My Meditation in Motion

Time for another long update!

2010-02-28T10:42:00.014-07:00

I figured I'd better try to squeeze in an update before the end of February!

I started a post on President's Day, but didn't get it finished, the the last two weeks have flown by!

DH surprised me on the Saturday before Valentine's Day by bringing me flowers at work - after 21 Valentine's Days together, he's still romantic :) Pink roses are my favorite, and I love the mix of other flowers. And they smell wonderful!

Ellie loved them too! LOL

I made Boeuf Bourguignon for dinner- if I'd have been thinking, I'd have taken a pic. It's SOOOO good!!

This year, I decided to make a goal of not starting anything new until I finished 3 WIPs (or UFO's). My exceptions are exchanges and the ornie RR I'm in, which I'm going to attempt to keep up with.

In January, I finished three project (although to be fair, there wasn't a lot left to do on them, but hey, a finish is a finish!).

My first finish of the year was Christmas Drawers by Shepherd's Bush. (Sorry for the wonky pic!) Another fun stitch!

Then I finished up Thoughtful Heart, also by Shepherd's Bush - I only had one hour's worth of stitching to do on that! I think I put it down to start on the autumn exchange piece and just didn't pick it back up again.

And then I FINALLY finished up my Snapperville by Bent Creek- I think I started this one over two years ago. I still have to attach the snaps, but since they're not stitched on, I'm considering it a finish. :)

So, the new start I got to have was Tournicotton's Mon Bo Sapin, which we did as a SAL in my FIT group. I finished up the stitching on it on Valentine's Day, and I'm considering buttons and beads now. I wanted to find some vintage buttons - I only had three in my stash, and I think they might be too big. I've been to all three of the local antique shops and haven't found anything. And the prices on ebay were higher than I wanted to pay. Yesterday I finally broke down and bought buttons at JoAnn's, so now I just have to play with what I have.

Our FIT group is also doing a monthly ornie RR. My goal is to keep up with these each month (at least the stitching!)

January's ornie was from Nancy. She picked Celtic Christmas by an unknown designer.

Jennifer's choice for February was Holiday Wreath by JBW Designs.

On the knitting front, I'm working my way through the projects in the Fearless Knitting Workbook by Jennifer E. Seiffert. I got the book for Christmas and I'm confident it will really improve my knitting. KellyJune and I have started a group on Ravelry for anyone who's interested in working through this together. We're doing one exercise every two weeks. I've gotten the first two done (they still need to be blocked), and even though I almost skipped these two because I thought I knew enough about them, I'm really glad I didn't. I'm very much looking forward to the Cables and Lace chapters because I haven't tried either of these techniques yet. It's a great book!

And I'm also learning how to SPIN! This is something I've wanted to learn for a long time. The class runs for eight Mondays and I've gone to three sessions so far. In the first class we learned about different wools and how to wash, card and comb them. I went home with 6 different wools, some of which was unwashed. It was a fun process to wash the fleece, and I enjoyed the combing and carding.

I didn't think to take any before pics, but here's a pic of the wool I combed (and yes, Ellie, pretty much tries to get in EVERY picture I take! She also really loves the smell of sheepy goodness!)

During the second class we started to spin on a drop spindle. We were taught to start with the "park and draft" method, which meant we spun the spindle, parked it between our knees and then drafted the wool it to let the twist go up it. I was able to get some pretty consistent and thin results this way, but it's slow. The last class I tried to do suspended spinning and got much bulkier and inconsistent results.

In the picture, the first week's spinning in on the left. Tomorrow night we're going to learn to ply our two different color singles (I need to finish the cream one before class). Then next week, we get to start on a WHEEL!

I also entered the annual Chocolate Festival for the first time this year. It was on February 6th and all the proceeds went to the local Planned Parenthood chapter. I made two healthy options - Dark Chocolate Nut Granola and Whole-Grain Cranberry-Orange Scones with Dark Chocolate . My granola won second place in the potpourri category which moved my auction item into the live auction where it brought $150. I was tickled pink! Next year, I think I'll skip the whole grains and stick with something decadent! LOL

Here are the tasting samples I made.

And here's the auction item. I decided to put both of my entries together in one breakfast basket. Hum, looks good - I think I need to make some again! LOL

I also got to JUDGE - which was too much fun, although I have to admit I had a bit of a belly ache after tasting over 20 chocolate items. I immediately went in search of a salad! :)

And now on to the really momentous news - I turned 40 last Saturday - UGH!

I had a fantastic time on my birthday though, so that helped outweigh the age thing. We started last Friday by taking a vacation day and going to see an afternoon movie (The Wolfman - DH says he owes me another movie - LOL) and then a late lunch at The Elements, which is my favorite "fancy" restaurant in town, then to Boarders for a new spinning book, The Intentional Spinner, which is a beautiful book! On Saturday we went to a few antique shops (looking for buttons) and a yarn shop then back to The Elements for dinner, then to JoAnn's (for more yarn). On Sunday Dad and SM took us both to dinner (DH's birthday is 5 days after mine) and they gave us each some money with a print-out of what to spend it on - LOL - they didn't get things ordered in time. So, I have the wonderful Harmony Options Circular Needle set on its way from Knit Picks! I can't wait.

In my FIT group, Cheryl had me for the birthday exchange this year, so I had a nice big box of goodies to open on my birthday after dinner.

She spoiled me rotten!! Just look at all these goodies.She sent some silky bright red slippers (nice for padding around the kitchen in), a big
bag of dark chocolate from King Arthur Baking company (I'll have to find the perfect recipe for this!), a cute jester bag ( I love the bells) full of goodies - some little candles in seashells, a vintage valentine hankie, some heart measuring spoons, a little notebook with pen (will be handy for my purse), two packs of hot cocoa, some honey sticks and a cute pack of pocket tissues with birthday cakes on them (which didn't make it into the pic). She also sent a chart from my wish list - Three Friends by The Drawn
Thread.

And my favorite thing in the box - a Silktini! ROFLOL There was a beautiful cranberry glass FILLED with Vicki Clayton silk - 20 skeins!! It was SUCH a clever way to package that. When I first saw the stem of the glass I thought it would be filled with candy or something, so I was SO surprised to see all that yummy silk. The colors are beautiful. Cheryl said that she thought the glass would make a lovely pin cushion, so I'll have to think about that - right now it's still holding silks! :)

Jodi sent me goodies too!! She sent two Halloween charts that I wanted (Halloween Hornbook Sampler from Plum Street Samplers and The Curse of the Raven from Carriage House Samplings), some card making supplies (a beautiful pack of paper and cutouts and some letter buttons) and the book I've been dying to read from one of our favorite series.

Pretty good birthday haul, huh?

2009 - A Year in Review

2010-01-07T11:30:00.055-07:00

I wanted to document my 2009 finishes so I could start listing those for 2010!

2009 Stitching Finishes

November - Reindeer Parade by JBW Designs (part of Christmas exchange for Gaby)

October - Haunted Needle House by Charland Designs

October - Halloween Fairy by Mirabilia

October - Americana Sampling by Little House Needleworks

October - Pumpkin Bag by Shepherd's Bush

September - Gathering Acorns by With Me Needle and Thread (part of Autumn Exchange for Nancy)

June - Stitched with Love by Plum Pudding Designs (part of Birthday Exchange for Donna)

May - Biscornu from Summer Flowers Sewing Set by Timber Creek Needlework (made with Needles & Beadles group for Cindy)

May 29 - Welcome to Cupid's Garden by A Kitty Kats Original

May 19 - The Token by Long Dog Samplers (for 20th Wedding Anniversary)

February 15th - Winter ABC by Shepherd's Bush

February 15th - Dresser Drawer Hearts by Shepherd's Bush

January 14th - Butterfly from Repetorie de Motifs (made for Ilse's Birthday quilt made by Dane)

January 10th - Charmed Hearts by Shepherd's Bush

January 3rd - Spring Greetings by Blackbird Designs

January 2nd - Bee Charmer by Indigo Rose

January 1st - How Does Your Garden Grow by Papillon Creations

2009 Knitting Finishes

December - Neckwarmer by Bernat

December - Snowstorm by Lion Brand

October, November, December - three Ski Hats with Ear-Flaps from Knitlist

November - December - 2 pair Slipper Moccasins by Lion Brand

November-December - three pair of Cottage Socks by Lion Brand

December - Squiddity by Molting Yeti

November - Mini Christmas Stocking by Little Cotton Rabbits

September - Drop stitch scarf (part of Autumn Exchange for Nancy)

August - Zig Zag scarf (part of Color Exchange for Lody)

June - Garter stitch scarf (part of Birthday Exchange for Donna)

2009 Beading Finishes (other than 65+ Bead Retreat Kits I put together this year for samples and gifts)

August - Choker

August - spiral rope bracelet from Bead Crochet Basics (part of Color Exchange for Lody)

August - Triangle-Weave bracelet from Bead & Button magazine (part of Color Exchange for Lody)

June - Beaded Teapot by Diane Fitzgerald for Bead & Button (part of Birthday Exchange for Donna)

The Very Long Update - Part Deux

2009-12-31T11:16:00.028-07:00

And now to continue...

For this year's Christmas exchange, I received a wonderful package from Nancy!

There's a pack of note cards and matching notepad with my initial, a pack of pins, a fabric bag filled with See's peppermints and a dark chocolate bar (See's is my favorite!), a Stacy Nash Primitives chart (Fancy Peacocks Hanging Pinkeep) with the floss, some lovely paisley fabric, a beautifully sewn sewing pocket two skeins of WDW, crocheted pot holders, and two lovely stitched pieces from the Y is for Yarn from the Y&Z chart by Prairie Schooler - a pinkeep and a scissor fob! WHEW!

As soon as I saw the inside of this sewing case, I knew it would be perfect for holding my double pointed knitting needles and the large pocket in the back is perfect for my circulars! And since I knit, but don't really crochet, the pot holders are really appreciated :)

Here's the outside of the case with the great peacock fabric (Nancy knows how much I love peacocks!) and the back of the fob.

And here's a close-up of the sewing set. They're filled with crushed walnut shell, which gives it a wonderful feel.

Thanks again for everything Nancy!

I sent a package to Gaby - and I just found out today that it finally arrived after over three weeks - I was all set to stitch a replacement piece, so I'm really glad it showed up.

I forgot to take a pic of the entire package, so I snatched hers :).

I stitched Gaby Reindeer Parade by JBW Designs from A Few Favorites and made it into a Trinket Tray.

I used the instructions I found here. This was the first time I've tried this kind of finish and I had a lot of fun with it. I used a Christmas plaid taffeta, which gave it a nice stiffness.

Then I let the knitting bug take over!!

I really wanted to stitch a mini stocking and I found this wonderful pattern!! It's from the blog Little Cotton Rabbits. I love how it turned out! I'd like to make a whole bunch of them and hang them on a garland.

I knit slipper socks and ear-flap hats for Dad my Step Mom and DH this year for Christmas.

This is the third pair of these same socks I knit this fall. They were made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick with a free pattern from their website called New Cottage Socks The first pair I did in Wheat and kept for myself, the second pair I did in Cranberry and donated to a silent auction and this pair was for my Step Mom in Blossom. I added the suede bottoms because they have hardwood floors.

I knit two pair of these slippers, also a Lion Brand free pattern - called Knit Slipper Moccasins made with Wool-Ease Chunky. The first pair was for DH in Walnut and this pair was for Dad in Bluebell.

For the hats, I knit this one for SM in Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Raspberry. The pattern is Snowstorm (also from Lionbrand.com)

This hat for Dad is made with the same yarn as his socks with an added cream crocheted boarder. The pattern is Ski Hat with Ear Flaps and can be found here.

I used the same pattern for DH's hat, but I still need to take a pic - I just finished the ties on it yesterday.

I wanted to give something to DH for him to unwrap, since I gave him his slippers as soon as they were done and he saw me knitting the hat, so I made this neck warmer. The pattern is from the Bernat website. The yarn is Debbie Mumm Traditions in Adirondack.

My most favorite thing I knit this year was this guy! I found the pattern surfing on Ravelry and it was love at first sight - LOL. The pattern is by Danial Yuhas of Molting Yeti. I used the same yarn as the neckwarmer and it was SOOOO much fun to make! I've already started on the Christmas Trees and I hope to make the Octopus after that.

He looked adorable sitting on top of DH's stocking Christmas morning.

I think that's actually it for craft updates!

I made some additions to my Christmas decorations this year - mostly in my kitchen. This is all stuff I had, but I arranged them differently.

Here's my little kitchen tree - I just wish I had room in my kitchen for a bigger one! LOL

And since I have so many ornaments I took all the balls and piled them in some of my antique silver pieces and put them on the soffet.

And last, but not least, here is this year's Christmas stitching tree (with the addition my little knit stocking!)

The Very Long Update! - Part 1

2009-12-29T19:47:00.042-07:00

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

And now it's August?!?!

2009-08-08T22:00:00.016-06:00

OK, I seriously don't know where the time keeps going!

I have to start by saying I had a GREAT shopping day Saturday! We were going down to Ogden and DH said he'd take me to Shepherd's Bush, even though I have SOOOOO many unfinished projects (which I agree with ) and I don't really need any more (which, unfortunately, I agree with too). So I started thinking, maybe I should be buying FRAMES instead of more stuff to stitch - Gee, what a novel concept! LOL

So I went through a pile of finished stitching and picked out 12 of them I wanted frames for and DH and I took them to a local frame shop that makes frames from leftover molding and sells them for great prices. Most of my local stitching group goes there, and I'd never been before - I had no idea what I was missing! LOL

I got 8 frames for $53 and picked out molding and got pricing information for 3 more pieces that will need a custom size so I can get them on subsequent paydays. The 12th piece DH decided would look better as a bellpull (which surprised the heck out of me! LOL). SO, now I've got some framing to do!

I also pulled out a bunch of fobs & ornaments that need hand finishing . I think I have my work cut out for me!! The saddest one is the 2006 Shepherd's Bush fob for the matching Gingher scissors which is 1/2 stitched together! I'm going to start on the fobs first.

We did actually go to Shepherd's Bush because I wanted to pick up a chart for the Halloween/Autumn exchange in my Yahoo group. Unfortunately they didn't have what I was looking for in stock, but they're ordering it for me. I DID end up getting a new chart, which I thought was TOO cute to pass up: Witches Stitch Too!! by Homespun Elegance. I figure it won't take me too long to stitch, and I know where to get a great frame for it when it's done! LOL

So, speaking of exchanges, I had Donna for the Birthday exchange in our Yahoo group in July. I made her some fun things.

I knit a nice wide scarf made with Sensations Rainbow Boucle in Black perfect for those cold Canadian winters.

I stitched a chart from Donna's wish list (I love it when I can fine something on a wish list to stitch) by Plum Pudding Designs called Stitched With Love. I used threads we dyed at out GTG in Wisconsin a few years ago and made it into a pinkeep and scissor fob. The backing fabric was muslin dyed that day as well, so it was a perfect match!

And the really fun piece was a little beaded teapot! Donna collects miniature teapots and I thought this would be so cool to try to make. The pattern is from the December 2008 issue of Bead & Button magazine. The pattern is by Diane Fitzgerald, who always has such beautiful designs! There were a few false starts, but I was pretty proud of it when it was finished.

Before the birthday goodies, I was working on my part of Summer Flowers Sewing Set by Lody that my local stitching group was making for Cindy, one of our members who is suffering from breast cancer.

I stitched and assembled the biscornu (my favorite thing to finish!) and I assembled the little scissor keeper. You can read more about the set on Loraine's blog and see the wonderful bag that Melanie made to match the set.

And something I stitched back in January and never talked about because it was for an April birthday surprise was the little butterfly I stitched for Isle's 50th birthday quilt that Dane organized and put together. It's also one my hand-dyed flosses and the chart is from the French book Repetoire des Motifs by Valerie Lejeune.

You can see the beautifully finished quilt on Dane's Blog post.

I doesn't seem I have much to show for how busy I've felt lately!!

I finished Welcome to Cupid's Garden by A Kitty Kats Originals, again using some of my hand-dyed threads. This is one of the pieces I got a frame for, so hopefully it'll be up on my wall soon!!

I've also been plugging away on my Little House Needlework's American Sampling, and I'm fairly close to finishing.

Almost half of my local stitching group is part of a SAL for Shepherd's Bush Sail Away. I was REALLY tempted to join this one, but I truly have SO much stash (and WIPs and UFOs!), I just couldn't justify it. But it prompted me to pull out another larger Shepherd's Bush kit that I bought years ago called Thoughtful Heart. I'm so enjoying stitching it, just like all their samplers!

The other thing I've been working on is a color exchange - my favorite type of exchange to do! This one is for Lody - can you guess what color she picked? LOL

Geez, where has the time gone?!?

2009-05-24T18:54:00.032-06:00

I can't believe it's been 3 months since I've posted - so much for bi-monthly updates! LOL I've been busy and trying to remember to take pics, but every time I thought about updating my blog, I thought I should be working on "The Token" instead. I'm very happy to report that on Tuesday, only a month late, I finally put the in the last stitch!! YEH!!!

So here is is! Since it's stitched on 40 ct, it really looks smaller than all the work that went into it, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's stitched on a hand-dyed linen, but I can't remember which one. The thread is my favorite Gloriana Cranberry!

Now I can finally move on to something else! LOL Friday, I started Welcome to Cupid's Garden by A Kitty Kats Original. I'm using some of the threads that I dyed myself and I love how it's looking so far. I hope to finish it soon.

Now to be fair, I have stitched on a few other things the last few months when I was away from home.

I started Little House Needlework's American Sampling on my trip to Virgina. Didn't get too far, but it was fun to stitch on something patriotic while I was there.

I also started an Easter piece to work on while I'm away from home. It's Hop by The Trillogy. I bought both of these kits on clearance from Pine Needles almost two years ago - it's nice to finally be working on them.

So, that leads me to my Virgina trip! I went the first weekend in March for the Bead Retreat National Conference in Newport News. It was SO much fun!

Here is a pic of me with my sponsor Sarah (in the middle) and her sponsor Dawn (on the right) before the Black & White themed Friday night awards banquet.

And here is Sarah and me with co-founders Cindi Swett and Lisa Shephard on the final day of conference.

Everything was wonderful, but I have to admit my favorite part was the unveiling of the new Seven Collection catalog! We got to see EVERYTHING in person - it was overwhelming at first - but such a great opportunity! I went home with OODLES of kits to make - and I've bought more since - I just love it all - LOL.

After the showcase of the new collection, some of us went to the hotel bar and broke out our kits. I had a Newport News Mellontini - yummy! But I must admit, I had to work on kit with bigger beads! ROFLOL

In April, I had a Seven Collection open house and served Seven Layer Dip, chocolate cupcakes with Seven Minute Icing and 7-Up - too much fun! LOL

After the conference was over Sunday afternoon, I met Laura and Jennifer in Williamsburg! I've always wanted to go there, and we had SO much fun together - but 1 1/2 days is NOT near enough time to see what I wanted to.

Jen made the cutest little gifts for Laura and me from the Blackbird Designs book My Heart is True. You can see Jen's post about it here, she actually posted about it in a timely manner! LOL

So after we met up at the hotel, we went over to Colonial Williamsburg for lunch at The Cheese Shop, where I got (what else?) a fantastic cheese plate! I was so enamored with it, I took a picture. I actually had to save the rest of it for dinner - that was a LOT of cheese! LOL

We walked though the old cemetery and came across this stone - I loved the inscription. It says: Here sleeps in Jesus united to Him by Faith and the Graces of a christian life, all that was Mortal of Mrs Ann Burges once the tender and affectionate Wife of the Revd Henry John Burges of the Isle of Wight: She died December 1771 in giving Birth to an Infant Daughter, who rests in her arms. She here waits the transporting moment when the Trump of God shall call her Forth to Glory, Honour & Immortality. Oh Death where is thy Sting. Oh Grave where is thy Victory.

After looking around some of the shops, we took an evening Lanthorn walking tour, which was really interesting.

Here is the Battery at sunset.

And this is a picture in the wig-maker's shop by lamp-light.

After the tour, we went back to the hotel, ate, chatted, beaded, chatted, swapped stash, chatted and even stitched (a tiny bit!). LOL The next morning we went back to Colonial Williamsburg and walked around all day.

For lunch, we went to Chowning's Tavern, where I had a delicious slice of peanut pie for dessert! I ended up buying The Colonial Williamsburg Cookbook and made that pie for Easter :)

And here's Jen and Laura in the maze at the Governor's Mansion. I'd always wanted to walk through a maze like that!

Here's what it looked like from above.

And we saw a hornbook in the silversmith's house, which I thought was pretty cool.

Laura and I took a drop spindle class later that day after Jen went home. It was really fun, but I must admit, I haven't picked it up again. One of these days!

I could spend all night showing all the pics I took that day, but I'll spare you that and put them in my Webshots album - LOL

On April 16th, Justin and I celebrated our 20th anniversary!

We went down to Thanksgiving Point south of Salt Lake City and visited the Museum of Ancient Life, which has the largest collection of mounted dinosaurs in the world. We had a great time! When were were dating, we went to a dinosaur museum, so it was fun to do something like that again. For dinner we went to The Harvest restaurant, where I was able to have another cheese plate for our starter - LOL

On Sunday of that week, we drove over to Bear Lake and walked along the beach. Here's Justin trying to skip seashells (there were no flat rocks). He was actually pretty successful! :)

For Easter, I made a FANTASTIC pork roast. I found the recipe on the Food Network website and it's by Bobby Flay. I highly recommend it. I didn't get a chance to take a picture, but trust me on this, it was terrific!

After dinner, we went outside for a little pellet gun shooting. Wanna know what we were shooting at?

ROFLOL!

BTW, it was me who shot that pink egg :)

Let's see, what else has been going on?

Last weekend I participated in my first craft show. This was at Black & White Days in Richmond, Utah, which is about 20 minutes north of me. It was a very small show and pretty slow, but it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed myself. I hope to be able to do a few more this summer. It's a great way to reach new people!

I also had a great mail day this last week!

Cheryl sent me this piece in exchange for me making a necklace kit she bought from the new catalog (the beautiful Kyanite one on the cover!). This is a freebie from Aurelle called L'ete (Summer) and Cheryl made it into a sewing roll.

It's a perfect fit for my blossoming red-work collection!

And Laura made me this wonderful bag with some of the cutest kitty fabric!

Thanks again Laura and Cheryl!!

I think that about does it for now. I'll try not to wait another three months for my next post!

Happy Birthday to ME! :)

2009-02-21T16:44:00.009-07:00

Friday was my birthday, and I got a fantastic box in the mail from Jen for our Friends in Threads Birthday Exchange!

The first thing I noticed is that the box weighed a TON! She had sent me a cake mix, icing (2 tubs!) and candles for a birthday cake! How cute is that? LOL

And she sent me some great stash from my wish list - Stash Nash Primitives Schoolgirl Sampler Pinkeep Drum, Chessie & Me Miss Chessie's Tuffet and Olde Colonial Designs Mimi's Pin Cube Kit as well as six skeins of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads.

She also sent a wonderful Ackworth Coaster from Kelmscott Designs (which is perfect for by my stitching chair!) and a pair of "Stitching Girl" socks, which are TOO CUTE!!!

And for my stitched gift, Jen stitched me the wonderful Prairie Schooler design K is for Kitty and made it into a beautiful pillow! I love it! Especially since I love the design and for some reason I hate stitching their charts!

Thanks again for all the wonderful goodies Jen!!

I've also got a couple of finished to show off :) On the 15th I finished Shepherd's Bush Dresser Drawer Hearts, just a tad late for Valentine's day, but it was fun actually stitching it "in season". This was one of the most fun pieces I've ever done! I loved every stitch of it!!

I also stitched Winter ABC, which was a really quick stitch - just one evening!

Now I just need to find frames for these (along with everything else!) - LOL

I have a major goal that I'm working on now, and I think I'll be able to reach it! On the 16th, I picked up Long Dog Samplers The Token again, which I had started in early 2007 (I had gotten just a bit farther than this picture when I put it down). I really, really want to finish it for our 20th Anniversary on April 16th! Think I can make it?

A Finish and A Winner!

2009-01-18T14:51:00.005-07:00

I have another finish! Last Saturday, I finished Charmed Hearts by Shepherd's Bush. I started this one last year, in January if I remember correctly, and put it aside after Valentine's Day. I love all of SB's hearts!! I'd also love to get it framed like the model, but I looked up the price and it's just a titch out of my budget right now! LOL

Stamp Club was last Friday, and we made a couple of cute Valentine's Day projects - a card and a little pillow box filled with chocolate.

And last Saturday, I happily found myself at Shepherd's Bush! I bought their latest kit, Winter ABC. This will be my next new start. :)

And now, on to the drawing that I announced in my last post. Thanks for everyone's comments! I used Random.org to pick a winner from the 7 people who left a comment - and the winner is.... Debs!! Congratulations Debs - I'll be e-mailing you to find out what colors you'd like :)

Three Finishes in Three Days!!

2009-01-04T18:49:00.008-07:00

I had a GREAT start to the new year!

On New Year's Day I finished my Papillon Creations 2008 Mystery Sampler How Does Your Garden Grow. I LOVED every stitch of it!! Now I just need to get it framed - and hopefully before the year is out! LOL

I've been going through my stash and trying to clean and organize things and one of the WIPs I came across was this one by Indigo Rose called Bee Charmer. It was about half finished, and I can't even remember when I started it. But I finished it on Friday, January 2nd! All I had to do on Saturday is make and attach the tassels.

I've decided for this year that I can't start anything new until I finish two WIPs (unless it's for a gift and I'm under a time crunch - LOL). So, since I finished these two pieces, I treated myself to a new start - and finish! That means only one more finish and I can start another new piece! LOL

On Saturday evening, I stitched Spring Greetings by Blackbird Designs - I didn't have two of the colors called for, so it's not exactly like the picture, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Now I just need to figure out how I want to finish it.

As part of my organizing, I FINALLY did something with all my self dyed thread. At the 2006 Shepherd's Bush Retreat, I dyed threads and fabric with my room mates, and then we did it again at our Friends in Thread get together in April 2007. They've been rolled up in paper towels ever since. The first batch is now wrapped on bobbins and the second batch is on these wonderful floss tags that Juli made!

Look at all that color!!

While I was untangling and wrapping, I decided that it would be fun to have a giveaway, so on January 15th, I'll draw a name from everyone who leaves a comment to this post and send that person an assortment of 5 of these hand-dyed flosses!

Good Luck!

Christmas Crafting!

2008-12-29T09:34:00.035-07:00

I've been busy this month with crafting for Christmas - stamping, knitting, beading and even a little stitching!

Stamp Camp was at the beginning of the month - I LOVE Stamp Camp, we always make such cute things!

The first thing I made was this adorable snowman plate. First you stamp on mulberry paper, then you Modge Podge it to the back of a glass plate. So easy and so cute. I gave this to Dad and Lynn, but I might have to make another one for myself sometime!

Next I made two different boxes which are filled with candy - the triangle one was really clever!

And last, but certainly not least was a set of three cards. Aren't they cute?

Now, on to the knitting :)

I made Lynn this Light and Lovely Boucle Wrap from JoAnn.com in Black/Gray. It took just a LITTLE longer than the weekend the pattern said it would! LOL

I also made my girls special toys :)

I found the pattern for a cat nip mouse on Lion Brand's website, but I made a few changes. I used wool - and not very well washed handspun wool, so it smells nice and sheepy - LOL. And it took more than 20 rows to make it into a square, so I just kept going until it looked right - I think it was 32 rows. And I stuffed them with mostly fiber fill and only about 1/4 catnip - that's more than enough! ;)

And the girls loved them!

Here's Minnie just after she unwrapped her mousie.

And here's Odette hiding behind the love seat with hers.

Ellie had fun killing this poor little guy. She then proceeded to kill the rest of them over the next few days! LOL I've already had to sew back up the bottom of the gray one.

After a while, Akasha decided the catnip scented paper was just as much fun as the mouse - LOL

So, on the beading front, I made this bracelet, called Endless with matching earrings for Jodi. It's from the Design Collection II that was released this fall.

I also made Jodi this bookmark with the ribbon ends and sleigh charm, just adding crystals and ribbon from my stash.

For Leigh's birthday, I made her these pink shell and crystal earrings.

Sorry these pics didn't turn out that well - I was in a rush to get them in the mail - LOL.

And I don't think I ever showed what I made Jennifer for her birthday in November. This one is called Crab Bisque from the Sapphire Collection. I know how much Jen loves crabs and I knew I had to make this one for her as soon as I saw it!

I made a few other pairs of earrings as well, but I didn't get pics taken before they were given away.

Besides the ornaments I made for Dane which I showed in the last post, my only holiday stitching was Holiday House by Elizabeth Designs. And this one was a present for ME! LOL

I think that's about it for the last month or so! I'm looking forward to getting back to some serious stitching. I have a goal of getting my Papillion Creations Mystery Sampler finished before the new year - I only have part 12 left to go! Then I'll have to take a look at what my stitching goals will be for this year :)

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-24T14:42:00.010-07:00

Well, it's Christmas Eve day, and I'm ALMOST ready for tomorrow - LOL. The house is decorated, the presents are wrapped and I've started preping for tomorrow nights dinner. The only thing I really have left to do is finish up some kitty toys I'm making :)

I've got lots to share, but I'll start with the exchange package I sent to Dane. Her package included a scarf knit with Lion Brand Fun Fetti in Rainbow Black, some blue fat quarters, charms, buttons and a Bead Retreat bracelet I made called Blockbuster in Sky.

For her stitched gift, I made a set of ornament from three different issues of Just Cross Stitch magazine by Jeanette Douglas Designs. They were full of specialty stitches and were lots of fun to make. I was so lucky to find the perfect frames for them at Hobby Lobby!!

I've been busy with lots more Christmas Crafting, but since not all of it has been received yet, I'll save that for the next post.

I had fun with my decorating this year and got a good portion of my decorations up!

I started with my Department 56 Village, which I haven't had up since we moved in this house 4 1/2 years ago.

I also got out my Santa collection. I have two more in the kitchen, which I'll have to take a picture of later.

Here are some more decorations, some of which I made when we were first married almost 20 years ago. The picture hanging over the chest of drawers was drawn by DH and it's one of my favorite things!

Here is my stitching tree for this year!

And last, but certainly not least, my main tree :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas is Coming!!

2008-12-07T13:43:00.007-07:00

I figured I'd better get in a bit of a post before I had so much to talk about that it would feel overwhelming!

I'm almost finished Christmas decorating! I love Christmas decorations, and this year will be the first time in this house that I'm going to try to put most of my stuff out - and I have a LOT of stuff! LOL I have my village up and my stitching tree decorated. My main tree is almost finished, just need to add the poinsettias I always use to "tie" the tree together. I've got garland to hang and my Santa collection to put out and I think I'll be done.

I was joking with DH that I really need another tree - my main one is so full, I decided to not put the regular balls up. Maybe we'll get one in an after Christmas clearance sale and stick it in the kitchen :) I'd like to have a Santa tree - I have SO many Santa ornaments and I think that would be fun.

I wanted to post about the wonderful Christmas exchange package I got from Angela!!! She stitched me my very first Bourse!! It's Black Bird Designs Evergreen, but she changed the colors to match my favorite Christmas burgundy & dark green. She also sent some lovely burgundy cotton fabric that will be perfect for finishing and two charts off my wish list - Indigo Rose Beads, Buttons & Bows, and the one I was REALLY thrilled about, Just Nan's Holly Noel! That chart has been on my wish list since it came out in 2004 and I didn't even think it was still available any more. She also sent some German marzipan - I LOVE marzipan!!

Here's a closeup of the inside of the Bourse.

And the outside. Isn't it beautiful? The only problem is both sides are so pretty, I'm not sure how to display it - I'll probably alternate between the two - LOL.

Thanks again Angela for the beautiful Christmas package! I can't wait 'till all my presents are made and I can start on Holly Noel for myself!!!

My Christmas exchange package is winging it's way to it's recipient, and I hope she's just as happy with her package as I was was mine.

A Slightly Late "Happy Halloween"!!

2008-11-02T18:21:00.009-07:00

Only two days late, so not TOO bad! LOL I've been down for almost a week with a bad case of food poisoning, or I would have gotten this posted sooner. The irony of the whole thing is that I recently started a new eating plan, and in the process switched from ground beef to ground turkey, and I think that's what ended up making me sick. I think I'll go back to beef!

Anyway, I never posted about the Halloween exchange I was in. I sent to Laura this year, which is great, because she LOVES Halloween!! I had a fun time finding stuff for her, including eyeball and finger candy - LOL

The piece I stitched her is from Autumn Minis by Waxing Moon Designs. I added leaves that I found in the Scrapbooking section to a plain black frame - quick and easy!!

And my Stamp Club made the cutest Halloween projects for October! The card is a pop-up card that folds down flat. You can find the directions for the technique here. And the bag was really fun - we stamped the image, colored it, and then sprayed it with water to make it run. I liked the projects so much, I made two sets - I knew I had to send them to Laura, but I wanted to keep them for myself too! LOL

And I got a fabulous package all the way from Germany from Gaby! I was just blown away by everything she made me!

She made this adorable pillow (I've GOT to try this finishing technique sometime!) . The chart is from German designer Gisela Suskind. It was originally charted as a monochrome design, and Gaby added the colors - I love it!

She also made this clever scissor holder - complete with a beautiful beaded scissor fob and these great Halloween colored scissors! This is a wonderful addition to my scissor/fob collection :)

Thanks again Gaby for the great Halloween package!!

And I finally got the light situation fixed on my holiday tree. It actually meant several hours of cutting off the original lights and replacing them with LED's, but I'm glad that I now have a fully lit tree, and these lights should last for years! So here is my 2008 Halloween Tree :)

Time for a Monthly Update!

2008-10-05T18:59:00.014-06:00

I can't believe I started this update 10 days ago! Where on earth does the time go?

First I want to share a beaded set that I made for Jodi for her birthday (yes, it was in July, and yes, I was late with it, but luckily, Jodi is very understanding, especially when it comes to jewelry - LOL). The necklace & bracelet patterns came from the book The Beader's Palette, which Jodi sent me this summer. I asked her what her favorite project was and this is the one she picked, so hopefully she wasn't lying to me! :) I had to come up with something for matching earrings since there wasn't a pattern, and I'm quite pleased what I came up with. I wish the colors would show up better - this really is stunning in person (IMHO!)

And speaking of Jodi and jewelery, I made a necklace out of my Bead Retreat Family Tree bracelet (which you can see at the bottom of this post) for Jodi's mom.

Here's a close-up. I can't wait to hear how her mom likes it!! My step-mom was quite taken with it, so when I get my replacement bracelet in and the kit retires, I'll be making another one.

So, on the stitching front, I'm working on SALexandre with some of the ladies in my Yahoo group. I'm using Anchor 1206 on an unknown 32 ct ivory fabric from my stash. We're suppose to SAL every Saturday, and I try to make sure I get at least a few stitches in!

And I'm still keeping up with with my Papillon Creations Mystery Sampler! This is though part 9. Just a few more months and it'll be finished!!

And I actually pulled out a project from the 2006 Shepherd's Bush Retreat! This is the Haunted Needle House from Charland Designs. I had started the project in class on the kit fabric, but since I don't like evenweave OR blue, I decided to change it out and start over again (luckily, I hadn't gotten very far!). I have no idea what this fabric is, but it matches the pumpkin fabric for the inner box perfectly! At the retreat, my roommates and I did some dying - one of them brought this huge piece of linen that she hated the color of and wanted to try dying it. Several of us loved it and wouldn't let her - LOL - so she cut it up and gave it away! I can't remember if it was Jill or Tracy or someone else, but whoever it was, thanks again for the fabby - it's looking great!!

Here are some close-ups of the front, back and one side.

I hope to get the rest of the stitching finished this weekend and HOPEFULLY will have the chance to do the finishing before Halloween!!

The Rest of the Story

2008-09-01T15:24:00.013-06:00

I finally got pics taken of the rest of the stuff I've been working on lately! I was hoping to get that post in by the end of August, but we'll call this a good start to September! LOL So, I started this post on September 1st, and here it is the 15th, and of course, by now I have more to share, but we'll just start with this :)

First up is a pic of the Scavenger Hunt package I sent to Juli. I had more fun with this exchange! I can't wait to do another one. The first picture shows everything wrapped up complete with tags showing her words. The second picture shows what's inside all the packages.

Juli's seven words were:

purplebee ( local huckleberry honey from Cox Honeyland and a scissor fob I made), tree (a giant colored pencil made from a tree branch which I found in a gift shop in Bear Lake), sunshine (ribbon), frog (growing frog), sheep (Spirt Goat soap), daisy (cosmetic case, frame & punch), and garden (address book).

Here's a closeup of the scissor fob. I've wanted to try making a combination stitched and beaded fob for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity! The little motif is from Répertoire des Motifs by Valerie Lejune.

I've gotten a head start on Halloween stitching! DH took me to Shepherd's Bush last month while we were in Ogden - I only had 10 minutes 'till they closed, but I managed to pick out a few things. The real reason I went there was to get something for my Halloween Exchange partner, but I really loved this little piece and got the chart and all the materials for it.

It's the October Baubles from Samsarah Designs. Shepherd's Bush made a couple of color changes and added some different buttons, so I went with the same changes. I started it that night and had it finished in just a few days. Now I just need to frame it!

And speaking of Shepherd's Bush, another recent finish (started before the Baubles, but finished after - LOL) is Shepherd's Bush Apple Kissed Autumn. I just love there kits! I'd like to frame this, but it's so skinny, I'll have to have one specially made.

At the beginning of August, my stamp club had our semi-annual Stamp Camp. I made 5 projects this time.

A cover for a tablet of paper...

A packet of six note cards in a matching folder...

A gift card holder with matching gift bag...

A medium sized gift bag...

And my favorite project, an altered tin to hold recipes!

Our next Stamp Camp will be the Christmas one in December. I'm anxious to see what the projects will be, but I'm in no way anxious for it to be the Holidays again already!!

Has it been over a month already?

2008-08-20T13:45:00.005-06:00

So much for my idea of doing weekly updates - LOL!

And I have so much to share too. :)

One really exciting thing, I got a Round Robin back!! It's Chatelaine's Sampler Mystery I. Now all I have left to do is the beads.

It's stunning! And it'll be even more so when it's completely finished!! Now, the only thing I have to do is find the rest of the kit! ROFLOL Thanks SO much to everyone who stitched on this: Laura, Jodi, Dot, Veronica, Juli, Jennifer and especially Ming and Leigh who weren't even in the round but offered to stitch on it anyway. All of their initials are on either side of the house and my initials will go under the house when I'm finished. I will truly treasure this!

Speaking of mystery samplers, here is my progress on the Papillon Creations Mystery Sampler - I'm still keeping up, believe it or not! And I'm still loving it! The next part will be released in mid September. I can't wait!

And I have my scavenger hunt package to share!! We did a scavenger hunt in my Yahoo group and it was SO much fun!! I received from Jodi and she sent me a great package. She even started a sampler that I can use for a RR - I might make it into a "Scavenger Hunt" sampler and pick certain motif types I'd like stitched :).

So, my words were Paris (fabric and Ina Garten note cards), Dragon (little green bead), Lilac (essential oil with fragrance pottery, stitched motif and beads), Peacock (stitched motif and charm), Swan (stitched motif), Chef (spreaders) and Hedgehog (pin). She also got me a crochet hedgehog pattern from Etsy. I can't wait to try making him - he's too cute!!

My package was just received by Juli, but I'll show the pics next time - we're playing a game with people trying to guess the words :)

I am working on some other things, but I haven't taken pics yet - I figured if I had to wait until I got those pics taken, it might be another month!!

I'm up and running with my Bead Retreat business and I'm LOVING it!! It's definitely keeping me busy, and cutting into my stitching time, but it's so much fun, I hardly notice! I even have a website - YAY!!

896 Stairs!!

2008-07-15T15:22:00.012-06:00

Sunday we went to Bear Lake and drove up to Minnetonka Cave. It was the first time I'd ever been in a cave and I was pretty impressed. It was about a 90 minute guided tour and there were 448 stairs going up and down back through the 9 rooms, which meant 448 coming back out again too. The hardest stretch was "The Stairway to Heaven", which was 73 steps straight down, which of course meant that we had to go up them on the way out - LOL.

It was cool to hear what some of the different formations were called. This was in the "Dwarf Room" and the formations in the center are the 7 Dwarfs - can you see Grumpy's face at the left?

And this was the "Treasure Room" because it looks like a pile of coins.

When we got to the end, there was the "Bride and Groom" - the Bride is at the top and the Groom is at the bottom. As the decades pass, they grow closer to each other and someday they will connect.

At this point, the guide turned out the lights and we got to experience TOTAL darkness - kinda freaky! Then we had the option to walk back to the next room in the blackness holding on the hand rails, which was interesting, in an unnerving sort of way. LOL

I had a great time and now I'd really like to go to Timpanogos Cave. Maybe we could go in the fall when it's not so hot.

On another note, the ornament I made for the Christmas in July exchange has been received. I stitched for Ming, and although it's not a Christmas design, she was very pleased with it.

This is Iris Window Garden by Calico Crossroads. I stitched it on 40 count over two with the recommended threads and finished it as a pinkeep ornament. It was fun to watch it come to life as I added the black backstitching. I may have to stitch this again some time.

I'm still working on Part 6 of the Papillon Creations Mystery Sampler, and I hope to have it done before Part 7 is released in the next few days.

At The Hop!

2008-06-29T18:25:00.010-06:00

Last week I went on a Quilt Shop Hop with some friends from my local stitching group. Even though I don't quilt (yet!), I had a great time and still managed to come away with some fun stuff! Here's a link to the site that shows all the shops in the hop. We went to 14 shops over 2 days, and I hit the 15th here in town on Saturday. If you complete your passport by visiting all the shops, your name goes into a drawing - and guess what? I won a $100 Gift Certificate to any of the shop in the hop! I was SOOOOO excited when I got the message. Now to decide which store and what to buy!

So, here's the stuff I bought over the two days. My favorite is this fantastic Zelda's Fancy Hat from Crabapple Hill Studio. At every store we went to, I was so drawn to this designer. I'm definately going to have to pick up more of her designs! I also got some wool appliqué stuff. One was a kit from Konfetti's called Hearts Journal Cover. The other is a book from Indigo Junction called Folk Art Jingle. I picked up wool kits for the Heart and Mistletoe ornaments. And I was actually able to find some yarn and knitting needles at two different stores. The yarn is Cascades Yarns Nikki which is made in Italy and hand spun. I got a scarf almost finished while we were driving around. The needles are really fun - they're Square Knitting Needles handmade form Forest Palm by Kollage Yarns. They're suppose to be less fatiguing to use, and hey, they were on sale too! I also got two leaflets for $1 each! Brightneedle The Lodge and Bent Creek Love. The last thing in the picture is a fat eighth I picked up for the back of an ornament for our Christmas in July exchange as well as a couple of fun old buttons. I actually bought three fat quarters too, but they somehow didn't make it into the picture. I think they're in with the witch's hat! LOL

In addition to all those quilt shops, we ran into a Provo Craft Outlet, where I hit the jackpot! I got 8 balls of yarn, 5 frames, 2 embroidery kits (with frames) and a bead book for under $25. I definately want to hit this store again!!

I've ready finished one of the kits and it's on my desk at work. I thought it was a great reminder! The frame had gaps in the corners, so I used my Stampin' Up Pretties Kit to cover them.

So, all in all it was a great trip and I'd love to go again next year!!

Now on to the Christmas in July Ornament Exchange. Saturday I got an ornament from Cheryl. It's from the cover of the current Just Cross Stitch issue and is designed by Country Cottage Needleworks, one of my favorite designers. Cheryl, knowing that I don't care much for blue, changed the colors to red and green and added the charms.

She also sent along a few extras - some Needlepaint and Carrie's threads, an ornament and two vintage reinstone buttons. Thanks for the lovely package Cheryl! I look forward to adding this ornament to my stitching tree this Christmas.

My ornament is on it's way to my partner, so I'll share a pic as soon as it's received.

And now for my "big news"! I am signing up to become an Independent Coordinator for Bead Retreat! I'm so excited!! The concept is fun and the jewelry is beautiful. I plan to have my business kit by the end of the month and I'll be off and running!!

I ordered myself two bracelet kits so I could see what they were like and I'm in love!! The first one is called Melange in Jet & Silver. I had enough beads left over that I was able to make matching earrings! And it goes with everything - I've been wearing all week!

And this is the bracelet I feel in love with as soon as I saw it on the cover of the catalog. It's called Family Tree in Green Quartz. My step-mom threatened to take it from me - LOL - she'll have to order her own! They are really SO pretty in person - I wish I could get a better picture of them!

I can't wait to get started!!

I REALLY need to do this more often!

2008-06-15T09:54:00.021-06:00

If I could manage to blog more often, my posts wouldn't be so overwhelmingly long! LOL

So, where to start?

In my last post I forgot to talk about the goodies that Jen sent me. First, she sent back a birthday present that my ribbon-eating cat had eaten the ribbon off of (and she was nice enough to fix it for me!) - it's the cutest Britty Kitty from Brittercup Designs (from Britty Kitties III) that she made into a needlebook, and I didn't show it the first time I received it because I didn't have my blog then.

She also sent me a birthday present for this year - another kitty (LOL), this time from Prairie Schooler's Barnyard Christmas and made to cover a tin. This was her first tin finish and I think it looks great!

And last, but certainly not least, was my PIF gift - and yes, it's another kitty! It's the kitty from EEKology by The Trilogy. I LOVE how she finished this - such a good idea. I've filled it with kisses for my desk at work (then my ribbon-eating cat can't get to it!). Thanks again for all the kitties Jen!

Now, on to the color exchange. I sent to Nancy, and her color choice was green. I found all kinds of fun green goodies (even nail polish! LOL)

My stitched piece was a little turtle pin cushion from Quaker Turtles by With My Needle. Isn't he adorable? He's stitched with Forest Glade Sampler Thread from The Gentle Art. And the fabric is a 32 ct Silkweaver Solo.

Here's the underside - I have to admit, I felt bad turning this little guy on his back! LOL

I also sent her a piece of muslin and a skein of thread that I dyed last spring at our Get Together in Wisconsin. And I made her a little beaded "frogger".

Even though it's summer and Nancy lives in a very warm climate, I decided to knit her a scarf as well. I used some yarn that Jodi sent me last December - it's really soft! And I used my stand-by Elongated Brick pattern - LOL -I think this is the 5th scarf I've made with that pattern. And since my neighbor was admiring this one while I was working on it, and I have quite a bit of yarn left, I've started another one for her! I also tried my hand at stitching a pot scrubber with strips of nylon netting. I have one that my dad gave me that he bought from a lady who makes them, and it works really well. Hopefully this one will too!

At our May Stamp Club meeting, we made the cutest card and altered pop-top can - and I thought since they had green on them, they'd be perfect for the color exchange. The can is SO cool. You can see the instructions for making one here. The can has gummy worms inside of it and Kathy commented that "a can of worms" was a clever idea - I hadn't even thought of it that way! LOL

The color exchange package I received was a beautiful red one from Gaby! Isn't all this red striking? Included in the package was one of her beaded scissors fobs (a good excuse to get a new pair of scissors, don't you think? LOL).

And she stitched me the most beautiful biscornu! The pattern is Rhapsody in Red part II from Sampler Cove.

Here's the front...

...and here's the back

And look at this amazing edging! I just love the beads with the ribbon threaded through - and the bows on the corners! Thank you so much Gaby for the fun package!

Some other stitching I've finished lately is Marilynne's pick for the Kit Exchange - a Prairie Schooler freebie - and a Zippie kit from Bent Creek called 123 Blackbird that I got from Jodi. Since it's stitched with perle cotton on 18 ct, it was a nice change from all the over-one I've been doing lately! LOL

For Father's Day, I gave my dad the June projects from Stamp Club - this bag of peanuts and card. Now, the bag was suppose to say "I'm nuts about you!", but I really wanted to make something funnier than that - and I dad is a great sport with a wonderful sense of humor! Our club coordinator, Dana, just started a website that shows the projects we've made, upcoming projects and other ideas - you can see it here.

And on top of the stitching, stamping and knitting, I've been able to squeeze in some beading! I bought these beads last July at the Gem Fair in Salt Lake City. They are Lapis, and I bought them specifically to make something for my step-mother. Her birthday is this week, so I'm thrilled to have these done for her. I got the inspiration from a lariat necklace in the January 2008 issue of Bead Style Magazine. You can see the original project here.

I think that about covers it for now - LOL. Now let's see if I can do the next post a little sooner :)

Some Progress!

2008-05-31T19:58:00.023-06:00

Well, it took a few weeks, but I finally have some progress to show on my craft room - a very SMALL portion of my craft room, buy hey, progress is progress! LOL I started with the corner that has all my stamping stuff (mostly from Stampin' Up).

Here is the before...

And here is "after"!

The bottom shelf contains my cutter, card/stamp kits, punch sets, embellishments, pencils, pastels, crayons and my tool kit. The next shelf is obviously my stamps (I didn't realize how many I had!) and the next shelf is scissors, punches, more embellishments, inks and adhesives. They are in Sky-Rail storage boxes, which I bought for my stitching kits and had a few leftover.

The top shelf hold cards & envelopes, templates and patterned paper in more Sky-Rail boxes, and on top I have samples, more paper, stickers, and more cards & envelopes.

Here it is all closed up and neat. I've put large rolled up sheets of hand-made and imported paper in a planter in the corner (they were still in the plastic shopping bag before).

In the corner of my cutting table is a milk crate holding all the rest of my paper. And my greatest little organizational find! I got these tabs from eBay. They are printed on the color of card stock that is in the folder, which makes it really easy to find the right paper!

And since that was all done, I was actually able to make a card for my boss's wedding!

I got a chance to use a few things for the first time, including rub-ons, which I really liked!

I also made her a set of wine glass charms with some wedding charms Jodi sent me recently. They were really easy and fun to make.

And last weekend, I stitched Part 5 of the Papillion Creations mystery.

I hope to do a little more work in my craft room this next week. I still have a long way to go, but at least I'm moving in the right direction!

Another Long Update

2008-05-11T09:54:00.022-06:00

OK, So I've finally taken pics of the stitching I've done over the last several months.

Hopefully I remembered everything!! First up is parts 3 & 4 of the Papillon Creations 2008 Mystery Sampler. I'm so proud of myself for keeping up with this!! Of course, it's so much fun to stitch that I'm not having a problem with that! LOL I've been dropping everything to start on it as soon as I hear a new part is out! Hopefully Part 5 will be out soon :)

I have two more ornaments stitched from the ornie RR I was in - JBW Designs French Country Reindeer stitched over one, which was Jennifer's choice and Little by Little's Making Spirits Bright from one of the JCS Ornie issues. That one was sent from Nancy and is also stitched over one. I put the scissors in the picture so you could see how small they are :) And attached to the scissors is a tiny little pallet made by Jodi's Dad Max from Bloom Woodworks. Isn't is sweet?

Let's see, what else have I done? I finished stitching another one of the Little House Needleworks fruit kits - Peaches. The colors, as always are so much better in person. I now have 3 of the 12 finished!

And for the kit exchange I'm in, I finished stitching what Cheryl sent - All You Need Is Love by The Drawn Thread. It's her latest freebie and was a lot of fun to stitch! Unfortunately, you can't tell in the picture that the fabric is a really pretty pink hand-dyed, and the Gloriana silks are just scrumptious! It's too cloudy today to get really good pics.

I finished my choice for the kit exchange and I love how it looks!!! This is The Victoria Sampler's Jazz Tuffet freebie. I chose not to put a button in the middle because I didn't want to cover up the blackwork in the center, so I just stitched over the stitches to tuft it after it was stuffed. On the back is just a small "x". Now to get the fabric cut and the kits mailed to everyone - sorry about the delay!!

I think that just about covers what I've been working on, except my WIPs - LOL.

I've made a decision to get my craft room cleaned and organized once and for all!! I'm posting "before" pictures and I'll post "during" and "after" pictures as well - hopefully this will keep me motivated to actually finish this project and keep it that way :) So, at the risk of embarrassing myself by showing all of you my disaster area of a craft room, here it is....

My cutting table piled high, including a kitty bed - LOL - and Stampin' Up orders I've received still in their bags piled in front.

One of my bookcases that holds stitching magazines, charts and books and one of my sewing tables piled even higher than the cutting table!

See, I told you it was piled high - and look at all that stuff on the floor!

And on this side of the room, my second sewing table is missing - DH took it to use as a work bench until we could afford to get him one - I'm hoping to get it back soon :) And look, a kitty got in the picture - LOL - that's Isabella, my Dad's kitty (so I guess she's my sister) and I'm taking care of her for three weeks while Dad and my step mom are on a trip.

And another set of bookcases with sewing/craft books, picture albums my yarn stash and other assorted stuff - and look, more piles on the floor! A few weeks ago, quite a bit of that yarn was actually in bags on the floor too - so I HAVE been trying - LOL.

And here's my open closet where all my fabric, threads and other random craft stuff is stashed. And my paper crafting cabinet halfway organized. I missed taking a pic of the built-in shelves where my kits are stored, but that is pretty well organized already, so I'll catch that another time.

So, that is my mess. Anyone else want to join me in an "Organize Your Stash" challenge? Hopefully I'm not the only one so unorganized, and hopefully these pictures and talking about the process will help me follow through :)

On another note, DH wanted me to post this picture on my blog. he LOVES pizza, and has been disappointed in what we can get around here, so I've started making them. On the weekends I'll make a batch of dough and then we can have pizza twice during the week. It's really good, if I do say so myself! LOL

LONG Overdue Update!!

2008-04-30T11:08:00.017-06:00

I don't know what my problem has been lately - I've had the best of intentions to post, and I just never seem to get around to it.

I have to go back to February, and the lovely presents I got for my birthday from Ming for the 1:1 Birthday Exchange in my Yahoo group. Ming was actually able to give this to me in person while we were in Las Vegas.

She made me the most wonderful tote bag with this fantastic Paris Cats fabric. For some reason, I love pink and brown together right now - I think I need to get an outfit to go with this bag - LOL

The center panel is French Country Cat by JBW Designs.

It was filled with TONS of goodies! Ming said she was trying to touch on each of my crafting interests - and she did a great job :)

Not only did she make me the wonderful bag, but she stitched this great design from Little House Needleworks called Spot of Coffee. She finished it for a stand from Bloom Woodworks, and I just love it!! I have it displayed right by my stitching chair :)

Jodi also showed up in Vegas with a bag of birthday goodies for me (gotta love birthdays! LOL) Now I just need to find some projects to make with all this yarn ;)

Thanks again Jodi and Ming!!!

I've got pics from our Vegas Get Together in this Album. It was a great trip!! And a special thanks to Jodi and her DH for everything!!

At the beginning of February (we just keep going back further, don't we? LOL) I made this bracelet from a kit that Jodi sent me, and I gave it back to her - LOL. It was a lot of fun to make and I'd like to try to make some more (in other colors!).

Let's see, what else have I missed? We had a scissor and fob exchange in March. I sent these Santa scissors that I picked up in Vegas to Jen along with a fob I stitched using part of a chart from Prairie Schooler called Redwork Santas.

Kathy sent to me, and she made me a beautiful over-one Just Nan design and made it into a wee little biscornu and attached pink scissors. I love it!! This was such a fun exchange - I'm such a sucker for scissors!! LOL Hopefully, we'll do it again next year.

And I had Kathy for the 1:1 Birthday Exchange, and her birthday was in April. I stitched her a Drawn Thread design from her with list - Hana's Little Spot. It's such a cute design - I love the boarder. I'll have to stitch it again for myself someday - LOL.

Also in the package of goodies I sent Kathy was a pack of cards I made at my last stamp group. Inside the little box is 4 cards with different sentiments on the outside and blank on the inside. I really enjoy making cards - I wish I could get organized enough to do it more than just once a month when my group meets!

OK, now for a little bit of what I've been working on for myself - LOL. When I framed Kathy's piece, I went ahead and framed the DT class piece I stitched at the Stitchin' Station Retreat last August.

And I stitched (and framed!!) another one of the Little House Needleworks Fruit Thread Packs designs - Cherries. Eventually, I'd like to stitch all of them.

We're also doing a small kit exchange in my group, and I picked Victoria Sampler's latest freebie Jazz Tuffet. I swapped to the material for what I had on-hand, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

I've done more, but I don't have pictures yet. I'm making a promise to myself to take pics of the rest of what I've been working on and hopefully post it soon. I've GOT to do better than once a month! LOL

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T19:40:00.005-06:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted an entry, but it's been a crazy month! I figured I'd jump back in tonight and then try to catch up with older stuff over the next week or so.

This morning, I came downstairs to put the ham in the oven, and found this on the kitchen island - the Easter Bunny had been here! LOL
Isn't he sweet?! He brought me a TON of Reese's candy, including a "Reester" Bunny - LOL - and some more "grownup" chocolate in the form of Hershey Special Dark - YUM. And front and center is a Rescue Pets My e-pet Husky - isn't she cute? I asked DH if he picked her because he likes Huskies, and he said it was because she looked most like a kitty - LOL. He DOES like Huskies though - maybe someday we'll get a couple, but for now, we'll stick with the kitties :).

I made a WONDERFUL ham today - it's a recipe from Good Eats that I've wanted to try since I first saw it. It was delicious - and now I have a beautiful ham bone to make soup with!!

I did find some time yesterday to decorate my Easter Tree - the lights on the bottom are out and I need to figure out how to fix them, but otherwise I think it looks quite pretty. I use to put pastel organdy ribbon garland on it, but Odette, the "ribbon eating cat" makes that not a good idea any more - LOL

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-14T11:39:00.003-07:00

I'm leaving for Las Vegas in the morning, so I told DH last not to get me flowers for Valentine's Day. When I got home from my second job Monday night, these were sitting on the kitchen counter! He got them early so I could enjoy them in my office all week. Aren't they beautiful!?! And the fragrance is amazing. My co-workers keep coming in to my office for a sniff - LOL

And I finally decorated my Valentine's Day tree!! I love all the pink, purple and red! :)

It's Almost Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

This has been the week for Valentine Exchange packages in one of my Yahoo Groups. The theme was "Hearts" and all the packages have been wonderful so far.

My package came from Laura and was filled with all sorts of wonderful goodies! She sent a package of heart shaped ornaments for my holiday tree, cupcake liners, pink pins, Valentine's ribbon, two fabrics, heart topped pins, candy, and Gingher scissor.

And Laura made me a great pinkeep ornie with a pattern by The Trillogy called Valentine Spots. I love the "2008" she added with the little hearts as the zeros. Thanks again Laura!! Now I need to get my V-day tree decorated - I'd better hurry! LOL

My package was received as well. I sent to Cheryl, and I tried a few new things with knitting for her.

I made a cotton dish cloth with a pattern called Pieces of my My Heart from Knitting at KNoon Designs. The yarn is Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Strawberries and Cream. I was a little disappointed in the "pooling", and I think I would use a solid yarn next time, but it was fun to knit. The little felted heart is from Mochimochi Blog. She has such cute patterns! I'd love to get good enough with my knitting to tackle one of them.

I also stitched two things for Cheryl - a scissor fob and a pinkeep. The fob is a freebie from The Drawn Thread called Heart Throb. I've wanted to stitch this for years! And I decided to stitch myself one as long as I had the materials out - LOL. The pinkeep is a motif from Jacqueline Holdsworth's Ackworth Pattern Book. I have gotten SO much use from this book! The fiber is Mauveberry Silk n' Colors from The Tread Gatherer and the fabric is a pink scrap from my stash :). This was my first attempt at finishing an octagon shape, and I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Friday, Part 2 of Papillion Creations 2008 Mystery sampler came out. Now I have to wait a whole month for part 3! ROFLOL

And this week, we feature a different kitty, Odette, on my childhood quilt - LOL - gotta give the girls equal time!

Now that it's almost the end of the month... LOL

2008-01-27T14:20:00.001-07:00

I guess it's time for me to update my blog! Between my jobs and getting the flu right after the new year, I haven't had the opportunity. Time just goes by WAY too quickly!!

I forgot to share a picture of what I stitched for my second Christmas exchange, which was received by Lois in Ireland on Christmas Eve (talk about just in time! LOL) I stitched her two ornaments by Plum Pudding Needleart from their Holiday Samplings chart. I used Crescent Colors Belle Soie in Collard Greens and Cranberry - I LOVE these silks!

And I never shared a picture of my main Christmas tree - which, by the way, is still up - LOL I think it's time for me to get a third tree - it's a little overloaded with ornaments!

I've been working on goodies for a Valentine exchange, so I can't show pictures yet of that, but I've been trying out some new things and I hope my partner likes them.

Oh, and that reminds me, I finished another Elongated Brick scarf . This one is in Moda Dea Dream Lavender and is for Jodi.

And something I'm really excited about, I finished Part 1 of the new Papplion Creations 2008 Mystery Sampler How Does Your Garden Grow. You can get the pattern by signing up for the newsletter and the Photo Gallery has a bunch of beautiful WIP pics! Hopefully mine will be added soon :) I'm using 32 ct Sugar Maple "Muffin" and my threads are Kaalund Yarns Guava and Wisteria, Thread Gatherer Silk n' Colors Nan's Mullberry and Forest of Greens, Caron Waterlilies Amethyst, Antique Brass and Lemon Meringue (I added the yellow for the center of all the flowers). The beads are Mill Hill 553. I had SO much fun stitching this - those flowers are addictive and I can't wait for part 2!

I thought I'd also share a pic of Minuet snuggling on my childhood quilt. She was on the recliner with me while I was stitching. This quilt was made by my Great Grandmother and was always on my bed as a child - the fabrics are from the late 60's and/or early 70's and very funky - LOL - I was thrilled to find this quilt while was cleaning out my mother's house after she died - I hadn't seen it in years, and now I get to snuggle under it every evening while I stitch.

Well, I'm hoping to get another update posted sooner than last time - maybe if I do it more often, it won't take so long! LOL

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it will be 2008 in less than 12 hours!!

We had a nice, quite Christmas, and I've finally finished my last Christmas present - LOL. I made a throw for my dad and step mom, Lynn, and I had to give it to them unfinished on Christmas Eve, but it's done now - YEH! It's my first throw, and I think it turned out quite nice. The pattern is a free one from Lion Brand Yarn. It's called the Waterfall Throw and I used Lion Brand Yarn Homespun in the color Regency.

For my grandmother, I made a pocket scarf/shawl, also in Homespun, in the colors Colonial and Williamsburg. I kinda combined a few different free patterns I found for this one, and using size 17 needles, it went fairly quickly.

Also for my Dad and Lynn, I made a wool appliqué mitten, which was fun. I really enjoy doing wool appliqué. This was a kit that I picked up at Shepherd's Bush a few years ago by Indygo Junction and it's called Merry Mitten. As you can see, I made a few changes to it, including the hanger at the top.

My neighbor who runs our Stamp Club taught us how to make coasters last month and I made two sets - one for Dad and Lynn and one for Grandma. They were really fun to make and I hope to do some more soon.

For Christmas, I got a couple of stitching related gifts from DH. He bought me Little House Needleworks Frappuchino, which anyone who knows me knows is my most favorite drink - LOL. And I've finished it already! I was really bad and stitched this before I finished the throw - I just couldn't help it!! Now all I need is a frame and I'll hang it in my kitchen.

And I got another pair of scissors - I can never have too many scissors! LOL DH picked these out all by himself, and I'm quite proud of that! They are the Hiller Art Deco style scissors from Kelmscott Designs. I told DH he's going to have to help me pick a pattern for a fob ;).

Santa came for the Girls too - LOL

Here's Odette playing with at package of catnip mousies.

And here's Akasha playing with one after Daddy unwrapped them.

Meanwhile, Minuet was having much more fun with the wrapping paper - LOL

And we had a hard time keeping Elspeth still to catch a pic of her Christmas morning - she was quite fascinated with the camera!

And here's a pic that DH took at 3:00 a.m. over the weekend - we had a small buck in the back yard eating out of our bird feeder!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!!

It's Almost Christmas!!

2007-12-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow's Christmas Eve, and I guess I'm about as ready as I'm going to get - LOL. I have a bit left to do tomorrow still, but I'm OK with not getting everything done that I had originally planned.

My exchange package to Nancy arrived on Friday, so now I can show some pics of what I sent. When we were all talking about the 2007 JSC Ornament issue, Nancy made the comment that she thought the Victoria Sampler ornament was "stunning" - hopefully she meant it, because that's what I made her! LOL

Here's a pic of the stitched piece...

and here it is made up into a little "bon-bon".

It looked so pretty on my tree, I had a hard time taking it off and sending it to her! LOL

I also knit Nancy a scarf with a yarn Jodi picked out for her. I've lost the label, and I don't remember what it was, but it really was very soft.
Elspeth was particularly fond of this one and was kneading on the skein while I was trying to knit, which is how the label fell off - LOL.

I also wanted to show some of the goodies that have arrived here over the last week or so. Jen sent me some wonderful postcards that she picked up at Homespun Elegance (actually AT the store - I'm so jealous - LOL). Isn't that little girl cute?

And Gaby sent me a cute little biscornu scissor fob along with this beautiful German card!

Thank you both!!

Now, I need to get back to working on the afghan I'm knitting for my dad and step mom - it's not going to be finished by tomorrow night when we exchange gifts, but I'd like to have it at least half done.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to ME! :)

2007-12-20T13:57:00.001-07:00

I got the most wonderful exchange packages in the mail Tuesday from two different Yahoo groups - and boy was I spoiled!!

The first package was from Dane in Germany. She makes the most wonderful pyramids, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that one was in the package - and it was!!! She used a beautiful Just Nan design called Christmas Friends, and it's finished perfectly!!

She also sent a wonderful German book full of Christmas and Winter designs. The finishing ideas in there are so pretty!

Along with the book is a gorgeous skein of red thread, and - something that really got me excited - three packages of marzipan!! I had commented that marzipan was one the of the things I missed most from my time living in Germany, so this is really a treat for me!! Thank you so much for everything Dane!!

The next package came from Jenny in Florida, and it was just FILLED with wonderful stuff!
She sent me a little stuffed Santa ornament (which until last night was the only ornament on my tree - LOL), two magnates, a shopping list and a bookmark (all Christmas themed), a stocking tin (isn't that cute?!) with her special spiced pecans (which are almost gone now - LOL), a Santa box full of dark chocolate, five different charts, Crescent Colors floss and an adorable snowman ornament!! The charts are La-D-Da Briar Rabbit, Cherished Stitched A February Box, Little House Needleworks Acorn Hill and Curly Q Ewe and Country Cottage Needleworks Forest Snowfall - the Crescent Colors are for Curly Q Ewe and Forest Snowfall! I hope to get a chance to start Forest Snowfall over the Christmas break :)

The snowman ornament is so cute too. Jenny said it reminder her of all my seasonal trees! Thanks again for everything Jenny!!!

I've gotten a few more things from other friends, and I'll try to take pics tonight so I can post about them - I've been very lucky this year and I feel very happy to have such wonderful friendships! Thank you all!!

Only a WEEK 'till Christmas?!?

2007-12-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

How on earth is time going by so quickly?!? I can't believe that Christmas is only a week from tomorrow - I am SO not ready!!

This morning I finally got all the packages out that needed to be mailed, so now I just have to worry about the local stuff - family and co-workers.

Last Monday I got a wonderful box in the mail from Jodi - she's been hording yarn for me! ROFLOL She sent me seven skeins of yarn - Red Heart TLC Amore in Celery, Paton's Divine in Richest Rose, Yarn Bee Labyrinth in Purple Paths, Yarn Bee Airy in Brown, Moda Dea Dream in Raspberry and 2 in Plum. And I already know what I'm going to use that Plum yarn for! I'm going to make myself a scarf like the one I made Jen in Airforce for her birthday (which I forgot to take a picture of - LOL) and I just cast on one for Jodi in Lavender - we'll all three have matching scarves! Jodi also sent me a beautiful Christmas kitty bookmark, a bracelet kit, some holiday beads and buttons and a stocking ornament that her dad from Bloom Woodworks makes.

Oh, and she also sent a little Pampered Chef cookbook which didn't make it into the picture because I left it by my chair after I read it - some YUMMY sounding recipes in there!

And last, but certainly not least, Jodi sent me this beautiful ornament that she stitched (and Kathy finished)!! It's No L from The Sampler House from the 1999 JCS Ornament Issue. I love it!

Thanks for the big box of goodies Jodi!!

So far, my main tree only has lights and the star on top - hopefully that will change before next Monday!! I do have my stitching tree decorated though, so I don't feel quite so bad :)

Hopefully I'll be able to post soon about exchange packages being received, and gifts I'm making for family members!!

Stamp Camp!!

2007-12-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a Holiday Stamp Camp and got to make all sorts of fun projects - not to mention eat all sorts of yummy food! There were about 20 ladies there, with projects on three different floors of the house, and we all had a great time.

Here's a pic of everything I made yesterday. I forget how much I enjoy stamping until I get a chance to do it again! I've only been to one stamp group meeting in the past 9 months or so - I really need to make sure I can go more often.

The first thing I made was the three cards. My favorite is the green Happy Holiday card - I love the folding - I liked it so much, I made a second one! LOL

The other two cards are cute too, but as anyone who knows me knows, I'm not overly fond of blue - LOL I love snowmen, and it's hard to have a snowman without using the color blue, but there you are!

The Joy card has little embossed circles which look like falling snow - they were made with my Crop-a-Dile,
and I loved the effect. This was my first time using this thing, which I bought over 6 months ago, so I was thrilled with the opportunity to use it!! I also used it to set the star eyelet on the green card. Now that I know how it works, maybe I'll get some use out of it! LOL

Next I made the 3-D Stars. I think these would make great gift tags with names written in metallic pens. They were a bit tricky, and I definitely need more practice! But I have a bunch of pretty patterned paper that would be great to use for these.

Then I made this memo set, which I think I'll give to my step-mom. The base is an acrylic picture frame and the pen has microbeads.

The next project I made was an Explosion Box with candies in it. I've made one of these before, and they make great little gifts.

The last thing I made was a Tree Gift Bag - I actually did two of these too - it was fun to cut out the different patterned paper - I've always liked playing with scissors. When I was little I'd sit and cut up paper - Dad said was was "making little ones out of big ones" LOL. The project also came with four recipes for different snack mixes to fill the sack with.

Hopefully some time this month I'll get the opportunity to make some more paper crafts!

Something I should have posted a week or so ago was the set of ornies Jodi and I made for Jen's birthday. Jodi stitched them and I did the finishing - making them into pinkeep ornaments. The patterns are JBW Designs French Country Reindeer stitched over-one, one of the trees from JBW Designs Christmas Keepsakes II, and the candy cane from Plum Pudding Needleart Holiday Samplings .

One of the things that Jodi is REALLY good at (besides picking out yarn, LOL) is finding coordinating fabric for stitched pieces, so here's a pic of the back of the ornies showing the wonderful fabric Jodi bought.

I also knit Jen a scarf with some yarn Jodi picked out for her and sent me in September, but apparently I forgot to take a picture of it - LOL The yarn was the Moda Dea Dream in Air Force (the blue one) and I used the Elongated Brick pattern that I made my neighbor.

Other than that, I've been busy working on my last two exchanges of the year and making candy, another one of my favorite things to do!! I hope to get my main Christmas tree up sometime this week - and I have my stitching tree decorated. Christmas is coming WAY too fast for my liking!! LOL

Is it Too Late?

2007-11-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Is the week before Thanksgiving too late to post Halloween pictures? I kept telling myself I needed to get this done, but the days just keep slipping by!

So, I was involved in Halloween exchanges for two different groups, and I never showed what I sent for the second group. My package went to Manu in Germany, and SHE posted about it right away - LOL. I stitched her a Mill Hill Beaded and Buttoned kit called Spooky Garden - I love stitching these with all the beads - they really sparkle, which of course you can't see in the picture!!

I was told that Manu loves Halloween stuff - the gorier the better, and I was able to find her some really fun stuff - including a skull and a bloody dripping sign saying "Keep Out". I also sent her my "famous" Ghost Poop, which is ADDICTIVE! It's SO easy to make too. You just melt some almond bark on low heat in the microwave and pour it over puff corn (like cheese puffs, but without the cheese - Old Dutch and Barrel of Fun both make this and you can find it in the chip isle), then you stir to coat well, spread out on a cookie sheet to dry, then break into little "poops" - you can make it for Christmas too and call it Snowman Poop. It's got that wonderful sweet-salty thing going for it! YUM!

I also have a picture of my Halloween tree, although it's not the best pic. I love having my tree decorated for different holidays!! And now it's just about time to bring out the stitched Christmas ornies!!

Now, let's make sure I'm not posting Christmas stuff a week before Valentine's Day! LOL

Exchanges, Round Robins and Ornies, Oh My!

2007-10-15T18:56:00.000-06:00

Wow, have I had a lot going on the past few weeks!! I received another Halloween Exchange package, this one from Debs. She stitched me the most adorable set of ornies by Bright Needle called Hatz Boo-tique. This was her first over-one project, and she did a fantastic job . She also made me this cute beaded fob (complete with scissors!) with a jack-o-lantern bell on the end - my girls think that's particularly fun! LOL They've been trying to play with it while they're laying on my lap when I stitch.

Also in the package was some fun finger puppets, two light-up necklaces, a bag of Candy Corn (yum!) and a skein of Waterlilies Glowing Embers. Thanks again for the fun package Debs!!

And I had a Halloween package received as well. My package went to Vicky, and I stitched for her the Drawn Tread Halloween House. It's stitched on Sugar Maple Fabrics Squall, which I thought looked perfect for this design! I switched out some of the fibers as well, substituting what I had on hand. This is the same chart I used for Leigh's Drawn Thread House RR , except this time, I got to stitch the whole chart ;) I want to stitch it again for myself- I have just enough of this fabric left to stitch it over one!

I also knit Vicky a scarf - the yarn is Moda Dea Vixen in Licorice Whip! I thought it was perfect for Halloween.

I've also been busy with Round Robins. On Nancy's Drawn Thread RR, I stitched my four girls :)

And here is a pic of her whole RR so far - isn't it beautiful? Nancy asked us each to stitch a quote or verse that means something to us - I really like this idea, and it's making for a wonderful, personal RR!

For this round of the Quaker RR in my local group, I stitched on Kelly's piece. I stitched the corner motif and crown, both from the Ackworth Pattern Book - I'm SO glad I have this book, I can't tell you how handy it is!

And Sherie stitched on my RR - here is the progress so far. I'm anxious to see how these progress!

And as for ornies, I received this cute Halloween ornament for my tree from Laura. It's from Just Nan's chart Moon Riders. Isn't it adorable? Thanks so much Laura!

I've also gotten caught up (believe THAT or not!) with my Christmas ornie RR.

First I stitched Marilynne's ornament, which was Suzann's Designs O Christmas Tree from the 1998 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, then I stitched Kathy's choice, which was Prairie Schooler Winter from the 2006 issue.

And last, but certainly not least, I got more yarn and beads from Jodi! She sent one skein of Bernat Frenzy in the color Outrageous Orange and three skeins of Yarn Bee Elf in Raisin. These should make some fun scarves! And she sent black leaves for me to make a Halloween tree pin! Thanks for the goodies Jodi! :)

What a Great Mail Week!!

2007-09-30T12:39:00.000-06:00

It's been a long week, but I've gotten some great packages to keep me going! LOL

On Wednesday, I got a package from Jodi with some more beads and ornies. She found me more leaf beads so I can make another tree pin. She also sent me a ring blank - I'm anxious to try making this. And she sent some holiday embellishments - I love the Christmas lights!

And Jodi found these wonderful ornaments that she thought would look good on my Halloween tree - I'm hoping to get that decorated later today. I'm actually going to try to put out all of my stitching sometime today - I think fire season should be over, and I'm really missing having all my treasures around. Even DH is asking when I'm going to put everything out again! Thanks for the goodies Jodi!!

Thursday my Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue showed up, although I didn't find it until Friday morning - LOL. There are a couple of really cute ornies in there that I hope to stitch someday.

And on Friday, I got the most wonderful Autumn Exchange package from Danya! I was so excited when I saw her name on the return address because she and her daughter Vicki do such amazing bead work - I was just hoping that there was something beaded in the package, and I wasn't disappointed!! Danya sent me all kinds of wonderful Halloween goodies - two dish towels (with kitties!), two candles (one witch's hat and one jack o' lantern), a stuffed pumpkin and some Hershey's chocolates. Plus she sent a bead scoop and some glass kitty beads.

Danya made me THREE beaded things! A bracelet with pumpkins and black and purple beads, the most amazing witch earrings (complete with brooms and striped socks on their legs!) and a fantastic tomb stone scissor fob!! I just love them!! Oh, and the fob was attached to a pair of Gingher scissors - I'm always happy to grow my scissor collection! LOL

On top of all of that, Danya stitched me four great ornaments for my Halloween tree - and they are finished into these cute felt pumpkins! Thanks so much for the wonderful exchange package!

Playing Catch-Up! LOL

2007-09-23T11:29:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! I got a second job at a local bakery, and it's REALLY cutting into my stitching time, not to mention my computer time! LOL

So, what have I been up to lately? I finished my Halloween scarf. I can't wait to start wearing it! I really liked working with this yarn, it's soft and "squishy" LOL.

I also received several packages from Jodi - my personal shopper! ROFLOL She found some more great yarn for me. Two skeins each of Moda Dea Dream in Lavender and Air Force. These will make beautiful scarves!! The Lavender will be for Jodi, and the Air Force (blue) will be for a gift for someone special ;)

She also sent me more of the Yarn Bee Mosaic Twist (the yarn my Halloween scarf is made of). These are Rum Raisin and and Sunrise.

And she found some more yarn for my crochet scarf I want to make - that makes six different yarn! This will be a really fun scarf! You can see the rest of them on my original post. These two are Yarn Bee Airy in Cream and Brown. It has some metallic in it, and should look really good in the scarf. And next to it is some Lion Brand Fun Fur (I love scarves made with Fun Fur! LOL) in Tropical.

In addition to all they fun yarns, Jodi also sent a bag of beads from broken jewelery that she picked up at a local shop. I should be able to make some fun stuff with this. I'd like to figure out how to get some of those brown beads into my crocheted scarf!

And she sent me another ornament for my Halloween tree. I think NOW it's time to decorate it!! LOL
Thanks again for ALL the goodies Jodi. I love getting "care packages" from you! :)

So, in addition to all the stuff I received, I've also sent out a few things. First was Ming's birthday, and I made her a biscornu with two quaker medallions from the Ackworth School Pattern Book. This was part of a set that several of us in my Yahoo group made for her with the same fabric and thread. I love how this turned out! The thread is a Carries Creations Threads in Eggplant. It's a little bigger than any boscornu I've made before, but I actually liked the size.

The other package I sent out was for Betsey in my other Yahoo group. She loves La-D-Da, so I stitched her Mares Eat Oats and made it into a pinkeep. I used the recommended threads and fabric, but I stitched it over-one. I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

I also knit Betsey a scarf. I used Sensations Cello in Dark Multi. It's another great eyelash yarn that makes wonderful scarfs!

So, I think that pretty much covers what's happened in the last three weeks. I'll have more soon. I'm working on two RR's and two Halloween exchanges. :)

GCC Supplies and a New RR

2007-09-01T12:16:00.001-06:00

This week I got my supplies for my EGA GCC "To the Acorn" by Pat Krahn. I'm using a Gloriana I had in my stash called Fallen Leaves (#046). Isn't it pretty? I picked coordinating silks from my Hand-Dyed Fibers sample book by Victoria Clayton. I order the Premium, which I haven't tried before, in Night Smoke 5311, Fish Pepper 4429, Bitter Bloom 4443, Chocolate and Fish Pepper 4415. My linen is a cream Belfast. The only other thing I need to pick up is the perle cotton. I'm excited to start this, but it may have to wait for a month or too - I've signed up for too many exchanges! LOL It's due on April 16th, so I can't put it off for too long!

And I've started a new RR with my local stitching group. We're doing a Quaker RR, and it'll be fun to see how everyone enjoys it - this is the first RR that the other ladies have ever done. We're all using the same fabric, but everyone has basted theirs to a different size. I did mine for a finished size of 10x14, hoping I can find a ready made frame for it. And the silk I'm using is one that Vikki dyed for one of the Dyer's Collaboration Packs a few years ago, and it's called Road Kill Iguana. I LOVED the name (and the colors), so I ordered all that she had left - LOL. This is the first time I've used it for anything and I think so far it looks great! My center motif is is from the With My Needle Chart Ackworth Friendship Book by Ellen Chester. I'll add my initials and the date finished when it returns home to me. The RR that I was suppose to get Wednesday wasn't ready yet, so I should get it in a week or two. I have PLENTY to work on 'till then! LOL

Way, Way, WAY Too Close For Comfort!!

2007-08-26T11:46:00.000-06:00

OK, so DH and I ran a few errands late yesterday afternoon, and as we turned to start going up the hill to where we live, DH said "There's smoke behind the house." OK, panic time! When we got home, I ran into the house, got the cat carriers out and then grabbed the camera. This is the picture I took from right outside our garage.

It hadn't been going for very long - the Fire Department hadn't even shown up yet - and I was a "tiny" bit nervous until they got there. Pretty soon I could hear sirens, but it seemed to take FOREVER for them to actually get up to the fire. I felt SO much better once they were there!! DH was out on the deck taking pictures and I started gathering clothes in case we had to leave. We were lucky that the winds seemed to be blowing away from the house and up the hill, and I was actually able to relax a little. It was really interesting to watch the fire fighters work - and I REALLY appreciate them!!!

We stood out there for almost two hours - I even made a snack that we ate out there while we watched - LOL When the wind changed, the smoke started blowing towards us and we were able to joke about how it smelled like a camp fire and we should have brought some hot dogs to roast.

There were still a few fire trucks out there 'till after midnight - and some trucks were back in the morning too.

All in all, everything worked out fine - they had the fire under control and were able to get it out pretty quickly under the circumstances - but it's something I NEVER want to have to watch from my deck again!!

A Visit from the Yarn Fairy!!

2007-08-25T15:20:00.000-06:00

Today I got a huge package of yarn from Jodi! A week or so ago she sent me the one in the middle and I showed her a scarf I wanted to make using this, but I'd need additional different yarns. The scarf was featured on Uncommon Threads on DIY Network. It's basically just crocheted chains of different yarns that are gathered and tied in a knot at each end - very fun and funky. And since I don't really crochet, being just a chain stitch, it'll be easy too! LOL Anyway, Jodi was able to find me three other wonderful yarns that coordinate with this first one. I think these will make a great scarf! From left to right: Carron Jewel Box in Moonstone, Moda Dea Dream in Nutmeg, Yarn Bee Hollywood Special Effects in Leading Man, and Moda Dea Zing in Chestnut. All such warm and wonderful colors! And the Dream is SO soft - it would make a great scarf all on its own.

Jodi also sent another skein of Lion Brand Fun Fetti, this time in Firecracker Red. And she found the cutest ornament for my Halloween tree while she was in Iowa! I just love it! Is it too early to start decorating for Halloween? LOL

Thanks for the wonderful package Jodi! I can't wait to make that scarf!

And an update on the two wool scarves I knit with yarn from my neighbor - she picked the Elongated Brick one! That one seemed to be a favorite with those who saw the pictures. I might have to make another one - LOL.

Birthday Package Received!

2007-08-22T21:11:00.000-06:00

Today I got word that Dane in Germany has received her joint birthday package from Jodi and me. It was sent a little late, then Dane went on a lovely long vacation (lucky girl!), so her birthday was about a month ago, but I can finally share the fun stuff we made for her! Dane loves orange, and Jodi found this wonderful orange and pink batik fabric and we worked off of that. Jodi stitched this bird by Gwen R Creation using DMC Color Variations and I finished it into a piece to go on one of her dad's stands. I used something a little different on the edge, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a flower shaped satin ribbon and I stitched a pink bead in the center of each flower as I attached it to the piece. The funniest thing about this is the trim came to me in an Easter exchange - from Germany! So, it's gone back home - LOL.

I stitched a coordinating piece by the same designer, but using a slightly different color - and I made it into a pinkeep/scissor pocket.

I got this idea from Romy's blog - I thought it was a wonderful way to finish something!

I also made a beaded scissor fob and a beaded bookmark to coordinate with the set. The idea for the bookmark came from Leigh - she made me one for my birthday last year that I just love! The charms were from Juli from our bead exchange - they matched the set too well not to use them!!

And after Dane said that she really liked the watch I made Jodi for her birthday, I decided to make one for her too. Imagine how surprised I was to find a bracelet kit in orange!! We sent some other orange goodies as well, but I forgot to take a picture of everything together. I'm really glad that Dane enjoyed her package - it was fun to work with a color that I don't use very often! Everything was SO bright and cheerful!

Pin Exchange Arrived at Partners!

2007-08-20T21:36:00.000-06:00

I just got word that my Pin Exchange package was received by Cheryl today! I stitched her the Scandinavian Pin Cushion from the June 2007 issue of Gift of Stitching Magazine. I changed the colors to purple and white on two different shades of lavender linen. This issue had a whole article on pin cushions with six different ones to stitch - I had a hard time narrowing it down to just one - LOL. I still want to make the Assisi one someday too.

In addition to the pin cushion, I made Cheryl two pins to wear. The tree looking one is called Stemwear by Mia Gofar from Beading Basics - The Essential Techniques by Bead & Button Magazine. It's a really fun and easy pin to make - this is my second one. The first was in the same colors and went to my step mother for her birthday. The stick pin is just a pretty heart-shaped bead glued on a blank stick pin.

I also made some bead headed pins for use in pinkeeps, and I added a tuck pillow ornie and a Victoria Sampler kit along with some leaf pins I found at JoAnn's. She seemed pleased with everything I sent, which makes me happy, especially since this was Cheryl's fist exchange with this group.

My Pin Exchange Arrived!

2007-08-18T14:17:00.000-06:00

This afternoon I received my Pin Exchange piece from Laura!! She made me the most wonderful pinkeep/scissor pocket/needlebook with the Prairie Schooler design E is for Embroidery. I just love it!!! Isn't this a clever way of finishing? It will be fun to take this to classes for holding my scissors and needles.

The ribbon holds the scissors in the pocket, and the other side unsnaps to reveal a place to put my needles. Thank you so much Laura!

Now I'm feeling even MORE guilty about not getting my pin exchange package out on time, but I finished up everything at 10:00 last night and mailed it out this morning. Hopefully the recipient will forgive me ;).

This week I also got my book for my EGA Group Correspondence Course To the Acorn by Pat Krahn. Isn't it a pretty piece? Hopefully I can keep up with this one. I don't have a very good track record with GCC's, this is the fourth one I've signed up for so far and I've only finished one. I'm going to have to make a considered effort on this one - LOL. The first GCC I tried to do, almost five years ago, was Crewel Confidence by Judy Jeroy. I got as far as getting all the materials, but I never started it. The second one was White Queen by Carolyn Standing Webb, and that one I actually finished, and I loved it!! You can see my finished piece here. I still need to fix the two marked mistakes and attach the pearls on the crown, then I can frame it. Last year I signed up for Tiramisu by Dakota Rogers, and I actually started it, but I didn't get past the first band - I had such a hard time making it reversible. I had picked a lovely pallet of greens from Hand Dyed Fibers, and I hope to join this class again and finish the piece. Oh, and I forgot, I signed up for a another one soon after I moved here - Finishing With Flair by Marion Scoular - on that one, all I did was read the book! Jeez, I really am bad with these - ROFLOL. So, I'd better finish this one!!

Retreat Report!!

2007-08-13T17:57:00.001-06:00

Well, I came back from my Stitchin' Station Retreat yesterday afternoon, and I'm still recovering! LOL

Friday morning I picked up Loraine and Kristin on the way to Ogden. Our first stop was Shepherd's Bush!

I was a very good girl there and only picked up two colors of the new Crescent Colors Belle Soie silk, Collard Greens and Cranberry. But while I was waiting in line, there were some cuts of new Zweigart linen waiting to be packaged - I just couldn't resist and bought a 13 x 18 cut of Cashel in a color called Shadowbrook - it's gorgeous! I think I'm going to stitch JBW Designs French Country - Love with these.

We grabbed lunch and headed on to Salt Lake City and went to the Stitchin' Station. I had a full punch card which got me $20 towards my next purchase, so I picked up the Crescent Colors needed for the Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy. I'm trading my Halloween Fairy Pattern for this pattern when I'm finished with it, and now I have all the materials!

Next we went on up to Park City and did a little shopping at the outlet mall. It was PACKED! The only purchase I made was at Harry & David's, I got a great deal on some clearance truffles & chocolate covered cherries to share with my room mates and a package of one of my favorite guilty pleasures - chocolate covered espresso beans! LOL

We went to the Washington School Inn at 3:30 to check in. We we given a suite to share with two friends we met at the previous year's retreat, Kim and Kara, who are sisters. We had so much fun last year staying up late and stitching in our room - we were asked to keep it down - LOL - so this year we asked to be put together on the third floor where hopefully we wouldn't disturb anyone else. Kristin was in a single room on the first floor because only four are allowed in a suite. All of the rooms are named after teachers who taught when this place was a school, and we were in the Mrs. Thompson room. When we got into the room, we were greeted with some sweet little gifts. The hem on the doll's dress is stitched with the words "Washing School Inn 2007" and the little box has some chocolates in it - YUM! We went down to the common room and I was able to get a little stitching done on my "pin exchange" piece before Cynthia's class started at 5:00. The class piece was this representation of The Washington School Inn with a bunch of different specialty stitches for the flowers. Looking at the size, I made the decision that I was going to finish it before going home - LOL

After Cynthia went through some instructions, we decided to go out on the patio to stitch - it was beautiful out there!! We spent almost the entire weekend at this table - LOL. We had to go back in for dinner, but went back out after and stitched until it got too dark to see well. Then we walked into town, which was only the next street over, to get some goodies at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory - I LOVE their caramel apples, and I got a Key Lime one! Then we went back and stitched in our suite 'till after midnight.

In the morning we were treated to a wonderful breakfast including the best oatmeal I've ever had - they have all kinds of goodies to sprinkle on top - and some wonderful zucchini bran muffins! After breakfast, it was back to the patio until our class with Taylor Hartman. You can take the personality test at his site - I'm a White with quite a bit of Blue, which interestingly enough, was also what Loraine and Kristin were. The class was fun and interesting and he was a very nice man. Of course, it was back to the patio after the class for more stitching - until I got a coffee craving and some of us took a run to Starbucks - LOL.

At 5:00, we had our special "surprise" class, which ended up being a crystal and silver bracelet in our Color. I love the dangles on it! We also received some more fun gifts - a little recipe book and a beautiful book where we can record some information about ourselves. The pages are all so clever, and I'm definitely going to have to take the time to fill them out. I SHOULD have done it while I was there, but I had that goal to finish my class piece - LOL. The last page of the book had a pattern with our initial, fabric & floss so we could add a sample of our stitching. What a lovely idea!

At about 9:00 that night, we "snuck" out and drove to Salt Lake City for the Gardner Village Moonlight Madness Beach Party. I swear, I felt like a teenager - LOL - I stay up late, but I'm never OUT late! The place was really hopping, all kinds of booths on the sidewalks and a DJ playing fun music. The only problem was that half of the village had their power out, and that half happened to include Pine Needles, which was the very reason we went down there! They were still open though, with flashlights and a car with headlights on at the back door. It was heartbreaking to be in a stitching sore and not be able to see anything!! I have a tiny flashlight on my key chain and was using that to look at what I could - I knew I needed two more overdyed flosses, and was able to find them fairly easily. We were just about ready to leave, and the lights suddenly came back on! I was SO happy! LOL I had a $30 gift certificate that my boss had given me in December for taking care of her kitty, and it was burning a hole in my pocket!! Now that I was able to see things again, I found a bunch of stuff to buy!
I saw a model on the wall for an adorable Button Band Sampler by Sue Hillis Designs. This will be a wonderful way to use some of the antique buttons I've collected. Of course, I'll have to stitch mine in a different color - LOL I also picked up Stocking Stuffers by Full Circle Designs, which should be a very quick stitch! Then I found the bargain bin, and OMG, what bargains!! I got Britty Bunny by Brittercup Designs for only .50, and it came with the charm! Everything else I got were kits that were discounted 50% - 80% - The Trilogy HOP, Heart in Hand Wool Whimsy March, Shepherd's Bush Brave One and Happy Day Roll and my favorite of the day, Little House Needleworks Americana Sampling, which is a 2005 Limited Edition and one I've never seen before. I ended up with about $115 worth of stash for $54! When we were done with Pine Needles, we went to the Christmas shop and I picked up a few little things for Halloween exchanges. We didn't get back to the Inn until almost 12:30 a.m. - LOL

The next morning, we had another lovely breakfast, this time with strawberry/peach crepes and assorted mini French pastries. Doesn't that look yummy!

After breakfast, it was back, where else, to the patio. Cynthia joined up and signed our patterns for us. She is so much fun! I kept working on my class piece and I was able to finish just before we left at a little after noon!! Ta Da!!

We stopped for lunch on the way home, I dropped of Kristin & Loraine and I got home at about 5:00. Boy was I wiped! LOL We had a wonderful time though - and in a few more days, I should be fully recovered!

Ready for Halloween!!

2007-08-07T21:02:00.000-06:00

I finally finished my house on Leigh's Drawn Thread House RR Sunday - I'm the spooky one in the neighborhood! LOL I jinxed myself by saying earlier in the month that I was going to be on time with this and ended up being almost a week late. I'll have to watch that next time!

Here's a close up of my part. In addition to shortening the house, I had to move the ghost over. I started stitching the tree and realized I was taking up WAY too much room - there is just a little over half of the fabric length left and four houses to go. I'm anxious to see how this looks when it's finished!

Over the weekend I also started a Halloween scarf using the Zig Zag pattern again. This is some of the yarn that Jodi sent me a few weeks ago. It's really soft and I love how it's turning out!! Its got a strand of shiny rayon-like thread woven through it too. I've almost finished one skein and I think I'll use half of another one, so I should be able to get two scarves out of the three skeins!

And I have to share this - we've been having some wild fires in the county and I live right up against the side of a mountain with a big field in back - not a good place if a fire breaks out back there! Anyway, just to be on the safe side, I've packed up all of my stitched items from around the house and put them in a 100L tub placed by the front door in case we have to evacuate. Looks like Ellie is all ready to go too! ROFLOL

Two Scarves and a Wing!

2007-08-05T11:37:00.000-06:00

Wednesday DH took me down to Salt Lake City to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on IMAX , which was totally cool! On the drive, I was able to finish the Zig Zag scarf and put the fringe on the Elongated Brick scarf. I'm betting my neighbor will pick the Zig Zag, but I can easily make myself another! It was so much fun to knit!

And I made great progress on my fairy Friday night - I got the whole left wing done, even after I filled in my "required" one length of Dandelion Stem. I just couldn't put her down - LOL - I wanted to see how the different colors would look. I think I stitched for about six solid hours! I'm seeing the end in site and starting to dream about the next fairy, which will be Christmas.

Next Friday, I won't be able to SAL because I'll be at a stitching retreat - what a great reason! LOL This retreat is sponsored by The Stitchin' Station in Salt Lake City and I'm SOOOOOO excited to go. This will be their 4th year, but I only started going last year. The shop is owned by Zim's Crafts, and they use a lot of really cute scrapbook stuff to make things for the retreat.

Here is my invitation for this year. Isn't that cute? They are bringing in Dr.Taylor Hartman, the author of this book The Color Code, to speak to us, and they sent us the book to read before the retreat. It's been very interesting and I'm looking forward to hearing him talk. The guest teacher for this is Cynthia Zittell of The Drawn Thread and she's one of my most favorite designers.
Last year, she taught a design called 26 Stitches, which hasn't been published yet, but hopefully will be soon. I was able to finish my piece right before midnight on New Year's Eve, including the framing! I was thrilled! LOL I'm anxious to see what this year's class piece will be! The retreat is held at a Bed & Breakfast in Park City called Washington School Inn and it really was an old school house. We'll have the whole Inn to ourselves, and it's a great place to stitch. They also make wonderful food for breakfast, which doesn't hurt either - LOL

New Yarn and WIPs

2007-07-30T19:43:00.000-06:00

Here's an updated pic of my Halloween Fairy from my Friday Fairy SAL - I'll be really glad when the green in the wings is done - hopefully in two more sessions! After all that green, I HAD to do some of the outlining on the wings - LOL.

Saturday afternoon I went to get a refresher on my socks at my local yarn store. When I put them down over a year ago I has just finished the heal. I got started again and managed to stitch a little over an inch - I'm anxious to get these done - and to start a new pair! LOL There are so many wonderful sock yarns out there, and I want to play all of them!

I also got some more yarn from Jodi - she sent me two skeins of this Lion Brand Fun Fetti in Rainbow Black - I think it would be great as the top of a tote bag! I also bought a ball Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo in ecru - it's SO soft. I'm going to try to make myself a headband out of it.

A Finish and a Late Present

2007-07-25T21:50:00.000-06:00

Tonight I finished the ornament that Ming sent around for our Ornament RR. It's Woodland Snowfall by Little House Needleworks from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. I started it shortly after receiving it in the mail, but I didn't get much done before my conscience got the better of me and I went back to birthday stitching - LOL. Yesterday I finished up one of the gifts I was making so I decided to treat myself to this - I got most of the stitching done and only had about 45 minutes left to do on it tonight. Now to do the finishing! LOL

I also received word that a VERY late birthday present was received by Veronica. Veronica loves mice and Peg found this adorable chart and did the stitching and sent it to me for the finishing. I really wanted to hang charms off the corners and the order I made from an internet place was short one of the charms. I kept trying to contact them to get the missing charm sent, but they were unresponsive - bummer too because the place had such cute charms! I looked all over town for mice charms and couldn't find any, so I asked Jodi and she was able to find me some. I think it was worth the wait! LOL

Birthday Gifts and Laughing Gas! LOL

2007-07-23T21:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I had my dental appointment today, and for the first time I was given laughing gas - great stuff! LOL I was so relaxed they had a much easier time working on me - I even fell asleep for part of it. They ran out of time and still have more work to do, but at least I won't be a freaked out to go next time if I know they'll give me the gas! My mouth still hurts, but not near as bad as last time!

I also got word that two birthday presents were received over the weekend.

For Peg I stitched the thread pallet from Cherished Works by With My Needle and mounted it on a pallet made by Jodi's dad from Bloom Woodworks.

And Jodi stitched this piece she took from the same chart and I made it into a pinkeep for Peg.

For Jodi's birthday, she said I could make her some jewelry instead of stitching something, so I took her up on the offer! LOL

This bracelet is the Oglala Butterfly Bracelet from the July-August issue of Step by Step Beads. It was a lot of fun to make once I got the peyote base finished. I'm still not that great at working peyote.
This choker was from a kit I ordered from BEADiful. It's called Bijoux Tattoo and I made one for myself in purple.

This Black Floral Pendant Necklace is from the leaflet Modern Beading Techniques, and I have to admit that I made myself one at the same time.

I also made her two different color watches with Swarovoski crystal bracelet kits and watch faces. The kits came with materials for matching earrings as well.

And these bracelets were made from pieces of a broken necklace Jodi sent me because she thought the parts could be used to make something else. I joked that I'd make something from it and send it back for her birthday. On the five strand bracelet, all I had to do was add a clasp, and then I made the memory wire bracelet with the flower and pearl dangles and some added beads. I also made her DD a little stretchy bracelet because she was with Jodi when she bought it. And I made a pair of matching earrings :) I had so much fun putting all this together for Jodi! She may tell me to go back to stitching for her though - ROFLOL.

Garage Sale, Friday's Fairy and Harry Potter!

2007-07-22T16:22:00.000-06:00

Boy am I pooped! LOL Hauling all those books and tables and stuff around yesterday really wore me out! But, I got rid of a fair amount of stuff (truthfully, not as much as I thought I would) and I net $200, which isn't too shabby! We moved everything that didn't sell into Vicky's workshop in the back and well have another garage sale later this summer. It's a holiday weekend here in Utah - Tuesday is Pioneer Day and I'm sure a lot of people were out of town. DH has tomorrow off too (so he gets a 4-day weekend), but I have to work half the day - I'm going in for more Dental Torture tomorrow afternoon - two crowns and three fillings - all repair work, no new cavities, but I don't react well to the dentist! I decided that since I was able to clear off so much shelf space in my craft room, I want to put some kind of storage dividers in the shelves to hold yarn like the yarn stores do so I can see everything and it can be a little decorative.

Friday I was able to get in a couple of hours on my Halloween Fairy - I did the requisite 1 full length of green on the wing. Next Friday I should be able to put in more time on her. Jen and I have gotten a few more people to join our Friday Fairy SAL - Cheryl and Marilynne are stitching the Christmas Fairy with us.

And my big news for the day is I picked up the new Harry Potter book at Sam's Club this afternoon! I'm trying to decide if I should hurry and read it as quickly as I can, forsaking everything else, or savor it and make it last as long as possible. DH is voting for the latter - LOL. And he's teasing me saying he's going to read the last few pages and torture me with the knowledge. So, I might actually get into bed a little earlier than normal tonight so I can start reading it!

Whew! What a week, but WHAT a mail day!

2007-07-20T17:26:00.002-06:00

I am pretty glad it's Friday, but I'll be even more glad when it's Saturday afternoon! It's been a busy week at work with deadlines, plus I had three after hours work-related events. I am NOT a shmooser - I'm really bad a talking to people I don't know and I had over 6 hours of that this week! It wears me out! LOL

So besides that, what has really made this week busy is that I'm going in with my boss and another co-worker on a garage sale tomorrow. I've spent every evening this week going through stuff (mostly craft stuff!) for the sale. So far I've got 8 boxes and 6 grocery bags full of books and kits and fabric and magazines and... you get the idea! LOL I'm going to try to get through some more stuff tonight, but I'm also going to treat myself to at least an hour of stitching on my Halloween Fairy for Friday Fairy night. If the sale goes well, we might have another one towards the end of summer and that will give me the opportunity to hopefully purge even more.

So with all that on my mind, I was thrilled to come home to a mail box literally overflowing!

The first package I opened was from Veronica. She made me an adorable peacock key chain! She actually made if for me twice! The first time she sent it in a regular envelope with a card and it ripped through and fell out on the way - all that was left was the ring and a tiny piece of the plastic, so it must have gotten crushed. This time it came in a well padded envelope marked DO NOT BEND! I collect peacocks, so this is very welcome!

The next package was from Jodi, who sent me YARN! She sent three more skins of that yummy Yarn Bee Featherwisp in Creamsickle so I can make a wrap, and three skeins of Yarn Bee Mosaic Twist in Fresco which I think would make a great Halloween scarf! She also sent another vampire book for me to read - this one's called Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson. She picks great books and luckily she passes them on to me when she's done! The rest of what she sent is for a birthday present ;)

The final package was from the Swan Sampler Stitchers. It was their annual Christmas ornament designed by Elizabeth Talledo of Dames of the Needle/Finger Work. I hope to get this stitched for this Christmas - it's so pretty! I also received a present from the annual Christmas in July party, which was a Pin Wheelie by Olde Colonial Designs. I haven't seen this design yet, so I was pretty excited!

So thanks to Veronica, Jodi and the Swans for making my day!! Now I'd better go see what else I can put in the garage sale, then hopefully get some stitching in!

So Much for Sleeping In!

2007-07-14T18:13:00.000-06:00

After staying up 'till 1:00 a.m., we were awoken at 8:00 this morning by some really loud noises. DH thought something was hitting the side of the house and when he looked out the bedroom window he saw a couple of guys up on the top of the hill behind our house - they were skeet shooting TOWARDS the houses! We couldn't believe it! They just stopped in the middle of the county road (which is dirt) and were throwing the clay pigeons down the hill toward our house (and our neighbors) and shooting at them - so the loud sounds we heard we shotguns! DH called the police and both the Sheriff and the city police came. I was watching them through the binoculars before the cops got there and it was a little unnerving looking at someone point a shotgun at me at pull the trigger. I know that they were far enough away that nothing would actually hit us - but you just DON'T shoot towards houses! I was secretly hoping that they'd get hauled in, but the cops just made them pick up all the pigeons they had thrown around and leave. I would have LOVED to have heard the conversation!

Anyway, here's my progress from last nights Friday Fairy SAL with Jennifer. I finished off the hair and got to start on a wing! Jen is right that stitching all that same green gets a little boring - I'm aiming for one full length of thread (split into three) each Friday night, then I can move on to another part of the pattern. I also did the finishing of a birthday gift last night, but I can't show pictures until it arrives at the recipient's house later this week.

On Thursday I finished knitting one of the scarves with the wool that my neighbor gave me a few weeks ago . I was debating which of two scarf patterns to knit, and I decided to do one of each and let her decide which one she wants and I'll keep the other. The one I finished was the Elongated Brick pattern - I still need to weave in the ends and add the fringe - and I'm wondering about blocking. I've never blocked anything before, but I'm wondering if that will make the pattern look nicer - can any of the knitters out there give me any advice on this? And if I block it, do I do so before or after adding the fringe? The scarf was entirely knit in the car - a wonderful use of time! LOL This afternoon, I started the second scarf, using the Zig Zag pattern - I've only gotten one repeat done, but so far, it's really fun to knit!

Also, I've been working on and off for the past few weeks on Jodi's RR. Her theme is a Quaker book and it's stitched over one with a variety of pretty colors. I can't wait to see what it will look like when it's all put together. The first picture is the front page that Jodi stitched. Peg stitched the second page and I added the alphabet and her initials around what she stitched to make it the same size as Jodi's. The last page is the one I stitched using about four or five different Quaker charts from my stash.

Now I'm off to go work on some more birthday gifts - and to try to stay cool!

Pay it Forward - "Should I" Won! LOL

2007-07-12T10:13:00.000-06:00

I've spent all morning trying to decide "should I or shouldn't I" sign up for the PIF exchange on Jennifer's blog - LOL. I really didn't have to think THAT hard about it - it's such a neat idea! So, here's how it works:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 5 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I have no idea what that gift will be and only promise that you will receive it within the next 365 days. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog (or - in your life - if you happen to be blog-less). I hope you will join me in this exchange. All I need is 5 interested stitchers .

So, there it is! Let's see who signs up!!

Round Robins and Mail

2007-07-09T21:29:00.000-06:00

Today was another good mail day. I received my first package for the Ornament RR from Ming. She chose Woodland Snowfall by Little House Needleworks from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, which is great because it was on my "want to stitch" list! I hope to get a chance to start this soon - it should be a quick stitch.

The other package I received was another one from Jodi - she sent some more card making/ general craft stuff (ribbons, alphabet tiles, and cute square buttons!) and the cutest fabric with French kitties on it - I have no idea what I'll use it for, but I think it's adorable!

Yesterday I finished the stitching on a birthday gift for later this month (now I just have to do the actual finishing!), and so I pulled out the current round on my RR - I've got Leigh's Drawn Thread House RR right now, and because I love Halloween so much, Leigh thought I should stitch Halloween House and here's my progress so far. I had to shorten the house a little (about 10 stitches) because it was way bigger than the other two that are on there now (Jodi's and Peg's), but I think it'll work out OK. I'm hoping to also fit in part of the tree, and of course, the cat! The mail date on this is August 1st, so I should be able to finish it on time :)

Doin' the Continental!

2007-07-07T21:46:00.000-06:00

I had to work this morning, and I decided when I was done that I'd head over to the new location of my local yarn shop, Yarn Today. I haven't been there since I took a sock class last March (and I mean 2006!) and I haven't finished my socks yet either!! Knitting Rita told me to come in next Saturday with my socks and she'd get me on track again, then she showed me a poncho she was working on - it was love at first sight - LOL. So, I ended up buying the book that the pattern was in, eight skeins of yarn and new needles so I could sit down and start it immediately!
The book is called Modular Knits: New Techniques for Today's Knitters by Iris Schreier and the poncho I'm making is the Lace Ribbon Poncho. The yarn I bought is Boku by Plymouth Yarns in Color 4. I also got some amazing knitting needles by Lantern Moon! They're rosewood with palm wood tops and they are beautiful. I've never paid so much for a pair of needles, but I'm really enjoying them, and besides, I like what purchasing them supports.

Rita got me started on the poncho, and as I was knitting, the inevitable question came up from her "Have you ever thought of learning to knit Continental?" LOL - Well, of course I've thought of it, but I figured it was just too late to try to learn a new way to knit. Then Rita told me she had learned at age 65 after 50 years of knitting English style - SO, I gave it a try! I'm slow, and not very graceful looking, but I'm doing it!! It really make the yarn overs easier - and I think with practice it could really improved my speed!

I ended up spending several hours at the shop and had a nice start, then I found I had made a huge mistake and had to start over - LOL - but I got some more done when I got home - and I made another big mistake that I couldn't figure out and started again. Well, third time's a charm, and I think I've got the hang of the pattern now. There will be four squares for this poncho, and I don't think I'll run the ribbon through when it's done - I think it'll have enough going on with all the color changes.

And last night was Friday Fairy SAL night with Jen. Not too much progress, but I got that face done - LOL. I hope to start on the wings next week.

Happy 4th of July!!

2007-07-05T18:07:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone in the States had a great 4th of July yesterday. My dad's birthday was the 2nd, so we celebrated yesterday with a BBQ. He said he wanted a "BIG Strawberry Shortcake", so I made him this Summer Shortcake from Martha Stewart Living. BOY was it good!

More Great Mail

2007-07-03T19:37:00.000-06:00

I got a couple of great packages today! They were both from Jodi - she sent me some really pretty yarn that is SO soft! Both are by Yarn Bee - one is Paradox in the color Snowblush and the other is Featherwisp in the color Creamsickle. I'd love to make a wrap with one of these yarns! And she sent a pattern from Carolina Country House for a hat and scarf. She also sent some cardmaking stuff - some rhinestone flower brads and some alphabet buttons - they should be fun to work with!! The other stuff she sent is a secrete for now :) Thank you Jodi!!! I always look forward to packages from you!

Tomorrow is Independence Day, so I thought I'd share a picture of my 4th of July tree. I have a tree that I keep up year-round and decorate for different holidays, mostly with stitched ornaments. This is my second year for my tree, so so far this holiday only has two stitched ornaments - the star one was made for me last year by Jennifer and I made the Pine Mountain Designs pillow. There are also two little birds that Jodi sent me from her trip last Christmas. I love having my holiday tree!

MORE Beads and IKEA!

2007-07-02T22:12:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I went to Salt Lake City with my boss, Vicky, for the Gem Faire and HOLY COW!! This show was about 10 times larger than the one I went to last weekend. We walked around for 4 1/2 hours looking and buying and drooling - LOL.

We went in with the strategy of quickly looking at all the booths, then going back to buy the things we really wanted, but that didn't last long!! I was surprised that Vicky was the one to break first, but I soon followed (at the same booth, actually - LOL). I got the blue stones to make something for my step mother and I was thrilled to find some red tiger-eye! The hearts I picked up for some earrings from the book Making Designer Seed Bead, Stone, and Crystal Jewelry and the rest of the stuff I bought just because I thought it was pretty :)

One of the things I was specifically looking for was a cabochon (or two - LOL) because I bought a book a few weeks ago called Beading with Cabochons: Simple Techniques for Beautiful Jewelry and I want to try some of the pieces in the book - I picked out three pretty cabs from the next booth and proceeded to find a bunch more stuff! I got two donuts, 10 strings of seed beads and three cool paua shell bracelets. You can cut the elastic cord in the bracelet and make it a necklace. I'd also like to try taking off two of the links and making matching earrings.

At the next booth I found some fun glass beads in different shapes - my favorites are the kitties, of course!

Then I found more seed beads, some cording and some brick-shaped stones that I'm hoping to make into a bracelet from the book Dazzling Beaded Jewelry.

I LOVE opals, especially Australian opals, and I was able to buy a pendant and two loose hearts that are so pretty. This picture turned out badly, but I just couldn't get the lighting right. At another booth I found a silver chain for the pendant - and the links are little hearts! I also got these GREAT earring from a place called Bellpepper - they're silver and hand made in the Himalayas. One of the twisty things and part of the chain actually go through your ear and it hangs on either side of your lobe. I was kind of afraid to put them in - and I couldn't look in the mirror while I did it - LOL - and I was even more afraid to take them out tonight, but I got lots of complements on the today!

Then I found some more fun shaped beads - I just loved these jack-o-lanterns for some reason - LOL. And I thought I just needed the stone goddess bead, although I have no idea what I'll do with her :)

My coolest find of the show wasn't even a bead - it was a tea pot!! I collect dragons and one booth had these wonderful little tea pots from China. This is actually used to brew tea - there's a screen in the spout to strain out your tea leaves - and the neatest thing about it is the steam from the tea makes the dragon's head and tongue pop out! How cool is that?

We were only about 15 minutes drive from the new IKEA that just opened in Draper, so we decided to go down there after the bead show - even though we were wiped out! LOL I'd never been to an IKEA before, and OMG!!! That place was HUGE and FILLED with all kinds of wonderful things! We ate dinner there in the cafe - I had Swedish Meatballs and some Swedish Apple Cake - YUMMY Then we spent the next three hours walking around the store! I managed to get out of there with spending less that $40, but I found tons of stuff I want. I did get myself a wonderful tray that I can use for beading!! It'll fit nicely over my lap and has lots of room. I also got myself a new comfy pillow, and as soon as I put it on the bed Akasha curled up in the middle of it and went to sleep - she stayed there 'till 3:00 a.m.! I should have bought the king sized pillow so we could share - LOL I wanted to get some of their grocery items to take home, but by the time we hit that area, I was so tired I couldn't even think straight! LOL The Gem Faire will happen again in September, so we'll probably go back and hit IKEA again too - this time I'll have a shopping list!

Pulled Out an Old WIP!

2007-06-30T09:33:00.000-06:00

Last year (about this time, I think) Jennifer and I decided to order the Mirabilia
Halloween Fairy kits and do a SAL on Friday nights. We did pretty well sticking with it, but neither of of got CLOSE to finishing it for Halloween. Last week we decided to start the SAL up again, and here's my progress after last night's session. I decided to substitute the kit fabric for a Sugar Maple fabric called Boo. I love how it looks so far, but I'm dreading the face - I just hate stitching faces - but I really want to just get it over with and move on, so that's what I'll try to do next Friday night. I also substituted the floss for the skin - the Bella Rosa that came with the kit was just way to pink - so I'm using Cobbled Peach. I would REALLY like to do all of these lovely Fairies - all on different colored hand-dyed fabric - but I've promised myself that I won't buy another one until I get this one finished. That should be pretty good motivation - LOL

Last year Jodi joined in the SAL, so maybe I can persuade her to start up with us again and I'll post her progress here.

A New Finish and More Great Mail

2007-06-28T21:58:00.000-06:00

I finally finished my selection for the ornament RR! YEH!! I would have finished it last night, but when I went to stitch the red sections with the called for Rhubarb GAST, I found it to be WAY to pink - so I got disgusted and went to bed instead - LOL. SO, tonight I substituted Cranberry and I think it turned out very nice, if I do say so myself! I've stitched this over-one on some fabric from the old Blended Needle called Very Vintage with all the recommended threads with the above exception. So my package will be ready to mail tomorrow and I've actually made the deadline! Whew!

I also got some fun things in the mail today. I got a package from Jodi (thanks Jodi!!) with some beautiful batik fabric which is for backing fabric for her selection of the ornament RR - she has given us color choices, and I'll bet you can guess from the picture what my choice was :) Jodi is a fantastic fabric shopper (and a fantastic yarn shopper too - LOL) and we're all trying to convince her to take up sewing.

The ornie the fabric is for is this one from Sampler Hiver a la Montagne that Jodi stitched over-one in green (although I think she said my green will be a little different). Kathy stitched this one in blue as one of her monthly ornies last year. It looks like it'll be a fun stitch - I love stitching over-one!

The other stuff I got in the package I can't talk about, but it'll come out sooner or later ;)

I also wanted to show this wonderful bracelet that I got from Laura a while back. She's been busy doing beaded knitting (or is it bead knitting? LOL) and she thought I'd like this bracelet because of the great dragonfly clasp (I LOVE dragonflies!). Thanks again Laura for this lovely bracelet - I really need to learn how to do this!

I also received the latest issue of Bead & Button magazine today! Just thumbing through it I already want to make about half the projects - LOL I definately need more hours in the day!

A Closer Look at "A Valentine Message"

2007-06-28T10:48:00.000-06:00

When I first framed A Valentine Message over Christmas break, I promised close-up pics so everyone could see all the goodies I added. Well, I finally took those pics yesterday after Jodi reminded me that showing such a small pic at the bottom of my blog was just a tease - LOL. Again, this is a piece that Jodi stitch for me for Valentine's Day 2006. It's by Black Bird Designs, but Jodi changed the colors - and I LOVE what she picked! I was lucky enough to find the perfect background fabric at JoAnn's and a lot of the buttons and lace pieces were sent to me by Jodi specifically for this piece.

Here's a close-up of the lower left-hand corner. The floss is the same as what Jodi used for the heart and the ribbons, I believe, were from my stash. The sticker is from my card-making stash.

And here's the lower right-hand corner with three flower-shaped buttons sewn on with beads and another sticker attached with a button.

The upper left...

and upper right. The fan is from Fancifuls Inc. - a great place to get charms - and has been in my stash for several years - I think it's perfect on the piece!

I have this hanging right next to my stitching chair and I love to look up at it! Thanks again Jodi for your lovely stitching and contributions to one of my most favorite pieces!! I hope this eliminates the "teasing" - LOL