Friday, February 25, 2011

Can it be that Spring is coming?

Previously, On Jenny Bean:





And, after Saturday:





Yowza, WAY more than I thought even though it's been so long since I posted! :o

As I close in on the verse I'm pondering what it should be. I decided to change the verse almost before I began stitching; I get that it's Shakespeare, but somehow it smacks of starvation and poverty to me. :/ How Festive.(Love's Labor's Lost isn't numbered among his work's that I've read, so I likely don't *get* it, but...)

I looked into other Christmas quote-ables, but most of the ones I liked were too snarky to be sampler-suitable.

In lieu of inspiration, I considered enumerating the ingredients of a tin of tea I had, as they appeared in French. French is *so needlework*. Names of fruits and spices--it could work!!!

But, this week It struck me that I could just use the lorem ipsum! This seems like a fabulous idea to ME, but that might just be my graphic design roots and lack of sleep talking. lol! Hey, I can even argue that the source text (which was by Cicero, and argued that no healthy person enjoys "pain itself" for its own sake) offers a counterpoint to my interpretation of the original text! :D

But, no-matter-what, the "gingerbread" stays. Because I love ginger and spiced sweets, and the word looks awesome in the font used. :D And it'll all be fine, because the lorem ipsum is gibberish, to begin with! yay!





I've been all about clearing-out and cleaning up lately: I shuffled and un-displayed some things in the bedroom with the result that I was able to eliminate a useless piece of furniture in the bedroom--seems like we have LOADS more space now.

Then, Marc and I celebrated the 6th Anniversary of our First Meeting (on the 20th) by adding this white ikea bookshelf to the living room. Hey, assembling cheap particle board-overlaid with laminate does it for some people, lol! :D :D :D

I am so thrilled to have the PS3 OFF of the should-be-clear shelf beneath the TV!! And, the wires for it (it takes 4! Yes, Four! Can now be stashed behind as intended. I still need risers for the DVDS there, but am thrilled. :)





I don't have a "before" pic, but it was a tall, thin shelf full of those same DVDs, and this Tower of Plastic Power in that corner before.

You probably already knew this, but these plastic drawer bins are hideous: squeaky-creaky, and I'm CONVINCED that no matter what you put in them they'll look horrible--like a pile of JUNK that stays suspended by some mysterious power in compacted cubes instead of falling to the ground in a heap. I don't think there's anything you could put in these drawers which is so pretty it won't look like clutter! The Must-be-accessible wires and accessories I'll put underneath the PS3 in some pretty fabric bins (yeah, gotta make those), and the others are destined for decluttering or the closet! Seriously, don't fall prey to buying these Expensive plastic drawers!

Okay, some spring Needlework stuffs:





Started this biscornu from The Floss Box which I've wanted to do/had kitted up since Myra showed hers last year. I changed the vine and flower colors so far. (Not that it matters to let you know with this picture quality. It's been a Storm-n-sunshine day, but the storm has returned like it means it now!)


It's stitched on some white-running-one-way, pastel-green-the-other (warp or weft, not sure which is which). The other fabrics I'm trying to show are all seersuckers I piced up for myself during the supply run to the city I made for the rumored Original Freebie. One is a natural/neutral tones and the other two pastel (no, really!). I do love a good seersucker. Or a bad one. I think the only other in my heart is a nice eyelet lace. These, and the finishing fabric for Original Freebie came from B and J Fabrics in the city. I first heard of them when my trim store gave me their card, and boy am I glad I did! :o Their site isn't much, but the store is amazing! The backing for my freebie is pretty "normal" considering it came from a store that offers "chain mail", but it's woven not printed and "works" with the design. :)

A scattering of books from my nightstand...





...to accompany my Test Results.

Some of you may remember me rambling and fretting from about the summer on over a language exam which I took at the end of last year. After taking it, I said that I'd done HIDEOUSLY. I predicted I'd have to raise my score to even fail!

This week, the scores arrived, and while yes I did fail, it's HOW that counted with me.

The exam is divided into 2 sections: "Listening" and "Everything Else". Now, you must score 80/180 or higher cumulative to pass, and since I didn't make that (I scored a "60") I failed.

But, there are also minimum requirements for both sections. "E E" required a 38, which I scored EXACTLY, and "Listening" 19 pts--here, I scored a whopping 22! :D SO, I'm feeling (absurdly?) happy that I "passed" the minimums for both sections, even though I failed overall. It seems that the score requirements allow for a weakness in a section as long as it's balanced by strength in the other.

I'm really quite pleased; maybe I'll even try again next time! :D

~*~


I'll leave you today with a sneak peek of the previously mentioned "Spider's Web" Trim which will be used in the Freebie kit:



I haven't dyed it yet, but it's going to be fab, I hope! I'd wanted to offer a peek of the stitching, but the light did not cooperate! :D

Happy Weekend, All!

Berit

23 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Jenny is looking FABULOUS! :)
Can't wait to see what you put in the quote box.
And redoing and reorganizing and repurposing and buying new stuff to do all the above...always a good day when I do that! I love doing it to be truthful :)
Everything is looking great!

Margaret said...

Nice progress on Jenny! Love the IKEA TV stand. I'd love to have one in our house. We just need to buy it -- and a flat screen TV. lol!

Anonymous said...

great progree on Jenny, I love the colours on this one, I need to move it up on my to do list
great re-organising always feels good after a good clearup

barbara said...

I love that you failed well and that you can see the positives of the situation! :D

Wonderful stitching. Just read Fforde's novel Something Rotten and of course baby Friday speaks lorem ipsum. :D

Hazel said...

Wow fantastic progress onyour wip. Love it. Great attitude btw. xxx

Bonnie said...

Enjoyed reading your post.
I am in a spring cleaning mood and really need to do some organizing.
Your Jb is looking awesome and I can't wait to see the bunny ornament.

Catherine said...

JB looks great - can't wait to see what you put in the box!

Organizing is always good - I think some pretty fabrics might make the clear boxes look pretty!

Congrats on passing the minimums!! Next time you'll go in knowing what to expect.

Your little bunnies are so cute!

Bertie said...

Wonderful colours on Jenny Bean, lovely sampler:) the Bunny Biscornu will be so cute:))
You got me going with the clearing up lol.

Sadie said...

JB looks lovely :-) It's on my 'to stitch before I die list'.
I love putting IKEA furniture together. Stuart, not so much. he chipped a tooth a couple weks ago whilst DIYing.
I can't wait for a sneeky peeky of your debut design :-)

Christina said...

JB is looking fabulous - you got a huge amount stitched in just a day.
I've been meaning to de-clutter for ages but never seem to get around to it, so for now I'll just do it vicariously through you!
Don't you just love Ikea furniture? I bought a new Ikea wardrobe from ebay last year for a steal. The only downside was I had to wait ages for it to be delivered and when it arrived it came in the back of a car with blacked out windows, driven by several Russian mafia type guys! Oh, you can imagine the looks I got from the neighbours that day!! I'll do anything for a bargain!

staci said...

Wow, you've made a lot of progress on JB...she's gorgeous!

staci said...

Wow, you've made a lot of progress on JB...she's gorgeous!

Jackie's Stitches said...

JB is looking really sweet!

Congrats on the declutter. It's loads of work and everything look worse before it gets better but it's so refreshing to have it completed.

Giovanna said...

Jenny Bean looks really lovely!

Sally said...

Gorgeous progress on Jenny Bean.

Littlebit said...

Your Jenny Bean looks wonderful!!

Lainey said...

Great progress on your beautiful JB and those bunnies are too cute!

Poussy Stitches My Love said...

very nice progress

beautiful stitching

have a goos day
marylin France

Brigitte said...

Great progress picture of Jenny Bean. I love everything Jenny Beasn and the only reason why I haven't bought these wonderful designs (yet) is that I want to stitch a lot more of the stash that I already have.
I'm also bunny-stitching right now and it's a lot of fun.
Decluttering and organizing will be the topic here as well this week. You were doing great!

Lynn said...

JB is looking fantastic and that bunny biscornu has really grabbed my attention. It's going to be adorable when finished. It's a very cute design.

Lennu said...

Beautiful stitching! I just love the idea of lorem ipsum :)

Oh and thanks for your comment on Ghibli stuff, yes, I agree, the prices are too high. Fortunately the prices of DVDs are not high, as we are huge Miyazaki fans with kids :)

Anna van Schurman said...

Lorem ipsum would be hilarious! I love it. Of course not everyone would laugh as hard as I would. :)

Maybe you could find some scrapbooking paper to use to line the plastic drawers?

Melissa Price said...

Way to go with the shelves! We don't have an IKEA anywhere around here. I think the nearest one is 5-6 hours away. But, those black shelves in our playroom were the assemble-yourself type from Walmart. Better Homes and Gardens has some pretty decent stuff in Walmart's furniture section. And I love the bunnies! Sorry about the measurement fiasco.