Ya'll won't believe this!

Well, I finally had some success! I didn't want to take the time to stitch the little snowman again, but I will later on. And I thought to myself that if mess up another uber-cute design, I would surely see an early grave, so I found a tiny little biscornu pattern from The Floss Box (they have snowflakes too!) and went to work. It was a super quick stitch and then I finished it last night.

Here is what it looked like prior to stitching:

Then I carefully followed instructions from all you great ladies who tried to help me avoid a nervous breakdown and it turned into THIS before my very eyes!!!!

Mini-Biscornu-The Floss Box

Wichelt 18 ct. Twilight Blue Linen, over two

Freebie found HERE

I can't hardly believe it! I'm going to go so far as to say I'm very pleased with myself, lol! Now I have to get back to my poor neglected Sheepies!

Thank you again, everyone, who left me comments and talked me down from the ornament finishing ledge. You'll never know how much it meant to me!!

Shame, Horror, Sheep (and award, lol)

I'm just now coming to terms with it, lol. I know, I'm a freak. Here is the SHAME:


What's up with that stupid corner on the right hand side?? I swear.

Now for the HORROR. No, seriously, here it is:


OMG. I think I shaved off about 3 years of my life with this ornament. Doesn't that make you just cringe? It did me. If you didn't read the last post of frustration--that hole is where I pushed the stinkin' turning tool right through the linen. OY!

One little, two little, three little SHEEPIES:


At least these guys are coming along nicely, if not slowly.

Now, tae-kwon-do stitching woman extraordinairre (is that even spelled right?), Lori,gave me such a nice award!


I'm supposed to say what 5 things I'm addicted to--so here goes! Big fat numero uno would be stitching and all things related, lol. 2) is music. I love music, and how it has the power to make you feel a certain way. 3) my kid. I love the kid, even though he drives me nuts. A day without having him around is - well, kind of weird! 4) food. Without it, I'd die! :P and 5) Halloween. Gotta have it.

Thank you Lori, you sweetie! And thank ALL OF YOU who posted with encouraging stitchy words of advice and condolences on my fallen snowman. I will heed your advice and the Twilight Blue linen is back on a little hoop ready to stitch him up again, and success will be mine!

Ornie Frustration-No pic

I'm bummed. I finished stitching the Snow Blessing Ornie. I didn't do a good job sewing around the curve with my machine, as it's not even on both sides. I pushed my plastic turning tool right through the linen on one corner--UGH! I kept shoving batting inside the little thing, and after I was done, it seemed lumpy.

I think this was the last pillow ornie I will do, unless someone can point me in the direction of a fabulous tutorial of how to stitch it together (with sewing machine or by hand or what??), how to stuff the dang thing right, and how to sew it closed without it looking all caddywhompus. Yep, that's a word. How do they get 'em so fully stuffed and pretty looking??

I'd also like to add some pretty beads to the edges of an ornie, ala Carol-her stuff is FABU, but can't figure out how to do that either, lol! I have looked all day for some really good step by step finishing tuts, but I didn't find answers to my burning questions. Working on that tiny little thing just took it out of me. It's not even fit to post!

That's why I frame stuff. :P

Sheepy Update and Ornie Start

Pathetic progress on my sheepies. Aren't those little hats hysterical? I love them! Stitching with the Sheep's Silk? Not so much.

I lied about the ornie start. But I did gather everything and get the fabby prepped for stitching. I need to get this sucker not only stitched, but finished, before the end of the month. I signed up for the ornie group blog and I cannot miss the first month, lol. I'm a pretty die-hard crafty procrastinator. Just ask my Headache Fairy...yeah, don't remind me.

Ooooh, I DID send that thread off to Sharon Crescent though. I'll post if she found anything that remotely matches! Maybe, just maybe I can get it finished by THIS Halloween? We'll see.

I have a very non-exciting stitchy life. I hope it perks up when my work season ends in Spring! Have a great week everyone-and do something fun this week!

Psst! Stash alert and Cricket Sheep!

Uh, did you know Silk N Colors was nearly EIGHT BUCKS a skein??? I only needed two for this project, but I had NO idea about that. It's only used in the little red and green stitches in the hats, but geez! Next time I'll sub my trusty old DMC rather than spend my money on that for such a small amount of stitching!

This is my wintry project, Do You Hear What I Hear?, by Cricket. I love her designs and have many many many of them. There's something about sheep....

Fabric is Wichelt's Star Sapphire, 28 ct., over two. The Sheep's Silk was much more moderately priced, but the designer said her model was on 18 count with two ply of that stuff! NO WAY! I couldn't even work two ply on the 14 count. So I'm using one, and it's wooly enough for me. But my LNS was out of the fun variegated Taupstone, so I substitued a gray for that. Here's a peek at the first little sheepy taking shape.

Cute! Like I said, just something about sheep. :)

Now onto some stash. My DH got me a nice gift certificate (which I'm nearly out of now), and here's a bit of what I spent it on.

I used to have that Bent Creeek design, but sold it. Then I found it in the clearance bin at the LNS. I was just about to hit eBay for it, because I want to do it for my nephew! Score! So, there's my stitchy week-at-a-glance. Until next time,

A Finish and a Milestone

This week has been the most stressful week I've had in a loooong time. I think for me, it's the working, plus trying to get everything ready. The lack of time just steals away some of the joy. I'm glad to be on the other side of Christmas, looking towards the new year. I want to work on losing some weight, keeping up with stitching, and making more time for family activities and being together. Believe me, I have a much more comprehensive list, but I won't bore you with that here!

I finished Night and Day.

I have no idea what I'll do with it, so onto the "finished" pile it will get heaped. I'll have a mess of stuff to finish next year. I'm going to do the Christmas Ornament blog thingy too and hopefully that will help me reach my goal of having lots of hand made ornies for next year. Maybe I can even give some away to friends and family!

OK, the milestone is that I put Gathering Eggs on my qsnaps-and if you knew how long this baby has sat unfinished, you'd know why I say it's a milestone!

What has held me back is that the blue sky isn't up to my usual standard of stitching for myself--I know, ridiculous, right? Some of the stitching isn't as "tight" as I'd like it and I could pick apart many things that aren't perfect. I'm going to look at this like a teaching piece for myself. The blended threads, the large design, the eventual beading, etc. I've told myself that if I finish this, I will be worthy to start Fairy Moon. I LOVE that design, and I bought it many years ago. I want to do it, but dangit, I gotta do this one first. Thanks for all the comments to my blog, whether there is a photo or not. I'll be reading everyone's blogs and catching up this week. Have a safe and happy New Year celebration, wherever it may be!

Oh! I forgot to mention that my DH bought me this:

It's a 24 watt Ott Lite, floor lamp!! I have been needing this thing so bad! Now I can actually see what I'm stitchin'. Imagine that. Now I can see even more imperfections than before! :)

Nothing to see here!

Not at all. Not one pic of stitching, nor a photo---NUTHIN! I am unbelievably busy getting ready for my family to come tomorrow afternoon. Seems like between buying presents and working, the past couple weeks has been a blur, literally. I had to work today, and will have to the rest of the week too--BLAH! However, I have to ask one question:

Is there any more heavenly substance on this planet than brown sugar??

I'm baking, as you can tell. Seriously, I could just eat it all by itself, lol. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas, or whatever other holiday they may be celebrating. I will be back very soon with a photo of my finished LHN Day and Night. I never did get to start that "wintry" project I wanted to before Christmas. Maybe before New Year, right?

Enjoy and see you soon!

LHN Progress and Santa Pillow

Next time I post, I will have this thing finished. Here is where I'm at today. Ahhh, plain ole' DMC floss. Don't you love it? I do. After working with silk on the the little witch, I am enjoying the pull of cotton through the fabric and the great coverage cotton provides.

Remember Leisure Arts? Well, not like they're gone, but it seems I don't see anyone stitching their stuff. But I LOVE their designs and about 18 years ago (I know, I know, I'm old!) this was one of the first things I stitched. Just a little pillow, but I continue to love it when I bring it out every year. It was from a hard back book they published every year for a long time. I wonder if they still do? I have tons of them, lol!

I'm not big on finishing, but I've been reading up on how to do things, and I want to have some ornies for next Halloween and next Christmas. Anyone use glue on their ornaments instead of lacing? Fill me in and let me know your favorite finishing techniques for small items. Until next time...

Night and Day progress

I've not gotten too much farther, but it *IS* progress, right? RIGHT?? Why yes, yes it is progress! I feel put to shame by some people who start a beautiful design and 48 hours later are posting a finish. Sigh. I'm just so dang busy with my work season right now, that it's impossible to stitch too much. I really wanted to start a winter project before Christmas though.

Now, this fabric really is a greenish, but photographed very odd today!

I'm going to try hard to finish this bad boy up this week! I should be stitching something as a gift, but frankly, it's just too much pressure this month. I should know to stitch Christmas gifts sometime in June or July. Until next time.....

Some Holiday pics and Baxter

You know, I've done so little work on my LHN that it doesn't even warrant a post or a pic. But I was messing with my camera (terrible results!), and thought I'd post some holiday eye candy just to get me in the mood for Christmas. I hope to stitch alot more this week.

Today was my son's last day of school for the week and already he's starting with "Can my friend spend the night?" or "Can I go to Pop Pop and Nana's house to spend the night?" ARGH. This child hates to stay home on his time off from school and he's always messing with people's schedules, lol.

First, here's Baxter. He always has this sad-sack look on his face, yet wags his tail contstantly. He's the most awesome dog ever. He's about 5 and we've had him almost 3 years. I found him in my front yard.

My husband works Thanksgiving and for a few days afterward, so we wanted to start getting our stuff our and get the tree going. It's not done yet though-excuse the bare shelves!

Oh, I LOVE this one! It's a little cross stitching mouse!

Well, again, I hope to have more of my stitching to show in a few days, but I've been super busy with work. I'm already looking forward to April when my contract is up! Thanks for stopping by and tolerating my blurry macro shots. I'm trying to get the hang of the no-flash macro and aperture settings. Take care.

Night and Day, Doggie love, and Tag!

I got a new camera!! Thx to my friend in Idaho, Julie, who always knows me best. Thanks Jules. I love you! It's a Canon Powershot, and I have to say, I'm loving this thing. Here's a pic of what I'm working on now, mentioned previously. It's LHN, Night and Day:

Now, here's my baby...Jenny the Jack Russell. She's our 3rd and is 2 1/2, but we've had her since she was 6 months old. We had another JR live until she was nearly 18. I hope we have as many years with this one. We have another doggie too, and I'll show you him next time.

Here is daddy holding the baby, lol:

OK, now apparently I've been tagged TWICE! First I was tagged by Margie, and then Lori. Thanks ladies--very fun!

So, here are six random things about me ...

1. I toy with the idea of going back and finishing school so I can be a medical examiner.

2. I cannot speak any other language fluently.

3. I love to drive a stick shift, but don't have one right now.

4. I want to ride and/or drive a motorcycle.

5. I adore scary movies, haunted houses, and all things frightening.

6. I'm addicted to true crime stories.

So I left off some of the *really* quirky stuff, but that's so you won't get scared--hahahaha! Now, I know I need to tag some others here, but I first must find out who all has been tagged so I don't duplicate anything!

Next time, I hope to be way further along on my stitching. Have a great day everyone and I'll be catching up on your blogs between tonight and tomorrow!

22 Years and a new start!

Well, I celebrated my 22nd wedding anniversary yesterday. How unbelieveable. Twenty two years means:

Five homes
Ten vehicles
7 dogs
2 cats
11 jobs
1 son
9 Surgical procedures
Countless joys
Many tears

It truly has been "in sickness and in health" and all the other things we promised all those many years ago. In some ways, it doesn't seem like that long. We still are moving through this world together, just as we promised we would, through loss and plenty, it's been a ride, that's for sure.

Meanwhile, on the subject of stitching, I recently began this little project:

Boy, I just really wanted to work with some good old fashioned cotton floss again. Nice! I emailed Sharon Crescent about my Headache Fairy. She said Hoffman Distributing didn't put enough floss in the kits and lo and behold...lots of people had problems. She is willing to see if she has a match in her warehouse for me of the Dandelion Stem, but I have to pull some stitches and send the snippet to her. What a great lady! And wouldn't you know, I checked the Halloween Fairy kits at my LNS yesterday and they now include TWO---yep, TWO skeins of Dandelion Stem for the wings. Hmmm. Gotta love Hoffman.

My good friend Tracy brought me a little get well gift (I have some kind of chesty cough bronchial deal happening). It's by Lizzie Kate and she knew I'd love it!

Well, have a great week everyone and I'll post a pic soon of my new start. I'm already thinking of a new start after this new start is done. :p