Crazy Update

There are only 84 more days to finish all fifteen of my Crazy January Challenge pieces.  I don't know about others who have participated, but I just don't see myself finishing all fifteen pieces.  Maybe in 2012 I will have to create the "What the @*$^ Was I Thinking in 2011?" Challenge so that I can finish up my works in progress.

Here's what's left:

1. Mouline Rouge (Long Dog) ~ When I actually have a calm moment to stitch this is my "go to" piece.  I'm much further than I thought I would be and I've actually finished page 3 of the pattern (upper right side).  Page 6 and page 12 still have some work to be done, but page 9 is 80% done.  Here's where she stands as of a few days ago:
2. Sheltering Tree (With Thy Needle) ~ It still looks like it did on January 3rd.......sigh......
3. Tis The Season (BBD) ~ This one also looks exactly like it did on January 4th.  I guess I should put down Mouline Rouge and make this my "go to" piece so that I have slim chance of having it ready in time for the holidays.
4. To Light the Way (BBD) ~ This has a few more stitches in it than it did on the 6th, but I'm having a hard time determining which color is which in this retreat kit.  I just need to make an educated guess and I could have this one finished in no time.
5. Letter "H" (Mirabilia/Nora Corbett) ~ I typically stitch on this project when the lighting isn't so good because this piece is on 32ct.  When you are used to stitching on 40ct, 32ct is enormous!  I'll probably work on this piece when I meet with my stitching sisters tomorrow.  The light doesn't always work in my favor and this will be the perfect project to work on.
6. Mermaids (CCN) ~ This one is a disaster!  I started it on one color fabric on January 14th and promptly decided to change it.  When I went back to it recently, I grabbed the fabric that was sitting next to the pattern in my wip basket and went to work even though I wasn't real pleased with the color.  I stitched the left side of the seaweed and then moved onto the right side of the seaweed because I was missing some DMC in the middle.  After getting to the bottom of the right side I realized that I was off by one stitch near the top of the right side.  Then, while looking through some older blog posts for a picture, I realized the reason I wasn't happy with the fabric that I was stitching on.  I PICKED UP THE WRONG COLOR FABRIC!  So, this "easy" stitch has really become a bear.  Looks like I will be starting this one over.  Third time is a charm, right?
7. Beyond My Heart (BBD) ~  I've worked on this piece several times in the last few months.  I have all of the border done as well as the words in the top of the piece.  I was able to get a few of the flowers done, but I've become bored with them.  I'm also coming up to the eyelet and satin stitches.  I definitely have to be in the mood for those and I haven't been.  If I could just get my rear in gear I could have this finished by the end of the year.
 

Looking on the bright side, I have finished over half of what I started.  I guess that is an accomplishment in itself!

Happy Stitches!

Another New One

While I finished the 2011 Crazy January Challenge back on the 15th, I haven't been able to get pictures of all of my starts.  I also haven't gotten a good picture of the illusive Mouline Rouge.  Hopefully there will be good light tomorrow and I will end up with a beautiful snap of MR along with start fifteen.

In the meantime, here's start number fourteen........

Mermaids
by Country Cottage Needleworks

Can you even tell that I started the dang thing?  Well, I did.......twice!  I'm stitching this one on a 32 count Silkweaver.  First I tried it with two threads and I thought it was too bulky.  Then I tried it with one thread (shown above).  Personally, with all the sparkles in the fabric, I don't think that one strand of thread shows up at all.  I'm just not satisfied with this project at all.  But, a start is a start, so I logged this baby in anyway. 

However I think that when I get back to this one I'm going to make a change.  I'm going to change the fabric and substitute the light purple Crescent Colours floss with a darker one.  You know, something like this.........

What do you think?

Happy Stitching!

Delayed Thanks

Back in July I sent a RAK to Sherry.  She had been on the lookout for a Flower Frog and had been unable to find one.  I looked at my stash and knew that I had the perfect frog for her so I sent it off with nary a thought. I knew it was meant for her.

Well, out of the kindness of her heart Sherry sent me a lovely thank you note and this..........

Summer at the Shore by Country Cottage Needleworks

I've been so caught up in all that has gone on the last two weeks that I've neglected to show her the appropriate thanks.  So, Sherry, this post is for you!  Thank you so much for the chart.  I will cherish it and your blogging friendship.  Right now I'm keeping your lovely note with the pattern.  Once I've stitched it up I will attach it to the back of the frame to remind me of the wonderful stitching and blogging bond that we share.  I'm happy that we have been able to become blogging friends.  If you are ever in my neck of the woods, drop me a line!

Thanks again!

Happy Stitching!

Latest Model Picture

I guess you can say no news is good news, right?  I'm still heavily involved with the reason for my 'leave of absence'.  Maybe one day I will be able to look back on this with a less heavy heart than I have a the moment.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you.......

This is the Summer Seascape Series by Country Cottage Needleworks.  I absolutely love working on models for Crescent Colours and I was lucky enough to stitch this one as well.  It is the newest Thread Pack series from CCN and Crescent Colours.  You can get all the information at Nikki's website: http://www.countrycottageneedleworks.com/  Stop by her website and check out her other seasonal series!  If I get a chance, I'll try and post some close up pictures that I took while stitching the model.

Enjoy.....and have a safe and happy weekend!

Is This Really Happening?

It wasn't enough that I had a/c problems and now I may have to replace a part of my ceiling. It wasn't enough that water dripped in the closet (at least I didn't lose any stitching stuff). Oh no.....it wasn't enough....enough is never enough!

A STUPID CO-WORKER BACKED INTO MY CAR YESTERDAY!!!!!! Oh yes, I said it. I called her STUPID! That's what you get for not paying attention. She broke the front licence plate bracket and then chipped the paint in two places. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but my car isn't even a year old and now I have to have the whole front bumper repainted. What a pain! I did nothing wrong and now I have to suffer the hassle of getting everything fixed. I even demanded a rental for the time my car will be in the shop.


I know, I know, it could have been so much worse. It's just that I haven't even had this car a year! I take care of my stuff because I want to keep it nice. So, don't mess with my stuff!!!!

OK. Enough is now enough and I'm going to stop ranting and raving. Onto the real subject that should be at hand: STITCHING!!!!

I have actually been semi productive recently. I finished my second strawberry from the latest Loose Feathers. Now I will have one in 30ct and one in 40ct. Here's a picture of them (unfinished) with the fabric that I'm going to use as a topper. Hopefully I will remember to give them to the finisher on Thursday at the LNS.


I also finished a baby gift for the daughter of a good friend. This friend and I have been through so much together in both her life and in my own. So, I felt that I should stitch something for her new granddaughter. The baby isn't due until early October and the shower isn't until early September. But, I knew that I would be busy with models for the St. Charles market so I got it done early. I decided to stitch CCN's "Princess Parade". I recharted the words to the baby's name. I'm planning on using the same frame that is shown on the front of the chart if it will arrive in enough time. If not, I'll have to consider picking something else.


Then I started on "Winter Sampler" by LHN. I know that this is a 32ct fabric, but I'm not sure what color it is since it wasn't labeled. Here's a peek at how far I got last night. I know it's not much, but I was distracted and I kept stewing over my car's boo-boo.


Maybe I can get a little further on this tonight. Wish me luck!

Happy Stitching!

Devil in Disguise

Meet Louie.

Cute, right? He's a two year old, seven pound Yorkie that we were considering for adoption. One of hubby's co-workers is trying to find him a new home. She adopted him when she got her own apartment at college. Now she's back home and her parents don't want him in their house. Right now Louie is living with her boyfriend and spends most of the time in a kennel. She still lives at home and won't live with her boyfriend, so Louie has been a little neglected. That's where we stepped in. If (and that was a big fat IF) Louie got along with our dog then we would take him in.

So, on Tuesday evening Louie met our dog. Our dog is an eight year old neutered male. For those of you who don't recognize the breed, he is a Toy Fox Terrier (TFT). He's a little tall for the breed and he's twice the weight of a normal TFT (he's 15 pounds and he should be about 7 pounds). But, we love him just the same and we wouldn't want him any other way.


Being an informed puppy parent, I had us meet in neutral territory. Needless to say, everything went well for the first meeting. But then, I brought Louie home. He was a spaz! He wouldn't stop licking my dog's private area and when he couldn't reach that, Louie would lick my dog's ears or snout. My dog, being polite, wouldn't fully bite Louie, but he does keep growling and tries to put Louie in his place.

I tried disciplining Louie using the "Dog Whisperer" method and that didn't work. (Thanks Ceasar, I really could have used you right then!) So, yet again I tried to be pack leader and I put Louie on his back so that he had to show me his belly. (This is a method taught by the Monks of New Skete.) Boy was I in for a surprise. When I rolled him over I found the cause of his hyper activity. Louie was not fixed!!!! UGH!!! That killed the adoption for me right there. There is enough testosterone in our house with hubby and the dog. I don't need anymore! In fact, here is Louie preparing for "the attack".


Tuesday night turned into a nightmare with Louie! I think he may be the devil! "But he's so cute" you say. "How can you not love that face?" you say. After him lifting his leg twice in the house and terrorizing my puppy, I'm lacking the desire. I even made hubby take him outside to the "Man Cave" for awhile.

Yesterday Louie spent time with hubby and drove him crazy. Again he wouldn't leave our dog alone. Louie even got out of the fence (hubby's fault) and hubby had to go chase him down. So, by the afternoon, hubby was well over it. His retaliation? It came in the form of my father-in-law's Miniature English Bulldog. Winston is 60 pounds of pure meat and muscle. (You only see is backside here, but it was the only picture I could find on short notice.)

Needless to say, but Winston put Louie in his place! Don't worry, no one was hurt during all this, but it sure did feel good to give Louie a taste of his own medicine!

So, tonight is the last night that Louie will be spending with us. His mom will be back and we are going to be more than happy to send him home. I have to say, I am a little disappointed. I would have liked to have another cute puppy in the house. Of course, that will take more time away from my stitching and we can't have that, can we? Seriously!

I was just able to have a new start this week since my finish last week, but as you can see, I really haven't gotten very far and its all Louie's fault.


It wasn't the project I had intended to start (another Mirabilia start bites the dust). That is a long story and I've done enough for now. But, I really needed to start this one since it is going to be a baby shower gift. (I'm replacing "Princess Parade" with the baby's name.)

So.....until next time.......Happy Stitching!

Laundry Day

On Saturday I got to spend a wonderful day stitching with the girls at the LNS. Before leaving I had planned to start laundry so that hubby had a clean uniform for work that afternoon. Instead he sent me off with a kiss and a promise to wash his clothes. My last words to him were "Remember to do a full load!"

When I got home I decided that I would continue laundry day. After all, I didn't want to spend all of Sunday doing laundry. I walked around the corner and BAM!

Oh, yes. He left it exactly the way you see it. And if you look to the left (on top of the washer) you will see his pitiful attempt to fold his own shorts. And that full load? Well, it consisted of his uniform, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Full load my *%$!

Of course I had to get the camera out of my bag to do a "laundry photo shoot". EVIDENCE!!! Hmmmmm........I wonder when I'll pull this one out. Do you think this will qualify as something I can use for stash enhancement bribery?

After having my fun, I folded everything properly and started a new load of wash. All in about five minutes! Then I sat down to work on "Bo Peep". No picture yet. I didn't get much further on her. I just filled in some of the missing single stitches so she hasn't really changed that much.

I also spent a little bit of time cruising the Internet and all my favorite stitchy sites. I found this new collaboration from LHN, CCN, Primrose Needleworks & Miss Crescent's Crown.

My favorite one is the last block with the sheep. Hopefully I will get a chance to stitch this one. Guess we will have to wait and see!

Happy Stitching!

GO KEMPSVILLE!!!!

.....um......I mean "yea, Bayside". (If you don't understand, read this post.)

So, here is the finished "Bayside Bungalows" (by Country Cottage Needleworks) in all its glory:

I'm sure I mentioned this before, but I stitched it on 28ct Virginia Beach Blend by R&R Reproductions. This isn't the greatest picture and I didn't have the greatest light. So....I promise to get a better picture once I've had it framed. I should be receiving the frame from "The Family Tree" (a division of Crescent Colours), so I'll repost then.

Speaking of Crescent Colours, have you seen the use of "Wild Berries" in the latest Loose Feathers from Blackbird Designs? Number 37 is called "It's Berry Time".

Of course, I had to start it right away........well, almost right away! I did manage to finish "Bayside Bungalows" before making this start. (So much for starting Mirabilia's Letter H!) I'm stitching it on 40ct Iced Capp by R&R Reproductions.

Again, the picture is not the greatest and it doesn't do the thread or fabric any justice, but I thought I'd show it anyway. I guess I'll just have to start bringing out my good camera instead of the point & shoot. It sure does make a difference when you are trying to show the details.

In other news, the weekend was fabulous! I was delighted to find hubby waiting for me when I arrived home from work on Friday. He was supposed to work a double shift, but they were slow, so he volunteered to go home. His coming home early meant a nice dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. Saturday morning was spent at the bike shop while the afternoon turned into a nap for me. (I'm still trying to get over this sinus stuff!) Sunday was nice and relaxing as well. We were even able to clean up the back yard (if you can call our little fenced in area a yard) and set up the new patio chairs. Finally I can feel comfortable about sitting outside! I don't know that I will take my stitching out there, I'm just too anal about keeping everything "just so". But, I can definitely take a book out there for a nice reading session. Now, if only the summer weather will cooperate and keep the humidity to a low level......HA!!

Out on a "school night"

Ok, I know it is summer break......and I haven't been to school for many years, but I went out with Hubby last night and I felt like a school girl breaking all the rules!

My evening started out nice and calm. I've been having sinus trouble the last few days and I finally got tired of it. I gave in and found (real) Sudafed in the medicine cabinet and took some around 8pm. Sudafed tends to "wind me up", so I was finally able to put a few good hours into "Bayside Bungalows" last night while watching "Taken" on DVD.




All of a sudden at 10:30pm Hubby comes in and says "Oh, I forgot....can you take me up to the Mexican restaurant by Sam's Club? One of my co-workers is performing there tonight. I know you don't feel good so you can just drop me off and I'll get a ride home." Well, I know my husband and I wasn't about to let him free in a bar with money in his pocket! So, next thing I know, I'm changing out of my comfy pj's and into street clothes. I became DD and we didn't get home until 1am!

I'm sure paying for last night. There was no drinking on my part (other than a virgin soda), but between staying out late and the Sudafed keeping me up, I only had about two hours of sleep. The best hours came between 4am and the alarm clock going off at 6. Oh....what a night! I hope this doesn't become a habit! I'm just getting too old for this!

"Trustworthy and True"

It is amazing to me that the people whom you look up to and trust are the people who end up hurting you the most. I'm not speaking of a blood relation, but of a friend or someone you thought was your friend. I won't go into specifics and I won't really explain. It is just that every time I think about it, I'm so sad and disappointed about the whole episode. The truth just came out about the friendships I thought I had and the 'two faced' falseness of others came out as well. It hurts me even more to find out that the same people are treating my other friends in this same manner. It would be one thing if I did something horrible to cause this to happen, but being caught up in the middle does not constitute causing the issue. I'm trying not to let it 'stew', so I'm just getting it off of my chest for the time being.

In happier news, I'm currently working on a model called "Trustworthy and True" by Little House Needleworks. This is what it should look like when I'm finished (courtesy of www.littlehouseneedleworks.com):

I will be stitching it on the recommended Water Lilly, but I'm using 32ct instead of the recommended 28ct. I'm also changing the dress color and the words. This model is for Crescent Colors, but I will also be stitching this for myself on 35ct 'Ann'tique Hydrangea using one thread.

Speaking of models, here's another one that I finished for Crescent Colors and Country Cottage Needleworks.

It's called "Winter Wonderland". It is a Thread Pack series that will be issued in five separate releases. Now here it is framed:

All the details for this pattern are at www.countrycottageneedleworks.com

In other work in process news, I'm still plugging along on "Bayside Bungalows". I've reached the bottom half of the design. Time has also been spent on "Bo Peep" and she's really coming along! I'm now past the halfway mark on that piece as well. Now, if I can only get one of these finished so that I can start on something else........

Saturday SAL

Today was supposed to be my SAL with my good friend Sharon. We had been talking about it for sometime and for Christmas this past year she gave me everything I would need to start. It took awhile for me to pick the floss color and then tax season started. After that I was busy with some model stitching. Now I have no excuse other than pure laziness.

We will be stitching this:


It is Mouline Rouge by Long Dog Samplers. I will be stitching it on Lakeside Linens Vintage Examplar 40ct and Crescent Colors Belle Soie "Rose of Sharon".


Speaking of being lazy, this is my current progress on Bayside Bungalows. It is not as far I as would like to be, but this is what happens when you fall asleep in front of the TV in the middle of the afternoon!

New Start

Yes, I'm sure living up to my nickname of serial starter! After eating dinner, washing dishes and folding a load of clothes, I decided to treat myself to another new start. Ok, so technically I started it on June 1st, but I only put about 10 stitches in it and then gave up. I guess I had a mini slump......

My new start is called "Bayside Bungalows" by Country Cottage Needleworks. I'm using 28ct Virginia Beach Blend by R&R Reproductions. The count is bigger than I normally stitch on, but sometimes an easy project is a good project. Hopefully this will be a fast finish and will pull me out of my mini slump.

There is one thing that bothers me about this project....."Bayside" was the name of a rival high school back in the day. I keep thinking about it and my mind just keeps screaming "GO KEMPSVILLE!!!" I've been trying to relate "Bayside" to being on the Chesapeake "Bay". We'll see how this goes. Who knows, the MIL may get this project after it is finished. After all, she does live at the Bay!

Here's my progress so far:


This is what it supposed to look like: (Photo from www.countrycottageneedleworks.com)

Hopefully I can convince my dear friend Sharon to work me a frame deal! ;)

Oh, here's a new one from CCN that will definately fall into the must have category since I am a lover of all things mermaid:


TTFN!