Just something on Wednesday !!

I thought that my daughter Anshita used to spend too much time ( few years back ) playing shop-shop. But when I saw this image, I felt a relief that Anshita did not put her entire belongings on display :) But, Isn’t this cute?

Also , I would like to share my joy of getting featured on Petalstopicots last Friday . Thanks Kara ! :)



Source : Internet

The above is not my daughter ’s picture .

Things that made me happy !!

1. I was featured on petals to picots :)

2. I completed one of my favorite cross stitch projects “Stitch and Stash” :)

Happy blogging !

Preeti :)




 

Don't hide, stash with pride !! :)

Yes , that’s right ! Now you don’t have to think twice , just stash with pride !! :)  Isn’t this a cute and confident reply to the worrisome faces at our home ? ; ) Of course , Mr. H worries more about space than money .

Ever since I saw this free cross stitch chart here , I wanted to stitch one for my future craft room . It is designed by Rhona and you can learn more about her on her blog Tangled Threads . Thank you Rhona for such a cute chart!

I have cross stitched it on 14-count white aida fabric and Anchor threads. I changed few shades as per my choice and availability. The dimensions of the stitched chart is  22 cms x 18 cms

Some snaps before framing .....

With some more stash that justifies the word ‘stitching ’ : )

Hope you like my stashing style !

Happy blogging !!
Preeti :)

Just something on Wednesday !! I won , I won!

Hurray ! I won a lovely giveaway !!

Yes , dreams do come true ! When I saw bloggers winning the giveaways , I always thought how lucky they are and dreamt that I might win someday . I entered Rajeswari’s giveaway and when she mentioned that it is open to all , I thought that chances are minimal . After all Bday & anniversary gifts I received last week , I said to myself on Monday , “ Everything is over , now get back to routine . ” Just then , dear Rajeswari’s mail popped up with a surprise aannnnd I won this lovely treasure!!! Thank you so much Rajeswari and lots of hugs and kisses to your princess for making me lucky !! :)) You , as a blog friend and your gifts , are special to me !:)

 

 

Things that made me happy !

1.    Definitely, being the winner of Rajeswari’s giveaway !:)

2.    I organized my embroidery floss of 215 different Anchor color shades in boxes on the basis of color and number range . It took 2 hrs for me to sort out :)

Have a nice day !!
Preeti

Diamonds are forever !! :)

A happy Monday morning to you ! Hope you had a good time last week . Thanks for your wishes on my B’day !:)

Mine was an eventful last week .  Yesterday was my wedding anniversary and we have completed 11 years of togetherness . No , I did not get any diamonds as gift . In fact , I don’t own even a tiny diamond . Perhaps , I have not developed any liking for it . Good for Raj :) I consider it as a waste of money . Please , don’t give me that strange look :) I have added a piece of history about Koh-I-noor and Darya-ye-noor diamonds and its relation with my city/state at the end of this post .

On my Bday (13th Feb.),  I went out for lunch with Raj and a little bit of shopping.
Raj said , " This is your day , you keep your finger on anything, I will get that for you " :)
And I said , "Be sure , what you say , I will keep my finger on Salman Khan (my fav Bollywood hero) " :))) Anyways , he knows that I am a very bad shopper and whatever I bought that day , I ended up buying 20% for me and remaining for Anshita . In the evening , both Raj and Anshita organized a treasure hunt at home for me to search my gifts :) I like many small gifts than one big gift .

On wedding anniversary, generally we go out for lunch or dinner and shop a gift for both of us or for home . We bought a set of two circular side tables . I wanted a round table for my large doilies :)

I made these crochet diamond motifs with Laura knitting cotton and size 4 mm hook . The pattern is from the book “Old-time Crochet made easy “ by House of white birches publications .

 

 

About Koh-I-Noor :

One of the largest known diamond Koh-I-Noor (Mountain of light in Persian lang.) and its sister diamond Darya-ye-noor  (Sea of light in Persian lang.) originated in the state of Andhra Pradesh of which my city Hyderabad is the capital . It was mined in the nearby Kollur mines and was owned by various Hindu, Rajput, Mughal, Iranian, Afghan, Sikh and British rulers who brutally fought over it and seized it as a mark of victory . It was earlier called as Syamantaka-mani  (in Sanskrit lang.). When the Persian ruler Nadir Shah from Iran invaded India in 1739 , he took away both the diamonds and the famous Peacock throne from India . He renamed the diamonds as they are known today .  But the Koh-I-Noor was later won back by a Sikh ruler Duleep Singh from India . It was then confiscated from him in 1850 and presented to Queen Victoria . Presently , it is embedded in the British crown . The Darya-ye-noor diamond is preserved by Iran in its treasury of national jewels . The peacock throne was plundered and dismantled after Nadir Shah’s assassination . There is a curse associated with Koh-i Noor that it affects men who wear it, but not women.

You can get more detailed information on internet. The history class here is enough for this time. Next class, next week :)

Hope you like my crochet diamonds.

Have a happy week ahead!
Preeti:)


 

A clarification about my last post…

Just want to clarify about my last post on email settings . It is not intended to preach about the right way of replying and commenting on blogs . I can very well understand that it is not always possible to reply to all comments and experienced bloggers are thoughtful enough to reply to queries of their fellow bloggers . It is absolutely and obviously your choice what you want to do .

My post just tells that if at all you prefer to reply or want to receive replies via email then there are some settings to be fixed . I hope my post is taken in the right perspective :)

Please do not comment on this post .

Thanks,
Preeti


 

What? You say you did not receive my replies?

Hmmmm ! That 's what is bothering me since I found that many of my blogger friends are not receiving my replies . I have been responding to each and every single comment on my posts through mails, but I wasn 't checking which email address was it going to. Recently, I realised that many of those are going to noreply-comment@blogger.com . Yes , yours might be a no-reply blog .

As you have taken time to read my post and write sweet comments , I too have loved replying all of you . I feel sad that some of you have not been receiving my replies , especially , when you have asked for some queries and the noreply-comment gobbled up the information. You might even be thinking that I don’t care to respond :(

Take few minutes , this is very important . Do a small test .

1. Post a comment on your own blog.
2. Check your mail, you will receive the comment.
3. Now reply to this mail.
4. Before sending the reply, just double-click or tap on the name displayed in the email address field. Does it show your emailid or noreply-comment@blogger.com?

If it is a noreply , then you have got a problem and need to fix it .

Follow the steps in the tutorial here.

 OR

If you have moved to google+ profile , then check for a tutorial here.


Few best practices:

1) Follow your own blog , you can see how it appears on other blogger's dashboard.

2) Subscribe to your blog if you have provided option 'subscribe via email' on your blog . You can check whether the posts received by your subscribers are in proper format . I am facing an issue in this; I am receiving the feed twice in my mail. If you have any solution, please tell me .

3) Try to reply on mails if the comments are not from no-reply bloggers . Sometimes you may defer replying to your comments on the blog and it is not a good practice to have bloggers visit your blog again and again to see reply . No offence here , just a suggestion. 

From now on , I will post a reply on my blog in case there is a query and the commenter is a no-reply blogger.

Please , please , fix it so that you can receive replies from me and other blog friends on your comments.

I hope you will be able to fix the problem . I am not an expert at this , so please google for better solution or pray to God :)

Have a nice weekend!
Preeti :)

2013 Turtle Trot February update

Hello my dear friends !
Turtle Trot is my first ever SAL and this is my first update post.  I could make progress on only these 2 projects from my Turtle trot list.

Floral border on a towel, an EMS pattern.

Cross stitch blooms by Kooler designs. Just a little spread of stitches :)

None finished yet, but I am happy I made my cross stitch progress after joining this SAL. Thanks for your motivation! I hope I will finish one item by next month:)

Also, another time consuming task for me is that most of the charts I follow are in DMC color codes and the color code convertors do not translate into exact Anchor color codes. We do not get DMC floss in India. So I have to map the nearest Anchor shade accordingly. Booohoooo:(

I am not satisfied with the rose on the floral border. Do you think it is fine? Or do I need to change some shade? Suggestions are welcome.

Eager to see all of your turtle trot progress:)

Happy Stitching!
Preeti:)

Just something on Wednesday!! Happy Birthday !!

It is just something more this Wednesday. Today is my Birthday and I have turned 37 years old :)

Things that made me happy !

1. Raj has taken a day off for me today :)

2. Anshita made this lovely card for me :) Her nickname is Bittu :))

Cheers!!
Preeti:)


About ‘Just something on Wednesday’: A place where I share something that might bring a smile on your faces :)

Cosmos: The Classic Doily !!!!!

Hello!! I just thought of welcoming you into a new week with a touch of splendor :)

This is my first beaded crochet doily about which I posted here.  I completed it couple of weeks back but was having difficulty in taking photos and the tiny beads weren't showing up properly on a light background .

It is a classic design, named as ‘Cosmos’, by Julie Haberberger from the book 'Stellar beauties' by Leisure Arts . My Cosmos measures 13 inches across and is made with Anchor redheart size 20 mercer crochet cotton and hook size 1.5 mm.



 



Click the above image to enlarge, will give a better look

 

 Click the above image to enlarge, will give a better look

The place where I stay , Hyderabad (South India) , is a historic city and is currently famous for pearl jewelry and IT industry . Next week , I will tell a little more about my city . From modern to traditional , the fine jewelry designs are available in many pearl varieties . I have many pearl necklaces , mostly silver base , bought on occasions of marriages in family . But now , there are no marriages in near future . I just wear them on festivals .
The box is a handmade from Kashmir State (North India). I bought this last month from a handicraft exhibition here . I love the color and Kashmiri painting on it .

Hope you like my first beaded crochet attempt and I guess it is successful :)

Have a happy week ahead!
Preeti :)


 

Meri Kitaab : The book review

I have added my review for the following book. Please click here or on the ‘My Books’ tab to read the review.

Happy Weekend !

Preeti :)


 

Just something on Wednesday !!

Life is not all about WIPs , pending laundry , cooking meals , taming kids and a hubby ; it ’s all about the journey of enjoying these ! :)

Source: Dimensions Cross Stitch


Things that made me happy:

1. I started my cross stitch projects and rediscovered my love for this art :)

2. One more leafy vegetable , Fenugreek (Methi in Hindi) , got added into my daughter’s list of ‘I Can Eat’ items . It is slightly bitter so I thought she won’t like :)

Happy blogging!
Preeti


About ‘Just something on Wednesday’: A place where I share something that might bring a smile on your faces :)

H for Hexagon!!

Now this is right from a crocheter’s alphabet book!
Hope you all had a nice weekend. I was crocheting a couple of motifs from the book ‘Connect the shapes Crochet motifs’ by Edie Eckman . I liked this hexagon so I made some more . I have not weaved in the threads , just tucked them underneath to take the pics : )



 

  

 

 

 I am yet to create something out of it. Hope will be doing that soon. I made this with Laura knitting yarn and hook size 4 m.m. This is first time I am working with it and I had bought only these 4 colors (Orange, magenta, blue and green) for trial . Since I am used to working more with size 20 threads, I found it very thick. Not sure, what ply it is of but it is very loose and there is no luster. But the colors are good and the yarn is soft compared to Anchor knitting cotton.
 
I liked those colorful motifs, although I missed having a cream or white color but still I guess I managed to create a good combination. Didn’t I? I am not that color confident and keep on asking Anshita, “Does this look better?”  : )

Have a blog-full week ahead!
Preeti : )

 

Cross Stitch : A new beginning !!

Hi all,

Just wanted to share that I have joined a cross stitch SAL. Please click here or click the tab '2013 Turtle Trot' on my blog to know about my 13 cross stitch projects for the year 2013. Please view web version of my blog to see all the tabs.

Wish me good luck !
Preeti:)

Meri Kitaab : The book review

Dear all,
I have started a Book review section on my blog . Please click here or on the ‘My Books’ tab (view web version of my blog) for the review of these two books . 

 

Earlier I had a tab called ‘Inspiration’ which was intended for the review of books and spotlight some creative and inspirational projects from other blogs . I intend to make this book review activity fortnightly or monthly after I am done with the weekly review of 7-8 books to let that page get its feel :) And also, I don’t have too many books!

Yesterday night, I spent lot of time on HTML coding to get what I want but still had to compromise with some glitches . Hope I will fix few more things. Next on agenda is to fix ‘My Gallery’ tab :)

I hope you like my hard work ; I had to eat three chocolate bars to work on it because I badly messed up the images and links :)

Do write in your feedback and suggestions to improve are always welcome !

Have a nice weekend!
Preeti :)