I just love these little guys!
I'm looking forward to what 2015 will bring. Needle in hand, we can conquer it all!
Much love to all!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
2015
I'm looking forward to what 2015 will bring. Needle in hand, we can conquer it all!
Much love to all!
Monday, December 29, 2014
The Final Countdown
Dear Friends,
We're still winding down from our Christmas extravaganza. I'm postponing taking down the tree until the New Year. Maybe by then I'll have mustered up the courage to pack away all the decorations.
I've had the hardest time not starting my HAED piece. I wasn't expecting to have everything ready so quickly and I'm not the world's most patient person. I have been, rather anxiously, counting down the days (okay and hours) until I can begin my new stitches.
Instead, for a little variety, I pulled The Lion King back out of hiding. Apparently I forgot to email MCG Textiles to inform them of the missing thread several months ago (oh how I procrastinate) so I decided to get that taken care of the other day. Unfortunately, due to my lack of promptness, they are closed until January 5 and we all know they'll be bombarded with emails upon their return. Hopefully I'll have my floss by the end of January. :-(
In the meantime, I've been stitching every other possible color left. As per usual, I've left the sparkly thread until last since it's a *insert your own rude word here* to stitch with. And, as luck would have it, that's all that needs to be done until the missing floss arrives.
DB and I decided, against our better judgement, to tackle our spare bedroom (aka the black hole) this weekend. Surprisingly we were able to clean and organize it fairly quickly without much hassle. Just a few long hours of our time. (The main reason my weekend stitching was so lax)
Beauty and the Beast moved forward by a whole whopping few stitches. I didn't get a photo, but honestly there's just not much to update.
HAED extended their sale until midnight on 1/1/15. I had decided against purchasing the Storykeep I posted the other day, and then they extended their sale. I now have 2 new patterns. :-)
We're still winding down from our Christmas extravaganza. I'm postponing taking down the tree until the New Year. Maybe by then I'll have mustered up the courage to pack away all the decorations.
I've had the hardest time not starting my HAED piece. I wasn't expecting to have everything ready so quickly and I'm not the world's most patient person. I have been, rather anxiously, counting down the days (okay and hours) until I can begin my new stitches.
Instead, for a little variety, I pulled The Lion King back out of hiding. Apparently I forgot to email MCG Textiles to inform them of the missing thread several months ago (oh how I procrastinate) so I decided to get that taken care of the other day. Unfortunately, due to my lack of promptness, they are closed until January 5 and we all know they'll be bombarded with emails upon their return. Hopefully I'll have my floss by the end of January. :-(
In the meantime, I've been stitching every other possible color left. As per usual, I've left the sparkly thread until last since it's a *insert your own rude word here* to stitch with. And, as luck would have it, that's all that needs to be done until the missing floss arrives.
DB and I decided, against our better judgement, to tackle our spare bedroom (aka the black hole) this weekend. Surprisingly we were able to clean and organize it fairly quickly without much hassle. Just a few long hours of our time. (The main reason my weekend stitching was so lax)
Beauty and the Beast moved forward by a whole whopping few stitches. I didn't get a photo, but honestly there's just not much to update.
HAED extended their sale until midnight on 1/1/15. I had decided against purchasing the Storykeep I posted the other day, and then they extended their sale. I now have 2 new patterns. :-)
Storykeep - The Effects of Caffeine - Randal Spangler
QS - Grumpy Owl - Annya Kai
Grumpy Owl will be for my mom. She loves owls and this one was just too cute to pass up.
That's all for now my dears. I'll be here... counting down the moments until 2015!
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Its The Most Wonderful Time of The Year
Dear Friends,
We had a wonderful Christmas! I hope yours were full of fun and family. I'm enjoying seeing the photos everyone is posting!
DB's dad was with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day which was a wonderful treat for both of us. As the rest of our family members are many hours away it was nice to have someone here besides the two of us. Dinner was amazing both nights. DB made steak for Christmas Eve and, after presents were opened, I made enough food to feed the neighborhood on Christmas Day. Basically Thanksgiving dinner again with ham instead of turkey. I personally love ham more, but DB is enamored with his turkey. I get one holiday and he gets the other. Fair I think.
"Santa" must have thought we were pretty good this year if the presents under the tree were any indication. I didn't put them out until Christmas Eve since I was worried the dogs would decide all the presents were for them. This is our first Christmas at our house, we're normally going off to visit someone. Thank goodness they were good boys! Their reward was totally worth the wait. New bones and toys galore.
My newest Disney pattern, Fantasia, is finally mine!! This will be the piece I'm using for Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. Time to get my fabric ready. :-)
We had a wonderful Christmas! I hope yours were full of fun and family. I'm enjoying seeing the photos everyone is posting!
DB's dad was with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day which was a wonderful treat for both of us. As the rest of our family members are many hours away it was nice to have someone here besides the two of us. Dinner was amazing both nights. DB made steak for Christmas Eve and, after presents were opened, I made enough food to feed the neighborhood on Christmas Day. Basically Thanksgiving dinner again with ham instead of turkey. I personally love ham more, but DB is enamored with his turkey. I get one holiday and he gets the other. Fair I think.
"Santa" must have thought we were pretty good this year if the presents under the tree were any indication. I didn't put them out until Christmas Eve since I was worried the dogs would decide all the presents were for them. This is our first Christmas at our house, we're normally going off to visit someone. Thank goodness they were good boys! Their reward was totally worth the wait. New bones and toys galore.
I got a scroll frame for Christmas!!!!!!!! Yay!!! I almost jumped out of my seat I was so happy! It came with three different sizes (three, isn't that awesome), but I think I'll wind up using the largest size most often. There aren't many small patterns in my repertoire. I may try to change that this year, but no promises.
My newest Disney pattern, Fantasia, is finally mine!! This will be the piece I'm using for Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. Time to get my fabric ready. :-)
DB's dad also gave me this little picture frame. I thought it was so cute. Now I just have to find something to put in it. Neither one of us is a big fan of photos so we don't have too many of us anywhere. Maybe a picture of the boys is a better idea. ;)
I took the day after Christmas off, since no one wanted to meet with me to discuss anything for work anyway, and I managed to get my fabric gridded for my HAED start for the New Stitchy Start SAL. Yay! I decided, after much deliberation, to only grid the horizontal strips. We'll see how much I like it once I start, but it took SO long I really don't want to do anymore. (The photo wouldn't turn for me so its turned on it's side)
Also managed to bobbinate all 12 bazillion colors for this piece!
I'm having a hard time NOT starting this one until Jan 1. I'm so ready!! Can't start Fantasia either.......!
Speaking of HAED, for those of you that are unaware, their 35% off sale is ending today. I'm in the final moments of deciding if I need to buy myself one small storykeep pattern. More specifically, THIS one. It's so cute and so appropriate for me.
Onto Beauty and the Beast. TONS of progress! I'm basically finished with the second quarter of this piece. Only a few stray stitches along the bottom of the right top quarter that I'll get to as I stitch the bottom right quarter. You can really tell it's the Beast now and even Belle is beginning to make her debut. I haven't finished the rainbow either. Let me tell you how much I hate the sparkly thread that these kits come with. I avoid it like the plague. It really does make the piece look beautiful, but UGH! Hopefully I'll get the courage up to stitch it this weekend.
That's all for now dears. I'll be here, very impatiently waiting to start my new stitchy pieces in 2015.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Merry Christmas to All
Merry Christmas my dear friends. I can't tell you all how greatful I am for your friendship.
May you all enjoy your day with loved ones. And hopefully you've all been nice and not too naughty. :-)
Monday, December 22, 2014
The Countdown Begins
Hello Friends,
First let me give a belated welcome to the new followers! Welcome to the craziness!
And now I shall begin the post from H E double toothpicks. It has taken more time than I care to admit to get this post together, but apparently that's what the holidays do to me!
Last week was a whirlwind adventure of working, working some more, Christmas shopping, Christmas shipping (eww), parties, and of course stitching! I am counting down the minutes until Christmas!!!!!
Our office held the Christmas party on Friday which, aside from being an absolute blast, made the earlier part of my week so unbelievably busy! When you lose a day in this job it's like a mad dash to the finish line of getting things completed. Our dirty Santa gift exchange found me with a $20.00 gas card!! Since I put about a tank of gas in my car every other day, I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciated this.
I decided to make a cheese dip to bring which meant I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get it made in time. All in all it was a rather fun (and filling, oh my God there was so much food) day.
Somehow, in all the running around, I managed to get everything for Christmas with the exception of a few small gifts for DB. Poor man gets shopped for so late. Every other present I buy has to be mailed out so they've all got to be completed much farther in advance. Even as I type this, I'm debating on which store to go to next. :-/ I also realized, as I did begin shopping for DB, that all the gift ideas I had for him I gave to my mother, his mother, and my grandmother. Helpful for them, but it just makes me have to think harder.
My surprise gift was received! I can not believe how quickly the package made it to her, but I was so thrilled to hear she loved everything. Whew. Many of you may remember the tags Lynn B made for me. See THIS post. I was so grateful for her kindness, I had to return the favor somehow. Of course, I forgot to take a photo of everything in the package, so go check out her post for the full details.
This was my first piece gifted (other than to a family member). It was also my first attempt at a Biscornu and I loved it!! I've been debating on which pattern I should use next as I really want to make one for myself now. You know, with all the spare time I have. :-)
I won something! It's a Christmas miracle! June was having a contest to see who could correctly guess the new design she has been stitching. Okay so I was the second to guess correctly, and June (in all her wonderful kindness) decided that the both of us would receive something from her. Isn't she so sweet?!?! Anyway, the colors are amazing, and after much googling, I managed to figure it out! It's a beautiful design by Luca-S called Tulips. Go check out her wonderful progress HERE.
In the midst of all this craziness, there was some stitching done. The Beast is slowly coming to life. I know I'm not really on this page yet, but I can't help myself. I'm a wee bit tired of sky and leaves/bushes/grass.
Now onto my new terrifying project. HAED. Enough said. So I bought my fabric, at some point last week I think. The time is running together at this point. Gridding is going to be the death of me. Only 4 lines done so far! I did finally managed to find all the floss I need, which put a little pep in my step. (Only 3 stores later) I've even got a nifty little box and about 3 million bobbins. So who wants to have a bobbin-winding party? I will provide coffee, lots of coffee.
The thread does look really pretty all laid out together, keep in mind this is only a small portion of what I still have to bobbinate. I can't wait to start stitching this.
That about sums it up for the time being. Thank you all again for your kind words and all the encouragement!
First let me give a belated welcome to the new followers! Welcome to the craziness!
And now I shall begin the post from H E double toothpicks. It has taken more time than I care to admit to get this post together, but apparently that's what the holidays do to me!
Last week was a whirlwind adventure of working, working some more, Christmas shopping, Christmas shipping (eww), parties, and of course stitching! I am counting down the minutes until Christmas!!!!!
Our office held the Christmas party on Friday which, aside from being an absolute blast, made the earlier part of my week so unbelievably busy! When you lose a day in this job it's like a mad dash to the finish line of getting things completed. Our dirty Santa gift exchange found me with a $20.00 gas card!! Since I put about a tank of gas in my car every other day, I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciated this.
I decided to make a cheese dip to bring which meant I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get it made in time. All in all it was a rather fun (and filling, oh my God there was so much food) day.
Somehow, in all the running around, I managed to get everything for Christmas with the exception of a few small gifts for DB. Poor man gets shopped for so late. Every other present I buy has to be mailed out so they've all got to be completed much farther in advance. Even as I type this, I'm debating on which store to go to next. :-/ I also realized, as I did begin shopping for DB, that all the gift ideas I had for him I gave to my mother, his mother, and my grandmother. Helpful for them, but it just makes me have to think harder.
My surprise gift was received! I can not believe how quickly the package made it to her, but I was so thrilled to hear she loved everything. Whew. Many of you may remember the tags Lynn B made for me. See THIS post. I was so grateful for her kindness, I had to return the favor somehow. Of course, I forgot to take a photo of everything in the package, so go check out her post for the full details.
This was my first piece gifted (other than to a family member). It was also my first attempt at a Biscornu and I loved it!! I've been debating on which pattern I should use next as I really want to make one for myself now. You know, with all the spare time I have. :-)
I won something! It's a Christmas miracle! June was having a contest to see who could correctly guess the new design she has been stitching. Okay so I was the second to guess correctly, and June (in all her wonderful kindness) decided that the both of us would receive something from her. Isn't she so sweet?!?! Anyway, the colors are amazing, and after much googling, I managed to figure it out! It's a beautiful design by Luca-S called Tulips. Go check out her wonderful progress HERE.
In the midst of all this craziness, there was some stitching done. The Beast is slowly coming to life. I know I'm not really on this page yet, but I can't help myself. I'm a wee bit tired of sky and leaves/bushes/grass.
Now onto my new terrifying project. HAED. Enough said. So I bought my fabric, at some point last week I think. The time is running together at this point. Gridding is going to be the death of me. Only 4 lines done so far! I did finally managed to find all the floss I need, which put a little pep in my step. (Only 3 stores later) I've even got a nifty little box and about 3 million bobbins. So who wants to have a bobbin-winding party? I will provide coffee, lots of coffee.
The thread does look really pretty all laid out together, keep in mind this is only a small portion of what I still have to bobbinate. I can't wait to start stitching this.
That about sums it up for the time being. Thank you all again for your kind words and all the encouragement!
Monday, December 15, 2014
Quick Update
Hello Friends,
It was a hectic weekend once again. I feel like this is a common theme recently. Must have something to do with all the running around before the holidays!
The most exciting news - my surprise project was finished and mailed out! This was the first time sending something overseas and honestly that customs form is just silly. Oh well. It was sent without a problem and now I must wait until she receives it......... tick tock. I'm not very good at waiting. I must do so, however, as I don't want to share the photos of the finished piece until it's received.
There was a little progress on Beauty and the Beast, I didn't stitch much of anything on Saturday and with Sunday being DB's birthday, not much happened there either.
For good news, I did manage to find the 25-count linen I was in need of for my HAED piece! I purchased the ONLY piece they had in the entire store. I really need a cross stitch store somewhere closer than 3 hours away. :-( Fortunately with the coupon I had it cut about $5 off the price so why not buy some floss!? I kept it small and only bought the first 20 skeins listed. I haven't had the chance to start winding bobbins or gridding my fabric. Ugh. At least I'm getting there!
We are planning to go out for DB's birthday dinner tonight, so I'm not thinking there will be much time for anything else. We tried to go yesterday, but much to my dismay, the restaurant apparently doesn't open on Sunday. Oops. Oh well, he gets one extra night of birthday fun!
That's all I have for the moment. I know there's more I need to update, but I've been in a rather crummy mood for the past 3 days and honestly I just feel blah. Tomorrow will bring better things I hope. :-)
As always, please feel free to comment. I love hearing from all of you!
It was a hectic weekend once again. I feel like this is a common theme recently. Must have something to do with all the running around before the holidays!
The most exciting news - my surprise project was finished and mailed out! This was the first time sending something overseas and honestly that customs form is just silly. Oh well. It was sent without a problem and now I must wait until she receives it......... tick tock. I'm not very good at waiting. I must do so, however, as I don't want to share the photos of the finished piece until it's received.
There was a little progress on Beauty and the Beast, I didn't stitch much of anything on Saturday and with Sunday being DB's birthday, not much happened there either.
For good news, I did manage to find the 25-count linen I was in need of for my HAED piece! I purchased the ONLY piece they had in the entire store. I really need a cross stitch store somewhere closer than 3 hours away. :-( Fortunately with the coupon I had it cut about $5 off the price so why not buy some floss!? I kept it small and only bought the first 20 skeins listed. I haven't had the chance to start winding bobbins or gridding my fabric. Ugh. At least I'm getting there!
We are planning to go out for DB's birthday dinner tonight, so I'm not thinking there will be much time for anything else. We tried to go yesterday, but much to my dismay, the restaurant apparently doesn't open on Sunday. Oops. Oh well, he gets one extra night of birthday fun!
That's all I have for the moment. I know there's more I need to update, but I've been in a rather crummy mood for the past 3 days and honestly I just feel blah. Tomorrow will bring better things I hope. :-)
As always, please feel free to comment. I love hearing from all of you!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Oh Christmas Tree!
Hello dear friends,
I have a Christmas tree! A real tree! DB and I managed to get all the lights strung and the ornaments on Sunday night and I love it. Originally we didn't realize we had all of his ornaments so we were planning on purchasing a few to fill in the holes. Haha. So glad we did NOT do that. Between what he has and all those my grandmother sent, our tree is very full. Unfortunately with a GSD roaming the house, most of our ornaments need to go very near the top as they are fragile. So far so good. One night down, many more to go.
I had to snap a photo with the lights on (mainly so you can see the ornaments) and another with the lights off (to show off my lights of course). Please ignore the fact that there is no tree topper at the moment. We have yet to find one we both like...
The remainder of my lights will be going up outside when I have 5 free minutes. Not sure when that will be.
Most of my Christmas shopping was started and finished Saturday. A few things had to be ordered, most of which were mailed straight to the recipient with only a few I have to go pick up from the store. I even managed to get DB's birthday present purchased and wrapped (in Christmas paper because I have nothing else).
I was slacking Sunday and Monday night since the Red Tent was on Lifetime. For those of you unaware of what I'm talking about. Many moons ago Anita Diamant wrote a book titled "The Red Tent." It tells the story of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob. You follow her through her life and watch as her story intertwines with those more popular (ie. Joseph and the coat of many colors, etc.). If you have not read this I would highly suggest picking up a copy here. I thought it was a fantastic book, and the depiction of this story in movie form was great.
Enough on that. Onto the stitching news.
Not much progress on Beauty and the Beast since yesterday (seen here). The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was on and I had to watch. My yearly tradition. :-)
I did, finally, decide on a piece to use for A New Stitchy Start. I put on my big girl panties and took what felt like the Polar Bear Plunge into purchasing and committing to my first ever...... drum roll please...... HAED pattern. Ah!! Without further ado, here she is!!
Humming birds are my absolute favorite bird, and this is a beautiful piece by Jody Bergsma. I've spent more time than I care to admit trying to decide on a chart. My original plan was to try a QS first, but this one screamed my name too loudly for me to ignore. So I bit the bullet. I was questioning my sanity as I watched the one billion pages of charts print, but so far I'm not too terribly intimidated. Okay I lied, yes I am. But that will NOT stop me from trying.
I'm debating on attempting parking my thread as I go. I know this one will be way more confetti-ish than normal. Ugh. So many new things to try on one poor little project. :-) I am hoping to have my floss purchased (or at the very least located) by the end of this week. Fabric may take me a minute to decide on. I don't think I'm comfortable enough stitching on linen to try something of this magnitude, so it's possible that I'll be stuck back with aida. Not the worlds worst idea.
I believe that's all my little heart can handle for the moment. I love reading your comments and am always surprised when there's a new follower or two! Thank you all for keeping me going!!
Until next time. :-)
I have a Christmas tree! A real tree! DB and I managed to get all the lights strung and the ornaments on Sunday night and I love it. Originally we didn't realize we had all of his ornaments so we were planning on purchasing a few to fill in the holes. Haha. So glad we did NOT do that. Between what he has and all those my grandmother sent, our tree is very full. Unfortunately with a GSD roaming the house, most of our ornaments need to go very near the top as they are fragile. So far so good. One night down, many more to go.
I had to snap a photo with the lights on (mainly so you can see the ornaments) and another with the lights off (to show off my lights of course). Please ignore the fact that there is no tree topper at the moment. We have yet to find one we both like...
The remainder of my lights will be going up outside when I have 5 free minutes. Not sure when that will be.
Most of my Christmas shopping was started and finished Saturday. A few things had to be ordered, most of which were mailed straight to the recipient with only a few I have to go pick up from the store. I even managed to get DB's birthday present purchased and wrapped (in Christmas paper because I have nothing else).
I was slacking Sunday and Monday night since the Red Tent was on Lifetime. For those of you unaware of what I'm talking about. Many moons ago Anita Diamant wrote a book titled "The Red Tent." It tells the story of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob. You follow her through her life and watch as her story intertwines with those more popular (ie. Joseph and the coat of many colors, etc.). If you have not read this I would highly suggest picking up a copy here. I thought it was a fantastic book, and the depiction of this story in movie form was great.
Enough on that. Onto the stitching news.
Not much progress on Beauty and the Beast since yesterday (seen here). The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was on and I had to watch. My yearly tradition. :-)
I did, finally, decide on a piece to use for A New Stitchy Start. I put on my big girl panties and took what felt like the Polar Bear Plunge into purchasing and committing to my first ever...... drum roll please...... HAED pattern. Ah!! Without further ado, here she is!!
Humming birds are my absolute favorite bird, and this is a beautiful piece by Jody Bergsma. I've spent more time than I care to admit trying to decide on a chart. My original plan was to try a QS first, but this one screamed my name too loudly for me to ignore. So I bit the bullet. I was questioning my sanity as I watched the one billion pages of charts print, but so far I'm not too terribly intimidated. Okay I lied, yes I am. But that will NOT stop me from trying.
I'm debating on attempting parking my thread as I go. I know this one will be way more confetti-ish than normal. Ugh. So many new things to try on one poor little project. :-) I am hoping to have my floss purchased (or at the very least located) by the end of this week. Fabric may take me a minute to decide on. I don't think I'm comfortable enough stitching on linen to try something of this magnitude, so it's possible that I'll be stuck back with aida. Not the worlds worst idea.
I believe that's all my little heart can handle for the moment. I love reading your comments and am always surprised when there's a new follower or two! Thank you all for keeping me going!!
Until next time. :-)
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