Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year's Temari Exchange

My exchange partner this time was Elmira, from Canada. She sent me this beautiful C8 temari in pink, coral, and maroon. There are 2 each of 3 different star patterns, with the beautiful triangles separating the faces.

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As I mentioned, I opened the package about 2 minutes into the New Year. It had arrived a week early, and the anticipation was fun. I had to put the box away in the hall/desk area because it was driving me nuts!

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Unfortunately, my temari did not reach Elmira before New Year's Day, even though I sent it on the 19th. It arrived today I am so sorry she had to wait for 3 extra days! This is the one I sent her.

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I really like how it turned out, except I wish I had used a sparkly thread for the stars. This is #2 in the set, with 6 bands between centers.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Last Week's Pictures

Here are all the pictures I should have posted in the last two weeks:

My Christmas earrings:

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The beautiful Winter Berry bouquet I bought at Whole Foods last Wednesday:

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The rainbow on New Year's Eve:

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My New Year Day's start:

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DH commented that it is very similar colors to the Alphabet Sampler. What can I say, I love those colors! However, these are all silk floss! I did not want to put it down.

Tomorrow I will show you the New Year G.I.T.S.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Vacation Week

Tomorrow it is back to work, and I must say I have really enjoyed my vacation.

The Monday after Christmas we did some shopping. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds in the stores. Shopping was really very pleasant. DH picked up a pair of slippers, and I got a very nice winter (snow-flake) sweater. It is not quite a "Christmas" sweater, so I can wear it for the whole winter. We also got a nice walk in. It was chilly, but sunny.

On Tuesday I made it to my yoga class. Wednesday was a big day. We went to Evanston. I had a gift certificate for a framing shop, so I took two samplers, Flower Power, by Crossed Wing Collection, and Indian Summer Afternoon, by Chatelaine. After the first estimate, I put the second one back in my bag, and still had to add quite a bit to the pot, but I am quite excited about finally getting Flower Power framed. We bummed around for the rest of the afternoon, explored Whole Foods, stopped in at Vogue Fabric, and walked around Orchard Mall for a couple of hours. There was a very interesting Tea Shop (not cheap, of course). Of course there were an amazing number of things we did not need. I did get a lovely bouquet at Whole Foods.

Wednesday evening ended with dinner with DD1 and her friend at Tango Sur, an Argentine restaurant in Wrigleyville. Even though we had reservations we had to wait for 1/2 an hour. The consensus, though, was that the food made it worth it. DH and DD1 had milanesas, C had a steak, and I had gnocchi: delicious.

Thursday night we went to another restaurant with friends, using up a gift certificate. I am going to have lunches all week from the left-overs!

Friday we ran a couple of errands, and then went home for a quiet evening. It was a terrible rainy day, but just before we got home the sun came out, and I got a picture of the rainbow. I got to open my New Year's Temari right away after midnight, and beautiful c8 with stars all over it. I will post a picture as soon as I get my camera hooked up.

New Year's Day I started Holland Springtime Mandala by Chatelaine. It was so much fun I didn't want to put it down! I will post a picture of my start tomorrow, as well.

Tomorrow it is back to work!