Sunday, January 18, 2009

My 1st Ribbon Embroidery for 2009 - "My Bouquet of Flower"

My fingers was itching wanted to do some small piece on RE on Saturday. I have not touched any RE work for sometime but still keep quite a bit of RE stash with me. I am glad that I keep them as and when I need the supply they are available in my sewing room. I sat down and tried to think what design to put togather since I did not have any pattern to trace into the fabric. On my last trip to Craft World I saw a very nice bouquet of flowers and it had inspired me to come up with this sketches. At first, I took A4 paper and did some sketches to exercise my finger to get use to the design. Then, once I get confidence to do my final sketch, I draw on another paper the design then traced into the fabric.





I went into my RE stash pile, and pull out a few ribbons and line them up togather on top of the fabric to see whether the colors are matched. But, first I got to think the color theme of my bouquet. I had decided to have a mix of purple and pink since I use lavender and roses in my design.




Unfortunately, I use the wrong fabric. The fabric is so thin and light and its quite difficult for the satin ribbon to slide into the holes. I think the fabric is not suitable for RE work. Anyway, that was the fabric that I have on hand. But nevertheless, I managed to continue my stitching (this had prompted me to dash to the fabric market the next day to get my fabric supply...........)


Viollllaaahhh...finally after 5 hours of stitching non stop I finish my "Bouquet of Flowers". Not bad I guess for a self taught person like me.....he....he......I will do my own framing later.....

If I can find time, I would love to do another set with different color theme.....blue, pink and purple would be nice if I could sketch the pattern with a bit more of roses buds......welll.....when the time come and the mood is right, I will surely sit down and put the ideas on paper.....

Till then....thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy looking at my work........

Saturday, January 17, 2009

My 1st CCN piece...

Hi All Stitching frenz.....



I started stitching my 1st CCN chart for Seasonal Ornament SAL on Thursday....yeeeaahhh finally I started and hoping will be able to catch up. The chart is from 2007 JCS X'Mas Ornament issue.....



Country Cottage Needleworks
"Winter's Eve"
Fabric : Zweigart 16ct Rustico
Thread : DMC (colors of my choice)
Finsh : Uncertain what this will turn into
On 1st day 15th January (Thursday)




On 16th January (Friday)



On 3rd day 17th January (Saturday)


I should have finished the stitching on Sunday but diverted my plan to do Ribbon Embroidery on Saturday nite. I continued stitching last nite and finish quite a bit. Hope to complete by tonite in between packing my stuffs to fly home this weekend.
Till then stitch your stresses away......
Hugs
//siti

Thursday, January 15, 2009

2009 Life & Stitching Goals etc..

Gosshh time flies very fast....2008 had ended......I drafted this post and had forgotten to publish earlier.....my godness sign of aging is around the corner!.....been in China for more than a year without the children and my other half.....and I might be leaving soon.....with all the good life "Allah" gave me, I am thankful I have all my family in tact (eventough we live apart), able to do all the things I enjoy doing, sorrounded by all good friends and buddies and most importantly all the loves from people around me.......Amin..........




I have been checking my stash and digging out some nice charts which has not been touch since I made the purchase (bad...bad....bad girl!)....The time has come to make a proper plan for stitching them in 2009. In fact I had started one already....hope it won't end up in my UFO's list.



First rule for 2009....no more new project for bigger piece......I must make sure all current WIPs for bigger project should be finish and NO new one!! This year will be stitching for small piece....


I had decided to dedicate my stitching for my pile of LHN and CCN charts (oohhh I love these mother and daughter stitching team...they really are creative and make bautiful charts!!). Since I participated in Vonna Ornaments SAL and SAL for ourbiscornu basket with Izzy, I decided to have an Ornie Basket for 2009....I hope my basket will full of Ornie by end of 2009.....

________________________________________________________________________________________________

These will be my 2009 Life & Stitching goal

1. Ornaments SAL - at least 2 ornie a month
2. LHN "Comfort" from Thread Pack - Started on 20th Nov - 80% finish
3. Finish My 18th Anniversary "My Love is Pure & True" - send for framing
4. Finish LK "Hug Will Do" & "Count Your Blessing" - send for framing
5. Stitch UFO - "Ewe Make Me Smile" for 2 hours in a weekend.
6. Finish Biscornu (SAL with Izzy) - at least one a month - 50% finish for Dec
7. Revisit and plan to continue my big "Rose" project - no progress
8. To finish my LHN "Coffee & Tea' Thread pack series - plan to start my 1st in Feb.
10. To finish reading at least 3 books - started with one in Jan "Till We Meet Again" by Lesley Pearse
11. To upgrade my knowledge in reading books on performing Umrah & Haj - bought the book but have not started reading. Should started with this one rather than Lesley Pearse's book.
12. No more stash buying until end of 2009 - this is a MUST!!
13. Preparing to give up my good career by end of 2009 to be stay at home mom (means no more monthly income for me and no more shopping as I wish!!!). BIG DECISION!!!...I have 10 more months to go....
14. Taking the children for trip to HK Disneyland at end of 2009.
15. Spend our 19th Anniversary weekend somewhere in an island in Malaysia (we were in Bali for 2008).
________________________________________________________________________________________________
As you can see from my goal list, I have no plan to make some improvement on my career....all about my family and stitching life. I think I had enough of work and living a life having well paid job but need more time with my loved one. In my course of work, I have been travelling everywhere and most of the time all by myself, I miss my children growing up and I am very lucky to have a life partner which understand me so much and keep on encouraging to do well in my career. I think I had 2 years of best time of my career and the time has come to an end. Rozi has been offered a good job in several occasions but had to declined to make way for me. In return, I think I should also make an effort to give him an opportunity to enhance his horizon in his career. I was very excited when I woke up yesterday to read his text message "I think your dream to be a lady of leisure (LOL) will come true".....I know this message means someone has been calling him for some potential position again. Apparently, the company has been offering him to look after some facilities in 3 countries and he do not need to relocate elsewhere. This will be the biggest achievement in his career, I am very happy for him and willing to give up my career if he wanted to accept the offer. We were discussing over Skype for 3 hours and he is right now negotiating on the pay and benefit. Again, I am very thankful to Allah for giving us such a good life!!!!....well only time will tell whether I will really be LOL looking after the children fulltime and live fullest!....goosshhh I always wish that everyday!!!!


I thinks that's about it for now.......thanks for dropping by and taking your time to read my entry.

Till then lots of loves & hugs,

siti







Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Jill Oxton's Magazine for Swap or GiveAway...

During my last trip back to Malaysia for Christmas break, I visited my regular magazine supplier to pick and pack my choice of magazine. Since I am buying in pack, I have to take whatever available magazines in a pack. I do not need this magazine as the content mainly on Christmas stitching and now giving it away for "Valentine Day" as a gift or a swap will do if you have any stitching stuff to let go. Please leave a message on the posting if you want to partcipate for the Give Away or email me if you are interested for swap, does not matter about your location as I am able to airmail it to you. For those, who opt for "Valentine Give Away" I will pick a draw on 14th February and inform the winner here.
Jill Oxton's Cross Stitch & Beading
Issue 75 - 2008






Snapshot of the content......








I am glad that I managed to get Just Cross Stitch magazine - Halloween special & Christmas preview special. Eventough it was backdated issues, but I am happy with that.....on top of that I also managed to get some 2008 Cross Country Stiching Magazine. I had since change my habit of buying British cross stitch magazine and turn to American stitching magazine instead. My next hunt will be acquiring JCS X'mas Ornaments 2008....I usually get them in month of February or March depending on my luck.....










Hugs
//siti



















































Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Adam in the hospital...




Adam was hospitalised on 2nd January, 3 days before I was supposed to fly back to China. I postponed my trip back on 09 January to take care of him and had an opportunity to organize the children for schooling.......I felt so relieved and fullfilled to see the children off on their 1st day of school.!!! For some people it is just a normal routine of seeing the children off to school or saying goodbye to your spouse before he is off to work but for me it mean so much!!!






My little Adam at the hospital ward...





Had a chance for candid moment with Yong....






Monday, January 12, 2009

My 1st LHN Stitching Piece...

As I said earlier, I plan to dedicate this year's stitching on LHN and CCN piece out of my stash. This is my 1st attempt. I had made a very slow progress on this one due to my other stitching commitment but nevertheless, I am quite happy finally I managed to pick up stitching from one of my favorite designers.



"COMFORT" Thread pack
Stitch on my hand dyed "Green Tea"



Start date : 22nd November 2008




By end of Dec 2009





My progress as of today











I thought it was an easy stitching piece, but I was totally wrong. It's a bit tricky, as you can see some frogging on this piece. This does not turn out to be so well, but I promise myself to stitch another piece later. This piece will be frame and I plan to buy some simple frame. I have seen some simple one at Walmart and Ikea recently. Just wanna try out framing myself since I have all the tools for that purposes.










By the way, have you check out Diane's latest Little Women -Virtue Thread pack series, I guess coming up in February. The "Gentle and Kind" is very lovely. It's looks so special. Goosshh....there goes my $$ again!!...have to put it in my end of 2009 purchase list.




Stashhhhing again........

These are the stash that I received in December....mainly some purchases I made for 2008 which as I said earlier will last me until end of 2009 (If I stick to my word on no more buying until end of 2009....)




I made the purchase for the whole Coffee & Tea Thread Pack series and some other LHN & CCN charts. Also, I had a chance to made a trip to my local favorite needlecraft shop " Craft World" and grabbed some Zweigarts linen supply at 25% discount plus some Multicolors Anchor thread. Can't wait to hand dye the white linen with the dye I brought in from Malaysia. Time to play with the colors......




These are some of the stash purchase from local store here in China, cards, 25 colors of DMC color variation (not sure though why I bought them!!), 14ct DMC Marbled Aida and Impression Aida Fabrics.





During my last trip home, I brought with me linen for some of my stitching buddies back home, I hope for those of you who had received it enjoy stitching them.


My next LHN thread pack stitching will be from the "Coffee & Tea" series dedicated for my new kitchen. I welcome those who wanted to stitch-a-long with me but of course you have to get your own chart.



Till then... thanks for checking on me......Happy stitching!!!



Hugs
//siti





























































Sunday, January 11, 2009

AirAsia oooo AirAsia...now everyone can fly??




An experience to remember.........




I was travelling via Airasia flying back from KUL to Hangzhou. I had to changed my flight schedule from 05th Jan to 09th Jan due to my sickness and the children was not feeling well.



Goosshhh ...never came across in my mind that journey will be my first bad experience in 2009. I woke up 4:30am that Friday morning and got ready to catch my morning flight. After kissing the kids goodbye while they were still asleep, I woke Yong up to say goodbye and as usual say a few words to her. She send me off at the gate and this time Rozi drove me to the airport instead of my regular cab driver Rahim.




All went smoothly during checking in except the person at the gate of the departure hall stopped me because I have an extra 3 kgs (which are all books and some companies documents!!). So I made a u turn to check in the luggage and pay RM 120. I am not worried of the money since I can raise a claim for that, but I don't really like the way the AirAsia personnel stopped me at the gate (a bit hush and he made some kind of face after I explain to him that its just books.....). Anyway, the guy at the counter, Syed Mahathir (see I make sure I get his name since he treated me well) was very nice to me and he serve me gently. In fact, he was a bit concern that I have to pay for the extra kgs. But, I said its ok to pay since my company will reimburse me for that. He is definately fit to work for Customer Service.



Then, I went through all the safety procedure before reaching the waiting area. We started to board the plane about 750am and the flight took off approximately at the schedule departure. As usual, I started reciting the prayer right before I set foot in the plane until it safely took off..The plane was ready to take off at the runway when Capt Mazlan, suddenly pull the brake (I guess...) and the all of us a bit jerking upfront......my goddness....I was really scared and started to pray harder.....all I can see was all the children faces at that time!!. Then, Capt Mazlan made an announcement that one of the engine was having a technical problem. So, made a u turn and all of us were asked to disembark. We we asked to wait until further notice.


Then, we went down and walked back to the terminal building. It was announced that the flight will be delay for 4 hours. I started to figure out by the time I reach Hangzhou it was already at night. So I switch on my laptop started to book the hotel online. I can't get the internet connection on my laptop. Goosshhh......Then, I called Rozi and explained, asked him to book the hotel for me. Airasia compensated us by serving a piece of Burger (from McDonald Breakfast Menu with a bottle of mineral water). Then, waited again before I noticed something burning nearby. Suddenly I can see the smoke at the construction area nearby the waiting area. Having been working in the manufacturing industry before, I was being trained to be alert whenever you smell smoke or something burning....I grabbed my laptop and straight away to an AirAsia personnel asked where is the evacuation assembly point. I was shocked NOT to hear any FIRE ALARM sound at all........and the way the airport personnel faced the situation.....they did not even asked the passenger to move out of the building until all the passengers realised by themselves. All of us were then ask to evacuate at the tarmac outside the building. A few minutes later, the fire brigade came with a few MAB personnel..........it was a bit chaotic.....all the passengers scattered everywhere, busy taking pictures........I wonder whether these people (Airasia/airport employees) were really trained to face such an emergency situation......in reality, no one really in charge of controlling the scattered passenger let alone our safety well being as we are a few meters away from parked aircraft and some moving airports transports........


I managed to snap a few pictures on that day.....



The spot which was on fire
09 th Jan 2009

The passengers outside the fire assembly area.....


The Airasia personnel started to ask the passenger to assemble by destination. Since maybe it was during an emergency and they do not have hailer to organize the passenger, I can see them shouting here and there calling for destination (sound familiar in Malaysia if you took cab at the taxi station...LOL). So lesson learnt from this incident, Airasia should have a dry run in case of emergency like this, ensure that hailer is available to managed the situation or at least there is a place card for the staff to carry so that passenger knows which direction to go (Mr Tony Fernandes - I hope you take this as a positive input!!)....all in all I think the AirAsia staffs are not really prepared for such situation, however, some of them remained very calm and try their best to managed the situation.



I was already hungry by then and the worst part was we were not allowed to come into the building. Furthermore, all the shops were asked to close due to the fire. At about 1pm we were allowed to board the same airplane. My heart really pounding so hard, all the mixed feeling came into my mind....you just imagine flying in the same airplane which you already know that it has been detected earlier having some technical problem. At first I wanted to reschedule my trip back, but knowing that I need to be in the office by Monday, I got to assured myself to be calm and keep on praying for good thing to come. Then, the kapten made an announcement that we are ready to fly. It was Capt Fong or Foo (I guess that was the 2nd or 3rd time I took the flight navigated by him during my flight back and forth between KUL-Hzhou). I remember the last trip back he made a smooth touched down which impressed me (that was why I still remember his name!!). I made a point whenever I took a flight to remember the Captain and the chief steward/stewardess. So that when something good happen I can write about them. I try to tell myself that I am at a good hand!!. As we took off, the ride was a bit bumpy I guess due to the strong wind. But it was all ok once we reach the right mode of flying.



We reached Hangzhou about 6pm, the touched down was smooth and I had no problem as usual at the immigration check point. I met a family of 5 who came for a tour on their own and was not prepared at all for the misfortunate. I offered my help and took them to the hotel so that they can have the same rate as I do. En Sideli and his family asked me to take them to Shanghai to show them around, I felt bad that I can't really join them since I need to be back to Jinhua. However, I promised to take them around Hangzhou and took the last bas at 7pm to Jinhua. I believe its my obligation to help since I have been getting lots of helps from strangers mainly Chinese here in China. Then, I briefed them how to get to Shanghai via train from Hanzghou. Which subway line to take as soon as they reach Shanghai South Station. I also booked them the hotel in Shanghai. I was a bit worried when I board my last bus, thinking about them so much...whether they managed to get the train ticket and boarded the train safely. I was relieved when I called them that they managed to get through smoothly. I told them to make sure to call me in case they need my help while in Shanghai. I made a call again to ensure that they had reached the hotel safely with the direction that I gave them. Sometimes I felt that I worried too much.......but thankfully, they have returned safety to Malaysia now....



I was really dissapointed that we were not being serve for food we ordered online, reason given was the flight was delayed. However, we can purchased the food if we want to but the food supply was limited. OMG....that means I wont be able to eat anything until 8pm (approximate time of reaching my hotel!). I bought 2 bread earlier at the shop near the waiting area, so I took a piece and went to have a nap. Having been flying with AirAsia before, I never had a very bad experience except this one. I hope the next trip back I will get a cleaner aircraft with all the toilet are in working condition and most importantly no bad smell from the working toilet. I guess that's what you get if you pay peanuts! (No more complaints!). Being a regular AirAsia passenger, this is the common smell on flight between KUL-HZ-KUL (I had asked a few of my colleagues who always travel on AirAsia and he agreed with my observation - Mr Tony please take note to improve this!!)


I will be travelling back again on 24th January to KL for Spring holidays. I had my bad experience stranded at Hangzhou last year for 4 days due to the winter blizzard. That was the most frightening experience I ever had throughout my travelling alone, miss my flight to Guangzhou , overnight at the airport for one night with crowded passenger all over places at the airport at the rush hour of Spring holidays in China, running out of prepaid on my mobile phone and there were no shop selling prepaid card, no taxi willing to take me back to the city, making last minute hotel reservation with almost dead battery on my lap top (just because I had forgotten my plug in coverter), admitted to the hospital for a day care treatment, treated by a doctor and nurses who can't even speak one single English word..........my goodness that was really an experienced!!!! For the past few days, I have been checking 10 days weather forecast ....it looks ok ...cross my finger that the travelling will be smooth......less worry this time around since there will be 4 more guys travelling along.....so in case I am stranded again....there are some people I know accompanying me.....


Gotta go...will have an update on my stitching soon.... (hopefully!!). Thanks for reading.



Hugs
//siti















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































No stitching post

Hi All...I have been very tired lately taking care of my sick children, travelling back to China etc. I have not done any stitching since end of December. However, I managed to finish a book from my favorite author Mitch Albom - For One More Day (I hope I get the title right!). Love the story but I enjoyed Mitch's - Tuesday With Morrie much better. I still keep Mitch's - 7 people You Meet In Heaven (or is it 5 people??). I read half way and stop, hope to continue once I am back end of this month.
I am glad at least I had a chance to finish one book in 2008. I am now reading Till We Meet Again by Lesley Pearse. This is quite an old book (I guess). I also still keeping Living History -Hillary Rodham Clinton. Gooshhh not sure when I really can fine time to read those books!.
I am now back to an empty apartment. All alone by myself. But, I have a few stitching to be complete. Glad that will keep me busy!
I hope I will have an update on my stiching front soon....have been receiving last stash orders for 2008....hope to share with all of you in my next journal.
Thanks for reading....gotta hit the sack....tomorrow is working days after 2 weeks off ....gooosshhh..........hate to hear Mr Parson's nagging early in the morning.....
Hugs
//siti

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!

The moment I touched down at KLIA, I dropped by at the mamak stall for breakfast, spoke briefly with my mom on the phone, talk endlessly on the way back in the car with Rozi and dashed away for lunch with my old friend Kak Lina & Kak Na at Sogo KL.



For this entry, I would like to extend my big "THANKS" to two beautiful persons....Kak Lina & Jessie....



Kak Lina fondly known as MakLang (http://dariteratakmaklang.blogspot.com/) in cyber came with these lovely gift, her handmade ribbon embroidery .......that was the first time I met her after 20 years....goossshhh.....that was long, she has not change a bit......as sweet as ever.....the last time we met was while she was in her final year in uni.......thanks Kak Lina for all these.....I hope to see you again next time you are in KL with the rest of the ladies.......


Oven glove, small bag for my telekung, nicely wrapped Surah Yassin and prayer's beads......






I also hope you like the small scissor and all the goodies I brought home for you....enjoy!!!



To Jessie......you have done a wonderful job for tutoring the children......they enjoy learning Mandarin with you.....the children has been talking non stop about you on the way to Hangzhou the day we left Jinhua. They are sad to leave you and will definately miss you so much......the children really having fun learning all the new words from you....without your help Nabihah won't be able to be on her own taking cab, buying some food supplies at the market as well as communicating with all the Ahyees at the market......Najwa has been my little translator ever since she attended your session.....thank you so very much!!!!!




THANKS!!



Monday, January 5, 2009

Trip Down Memory Lane...

Goosshhh 2009 is finally here......been trying to think hard of what to achieve for 2009 but have not been having enough time to sit back and figuring it out....well....what has been happening since last week of December before I leave for my Christmas break and year end break???....been sick since I came back to Malaysia....all of us were having diarrhea and fever, Adam was admitted to Subang Jaya Medical Center for 2 days.....it's been very difficult to adjust our life back into normal....I just could not understand why......it was ok on my last trip back....but this time around I can't really eat my favorite food as usual........I only dare to eat all the mild foods day to day.....will be saving for spices one for Chinese New Year trip then....


Due to the children health condition, I postponed my trip back to China for another week. I am glad now that we are ok and I had a chance to settle all the schooling needs, say goodbye to them before they leave to school (and sometimes with nag too if they slip off), prepare some simple breakfast and visit them at school......it really meant so much for me to be able to do that......for those of you who has these kind of privileages, I always consider all of you are the lucky one!!



However, despite of my shortcoming of not being able to eat well, I am glad that Wendy's finally open its door in Malaysia.......my goodness, it's been 20 years since my last visit to Wendy's...I love the salad bar!!! but too bad they do not have one here ( I guess so since I did not see it while I was there!)....It was by chance that I came across the outlet signage at Giant Kota Damansara on my way back from the bank. As usual, Rozi was very nice made a u turn just to have a bite of its juicy beef burger (which I did not had a chance to taste before). We settle for beef burger and cheese potatoes (gooosshhh sinfully delicious.....)......it was down a memory lane visit for both of us since we always meet at Wendy's after class or just went there for a quick salad.....





The cheese potato and juicy beef burger





Rozi enjoying his cheese potato







I will make sure to take another quick bite before I leave to China Friday....






That's all for now....I need to go out and get my food supply for my China stay and who knows maybe a sinful trip to Wendy's... :)





Thanks for reading and coming by....
Hugs
//siti