New Aquarium!

We've come a long way on our Living Room remodel and are finally reaching the point of completion!

The floor is done and the trim is in. We primed and painted the trim first before nailing it in place. I spent a couple of hours this past week going around and touching up the paint on the nail holes.

I still have to paint the risers on the steps and the interior door and I still have to have paint my Ivy leaves here and there but I'm very happy to say, that the worst is over! The "dust" producing projects are done!

Before we started this project, we had a 60 gallon aquarium which took up a whole wall. I could have lived without the fish tank all together but Scott really enjoys it so I asked if we could get a smaller corner tank instead. He loved the idea so yesterday, we went up to PetsMart and bought our new corner tank. It's all set up and we can start moving our fish later this evening:



Check out the Greek (or Roman) ruins that we bought! We went with all new gravel, artificial plants and do-dads.

When we did the floor, we had to set up 2 small temporary tanks (heaven help me, in my kitchen) for our fish. And we unfortunately lost 4 of them in the move. So next weekend, we'll head back up to PetsMart and get 3 or 4 new tiny fantail goldfish. I love goldfish!

Here's a photo of the tank on the stand. You can see my new oak floor, my icy aqua blue sponge painted walls and my white trim:



Could I possibly be any worse at taking pictures! Geez, I should have had Scott take these. But it's enough for you to see! I have an antique chair that will sit next to the tank so my cats easily watch the fish. Simba especially enjoys watching them swim back and forth!

Bird Purse Continued

The bird purse is coming along nicely! I did some beading on it yesterday:



The bird pin is now permanently attached. Because the pin is in mint condition, I didn't want to alter it in anyway. I pinned it in place and then added a few tack stitches here and there to make sure it wouldn't go anywhere.

You might be wondering what the glittery green spray is to the right of the bird. Does anyone want to take a guess as to what that is? I'll reveal my secret tomorrow!

Google AdSense

Because I put so much time and energy into my blog posts everyday, I've decided to add Google AdSense to help generate a bit of income for my efforts.

It'll be in the sidebar and not right in the middle of each daily post. That way, if it bothers you, my readers, it should be easy to ignore and if anyone is interested in one of the ads, clicking on it will help to support this blog.

Since I'm HTML challenged, my friend Chris will be adding the code when he has a few free moments. It should be there in the next few days.

Update On Bird Purse

I had every intention of doing the Palestrina Stitch on here. The Palestrina Stitch is of course Sharon's pick for this week's TAST Challenge. You may have noticed, that I haven't participated in TAST for the past couple of weeks. That's because I honestly don't care for some of the more complicated stitches. For me, I find the simple, basic stitches quite functional and attractive and they serve their purpose well for me.

I love the way the Palestrina Stitch looked on Sharon's example so I was determined to do it here on my Bird Purse. After 1/2 an hour of staring at the stitch diagram, not being able to figure out how do that knot, I gave up and opted for the Buttonhole Stitch instead. That produced a similar effect, so I accomplished the look I was going for but it doesn't have that cool knot along the edge:



I have a terrible time figuring out how to do stitches that have a knot involved! I will attempt this again sometime but I'll admit, I was getting annoyed last night because I wanted to stitch, not stare at a diagram. Call me "Complicated Stitch Challenged"! Remember my struggle with the Cast-On Stitch? I mastered it, but I find them fussy and time consuming. I've found that it's easier for me to do tatted circles and then sew them on rather than working the Cast-On Stitch directly on my block.

The point that I'm trying to make here, is that stitching should be fun, not a chore. If your goal is to learn and master stitches that are new to you, then stick with it. You'll get the hang of them.

If your goal is to stitch for the sake of relaxing or to make something beautiful, then I say follow your bliss and do what you love. Stitch! That's what I do. I follow my bliss. There is nothing that I enjoy doing more than stitching and creating. It's what drives me. It's what guides my focus and gives me purpose.

Ok everyone, have a great day and follow your bliss! Go Stitch!!!

New Design Release

My newest design appears in the June 2007 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine:



Designed for a Showcase Huck Towel from Charles Craft, this vintage inspired "Basket Of Posies" design can be found on page 52: