The Very Long Update! - Part 1

WOW! Almost 6 months since my last post! Thinking about doing an update is a daunting task, so I think I'm just going to work on it a bit at a time.

Let's see - the first thing that happened after my last post was the receipt of the color exchange by Lody. Here are all the purple packages unwrapped :)


Since purple is one of my favorite colors, I had a blast finding all kinds of purple goodies.

I knit another Zig Zag Scarf with some Yarn Bee Boucle Traditions.









I found this Triangle Waves bracelet in the August issue of Bead and Button magazine and I just HAD to try it!! It was tons of fun, I'd love to try the pattern again.













And I tried bead crochet for the first time! The pattern is from a book I bought at the Bead Renaissance show in Ogden in 2007 called Bead Crochet Basics. It was a lot of fun too, but I couldn't for the life of me make the join look nice for a bangle, so I ripped back and attached a toggle.


Lody has much better pics of the package at her blog.





I received my Color Exchange package from Dane. My color choice was a pink and brown combo, and Dane did a wonderful job! You can see her post about it here. She sent two German chocolate and strawberry candy bars (NOW I know why I like pink and brown so much! LOL) and some lovely soft pink Permin linen.









She stitched me a wonderful needlebook and scissor fob by Tournicoton called Rose Chocolatée Nécessaires and sent some fabric, thread and buttons for me to make the matching Biscornu. And she included matching scissors.

I hope to get the Biscornu stitched and finished in 2010.






Let's see, what else?



I made a birthday card for my assigned birthday partner at work and stamped on a CD with Versamark for the first time. I love how it turned out!





Jodi's birthday was in July, but as usual, I was late with her present. I made her some jewelry.




I made this choker based on one on the cover of a book in one of my favorite series - House of Night. I love the choker on the cover of Chosen.












And I made this set from a Bead Retreat kit, but I swapped out the black crystals and used Tanzinite.
















The next exchange was Halloween/Autumn and I received a great package from Laura! She sent two fun pillow cases that she made, cup cake liners and sprinkles and a chart from my wish list - Ghoul by Plum Street Samplers.







She stitched me Something Wicked by La D Da and made it into a charming cube. I don't know if you can see it in the pic, but that's a tiny black cat in the center of the bow.

The back of the piece had this wonderful black cat fabric. This was a great addition to my Halloween decorations :)









And I put together an Autumn themed package for Nancy.

















I took a class at Kitchen Kneads to learn how to temper chocolate, so I tried it for the first time at home by dipping home-made toffee for Nancy.










The stitched piece was Gathering Acorns by With My Needle and Thread. I'd never put together a pillow like this and I was a little nervous, but I think it came out great. I'd like to make one for myself someday.

I also knit her a drop stitch scarf with some beautiful autumn ribbon yarn.





I couldn't find the pictures I took of this stuff, so I snatched them from Nancy - thanks for the pics! :)





I also had some pretty major finishes!






I finally finished Little House Needleworks Americana Sampling which I started on my trip to Virginia last March.









Then I got on a bit of a Halloween roll...







I finally stitched the Pumpkin Bag by Shepherd's Bush which I purchased at the Shepherd's Retreat in 2006. I also have the other two bags - RIP and Brew. I even think Brew is started. Hopefully I can finished them before next Halloween - they're quick to stitch and are already finished - gotta love that!














And I actually finished the stitching on the Haunted Needle House by Charland Designs from the Shepherd's Retreat. You can see close ups up individual panels on this blog post - I really didn't have that much more to do. Now I only have to do the finishing on it!










I also finished the front side of the Brightneedle class piece Ghosties and Ghoulies. I love this piece! This was an 0n-line class offered by Elegant Stitch in 2006 - another thing I need to finish! :)





And best of all - drumroll please....

My Halloween Fairy by Mirabilia!! I started this the summer of 2006, pulled it back out in June 2007, and finally finished it!! Now I can start on the Christmas Fairy - LOL.




I think that takes me up through the end of October! I'm going to try to post everything else by the end of the weekend - try to start the New Year off right! - LOL