I think I'm back.....

It's been quite a month. I've been busy, and don't have a lot to show, other than this - the second project from the jewellery class.

One more picture to share....

It seems it's been a week when everything has come together and I can finally share some of the goodies I've been working on. This scissor fob was for Vonna and it was her (very belated) draw prize from the Monochromatic Exchange at the Robin's Nest. I drew from all of the participants who mailed on time, and I was excited to have such a great bunch of stitchers that all of their names went into the draw!

The focal (main) bead is one of mine, and it's got Swarovski crystal beads to help out.

Jewelery Class - Project 1

This is the first project from my jewelery class - we've been busy riveting, texturing and soldering in the last couple of weeks, and this is the end result. I made the toggle clasp (at the bottom) as part of the class, and made the beads so that the clasp would have something to hang on to.

As part of this, I found a great new bead store in town. The owner provided some great suggestions on finishing the piece (the copper tubes were her idea) and she even asked about buying some of my lampwork, which is always a great compliment.

Biscornu Exchange

Dani hosted a biscornu exchange over at the Needle and Thread BB. My partner and I managed to time our biscornus so that they arrived on the same day, so here are both biscornu's to share.

I received a lovely Victoria Sampler biscornu from Katherine (StitchinKat) and sent her a biscornu from Indigo Rose. It's actually based on the "Peace" ornament featured in the JCS Ornament issue of several years ago. I used the button that I made out of glass to match the Dinky Dyes thread.

I think I'm still here....

just smokin' busy..... It's been quite the month or two. I've been working on a biscornu exchange for the Needle and Thread BB and an ornament exchange for the SBEBB, so I don't have much to show... except some new beads. Hope you like them.

I'm still here..... just busy

Haven't had much time to catch up this week - everything seems to start back up in the fall and requires at least two weeks to get sorted out. I'm taking a jewellery course this fall, so this is my week one "sample" of sawing (lines and curves) and cutting things out and filing (the heart). I also got some torch time in on the weekend - the button I made seemed to match this fibre from Dinky Dyes perfectly, so I'll have to keep an eye out for a use for this in the future.

The Etsy Shop

is back....

Here's a sampling - to see the full shop, click here

Progress Pic - Russian Nights

I haven't stitched on my Russian Nights sampler for a while, but I thought I would pull it out this weekend and make some progress on it. The design is by Bestitched, and it's actually quite a quick stitch, although there is quite a bit of backstitching to go in later. The backstitching instructions call for flower thread, which I understand isn't available, so I'm considering other options. It will be all black backstitching, so I'd like something heavier to contrast with the black fabric, but don't want it to overpower the design.

Beading Update

I managed to squeeze in a class from Kim Fields before I had to head back to work after my vacation. She taught us about making flower cane, petals and backgrounds. Most of the flower beads are practice from what she taught us - she was an amazing teacher, and I hope to be able to take more classes from her someday.

Stitching Update

I have a couple of updates to make now that vacation is over and I'm back to real life. The first one is my sent and received Monochromatic exchange for the Robin's Nest BB. I sent Renee a heart ornament, the bracelet and the threads, while Heidi sent me the gorgeous needlebook and threads. I'm thrilled with what Heidi sent and hope that Renee also liked her exchange.

I also have progress pictures of Alhambra Garden and of Pyra. I'm slowly workign through both of them, and hope to have more progress to share with everyone soon!

Eastern Europe - Days 11 through 16 - Russia

Our first stop in Russia was St. Petersburg - home to most of the Russian nobility. St. Petersburg itself was a gorgeous city - I think it looked like a wedding cake with beautiful pastel buildings and white scroll work around the outside of each one. On our first day, we had a sightseeing tour of St. Petersburg, stopping at several churches and the main square. We were all pretty tired from the overnight train, so it was back to the hotel and then out to a ballet. Getting to the ballet required negotiating the local metro system. St. Petersburg has some of the longest escalators on the lines in their metro system and the line we were on was no exception to this. I don't think you could see the bottom of the escalator from the top, and it was a bit scary not knowing where you were going.

The ballet was wonderful - a very modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. It was a very classical style of ballet, but the setting and costumes were more modern, making for a wonderful evening. What a treat to be at a ballet in Russia!

The next day we were off sightseeing. The first stop was the Church on Spilled Blood - a beautiful onion domed church which was the sight of the shooting of one of the Czars. The church had been restored recently after falling into disrepair during the communist era. Many churches in communist Russia were "secularized", and used as skating rinks, swimming pools or warehouses instead of churches. This church was no exception, and the beautiful mosaics that lined the inside of the church had recently been restored to their original state.

That evening we boarded the last of our overnight trains. We didn't know it at the time, but a bombing and derailment had occurred the previous night on the same train line, so security was extra tight on the train. Fortunately our train journey was uneventful.

We arrived in Moscow and were escorted on another city tour. Most of Moscow's tourist attractions centre around Red Square and the Kremlin, so the city tour wasn't as exciting as in St. Petersburg, but it was a wonderful city to visit. The next day I got the chance to visit both sites again. We started out by visiting Lenin's mausoleum - a bit creepy and very strange. It was very dark in the tomb, and there was very little time for your eyes to adjust to the change between sunlight and darkness, so I just about ended up tripping down the stairs in the tomb. After re-emerging from the tomb, it was over to St. Basil's cathedral. Although St. Basil's is probably the most famous cathedral in Russia, it's fairly simplistic on the inside - nothing like the ornate tile work in the Church on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg.

After that, it was off to the Kremlin. I was fortunate enough to arrive at a time when they were performing a military exercise, and got to see a few of the soldiers who still work at the Kremlin in their duties. From there, it was off to see some of the churches at the site - there are 5 that are open to the public, and most of which were still in their original state. Someone did point out that it was fairly ironic that the churches inside the Kremlin, which was supposed to be the secular head of state, were the best preserved churches in Moscow. The Kremlin also had a fantastic exhibition of Cartier jewellery. Given the remarkable lack of obvious security around the site, we had a discussion over dinner as to whether the jewellery was real or not, as there were hundreds if not thousands of carats of diamonds and other precious gemstones. (All of which was very sparkly!)

After that, it was back to the hotel for a farewell drink and some dinner. I had an early flight out, so I called it a night pretty early. I'd arranged for a cab to pick me up at an insane hour of the morning, and drove to the airport. Of course, what was supposed to take 1 1/2 hours only took half an hour without traffic, but I got to the airport with plenty of time to make my flight. I had a *long* layover in Frankfurt, which doesn't have much entertainment in the airport, so I ended up spending $30 on a sandwich and coffee, but at least the staff at the restaurant let me sit for a couple of hours without too much hassle. After 6 hours, it was finally time to board my flight back home, and I arrived in Calgary 9 hours after that.

Eastern Europe - Days 9 and 10 - Lithuania

Our next stop was Vilinus, in Lithuania. Vilinus was a gorgeous little town which had a dark history through the war and through the Soviet regime. We came to Vilinus by day train from Poland, arriving in the early evening, just in time for a late walk around town and some supper.

The next day was a full day of sightseeing. Vilinus is about half a million people, which meant that the town centre was very walkable and easy to get to. We started with some of the churches in the town centre, and then climbed up to the top of the Vilinus castle to get some panoramic views of the city. After that, we walked a short distance to a museum that explained the occupancy of the town during the war by the Nazis and following by the soviets. It was an interesting museum as the bottom floor was a KGB prizon which had largely been untouched since the time it was used - very interesting, but hard to see. Most of the towns that we went through had some sort of record of either the Nazi or Soviet occupation - we certainly didn't go to them all, but I thought it was important to learn something about what the area went through in the recent past.

After sightseeing, it was time to board another overnight-train to Russia. We passed through Latvia, and so got woken up by border guards twice through the night - once to cross into Latvia, and the other to cross into Russia. The Russian guards were interesting - we had one set of guards to pick up the paperwork to exit Latvia, one set to check under the bunks for stow-away passengers and one set to complete the paperwork to enter Russia. Entering Russia requires that you have a visa, which is filled out in advance, and is sealed into your passport. Even so, the guards scan the visa under a black light to make sure it's a valid visa, and then check the visa against a central register of visas for the week. The central register of visas is a big stack of paper in a binder, and one of the guards calls out your name, while the other one flips furiously through the binder to find your visa in the registry. Once found, the other guard confirms that you are in the register, and shuts the large binder. This procedure is repeated for all members of the group, despite the fact that our visas were all registered together, and should be in the same part of the binder.

Eastern Europe - Days 5 through 8 - Poland

We took the overnight train from Prague to Poland - it was the first time in a long time that I'd been on an overnight train, and it was hard to get adjusted to sleeping on the overnight journey.

The first stop was Krakow. We arrived very early in the morning, and wandered around the square for a bit while eating some breakfast. It was lovely to have such a public space all to ourselves - just us and the pigeons.

After breakfast, we boarded a public bus to take us out to the Auschwitz museum. The site preserves what is left of the concentration camp, and it was a fascinating and moving experience. I learned a lot about what happened during the war that day, even though it was emotionally draining to experience. Its one thing seeing pictures or a movie and quite another to actually be there. I didn't take very many pictures when I was there, and so the few that I have are of the momument to the victims at the far end of the concentration camp.

The next morning we headed out again on another day trip - this time to the Salt Mines outside of Krakow. The salt mines are listed as a UNESCO world heritage site because of all of the gorgeous carving and sculptures that are underground. THe highlight of the salt mines is a huge underground cathedral, where even the chandeliers were made of salt. The trip took a bit longer than we thought and we ended up back in the city of Krakow just in time to make our second overnight train to Warsaw.

Warsaw was extensively bombed during the war, and as a result, has been undergoing constant restoration to bring the city back to its former glory. We saw some lovely churches and buildings that had been put back together in such a way that you'd never guess that they were actually a restoration. In the afternoon, we set off to see a Chopin concert in one of Warsaw's public parks. About half way through the concert, the sky started to blacken, so we made our way back onto the bus that we'd came from to get back into town - it was a good decision, as about 5 minutes into our bus ride, the heavens opened, and a huge downpour occurred. We managed to find a small archway to duck into, and then opted for the nearest restaurant, which turned out to be the best Thai food I've ever eaten.

Eastern Europe - Days 1 to 4 - Prague

I'm back from Europe, after sampling the local beverages and being on far too many trains. I started in Prague with a couple of days on my own before the tour that I was on started. I've found that a couple of days at the start of the tour were good, as it helped me to get over jet-lag and get orientated to wherever I was. It's also nice to have a couple of days to feel like you're really on vacation - to read a book and relax without a schedule to adhere to.

The first day after I arrived, I wandered around Prague Castle. The heart of Prague Castle is the cathedral at the centre, which is gorgeous. Prague received relatively little damage during the Second World War, and so the city of Prague and the castle are relatively intact. I also got a chance to do a short trip out to Karlstejn castle, which is about an hour outside of Prague. To visit the castle, you have to do a guided tour, and our tour guide locked us into and out of every room that we visited. The castle did have some very old objects, including medieval glassware and plates which were in their original condition.

On the third morning, I met up with the organized tour. There were 9 of us on the tour - 3 Irish, 2 New Zealanders, 2 Australians and 1 lady from South Africa. Our first stop was to head back into Prague for a walking tour. It was nice to be guided around for the first time in a couple of days, and not have to worry too much about where I was going or how I was going to get back.

The fourth day was another sightseeing day in Prague - I went to a few of the less notable churches and climbed the watch tower on the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge connects the Prague Castle with the rest of central Prague, and is teaming with street vendors and tourists. It provided some interesting photos to see the amount of people on the bridge from the air.

Away from home....

It's now officially 4 days into the vacation, and this is the first serious internet time I've had in a while. I'm just killing a little time this afternoon - our overnight train isn't scheduled to depart until later in the evening, and we had to check out of our hotel this morning, so I'm trying to find something to do that isn't outside (too hot) or on my feet (they're sore from 4 days of pavement pounding and stair climbing). Fortunatley, internet time is both indoors and takes place on a chair, so is perfect for keeping me busy for a couple of hours.

I managed to sort out most of my personal email today and catch-up on a few websites, so I feel back in touch with the life I lead on a day to day basis. It's nice to know that other people are able to carry on without you as you drink coffee in cafe or drink a beer on a hot afternoon.

It's been a great couple of days - Prague is very charming, and the views here are breathtaking. I've had a great couple of days sitting in small cafes or visiting the many churches and monuments that exist in a city with Pragues' history. It's also clearly August here, which means that all of the tourists are out in full force, being everything that only tourists in the heat of summer can be - climbing up a monument to get the best photo or choosing to sort out a map in the middle of everyone else's way. Fortunatley, our hotel is located outside of the central part of the city, and so taking the metro in and out is a nice way to shift in and out of the "tourist" part of life.

Exchange Received

Julianne, from the SBEBB let me know she received her "Freebie" exchange this week. The heart was a freebie from the gift of stitching, and the bracelet and fob were made to match.

Exchange Received and even more beads

I received this lovely exchange from Dawn in the Freebie Exchange at the SBEBB. It was my first exchange at that board, and I'm really happy with the results. Dawn stitched me a lovely little scissor fob, and sent me a great Britter Kitties chart and floss. Thanks Dawn!

I put all of the beads into the kiln last week, and thought the jumble of them was really cool. I think they look like candy. These are all of the beads that I've made in the last couple of weeks, including some new red beads and pink beads that haven't been on the blog before. Thanks for all of the great comments on the beads last go round - if you're interested in purchasing beads before they hit the Etsy store, just send me an email (caycay at shaw dot ca) and let me know. I'll give a bit of a price break to those who buy from me directly, as I don't have to go through the work of creating the listings.

New Bead Sets

I've been on a bit of a beat set kick the last couple of days - and these beads are the result. I'm hoping to restock and re-open my Etsy store later in the summer, and figured I need something to put in there!

I've been doing a bit of stitching lately too. I managed to get a bit of time in on Alhambra, but need to do some frogging, so it's not going well. I also need to get an exchange piece stitched this weekend for the monochromatic exchange at the Robin's nest. It looks like that might be the last exchange there, as Renee's decided that she's going to end the board.

Pyra Update and New Beads

I have finally got back into a bit of a groove after a couple of weeks off - it's been hot (at least for here) and I've been too busy. I've finished most of my volunteer obligations, and it's nice to be able to sit down and enjoy stitching for a while.

I put in a bit of work over the last few days on Pyra, which is stitched entirely in seedbeads. She's coming together really nicely, and I'm enjoying working on her.

I also managed to get to the glass studio yesterday and put in some time on the torch! It's been far too long. I was playing around with some solid colours that are really summery to me - reds, yellows and greens. I'm not sure that all of these beads were successful, but I still like most of them, and I think they'll find their way into a piece eventually. I also worked a little bit on a present for an exchange partner, so I'll reveal that when the exchange is completed!

And the blog candy winner is ...

Jill in CA! Congrats Jill - if you send me an email at caycay at shaw dot ca, I'll put them in the mail for you!