New Year Exchange 2012

Despite my sporadic, messy, and tight work schedule, I decided to join the Cross Stitch New Year Exchange 2012 with fellow Indonesian cross stitchers on Facebook. I also joined the new year exchange in 2011.

Unfortunately (as I predicted beforehand), I wasn't able to make a new piece for this exchange. So I decided to give my old finished piece a frame. My piece was sent to Jenn Chow.

The piece I received was a pair of slippers from Selly Lie. It's too beautiful I thought I would never wear them.

The main objective of this exchange was that we would love to know our cross stitch friends better since we met only virtually on Facebook.

End of Year Holiday

Every food sent to us must pass a test... The photo-test.. Hehehehe

This year-end holiday, friends and relatives went out of town for holiday... And they were very very very kind to send us unique food from the place they visited... And there I was, taking pictures of the food they sent us...

Clockwise from upper-left : rambutan from Sumedang, shrimp snack from Pangandaran, lumpia from Semarang, and coffee-choc from Garut.

Good luck to myself

I tried hard to make some progress on this piece... No luck...
Well, work loads will decrease starting next week. I wish myself luck.. :)

I'm so looking forward to finish my first Soda design.

November Rain

It's been raining a lot since last week.
Well, I think it's time to welcome the rainy season.
Though it's usually bright in the morning, can't help to notice cloud with a shade of black..



And in the afternoon, the rain starts pouring down, sometimes briefly and in several ocassions heavily with thunders and lightnings.

Moments after the rain are usually hectic (due to my hometown condition).
The rapid growth of private-own vehicles makes traffic jam a common ocassion on a daily basis. Also, people tends to halt their outdoor activities during the rain (off course) and they abruptly continue their activities as soon as rain stops. That's when we fight for space on the street... LOL.



Despite the uncomfortable routines, I just let my self enjoy the rain along with its consequences.
Earth after the rain is actually beautiful and melancholic...
Those falling leaves make me wonder how autumn feels like... (living in a tropical country leaves me with fewer choice of seasons... LOL)



Anyway, enjoy your day!! Whatever the season is...

Weekend update

It's weekend! Yaaay! The good thing is I can get my deadlines off my mind this weekend..
I have fulfilled my targets last week and sure there will be new ones, but not until weekdays come



So, this quiet and bright morning I was working on arranging my stuffs..
Coffee was sure a good company as always
Those deadlines was causing an extra chaos at home
My closet, craft drawers, magazine stacks, shoes rack, were all huge mess

And then I found my old finished cross stitch at a corner of my craft drawer
I did these several years ago
I thought it was from Heritage Series, not sure actually..
I will have to search the pattern somewhere in my book shelf

Use recycled paper



Conserve water



Be an organic gardener (not finished yet, still need to stitch the plants)



And this one is one of my faves
since I love shopping very much, although I don't consider myself a shopaholic
but there were times when I just did a random and emotional shopping when I had a mood swing :(



Anyway, have a good weekend everyone!

Today's Playlist 11/28

Music is the universal language indeed...
I found this new release music video on Youtube
although I couldn't seem to understand the lyric, I thought it was heartbreakingly beautiful..



The English title is Late Autumn (늦가을), sung by Cho Kyuhyun of Korean boyband Super Junior.
I think it's about the memory of someone at one past late autumn..
And at the present autumn he prepares the upcoming winter without that someone.

Back from hiatus

I can't believe that I'm on hiatus for 3 months!!!
Finally, my internet provider fixed the problem on the network.
Well, actually I could go online on my mobile phone, but it was just not the same.. hehehe

But still, I haven't had a chance to continue my cross-stitch WIPs...
Have loads of work and reporting to do..!



Mostly, I did some paperwork research and interviewing people to gather certain information needed.
And running the office is also conducted among those chaotic deadlines.
I was assigned to join new teams on several projects.
It's fun to meet new colleagues and get to know them...
Different personalities, work methods, habits, way of thinking...
I always learn something new.. :)

Back-stitch & Blackwork

Most of my fellow cross-stitchers didn't enjoy doing the back-stitches.. Well, I'm quite the opposite, I love back-stitches!

And today, I find my long-time piece I've done few years ago. It's a blackwork piece. Blackwork is (almost) the same as back-stitches. Just arrange them in a lovely pattern and voila...! This piece can express how much I love to back-stitch :)



I haven't finished this piece completely, I need to assemble a strap to make a tote bag.
Fingers crossed, hoping to fix my sewing machine soon!

One Year Tablecloth :)

With a high determination, I finally finished cross-stitching my tablecloth…!!



I started on July 12,2010 and finished at July 16, 2011… Well, I’d say I couldn’t make it finished on time since I targeted that it will be finished exactly in one year… (one year? a great target… NOT)



I was one day behind schedule because I was suddenly scheduled to do a project presentation at Ministry of Industry in Jakarta on Thursday. But I’m glad my tablecloth is done so I can work on a new project.

I'm back...!!!

How time flies... It's weekend again!

The past few weeks have been so complicated and hectic..
Lots of paperwork and proposal at the office, bad internet service, and also kids' final exam... *phew*

Now, it's time to relax and do some stitching... My internet connection is fixed, but it's still going on and off in a while.. I've managed to finish my tablecloth before it reaches its 1st anniversary of being an UFO...

This is the last time I left my WIP..



My progress so far..



It's 80% finished and still advancing...



Happy weekend everyone!!

Creative Culinary

My home town, Bandung, has always been known for its reputation as a creative city. This reputation is acquired from the vast development of creative industries in the city, which is especially influenced by the number of its young inhabitants (60 percent are below 40 years old). Well, for a long time Bandung has been the city where private and public universities are located, which make the individual culture flourish in this city.

One thing among those creative things is the culinary. The people in this industry did so many improvisation on traditional food. For example, the improvisation happened the long-known Indonesian processed rice the "nasi kuning" (=yellow rice) that has been a trademark for special occasion such as wedding party, birthday party, independence day or another commemoration. Nowadays, they made another version of processed rice, the "nasi hijau" (=green rice). The green color is made from "suji" leaves (Latin name: Pleomele angustifolia), while the yellow color is obtained from turmeric (Curcuma domestica).

And when some people didn't have baking oven to make brownies, they steamed it instead. It is called "brownies kukus" (=steamed brownies) and this kind of confectionary is a best seller!!!

Started several months ago, the talk of the town was the hot and spicy snack called "kripik maicih". The term maicih (I think) refers to a slang which means Mrs. Icih (Icih is typical sundanese name, the ethnic group in Bandung/West Java Province). This one is a modification of a long time known snack, maybe since I was in elementary school or even earlier. It looks still the same as I used to know. The different is the package/brand and the marketing system...



They sell the snack through twitter. And they likely to have no permanent selling outlet. They sell it on a car at different location in town. So, to know where to find it, you should check their twitter @infomaicih and then you will know where and when you can find the selling outlet. And be sure to remember the identity of the selling car (type, color, license plate number). Nowadays, they also sell at different cities in Indonesia, e.g. Semarang, Jakarta, Denpasar, Yogya, and so on.



And when you are ready to enjoy the snack, be sure to have enough glass of water with you! The President of #maicih (that's how they call their CEO.. LOL!) gives us tip how to eat #maicih properly : do not chew it in a hurry (since it tastes very very hot), but let them melt in your mouth..!!! What a tip!!! LOL.

Parisian Street - Finished

It has been a month since my home internet connection broken down. I have called the service center but no luck, yet. Well, I have to count on my mobile phone for a while then. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy blogging from my mobile phone...

By the way, I have not had a chance to upload my masterpiece, the Parisian Street Scene, here on my blog. So here it is...



I love this Maria Diaz design very much and I mostly enjoy making the french knot flowers in front of the windows.

Margaret Sherry Lovers SAL

I was participating in Margaret Sherry Lovers SAL which was held from February to April. We chose 3 cats from the Culinary Cats designs from the CrossStitcher magazine #222. Then we stitched one cat each month.

Now, I am so happy because I have finished all my Culinary Cats...
So.. happy dance anyone? :)
Here is a review of all my cats

February cat : I choose this cat because he/she is just like me. I use to read the recipe book before cooking, because I'm not very good at either remembering the ingredients, or cooking... LOL



March cat : This is actually my favorite cat... I love the expression on his/her face and love the cake



April cat : Also love the expression.. And by the way, I made a tiny little mistake on the broken egg.. I stitched the egg shell on the wrong position.. Well, it's no big deal, I think... :)



I have not had any idea on finishing the pieces.. Well, I think of framing them for the worst case
I have been enjoying this SAL very much, hope to do this kind of SAL again in the future...

Parisian Street - April Update

I have been a very slow stitcher due to several office deadlines...
I always look forward to have one of my stitching weekends..
Here is my progress so far :

Week 11 - I have finished building my cafe...
















Week 12 - My backstitches were done.. I'm impatient to build my tower..

Another Birthday Girl

Another BFF of Tifa, my 11 y.o. daughter, was having a birthday at March 11.
I decided to made her this Make a Wish piece designed by Margaret Sherry from CrossStitcher magazine #215. I also used the mount provided by the website.



Unfortunately, I couldn't find a ready-to-use frame that match the design size. So I used this 8R (8"X10") photo frame instead.

Another gift is done...
I think it's time to start my 2nd cat for the Margaret Sherry SAL and continue my Parisian Street...

Birthday Gift for Nabila

Last year, I have made a cross stitch birthday gift for my daughter's BFF, Nabila, when she and my daughter are in the 4th grade. This year, they are in the same class again at 5th grade. Since she had already received a framed cross stitch gift, this time I was thinking of giving her a smaller piece. By accident, I found this Margaret Sherry's Cat Bookmark chart. So I stitched the chart on a 16 count, 2 inches wide, white Aida band that I just bought at an online store.



It was my first time stitching on a 16 ct fabric... the squares are so small!!!
Fortunately, the chart was a fun to do...
And I used a cotton fabric for the back of the bookmark..

Bogor, The Rainy City

Two weeks ago I visited Bogor, about 120 km from Bandung, to attend my husband's family gathering. Bogor is also known as the rainy city because of the frequent rain showers (even during the dry season).

And finally, this time I got a chance to buy Bogor Starbucks Mug at the Botani(cal) Square. It's a unique name for a shopping mall, I think. Well, the building once belonged to Institut Pertanian Bogor (the Bogor Agricultural Institute)..



Hmmm.. let's see.. Jakarta, Bali, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bogor... I think I only need one mug left to complete my Indonesian Starbucks mug, the Medan mug. The Semarang outlet has been opened, but I don't think they have already had a City Mug yet.

After the gathering and strolling at the mall, in order to complete the "journey" we bought this Bogor snack, roti unyil (the "unyil" bread). We have many kinds of bread in Bandung, but this one is just... unique...



Unyil was a puppet character from old television show back in the 80s.
Addressed to children, this puppet series was about an elementary school child named Unyil and his adventures with his friends. The word "Unyil" means "small". The bread is named to suit its size....

Here's a picture of Unyil and the other casts...
Unyil is the one with red shirt, peci hat, and sarong.

Parisian Street - 3 Weeks Update

Here's a little update on my WIP.


Week 4 - I finally completed my flosses for the chart. So, I concentrated on filling the 'holes', e.g. the windows and the tables.








Week 5 - I usually complete the cross-stitches, then do the back-stitches. But that time, I was impatient to see the finished-look of my cafe and did the back-stitches on the completed part instead of moving on to build the next storey.







Week 6 - I started to build the third storey of my cafe, at the same time I finished my first cat for the Margaret Sherry's Culinary Cat SAL (I will soon post a picture of it).

Parisian Street - Week 3

I haven’t had a chance to post an update on my WIP last weekend, so here it is.
I was building my 2nd storey of the café.



I still don't have several of my flosses, because they aren’t available at the local store. I’m missing the blanc, 762, and 632. So, I’m still having a few ‘holes’ on my piece. Hoping to complete my flosses as soon as possible.

And this month I start the Margaret Sherry SAL. It's the first time I join a specific SAL, choosing 3 out of 6 Culinary Cat patterns. I will start my first cat this weekend.

Violinist Cat

Last week, my daughter asked me to make a gift for her classmate. Tsurayya Nur Afifah, we called her Ifa, is having her 11th birthday today at January 30. She has been in the same school with my daughter since kindergarten, 7 years ago. And right now they are in the same class at 5th grade.

Ifa loves to play violin. She used to play it in yearly school play.





So I decided to do this violinist cat. It's designed by Margaret Sherry and I found the chart on CrossStitcher Magazine Russia edition. I do not know the chart name, but it has a similar design with the Catafiddle, only in different color. The Catafiddle from Heritage Craft has a brown cat, this design has a gray cat.

Parisian Street - Week 2

The last two weeks have been very windy and the weather kept changing through the day. No outdoor activities last week. So, I spent most of my spare time stitching, doing house works, and watching television.

One thing that caught my attention is the natural disasters in some parts of the world and here in my homeland. My deep condolences to those who lost their love ones and homes.

By the way, here is an update from the second week of my Parisian Street Scene.



I was trying hard to finish the below-left part of the piece. Well, I need more luck :)

First Piece 2011

Finally, at the beginning of year 2011, I managed to stitch the Parisian Street Scene, designed by Maria Diaz, from The World of Cross Stitching magazine.



As far as I remember, I only have 1 WIP, the tablecloth…. So I will do both of them alternaly…



I started stitch the new piece last Saturday. And here is the progress from the first week.

What's in the envelope?

Happy (belated) new year everyone..!!
I have been feeling unwell since 5 days ago.
But I have recovered now... And I finally can reveal what is inside my new year's exchange envelope..

It is a coin purse from Hanna Sutrisno, my dear Indonesian cross stitching friend at facebook. She currently lives in Taiwan. And she sent the package from there.



It is lovely! I love the fresh color. I think I can use it for my pocket camera or cosmetics.

And here is what I have made for the exchange. A card I have sent to Ngiang in Jakarta.



The pattern is from CrossStitcher Magazine #229, designed by Margaret Sherry, and I also downloaded the mount from the website.