Grow Your Blog

(Do not fret if you don't make it through all this. I wrote a lot!)

Grow your blog!! It sounds wonderful. I follow many people, but I don't have too many following me in return. I honestly feel like I am always talking to myself! As long as I am entertaining someone I suppose. :P

Well, this is something I didn't officially do for my blog, so in some ways that is a relief. I wouldn't want to repeat myself-- boring! My name is Petra (Peh-trah NOT pee-trah), and I am a proud Aries (and a monkey!) That makes me stubborn and hardheaded, easily distracted by new projects, overly critical of myself, optimistic, and a bit of a chatterbox! (Though not in person. I'm incredibly shy.) There is of course much more to me, but I believe those will be the most prominent aspects about myself you will notice.

I love reading, though I do not read often enough these days; a video game junkie; reality show stalker; and the most important thing-- the creation of this blog-- MY CROSS STITCHES. Though I am still pretty fresh with this hobby, I adore stitching to pieces. It makes me relaxed and happy, and I think I may even be focusing a little better. (Just a tad.) I mainly cross stitch video game related items, since there are so many free patterns available, but don't let that chase away any non-gamers! Every piece is beautiful, whether or not you know what it's about, no?

I spend the other half of my time when not stitching, writing. I do hope to be some kind of published author one day, and I really do not hesitate to think of myself as the next Twilight saga! (NOT meaning vampire novels; just the amount of adoration and publicity it received.) Dreaming never hurt anyone, right? If it weren't for my dreams, I wouldn't be half the person I am today.

My home is full of ANIMALS. I adore them all to bits, and they make the house so lively. When I go over to others' places that don't have any pets, it's so quiet and still and... Lifeless. It's horrible! I like the noise, and the activity, and their endless amounts of love and happiness really fuel me! I have fallen in love with rabbits, ever since my first boy, Peter! Currently there is my little chocolate dwarf Ciel, and whom I believe is a Netherland, Elizabeth (Beth for short)! She is such a pig, my first female, and makes me regret not picking out a boy. LOL! Ciel is so behaved, well mannered, and clean, while she is a complete rebel. Though I don't love her any less.

Puss Puss (or Cira, the name no one ever uses) is my cat! He's a redhead, which makes him really feisty! When he was a kitten, all he did was attack people's ankles! Two years later, and he hasn't quite calmed down yet. There is also Sebastian and Zorro, the family cats. Then there is my mom's hamster, Teddy, whom only uses me for food, and our 3 budgies, Mercury (female), Comet (female), and Pisces (male)!

They're supposed to be the family's pets as well, but as most animals will do, THEY choose who they love. Comet is a chatterbox and loves everyone; Pisces appears to only love Mercury; and Mercury loves me. She's the eldest, being about probably 8-10 years old. She sure doesn't look it though!

Look at me-- I lived up to the chatterbox trait! I'll end my rant now, and if you read all the way through, well then, thank you very much. I appreciate that you took the time. I hope this "Grow Your Blog" event turns out well, so till next time!

xoxox QueenPetra

Nameplate: Samara

I have my first finish of 2013! It's only a small finish, took me about a day, but it was enjoyable to work on nonetheless. :)

Thursday I went to my friend Sheldon's place, and we can spend hours just talking. I find that to be a great time to get some stitching done, but most of my patterns are on the computer! I lack a printer, and only have a few pattern books, so I was at a loss to what I would work on. I have my girlfriend's stocking to think about, and as I was puzzling over what to do, she suggested I make a nameplate that she could hang on the door.

Well! I have plenty of fonts in my books, so planning away I did!

As I said, very simple! The camera ruined the moon's colour, which is actually a very pretty TEAL. She suggested the green for the stars, and I chose the sky blue because it appealed to me. The lettering I found in a cross stitch magazine, while the moon and stars were from a cross stitch book.

I'm still not sure what exactly I think of this. I like it, but then at the same time, I'm not very happy with it. The only opinion that truly matters is hers, right?

Thus far, my IHSW has kicked off to a great start! I won't be stitching Saturday since my girlfriend and I will be playing Dance Dance Revolution all night, but Sunday should be full of stitchy goodness! Have a wonderful IHSW everyone!

xoxox QueenPetra

January TUSAL

Augh, I haven't been stitching a whole lot as of late-- but I've noticed it's the same with most of the stitchers I'm following. I suppose it's just the January atmosphere? Either way, a new moon has come, and so it's time to update my TUSAL!

(My piddly ORTs. ;3; )

Can you see the piddly amounts that I have left behind? :D Originally, there was only the long yellow strand, but I did a little stitching last night (to redeem myself) and managed to add some black orts! I finally found a jar too! Hurray~ It's a teddy bear, from... A Peanut Butter company...? I think. It's pretty old. (In my 20 year old eyes. XD) I'm hoping that I will fill it this year. I have to get LOTS and LOTS of stitching completed!

Not only that, but I do have a little wip for you.

(Left to Right: Sailor Moon; Yuki Cross)

I'm currently working on some standees from Missy-Tannenbaum's site. I have a whole bunch of her patterns saved and ready to go, but with the end of January looming ever nearer, and the realization that a Christmas present is supposed to be handed out in December, not mid-spring, I don't know how many I'll complete. A lot of the larger projects I started for my girlfriend will not be completed for her stocking, but that's all right.

She keeps starting new projects for my gift, and is just as deep in the hole. I think our "Christmas Stocking Exchange" is going to turn into a full year event. Now we're just racing to get as much done NOW as we can. I'd like a handful of standees, finish the Pokemon Badges I started, and get that Pokemon Pencil case finished; at the very least.

This weekend is IHSW, so here's my chance to get a lot completed! Hopefully I will have another update for you around Friday, so till then~!

xoxox QueenPetra

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Yuki Cross
Sailor Moon

Cell Phone Pouches + Pokemon Case

Happy New Year to everyone who reads this! I'm very excited for a fresh start, and I hope this year is more successful than the last!

Well, I have some nice updates for you. First up will be my first attempt at sewing a pouch for a cell phone! My girlfriend tends to put her phone in her back pocket, and she always ends up butt dialing! It's funny at first, but a while back she butt dialed 911, and a police officer showed up at her house to make sure she wasn't missing, or she would've been reported missing! Because of this, I've lectured her on putting it in her back pocket, and offered to make a case for it.

It's not a very good first attempt. I made it a bit too tight, so my Ipod barely fits in it, and you can see all the stitches on the side! I hot glued the Lady Gagas onto, and the fabric is from a pair of pjs that shrunk after one too many washes! The inside is lined with mint green felt. <3

My second attempt went MUCH better:

Hello Kitty print this time round (once again, another pair of pjs that shrank) with white felt! It's a little too wide for my ipod, so I added a strap to keep her phone/ipod inside it. It's so soft, and you can't see any of the stitches. Unfortunately, one corner sticks out further than the other one! I tried to fix it, but I only managed to make it look slightly better.

I also have some cross stitchy updates! I've been working on a pencil case for her for the past few days, and this is the progress of side one:

There's the girl trainer from Johto, with 5 of her favourite pokemons: Dratini (complete), Shuckle, Psyduck, Snorlax, and Bellsprout! I didn't have room for pokemon number 6, so I'll be adding it to the back side, maybe with her name.

Hopefully I'll have another update for you in the next few days! xoxo

Christmas Turkey

I've fallen behind in my blog updates-- as well as my Christmas stitching! No matter how hard I try, I always seem to lack in one category or the next. I finished the Turkey stitch exactly when I promised... But I definitely didn't update when I said I would! Better late than never, so have a turkey everyone while I attempt to catch up in my stitchings!!

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Turkey

Christmas (Crowned) Penguin

I'm feeling much better-- and I'm even able to cross stitch again! My lack of updates over the past two months have been very dismal, haven't they? The main problem was the fact that every time I picked up a needle, something would go wrong. From miscounting, to the aida ripping, to thread tearing, it was a disaster!! I eventually gave up trying for a while there, and when I tried once more in December, it kept happening! So I stopped once more... But with Christmas literally around the corner, I need to get moving!

Last night, after I worked on Christmas cards to my clients (had around 50 to do!) I felt very much like stitching, so I sat down, looked up some nice-- and tiny-- patterns to put on a card, and found this lovely Crowned Penguin. I managed to finish him with only one hitch-- the black thread broke after the 7th stitch, but after that it was smooooth sailing.

Isn't he so cute??

Can't wait to cut him out and paste him to some pretty paper. However, I'm going to make his Turkey comrade first-- for my mom! She's very proud of her turkey centerpieces, so I think she'll like this fellow quite a bit. Hopefully you'll get to see him tomorrow! xoxox

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Crowned Penguin
Turkey

December IHSW

I have a roaring headache, therefore don't feel all that chatty, so today's update will be short and sweet. (I'll elaborate more once I feel better.)

Have some Lady Gagas that I found on Dorkstitch! Not sure why the picture is so small but, I think you can still see them. White dress GaGa has sparkly thread for the criss crosses over her face.

Edit:
As I promised, I'll elaborate more. I've been feeling fairly uninspired to stitch for the past while, and due to missy-tannenbaum's Sprite Patterns December, I've been itching to make a standee for my girlfriend. Sorting through all the amazing patterns was great, but it was difficult to choose something she'd like. I know how much she loves Lady Gaga, and I had been hesitating for a while about making them for her, but I decided, "I'll show her hairbow Gaga and see what she thinks".

Her reaction was quite pleasing, so I was more than eager to stitch all three up~ Originally I was going to make them into keychains: sew them to some material and stuff it with filling, buuut... Meat Dress Gaga suffered. It didn't work. They're so tiny!! Now I need to remake Meat dress Gaga, but the other two are still all right.

As for what to use them for, well, that's still undecided! xoxox

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Meat Dress Lady GaGa
8-Bit Lady GaGa
Hair Bow Lady GaGa