I simply cannot believe the response I've gotten to my give-away so far! Thank you all so much for the comments and be sure to enter my give-away here!!! 

Never would I have EVER thought it possible to reach 100 followers on my little blog. I'm almost there and it's sooo AMAXING :) It is an absolute joy blogging and sharing my experiences, but what I love most is reading all the other cross stitchy blogs out there. They are a constant source of inspiration and motivation for me, and perhaps they also feed my addiction just a little too ;) 

This week it's back to the Friendship Sampler I've been working on. It took a back seat to the exchange piece I was working on over the past week or so... so I'm very happy to have it back onto the hoops. 

Over all I'm loving this sampler, despite a few errors I've caught in the chart. Last night I was stitching happily away when I realized... UH OH... I'm off a stitch in the stem I was working on... being too lazy to frog it all I decided the best course of action was simply to add a stitch to the top and hope things didn't look too off. By rights the red petals on either side shouldn't be directly touching the green of the stem... SUPREME LAZINESS... me no wanna frog .... haha. Here's the problem area.

Now to some doggie entertainment. I bought some bubbles at the dollar store today and instantly my mind went to the dogs. Literally. They would LOVE chasing around the bubbles!!! Here they are in action :)

Getting ready for some fun!

OMGZ BUBBLESSS! Ready to pounce!!!

Anyway I hope you all are enjoying the week so far. I'll be busy preparing for/recovering from my graduation party that's on Friday this week for the next couple of days. Lots of Italian themed games/drinks/food because that's where I did my Master's Degree :)  Wish me luck!!!!

Happy Stitching 

Melissa

Ciao tutti!!!

I can't say thank you enough for the support I received after posting last week. I was kinda feeling down in the dumps you could say - and all the support was simply inspiring! So thank you!!!

I really feel like doing something special for you all so I've decided to do a GIVE-A-WAY!!!! Yes you heard that right :) I've been toying with this idea for some time now so why not do it now?!

I'll send out a package of goodies to the lucky winner which will include some of my very own hand-dyed floss and this biscornu I stitched up not too long ago using Manka's Mystery SAL design... and a few other things to be revealed later! AND perhaps more than one winner just to make things interesting :)

The Rules are as follows:

(1) Be a follower of my blog.

(2) Create a link in your blog's side bar and/or post about my give-a-way.

(3) Comment on this post if you wish to be entered into this give-a-way indicating your email address (so I can notify you). 

It's as easy-peasy as that folks!

Give-a-way ends on JUNE 19, 2012

Good luck everyone!!!!

Melissa

Hello again everyone!!!

I'm going to take a bit of divergence from my usual cross stitch nattering. I need some support more than anything. 

While I'm blessed to have a job at the moment, I have been for the past year searching for something else. Something that is gratifying and something that inspires me. I have spurts of those moments where I'm at right now but... well lets just say it's just not fast paced enough. Add this too the fact that I'm on 3month contracts, with the fear of not being extended whenever the deadline approaches. Now the time is starting to creep upon me once more where I feel like I'm in a perpetual state of limbo, never knowing if I'm going to be here one day and gone the next. So I've been looking... but there's hardly anything showing up on the job boards that reflects the skills I have! I've just applied to my first job in over 6 months!!! That's how sparse the job market in my given field is. I'm feeling hugely insecure about it all at the moment... and part of me is dreading the day when I can't find a job before my contract ends.

Am I hopeless no... but as a new entrant into the labour force I never imagined it being this hard to find a secure(ish) job!!! I have the education, I have experience, I have the charisma, WHAT MORE CAN THEY WANT????? Yet no call backs, no interviews....

Hopefully I'll have good news soon to share... SOMETHING HAS GOT TO GIVE!

Melissa

   

Hello again Folks!

First off welcome to my new followers and thank you to all for the lovely comments I've received on my previous posts these last couple of days :)

I think I'm going to have to drag myself away from the plethora of cross stitching sites out there... I am officially going STASH CRAZY! I don't mean picking up the occasional chart or piece of fabric here and there... I mean checking places like 123stitch.com almost everyday to see what's new and exciting. I have lots of projects waiting for me but I just want moreeeeeee. For instance... silkweaver fabrics weekly facebook sales of its fabrics... well I'm the person screaming at the computer screen screaming 'MEEEEE', yet some how managing to keep my fingers from hitting the enter button and buying those marvellous, delicious, divine fabrics ... 

When I'm not in buying mode I drool over the stash I have thinking 'soon my pretty, soon...' 

SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!!! How do I cure this itch???

AHhhhhhhhh!

This message was brought to you by cross stitch nut Melissa... now back to our regular programming.

This past weekend was a BLAST. Lots of friends, family, fishing and stitching! I'd definitely qualify May 24th weekend and IHSW a success. Here's some photo's of the May 24th weekend festivities:

My man being foolish! 

Brother fishing with is freezing little pup... 

The May 24th Gang!

And now another weekend is upon us!!! YEY. I have a concert I'm heading to tomorrow night - another YEY. This particular concert I've been literally waiting for forever. I'm not kidding... I bought my tickets back in November for the show in March which then got postponed to MAY! YIKES! Now I'm not what you call a fanatic... but it's rare to get concerts this big in such a small place... so you take what you can get. Of course it helps that I actually enjoy the band :) 

Besides anticipating another weekend full of activities, this week I've actually managed to achieve LOADS of stitching in... I just can't update you on much seeing as one of my stitchy projects is top secret. But I did get a little progress in on my Friendship Sampler - che bella no?

Also, here is my May TUSAL jar for this month - as you can tell I've been busy! And these are  only the threads that I managed to catch from other sneaky fingers/paws.

These being the mischievous buggers... 

They are not as innocent as they look I promise. You just have to get past the pile of cuteness and I swear you'll see that they would like nothing more than chew-up every shoe in the house so that you never leave again because you have nothing to wear on your feet! 

Until next time!

Ciao tutti!

Melissa 

Hello my stitchy friends!

It's finally the 24th of May long weekend (aka Victoria Day). But isn't May 24th on Thursday next week you ask??? Why yes it is, but May 24  is always celebrated on the Monday before the actual day. Victoria Day here in Canada is technically a celebration of the Monarchy and Queen Victoria's b-day. That's Queen Victoria of England I'm talking about. Some of you may be surprised to learn that formally Canada's Monarch and ruler is the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth. Now mind you we do have a Prime Minister just like the UK who actually calls the shots, but Canada is part of the commonwealth countries. There's your fun fact for today :) 

Now onto the more serious business! The May 2-4 weekend would not be complete without a couple of things, mainly a trip to 'da cabin' or 'around da bay' or 'up in a gravel pit' with your trusty camper. One must also be equipped with copious amounts of grub and booze to entertain all those that might pop by for a scoff (aka - a feed, a kitchen party, etc etc etc). I would even go so far as to say that the May 24th weekend is THE most anticipated long weekend in Newfoundland. It symbolizes so many things, good times with friends and family, start of the fishing/camping season, and most importantly May 24 weekend is the unofficial start of spring/summer... despite the fact that I can remember waking up to snow on the tent at times during this weekend. But as for this upcoming weekend... well I don't want to jinx it but... it's looking pretty darn fine. A few showers on Saturday but temps are suppose to be in the teens all weekend. I'm headed to the cabin this weekend with some family and friends, so here's me crossing my fingers and hoping for a good weekend. 

One other thing that we lot like to indulge in during this highly anticipated weekend is MUSIC. Specifically traditional Newfoundland/Irish Music. Below is a song I've linked that you must ABSOLUTELY listen to. It's called '24th of May' by Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. This group has been around for years here in Newfoundland, so this song will give you a feel for what May 24th is all about and also a bit of traditional music. 

In mentioning Buddy Wasisname I also have to let you have a listen to 'Salt Water Joys'. My all time favourite Newfoundland Song. I would often listened to this when I lived away... it always made me a little homesick, but nevertheless I love this song.

As many of you already know it's also IHSW this weekend. I've signed up in the hope that I'll get plenty of stitching done. Wish me luck!

This week also saw bit of work put into my Friendship Sampler. Here's were I'm at currently.

I also got some stashy things to report on! I received some new patterns in the mail the other day AND Bronwyn also sent me here Peter Rabbit Charts that were in an old magazine of hers. So a BIG thanks to Bronwyn, especially since her offer came to me just as I was entering the blogging world. Couldn't have asked for a better experience :) A couple of weeks ago I received some new fabrics from Silkweaver Fabrics and 123Stitch as well and am only just getting a picture in of them now... shame on me... hehe.

That's all from me for now! Have a great stitchy weekend everyone!!!

Ciao!

Melissa