Give me an "M"!
Hope all your weekends were fun and/or productive! Mine was a bit of both, although I was struck by a major case of the lazies yesterday.
It took me 3 days to stitch the "M" on my project. This is a giant M and had loads of backstitching around it, in fact it's the only letter on the project that has a lot of backstitching. The E on home has a tiny bit, but the M far and away out does this. I like the backstitching aaaanndd I don't. LOL
It does bulk up the M and give's it the look of calligraphy, but I'm not sure I like the "dotted line" look of it. I tried making the stitches longer, but that looked horrible. ;) I'm sure seen at a distance you won't be able to tell and I'm being to hypercritical. I think I just looked at it for too long. LOL
Overall it's looking great! I got the frame for it at Hobby Lobby, they had 40% off coupons last week, so I got a good deal on a 12"x24" frame. It may need a bit of a mat on it, but we will see when it's complete.
Siouxsie from Isolated Needle sent me this great package for my birthday! I got it on Friday and was so surprised at how generous and kind she was! She sent wonderful candles, a decadent smelling soap and this cross stitch magazine I had never seen before. The magazine has lots of great tips and some cute charts in it. What a wonderful treat! Thanks so much Siouxsie!!
Dancing with the Stars Progress!
Last night I watched Dancing with the Stars while working on my project. Some of you may groan, but I actually enjoy it. I'm a huge fan of ballroom dancing (although Greg refuses to try it/can't say I blame him though) and enjoy seeing the B and C level "stars" giving it their all. So I managed to get through the "without" part of the chart. And now I feel I'm making headway. It's definately a big chart, but easy to stitch. And it's fun because I know my mom will just adore it. :D
What do you all think about the roses in the middle though, I'm torn over whether to do more backstitching on them or just leave as is. I just keep thinking it could use more backstitching. The "original" version of this chart wouldn't have any backstitching around them as it's more Victorian. And I'm trying to imitate that style, but they sort of look blobbish. ;) Opinions anyone? :D
Today it's 60F out there and the sun is shining like mad. I had to take my coat off on the way back from the gym at lunch. It was just HOT. If this keeps up we will be having 150F temps in the summer. LOL It's nice though, but confusing to the brain. Let's just hope we get some rain so that we will have drinking water this summer. ;)
Have a great weekend!
Five Things I Probably Shouldn't Be Telling You...
I got tagged by San to do this list. Now I don't mind doing the list but I'm not going to tag anyone else. I think most people have been tagged as it is. ;)
Here are the rules: remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone else up a notch. Then add yours to the bottom spot. Like this:
Our Love, Our Lives, Our MomentsCasserole of my lifeRecent RunesBOOZohrahAngelSan CreationInstitchesWhat were you doing 10 years ago?
I was living miserably in Utah in a loveless marriage, only I didn’t know it until 9 years ago.
Five snacks you enjoy.
1 - hersheys kisses
2 - hersheys chocolate bars
3 - 3 musketeers chocolate bar
4 - cherry mash chocolate candy bar
5 - m&m’s plain chocolate candies
The irony here is that I *rarely* eat any of these as they cause my brain to melt and drain out my ears. ;)
Five songs to which you know all the lyrics off your head right now.
1 - White Christmas
2 - Jingle Bells
3 - Itsy Bitsy Spider
4 - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
5 - The Star Spangled Banner
Don’t laugh, I can’t for the life of me remember any adult songs.
Five things you would do if you had one million dollars.
1 - Set up a trust fund
2 - Work part time (I doubt the interest would let me retire)
3 - Get a new smile
4 - Laser Vision for Greg
5 - Take lots of vacations
Five bad habits.
1 - Cursing (don’t ask)
2 - Talking too much
3 - Not talking enough
4 - Not always using my turn signals
5 - Picking up something in one part of a store, changing my mind and not taking it back where I found it. (I’m sure I will burn in hell for that one.)
Five things you like doing.
1 - Going to the gym
2 - Cross-stitching
3 - Reading
4 - Shopping
5 - Web Surfing
Five things you would never buy, wear or get new again.
1 - Ford
2 - Sheer tops w/ tank tops underneath
3 - Sardines
4 - Fruitcake
5 - 3 inch heels
Now my favorite part of this is that YOU have to figure out which one I would never buy, wear or get new again. LOL It's just EVIL.
Five favourite toys.
1 - Bicycle
2 - Yo Yo
3 - Badminton
4 - Swingset
5 - Wagon
It Was Right Where I Left It...
the cord for the camera, that is. ;) My sweet, considerate hubby had wound it up all nice and neat and put a twist tie on it. NO WONDER I COULDN'T FIND IT! LOL Here I am looking for a loose tangle of a thing and it's transformed into a bit of cord symmetry with perferct proportions and a tiny little twistie, making it look as if it just came out of the packaging. (sigh) In case Greg is reading this, I tossed the twistie, I just can't be bothered with all that perfection and symmetry. It plays too much into my somewhat obsessive compulsive nature...and I don't want to constantly be looking for the twistie. (Yes, I'm lazy that way.) hee, hee
Here is my latest pic of "What is Home", it's not the one from yesterday. I did some more work on it last night, so it's "current".
I really like these colors. At first I thought I didn't, but the more of it I get done the more I like it. It doesn't really have an antique feel, but just feels crisp. It's going fast considering how big the thing is and that I am currently distracted by a book.
Greg is still working away on his project. Maybe he will have time to make a post tonite. If you haven't read his last post, it was a lot of fun.
And now I am just curious. I am currently reading the "Time Travelers Wife" by Audrey Neffenegger. I am at the more than half way point and am curious if anyone else has read it and what their opinions are (preferably positive/but all are welcome).
Happy Stitching!
Monday, Monday, It's Just That Way...
Okay, so I was going to post about my progress on my current project. BUT you can't get pictures out of my camera without the USB cable, oh yes it's Monday. ;) So, I saw that San was volunteering to do the "Things about me" list and thought "Hey" I suppose I could do it as well. Now I have to say that I don't normally do these types of lists, but this one was short and I wanted a Monday post. ;p Most of my answers are chronological, as in, what I was doing then to what I am currently doing now.
Jobs you’ve had
1. Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Air Force
2. Administrative Assistant working with faculty in a School of Medicine
3. Accounting Clerk in a High School
4. Administrative Assistant working with programs in the U.S. and Africa
4 films you’d watch over and over
1. Lord of the Ring Trilogy
2. Star Wars 1-6
3. The Quiet Man (John Wayne/Maureen O’Hara)
4. Shrek 1 & 2
(Technically I suppose this is really a total of 12 films, but....) ;)
Four Places I Have Lived
1. Nebraska (I made a big circle, as I'm living back in Nebraska again.)
2. Colorado
3. Louisiana
4. Utah
4 T.V. shows you love to watch
1. Battlestar Galactica (the new one)
2. Stargate SG1
3. Lost
4. All My Children (soap opera)
4 Places you’ve been on holiday
1. San Francisco, California (Ghiradelli chocolate, yum)
2. Boise, Idaho
3. Yellowstone National Park
4. Amana Colonies, Iowa
(Someday I desire to travel East of the Mississippi)
4 of your favourite foods
1. Chocolate
2. Tacos
3. Anything with chocolate
4. More chocolate
4 Places you’d rather be right now
1. Getting a Massage
2. Getting a Facial
3. Getting a Pedicure
4. A Hot Tub
4 singers I Can’t Live Without
1. Sheryl Crow
2. Jewel
3. Dido
4. Poe
(I never realized how many one named singers I like.)
4 sites you visit daily
1. The Early Edition - Days of Our Lives (soap opera-yes I love soaps, shoot me) ;)
2. Yahoo News
3. Bloglines
4. Dr. Phil
Happy Dancing SBQ
Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that talks about it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?Actually yes, I do have a HD or HDs...as I've completed two projects this year. One I started at Xmas time and one at the beginning of the year. You can see both of them here (if you are so inclined):
In Stitches GalleryOf course if you regularly visit you will probably have already seen these two projects. One I just finished last week. :)
Until I saw this question I wasn't really thinking about just HOW early in the year it is for a big finish. I just haven't quite adjusted to it being 2006. As I said in my last post it doesn't help that the things I've been working on are for holidays 1 to 3 months down the road. LOL
I'm sure that soon it will be March and I will be wondering how I got there all of a sudden, that's how the years always seem to go. And then it's 20 years later... ;D
Oh and about my comment about February bringing in the freezing weather? Why wait? This Friday we have a 70% chance of snow. LOL, LOL It was bound to happen sometime before April, now's as good a time as any. ;)
And for those of you out there that aren't familiar with the Martin Luther King holiday, you can go here
MLK for more information.
Happy Wednesday!
Springy Thoughts
Haven't been around much as I have had the same nasty cold that so many people have. Am just getting over it. We also had a 3 day weekend thanks to Martin Luther King day.
I seem to be somewhat confused as to the time of year... I have my Valentines Day stuff out already (plus a nice Ground Hog stitch I did last year). And I just finished Peter's Cotton Knits. But it's the PCK that's got me in a tizzy. It's so SPRINGY! LOL
I keep looking at it and thinking "well Easter is just around the corner" but IT'S NOT. This is still January, HELLO January. LOL, LOL
I think it's just wishful thinking on my part. It's nice to get things done way ahead of the holidays, but sometimes it throws me off. It also doesn't help that this is one of the warmest January's to date. I have this sneaking suspicion that February is just going to freeze our butts to the ground. ;p
Here is what I worked on this weekend. The colors are a bit off, but you can get the idea. I just love these two fabrics.
I put the cutest kite button up in the tree. I just loved this button when I saw it and knew it would go great with this project.
I also started a new project for my mom. It's based on an antique project that says "What is Home without a Mother" I am trying to make it look like the antique one, hopefully it will look nice when finished. It is a huge project that will fit into a 12"x24" frame when complete.
Here's hoping that the rest of the week goes off without a hitch. ;)
What Day is it Again?
I intensely dislike Sundays and Mondays. Why? I don't really know. It may be a hold over (a very long hold over) from my school days when Sunday meant school the next day and Monday as the first day of long weeks of boredom. Don't get me wrong, in a lot of ways I loved school. Always learning new things, friends, lunch... LOL (We had the best school lunches, everything handmade.) But Monday was still Monday and it meant dragging out of bed and sitting for hours pretending to be interested in things that I wasn't. Today, I have a great job and don't mind being here every day, but I still despise Mondays and Sundays. The bright spot being that I can come here and show you all the things I did over the weekend. ;)
I got my Bent Creek Seasons framed. I used a frame that my dad made me a long while back. I didn't like the picture that I had in it any longer so this worked out great. I did the crackle finish on the frame for the original picture it had in it and while I like the frame, I'm still not sure if black is a good contrast for this picture. For now it will stay. ;)
I also did a lot of work on Peter's Cotton Knits. I like this pattern, but the more I look at the colors the more I realize I'm not much of a Spring fan. ;)
Also here is proof that Greg is actually a stitcher. He's working on his red bike:
In case you are wondering, no I don't take a lot of pictures of myself as I'm not particularly photogenic...and I control the camera. LOL, LOL
Thanks for all the comments and encouragement about going to my LNS' stitching night. I appreciate hearing your thoughts. I'm still not sure how comfortable I feel joining in. But you all are right that they would be welcoming and it's a good chance to socialize. :D
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Or at least Peter's clothes... Which leads me to ponder...what is Peter doing without his clothes? ;p LOL
My next project is Peter's Cotton Knits from Raise the Roof Designs. I just love these projects and am trying to do one for all the holidays that they have out. So far I have Witchy Washy (Halloween), Santa Clothes (Christmas) and now Peter's Cotton Knits (Easter). I also will be stitching Sam's Socks and Such (Fourth of July) and Turkey Dressing for next Thanksgiving...which oddly enough is Pilgrim clothes. I get a kick out of stitching these and a good laugh when they are out for the holidays.
Here is what I have done for Peter's Cotton Knits:
I had to change all the colors on this one as they are in Crescent Colors which I don't have any of. And I didn't like a lot of the DMC conversions, but it's not hard to pick out colors since you don't have to worry about shading and such. The colors are fun and Springy which is nice this time of year. :)
Thanks for all the comments about my Valentine projects, those were fun to do. I get a kick out of finishing things.
Lili: I'm not sure how long it took my mom to make that, I'm thinking she started it in early Fall. So maybe 3 months but she didn't work on it all the time. She likes to work on a lot of projects at once just picking up whatever catches her fancy. I can't do that, I'm a one project at a time person. But anyhow, there is a companion piece to this one that she is stitching right now, she says it's going fast. The pattern came out of some book of Courier and Ives prints that had been made into cross stitch projects.
My LNS has a sit and stitch night every Thursday so Greg and I went by and took some projects to show off. I had to buy some threads so it was a good excuse. The lady that owns the place loves to see what we are working on. Most people don't realize that I am extremely shy and don't really like to "show" off and I have a hard time meeting new people. So it was Greg that convinced me that I should take some stuff up to show the ladies, even though I was against it. Of course I was being silly, cuz the ladies were so nice and thrilled that we brought in things to show off and they showed us what they were stitching (which were brilliant compared to my stuff). LOL
But still I get a queasy feeling just thinking about it. It's one of those things that I wish I could change about myself to be more outgoing. But I think I just have to accept that while I'm not a hermit I'm just never going to be Miss Popularity either. LOL
I have always considered stitching to be a solitary hobby, not something easily shared with others. I wonder how many of you go to stitch nights and do you find it easier to stitch with other people around or distracting. Just curious. :)
And now another shameless plug for
Greg's blog. He's got a new post up and a pic of his current work on his Red Bike project. So if you get a chance go by and say hello, we all can use a bit of ego feeding once in a while. :D
Enjoy your weekend and Happy Stitching!
SBQ - Stash Shopping
Can you believe it I am answering a SBQ the day it's posted? ;P
Do you do your stash shopping at your LNS, ONS, or both? Which do you like better? Why?I do both and it's hard saying which I like better. I like the ONS's I've purchased from because they have a HUGE selection and good prices. But some of them can be miserably S L O W sending out there orders. I'm just not a patient person, when I buy it I want it N O W. LOL But did I mention the prices? LOL Those are what get me back online shopping every time.
Now my LNS is less than five minutes from where I live, well okay I could walk there in 10, but I could drive there in 2. ;) And the lady that runs the place is the nicest person you could ever hope to meet. She's kind and helpful, although she's not really a stitching person (which can be detrimental at times) she is helpful and fun to chat with. (She's the one who showed me how to make a flanged pillow.) She also gets the hugest charge out of seeing Greg come in shopping with me....just eats it up. (He's a charmer, no doubt.) So it's fun to take in finished pieces to show her. BUT, she doesn't keep a lot of the things that I like to stitch in stock and the pattern prices are just scary. She is fairly reasonable on threads if you don't need many. She also doesn't like to do orders, she will take them, but often forgets to place them unless you remind her...a lot. ;)
So! For me it's a toss up. If I want "instant gratification" I will go to the LNS and "find" something fun. :) But if I have a lot of things I want or specific charts I know I can't get locally I go online. The only downside is that online shopping is dangerous to the wallet, as there are too many tempting items that can end up in your checkout basket.
Hello World!
It feels like an eternity since I've been in front of a computer. What a bizarre feeling it has been, like being cut off from the entire world. Of course it was a planned exodus, as I spend 80% of my life sitting in front of a computer doing various and sundry tasks. When I go home at night after a long day I want nothing to do w/ a computer and when I go off for vacation it's the same thing. Of course it doesn't help that at home I don't have the high speed connection that I do at work. (I am not a patient person.) ;p
So I'm back. :D Happy New Year to all of you! I can honestly say I have missed you and all your blogs. As some of you may have noticed I spent a bit this morning stopping around and saying hello again. You all have been busy whilst I was away. ;)
And I was busy, in my own way, while I was gone. I have a few project finishes to show off. :D
Let's start with Valentines Day! I am so ready! ;) No dwadling for me this year! I got my projects ready well ahead of schedule.
Valentine Row:
Valentine Medley:
I love how both of these turned out! The fabrics are just perfect for them...but I love Valentine Medley's the best, it's just so hilarious. You can go over to the gallery if you want to see the back side of this project. :)
I finished up Happy New Year as well, just in time:
While I was off I worked on Bent Creek's Seasons and managed to finish it just last night:
I also have to show off Greg's Over Indulgent Santa (or maybe he just has a cold, whose to say? ;D )
I love this fabric! I couldn't believe it when we found it at the craft store, it was fate! And I couldn't wait to finish this up into a pillow, which turned out pretty great. After a bit of practice I'm getting good at this type of pillow. ;)
Lastly I am showing off something my mom spent a lot of time stitching. She picked out the frame and mat board and Greg cut out the mat and framed it up for her. (Isn't he nice?) :)
The project is 11x14 and the frame is 16x20 inches, which is very large when you see it in person and makes quite a statement.
The holidays went fairly fast, don't they always and we did a few things. Saw King Kong and Chronicles of Narnia. I don't recommend seeing Kong if you are feeling down, as it is definately down beat, but amazing.
Yesterday was my birthday, woo hoo? LOL I'm not a big birthday person, it's always been too close to the holidays to be celebrated properly. But Greg loves to do the gifty thing so he got me this:
Dan Dipaolo Jack & a Cornstalk I just love these! I have several of these types of figurines and LOVE them all. So that made my day! And I have to give him kudos cuz he bought it back in October and managed to keep it hidden all this time. LOL, LOL
I saw the latest SBQ roaming around:
How do you balance your stitching time with your other obligations such as work, household chores, etc.?I don't? LOL No I'm kidding...sort of... First off I don't have kids and though I work 8-5 that leaves several hours each evening to stitch. Stitching is basically the only hobby I have, unless you count going to the gym. ;) So once I get settled for the evening I can usually squeeze a couple hours or so to stitch. If I want to do it I just make time, it's that simple. But I have this sort of unspoken rule, that I only stitch in the evenings for 2-3 hours at a stretch. Even on the weekends and yes even on vacation. I just can't stand the thought of sitting all day stitching and stitching. I sit too much in my job so I need to be moving a bit when off work on the weekends.
I hope all of you had a happy and fun Christmas and New Years! I have a feeling this year is going to be "interesting". ;)
Happy Stitching!
