Filing System for charts from cross stitch magazines

It was about time I sorted out my cross stitch magazines for various reasons:

1. three big banana boxes full of magazines - space problem
2. Many more magazines all over the house
3. I was never able to find a chart if I ever searched for one, indeed, it was impossible to look through the magazines quite simply because there were so many with no system at all.
4. DH moaning LOL

YES, it did hurt to rip the magazines apart, but it has to be done for the good coming out of it *sigh*. And this is how I did it:

Step 1: The most difficult part - Rip the chart out of the magazine.

It's obviously up to you how ruthless you want to be in your selection - I sort of keep all of the well-known designer stuff such as Michael Powell, or Liliput Lanes, and things which I know I like e.g. cats, dogs, wildflowers. No cuties for me, nor teddies.

Step 2: Place the chart in a clear plastic wallett.

You may need to fold the chart a bit to place it in the folder. Here in the UK you can get them really cheap in discount stores such as Poundland etc.

Step 3: Chose a category and write it on the top left side of the plastic wallet.

Anything which makes it easy for you to find it again and archive it. Cats, landscape, .... finishes, techniques...

Step 4: File away alphabetically in a ring binder

Step 5: Add the relevant category to the side of the binder / or on the front - whereever it is easier for you to find it.

And that's it. It is really easy to browse through the charts and different categories which will be marked in the front left corner. It will be equally easy to add charts / remove charts for using them.

Le Coeur and Margaret Sherry cat

So, this is what I did last week (the one with the strawberries, the cherries were done last year). They are from a French series of calliagraphy heart designs by French designer Isabelle Vautier,  from a company called Savoir-Fairie Vailly. They have a big range of 'heart-shaped' designs, right from the usual stuff like flowers, animals, also designs of Paris, one for chocolate lovers... cows, penguins, Egypt. I bought my two designs in Germany a few years ago. As far as I am aware, they are only available as kits. Here is the link if anyone wants to have a look.

The hearts were finished by Saturday, so there was time for a new start - a Margaret Sherry cat. It's a design from a the magazine Cross Stitcher (June 2003), it's a cat tangled up in cross stitch, very cute. As I'm working to a 5 weekly rotation, this won't come out again for a while, but shouldn't take long to finish at the end. It stitches up very easily actually.

Little bit of an update on what's going on at the moment - doctors, hospitals, surgery and such

30.01.2010.

Right, back at home, and off work now for the next 8 weeks (7 weeks left actually). I went into hospital on 25.01. for a planned laparotomy to remove abdominal adhesions. I had keyhole surgery last year which found that I had severe abdominal adhesions, most likely from gynaecolgical surgery I had when I was 13 years old in 1981 !!! The adhesions were so severe that the Surgeon could not treat it with keyhole surgery, and I had to come in to have my belly sliced open ;-))

I had been waiting since last September for the surgery, but wasn't desperate for it - mainly because I have been living with the abdo pain for quite a few years, and many doctors had told me there is nothing....So it was a relief to find out what was the problem, and that it is not something sinister as such. And of course, the thought of major abdominal surgery, for a very active person like me... working full time, looking after the family etc. Well, I had a phone call from the waiting list department at the hospital just before Christmas to tell me that, as I now have been waiting for more than 3 months, they have to offer me treatment at a private hospital and whether that would be ok for me. Well, yeah, I suppose so, I thought as it needs to be done, I might as well go for it now. And so  was admitted on 25.01. at Fawkham Manor Hospital in Longfield.

The surgery went very well (not that I can remember any of it), and the first night I spend in a big and happy morphine haze. Dr. Jones, my consultant, saw me the next day and explained that he found I had adhesions which stuck together in my right site my uterus,  small bowel, large bowel and bladder! No wonder I had pain. He 'freed' all the organs and put the anatomy right again. On my questioning he told me he can't promise that the adhesions won't come back, but certainly not as bad as it was. (hopefully, crossing all my fingers, toes etc). Now it's just a case of recovering. I have been signed off work for 8 weeks! I've never been off for such a long time since I started working again after having the children in 2000. It already feels strange, and day-time TV is already boring me stiff. So far I don't feel like reading and doing a lot of Internet - just don't feel like it - it's not that I have great pain. I'm not supposed to do any housework for at least 3 weeks, and while that sound like heaven, and while Nafees and the children try their best, it is sort of getting to me that the house is not like I would do it... and I can't drive for the next 6 weeks - which is even a bigger pain as I am the only driver in the house. So grocery shopping needs to be done online, luckily that is not a problem where I live and they usually deliver the next day or even the same day. We also have a small local Tesco here which actually opened new this week.

I am obviously doing lots of cross stitch, and can hopefully show many updates soon.

Stephen King 'Cell'

30.01.2010 / Another one from my favourite writer - published in 2006, paperback in 2007.

The novel starts with a situation all of us can associate easily with - using a mobile phone. Clayton Riddle is a book illustrator, about to complete an important deal. He is about to get an icecream in the centre of Boston when strange things start to happen. People appear to randomly attack each other voraciously. An event known as 'The Pulse' takes place - signals transmitted via the mobile phone which turns people into mindless and violent zombies. Clayton faces a race across town and country in order to safe his son Johnny. On his journey, he picks up a selection of friends and they battle together, as we have seen so often in previous King-stories such as The Stand. . Eventually, they 'non-phoners' are 'ordered' to gather in a place in Northern Maine. Clayton eventually finds his son, and he appears to be effected. Will Clayton and his friends manage to destroy the 'phonies' and will the world eventually return to normal? I;m not going to give it away here.

For me, the book certainly wasn't on the scale of 'The Stand', and I seem to be missing King's usual small town American folks, and even though there are several references to previous books mentioned on Wiki, I think they are not as obvious, and I miss it a bit. I can't put my finger to it, but it just didn't read like the usual 'older' King stories. Also, there seems to be no explanation for the 'pulse', just that it happened, even though there is reference to terrorism (this book obviously being written past 9/11 America. I very much do like the ending of the book when King sort of leaves it open whether Clayton does or does not saves his son and retrurns him to 'normal'. Apparently, King has written in an Internet forum that it is pretty obvious that things do turn out ok for Clayton and his son, or are they?

Lilliput lane

Here' s my update from last week. I had the news that I'm going into hospital on 25.01. For a laparotomy, so I had a very tense weekend, with a lot of cleaning, preparing food etc n stitching. I am back home now and will write about the surgery tomorrow.



-- Post From My iPhone

New project and a big 'thumbs up' to DMC

15. January 2010. Here is the new project I have started next week, it went into the rotation after I've finished the poodle for Rachel jeaaahhh! This picture is acutally a set of 4 pictures, all are wildflowers on brown linen. I got it from Olypmpia Stitching Show a few years ago, they were on sale from £19 down to £5. I adore wildflowers! However, it's not that easy to stitch. Firstly the linen, and there is a lot of confetti (even though it doesn't look like it from the picture) and it sort of goes all over  the place. So, as a result, that small section is all I did for the whole week. Never mind.

 

A big thumbs up to DMC. When I called them about the 'Stitch a photo' picture (see my previous post) about the chart which they supplied in black n white instead of colour a few years ago, the guy on the phone was laughing and said someone must have just ticked the wrong box on the computer, and it was easy to change). And a few days later the new chart arrived - with 54 colours. Brilliant. Can't wait to get it started, but want to finish another piece first, probably the giraffe s next one to finish.

-- Post From My iPhone

Some x stitch updates

-- Post From My iPhone



 

10. January 2010. OK, not an enourmous amount of stitching, but still, some updates to show. I really start to like the way the giraffe is coming out, so lifelike. NH afghan - this is square 6/30.