Busy Bee

Hello Friends,

I took a short hiatus from doing much of anything but cleaning this weekend. I suppose this is payment for my hermit weekend last weekend.

3 straight hours and 6 yard sized trash bags later I put a tiny dent in the leaves that had begun to take over my yard. I was feeling fairly accomplished until it rained Sunday and 3 billion more leaves fell. Now it's impossible to see any progress. Ugh. At least the house looks somewhat better.

Of course with Thanksgiving right around the corner I went out and spent a small fortune on food for said holiday. With only DB and I to cook for I got a small 9 lb turkey that will feed us both for quite some time, especially with everything else I'll be making. My list so far:

Turkey
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato casserole
Green bean casserole
Stuffing (in and out of the bird)
Cranberry sauce (I cheat since I love the canned, Ocean Spray, stuff)
Deviled eggs
Cinnamon rolls (breakfast of champions)
Rolls (of course)

I did get an early start by making the pumpkin bread Saturday. The first batch was a miserable failure, so back to the store I went for round two. Second time is apparently the charm for I had 3 beautiful (very tasty) loaves and the house smelled wonderful for several hours.

I opened my email this morning to a fantastic gift from Lynn at Happiness is Cross Stitching. We've been emailing back and forth and, because she is such a wonderful person with a huge heart, she offered to make a few labels for me. :-) I can't tell you how thrilled I was to receive them. I gave free reign on the design and was I surprised with what she created.

Look how sweet they are!! I adore the bow!! Must admit, I am spoiled as there are several colors and designs to choose from. I just have to stitch faster so I can use them all.

As you may have noticed I am over the moon with excitement. I swear I did a happy dance when I opened the file Lynn sent. :-) She can attest to my rambling email, which is turning into a rambling post, over my joy.

Onward to stitching!

I did manage to get some stitching done, mainly throughout the week. I went back to the Medium Dull Purple much to my chagrin, but it stitched quickly.

You can almost tell there's a tree on the top right!

There is another WIP that, unfortunately, I can't share until I'm finished and the recipient actually receives it. Hope to have it done by the end of next week and in the mail. I have, yet another, training to go to at the beginning of December in St. Louis. This gives me plenty of time to stitch since I'll be staying in a hotel for several nights with nothing else to do! I'm sure you can see how heartbroken I am ;-)

That's all I've got for the moment my dears. Please feel free to comment and/or follow! I'd love to find some new bloggers to stalk follow. ;-)

Another Giveaway?!

Oh its true! These little buggers are popping up everywhere!

Gillie at Random Thoughts from Abroad has announced her DMC floss giveaway. 15 skeins of your choice! The only requirement is that you must live outside of the US. Much to many folks dismay, DMC prices are a wee bit outrageous outside of the US which puts a large dent in some pocketbooks.

This is a fabulous offer for those eligible. What are you waiting for? Get on over there and see what she's cooking up. :-)

Finishes, SALs, and Giveaways. Oh my!!

Hello friends!

Sadly, I have zero progress to share with you today. I stopped at the grocery store on Monday after work and had to cut my trip short as I started feeling quite ill. I didn't even have the oomph to stitch. :-( Fortunately by yesterday afternoon I was feeling much better, but still didn't manage to pick anything up to work on.

I do have, however, a finish to share! (We'll ignore the fact that I've had this beauty finished since Saturday and totally forgot to post a picture sooner) After much deliberation on what to do with Wine a Bit, I decided to frame it for my kitchen.

Isn't it pretty?! I tried to stick with a more "rustic" theme if you can call it that. Believe it or not even DB likes how it looks.

Onto more exciting news.

Jo at Serendipitous Stitching is hosting a year long SAL that I've signed on for. That's right 12 whole months folks. (Granted it's not completely mandatory for you to go the entire 12 months, but that's my goal!) The theme is Gifted Gorgeousness, which just basically means that whatever you're stitching has to be either gifted to you (kit, fabric, embellishments, thread, etc), or something you plan on gifting to someone else. Mind you that is the completely abridged version of the rules. So go check it out for yourself!!! I'm so excited for this to start as this will be my first SAL. :-)

Next, certainly not less important, is a giveaway from Lynn at Happiness is Cross Stitching. She's calling it a small giveaway. I reject that. To me anyway, this is big! I know designing anything takes serious time and dedication no matter how small.

I'll quit rambling now. The giveaway is for a custom made label with your blog name. Lynn's also got tons of freebies posted all over the place. Just amazing. Skip on over there too!

Finally, and I know we've all seen it but I'm putting it out there again, Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having an intense 25 Days of Christmas giveaway. There's something new every day so there will certainly be something that strikes everyone's fancy. Today's giveaway is a surprise! Oh how exciting. :-)

My goodness everyone seems to be in the Christmas spirit of giving (and I seem to be doing well going on and on about it). I can't tell you how much I love seeing all of these wonderful people doing such amazing things for others. I'm still very green on the whole blogger thing, but with all the support and love from everyone is overwhelming. Good luck ever getting me to leave. Lol.

That's all for now. I hope to have some more progress to share with you all soon. I'm itching to get back to my stitching, but for now work is screaming my name.

Please feel free to comment or follow and I'd love to return the favor!

Hermit Weekend Update

Hello Friends,

Oh did I have a joyous weekend. My DB stayed gone overnight for work which left me and the pooches for a cross stitch crazy weekend.

Apart from bringing my Chihuahua for his yearly visit to the vet for all his shots, I didn't leave the house. It was cold and rainy so it didn't bother me at all.

I managed quite a bit of progress on Beauty and the Beast. Yay!

My last update we were still here.

And now........

And here is a little bit closer view of what I've done. Lots of counting since I decided to continue with the green on, what will eventually be, a tree.

At some point Saturday night Sunday morning, I picked up Snow White and began stitching Happy. Or at least that's who I think it is...

I then realized, as I was stitching his beard, that I miscounted. That's apparently what you get for starting a new project at 2 am. Needless to say I'm a little annoyed that I basically have to frog his whole face. So... I put him back down and picked up Beauty and the Beast again.

All in all it was quite a productive weekend on the stitching front. I managed to watch Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Frog (the newest addition to my Disney collection), and many hours of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. Don't judge me. :-)

We had small amounts of snow that melted quicker than it fell. Until this morning that is. Just enough to make the roads slick of course. I'm glad I don't have to go more than 5 miles to work. Snow seems to wipe everyone's memory on how to drive.

I must admit I love how snow looks... when I don't have to go anywhere. My lantern looks especially lovely I think.

That appears to be all my news for the moment. I'm debating on joining a SAL for 2015... seems to be a fun idea and I do have the perfect project for it. I'll let you know!

Until later, please feel free to comment and follow. We're up to 12 followers and it feels amazing! I never get tired of seeing your lovely projects and getting to know you all better.

Below Freezing

Dear Friends,

Winter is officially blasting us with temperatures I dislike. Any time my car tells me "Ice Possible" when I turn it on, I know it's going to be a chilly day. I don't think we hit anything above 34 degrees, which I know isn't that bad, but I'm a self proclaimed wuss when the temperature doesn't get above 70. :-)

There's been so much going on this week between work and home I haven't had much of a chance to stitch. I've made slight progress on Beauty and the Beast. You can tell I have no rhyme or reason behind what color I stitch or which part I work on next. Whatever strikes my fancy really.

The castle is close to being finished, but as you can see I've moved back to the sky and I'm starting on the trees and bushes again. One color amuses me for a short time before I have to switch.

I am planning to be a hermit this Saturday and do nothing but stitch and watch movies. Hopefully I will have a ton to update you all with on Sunday. My pooches will be beyond thrilled to have their Mommy home all day. The spoiled brat Chihuahua will be curled up under the blanket next to me and more than likely won't move until he absolutely has to. He's a character for sure.

Oh, for those of you who are as in love with Starbucks as I am, they are currently having a BOGO on their holiday drinks between 2 and 5 (6 for members). I couldn't resist a Peppermint Mocha for myself which afforded a coworker a free drink. Lucky duck.

That's all I've got! Until next time, please feel free to comment and follow. I'd love to return the favor!

Veteran's Day

Take a moment today to thank a veteran. Without these brave men and women we wouldn't be where we are today. My heart goes out to the families of those who didn't return home.

Fall is Falling

Dear Friends,

Fall is making itself known in my yard. And on my roof. And my car. The list goes on. There is about a foot of leaves all over and it feels like they showed up over night. I wish I could say that the trees were bare, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be like this for the next 3 months. We'll have snow before I get all the leaves out of here.

A bunch of cleaning did get done, with short breaks to do more fun things (cross stitching of course!). I am thrilled to report a surprising amount of work was done to Beauty and the Beast. I did mean to start my new Danish Snow White design, but that'll have to wait possibly until next weekend. I'm having way too much fun watching this one grow.

And of course a closer picture of the side I'm currently working on. Ooo the castle is turning out nicely.

I do have to admit that I'm a little tired of seeing dull medium purple. It was such a lovely color before I stitched it enough times to make my eyes roll back just a little. :-)

Oh before I forget, Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a MASSIVE 25 Days of Christmas giveaway. If you haven't already, go visit!! It's well worth the stop.

That's all I've got for the moment. Please feel free to comment and follow and I'll be happy to do the same!

Rain, Rain - Go Away!

Dear Friends,

It was a whirlwind weekend! Even with the time changing, and the "extra" hour we were given, it was still here and gone too fast for my liking.

We have also seen nothing but rain since November showed up... ugh.

We'll begin with Halloween night, which was less thrilling than I was hoping for. I'm used to how it was when I was a kid. An entire night full of running around and collecting more candy than our little scrawny arms could hold. This being a new house we're in with a larger neighborhood than we previously lived in I was expecting to see quite a few kids. (Let's not discuss the slightly excessive amount of candy purchased in preparation for this. Suffice to say I'd rather be safe than sorry).

At approximately 7:00 PM (about 2 hours after I was expecting the little ones to start) I FINALLY had a trick-or-treater show up. I had almost given up hope. This little one was followed by a large group of parents and small children who told me that I was only the second house in 2 blocks that was giving out candy! I almost fell off my porch. We did have a few more kids trickle in through the night all of whom left my house with about 2 lbs. worth of candy a piece. Haha. Lucky kids.

I shall end my rant now.

On a happier note, I did manage to find 2 new designs to add to my stash. We'll start off with my killer Ebay find of this beauty. It's a wall hanging of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Oehlenschlager. I had never seen this pattern and doubt I ever will again.... the more I Google about it, the less I find...

It even came with the wall hangers! Not to mention a hoop, the Aida and all the thread. Ooh I'm beyond excited to start this one. The names of all the characters are spelled out below their picture and I'm debating on whether or not I want to leave it all in Danish. The pattern comes with the English spelling, but I think I like it how it was intended to be... Even my Grandmother is excited with this one. She has already requested photos of my progress along the way. She likes bloggers and doesn't even know it!! Haha.

I just had to share this photo with you. There was more bubble wrap in this package than there was anything else which gave me a nice chuckle.

The second is a pattern a coworker ordered and shared with me. It's another by Sue Hillis Designs called "Ooh, Too Tight?". I had to make a stop at Hobby Lobby this weekend to pick up a frame for Wine a Bit and I managed to get all my thread for this little cutie.

I haven't started on anything new as of yet. I'm still trucking away at my Beauty and the Beast stitch. With such a busy weekend I wasn't able to get much accomplished, but I love how the rainbow is turning out. You can't really see the sparkles in the thread from this picture, but I assure you they're stunning!

Well that appears to be all I've got for the moment. I'm still looking high and low for 3 more to join in the Around the World Blog Hop. Its a fun way to get to know our fellow bloggers a little better. :-)

Feel free to comment and follow so I can return the favor! Happy stitching!

Around the World Blog Hop 2014

I'm being indoctrinated into this Blog Hop by Justine at Justine's Cross Stitch. She has some amazing projects going on right now and has now taken over hosting Mega Mini Monthly Maddness! Go Justine!! The amount of projects this busy woman gets done will never cease to amaze me.

Without further ado, here is my portion of this Hop.

We were asked a few questions, that we were allowed to alter a little depending on our preference.

Q. What am I working on?

A. What am I not working on?? Currently I'm stitching like a mad woman on the Thomas Kinkade Disney Dreams Collection - Beauty and the Beast Falling in Love (progress photos will be updated soon!). There has been some work done to a paint-by-number that's in progress for my DB. I haven't done one of these in ages, but it's proving to be a lot of fun. I'm also, very slowly, working on a crocheted blanket for a friend's new baby. Unfortunately, I'm thinking the poor kid is going to be at least 1 year old before he gets it!! While I love crocheting, I am not particularly fast at it and my ADD kicks in too quickly and I launch into another project.

Q. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Q. Why do I create what I do?

A. I'm taking both of these questions and making my own since I don't seem to have a good answer for either... Why/how do I select what I create?

This is the question of the century, and one my DB asks on several occasions when he sees Hobby Lobby bags/packages from Ebay coming out of my car. ;-)

I, if you haven't figured this out quite yet, am obsessed with any/all things Disney which seems to be the fuel for much of my creative juices. There are also a lot more cross stitch patterns out now that fall into the category I find particularly humorous which has lead to more purchases, and therefore projects, that have landed in my stash.

Anything that strikes my fancy is up for grabs regardless of the medium. As I've said there are both a paint-by-number and a crocheted project in my rotation at the moment. For a long time I was also making, and selling, diaper cakes. If you haven't heard of these creations before they basically resemble diapers made to look like a wedding cake. The toppers and decorations are all baby friendly things. Think washcloths, pacifiers, blankets, onesies... the list is endless.

I could ramble on and on about this for eternity, but we'll save that for another time and move on to more pressing matters.

Q. How does my creative process work?

A. There has been much internal debate on this one. I can't really even say I have come up with a good answer. Crafting in general, regardless of what I'm working on, is the one of the only things I've found that can take me to my "happy place." Most of the projects I work on have a set pattern that I rarely, if ever, alter. I really enjoy seeing the process of the project in the making and of course the final product. There's nothing more exciting than saying I did that. It may not be my pattern but those were my blood drops, sweat and tears that went into making it. Who knows, maybe one day they will be my own patterns...

So glad you all stopped by! I'm looking for 3 more bloggers to pass the torch to in order to continue this Around the World Blog Hop. Please comment if you're interested and I'll send you the information. Lets keep this going. It's always so nice to see what's going on with fellow bloggers and get some insight into what makes us all tick. :-)