Scrapbook Weekend

I haven't been doing a lot of stitching lately. I'm getting ready for a three-day scrapbooking weekend coming up on the 29th, so I've been busy sorting through and packing up the stuff I need to take with me while also trying to lay out some pages ahead of time. Other than the beach chipboard album, I haven't really scrapbooked since July. I'm planning to work on my second daughter's first year album (never mind the fact that she just turned three). It will be about 40 pages and I've never completed more than 35 pages or so at one of these weekends, but I'm going to try my hardest to complete the whole album this weekend. I hope to have some photos of finished pages to post when I return.

Sand Pail Scrapbook Album

On Saturday, I was finally able to exchange Christmas gifts with my girlfriends, which means I can finally post pictures of the scrapbook I made for my friend Wendy. They own a condo at the beach and spend a lot of time there, so she has tons of pictures of her daughter Meghan at the beach. I found this little sand pail chipboard album from Art Blanche and decided to make a little mini-album for Wendy featuring pics of Meghan. I had never worked on a scrapbook album like this before, but I think it turned out pretty good for a first try. I used paint as a base on the chipboard and then most pages have the background paper Mod Podge'd on. That could be painfully slow sometimes. When I had time to scrapbook, I wanted to keep moving, but I had to wait for the Mod Podge to dry first. Then I just used different beach and summer-themed papers and stickers, with a few tags and ribbons thrown in here and there.

Now that I have this first one under my belt, I'm anxious to try some more mini-albums. I have two I bought last year to scrapbook my daughter playing basketball and softball, plus one shaped like a cupcake to scrapbook birthdays.

2009 Reading List

Every year when I post my reading list, I complain about not having enough time to read, blah, blah, blah. Well, this year I have no excuses. After being laid off the second week of the year, I should have been able to read more this year than ever before (and perhaps some more quality reading, but earlier in the year, I become slightly obsessed with Tori & Dean Home Sweet Hollywood after we got digital cable). But, on the plus side, one of the reasons I didn't read as much (other than watching way too much television) is that I was busy doing crafty things instead. I did more cross stitching in 2009 than I have ever done and I also did a lot of scrapbooking in the beginning of the year. So I'm stating here that one of my resolutions is to go back to reading at least 25 books a year. Here's the 2009 list:

1. Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein
2. Show No Fear by Perri O’Shaughnessy
3. Dead Connection by Alafair Burke
4. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
5. A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
6. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
7. The Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner
8. The Turnaround by George Pelecanos
9. Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
10. Death’s Half Acre by Margaret Maron
11. The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
12. Multiple Blessings by Kate Gosselin
13. The Way Home by George Pelecanos
14. The Coal Tattoo by Silas House
15. The King of Lies by John Hart
16. Down River by John Hart
17. Angel’s Tip by Alafair Burke
18. Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham
19. Borderline by Nevada Barr
20. The Dark Room by Minette Walters
21. sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling

SamSarah's "Need to Read" from the Pearls series was safely delivered to Big H's teacher last Wednesday on the last day of school before the holiday.

Old Cross Stitch

I found this in my parents' basement today while helping my dad decorate for Christmas. I'm pretty sure, after first learning candlewicking, that this was my very first cross stitch project. I made it for my mom to hang in our blue-and-brown, goose-themed bathroom circa the mid-1980s. The pattern is long gone, but if I had to guess, it was from an old Dimensions or Jiffy kit, maybe Janlynn. The finishing is a wire hoop and you thread the end of the lace bands through the hoop to make the frame. This is one time I'm glad my mom never threw anything away!

Finished Ornaments

Sunny days have been few and far between here and the ones that have been sunny have been extremely windy, which makes it tough to take pictures outside. But I was finally able to snap a couple of pictures of these completed Christmas ornaments hanging outside on one of our evergreen trees.

Mill Hill "Teddy's Tree"
Is supposed to be finished as a pin, but I finished it as an ornament instead for our neighbor who collects teddy bears.


Mill Hill "Hope" Charmed Ornament
Hoping to get to the post office tomorrow and send this to the hospice where my mother was earlier this year.


I've completely finished three of the Sugar Plum ornaments. Only two more to go!

Holiday Stash

This wonderful package arrived in the mail on Wednesday from 1-2-3 Stitch!. It's mostly holiday gifts for other people, with a couple of things thrown in for me. The Mill Hill "Teddy's Tree" is a gift for our neighbor, who collects teddy bears. The other Mill Hill, "Hope," I plan to stitch and send to the hospice where my mother was last month. Then I'm going to stitch SamSarah's "Need to Read" for my daughter's teacher. The other two designs are for me, as well as some scrapbooking alphabets that were on clearance. I love that witch hat from Plum Pudding and it will give me a chance to use up this really old piece of 14ct black Aida I have. I want to start it now, because the design itself is not that big, but I need to focus on my holiday stitching first.

Ornaments

I've been busy working on a few ornaments from the Just Cross Stitch issues.

First up is "Scared Folk Pumpkin" from the 2009 JCS Halloween issues. I had hoped to have this finished by Halloween, but ended up finishing it on Sunday. I just need to get a hanger for it.

front


back



I also completed the first of what will probably be five of "Sugar Plum" from the 2008 JCS Christmas Ornament issue. I'm planning on giving these to my aunts and sisters-in-law for Christmas.

front


back


finishing


The finishing is cellophane and ribbon to make it look like a candy wrapper.

Both of these were stitched on sewing cards from Tokens & Trifles. I loved stitching these, especially the sugar plum, because the detail on the card makes it look like it was a lot of work, but it was very simple. I can think of a million of things to make with these cards. I love the flag banner they have on their website.

Off to keep stitching more sugar plums (and that other stocking, too)!

Stitching Bag

Picking up the meme from Anna's blog, here's a look inside my stitching bag, which is a freebie I picked up at a work conference a couple of years ago. It's nice because it's tall and has a pocket in the front and two on the sides.



I used to be a one-project-at-a-time stitcher, but not anymore! Right now, I'm working on some ornaments for Christmas from last year's Just Cross Stitch issue (better pictures to come soon) as well as some Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ornaments for a friend, the baby sampler, and the second Snowman stocking. I only have one pair of scissors and I'm finding that with working on a lot of perforated paper recently, I could use a pair with much sharper points. Like Anna, I reuse other plastic bags. The red one came with a toy in it and the roomy, large one had curtains in it at one time. The small bag is recycled from a Pine Mountain kit and Rudolph is in a plain old Ziploc bag. Everyday supplies such as extra needles and the Tacky BOB are in the front pocket.

Swirlygig

Now that Anna's challenge is over, I can post a pic of my Bent Creek "Swirlygig" that I entered. Congratulations to the winners, both of whom I voted for (no, I didn't vote for myself!). I pretty much picked the colors for the pattern to match my family room, which is where this is going to hang.

Finishes

Finally finished that last little bit of "Holiday Seasons" after picking up the WDW Fire last week. On to the framing...


Also, one of my goals for many years now has been to have Christmas stockings for everyone in my family, all four of us. I made one for each of my nieces, but have yet to finish any for my family. I have started and stopped at least three different stockings, all from Dimensions or Bucilla kits, and then realized how awful they were. They just weren't what I was looking for. Eventually, I found a few stocking charts from Bent Creek that I loved. I believe I started "Snowman Stocking" for daughter #1 (who is now 7, by the way) some time last year. I finished it over the weekend on 28 ct. tea-dyed Monaco fabric using DMC threads. I'm going to add black buttons on the snowman and two gold stars on either side of the name after I sew the stocking together.


The finishing-finishing will be the real challenge if I want her to be able to use it this year because my mom sewed the other two for me. She won't be able to right now, so I guess I'll give it a try. Next, I need to start "Snowman" again, in pink, for daughter #2. Then I have "Holiday Home" for me and "Christmas Eve" for my husband.

Stash

I finally made it to Needlecraft Corner to get the WDW Fire I needed, along with a few other things, of course. I picked up the Halloween issue of JCS, as well as the Christmas ornament issue, which the shop was busy shipping off to those who pre-ordered. I've flipped through both a couple of times, but need more time to digest them. Plus, I look forward to Anna's review when she receives her issue. I also bought "Primitive Wizard of Oz" by Midsummer Night Design and the "Tree Farm" Buttoned & Beaded kit from Mill Hill.

Work in Progress

Not much stitching this past week, with back to school and then Big H's birthday party on Saturday. While I'm waiting to get the WDW Fire I need to finish "Holiday Seasons," one of the other projects I'm working on is the "Winter Baby" Sunshine Line by Brooke's Books. This will be Little H's baby sampler when it's finished. I completed the original "Baby Girl" Sunshine Line for Big H after she was born and these will hang next to each other in our upstairs hallway next to some baby pictures of the two of them. These are stitched on perforated paper with DMC floss and a little bit of beading.

A Finish

I quickly stitched this little octopus last week and turned it into a magnet for my mom. She has adopted the octopus as a symbol of her fight against cancer. The design was a freebie from Brooke's Books and I used DMC floss that closely matched the called for colors on white perforated paper.

After I was laid off in January, I started working on "Holiday Seasons" from Birds of a Feather. I've had this pattern and the supplies for ages. It's stitched on 32 ct. Belgium linen with the called for WDW floss (my first time using overdyed floss). This project was really like doing four different designs (similar to the Lizzie Kate four seasons boxers), but comes as one chart. I was so close to being done last week but then I ran out of WDW Fire, which I need to finish the last design (Winter holidays). Once the design is done, I plan to finish it in a frame I have that looks like a window pane. Lessons learned from this project - I prefer evenweave to linen and I don't like stitching on fabric smaller than 28 ct. (unless maybe I invest in an Ott Lite and magnifier).

Swirlygig Challenge

Last week, I finished stitching Bent Creek's "Swirlygig" design for Anna's challenge. This only took me a few hours to stitch and usually I'm a very slow stitcher. Now I need to "finish finish" the design and send a picture to Anna. I won't be able to post a pic here until September when the challenge is over.

Brushing Off the Cobwebs

Well, it's been a long time. A lot has happened, but without going into everything, I've decided to make this more of a cross stitch/crafts blog, since I post most of my every day and family stuff over on Facebook. So look for the links on the right to change shortly and for some pics of projects in progress. There's an incredibly active cross stitch community out there and they are all very inspiring. Since I'm not working right now, I've had a lot more time to stitch and scrapbook and I'm actually getting a lot accomplished! So stay tuned...

2008 Reading List

Well, this list just gets more pathetic every year. I'm almost embarrassed to post it this year, but here goes. Less than 20!

2008 Reading List

1. Hard Row by Margaret Maron (M) (series) (library)
2. Beautiful Children by Charles Bock (F) (Powell’s) (free download)
3. Schuyler’s Monster by Robert Rummel-Hudson (NF) (new book from Amazon)
4. Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (F) (library)
5. Savage Run by C.J. Box (CF) (series) (library)
6. Winterkill by C.J. Box (CF) (series) (library)
7. Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz (NF) (library)
8. In the Woods by Tana French (CF) (library)
9. Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani (SF) (library)
10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (F) (library)
11. The Likeness by Tana French (CF) (library)
12. Winter Study by Nevada Barr (CF) (series) (library)
13. Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs (CF) (series) (library)
14. Oral History by Lee Smith (F) (used PB)
15. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb (F) (used PB)
16. The Night of the Gun by David Carr (NF) (library)
17. Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons (F) (library)

Did I even post the list from 2007? I couldn't find it. Here is, plus a link to 2006.

2007 Reading List

1. Deception by Denise Mina (CF) (library)
2. The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall (F) (library)
3. Sea Glass by Anita Shreve (F) (used)
4. Amagansett by Mark Mills (F) (library)
5. Summer Reading by Hilda Wolitzer (F) (library)
6. The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp (CF) (library) (Powell’s)
7. Red River by Lalita Tademy (F) (library)
8. Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein (CF) (library)
9. Bloodthirsty by Marshall Karp (CF) (library)
10. The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos (CF) (library)
11. The Scold’s Bridle by Minette Walters (CF) (used paperback)
12. Dark Hollow by John Connolly (CF) (library)
13. The Woods by Harlan Coben (M) (library)
14. Winter’s Child by Margaret Maron (M) (library)
15. The Straw Men by Michael Marshall (CF) (library) (Powell’s)
16. Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty (YA) (library)
17. Sacred by Dennis Lehane (CF) (used)
18. Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z. by Debra Weinstein (F) (bookcloseouts)
19. Kill Chain by Meg Gardiner (CF) (library)
20. Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger (CF) (library)

Happy 10th Anniversary

A surprise delivered to work this morning for my 10th wedding anniversary.

Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons

How did I not know this was coming out? How did I not know that this has been out for the past month? From one of my most favorite authors? Who hasn't had a new book out since 2005? I was randomly checking the NY Times best seller list today and there it was (#21). And I was just in Borders on Saturday. Good thing it's the end of the day. I'm off to the library on my way home!