Summer Stuff

I tend to think of Summer as ending in August. So, by my standards Summer is almost over. I know it runs until mid/end of September, but September 1 is the beginning of Fall in my mind. With that, my thoughts are quickly turning from Summer activities to ones carried out in cooler weather. How about you? In my sidebar to the right, you'll see I've had Shepherd's Bush "Green Snowman" as a WIP, shamefully, for a LONG time. I can't believe I haven't updated to show him finished. Not framed yet, but still-he's finished. He wasn't as much fun to work on as the Red Snowman, but I do love him nonetheless. That green fabric just doesn't translate well to a photo.  Tried it many times!

So, there he is, all finished up. As I mentioned earlier this year in a post below, I'd like to try the Gray Snowman too. This time last year, I made learning to crochet and knit a goal of mine. Work keeps me away from crafting a good portion of the year, but I do have summers off, so I picked it up again this summer and I've done pretty well! Going slow, but I'm really enjoying it. Forgive all the loose ends not worked in yet, but here's a couple examples of what I've been up to.

As if I don't have enough trouble keeping my stitching supplies organized, now I have yarn too! But you know, that's a good problem to have, now isn't it? :) My boy turned 17. Impossible I say, because I've not aged one day since he was born. ;)

Elizabeth Stone said "Making the decision to have a child-it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." When I take that statement in, I wholeheartedly agree. He is my heart. Love that kid. This (Aug 26th) will also be the last "first day" of high school for my son. Every day I drive him to school will be the last of them. This time next year, he's off to college somewhere and I'll be seeing him much less. I think college is a good transition for kids. I got married early and never had that transition time, so I'm glad he will.

It has been a busy and sometimes overwhelming year so far. Though my work is set to start up again, I again make a promise to myself to stitch more. I have let so many things slip by the wayside. Fall is a time of renewal for me. Lots of cleaning out, physically and mentally. My husband knows he has to gear up and have lots of trash bags at the ready, because I have a burning desire to lighten my load this time of year.

So, have you found Pinterest? Yeah. Me too. Probably one of the more valid and real reasons I haven't gotten much done this summer. It's wondrous, amazing, and lovely. It's also EVIL. :) I guess I should link my boards somewhere on my blog. I'll take a peek and see how others are doing that and most likely will do that myself too. So many blogs to catch up on! I'm excited to see what everyone is working on! I leave you with many wishes for a lovely remainder of summer!

Spooky Hollow Finish

Happy Valentine's Day! Let's see, I've not been back since November so a quick recap is in order. Thanksgiving was wonderful, went to my sis's house and visited with everyone-same for Christmas. She and her husband are great to host it for us. Wonderful company and food. My husband lost a friend of his in the line of duty on New Year's Eve. His loss will forever be felt by family, friends, co-workers, and the community at large.

On a lighter note, my son just took his ACT and is taking the SAT in March.  He's researching colleges, and I don't think we're ready for all this!  Yes, we knew it was coming, but it really sneaks up on you, doesn't it?  YIKES.

Otherwise, we've just been working and doing some cleaning out and fixing up of our little house. Just some repainting, etc. at this point. It'll be good to get it all done. Speaking of all done-I finished Spooky Hollow without the border. Yes, I did say that I wanted to finish it properly. But guess what? I'm taking a page out of a fellow stitcher's book and saying "I didn't do it and I don't feel guilty either!" LOL. Think of me what you will (you're probably right, whatever it is!). I looked at that border and thought "Do I really want to spend time stitching this??!" The overwhelming answer was
"NO!".

Spooky Hollow

With Thy Needle and Thread

28 ct. Picture This Plus Mello

Regular DMC floss

So, there we go.  All done.  Now I'm finishing up the Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman-he's over there to the right in my sidebar.  He's nearly done.  Have you seen the new Gray Snowman?  Oh, I think I'm going to have to have him!

Isn't he adorable?  And I love that little house too! All of those snowmen are so cute.  I think I need blue and purple as well.

We put a bird feeder up, so I'll leave you with a pretty pic of one of my favorite birdies.

 Until next time,
 

Finishes and Frames

Well, hello!  Um, pay no attention, please, to the date of the last post.  Deal?  I've done many fun things this past year, and have recorded none of them here.  Shameful, I tell you!

Since I last left showing a peek of Fa La La, maybe I should update him, eh? Here he is, all finished and pressed. Don't know what I'll do, but probably frame him somehow.

Shepherd's Bush - Fa-La-La

I think he turned out pretty cute. LOVE that button hat too! I also had been working, albeit very slowly, on Spooky Hollow by With Thy Needle and Thread. Very sad and slow update below! I adore this design.  It's got a border that doesn't look very fun, but I'll persevere and finish it properly.

Spooky Hollow - With Thy Needle and Thread

Just yesterday, I went and picked up a project from the framer, In Stitches. Here is my framed Blackbird Designs project.

With My Needle - Blackbird Designs

I hope everyone is doing well. My blog feed shows so many beautiful and wonderful projects being done out there! I need to find some time to catch up with everyone and get some inspiration.  I've done some designing, but not much stitching, as evidenced here.  Maybe I'll get my act together this coming year?  I have a few things to figure out on Blogger, so that will keep me busy updating for a while.  Until next time, 

Shepherd's Bush Fa La La

November is well upon us, and I'd rather not talk about Halloween. Shocking as it might be, I'm over it for a while! So, I'm not even posting anymore pics of it and will move right along towards Christmas. A couple weeks ago, I made a trip to Hershey PA for the weekend to do nothing spectacular. Ate, slept and started a new project. I brought my little Fa La La Sheep that I'd bought the year before, but sadly there is no needlework show at Hershey anymore. And no shops whatsoever!!

Shepherd's Bush Fa La La

He is super sweet and he'll have a little striped hat when he's done. I've already begun on the tree that is to the right of him, but I'll update that next time. I'm working so much there is precious little time for stitching.

I'll be honest, this year has been a whirlwind of crap. Lots of good things to be sure, but you know how the few really stressful things can take over? It's been that kind of year. The kind of year where you say to yourself, "Girl, something's gotta give!" But then I think that I have a great deal to be thankful for as well, so why am I complaining, right? Blah! I have a very sweet friend who recently lost her mom, and my troubles don't compare in the least to what she is going through.

Then, there's my blog friend Donna, over at DaisyGirl Stitching and she's my new inspiration. She just amazes me with her spirit and personality. I need to follow her example and get my act together!

Until next time friends, I hope you have lots of time for stitches!

Uh Oh Snow!

There's a Winter Storm Warning for my area. We're supposed to be getting 16-24 inches between Friday and Saturday. I picked a great weekend to fly to NYC, didn't I? I haven't flown since 1988---FOR A REASON. I'm terrified, lol. My sister talked me into a whirlwind trip and even extended it for a day because I was going. The woman would NOT leave me alone until I said yes. Everytime I said "No", she said "So, that's a yes??!!" Wish me luck, people. It's only an hour flight, but holy moly.....we leave Friday morning at 9:15am, and come back late Sunday night. I should have asked my doc for a tranquilizer!

And speaking of SNOW, here's a tiny more progress on Green Snowman:

And here's a little sneak peek at a project that is almost ready. I'll have it done next week sometime, when I get back. I WILL be coming back--right? Sure, right, of course Tammy. Don't be riduculous! It's not like a flock of geese ever brought down a jet! And no one would ever get on a plane with an underwear bomb!! Don't be silly!! GAH!

Enjoy your weekends, and do something fun (stitching included)! Until next time,

Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman, etc.

What? You thought it was done? *insert maniacal laughter here* Nah, just a little progress, that's all. Just wait though. When work is done April 1, things are gonna bust loose up in this joint. :p

I've made my peace with the loosey goosey fabric. I'm not pulling tight at all, yet still have the dreaded holes. Guess what? I'm gonna live with it. I like him so far. Now, if I can just finish him before he melts this Spring.....

I picked up a little Trail Creek Farm chart. It's a witch. It was a given. I posted about this when it first came out, but it was a kit for a treat bag and I didn't want to make a treat bag. Thankfully, you can now just buy the chartpak. Awesome!

Boy, those pics are really no-frills, aren't they? Sorry 'bout that.

All's well in my little corner of the globe, and for that, I'm supremely thankful. It's a beautiful 55 degrees right now and we may be getting some snow this weekend. VA is like that. Have a wonderful week, and I'll be catching up on blogging in the next day or so. I have a few new followers. How nice is that? Very nice I say! I'll be adding all of you to the blog roll asap! Thank you so much for all your comments previously and until next time,

A Nose By Any Other Name...

I'm working on two projects at one time, so I don't have tons of progress. BUT, the snowman has taken shape! If anyone else has done this one, did you find the fabric a bit "loose"? It seems to pull more than the red fabric did, so there are little "holes" in between all the stitches. I don't like that! Maybe when it's all done, it'll be OK? I'm IN LOVE with his nose however.

Someone asked about the button switch-a-roonie I wanted to do on this. I think I will replace the original buttons with some tiny rose buttons. At least that's the plan right now. And hopefully I'll have a new design ready to go in another week or so. Stay tuned!

I hope everyone is having a great stitchy week! We are slowly getting the house back in order after the holidays and I hate doing it. You'd think with a small house it'd take no time whatsoever. WRONG!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

A New Year and a New Start !

Have I been phoning it in or what? It's OK, I can take it. :) I have been phoning it in, but need to get back to my blog. It is what kept me stitching last year and the year before, so I *need* to do this. Excuses, be gone!

So, I started stitching up Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman. A bit of a misnomer, because he's not actually green. But the fabby is! I hope this goes as quickly as the Red Snowman did for me! One thing I'll miss is that there is no sweet little sheep on this one. I've already decided to swap the buttons out for something else. We'll see how that works out.

I have one new little purchase. My friend got me a gift certifcate to my LNS and I treated myself to this one. It's a Christmas design, but the colors are oh so pretty! They didn't have the bluish purplish color (the wording is done in that), so I'll have to pick that up later. Thanks Julie! By the way, this is a SamSarah design.

I trust everyone had a lovely and wonderful holiday season! Thank you for the comments to the Jack/Christmas video. I totally swiped that from my cousin because I loved it so much! Thanks Kim!

My husband is the best. He got me a new Nikon D3000. I love this camera. Not too steep a learning curve for the auto features. I plan to really learn more about this camera in the coming months. Thanks hubby!

And thanks to anyone out there still listening and reading and commenting. I'm keenly aware of the time it takes to do so, and I appreciate when you can---and even when you can't! 'till next time,

A Peek in the Cauldron and A Must Do

Well, let's just jump right into Christmas, shall we? Nevermind that pesky Halloween post just one down, OK? :p

I need to stitch this for myself this winter season. I finished the Red Snowman earlier this year and just love it-no I haven't framed it!

So, I may do that, or some other wintry sweet piece. Doesn't have to be Christmas per se. Speaking of that, I have a sneak peek of something I'm working on now and I have no idea if it'll be done soon or not! My work has kept me so so busy that I haven't had time to stitch hardly at all. I may need to shop around for a stitcher, as I have several other designs ready to go, but when they'll see the light of day I don't know.

So there it be, so to speak. I have lots of little visions, lots of designing in my head and lots of things in progress on the computer as well. Very little stitching. Anyone want to point me in the direction of how to win a lottery? That would free up a boatload of time, I tell you! I watched a great show on how lottery winners screw up their lives (not all of course!). Is it bad to say it made me feel a bit better? You truly must have your act together regardless of how much you have or do not have. That's the simple lesson. Stay away from credit, save your hard earned money and you can enjoy your "wealth" at any stage of the game! (but I still wanna win the lotto dangit.)

Sorry for the rambling. We're in the midst of paying off bills and I tend to wax philosophic about it, lol. Anyways, I need to go spend some time in blogland visiting all my buddies. I've picked up a few more followers---THANKS GUYS!--- and need to add them to my blogroll and check out their blogs if they have them. Boy, blogging really shows you that the world is full of the neatest and most interesting people. Get lots of stitching in this weekend and maybe some holiday decorating if you can--I hope to put a few stitches in and show something more than a pitiful peek next week! Ha! Till then,

Goblin Start, Stash, and Funny Convo

Funny conversation regarding the virtues of Thread Heaven:

Me: (opening a new container) Yaaayyyy!
DH: What's so exciting?
Me: Sparkles!
DH: What *is* that stuff on top?
Me: It's FUN, whaddya think?
DH: Yeah, but why is it there?
Me: You obviously don't get it.

The people who make this stuff get it though, because they are the ones that add the sparklies!

Yes, the sparkles have no purpose other than to amuse me. And they do. That's how easily I'm amused. I know, I'm a freak. Have you used this stuff? I love it. I don't usually use it with DMC, but for silks and overdyeds, it's a necessity for me.

Here's my start. Eleven days since my last blog entry and I realize I should have had this done already, lol. However, I just haven't had the dedicated stitching time I want. Just like the last design, this fabby is kind of yellow, but doesn't want to show up that way in a pic:

Just a few stash items. My friend Tracy gave me SamSarah's Jumping Jacks. Love those pumpkins! And I had to have the witchy design of course. Then I scored another BBD Loose Feather design off eBay. This is such a great design. I'm happy I won it!

Well, nothing else exciting happening. I'm gearing up for our annual vacation - July 11 - to Ocean City, MD, and we are so stoked! I need to start thinking about what stitching to take. I will either take the Prairie Schooler Garden Fairy (the only one I have left to stitch, out of 4) or another little Shepherd's Bush design for mom's birthday. We'll see! **ETA** Yes Judy, I do know about all those shops and also Sea Needles in Bethany Beach. Oh how I love to shop for cross stitch, but at the beach it's even sweeter!

Thx for all the great comments on my last post about the finish and the scrapbook tin. I had someone ask me to email instructions on how to complete the tin and I'll be happy to do that! Take care and until next time,

Stitchy Finish, Scrapbooking Finish, etc!

WHEW! The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind. Ever feel like you're just running in place, going nowhere fast, but there's so much happening around you? That's the past couple weeks for me. Getting my son through the end of school and wondering how I now have a 13 year old boy. Boggles the mind. That was last week, then we had the party, then he had dentist appointment, then he had a small surgical procedure on his face (I know!!). Had to have a small growth removed from his face and will have some follow up laser procedures. OY VEY. I'm tired.

I told you I finished With my Needle, and indeed I have. Here it is. These are outdoor pics so I'm sorry 'bout the shadows !

BlackBird Designs With My Needle

28 ct. Antique Cotton Linen
GAST Fibers

Oh, I also wanted to post my recent gift to my sister. She also has a June birthday and I wanted to give her something special, so I made her an altered tin album of some pics of us as kids and a couple recent ones too. She cried, which as you all know means.......SCORE!!!! :P She's the beautiful blonde!


Don't mind the little paws in the upper right hand corner. :p

I really love scrapbooking too. This little album uses a digital template from Shabby Miss Jen, which, if you are into digi scrapping at all, is a way awesome site. I just downloaded some Halloweenie type kits. FUN!

Now, what to stitch next? I thought maybe this. It's cute, right? Shepherd's Bush The Goblins. I can't resist a goblin! :

And no one need remind me I still have Halloween Fairy to finish up. Maybe I'll take this opportunity to work on her too. She's crying out to be finished before Halloween this year, after the fiber dye lot disaster of last year, lol. My goodness.

A very sweet lady, Joanne, was visiting my blog and saw I wanted Firefly Fairies:

So what did she do? She sent her copy to me! Joanne, you are an awesome lady and I can't wait to see your Cricket Boo Sheep progress. I think Joanne needs a blog too, in order to show it off. I don't believe she has one, but if you do Joanne, please let me know!! You are too sweet.

Today I scored my copy of Adam Lambert's Rolling Stone cover. I have to wait until all is quiet to read it. I'm so excited he's going to have an album out later this fall. Seriously, Adam fans, how cool is this cover?

And with that, I think I'll sign off before I blog your ear off (or your eyes out?). Have a great night and I'm looking SO forward to getting back to reading posts and see all the gorgeous things you're working on. Thanks for the b-day wishes for my boy. So sweet of you all! You guys really make my day.