Tag Archives: cross-stitch

Catch-Up Time…

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catch_up

So, thought I’d give you a looksee into the inner circle of the life of Just One More Page. It’s fascinating, let me tell you. 🙂

book372Finished up a quick (and must admit rather forgettable) read of “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson. I remember it being hilarious when I read the first time, but this time, meh. (And that’s the risk you run with rereads, I think.)

So – ok read but no need to put it up on the TBR pile any more. Out the door with you, Bill.

 

 

Peaky_Blinders

We’ve been sucked into the fantastic BBC/Netflicks series called “Peaky Blinders”, a series that follows some Birmingham (UK) travelers who form an organized crime network that grows and grows and grows… The actors are great, but let me give a warning about the accents: Americans may well need subtitles until you get the hang of it. Truly – this is riveting stuff and it would be very very easy to binge-watch this series. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a summer TV series.

 

vivian_meierWhen my sis visited me, we ended up watching the documentary “Searching for Vivian Maier” which is truly an intriguing story about a young man who buys a box of negatives and photos in an auction. Opening the box, he finds some high-quality photographs so, curious to know more, he follows the clues to who the photography was. The journey leads to a nanny who took more than 100,000 street photos, but kept them all private. Who was this person and why did she keep the photos secret?

(Along with this detective trail, the question is also raised that since the nanny/photographer is now dead, do we actually have the right to show her photos without her permission? Interesting…) My sis and I are contemplating going to Arlington to see an exhibition there of her work…

Anyway, a fascinating look into a very private person…

And then I’ve been doing some cross-stitch. I had put it down for a while and then picked it up again. Sucked in as usual (which is rather fun)…What’s up in your world?

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Cross-Stitch Catch Up

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Lovely colors of floss...

Lovely colors of floss…

So, back in September, I mentioned that I had (re-) started doing some cross stitch. Still loving it, and have actually finished up the project that I was working on. (Joy!) I really enjoyed doing it, and even loved the learning curve required to get back in to the swing on things. (Hi stitch-ripper tool.) So – now what to start next? (I have an idea…)

Along the lines of encouraging and supporting my new-found creativity, I visited a really lovely local cross-stitch shop called A Pocketful of Stitches. The owners are great – very helpful and friendly with super customer service. (Worth a visit if you’re ever here in town.)

The Halloween display at Pocketful of Stitches..

The cheerful Halloween display at Pocketful of Stitches..

I spent a lovely hour or so wandering around their shop looking at some of the most amazing cross-stitch designs, mostly stamped design on Aida fabric and with a wide array of projects to suit almost anyone. Prices were also wide-ranging with the most expensive one at $600 or so. (Wow. You’d have to love cross-stitch a lot to get that one. One would also have to have a lot of time as it was an enormous size. However, it was lovely.)

To explain the prices, all of the designs were hand-painted and hand-designed so it was not just the normal stitching shop (like Michael’s). More of an art-y stitching place – some of the designs were very advanced for the likes of me… The store also provides lots of answers to stitching solutions. (It’s not called the “Full Service Needlework Shop” for nothing!) However you describe it, it was very fun to walk around and look at all the designs. Oh, and it helped me solve a stitching organizational problem I had. Win-win.

Plus I found a cross-stitch design by Vicki Mount which featured a Cowboy Cat (with different fur)…

Design by Vicki Mount.

Design by Vicki Mount.

The Handcraft Craze Continues…

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cross_stitch

Now that life is somewhat calmer (and a lot quieter), I’ve been having a lovely time exploring things other than reading (although it’s still in the mix, of course). As mentioned the other day, I did go ahead and pick up some cross-stitch again after a long time not doing it.
A few false starts (and a few unsavory words) later, I’ve remembered how to “do” cross-stitch and had forgotten quite how fun and how addicting it was for me. I had ordered a rather posh cross-stitch kit from Belgium (I think) as I find it pretty challenging to find a design from the U.S. that appeals to me and that would be fun to stitch at the same time.

And so I’ve started doing cross-stitch whilst we continue our binge watching of “The Wire” – a rather odd mix but now that I’ve generally got the characters worked out, I find that I can effectively keep up for the most part while my nose is deep into the stitching.

So – now – not only do I have the endless rallying cry of “Just one more page…” but it’s now also “Just one more stitch!”

Joy.