Year Long Update

Where does the time go? It's been over a year since my last post and I really don't have that much to show you. I spent most of 2014 working on this:

This was a kit from Dimensions called "Savannah Birth Record" - 14ct. white Aida and lots of backstitching. I can't even tell you the last time I stitched a project from a "commercial" kit and this made me remember why. First step, I swapped out the Aida for 18 ct. cream evenweave. Then, I left out a lot of the backstitching that I thought was unnecessary and didn't really contribute to or take away from the design. That said, I did appreciate the pre-sorted, carded and labeled floss that came with the kit. That was definitely new from the last time I purchased one of these kits and there was plenty of it, too.

I worked on this all of last summer with plans of finishing this for the baby's baptism in early December. I was close to finishing, but didn't quite make it, and then it didn't matter because we never made it to the baptism because it was one of the many awful weather days we had this past winter. So, for some reason, mostly the dread of doing the backstitching and the fact that I went back to work in November after five years of being at home, I set it aside. I picked it back up this summer, spurred on my the fact that my cousin bought a new house and was having a housewarming party earlier this month. I had it finished and framed in time for the party and it really didn't take me that long to do the backstitching after all.

Other than that, I'm not really sure if I had any other finishes in 2013 or the first half of 2014. I think I put a few final stitches in a small JBW Christmas design that was left over from 2012, but that's it. I've been reading a lot more than I have been stitching - I find it hard to balance the two - plus growing kids who are involved in more and more activities and work have cut into my leisure time. But I'm feeling inspired as fall is approaching and I have some Christmas ornaments I want to stitch for my co-workers this year, so I hope to have more to show soon.

May Update

I hardly did any stitching in May. I've been in more of a reading mode lately, reading 9 books in May compared to one in April and one in March. I love my public library's OverDrive app for my Kindle Fire! I did manage to stitch one quick finish - Lizzie Kate's "Bacon Bits." It was for Big H's homeroom teacher as the end of year/teacher appreciation gift. She painted the frame herself. I merged two of the designs together to make the bacon more prominent, but used the called for colors on 28ct. Tea Dyed Monaco.

Duct Tape Clipboard

We love duct tape crafts at our house! I've been searching for NFL Ravens duct tape for awhile - it was completely sold out right before and after the Super Bowl. I finally found a roll in Walmart, in a different section from where they usually keep the duct tape (I'll have to remember to continue to look there). I wanted the Ravens duct tape specifically because I had this project in mind: an old clipboard from my medical publishing days, now transformed. The black square in the center is one of the duct tape sheets, which were great to work with, even if they do leave behind a few bubbles. And the tip I read on Pinterest about using baby wipes on your scissors before cutting the duct tape was a godsend. (Excuse the flash in the second picture, but I needed it or else the purple looked very blue.)

Not a Traditional Craft, But...

Here is a sweet crafty creation that my sisters and I made as an entry for the annual PEEPshow at the Carroll County Arts Center in Westminster, MD. I took the girls to the show on Good Friday to see all of the terrific entries and today is the last day of the show, then the winners will be announced. I'll let you know how we do!

Easter Crafts

Not a whole lotta stitching going on here, but I have been busy with other crafts. I went scrapbooking on Saturday for 12 hours and then for another five on Tuesday. I spent Sunday making sample Easter crafts for our Junior Girl Scout meeting last night, all with some help from Pinterest.

Left:
Puffy paint designs on plastic eggs (scroll down about halfway)

Center:
Chalkboard paint on papier mache/cardboard eggs (#13 on the slideshow)

Right:
Paper scraps Mod Podged onto plastic eggs (#19 on the slideshow)

Also, I forgot to include it in the picture, but we also made these Easter eggs out of paint chip samples. The original post suggested putting small candies in the egg, which I thought was a little difficult, but I think they would be perfect as a gift card holder.

Thoughts on New Releases

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this should read either "After the rain...the sun shines" or "After the rain...the sunshine" (all one word).

World's scariest birth sampler:

I'm very excited for this new sampler from Silver Creek Samplers. I can't wait to see what the rest of it looks like.

Others Just Don't Understand

I've been plugging away on "Tree Farm," but over the weekend, I needed a break and decided to work on a small ornament that's a WIP. My youngest daughter, who's 6, saw me working on it and asked me if I finished the house (referring to Tree Farm). When I said no, she asked, "Then why are you working on something else?"

Well, January got off to a good start until I came down with the flu the day after my last post. I was completely down for a week and even after that, I didn't feel like doing a lot of stitching. Then, I was preparing for my annual scrapbooking weekend at the end of January, so that cut into my stitching time. But I'm back on track now, continuing with "Tree Farm." You can see my progress below (some of the yellow stitches in the windows are hard to see in the photo).

Also, just before the scrapbook weekend, I got together for lunch with friends and received these lovely goodies from my bestie as my birthday present. I love them all and can't wait to get started on them!

New Year, New Start

Since I finished "Raven Bewitched" at the end of the year, I was looking for a new project to start. I have had "Kringle's Christmas Tree Farm" by Praiseworthy Stitches kitted up and ready to go for two years. "Raven" was one of the larger projects I have tackled recently, so I felt ready to start "Tree Farm." The section you see below is page 1 out of 8. I started this on Thursday, Jan. 3, so I feel like I'm already making progress and would like to have it finished and framed for Christmas 2013.

2012 Reading List

Time to post my annual reading list. I wanted to read 50 books this year and I finished #50 on Sunday, Dec. 30 - just in time! This is the most books I've read in one year since my youngest daughter was born in 2006. I discovered some new authors this year - the crime fiction of Michael Robotham, the world of Nantucket as told by Elin Hilderbrand and right now, I'm working my way through Sarah Addison Allen's magical books set in North Carolina. I also read two of the three books by Heather Gudenkauf. Her third book, which was just released in June, is about a shooting at an elementary school, so I think I'm going to skip that one; I don't think it's something I can handle right now, if ever.

1. Hardly Knew Her by Laura Lippman
2. Mommywood by Tori Spelling
3. Recalculating by Jennifer Weiner (short story)
4. The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian
5. Cut, Paste, Kill by Marshall Karp
6. A Grown Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
7. Long Gone by Alafair Burke
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9. Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid
10. Creep by Jennifer Hillier
11. Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
12. Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand
13. Yankee Doodle Dixie by Lisa Patton
14. Swim by Jennifer Weiner (short story)
15. The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King
16. The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
17. Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter by Lisa Patton
18. Bossypants by Tina Fey
19. The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
20. The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
21. Iron House by John Hart
22. The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
23. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
24. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
25. The Rope by Nevada Barr
26. Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
27. Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite
28. The Bone House by Brian Freeman
29. Blue Heaven by C.J. Box
30. Pretty Little Things by Jillianne Hoffman
31. Ransom River by Meg Gardiner
32. Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
33. Broken Harbor by Tana French
34. Border Crossing by Pat Barker
35. The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
36. A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
37. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
38. Dark River Road by Virginia Brown
39. The River Witch by Kimberly Brock
40. The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
41. A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller
42. These Hidden Things by Heather Gudenkauf
43. Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos
44. Life After Death by Damien Echols
45. Say You’re Sorry by Michael Robotham
46. Shatter by Michael Robotham
47. Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham
48. The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
49. The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
50. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

2012 Finishes

Well, I didn't post very much in 2012, but I was stitching. I previously posted about finishing SamSarah's "Sweet, Sweet Babe," but here it is framed. The frame is a dark brown, although it looks almost black in these photos.

I worked on Blackbird Designs' "Raven Bewitched" for most of the summer (each one of those Quaker stars took me close to an hour to stitch!), then caught the Halloween bug when the JCS Halloween issue came out. Here are a few small ornaments I finished from different issues. I recently bought a variety pack of Halloween fabric so I can finish-finish them.

I only made two small ornaments as Christmas gifts this year: Imaginating's "German Nutcracker" and Mill Hill's "Tropical Santa - Tahiti."

Technically, I finished "Raven Bewitched" on New Year's Day, but I'm going to count it as a 2012 finish since I only had to stitch the "er" in October and the "2" in the date at the bottom.

Hopefully, there will be lots more to come in 2013.

Two Finishes

After stitching two of them for holiday gifts, I finally finished the "Friendship" pattern for myself. I made the letters on mine purple instead of blue and now I can't wait to get it framed and hang it in the hallway.

I also finished this birth announcement for my cousin, who is currently living in Germany - Samsarah's "Sweet, Sweet Babe." A couple of changes - I changed "babe" to "baby" and stitched the date in the European style, otherwise, stitched with the called for GAST and WDW flosses on 28 ct. fabric. I'm debating whether or not to buy the button pack that goes with the design - I have until June to decide, when my cousin and the new baby are coming to the US for a visit.

Presents

I can finally show you the presents I made for my two best friends, since we were able to exchange gifts this past weekend - The Trilogy's Friendship:

There is the slightest difference between the two - the sunflowers on the right are different colors. I thought it was a little too dark in the first version, so I made it a bit brighter in the second version. I still have one more of these to finish for myself.

I also received these lovelies as a birthday gift:

They include Christmas Tea and My Pretties by Plum Street Samplers, French Country Snowglobe by JBW Designs, Tribal Crab by White Willow Stitching, The Hamster Did It by Stitchy Kitty and Blackbird Sampler by Blackbird Designs.

2011 Finishes

Looking back, I finished more projects than I thought in 2011. Shortly after the New Year, since I didn't get them done in time for Christmas 2010, I finished these two Mill Hill beaded ornaments. I ended up using one of them as a hostess gift for a cookie exchange I went to in December.

In February, I also finished the second Octopus's Garden for my other sister's birthday, which was in December. I finally framed both of them in time to give them to my sisters on Easter. (UGH!)

A quick little finish from an old Fulmer Craft pattern -  Great Smoky Mountains from the National Park Needlework Collector Patches series. I have a square green frame for finishing.

Bent Creek's cROWS. I left out the words "a fine day" and replaced them with another star. Also, I didn't like the Dark Chocolate that came with the kit to stitch the birds (too brown), so I replaced it with some WDW Charcoal I had instead.

Mill Hill's Pink Sneaker kit. I replaced the heart charm with a pink ribbon and finished it as a pin to give this to my friend who was walking in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure race in DC back in the fall. I also stitched three of these in green with a green ribbon charm for my sisters and me to wear for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk back in October (I never finished them as pins since we didn't participate in the walk after my grandmother passed away the same weekend). I hope to finish enough for our entire team for the 2012 walk.

Plum Pudding's Spellbinding Witch Hat. Stitched on a very old piece of 14-ct. black Aida that I could finally get rid of. I changed the ecru squares at the bottom to purple to match some of my other Halloween decorations. I saw this finished in a display at Salty Yarns back in October and it was adorable. I definitely need to finish it before Halloween.

Ireland Nutcracker - a birthday gift for my sister that I stitched in December from an Imaginating/Sandra Collozini leaflet. Stitched on brown perforated paper with the called for DMC. Finished as an ornament with a piece of stiff green felt.

It was a last-minute decision to stitch these "Sled Heads" as Christmas gifts for my aunts. I had seen the designs from Dixie Darlin' awhile back and loved them. I think the reason I liked them so much was that I had a bagful of these sleds leftover from my wedding (13 years ago) and knew I could use them to finish these designs. I hope to make some for myself using the Mrs. Claus and Rudolph designs that came with the Santa design.

Finally, I stitched two of The Trilogy's "Friendship" for my two best friends as holiday gifts. I haven't exchanged gifts with them yet, so I'll wait to post those later once the gifts have been received.

2011 Reading List

Just under the wire, I finished book #25 last week when our books were due back at the library on the 27th, so I reached my goal of reading at least 25 books in 2011. My favorite was "The Last Child" by John Hart. I read it while we were on vacation and it made me cry while I was sitting by the pool with a crowd of people on a 100 degree day. Good thing I was wearing sunglasses! I also discovered author Julia Glass. I read her book "Three Junes" first and couldn't get my hands on her other books fast enough. I hope she has a new novel coming out in 2012.

1. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
2. Disordered Minds by Minette Walters
3. It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh
4. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
5. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
6. Three Junes by Julia Glass
7. The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
8. Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
9. I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass
10. I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman
11. The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman
12. Unfinished Desires by Gail Godwin
13. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
14. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
15. The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits
16. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
17. Bent Road by Lori Roy
18. Christmas Mourning by Margaret Maron
19. Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
20. The Last Child by John Hart
21. Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
22. The Chameleon’s Shadow by Minette Walters
23. The Widower’s Tale by Julia Glass
24. The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb
25. Summer in the South by Cathy Holton

UGH!

For the last couple of weeks, I've been trying to compile two new catch-up posts about WIPs and finishes since I last posted (you know, since it's been so long). One thing that's been dragging me down is that one of my WIPs had me completely frustrated.

Last year, before we went on vacation, I started "Sea to Shining Sea" from the July 2003 issue of Stitcher's World. I had the entire project kitted up, but some time this spring, I lost the project bag with all of the floss skeins in it - all 36 of them! Luckily, the pattern and fabric weren't in the bag, just the floss. At first, it wasn't a big deal, because I was just working on the red, white and blue squares on the perimeter and I didn't need the other colors. But as time went on, I became increasingly frustrated that I couldn't find this project bag. I have searched and searched for it several times. I had decided when I first started stitching it that it wasn't an on-the-go project because of all the color changes, so to add to the frustration, I knew it had to be somewhere in the house.

This week, I looked one last time, to no avail. So I finally decided I would re-purchase all of the floss.

Tonight, I went through all of the my floss to see what I might have on hand so I wouldn't have to buy all 36 on a trip to Joann's tomorrow. As I'm going through the floss, I slowly start to realize that I have all of the colors. WTF?!

The only explanation I can think of is that somewhere along the way, back in the spring, the floss got mixed back in with my stash and re-filed. I don't know if one of the kids mixed them together or if I did it without even realizing it was the floss I had already sorted for "Sea to Shining Sea." Regardless of whatever did happen, I'm relieved to have the floss and glad I won't be going on any more wild goose chases through my house.

Now, if I could only find my Tacky BOB so I can finish another WIP that just needs beads to be completed! (I obviously have an organizational problem on my hands here, but that's a post for another day.)

101 Things

I posted my incomplete list of 101 things to do in 1001 days as a separate page at the top of the screen. I don't have an official start date - maybe I'll just say February 1, 2011 - and I still need to add more things to do, but I thought it was a good start. And on Friday, Feb. 4, I donated blood for the first time this year (I tried to donate in December and January, but I was sick both times), so here we go!

2010 Reading List

As I just finished my first book of 2011 (The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian, which I liked right up until the Shutter Island-like ending), I realized I didn't post my annual reading list like I usually do. My goal was to read more than I had been and I wanted to read at least 25 books in 2010. It turns out, that's exactly how many I read. I didn't stop at 25 on purpose; again, taking a retail job during the last two months of the year pretty much put a stop to any extracurricular activities like reading and cross stitch. So here's my list for 2010:

1. Back Roads by Tawni O’Dell
2. The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy
3. Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope
4. Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs
5. 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
6. 13 ½ by Nevada Barr
7. Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
8. Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron
9. The Dark of Day by Barbara Parker
10. Merciless by Richard Montanari
11. 212 by Alafair Burke
12. Flipping Out by Marshall Karp
13. Strange Angels by Jonis Agee
14. Coal Run by Tawni O’Dell
15. Caught by Harlan Coben
16. Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson
17. Roseflower Creek by J.L. Miles
18. Sister Mine by Tawni O’Dell
19. Badlands by Richard Montanari
20. A Garden of Vipers by Jack Kerley
21. South of Broad by Pat Conroy
22. Faithful Place by Tana French
23. The Liar’s Lullaby by Meg Gardiner
24. Burn by Nevada Barr
25. Dismantled by Jennifer McConnell

Happy New Year!

I just returned from my annual scrapbooking weekend. I got off to a slow start, but managed to complete 26 pages from 2008 and 2009. I felt like my photos were very unorganized - maybe because I hadn't printed photos since April of 2009 and I was rushing to get things done before leaving for the weekend.

Now that the holidays and the scrapbooking weekend are over with, I'm ready to get back to stitching. I took a part-time, seasonal retail job for November and December and it really cut into my stitching time. I only finished one of the three Mill Hill ornaments I had planned to stitch (and forgot to take a picture of the one I did finish before I gave it away) and only one of the two "Octopus's Garden" design for my sisters' birthdays. I gave the finished "Octopus's Garden" to my older sister unframed and then took it back to finish the framing. At least I have both frames once the second one is finished!

In 2011, I want to start (and maybe finish, dare I say) Kringle's Christmas Tree Farm. I have the fabric and about half of the threads. But I need to finish the other octopus design before I can start anything new. And now that I have my own laptop (the best Christmas present ever!), I hope to post more without having to fight the kids for computer time.

Winner!

I won a giveaway on the Colorbok blog! I'm so excited. It was their first giveaway of the month and the prize is a "Grinch" Christmas craft kit. THe best part is, I just bought the felt ornament "Grinch" kit on Saturday, so I'm glad I didn't win the same one and we'll have a wreath to compliment our ornaments.