works in the "Bead & Sequin Embroidery Stitches" by Stanley Levy reminded me of beadworks I used to do in my college days in Manila.

Beading Books

Works of Stanley Levy's students

NEEDLE ARTS MAGAZINES: 25 copies of EGA magazines back issues from 1998 to 2005... so lucky I won this lot!

1998-2005 Needle Arts Magazines

BEADING SUPPLIES: I can't get enough of beading embroidery lately, might as well increase my stash. LOL

Cabochons and Cameos for my Encrusted "Beading" Embroidery

Cultured Freshwater Pearls

Me, MIL and DH went at the library last Tuesday, February 9th, to return some books and got myself another batch of various craft books. You don't expect me to go home empty handed, right? LOL Moreso, MIL got herself about 7 books from craft books to novels. Thank goodness the weather was sooooooo good then. No winter coat needed!

Cross-stitch, Beading and Papercraft Books

I wanna thank Diane, a fellow Iowan and owner of "Fields of Fiber" for the yummy ingeo fibers I recieved in the mail yesterday. She also included pertinent infos how these fibers are done. I am amazed at the work she does in converting corn fibers into yarns... and me being curious couldn't stop my mind to wonder how corns become ingeo fibers! LOL Thanks so much for your generosity Diane. Please do visit her website for further info about "ingeo fibers" and while you're there, don't forget to check-out the photo gallery for ideas how the fibers are/were used.

Ingeo Fibers from "Fields of Fiber"

And lastly, I was advised by MW that my package, mailed via priority mail on January 9th for NNC Anniversary Exchange didn't make it in time for the gathering... Sad to say but I'm getting used to my packages going to Malaysia being lost. But then I always maximize the envelope that's why maybe the PO staffs there get attracted to it. LOL

I hope everybody's having a great stitching and crafting weekend!

Cabochons and a Small Finish

After finishing those encrusted pendants last month, I've had this idea of incorporating a face cabochon on my future projects. So I searched for these lovelies and was lucky to find a seller at ebay who doesn't need them. My second option is to buy molds and make them myself... but I cancelled the idea as my hands are already full with on-going projects.

FACE CABS FOR ENCRUSTED EMBROIDERY

And as a tribute for the upcoming "Heartland Region Seminar" on April 22-26, 2009, I made this triangular pincushion. The finished piece ressembles a toblerone (the chocolate... LOL). The 3 main sides has different motifs which can be finished as bookmarks, scissors sheath, etc.

FRIENDS IN STITCHES PINCUSHION

will be launched at Springtime in the Valley

Merchandise Night is April 23, 2009, 6PM to 9PM

Marriot Hotel, Cedar Rapids

We had our taxes done yesterday, now that's less thing to worry about.:) Healthwise, I've been having sore-throat since yesterday so I try not to talk too much. I feel like my toncils will start to swell... But that's no excuse for not stitching, right? LOL

My hands are already itching to stitch the above cabochons so I better sign off now! I hope everybody's having a great stitching day!

A Knitting Lesson, A Girls Day-Out, And A Tag

A KNITTING LESSON with Mom finally took place yesterday morning as weather has been coorperating this last few days. Once DH got home from work in the morning, we headed straight at Mom's house. After a quick hello and short chat, DH went home to sleep. We knit for about 30-45 minutes... Thanks a bunch for MIL's patience!

After the knitting lesson was MIL's de-stashing. I checked out her fabrics at the basement and pick as much as I can. I only focus on the small cuts though despite the fact that MIL tells me to get everything I want, or everything I'll need. All are 100% cotton aside from 4 satins and 1 printed linen.

Fabrics from MIL

A GIRLS DAY-OUT: Around 9:45AM, we're already done with our thing so MIL called-up her sister to ask if she wanna have a lunch out with us. They had their hair done after lunch then our final destination was the grocery store. Needless to say, we all had a great time. I think I got home past 2PM.

A TAG: I have been tagged by Kathy http://dragonxser.wordpress.com/. The idea here is to go to your 6th picture file and choose the 6th picture, and then tag 6 blogging friends. I have thousands and thousands of photos in my computer, seggregated by year, month, etc. Here's what I did though, I opened my main photo folder, then clicked on the first sub-folder which happens to be 2007. Prior to mid-2007, I categorized my sub-folders via name or occasion, now it's by year, then sub-sub-folders via months, etc. Anyway, here's what I found:

2007 Harvest

Japanese Eggplants, Daredevil Peppers, and Cucumbers

I remember that above veggies are my first harvest on 2007. You do know that me and DH do gardening every year, right?:) Since I came here, 2007 was our luckiest year on cucumber coz we harvested so much, that we decided to plant few only last year. Up to now, we still have a bunch of canned DILL and SWEET PICKLES.

And finally, to tag 6 friends:
Emily - http://emilys-stitch-in-waiting.blogspot.com/
Wendy - http://www.biblo1.blogspot.com/
Paul - http://theheartofpaul.blogspot.com/
Lillie - http://sonillie.blogspot.com/
Nik - http://nikainunza.blogspot.com/
Tini - http://www.snazzynsuch.com/

On the flip-side, I had been busy this last few days researching and gathering info about a new craft I wanna try my hands on, something with INGEO FIBER. I can not guarantee I'll be good at it but I really would love to give it a GO. I know DH would roll his eyes on me about this coz it means I will need NEW STASH! LOL

Have a great stitching weekend everybody!