I Hate Cats (????)

I always thought I hated cats. Whenever I'm asked whether I like cats or not, without hesitations my answer is a big "NO". I am totally a dog person.
Please don't get me wrong. I don't want to hurt anyone's feeling. At home also, I always have this debate over cats or dogs with my mother or my husband who are avid cat lovers.


But these all were until now. See what I found to stitch now...

I bought this piece for Red-work. It has 15 grids. 


And guess what??!! All the grids have kittens.

Aren't they cute? I know, I know...you'd say what about all those blabbering at the beginning. But I can't help it. These kittens are too cute. So I guess I can't say I hate cats anymore...lol.

I started it yesterday. It's my first red-work. So I'm not that sure whether I'm working correctly or not.

I'm stitching the kitten with two strings of thread with  outline stitch as it would give a thicker straight look. And I used 1 string of thread for its eyes, nose or the whiskers.

I'm sorry the pictures didn't come well. I can't get a better close-up (thanks to my great camera skill). And the creases can't be ironed until I finish stitching. Ironing might erase the prints. So that means I have to finish it as soon as possible to get a better picture...^-^

Some New Finishes...at last!! Biscornu, Victorian-style Wall Hanging and More...

It's been a while since I told that I would post my finished projects' pictures soon.
And as usual, here is the delay. So before saying anything more, I think it's better to put the pictures.

Here is a close-up...

It's the Victorian-style wall hanging. I love the antique style frame. I think it makes my work look better and gorgeous.

Next comes that cute little pin cushion. It's my first ever Biscornu (Biscournu), so I was excited while I was making this; and even after making this, I'm very very happy and excited. (My husband wonders why??!!...lol)

Here is a close-up of that.

Sorry that the pictures did not come well, but the color of the roses are really beautiful. Here the rose which looks blue is not actually blue, it's a nice combination of violet and mauve. And I think the pearl beads in the center make it perfect.
And here is the back part of that...

And as I promised, I would post the step by step how to of this biscornu very soon (??!!!)...

And today's last one is this sweet little puppy.

Isn't he adorable? I soon fell in love with him when I saw him on the rack of the shop.

And that's all for today. And imitating this cute little creature, I'd like to say "I hope to see you soon".

Temptations...

I can resist anything but temptations.
Today, I went to this craft shop near my house. I asked them for something long time ago, and so nice of them, they placed order for it and let me know that it came. So I went there to pick it up...and as usual, I was browsing through the shop though I didn't have any plans to buy anything. There, I saw these 2 lovely cross stitch kits. I just fell in love with them then and there. Of course, I couldn't stop myself from buying them, they had to come to my home.

And, I forgot everything of my on-going project of patchwork despite of my lesson this Wednesday. I don't know what I should tell my teacher if I can't finish my homework; but, as I said before, I can't resist temptations. I just have to finish at least one of them.

I just finished one part of it. It's going to be a lovely pin cushion. This is the bottom part of that. I'm sorry that the colors are not coming well. Anyway, hope to finish the top part also by tomorrow. Then, I am thinking of putting the how-to pictures here (though I know no one needs that...)
But on a second thought, I might stop working on it until Wednesday as I have to finish my homework. Let's see whether I can resist myself from working on it or not...

Slow Life...Living Real Slowly...

In this modern world, it seems almost everybody is running throughout the day; for this thing or that...We don't have enough time to stop and enjoy our life; no time to see what life is offering us, what we are missing.

This may not be true for everyone, but it was for me until very recently. And I was really tired of that.
Fortunately, this month, I have less work due to spring break, new school term etc., I am trying to enjoy my life. I am reading, blogging, doing things I wanted to do for a long time.
Here, I must admit that, it would have been much more easier for me if I did not have to do all those house chores...
Anyway, what can't be helped, can't be helped!
And enough of these serious talks; I have update pictures of that Victorian wall-hanging I wrote earlier(http://baishakhislowlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/long-long-time-no-see.html).

Now from the picture, one can guess that I was talking about all that spending my days slowly is just an excuse for not completing this project yet!! This thing is taking more time than I thought it would. Stitching with small beads are really very time consuming. Moreover, I think I'm very slow at stitching or anything...

Here is a closer look at the beads. I'm using three colors of beads matching with the gradation of the clothes. But as usual, I'm having problems with the Feather stitch which I'm trying to do in the middle portion. Anyway, let's see what happens...

And in this last picture, the black and white button and the tassel will go there too when I finish all these Feather stitches...
But, everything must go SLOWLY !!

Something Useless ☆ 無駄な作業

It was such a busy day...phew!!
I couldn't touch my needles or threads the whole day.  And after dinner, didn't have the energy to stitch at all...
So, spent the time  doing something useless until I could bring myself to writing today's journal.
What did I do?!
Yesss!! I think you already guessed it correctly. I changed my blog design numerous times. Seems I can't decide anything in the whole wide world easily!
I wanted to change the background since I saw Loretta's page.
http://lorettasstitchingblog.blogspot.com/
Look up here. See how marvelous her page is!! Not only she stitches well, she designs her blog nicely too.
And I AM a Copy Cat!! So had to copy her...(giggle)!!
So I changed and changed and changed; changed the background, changed the picture, changed the font, then again changed the background and so on...until I was tired. And this is how my blog looks now.
今日はとても忙しい一日で、針に近づくこともできませんでした！
夕食後はもうエネルギーがなくて。。。
そこで、今日のブログをかくまでずっと無駄な事をしていました。はい！ブログのデザインを変えたりして。。。なかなか決まらないものですね。結局、疲れちゃって、今の状態です。とりあえず、これでいこうと思ってます。


So as I have nothing much to share today, I put some pictures which I was supposed to put during Christmas.
Eh!! quite late for that? Please bear with me.
と言うことで、あまり書くことがないので、何枚かの写真を載せます。去年のクリスマスの時期に載せるつもりでしたけど。。。遅いかなぁ？？！！

These were my Christmas give-aways. I made them for my patchwork teacher and other patchwork circle friends. I can't say they were flawless ; because these were kind of impromptu. I designed them in my head while the work was in progress. And Ultimately the finish was quite different than what I initially planned.
これらは去年のクリスマスにパッチワークサークルの先生と皆さんのために作りました。あまり上手ではないです。なぜかと言うと、頭で考えながらアドリブで作りましたから。だから、作ってるうちにどんどん最初のイメージから変わっちゃって。。。


And now I have to decide whether I should buy some very very cute embroidery kits or not. I saw them on this new catalog named Needle Craft NEWS of Japanese handicrafts association.
As usual I can't decide, so going to bed...
後、もうひとつ決めないといけないことがあります。手づくりタウンのNewsニードルクラフト(ボーグ社の）でたくさんの可愛い・可愛いものを見ました。買うか、買うまいか、すごく悩んでます。相変わらずなかなか決められません。。。

Embroidery on Eggs 卵刺繍

Today I don't have much to write. So I will start with the picture to show the progress with my embroidery kit I started yesterday.
I forgot to mention the theme of this kit in case you don't know about this. It has a Japanese picture. It's called "Koi-Nobori" meaning a carp streamer or banner. Large cloth or paper carps are flown out of doors in Japan in early summer.  It's typically used to celebrate the traditional  Boys' Festival in May.
I enjoyed it very much. The stitching part is over. I should say it's quite a fast progress for me in one day... :)

こんばんは！昨日のブログを日本語で書けなくてすみません。なんとなく面倒くさくて。。。(笑）
今日はあまり書くことはないから、初めに、昨日から始めた刺繍キットの途中経過の写真を載せます。
刺繍はとても楽しみながら出来ました。
私としてはとても速いペースですね。。。^-^


And here is one more thing I definitely want to write about today. Only recently, I came across this on different pages on the internet.
It's about embroidery on eggs. Yesss!!!...You heard it correctly!!...EMBROIDERY ON EGGS...on real EGGS...God knows how anyone would do that!!

そこで、もう一つ話題について書きたいです。
最近いろんなサイトでこれの写真を見てます。卵の上に刺繍されてる。。。は～い！！卵ですよ。いったい誰がどうやって出来たでしょう。。。


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EMBROIDERED_EGGS_BY_I_FOROSTYUK.jpg

Here is another link:
http://album.aufeminin.com/album/see_105544_55/Photo-d-expo.html

I tried to post the pictures here. But thanks to my expertise in technicalities, I couldn't...
So you have to take the trouble of clicking on the above link to check some more pictures. There are 5 pictures; picture no. 55 through 60 are about this embroidery on eggs. But I should say they are just awesome. You definitely have to see them.

And I have a request if you see the pictures. Please let me know if you know how to do them. And if you have invented your own process, it's much better...(^-^)...This is a thing I would definitely like to try or at least would like to know the process...

Looking froward to hearing from you...

上にこの卵刺繍の写真が載ってるサイトのリンクを入れておきました。私のパソコン技術が足りないので、写真が載せなかったです。ちょっと面倒ですけど、そちらのサイトに行ってみてください。すごくきれいな写真です。写真番号55～60までは卵刺繍の写真です。ぜひ見る価値があると思います。

それともう一つの頼みがあります。もしこれらの写真を見て、やり方をわかってるであれば、ぜひ、ぜひ教えてください。一度はチャレンジしてみたいです。。。ぜひとも．．．

楽しみにしています。。。

Spring is Here...

Yeh!! Spring is here...with all of its beauty...

Japanese spring is really wonderful with its lovely Cherry blossom trees...with its "Hanami" culture, the typical custom of viewing these Cherry trees sitting under them with lots of good foods and alcohol, and of course with lots of good friends.

Today I went for Hanami...but alas!! with no food or alcohol!
In the evening, after dinner, my husband suddenly popped up this idea of going to view the Cheery trees at night and taking some pictures. So we did! We went to the famous Dogo Park. We went just to understand that it was quite late, most of the good viewing places were at closing time...so we took some pictures hurriedly and came back...

Here they are!  You can see the pictures are dark because it was near the closing time of the park...I was quite angry with my husband for popping up the idea so late...why didn't he think of that earlier? (You know how men are!!!)...

Anyhow, here are some pictures of what I started today.
Actually, I bought this cute kit some time ago from the yearly embroidery show here by a famous Japanese stitcher, Ms Totsuka. I bought some other patterns or kits also. And as usual, I forgot to start any of them. At last today, I started this.

It's quite fun! As you can see, the pattern is already printed. And the kit also have all the necessary threads and even one needle inside. The only problem I'm facing here is the fabric. It's the usual cross stitch fabric, but I have to do Chain stitch or Stem stitch or other stitches which we don't usually do on this fabric.

Let's see how it comes out...

Long Long Time No See...

Hi to all again!

I'm really very embarrassed for not updating this blog for so many days. One of my friends has been asking about this for last two months. I apologize to her.
First, during last Christmas and New Year, I was so busy making things and everything, I didn't have any time even when I thought of my precious blog. Then, (even to my surprise), I completely, totally forgot about the very existence of this blog!! I know, it's totally IMPOSSIBLE....but what should I say...
and then I met my friend who is one of the very rare readers of my blog. And from then she's been asking me to update it for last 2 months, on every Thursday when I meet her.

And now, she is going away from here to Saudi Arabia for 3 years. I am s-o-o-o-o-o sad!! So to keep in touch with her through this blog, I'm updating again...

This is my newest project. It would be a Victorian style wall-hanging. Though I love doing embroideries, I'm very bad at Feather stitch. In picture no. 1, you can see how horrible the stitches are!!...

But I hope when it's finished, the stitches won't look that much horrible...

YouTube - Phil Collins - Against All Odds

I just discovered how to post from other sites to my blog. So trying very first with my all time favorite singer's one of the most fav song...hope it gets posted...

YouTube - Phil Collins - Against All Odds

Some More Finish

One more month to Christmas!!
And I have not yet finished any of my cross-stitch projects yet...
So putting this picture instead which I made on glass.
Hmmm.....to think of it now, the picture didn't come up very well...
Tomorrow, will try to post a better glass-art project's picture which I'm working on now...

クリスマスまであと一ヶ月ですね!
でも、今年一つのクロスステッチ作品も完成できてない。。。
その代わり、このグラス作品の写真を載せます。
まぁ、写真はあまりきれいに撮れてませんね！！
明日はもっといい写真載せるように頑張ります。。。

Today ordered for some new Christmas cross-stitch kits、YES!! AGAIN...
But seems they are waiting for delivery themselves, so it will take another 2-3 weeks to reach my place...
Oh!! That means I can't finish even one of them before this year Christmas :(

OK, by that time, I should try to complete some of my unfinished projects.
Today realized I have too many pending...
I'll upload those pictures. I know it's not a good thing to do, but please bear with me. I want to keep a track of them. I feel if I put those pictures here, I can bring myself to finish them...

But before I put those unfinished pictures, here's another pouch that I finished recently. I think I'll use this one to keep my electronic dictionaries together.

The material is Japanese yarn-dyed cotton fabric. I must say its color-tone is plain and simple, but I think this is quite typical. Wanted to use this kind of fabric for long time.

And now, I have to go...
Hope to see you tomorrow with the finish picture of that pink and yellow tapestry!!

今日は4つの新しいクリスマスキットを注文しちゃいました。
はい!!また、また。。。
でも、入荷待ちみたいで、私のところまで届くのにあと２－３週間かかるみたいです。
ということは、今年のクリスマスまでに一つも間に合わないなぁ。。。:(

まぁ、その時まで今とりかかってるものを完成させるように頑張ればいいってことですね。
今日気づいた。途中までしかできてないのはいくつもあります。
今度それらの写真をここに載せます。ここに載せたら、やる気が出るかもしれません。

でも、その前に別のポーチの写真を載せます。この前完成しました。
日本の先染め生地です。

明日またこの前のタペストリーの完成写真を見せたいですね。

Pouch Finished (ポーチの完成)!!

Hi everyone!!

First of all, I should thank all who have visited my blog. And I want to apologize at the same time for not updating anything for few days.

I'm a little under the weather for last 2-3 days. Yesterday whole day, I was at home. I just hate this time of the year when weather changes. It's not even winter time here, and don't know why it's around 6-8 degrees now...

But I did one fruitful thing yesterday. Finished my pouch!!

こんばんは皆さん!!

初めに、ブログを見てくれた方に感謝したいです。それと、なん日間ブログをサボったことを謝ります。

この２－３日調子があまりよくなくて。。。昨日、一日中は家にいました。まだ冬じゃないのに、何で温度はこんなに低いでしょうね！！

でも、昨日は一ついいことしました。この前のポーチを完成させました！！

I learnt some new techniques here. For example, there is no piping, but the upper part is stitched in a way so that it looks as a piping. This was the first time for me to make frills too. I must say, it was a bit difficult, didn't come up nice as I wanted them to be :(

Even the red and green button which is stuck to the zipper was new for me.

I'm really happy that it's finished it at last　(^o^)

このポーチでは、いくつかの新しい技法の勉強をしました。例えば、パイピングを作らずに、ポーチの上部分をパイピングに見せかけたり、フリルを作ったり～

フリルが思い通りうまくいきませんね！

ファスナー部分のクルミボタンも初めてでけっこう難しかった。。。

やっとお終わったから、本当に安心しました(^o^)

Started another new tapestry for the New Year.

I'm making it from Japanese Kimono material. Though silk is a bit difficult to stitch, still I like the soft pastel color combination of different shades of pink with light lemon yellow.

My teacher said this color combination is quite common for Japanese style new year goods.

I hope to finish it by this Friday.

So will post again soon.

But before I go, here are some more finishes.

今日から、お正月に向けて、新しいタペストリーを始めた。

着物の材料ですので、縫いにくいけど、色がとても気に入ってます。いろんなピンクと薄い黄色のコンビネーションがいいですね。先生にも日本のお正月っぽい色って言われました。嬉しい～

今週の金曜日までにできるかなぁ？？！！

できたら、また見せますね。

最後、最近ハマってるこの写真～

Recently, I'm into these small cute felt balls. Aren't they cute?!

I made two brooches out of them. These are my original designs. But the problem is, I don't have any places to go wearing them. Think I would put them on my purses ^-^

So long then. Hope to see you again soon!!

このフェルトのちっちゃいボールたちが可愛いですね！！

私は２つのブローチを作りました。

デザインは自分のもので、あまりきれいじゃないけど、嬉しい。ビーズとか、刺繍が思うようにできたから～

でも、使う場所がないなぁ。。。

バッグにでも付けようか？！^-^

それでは、また会いましょうね。

Namste to all!!

Just today, when I was wondering what should be the topic of my blog today, I got a nice surprise.

Today when I went to my workplace (I am a teacher), one of my students gave a very nice gift.

She told me it's actually for new year...lol.

And as you can well imagine, of course I couldn't wait that long...

So I opened it as soon as I got back home.

Look, what I got...

It's a "Chigiri-E", the Japanese paper art, made by tearing beautiful, colorful shreds of Japanese paper "Washi" by hand and pasting. "E" means picture in Japanese and "Chigiri" means "by tearing".

I like the color combination. I'm sorry it's not coming well in the picture. The color, the theme is just perfect for the new year. By Chinese Calendar, next year is the year of hare or rabbits., and in the picture, you can see them making Japanese rice cakes which in Japan, they usually make during that season.

I am really glad to get this. Thnx to my student, Mrs. Miyoshi.

After getting this, I thought why don't I put some more pictures of this "Chigiri-E" that I made long time ago at a 1-day salon.

I still remember how much I enjoyed that day. There were so many colorful paper. I was a little bit embarrassed as well as everybody around me was quite veteran in making these pictures. Still I managed to make these collage pictures within that day.

I must admit that these didn't come out that great, still as a first try, I like them. And the last one is my original design...^-^

Anyway, enough time spent here. I should now get back to some actual stitching...have to finish that pouch and corsage...

Talk to you again^-^

こんばんは！

ちょうど今日はブログに何を書こうと思ってたとき、うれしいサプライズがありました。

学校に行ったら、生徒さんがギフトをくれました。

とっても嬉しかった～

彼女はこれはお正月に飾るようにくれましたが、もちろん私はそんなに待てません。。。

早速開けてみたら、なんときれいなちぎり絵のウサギちゃんではありませんか？！

色もとても鮮やかで、扇方のバックグラウンドもお正月らしい。

三好さん、ありがとうございます。

やった、やった～

すいでに、ずっと前、私は一日サロンで作ったちぎり絵の写真も載せます。

初めて作ったから、ぜんぜん上手じゃないです。

それでも、一日で3作を作ったから、自己満足～

4番目の写真は私のオリジナルデザイン　^-^

それでは今日はこの辺で。。。

読んでくれて、ありがとうございます。

またここで会いましょうね　(^o^)

Some of My On-going Projects (今やってる手芸のあれこれ)

Hello again!

Feeling so ashamed of myself. As soon as I started this blog, I'm showing my laziness at full...

I wanted to write this from last night, and at last could make myself sit in front of the computer and write tonight...

Anyhow, before I could say anything more useless, I'm posting some pictures of my on-going projects.
The first one, I am making at my patchwork lesson.

Circle-Patterned Pouch Bag

I go to a patchwork lesson once or twice a month. It's near my home, and my teacher is such a nice lady. I really like her. To tell the truth, though I like stitching or embroidery very much, I didn't like patchwork that much earlier. That's why I started to go to this lesson just to give it a try; hoping this way, I might start liking patchwork. And this perfectly worked out. Recently, I kind of started liking patchwork... ^-^

Here is another thing I'm working on. Its material is a little unusual. It's made of Tatami-mat fringe. Usually in Japanese rooms, the floors are tatami mat covered. So you can well imagine that the material is quite hard and thick.
At first, I was quite surprised at the idea that a mat material can be turned into a beautiful corsage!!
I'm having quite a hard time putting beads or ribbon on this.... :)

Hope I can turn it into a beautiful corsage.
So, please come back again to see when I am finished :)

Let's see...

Tatami-mat Fringe Corsage

I hope to write again tomorrow or day after tomorrow. I'll keep you informed about my progress.

Talk to you again soon...

Love.

Baishakhi

こんばんは！

ブログを始めて早速怠けちゃいました。
昨日の夜から書こう、書こうと思ってて、結局、今やっと帰るようになりました。
恥ずかしいですね。。。

で、今日は私は今やってるいろいろな物の中で二つの写真をのせてます。

一つ目は、パッチワークレッスンで習ってるレトロ風な布のポーチです。
私はいろいろ手芸が好きで、刺繍などは大好きだけど、パッチワークはもともと、あまり好きじゃなかった。
けど、知り合いの紹介で、家の近くに住んでる先生のお家に行って習いだしました。目的は、これでちょっとでもパッチのことを好きになればと思って。。。先生もとても優しくて。。。
嬉しいことに、最近けっこう好きになってきました。^-^

二つ目は、畳のヘリで作るコサージュ。
畳のヘリでこんなものできるかってすごく驚いたけど。
でもやってみてわかったのは、畳のヘリはとても丈夫なものですね!硬くてとても苦労をしてます:((

でも頑張るから、また完成品を見にきてください。

My First Blog!!

Someone said "Today is the first day of the rest of my life". I decided to start it with my very own blog and share my life with you.  I am new at 'blogging', despite my numerous visits to various blogs in the past. So, if this blog seems very basic or boring, please bear with me and I will try and make it more interesting as I go along.

I like trying new things. I like various kinds of handicrafts. But these days, I specially like embroidery, patchwork and glass art.

I also like to experiment with foods. So here, I will post about what I am trying now. But being a very lazy person, may be I won't be able to post regularly...

Here I should say one more thing about myself. I am originally from India, but after marriage, I live in Japan. So, I will post my articles both in English and Japanese. For people without Japanese fonts in their computer, the Japanese part might appear as some blocks. I really am sorry for that.

Well, if you have survived my first attempt at blogging, then I hope maybe you will come back and visit me again, ok?!  Thanks to  you  all

And now I am off to stitch some more...

今日が残りの人生の最初の日だとよく言われます。だから、私もその残りの人生のはじめの一歩として新しいブログを始めようと思いました。今まではいろいろブログを読んでましたけど、自分のブログは初めてで、あまり上手に書けません。。。

そこで皆さんに我慢して読んでいただきたいです。私ももっと面白く書けるように頑張ります。

私は新しいことに挑戦するのは大好きです。いろんな手芸にも興味あります。

でも、最近ハマってるのは刺繍、パッチワークとガラスアートです。

もちろん食べ物も大好きです。

ここでは、私は今、挑戦してることとか、これからやりたいことについて語りたいです。

でも、私はとてもなまけもので、なかなかブログの更新できないかもしれません。。。　：(

さぁ、ここまで読んでくれた方に感謝、感謝。。。
またぜひ遊びに来てくださいね！
私もパッチワークもっと頑張らなきゃ。。。