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Friday Fun! (April: Busyness and Hiking)
The view of Boston on our hike.
Hello my lovely readers!
April was such a busy month, I can actually hardly believe it’s over already! It’s always a busy month for me at work, as I help organize and run an annual event on-campus. In addition this month, we also welcomed a new program to our campus, so the library was very busy putting in the groundwork for supporting students studying that new subject area. I also submitted my first-ever poster abstract. So busy! On top of this, the weekend of my work event was the same weekend as the first motorcycle race weekend of the season for my partner. He was incredibly busy prepping for the races. Instead of just the normal getting everything running again after the long winter, he also was prepping a new (to him) race bike to be track ready. Since I couldn’t go with him for the first race weekend, I wanted to send along something nice, so I made him a pie and cookies for carb-loading at the track. I honestly found the baking to be stress-relieving and really enjoyed it. I’m happy to report both the work event and the first race weekend went well!
In spite of the busyness, we were able to squeeze in quite a few hangouts with friends and dates for ourselves. One of our dates was to hike a local trail on Easter Sunday. It was gorgeous weather in a month of a lot of iffy weather. I always find it so refreshing to get outside and in the woods, and even more so with my boyfriend. We saw lots of jack-in-the-pulpits and also got a great view of Boston.
My stitching slowed down a bit this month, although I did release the first design in a new line–rhubarb in foraging New England. The rest of the patterns for the line are designed but they still need to be trial-stitched! I hope to release at least one of them this month.
I read and reviewed four books this month, sticking to my overall goal of one book a week. I’ll be happy if I manage to stick to that during my upcoming even busier month of May! In my own writing, I’m still working away whenever I have the time on my new book idea, writing background short stories. The typewriter my bf got me for Christmas is coming in really handy, freeing me of distractions.
Happy reading!
Cross-Stitch #7: Look of Disapproval Emoticon
My final holiday cross-stitch was a present for my partner’s other sister. (He has two. The youngest one got pixel Thor). This sister is a journalist and a fan of emoticons. I thought it’d be fun to make her something small that she could hang in her office, maybe. Something that would both display her personality and be semi-related to work. I decided to stitch her the look of disapproval emoticon face and frame it in a classy hoop. Framing items this small is easiest with semi-flexible plastic hoops. I chose one that was made to resemble wood.
I enjoyed the final look so much that I was inspired to do an emoticon line in my shop. If you like the look of disapproval, you can buy a completed one from me. Although, the version I am selling is hooped in a red hoop.
ETA 3/5/15: I have now closed my Etsy shop, but I’ve made my patterns available on my Cross-Stitch page.
Cross-Stitch #6: Sriracha Rooster Bottle
I still have two cross-stitches I made for the holidays left to show you guys! I fully admit, I was waiting on showing you the last two since they’re related to my newly opened Etsy shop.
One of my good friends is a big fan of Sriracha rooster sauce. It’s a hot sauce made from chili and garlic, frequently used in Asian cuisine. Its bottle is rather iconic. It is red with a green cap and has a white rooster on it. I thought it’d be a cute piece for her to have in her kitchen. However, I couldn’t find a pre-existing pattern for cross-stitch, or even one I could adapt, anywhere. I wasn’t expecting that, since it has a big fan-base. But, oh well, I figured, I guess I’ll just design one myself. And design it I did! My friend was quite happy with her present.
ETA 3/5/15: I have now closed my Etsy shop, but I’ve made my patterns available on my Cross-Stitch page.
Cross-Stitch #3: Pixel Thor
As I mentioned previously, I made a bunch of smaller cross-stitch projects as presents for various folks for the holidays.
My partner’s littlest sister (she’s 20, but still the littlest one of the family) is a big fan of the Avengers. But I’d already done the Avengers logo for my friend, and I wanted a new pattern. I get bored easily, what can I say. I decided to focus on one of the Avengers solo instead, and after narrowing down to her two favorite Avengers (after some intense Facebook-stalking), I chose Thor.
I found a pattern on Pinterest for making the Avengers out of post-it notes that I thought would easily translate into cross-stitch. And it did! Adorably so, if I do say so myself.
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This work by Amanda McNeil is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
