The Girl Behind The Red Rope - Book Review

Tedd Dekker & his daughter Rachelle have successfully woven together
a gripping Allegory of Light & Dark, Faith & Fear, Truth & Deception.
Not only does the story describe the revealing of the spiritual world,
but it also stirs the understanding of the reader & makes the spirit
world very 'real'.  I know that just by reading it, my perception of
the atmosphere around me has already changed.  It stirred me to tears
at times, & caught my breath at others.  The story immerses you & drags you in to the point you completely lose track of time while reading.

I finished it in just a couple of days, but may have to revisit it
again to soak up all of it.  There is much to glean from this thought-
provoking story.  You can tell that Tedd & Rachelle really poured them-
selves into the book.

To say it is gripping is an understatement.  It wasn't what I expected - it was better.  I don't think I will ever look on things quite the same way.

Book review: Finding Lady Enderly by Joanna Davidson Politano

Finding Lady Enderly was a surprising & delightful read!  I expected it
to be a twist on "My Fair Lady" & "Jane Eyre", & to a certain extent it
is.... but it really goes much deeper than that.  I was captured from the
first page with this riveting story & read it in just a few sittings.  There
is a lot to this tale, & the many twists draw you deeper & deeper into
the story.  The revelations keep coming & the big one near the end was
unexpected...but also not entirely unexpected, because it made perfect
sense, in a twisted, not-of-sound-mind sort of way.

I liked that there were scriptures & truths mentioned throughout the
book, & that God was often referred to as the Rescuer....for that is
one of His best traits!  (Savior of the world.)   I enjoyed the Easter
Egg hunts as well.  I found myself trying to figure out where the
secret messages were located before reading the answers in the book.  You know, just to see how my literary insight would measure up.  ;)

I liked the blend of Romance, Mystery, Suspense & how it all ties
together to reveal a deeper meaning & plan.  One of the main purposes
of the book is to encourage us to look deeper than just the outward
appearance - Because sometimes a person in rags can be much more
beautiful on the inside than someone who 'has it all together', so to speak.

I won't give spoilers, dear reader, as that would take away from the
surprise & delight that I hope you will find by reading it yourself!  I
did very much enjoy this story & highly recommend it to lovers of
English novels, Mysteries & clean Romances.

My only small complaint about this book is that the cover art implies
that the Heroin of the novel would have dark hair, when in reality she
has long blonde curls.  But this is a minor issue & does not detract from
the story.

Two years, & SCREAMING for an update!

Wow, wow, wow!  I had no idea when my computer crashed 2 years ago that I would lose track of updates on this blog so completely!  It wiped out my entire collection of pictures, stitching finishes, WIP's, templates, overlays & digital patterns.  It's been a very long time coming, but I am finally beginning the tedious process of building my collection again.  It is with the help of my (far more knowledgeable) brother that I was able to FINALLY buy an editing program.  I cannot tell you how thrilled I was the first time 'really' editing a picture earlier this month!  I feel like I can be a lot more creative & expressive now.  I am ecstatic!

The last 2 years have presented a lot of challenges.  My Grandmother died, & we had the grueling task of preparing my Grandparent's house for selling.  This took us months, & within 2 weeks of finishing we had a number of home appliances die within a short amount of time.  An unexpected kitchen renovation was required to fit a new refrigerator, & my Dad was diagnosed with cancer right after.  It felt like there was no time to breath.  The good news is, after 6 months of chemo treatment,  he has been declared CANCER FREE!!!!  :)  All in all, 2018 was a particularly testing year, & I was so glad to see it gone.

I started up a channel on YouTube in 2017 which definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone.  Thank goodness I've moved past all of the 'umms' which are part & parcel to starting out a video blog.  ;)  I have also recently discovered the joys of Diamond Painting.  It's a great new outlet & change of pace.  Still, my first love is Cross Stitching.   I love that I have met other stitchers through my channel, & hope to meet many more & get more involved in chats & 'happenings'. 

I hope to update this blog more regularly now with an even larger variety of content.  I will be posting pictures of my progress, finishes & new starts, both stitching & drilling, (which are always so exciting!) and featuring posts on other topics as well.  I hope you'll stick around & visit often.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  ~Christy

A long break!

Hello friends,

I am back from a very long break from blogging.  I feel like I've
lost touch with everyone and everything that has anything to do
with my hobbies, and I've missed that.  I was on a serious
stitching binge back in 2015, but hit some snags and ultimately
lost inspiration for over a year.  Part of my excuse is that I have
recently picked up some new hobbies that have quicker results,
thus more finishes, which is much more appealing than feeling
the hours drag by with little to no progress. Lately I've been
watching youtube videos of one lady who shows videos of
her stitching progress and finishes, and have found a fragment
of inspiration to start up my blog, and my stitching, once again. 
I hope this spark will take off and help me tackle my to-do pile.

The other hobbies that I've been focusing more of  my time on
are adult coloring...(there are SO many lovely coloring books
being published these days!) ...Writing...(as in poetry, but hope-
fully that will spill over into working on the book I started a few
years ago)... the occasional sketch...(which is something I do
very rarely, but I'm pretty sure I have at least a granule of talent
for it that seems to pop up out of nowhere on occasion!)...and
I've been making scissor fobs.  I have a whole line of scissor fobs
for sale in fact.  I even opened an Etsy shop last year, and I have
them for sale on Ebay as well.  My number of sales is still low to
date, but I really hope that by getting exposure in my blog, and
through word of mouth, that my sales and shops' popularity will
increase.  Please check out my Etsy page HERE

As I want to make my blog interesting enough to re-visit, I will
be posting my stitching progress, stitching finishes, fob finishes,
possibly a sketch finish here or there, coloring pages when one
turns out particulary nice, and I may even post a book review
here or there.  Of course I will leave it open to posting pictures
of cool stuff... oddities... or humour.

Will I use pictures?  You betcha!  Will I post novella length
entrees?  Probably.  Will I make it interesting?  I'll sure try!

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I'll start with my 2 lonely stitching finishes from 2016.  They
are both very nice finishes, but for some reason it was a real
challenge to push through them. 

The first is "Merry Christmas, My Deer" from Country Cottage
Needlework.  It probably took me a week & a half to finish.  I
used the recommended fabric, but substituted some of the hand-
dyed floss with some that I had on hand, as they were very
similar. I like the subtle variations in the red colored balls on top
and bottom....some deeper, and some lighter.  I believe I used a
DMC Variations thread instead of the Weeks Dye Works that it
recommended.

My second finish is a lovely picture that I am really pleased with,
as the picture looks so life-like and the colors are so pretty and
ideal for my home decor.  This chart is called 'Rose' by Inna
Peshkova  The berry tones are so very 'Me'.  I'm not sure what
this fabric is called, but it is a 28ct cream colored evenweave.  It
probably took me about 6 months to stitch, as I finished around

60% of it, then took a break for a few months and didn't get back
to it for a while.  There is actually alot of backstitching here, which helps the little details to pop, and the background is softened by using half stitches.  I love bird themes and roses,
and I'm so glad I persevered on this beauty!

There will be more to come...but this is a good start for now.  I
hope you find my ramblings interesting, and perhaps find some
inspiration along the way with me as we venture to make our
lives more beautiful and delightful through crafts and projects
that bring enjoyment.

Happy stitching!

A new finish!

I just finished a picture...!! ... well, 'finished' is perhaps a slight exaggeration, as the beads are nowhere in sight as of yet... but the main work is done and I am thrilled to be (mostly) done.  This is "Azalea" by Nora Corbett.   When I looked at the finished picture, I wasn't happy with how bottom-heavy she was, so I went ahead & gave her a little more hair.  Also, I used a darker pink kreinik for her shoe ties, as the suggested DMC color was not even visible on my fabric.  I like how it turned out. 

I also went back and added the kreinik to a previous project, "Fern".   I ended up giving her a little extra bling with the addition of a necklace.  Her shoulders looked so bare.

WOW!  My 4th post in one day.  I must really be on a roll! 

Okay... I just had to share this video I found a few months ago.  I
keep going back to see it again and again because it was done so
well.  Plus, I really like this particular 'pairing'.  I think it's sweet,
and it deserves a viewing if you are in any way a fan of the show.




For the record.... My favorite Doctor/Companion pairings are
Nine/Rose, Ten/Donna, Eleven/Clara.   My feelings on the new
doctor are just so-so.  I am in the group of fans who prefers the
light-hearted Doctor, rather than the cold & unattached Doctor
we currently have.  You're free to disagree, but that's just MHO.

I should have posted this picture months ago, but I was on
hiatus from my blog for a while.  I finished the 'stitching' on
'Red' back in April.  I stitched her on a hand-dyed lugana.




After Red, I wanted a quick stitch, so I opted for a Country
Cottage Needlework.  "Mermaids".  Then I went on to finish
the stitching of "Mediterranean Mermaid"  Both of there are
also on hand-dyed even-weaves.

Since Meddy, I have been bouncing like a tennis ball from one
project to another.  For the first time in my life I have 5 WIPS!!!!
That is soooo not me, and I don't like feeling this unsettled!  I
intend to have most of them finished by the end of year...though
that could be tricky since I really want to stitch a Christmas
themed project.  Hmmm...  I'm not on a good roll here.  lol