Blissfully Stitching

Meet Mary Margaret!

2012-02-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah! She's finished, and she's wonderful! And I love her! And she was actually finished last week Sunday, but hubby had left the camera up at his friend's place and I couldn't take a picture of her. I tried with my phone, but I don't have one of those fancy phones and the pic was horrible, so I just waited patiently. But YEAH! She's finished!

Mary Margaret by Carriage House Samplings - stitched on 32 count lugana Goldspinner

Kati and I have talked about when to start Suzannah, the fourth and final girl in the series and we decided that we will start her on the first Sunday of March. So that we both, (Well me mainly) have time to stitch on some other things on Sundays. So I'm going to take the time to make Hummingbird and Fuschia my focus piece for the rest of February, accept for this weekend, when I'll be stitching the Second Day of Christmas by PS for the IFHW! (this weekend ladies, if you want to join us. You can click the button on my sidebar to sign up.

Speaking of Hummingbirds....here's the progress that I've made on it...not much, but I'm thinking I'm going to have a few good hours on it this weekend. Have some plans for Saturday night but it's also a long weekend here this coming weekend. So even if we have plans there's an extra day to stitch! WOO HOO!

Closing in on a finish

2012-01-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well we didn't make it to the mountains on the weekend. But we have made definitely plans for this coming weekend, so I'm happy about that! I can hardly wait. We'll be going up for the day on Saturday and then hubby is going ice fishing on Sunday....so I'm thinking that I will have a full day of stitching on Sunday and perhaps even a finish on MM this weekend! Kati had her happy dance with Mary Margaret this past weekend. WOO HOO!!!! So I'm feeling not too far behind. I'm thinking short-ribs in the slow cooker and then that's it...stitchy day Sunday.

Here's what a managed to accomplish on MM on Sunday...it's pretty much just finishing up the racoon, doing the ground and the border...so if I'm focused and I have hours and hours to work on it she'll be done and then on to Suzanne! All exciting!

Better late than never??

2012-01-26T19:05:00.000-08:00

I know I'm late with posting these. EEK! But with work and home and cleaning it just got away from me again. I realized today that it's Thursday and it's practically time to work on MM again on Sunday. We are sort of planning a mini trip to the mountains on Sunday, but that's all going to depend on other factors, so we'll see what happens, and whether I even get a chance to work on her this weekend.

Here she is in her glory! I LOVE LOVE LOVE working on her!

I got a new TUSAL glass. I found this glass in a box of other glasses that we had downstairs. Odds and ends one, and this is the only one that we have like this, so I'm guessing that's why it ended up in a box...so I have brought it back to life as my new Ort "jar"

Batteries are dead!

2012-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

So I can't update pics of my TUSAL or Mary Margaret today, but I was able to scan two of my projects for this past week and weekend, and then tomorrow I will post pics.

This past weekend was International Hermit and Stitch weekend. I love the idea and concept of this weekend, because it's almost like a guiltless reason to stitch all weekend, because everyone else on the list is doing it as well. I LOVE IT! I didn't get to spend as much time stitching as I would have liked, we had some commitments and a Lacrosse game to go to on Saturday, and sadly I missed a stitching date with Kati & Edit because of them. But I was with them in spirit!

I started and finished the First day of Christmas by Prairie Schooler this weekend, so I was thrilled about that. I am going to love working on these every month, and I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to do them in the IHSW weekends. This is also so the start of what will be my 2 1/2 sets of 12 Days of Christmas. I have one full set already by Margaret Sherry and then I have days 1-6 by TW...one that I have always meant to go back to but never did. Maybe next year. I don't know why it looks so slanted, it's straight on the fabric. I will just have to take pics of everything when my batteries are recharged

1st day of Christmas by Prairie Schooler - 32 count Mushroom

I also started and worked on Hummingbird & Fuschias. It's a good start, and I'll be working on that again this week. See how far I can get with it anyway. The scan isn't a very good one..sorry.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Overdue Mary Margaret update

2012-01-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

I've stitched on MM for two Sundays now and this is the first time that I have been able to sit down and actually take some time to write. She's coming along nicely and I think that a finish is on the horizon, not this month but definitely in February! I know that Kati is going to be finished before I am, but I'll get there too.

The time just gets away from me, I wanted to started to H & F this past couple of weeks, but I hadn't gotten that far. Tonight though I have the first few stitches in it, and it's going to be gorgeous...I HOPE! Considering I'm stitching this for someone else. There always seems to be a little more pressure on you when you are stitching it for someone else, for it to be perfect. It will be what it will be. :)

We are starting to purge some our of stuff/crap. We have decided to go room by room and gut everything out of the closets and dressers and just get rid of stuff. So it's a chore and for me an inner struggle cause I want to keep everything, but I know that it's ridiculous to do so. So we're plugging along on that as well. eeekkkk!!!!!

I have signed up again for IHSW for this coming weekend and although I've got some plans for Saturday I'm hoping to get some good stitching in around that.

Mary Margaret's progress

2012-01-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted an update on Mary Margaret in a very long time, she's the Sunday SAL I have with Kati. Not as much progress as I would like, Kati is cruising on this one....but she's still coming along. I love stitching her!

I am going to start the Hummingbird & Fushcia that I'm stitching for Laura. But I had to change out the fabric and the floss. I just didn't like the feel of any of the stuff that came with the kit. But now I'm happy with everything and I'm going to start :)

Here's a pic of Lulu that I took while I was taking a pic of MM....she doesn't look impressed that I was paying more attention to the fabric than to her! LOL

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful way to start the new year. Lazed in bed most of the morning with my wonderful husband, Lulu curled up at our feet, and watching movies. I love my life!

Last night was a wonderful night of food, dancing and good company. My bum knee kept me off the dance floor more than I would have liked, but that's ok, it was nice to get out and spend time with friends...and SEE friends that I have seen in ages!!! :)

So I played with the Picasa program a little bit and build a collage of all my finishes for 2011. Quite a collection, not nearly as much as I would have liked to stitch, but still lots.

Stitching goals for 2012...
finish CHS - Mary Margaret (SAL with Kati)
Start CHS - Suzanne (SAL with Kati)
LK's 6 fat snowmen (this will be a SAL with Kati and Veronica and whoever else wants to join us)
Prairie Schoolers - 12 days of Christmas
1 ornament a month
Hummingbirds and Fuchsias (this is actually a piece that Lulu's breeder asked if I would stitch for her, as this kit was given to her and she doesn't cross stitch b ut she really loved it, and I told her that I would be happy to stitch it up for her)
CHS - Fredrick and Fredrika
and tons and tons of other ones as well. It's hard to say what designs will come and grab me by the ankles kicking and screaming.

Personal goals....
Lose weight!
Spend one stitching day a month with Kati & Edit :)
Continue to live in bliss with my gorgeous, amazing husband.
Learn to cook new things.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hope all of you have a safe and wonderful New Year's eve! Thank you all so much for a wonderful 2011, and here's to an even better 2012!

We're heading out to the Hungarian Club tonight, for dinner and dancing and ringing in the New Year with good friends. It's going to be a great night :)

Last 2011 Ort report

2011-12-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie as we're getting ready for our Christmas Eve festivities. Family is coming over for shrimp. It's become a bit of a tradition with our family. Hubby makes to die for shrimp....so he's got 5 pounds of it to prepare. I just sit back and enjoy. My day will come tomorrow.

In the mean time here is the last ort jar of the year.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

It's Christmas time!

2011-12-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

And I'm all ready! I didn't think that I would be able to pull it together this year. We had a wonderful time in Ottawa. We had out appointment on Friday morning and were basically finished in an hour, then we had the rest of the weekend to explore. I took lots of pics that I have to sort thru and then I will post some pics. The only sad part was that I didn't even think of getting in touch with Dani and we could have arranged to have a lunch of something. boo hoo!!! Dani...Next time!

Got home from Ottawa...worked two days...and then came down with the flu!! Yep full blown flu. I thought it was just a cold. I took Wednesday off because I felt like crap quite frankly, and still not feeling great got dressed and went to work. One look at me, the Doc pulled me into an exam room, and I was diagnosed with flu. Was told to go home, with an rx for Tamiflu and antibiotics and lots of liquids. Temp that morning 103.3!

I just watched the calender as the days ticked away and nothing was done. The only thing...thank goodness...was that my shopping was done, and I had my village up before I left for Ottawa. But I got it done. Got the main tree up and trimmed. Then pulled out the stitching tree and got that one all done up. And then the new small one with the smalls and our family name ornaments on it. I didn't bring up even a quarter of my Christmas stuff to put out this year. My energy level is still a little under par, but I did get some nice pieces out, so I'm happy with how the house looks. :)

The trim and the ornies...

The Main tree....our live Fraser Fir...it's glorious!

The village...better known as "Barbi-ville"

The nativity that my hubby surprised me with...gorgeous!

My Stitching Tree!!!!!

The stockings were hung...along with my reindeer collection.

The smalls tree.

the next two pics are actually close ups of the ornies the I stitched with I was 12 years old. The drumming teddy and the candycane teddy...the were needlepoint kits that my mom got for me one year...after that...all bets were off. I still treasure these. (as I treasure all my pieces) but these ones were the first :)

The view from my desk

I'm still alive!

2011-12-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

...but barely! I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Trying to get everything sorted at work, and then here in the house. Getting ready for Christmas. I have my village up, but nothing else.

Tomorrow....leaving on a jet plane to go to Ottawa!

I'm excited about it but then again it feels like it's bad timing. But oh well.

So as far as stitching goes. I haven't done much of it at all. Mary Margaret has a head now, I was hoiping to post a pic of her, but I just don't have the time at the moment. I will when we get home on Sunday.

PROMISE!!

Thank you ...and good night!

2011-11-30T20:56:00.000-08:00

I DID IT!!! I blogged every day for 1 whole month. Now you all know how truly boring I really am!
But it was good. There were days it was a struggle and I hated posting without pictures but it couldn't always be helped.

Thank you for bearing with me. I promise I won't put you all thru that again...until perhaps next November.

The movie last night was really good. I'm going to go see it again I think, Breaking Dawn 1 really was beautifully done. I highly recommended it.

I have the beginnings of my village started today. The houses are all in place and lit up, tomorrow I will be placing the trees and the people and the various activities that take place in Barbi-Town. Yep..I'm the mayor, I can call it whatever I want. LOL

Early Post

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Off for an early dinner and a movie with the girls tonight, so I don't know what time I'm going to be home. Only one more day of NaBloPoMo left and I don't want to miss tonight, just in case.

Everyone Have a Great Day!

Living in rubble!

2011-11-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

I was going to scan my progress on Mary Margaret tonight so that you can see how little I actually got done yesterday, but my scanner is under a pile of fabric and trimmings right now, so I think that it's best to leave that alone at the moment. It's very strategically piled but in such a fashion that if I move even one stitch of it it will all cascade to the floor. So I'm thinking better of it.

Then I went to take a picture of it so that I can post it, and just as my camera turned on it turned right back off again saying "low battery" so I can't do that either.

Oh well, it's not meant to be. I would say that I will post it tomorrow, but I'm going out with the girls tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be home. But eventually Mary Margaret will get posted.

Promise. :)

About last night...

2011-11-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

So I did no cross stitching yesterday, because I was planning on doing some finishing of ornies. Well I did get them all cut and pinned and ready for finishing, so I am part way there. Hubby came home and we cuddled on the couch and watched movies. Which was sooo nice. So during the week I'll get them done.

The ornies:

The fabric

All that left now is the stuffing. :)

Happy dance

2011-11-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

Finally finished this piece. I LOVED working on this. The hidden images emerged as it was being stitched because you couldn't see them in the chart. I was actually telling Dani that I think that I might even stitch this again one day on black but reverse the direction and have them both on the same wall. I think that would look amazing.

McDonald's Maple Leaf by Lynne Nicoletti stitched on 28 ct White Jobalen

Thank you again Dani for letting my borrow your chart! :)

Went and did a little bit of shopping today. Went to Peir 1 and bought a few new ornies for the formal tree. Oh they have such beautiful ornaments there! The colours are stunning. I got some fun pieces...plus I got my gift for the secret Santa at work from there as well.

Right now I'm pinning ornies to backings and getting ready to hoping run them thru the sewing machine tonight. I just want them all done by next weekend. So even if I don't get all of them done tonight, I'll still have the rest of the week. :)

New Moon TUSAL

2011-11-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

My November ort report is as follows. Lots of ornies....beautiful autumn colours from MacDonald's Maple Leaf....some darker threads from Mary Margaret. Lovely combinations of colours. For those that haven't yet and would like to join the TUSAL you can find the link on my sidebar and go visit Daffy-Cat's site to sign up. Show off your ort's fellow stitcher's...it's just another way of showing off our progress :)

I'm going to stitch until I get a happy dance on Maple leaf tonight and there's a freebie or two that I would like to stitch up for ornies. And then I have to gather and sort and organize the finishing that I have to do with the ornies that I've stitched not just this year...but (shamefully bows her head) last year as well!! EEK!! So tomorrow there will be NO cross stitching...only finishing!

This is the last hunting weekend of the season! And then I get my hubby back! I can hardly wait to spend a full weekend with him! We have actually planned a little romantic getaway to Ottawa. Both out of necessity and out of pleasure. We have to go to the embassy to renew his Hungarian passport, it's that time again. But this is the first time that we've actually had to go to the embassy. We've always been able to just get it done here locally at the Consulate, but rules changed this year and it has to be done there. Which is ok...cause this way we are making an extended weekend of it. Flying out on a Thursday and coming home on a Sunday. We were going to wait with it but then we thought that if we wanted to go to Mexico in February we wanted to make sure that we had all our documents set before we make plans for that. I think it will be wonderful. We've never been to Ottawa, and I'm sure that it's lovely....even though it's really late fall/early winter.

So much to do before Christmas and it already feels like the weekends are wasting away, and I have nothing done!!!!

Quickie

2011-11-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

Got caught up in watching the National Dog show that I PVR'd this afternoon with hubby, and now we're off to bed.

Bigger post tomorrow!

Writer's block

2011-11-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

No idea what to talk about tonight, I haven't stitched, I haven't taken any pictures, I haven't really done anything today accept work, and read blogs and looked at online stitching shops, adding to my ever growing wish list. Might even take the plunge and order some stuff this weekend. We'll see. Kati has given me the itch as she fell off her wagon and went stitchy shopping! Now I want to too! LOL

This blogging everyday is HARD! If you count it up, I'll have blogged more this whole month than I have the whole YEAR!

Baby's got a new "set" of shoes

2011-11-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

Winter is on it's way and therefore every fashion foreward dog that lives in Calgary must have a fine pair...errr set of fur trimmed booties...don't you agree? LOL I wanted so badly to find pink ones for her, but there weren't any, so these will have to do until I find them. I didn't get them though because I want to torture her in anyway...it's because with the cold and the ice and the salt and the gravel that they are going to spread on the roads and the sidewalks, it's not going to be good for her paws. Now whether she's going to like them or not at first is another story all together...but she'll get used to them :)

My gosh they are sooo darn CUTE!

IHSW success

2011-11-21T19:45:00.000-08:00

Well I think for my first time hermitting I think I faired pretty well. My maple leaf I posted yesterday, and then I didn't get a chance to work on Mary Margaret as much as I wanted to, but there's always next Sunday. I love working on her. In fact I love both my projects that I'm working on at the moment.

Hubby came home with a sore throat today. Not good! So as per usual he had to be baby-ed tonight. Didn't leave any time at all for stitching tonight. So I'm hoping that tomorrow he'll feel better and I'll be able to finish up my maple leaf.

About to settle in...

2011-11-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

for a night of stitching.

Spent a lovely morning and afternoon with hubby. Went out for breakfast and then did a little Christmas shopping. Almost finished now. Only have to buy for the baby and the baby-daddy and then it's all done accept for the wrapping. Which I love to do.

I've started thinking about my christmas village and having to do the finishing on the ornaments that I've stitched through-out the year. So I'm going to be doing those during the evenings I think this week and then major on Saturday. So I might have to put the cross stitching aside on Saturday and get those done. It'll be fun. Put on some Christmas music or a couple of good girl movies and I'm off. Did you know that the one radio station that I listen to at work has already started playing Christmas music all day, every day! They started on Nov 15th. Now I'm all for Christmas music...and yes I am listening to it...but doesn't that seem a tad early to you? It's always been Dec 1st they start. Oh well...it's up to them I guess.

Oh! While we were out I also bought my New Year's Eve outfit! We have made plans to go the Hungarian Cultural Centre and ring in the New Year with friends...and that includes my love Kati and her DH and hopefully Edit and her's :) It's going to be a magical night...I can feel it :)

Look how much stitching I got done yesterday and Friday! I think I did pretty well so far for my hermit weekend. More to come with Mary Margaret, who poor thing hasn't had a stitch in her yet today...but I'm about to rectify that in about 15 minutes or so.

I think I might have a happy dance with this one this week. Thanks again to Dani for letting me borrow the chart. I love this!

Busy stitching...

2011-11-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

Had a great day of stitching and hope to continue for another hour or so. My hunting widow weekends are coming to an end, meaning that next weekend is going the last weekend of peaceful stitching. But it will be nice to have me weekends back with hubby too.

Will post my progress of what I stitched today...tomorrow. :) Tomorrow is Mary Margaret day!

Oh I did a little redecorating of my blog too. I couldn't wait anymore to start decorating for Christmas and when I found this I had to use it.

Hermitting!

2011-11-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

It's this weekend!! And I have already settled in and have stitched for a couple of hours. I'm soooo happy. My project is perfectly snug in my qsnaps at the moment and don't want to take them out...so I will take a scan of it at the end of the day tomorrow.

It feels so good to stitch. I miss it if I miss a couple of days. I have been looking at all the wonderful stitched ornies in Becky's ornament challenge and can't help but thinking...."oh I want to do that one." "oh I must find that one and stitch it" "Ohhhhh I love that one, I have to stitch that one" It's an endless circle of wanting and wishing and enabling my friends...and I've always been sooooo bad at fighting peer pressure. LOL

Another pic-less post!

2011-11-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

EEK! And another day without stitching...what is becoming of my world?? LOL had company tonight which was nice but I don't know...there's something about having people over on weeknights that seems to throw the whole week off. Or am I just that anti-social?

Tomorrow after work I'm going to Costco and I'm going to do my grocery shopping and then on Saturday when they are saying that it's going to be blistering cold here and hubby will be off hunting for the day, I may just build a nice fire in the fireplace (first of the year) and stitch and watch girl movies. Or the shows that I've pvr'd and want to watch.

Nothing to show

2011-11-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

This is really just a drive by posting tonight. I didn't get any stitching done last night after I posted, I ended up cuddling with hubby on the couch and watched the game. Which was really nice :)

Then tonight we went out to watch a ringette game that a friend of our's daughter was playing in and then we just sat around and visited for a couple of hours.

Tomorrow perhaps some stitching, I'm looking forward to the weekend.

OH! I almost forgot! Don't forget to rush over to DaffyCat's blog and sign up for the 2012 TUSAL She has her sign up sheet up for 2012. I've changed to link on my icon on my sidebar as well so you can click on that anytime if you change your mind and want to join us later :)

Christmas Eve Flight

2011-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

I've had this in my freebie folder for a couple of seasons now and I thought that I would pull it out and finally stitch it up. I love it! I found it when I was doing my year of the reindeer last year. And I just never got around to it. I sure am glad that I did it now. It's another little happy dance for me this year.
It's by Sampler Girl and you can find it here.

Christmas Eve Flight by Sampler Girl

I've got MacDonald's Maple Leaf all squared up in my qsnaps so I'm off to stitch for the last two periods of the hockey game.

Oh exciting news! I've signed up for International Hermit and Stitch Weekend. It's my first time and it sounds like fun. You can click on the icon on my sidebar to find out more info and join!

Progress

2011-11-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning with the plan of going to work and then coming home and finishing up my ornament and starting back on Maple Leaf, but instead...had a hectic day at work, so that by the time I came home I plopped down on my chair and didn't move!

So I haven't picked up any stitching at all tonight. I figure that's ok I got lots done last week.

Here's the progress that I made on Mary Margaret, I was really hoping to finish up her skirt yesterday, but it wasn't meant to be. Next Sunday for sure :)

No Camera

2011-11-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Well I wanted to take pictures of my new fabric for you all to see but I forget that hubby took the camera hunting with him. So I'll have to wait for him to come home in order to show you what I got.

Did some stitching on MM today and still intend to continue stitching on her for the rest of the evening. I worked on an ornie yesterday as well and have about 3/4 of it done, so I won't bore you with that either.

I'll have some scans of progress tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure that I got a post in for today.

Another ornie

2011-11-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

I stitched this up yesterday while I was enjoying my day off. Oh how I love long weekends. This actually meant to be a gift tag of some sort I guess, but I have made it into an ornament (or I intend too anyway) I just love it, I thought it was really pretty. Found it in the Christmas Issue of Jill Oxton's Cross stitch and beading magazine.

Made it to the fabric store yesterday and got a few fabrics for finishing and found some small pompoms as well. So I'm a happy girl. I'll take some pics and post tomorrow.

I'm having a stitchy day with my SIL tomorrow, so that will be fun!

Lest We Forget

2011-11-11T08:03:00.001-08:00

Thank you

Cookie for Santa

2011-11-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

This little joy to stitch is from an old JCS Ornie issue (1999) to be precise. I've already got the next one all kitted up and ready to stitch. I'm having such fun!!

A Cookie for Santa by Hillside Samplings from 1999 JCS ornie issue

I'm hoping to go to the fabric shop and do some backing shopping for all the ornaments that I've stitched to finish them out and then I may even drag out the sewing machine to get started on them. I really want to find those pom-pom type trimming that I see people using because I think that I've got a few that would be finished perfectly with that trim. So that's my mission tomorrow.

It's a long weekend for me so I have 3 glorious days to spend fiddling with my ornaments. :)

Snow Hop

2011-11-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

Hot off the q-snaps! This is a design by Sharon of DaffyCat Designs. Her designs always make me smile.
It can be found here. It will be the first instalment over at Becky's Christmas ornament challenge as well.

Snow Hop by DaffyCat Designs - stitched on 28 ct white lugana

Stitching Ornies.

2011-11-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

It's hockey night on tv for me tonight so I'm stitching on an ornament. More than half done, but still not finished. So tomorrow I will have a scan of it.

The plan this week is to work on ornaments. Should be good.

ok.. so I know that we gained an hour with the time change...but am I the only one that is finding it even harder to get out of bed then it was last week? This morning I literally had to roll out of bed. I was exhausted!

MM progress!

2011-11-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

Well I know what I've got to do...I've got to stay off the computer on Sunday's on concentrate on stitching instead of playing Words with Friends for hours a day! I obviously have an addictive personality! LOL
But that's ok, cause I'm addicted to stitching as well. I didn't get as much done on Mary as I wanted to, but I did get some of it done.

Next Sunday....no computer....and smokin' needles.... thank you very much!

SAL Sunday

2011-11-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

No progress pic of MM yet, because I still have a couple of hours left to stitch on her. I don't have much progress so far, being distracted by some chatting (you know who you are!) and then hubby came home from his hunting trip. So with that and supper and getting ready for the week ahead, the time just got away from me as far as stitching goes. But I'm not giving up yet. I will have some progress to post tomorrow :)
Here's a new scan of Maple Leaf....still stitched another hour or so after I posted last night's pic. So here it is. The colours in my ort jar are so pretty right now with all the fall coloured threads. :)

Maple leaf progress

2011-11-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Spent a whole lot of my day today on the computer and then had company, so didn't have too much time to stitch during the day today, therefore I put my ornaments on hold. I kept my maple leaf in the qsnaps and worked on that tonight...but I'm not sure when the daily cut off is on blogger, so I didn't want to post any later, in case I missed today's deadline for posting. So here I am...still want to stitch for another couple of hours tonight. But so far so good....

...I'm watching The Devil Wears Prada, one of my fav girl movies, and then after that Confessions of a Shoploholic is on...so I may watch that and stitch into that as well. We'll see.

Tomorrow Mary Margaret's up again. wooo hoooo! Monday I'll throw an ornie in the mix. :)

Busy stitching....

2011-11-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

My project is so snuggly perfect in my qsnaps at the moment that I don't want to take it out to scan it. Hubby took the camera with him on his weekend hunt, so I don't have a pic to take, so again, this is a post without a picture. :( But tomorrow I will definitely scan in the progress on my maple leaf and perhaps a finish of an ornament. I've got two that I would like to stitch up tomorrow. (sounds a little optimistic, I know, but I'm going to try)

I've been seeing all the lovely uploads at Becky's ornament challenge and I'm thinking that I am already falling behind. They are all so beautiful though and I want to stitch all of those too. Oh my...I really do get swayed by peer pressure. LOL

No stitching last night

2011-11-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

Once I finished posting here last night, I did a little bit of surfing and taking my turn at my game obsessing on Facebook "Words with Friends" I'm playing with 7 people and I love it. It's not a big committment each day either, cause you play your word and wait for your partner to do theirs, and that be whether they are on next, or when they feel like it. So it's great. Perfect for me. I did my surfing...looking at stitching sites, stitching blogs, making a list of everything that catches my eye. (my list is very long!!!) But when I do some stash shopping I always cross off a couple of items. Enabler's...that's what you all are! LOL

Then when I was done at the computer I sat down and pulled out all of my JCS Christmas Issues with a pad of stickie notes and marked off all the ornies that I would like to stitch out of those. ummmm....I wonder how many trees I can fit in my house? There are some that I have literally wanted to stitch for YEARS and never did...so I think that I might concentrate on those for a while...but then I also want to stitch all the LHN ornies...seeing as I have all of them....and then there's the ....... oh it's no use...there will always the something that I want to stitch and never get around too. So we'll just all have to wait and see what hit's my fancy when I sit down for some ornie stitching again. Which I think will be this weekend. Snow is predicted for tonight and into tomorrow, which will mean the hubby is going out into the wild blue yonder to hunt. He has his hobbies...I have mine! LOL It all even's out in the end.

I've got emails to catch up on too...so if you are waiting for one from me, I'll get to them this weekend. :)

All the pretty colors...

2011-11-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

I did some stitching last night while hubby watched the hockey game...which was a disaster for our team...so we only watched part of it, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to...but still enough to make a post for my second November post. hehehe I'm hoping to get more stitching tonight. Adding some yellow to the mix tonight.

I love this project!

Do I Dare take the Challenge?

2011-11-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

I've never done it before and I don't know if I will be able to post every day in November....but I think I can give it a try...I just don't know if my life is interesting enough to talk about every day. Mind you I have lots of pics that I can share thru the month. Hey I haven't shown my Yellowstone pictures yet from August...(I just heard a whole choir of groans from you all! LOL) I'm sure that I will think of something to write about. (or bitch about) I'll try it!

Today is All Saint's day....so to those of my loved ones (and yours) that have gone before us...you are remembered and loved forever!

A start, A finish and A sweater

2011-10-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

So had a great week of stitching. Lots going on on the home front too. Bought new bedroom furniture, so that means that cleaning out the old furniture, cleaning the nooks and crannies and places that you don't normally clean until the room is empty or furniture is moved. So there was dusting and vacuuming and carpet cleaning going on. EEK! Lot's of decluttering too. Deciding what to keep out and what to put away and get rid off. But it will all be good...soon...I hope!

But in the mean time I did get an ornie finished. One of my favorites from the JCS ornie issue this year. You can't tell from the scan but the red and the silver dots are shiny with Kreinek thread, and it's soooo pretty in person.

Christmas Tree Cat by Brittercup Designs from JCS 2011 Ornie Issue

I also started a new project...thanks to Dani for letting me borrow this, as I searched high and low for this chart and it turns out it was OOP...Dani has it beautifully pictured in her banner on her blog. It's MacDonald's Maple Leaf and the colours are amazing on this project!!! I love how it's coming along, and can't wait to get at it again.

Then on Sunday is our SAL with Kati! Very excited about Mary Margaret! And I finished her sweater so on to other things next Sunday. (Oh Ick! I didn't see that streak from the scan!!! too lazy to rescan)

Tomorrow is the start of the Christmas Ornament Challenge that Becky has started. So all the ornaments that I stitch from now until December 31st are going to be posted there as well. I'm happy about that :) I love my ornies!!!!

Drive by orting!

2011-10-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have a busy night so this will be quick, I just wanted to post my ort jar for this month.

I wore this mask as part of my halloween costume last year and I still love it....however this year....Egyptian Queen! LOL

Have a great weekend!

Welcome Mary Margaret...

2011-10-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Or at least what little there is of her! I had planned a full day of stitching from morning until night yesterday. But alas, it was not to be. Saturday we were out in the yard, raking and pulling out everything out of the flower beds, cleaning out the pots and containers. Which is all well and good, and it all looks wonderful! (I love the fall clean up!) Unfortunately, regardless of the allergy pill that I had taken on Saturday. I woke up on Sunday morning with a huge headache from sinus pressure, with my face and eyes all swollen. booo hooo! So after a couple of hours of struggling to get rid of the headache. I just ended up taking another allergy pill and laid back down and slept until 4 in the afternoon. I NEVER do that! But I did wake up feeling better. So it helped. Still a little swollen around the eyes today, but at least I don't look like I got attacked by a swarm of bees anymore. So this is what I managed on Mary Margaret last night for a couple of hours. She is going to be so much fun to stitch! YEAH!

I also had a little ornie finish from last week. I thought this turned out pretty. I don't know what fabric this is, or what shade it is. I know that's it's 28ct but I don't know anything else, it was in the scrap drawer, but it was perfect for this piece :)

Fresh Fallen Snow by Little House Needleworks - from 2011 JCS Ornie issue

I am going to be starting a new project this week as well. First I am part way through another ornie and then I'm starting. I have everything ready to go, so it's just a matter of starting it. I'm excited about that piece too :)

Another smile from Lulu!

Loving my smalls

2011-10-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I've stitched little ones in a row that I forgot how much I love it! I think I should just do ornies all year long and nothing in between (accept for my Sunday SAL) but that's not practical, and I would get sick of the smalls at that point. Right now though I am enjoying...and have to look to see when I'll find time to get them all finished for the tree! Sometime in November, I'll take a weekend during hunting season and just sit with the sew machine and the baubles and get them done. It'll be fun!

Kati and I have decided that we are going to start Mary Margaret this coming Sunday so I got a chance to do a little extra Sunday stitching on my ornies, and this is my progress for last week. Three little happy dances! YEAH

Joy of the Snowflake - Little by Little Design Co. 2011 JCS ornie issue

Partridge 2011 - janie Hubble Designs - 2011 JCS ornie issue

Deer in the Forest - Niky's Creations - 2011 JCS ornie issue

So Sunday I got up a little earlier than usual...not sure why, was just up...and turned on the tv. Nothing on so I settle on the Food Network. Low and behold my old friend, whom I haven't watched in a long time was on...The Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. Watched two episodes, back to back and was literally craving every single one of her pasta dishes! As the day goes by I think to myself I need to go to the bookstore to pick up one of her cookbooks, just to take a peek. She doesn't use too many weird spices and seasonings....most of her food I would probably eat, if given the chance. So off I went...me and my little plum rewards card. Well I came home with not one, not two, but three of her cookbooks. And even that took me an hour to decide which ones I wanted...because I really did just want one...but everything looked so good! Magazine section...picked up a couple of stitching magazines as well. NICE! And I can't remember whether it was US or People but it had Amanda Cox on the cover. YEP But ladies...be proud...when then offered my the furry blankie for $30 because I spent more than $50...I refused! LOL Now that's will-power! Don't you agree? So now I'm looking thru these books and yes, I can cook almost all of these recipes...and yes I will probably eat them...and yes perhaps my Hungarian husband will appreciate them as well...but WHEN WILL I HAVE TIME??? Moral of the story...never watch the food network followed up by the bookstore, when HUNGRY! Geesh!

Seriously though, I would love to do the Julie/Julia thing and cook and bake everything in them. Plus her other books as well. Aaawwwww if only life would allow suck indulgences.

oops I almost forgot! I also bought a brie baker! I don't even know why!!

It's a two steppin' kind a day!

2011-10-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. I am dancing...not just for one finish..but two!

Elizabeth is done in all of her mouthless glory! I love her! The picture doesn't do her any justice...as well all know...known of our stitched offerings look as fabulous as the do in person..try as we might. But the colours are a gorgeous compliment to each other. The dress took almost three whole days of stitching to do. It was very misleading...but it's done and it's great and I love her hair and everything about her. Next up will be the next girl in the CHS series. We have decided on Mary Margaret, whom you can see in my side bar. Not sure if we're starting her next Sunday or the Sunday after, but progress will be posted as we move along.

Elizabeth by Carriage House Samplings - stitched on 32 ct Goldspinner lugana by Silkweavers

On Saturday I stitched up Jaxon's first ornie! YEAH!!! I think it turned out so cute. My SIL - Judy - aka Gramma is stitching Jaxon's stocking, and I plucked this out of the design, so that he would have a matching ornament for his first Christmas. :) I love how he turned out. I shall post the stocking when Judy is finished with it. :)

Dancing penguin by Linda Gillum stitched on 28 ct white lugana

We had a houseful of people yesterday. Family gathered for our Canadian Thanksgiving. The food was wonderful, everyone was in good spirits, and Jaxon learned how to slap the table to order himself a drink at the bar, should he ever be in need of a refreshment. VERY CUTE! Lulu was also on her best behaviour and in all her glory as there were many hands to pet and cuddle her.

Did I mention that Lulu actually smiles?? LOL

Sept. Ort report/Lizzie update

2011-09-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

It's SAL update post time. Both for the TUSAL and for Elizabeth, that I have been sadly neglecting! Sorry KATI!!! But CONGRATS to Kati for finished Elizabeth! She looks fantastic. I've still got about 2 weekends of go on her I think, so she'll have a couple of free Sundays until with start our 3rd girl...and I think we mutually voted for Mary Margaret :) YEAH! So she'll be the next one. Can't wait to start her and with Kati finishing and with the next one all picked out..it just motivates me to get Elizabeth finished!

I have all my holiday JCS magazines now...the Halloween edition and the Christmas Ornie edition, and I also splurged and for the Halloween collection from JCS so I have been oggling and putting stickies all over the pages picking out the one sthat I want to stitch. So much to stitch, so much I want to do and get done, and so little time. but as I was telling Kati, life should be slowing down for me a little now. Hubby will be off working out of town now and then. then there's hunting season, where he'll be gone on weekends, and at least one week in November. And then there's hockey season....that's a lot of time in front of the tv not having to pay too much attention. LOL Just don't tell him that. so I'm thinking that I should be able to catch up on some of the stitching that I've been lax on during the summer.

I found tinkerbell on sale for an unbelievable price and I couldn't let her just sit in the sales bin and wait for someone else to take her. And as she is my favorite disney character, I brought her home! she's just so pretty!

Look at my Lu-lu. She turned 1 at the end of August she's my living doll!!! I just had to share :)

Spirit of the Sockeye ...and other stuff

2011-08-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Isn't she lovely! Oh my gosh, this picture and no picture that I could ever take will do this piece justice! It is shockingly beautiful in person...and I'm so proud to say that sockeye is finally finished. I got some stitching time in this past weekend and finished it up. I love it!

Spirit of the Sockeye - Stitching Studio - 28 count Black Lugana

I also had a good day of stitching on Sunday and worked on my SAL piece with Kati! Elizabeth is coming along. I think I'll actually be starting the stitches on Liz soon, but I want to do the bird's nest first. Hubby and I are going camping this long weekend, so hopefully while he's fishing out on the boat I'll be able to stitch on Sunday out in the sun :) Sounds like a nice plan.

My Tusal is not as pathetic as it was last month. Thank you very much! LOL

We have had the most amazing summer, with trips and camping. I'll fill you all in soon with loads of pics. We took full advantage of the freedoms we have in our lives and just did summer! LOL

Ort and Run

2011-08-02T17:07:00.000-07:00

Goodness gracious! It's been a month since I've posted! I haven't done much stitching at all since the last TUSAL in fact if I put it in my big ort jar you wouldn't even be able to tell....so this is the little container that I have at my stitching chair that I pop them into as I stitch and then transfer it to the big jar at picture time.

EEEKKKK!!! That's a little embarrassing! But hey, I was away on vacation for 10 days, then two full weekends we were away camping and boating on the lake! AAHHHH it's wonderful! I figure we have months and months and months of cold weather here in Alberta....I can stitch then. Not to say that I won't be stitching, because I plan on sitting down and stitching tonight. I have to get Sockeye finished...because I have a FABULOUS chart that I have been dying to stitch and is OOP...but Dani was wonderful enough to lend it to me. So I want to get started on that as soon as sockeye is done! WOO HOOO Poor Elizabeth! I haven't had a Sunday available to stitch on her. We aren't planning on going away this weekend, so maybe this Sunday coming up :)

July Tusal, SAL update

2011-07-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well we went camping this past weekend again and it was wonderful!! Oh my gosh, I just love it out by the water and when it's warm and sunny it's even better! Hubby got a bad burn on his legs though, which isn't good...he's being a big baby about it actually, but that's ok...it's no different than when he has a cold, or stubbed his toe. LOL but a combination of the sun, and him cooking at the campfire, his shins got the worst of it. Never mind that I told him several times to put on sunscreen...gee...I don't sound to sympathatic do I? And I am...really!

We got home on Sunday afternoon and after unpacking and taking a nice long cooling shower, I sat and managed to get some stitching done while hubby napped. :) I chose to continue on with the border because it's relatively simple stitching without having to follow the chart at the time. So I'll finish that up next Sunday, if I get a chance to stitch. The Stampede starts on Friday, and we are hoping to go down to the grounds on Sunday to pick out an ornament and have some bbq beef on a bun...yummmmm...and little donuts!! wooo hooo

The threads I added to the tusal jar this month are basically from Elizabeth...a think a few threads from the beginning are from Sockeye, but I haven't worked on Sockeye in a few weeks now. Maybe tonight.

Up a tree with a little more splash.

2011-06-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Oh my! I do amuse myself sometimes! ROFL!

Had a great week last week. Hubby and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on Wednesday, well we actuallly ended up going out with friends who also had their anniversary last week. So we went for dinner, and then to the casino for a bit. Hubby won $300 and I won just under $600! WOOO HOOO!!!!! The couple we were with weren't so lucky, but they still enjoyed themselves, so it was good! But with our winnings, we have decided that we are going away for the weekend, hopefully find some sun somewhere and drive in that direction. I can hardly wait :)

So here are my stitching updates. I started stitching the tree on Lizzie. I am dying to start working on her, but the fabric was just pulling me towards the tree this time around. So I'll do that and leave Lizzie for last. But she's going to look great! Kati (my SAL partner) has started stitching her and is making GREAT progress on her, and is looking fantastic! So I am looking forward to stitching mine soon.

I put a few more stitches into the splash of Sockeye. I'm going to do some totally focused stitching on it this week, see how close I can get to a finish. I have a feeling that I'm close and only a couple of weeks left to go on this one before a happy dance I think :)

SAL update on Lizzie!

2011-06-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't post last week, cause I didn't have anything to share. We went camping, which was FANTASTIC, last weekend, so I had intentions of stitching and I even packed it up and brought it with me, but it didn't leave the bag. So alas, there was no update on Sockeye nor Lizzie last week. Then this week, I didn't get any stitching done accept for Liz yesterday so here she is. It's coming along, I love working on it. And on Sunday's it's hard to put her away...but I do...and I have Sockeye in the qsnaps again, and will be stitching during the hockey game.

Had a good day yesterday. Hubby has actually been away since Thursday and got back home today YEAH! I miss him when he's gone. But it gave Mom and I a chance to sit around and we pulled a pajama day yesterday with girl movies and junk food. Started with Dear John, then Letters to Juliet, then When In Rome, then Eat Pray Love. My kind of Sunday!

I'm feeling like I need to start something new! I'm trying to hold off and stay focused to finish Sockeye, but I feel like I need an ornie start and finish soon. So we'll see how the week goes and maybe Friday I'll find an ornament to stitch up :)

A little Sockeye with your TUSAL?

2011-06-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

I got no stitching done on Sunday for my SAL with Kati on Elizabeth. We had a family day, so with the baby, and the gardening we managed to do, and bbq, that by the time evening came around it was good just to put our feet up.

But I did pull sockeye off the qsnaps to take a pic. I figured I had to show something. I love how it's turning out. It's hard to appreciate the work you are doing on the splash when it's in the qsnaps, cause all you see are blobs of white and grey, but I took a look at it today and I am pleased.

So that's what you see in this month's tusal layer. Lot's of white and shades of light grey. And my sexy bunny was in my Easter flowers this year. CUTE!

We're off camping tomorrow for the weekend! I hope the rain holds off! I don't like soggy camping. :(

Liz update

2011-05-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Wow I had to do a round about way of making a post today. Blogger is having a bit of a fart these last couple of weeks! But that's ok, I got here! wooo hoooo HELLOOOOOO Blogger friends! Nice to see you! LOL Well I hope that everyone had a good week. I am 7 pounds lighter thanks to 3 days of an incessant stomach bug that found me sitting on the toilet and patting instead of wiping by the 2nd day...ouch! Mind you as lovely as that 7 pounds is, I know that in a matter of a couple of days it will be right back on. ARGH! and then I've decided that I have to do something about it for real, and get me fat butt in gear and start walking and treadmilling and biking and swimming and all that other fun stuff I like to avoid. ICK! Oh well.

So I worked a little on sockey but it's so perfectly tensioned in the qsnaps that I don't want to take it out at the moment, so I will update it next week instead of this week.

I did work on Liz on Sunday for our SAL with Kati. It's funny how a chart tends to take you in a certain direction, and for some reason this on is having me finish the bottom first. I just kept right on going with it. So I let it take me where it wanted, then I'll work up the side. I think I'm actually going to save her for last and stitch Elizabeth in once everything else is done. Keeps it interesting right to the very end. But then again we'll see.

So we're very excited on the home front, we have booked our campsite for the 1st weekend of June! YEAH! First camping trip of the year. Hopefully we'll have good weather for it. I hate to book so far in advance and then find out that it's going to by rainy and crappy all weekend, but I am crossing my fingers that it will be good. My brother bought a trailer this past month so they'll be joining us too, it's his birhtday weekend that weekend, so it should be a good time. I LOVE CAMPFIRES! And just sitting by the water and watching the world go by! With stitching and a good book close by.

This weekend we're going to see Cavalia! Another exciting event that we have been waiting for and it's finally here. So I'm excited about that. It looks like an amazing show!

2 finishes and a SAL

2011-05-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Finally got a chance to stitch on Liz our SAL with Kati this weekend. I haven't had a lot of time on Sunday's...they are turning into family days, this weekend though My SIL brought her stitching as well, so I was able to get some time in :) Slow going, but it's getting there. Plus it didn't help that I had to frog the S and re-stitch it, because I was off by 1/2 a thread! GRRRR but at least it wasn't the whole of the letter.

I also had a couple of small finishes. Some instant gratification pieces, I like to call them. So these will go on my stitching tree this year. I have to get back to my Sockeye, which I have placed back in the Q-snaps today, don't think I'll get to it until Wednesday though, cause tonight I don't feel much like stitching, and tomorrow it's a night out with the girls. So Wednesday it is. I am hoping for a happy dance on Sockeye in the next couple of weeks, if all goes as planned, but then we all know what the best laid plans are...

Joy to the world - LHN

Joyful Night - Shepard's bush - 1998 JCS Ornie issue

I took some time this weekend to organized and re-sort my floss! EEKKK that took 3 1/2 hours! All my little projects and big projects the same, all the floss just went into this bit melting pot of floss in an X-large Ziploc bag...so much so that when I needed to pull floss, I knew I had it, but it was easier to buy a skein than to go ahead and dig thru the bag! Shameful! So I sorted those and put them all back into the proper floss-bags and everything is nice and easy to find....until the next time. LOL

Ort report & Sweet Jaxon

2011-05-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well you know that I couldn't let the vision of the tissue box go without adding one of my own. So this isn't necessarily the most favorite box I've ever had, but it's the one that I am presently using and is on my desk. So there you have it.

Then I have to share a picture of the sweetest, newest member of our family. Jaxon Alexander I could watch him sleep for hours :))))

Mojo's back!

2011-05-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

All it took was a little something fresh. So I picked up and stitched CHS's Wash Day. I fell in love with this chart when I saw it from the Nashville releases and order it right away. So now I can happily put it in my pile of samplers that I am fixing to find a wall for some day.

Wash day by CHS - Stitched on 28 ct Fairy Dust lugana

Poor Elizabeth didn't get any stitches put in her yesterday. We had the new baby over, and family and a bbq. It was full of activity, and it's hard to concentrate on anything else when there's a newborn in the house for the first time. It's amazing how a whole group of people can sit around and marvel at a sleeping child for hours, but that's exactly what we did. And I wouldn't have traded it for anything. We were a little worried about how Lulu would handle it, but she was as much of a lady as she always was, and after a few minutes of nervous jealousy, she settled down and knew that little Jaxon was a member of family and all was well. She cried when he cried! LOL So cute!

So Elizabeth will have to wait until next weekend, but with it being Mother's day, I don't know how much will be done on her next Sunday either. But we'll see how the day progresses.

This is my favorite picture of the official wedding pictures....

Election day today here in Canada....hope you all voted!

Anyone seen my mojo?

2011-04-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

...'cause I seem to have misplaced it. No stitching at all last week at all. Accept for a little bit of work on Elizabeth LAST WEEK! Which I didn't post, so I'm posting it now. It doesn't look like much but if you look real close you can see that the word "birds" is stitched out and I've started on some of the grassy knoll.

How was everyone's Easter? Ours was lovely. We actually had deep fried turkey this year. It was scumptious! We had never done it before so we did have a wonderful ham as backup. I'm not much of a turkey fan, but this was certainly de-lish!

Hubby has gone out of town to work this week. Leaving at 4 this morning. So I'm thinking I'm going to have lots of time to stitch this week. I think I just have to settle into my chair with my stitching in lap and something good on tv and my mojo will find me again.

Here's hoping!!!

LIzzie update

2011-04-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

I don't have too much to show you, other than the stitching that I did on Sunday. With the weather and temps changing and going up and down, my headache's have been on and off. I can't hardly wait until Spring has actually settled, and then summer....ahhhhh.... how I love summer. I am already daydreaming about going camping by the lake! I say this as they are forecasting mixed rain and snow for tomorrow and the day after. But summer will eventually come I know it will. So there was no stitching on anything other than Elizabeth on Sunday, (my SAL with Kati) but I got quite a bit done.

So tonight, the only plans I have are to sit and stitch.

Over at Cross stitch and Cupcakes, she's having an amazingly generous giveway, you have to go check it out!

A bird in the hand....

2011-04-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have been without a computer for 8 solid days!!! I know that doesn't sound like a long time, but it is when you are one of those people that like to have their morning coffee with their emails, and browsing the stitching world, to see what's new with everyone. And see what everyone can entice you into stitching. Which Kati, by the way, has me salivating over her little bird on an egg. Carol had it on her blog a little while ago too. I have to get my hands on it. :) So yes now I am back, and I am 8 days behind on my blog reading! EEKKK I need a whole weekend to catch up and that's just what I am going to do. Mind you I would have had plenty of time to do that this past weekend. We had a snowstorm and well...the pic speaks for itself for a lovely April 2nd day. It was funny actually, the forecasters on all the radio and news stations, were repeating that it wasn't an April fool's joke, when they were forecasting the weather for the weekend, that we were in for at least 20 cm of snow the following day. I guess we were all hoping that it would be a joke, but it wasn't

I stitched on Elizabeth. I didn't take a scan of it last Sunday cause I didn't have the computer, and I didn't even think to take of a picture of it last week, but here it is as of Sunday night for our Sunday SAL with Kati. Yes that bird is sitting in Liz's ghostly hand.

Sockeye is coming along, I am almost finished with the fish itself, and then I'll be working on the splash. I think I'm going to start a small project though tonight, and have a little quick finish. then I'll start on the splash when that's done....I need a little happy dance.

Ort Report....

.....self explanitory. LOL

And just to end the day....a pic of Lulu! My gorgeous baby girl. She's going in to have her spaying next Friday!

A bird in the cage...

2011-03-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Is all I managed to get done on Elizabeth. I finished the bottom of the cage and then one of the birds. I thought that I would be able to get both birds stitched but it didn't happen. I find I'm doing lots of stitches, but the progress is slow on this one. I love it though! And I will definitely have two of Elizabeth's birds done next Sunday. :)

Here's a new update on Sockeye as well. Coming along nicely if I do say so myself. I love how this is shaping up too. I've decided that I'm going to do the fish first and then work on the splash afterwards. It might prove to be a little tedious, but it should be ok. It's not going to fit on the scanner soon. I've already lost the last few stitches on the bottom of the pic to the edge of the scanner bed so it will be photos soon. Depending on how much I get done this week. I might be able to squeeze it on for 1 more week.

I am sooooo jealous of all of your spring has spring pictures. Here....it snowed...and it continues to snow, today, tomorrow, the day after. Yep...happy Spring. I'm going to have to find something springy to stitch.

Wild Child Elizabeth!

2011-03-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

On your marks...get set...stitch! And stitch I did! I stitched for hours but unfortunately it doesn't look like much. It's incredibly deceptive, but there are a lot of stitches happening in Wild Child Elizabeth's birdcage! And I loved every stitch of it. I love starting new projects. The untouched smoothness of the fabric stretched in the qsnaps. Love love love it! So here we go, Kati and I are back to our Sunday SAL of the girls. YEAH!!!

I also started and finished LHN's Cardinal Winter...which I affectionately call Tweet! My stitching tree is going to love this at christmas time! YEAH! again! LOL

Cardinal Winter by LHN

This week I'll be working on Sockeye. Hoping to get a good chunk of him done this week as well.

The ORT report & Update

2011-03-05T16:15:00.000-08:00

See I told you I would steal your title! LOL I love that! And here's my ort jar with this last month's contribution.

Also here's an update on Sockeye. I thought I would be finished the head of it this week, but I didn't get it done. Oh well, it will be done for sure this coming week. This weekend I'm working on LHN's Cardinal Winter, which I am finding I am calling Tweet in my head rather than the original title.

I did some stash shopping!!! I couldn't help it! I broke down! Darn Nashville Market! So I'm sure that the packages (yes plural) should be arriving in the mail this coming week as well.

I went and bought all the floss that I needed for Elizabeth, that Kati and I will be starting in our Sunday SAL, starting the 13th. I noticed that she uploaded the new pic on her sidebar so I snagged it for mine as well (Thanks K!) I found the perfect frames for them at Michael's today too! I was almost tempted to buy them so that I would have them but I maintain some self control and withheld! Not without much contemplation first!

Happy Dance & Progress

2011-02-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

My little valentine finish that I loved from the first time I saw it, and then I had to track down the chart, and I'm so glad that I have a stitching fairy god-sister that was able to help me with this one. Isn't it pretty, I love this valentine freebie by Erica Michaels. It's an oldie but a goodie.

Hugs and Kisses by Erica Michaels stitched on 28 ct White Jobelan

Progress on Sockeye is coming along. I'm actually love it at the moment, so I'm going to stitch thru this one this weekend and see how far I get. However a feel a sinus/head cold coming on and I might not be able to see it by the time the weekend gets here...but I'm going to try.

Hubby is leaving for a fishing derby this weekend. Leaving tomorrow night and coming home on Sunday. So I'll have lots of stitching time this weekend (if the sinus cold allows) Stitching and the Oscars...and lots of great junk food. That's what my weekend is going to consist of. It's only Wednesday and I'm already looking forward to the weekend! wooo hooo Hopefully by the end of the weekend, my fish will have a head!

Good Golly, Missy Molly!

2011-02-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

Molly - Carriage House Samplings - Stitched on 32 ct GoldSpinner

I couldn't wait to post her today. She's finished. Oh my gosh I LOVE HER!! I put the final stitches into her at 10:47 pm last night. The picture of course doesn't do it any justice, but it does show that she's finished. I'm so glad that Kati and I are doing these girls! So now until Kati finishes her's, I will work on ornies on Sundays :) which is a good plan I think.

I've got another little finish but I haven't scanned it yet. And I also want to post a progress of sockeye, but it's so perfectly in the q-snaps right now that I don't want to move it. So I figure that I will stitch on it today and then scan them both in tomorrow for post.

I just couldn't wait to post Molly for 1 more day! hehehehe

Molly update

2011-02-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything else to show today either..I didn't work on sockeye at all last week, I was so busy last week that all I got done were the smalls, but I did get some sunday stitching done and worked on Molly. I am so close to finishing her! I'm so excited! And Kati and I have decided that we are working on Elizabeth next! She's the one with the wild hair, and I'm dying to get my needle working on it!

I've got my eye on some new charts too. Eeekkk!!! And I don't want to buy anything, but these ones are so calling my name. I'm holding off so far, but I don't know how long I can last.

Tonight we're going out to dinner.....no special occasion, we just feel like going, so there won't be any stithcing going on tonight, but I'm hoping that tomorrow, I'll be home from work and then I'll just settle in and work on sockeye. Plus there's another valentine freebie that I was able to track down that I want to do before the weekend is up as well. It's an oldie but a goodie!

Shameless request!!

2011-02-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

EDIT*** Apparently they only accept Canadian votes ***

Thanks for trying anyway :)

I just found out about a contest, that I've entered Lulu's photos. But she needs votes and of course, I can't vote! EEEKKKK!!!! So I'm asking you all if you have a split second to vote to see if Miss Lulu if she has a shot. I found out about the contest late :() So the other pups have a huge headstart on her. But it will be fun to see where she ends up. The links are under her photos. Vote for your favorite or vote for all of them. but please vote!

And Yes...that's why I named this post Shameless request....because I know that it is.

Thanks guys!!!

https://luckydogphotos.wclc.com/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP6&pid=89b1e278-d845-4816-9476-305e78e87dc0

https://luckydogphotos.wclc.com/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP6&pid=50930dd4-2eab-4b10-a009-e693e6d94864

https://luckydogphotos.wclc.com/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP6&pid=d59f1da4-612d-48b5-99dc-a2584fbc64fe

https://luckydogphotos.wclc.com/default.aspx?p=r&r=c_pup_photoviewer&c=PUP6&pid=9fedffe9-3aff-49fc-a871-71d908d4402e

Feb TUSAL & two smalls

2011-02-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

This week has pretty much been a write off for any significant stitching. I was out doing things Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then Friday I was just so happy to sit that I didn't really want to pick up my sockeye. So I flipped thru some of the freebies that I had and picked a couple of small projects to do. The one I was looking for I couldn't find but I like the ones that I did find.

First is a little one called Basket of Hearts by Charland Designs, a 1999 design. I didn't do the border on it but I think it's cute and I'll probaby make it into a little fob.

Basket of Hearts - Charland Designs

Then to celebrate the year of the rabbit, I found this one Bunny Hop Scissor Fob by Brightneedle, also an older one from 2002. But they were both nice little quick stitches.

Bunny Hop Scissors Fob - Brightneedle

Last but not least I took a shot for TUSAL.

Hockey game on tonight so I'm hoping to get some good stitches into sockeye, since I haven't touched it at all this week.

Sockeye's got it's groove back!

2011-01-31T19:54:00.000-08:00

So I put it out of my head that those 1/4 stitches and the black on black were going to kill me, and I just sat and started stitching. And it all came together. I love how this is going to look. The colours are amazing and it's really going to be a stunning piece when it's finished. So I'm looking forward to this week of stitching. I was planning on getting more done than I did last week because Hubby and Baby Bro were supposed to go ice fishing this weekend, but the weather turned bad on Friday. We had snow fall warnings and blowing snows on the highways, so they decided that they would go this coming weekend instead, as the weather is supposed to get better again. So we'll see how things turn out there. So Hubby and I spent time together watching movies and cuddling all weekend. It was nice.

Only got a couple of hours on in Molly on Sunday, but it's coming along. I'm already thinking of the next girl, and I'm kind of leaning towards Elizabeth, if Kati thinks that's ok. What do you think Kati? Yes? I want to get at the wild hair. LOL

New moon coming this week, so I have to get working on filling my ort jar!

I don't know why....

2011-01-25T15:20:00.000-08:00

....but I love them. I was looking for something quick to stitch to get my satisfaction fix...and I dug one of these little sheep out of the JCS ornie issue, and I loved it so much I had to find the other one as well. So my little fat fingers stitched up Joy and Peace by Amy Bruecken Designs. Aren't they cute?

Peace & Joy - Amy Bruecken Designs - JCS 2009 Preview & Ornie issue

And with that I am able to settle back into this sockeye that I'm stitching....on black...with 1/4 stitches...YEAH! It's going to be gorgeous when it's done...but wooooo-weeeeee it's fun, fun fun to stitch! Yup...it sure is...I love it...can't wait to sit down and stitch on it tonight...um-humm...oh Yeah...can't w-a-i-t! (is anyone sensing the sarcasm here?)

I didn't have a lot of time to stitch on Sunday, but I did manage some time. Here's the progress on Molly. Love stitching on her. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Updates

2011-01-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

Didn't get a lot of stitching done last week. It felt like I had it out a lot, but then when it came to actually putting in the stitches I got distracted, or it didn't look like much. I did some black on black stitching on the sockeye, so maybe that's why it didn't feel like I got much done. Tonight I'll be sitting in front of the tv and stitching, so I'm hoping to get some progress done on it. I also want to pick out something small to do (an ornie) so that I have at least something finished on the sidebar for 2011. OOPS! I didn't realize there was such a glare on the pic when I took it until I uploaded it from the camera, and I'm too lazy to do it again, so I'll take a better pic of it next week.

Sunday I worked on Molly again. I see that Kati is making great progress with her's, so we are both back on track now and working towards the finish of this one and then onto the next on the the CHS girls!

Here's a new pic of Lulu, I snapped her while I had the camera out. She is such an amazing creature! I can't even explain it! LOL

The ABC's of Me.

2011-01-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

A - Age: 44

B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: dusting, ironing
D - Dog's name: Lulu
E - Essential start of the day item: glass of orange juice
F - Favorite color: Red
G - Gold or Silver: Both
H - Height: 5'3"

I - Instruments you play: Piano, Organ, Guitar, Saxaphone, Sing.
J - Job: Medical Clinic Administrator
K - Kids: See "D"
L - Living arrangements: Married, Mom lives with us too.

M - Music you love: Anything that I can sing along with that doesn't require that spitting noise (Rap)
N - Nicknames: Barbi
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: When I had my ankle pinned back together...then when I had the pins taken back out.
P - Pet Peeve: People that "ya-ya" me.
Q - Quote from a movie: "Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it's what you want before you commit." Eat, Pray, Love

R - Right handed or left: Right
S - Siblings: 1 brother....but several "sister friends" :)
T - Time you wake up: 5:45 am.
U - Underwear: yes...a whole drawer full.
V - Vegetable you dislike: brussel sprouts ...ACK!!!
W - Workout Style: Treadmill, stationery bike, walking Lulu
X - X-rays you've had: dental, ankle (both), sinuses, chest
Y - Yummy food you make: Lasagne.
Z - The best place to visit: Australia, Italy.

...and now you know my ABC's, won't you play along with me?

WIP's

2011-01-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

I planned on posting more this year and I will, it's just that real life takes over sometimes and you can't. Or you get lazy. And it's a little bit of both for me at the moment. Mom has the norovirus flu buggy thing and of course she's "dying" and how could I even think of going to work when she is laying in her deathbed, instead of holding vigil by her side. It's ok though because she called me every 1/2 hour on my cell phone to tell me how sick she really was. Oh yes...it has been a lovely week so far. But thank goodness, she is on the mend now and is up and moving about the house, so all is well in the world again. Now to avoid getting it myself, of heaven forbid, hubby gets it! NO NO NO!

But in all of that I did manage to get a little bit of stitching done, not as much as I would have liked, but still some. So here's my progress on Spirit of the Sockeye, and Molly.

I'm hoping to be back tomorrow with the ABC's of me. :))

Stitchy weekend

2011-01-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

I actually got quite a bit of stitching time in this past weekend. I got a really good start on a new project. Spirit of the Sockeye by Stitching Studio. I didn't realize how many 1/4 stitches there are on it...that's going to try my patience for sure, but I'll muddle thru. When it gets to be too much then I will just pick something else up for a bit. I have decided that I am going to start Christmas at Hawk's Run after all, so I just have to kit that up and start on that as well.

I even had a good day working on Molly on Sunday, which I hadn't done at all in December, so it was great working on her again. Kati, how are you doing on your's?

Here's my tusal for Jan 4th. A couple of days late, but better than a month late! LOL I've joined the other stitchers over at DaffyCat's to show off your orts for the month. I've decided to continue to add to my orts from last year on this one. See if I can fill it to brimming. this year! WOOO HOOOO

I still have my Christmas trees up! They were just too pretty to take down this past weekend. Saturday we'll make a day of it. The weather is supposed to take a turn for the snowy on Friday, so it will be the perfect day to stay indoors.

Happy new year!

2010-12-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

I didn't even get a chance to say Merry Christmas, before it's time to say Happy New Year!

December went by in a blur, between the shopping and the baking and the cooking and the friends and the family and the parties...and lots and lots of puppy cuddles, it all went by in the blink of an eye. But we had a wonderful holiday! And Lulu being the perfect lady that she is....didn't even lick a needle of the trees! She had no intention of doing any of it! I LOVE HER!! And she got a couple of things under the tree this year as well. Some toys, some treats, and a Christmas scarf. Isn't she lovely?

Got some stitching done! Thank you Sharon for designing us Mistletoe Reindeer! I know I'm a pain. LOL But sooooo worth it in the end (for me anyway...hehehe) So here's a bundle of ornaments that I completed cross stitching.

Dove - Dimensions - Holiday Elegance

Mistletoe Reindeer - DaffyCat Designs

Snowman #7 - Ursala Michael

Snowman #9 - Ursala Michael

Not sure what my focus is going to be in stitching this coming year, but I do know that there's going to be plenty of it. Ornaments, a few BAP's, SAL's. Don't know what my month to month is going to be. I was going to try and do Christmas at Hawk Run's Hallow. and I still might I just have to get us the courage to do so. :)

Long time!

2010-11-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

Argh! It's been a long time I know. I try and I think about it lots...posting that is...but when I sit down all I find I want to do is read all of your's instead of updating mine. All of your's are so much more interesting.

I've been doing some stitching some that I can show you and one that I can't share yet, but hopefully at the beginning of the week my exchange partner will receive her ornament and I'll post that. I received mine from Annette and it's beautiful...both of them actually, another one of her hobbies is crocheting....so she was generous enough to send me one of those for my tree as well. Which I will happily hang on my tree :) Thank you Annette!

My Sundays have been full of family and christmas shopping, so I haven't put a stitch at all into Molly since my last update! Sorry Kati!! I'm going to snuggle under a warm blankie tomorrow in my stitchy chair and work on Molly all day...hopefully....I do have to go grocery shopping though first. LOL

I got some ornaments finished. Let me first say I love Sharon at DaffyCat :) And I love her designs, so I had to stitch up Believe that she offered up as a freebie on her blog. So thank you Sharon...I love it....hmmmm do you hear the pitter pat of reindeer on your rooftop yet?? LOL

Believe - DaffyCat Designs - Stitched on Miracle Mint 28 ct lugana

Then there's this one from Fresh Threads Studio from the JCS 2010 ornie issue. A little funky one to go with the one that I stitched from the preview issue. LOVE IT!

Christmas Candy Sock hop - Fresh Threads Studio - Miracle Mint 28 ct lugana

So winter has arrived here in Calgary, Cold and Snowy. UCK! But Lulu is loving it. It was cute, she was afraid of it the first morning we opened the door for her to go outside, she wouldn't go. So Hubby/dad had to get dressed at 5:45 am and go out into the backyard with her to show her that it was ok. LOL I got it all on video...and it's priceless.

November already

2010-11-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

Wasn't it just September? October went by so fast I didn't even notice it.

Haven't had a lot of time to stitch in the last couple of weeks. I've been busy playing, teaching, fawning over and loving our new baby. Lulu's growing so fast it's as if every morning she's changed, or grown or has become smarter and prettier. LOL Yep....I'm a mom! We are sooo lucky with her. She's a good pup.

Got some stitching done on Sunday though, worked on Molly. I skipped last weekend, so I had a bit of time this weekend, I love working on her and it's hard to put her away for the week. But that's ok, it gives me something to look forward to when Sunday comes along. Can I just say that I love the face of this cat!

I also finished stitching an ornament. I LOVE this. It's from the JCS ornie preview issue, it's called Cool Christmas and it's by Fresh Threads Studio. There's another one that I want to work on from the ornie issue by the same designer. I have it all kitted up I just have to get to it. Although I am doing a Canadian ornie exchange that I have to work on and get done this week as well. So we'll see how much I get done on that before I do another project for my selfish self.

The weather here has been amazing! It doesn't feel like November at all. Not good for my hunting members of the family, they like at least a trace of snow to do some tracking while they are hunting, but it's not going to happen anytime this week at least. So we'll see. Hubby will be going away for a week this month sometime, he normally does it at the beginning of the month, but with the weather he's thinking that he might wait until the end of the month. Either way works for me....give me plenty of stitching time.

Lovely Fall

2010-10-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

We are having such a lovely fall. The leaves are turning colours. A lot of the time they freeze and all fall off at once, or else it's too cold outside to enjoy the changing of the colour gaurd. But this year the weather has been beautiful. Wonderful sunny days, a little on the cool side some days but that's ok, that's how it's supposed to be :) I took pictures of some of the last remaining flowers that are blooming and this lone daisy struck me as being so beautiful. I had to take a picture of it...I think he loves me :)

I got lots of stitching done on Sunday. Hubby had to wake up at 5:30 and go to work, I got up with him...and once he left, instead of going to bed, I did my stroll thru your blogs, and then sat down and stitched. It feels like I got lots done on it anyway....and really there is, it's just a block of colour...so it doesn't look like much progress.

I'm almost done another ornament I didn't get it finished for this post, so hopefully I'll be posting again tomorrow with a finish. wooo hooo

Here's my TUSAL. A few days late, but that's become the norm with me. The ornaments added a little bit more colour to the jar this time around.

Love is.....

2010-10-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

.....a little 5 week old puppy named Lulu! My gosh!!!! She leaves me speechless :)

But I will try to carry on. LOL

I managed to get lots of stitching done Molly, it just doesn't look like a lot again! Blocks of colours are time consuming and so are lines of borders, and that's basically what got done on Sunday. But that's ok..each "x" is a step closer to being finished. I love her still.

I got a couple of happy dances done too. Some ornaments that I love! Loved stitching these ones and I managed to fulfill one of my reindeer a month ornies too. :) I have more ornaments lined up so that's what I'll be working on during the week.

I have a hooky day from work today, my furnace is getting cleaned so I took the day to be home. I figure their done in a couple of hours and then the rest of the day is mine for stitching.

I'm gonna be a mom again!!!

2010-09-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

....of a new furbaby! It's been a long time since Missy and we're finally ready for our next one. She's a brand new baby Shiba Inu....we've already named her Lulu and she's 4 weeks old. She'll be able to come home when she's 7 weeks. So my baby is coming home on Oct 15th. And we're so excited. We go out to the the kennel where she was born every Saturday to see her, give her a cuddle, and see how much she's grown. She has already stolen our hearts and we already know that she's going to be soooo spoiled! LOL Oh my gosh I can hardly wait until (1) Saturday and (2) for her to come HOME!!!

I've got some happy news on the stitching front. I finished The Song They Sang, and I love it. It's the second addition to add te the sampler wall I want to create one day. I have to get a puppy one that I know Diane has done from LHN. I will have to whip out the c/c and have a look around to order it. hehehe! Isn't it amazing that us stitcher's can always find an occasion or something to stitch about/for. LOL

I didn't get a chance to work on Molly last weekend, that's why there was no update. But this weekend I got to spend some time with her and this is how far I got. She's coming along. I just love working on her. So that bodes well for the other three that Kati and I will be stitching on our Sunday SAL.

I'm going to focus on doing some ornaments, I haven't really stitched any over the summer. Mostly because we weren't home a lot of the time and I had other things that I wanted to work on more. I've actually found a couple or three reindeer that I am going to stitch, so as much as I said I was going to give up on them, I have found some refreshing pieces to move me along with my reindeer commitment to myself :) Plus I would like to do a couple of things that are quick finishes. I'm in need of some immediate gratification. We all know how that is when we start working on big pieces, and it seems to take forever, it would be nice to have a finish now and then. So that's what I will fulfill with my ornaments. :)

Thanks so much for the compliments on my figurine. She's porcelain, and she's actually made in Hungary, we went to the factory where they are made in Hollohaza and she's called Seamstress. I love her. I picked up another couple of pieces while I was there as well to add to my collection that I already have that my mom and my aunt's started me on. I love them all. And I always get excited when there are new pieces. :)

Molly, Birds & TUSAL

2010-09-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Lots to share today....well maybe not that much, but everything seems like an effort this week. I have a COLD!! And it's one of those ones that is achey, sneezing, stuffy-head, cough...so you CAN'T rest colds. Mind you Nyquil does seem to do the trick, but it's not going away. Boy have you ever tried Nyquil? Sleep like a baby!!! I'm going to miss it when my cold's gone. LOL

So I got a little bit of stitching time last week during the week but not as much as I would have liked. There always seemed to be something that had to be done in the evening so I really didn't get a chance to work on The Song They Sang until Saturday...so here's my meezly progress on that.

And then there's Molly. Got lots done on her, or at least it felt like I stitched lots. Do you ever get that? You feel like you've got lots of stitching done and when you look at it at the end of the day, there doesn't look like there's much progress, and yet you know you've been working at it for hours. Well that's kind of what it was like this Sunday on Molly.

Then I have my TUSAL update. That little stitching girl next to the jar is one of the porcelain treasures that I picked up from my trip to Hungary. I saw her and fell in love....and had to have her, so fitting, don't you think?

I received the JCS Christmas ornament issue in the mail today! YEAH!!!! So I'm going to sit down now with a nice steaming cup of tea with honey, and I'm going to browse thru it for the 1st of what will surely be 50 times. LOL

We're home!

2010-09-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

We've actually been home for a week now, and I'm back to work, but still after more than 3 weeks away and almost a month away from work, it feels like we just got home.

We had a wonderful trip. Visited family and friends and walked the banks of the Danube at night and stopping at streetside cafe's drinking espresso and partaking in delectable pastries. OH MY! It was so romantic! I recommend everyone do it at least once.

But everything is back to normal, and we're back in routine. I was kind of missing the routine, I am a creature of habit so it's good to be back and doing what needs to be done.

I have gotten back into stitching as well, I didn't get a chance at all to stitch while we were away, believe me I did pack a project to take with me but it didn't even make it out of the case, so it will be one of my next projects. I got a lot of time on Sunday to stitch on Molly. I was still sort of adjusting to the time change again, and woke up early in the morning, put on some coffee and took her out to work on. And this is the result of my Sunday stitch.

I also got to work on The Song they Sang. I'm feeling a happy dance coming on with this one soon, maybe even this week. We'll see how it goes, I love working on it so that makes it go by quickly.

I have totally lost count on how many ornies I have to stitch and what I've stitched. So I'll see. I've kind of lost the flavor of the reindeer a month yen.. I might just wing it and just stitch what hits me as being fun to stitch. The reindeer were starting to become a chore, so I think I'm going to switch it up.

And how was everyone's August?

Molly 5

2010-07-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've blogged. ARGH! Again, it's not that I haven't come to visit it, cause my blog is the gateway to all of your blogs for me. So I visit here every day and I go to visit all of you :)

I haven't been doing too much stitching, but I did get my Sunday stitching in. So Molly is still spooky looking, but I hope by this Sunday she'll have her hair and she'll look more like a girl than a ghost.

I have to take a picture of the ornament that hubby and I picked up at the Stampede. It's so cute. I'll try to find a minute tomorrow to take a pic and upload it. It's a little pig couple. LOL You'll love it when you see it, just like I did.

Tomorrow, we're getting the trailer ready for camping. We are heading out for the long weekend and I can hardly wait. Between work, and getting everything organized and sorted out for our trip to Hungary, we've been kind of been breezing by each other. So this weekend is our time to sit back around a campfire and reconnect. He'll do some fishing, I'll do some stitching or some reading, and I might even go out to catch a fish or two. It should be good...I should say great!!!! I'm really looking forward to getting away for the weekend.

Molly 4, June's reindeer, TUSAL

2010-07-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

Lots to show today. Got quite a bit of stitching time in on Sunday on Molly, so that makes me happy. We went to our Hungarian Cultural Centre for thei annual summer picnic. Which was great. The food was yummy, and I was able to catch up with a couple of friends that I hadn't seen in a while (Hi ladies!!....they're stitcher's too) we watched some of the World cup Final there. and then Mom started to get a little uncomfortable so we came home, and I settled in with Molly. I know that she still has that ghostly hand lingering on her dress, I think that will be my goal for next week, so give her that hand and a head.

I finally finished my June reindeer ornament, this was the one that proved to be more of a project than I had anticipated it to be. It's stitched over 1 so I'm happy with it, but not as happy as I thought I would be. I don't know why, but oh well, it's done and it'll be finished and go on my tree. :)

Mariage by R&P stitched 1x1 on 28 ct lugana

And finally the TUSAL that is a few days overdue. But not as overdue as last month. So I feel like I'm still ahead of the game. And yes Kati, that is a little elfen troll whom I just adore. She was a little dark last month so I took another pic of her this month. I love that she's a little nasty and is sticking out her tongue.

So tonight I am hoping to get some stitching done on The Song They Sang, and then tomorrow hubby and I are going to head down to the Calgary Stampede. Do some eating, so stolling around looking at the crafts at the Western Showcase, and get our ornament for this year. :)

Molly 3

2010-07-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't gotten much Sunday SAL stitching done, nor much stitching on anything else for that matter in the last couple of weeks. We've been busy at work, and then there always seems to be something to do or something that needs to get done, so it doesn't leave much time for stitching. We went camping for the long weekend, which was WONDERFUL! Our first camping weekend of the season, the weather has been so iffy that it's always hard to plan ahead, but we managed to get out this last weekend and it was lovely! I even took my stitching with me, but it didn't even leave the bag. So maybe next time. It was just so good to sit and relax by the lake. ahhhhhhh!

I did manage to get a bit done though. So here's Molly. It's our SAL with Kati. She is stitching leaps and bounds on her's....well done K!

It's too late now to stitch, but tomorrow I think I'm going to come home, do what I need to do quickly and then settle in front of the tv and stitch all evening tomorrow. On what I'm not sure. I've got an over 1 reindeer ornie that I've started, which is proving to be a bigger project than it looked to be in the first place. And I also want to get back to The Song They Sang. So it'll be a coin toss tomorrow.

TUSAL

2010-06-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie before too much time goes by, here's my tusal jar.

That's it. LOL

Molly 2 and WIP

2010-06-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

I was going to try to post during the week last week, but I just couldn't get to it. And then didn't have naything much to say. So I just followed along on all of your posts. I have taken a picutre of my TUSAL jar, but I haven't loaded it onto the computer yet, so maybe that can be an exra post for me during the week. LOL Isn't that terrible?

We finally had some nice weather on the weekend and it wasn't too bad today, but it looks like it's clouding over, so who knows. Summer hasn't really gotten much of a start yet. The flowers are finding it a little hard to thrive without sunlight...just like the rest of us. But it will happen, I have faith. I would just like it to get warm enough so that we can go camping! I am dying to get out there.

Anyway...... Molly is sooooooo much fun to stitch!!! It was hard to take her off the q-snaps last night, I would have happily continued on with her today, but I won't...I'll be good. LOL I just love the little flowers on her dress. I think I'm going to stitch her dress completely before I move onto other parts of the chart. Accept the spot where her hand is looks a little odd and spooky without anything there. But that's ok.

And here's my progress on The Song They Sang...I love this project too, this one is hard to put away as well.
I wish I could just quit my job and stitch all day long. I would LOVE that!! LOL

Molly 1

2010-06-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Didn't get a lot of time to stitch yesterday, as my brother and sister-in-law popped in and ended up staying most of the day, so I didn't really get a chance to start stitching until after dinner. But it was still a nice day. The weather was gorgeous so we sat outside and ended up bbq-ing burgers. So yesterday didn't go as planned, but I did get to do a little on Molly and I love her!!! I left a good portion of the fabric in the scan so that you can see how beautifull mottled it is.

Ready...Set...Stitch-a-long!!

2010-06-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

The SAL Sunday has finally arrived! After ordering the charts and the long wait for the fabric and getting the fibres organized....Kati and I are starting our Carriage House Samplings - Molly today! So every Sunday we will put aside what we are stitching and stitch on Molly. And we intend to continue on with the other three of her "girls" as well. So our Sunday SALS are set for at least a couple of years I would think. LOL

So today my plan is to go to the grocery to pick up a couple of things, and then because it's going to be a gorgeous day I'm going to settle out on the patio with my stitching and a couple of girl movies in the portable dvd player. I really should mow the lawn too (hubby is still out of town) but I'm thinking that putting a call in to my brother is in better order and he can do it. LOL

In the mean time I have to show you my new WIP. Carriage House's The Song they Sang. I LOVE stitching this! and I love this fabric. I'm stitching it on the fabric that I order and waited for forever, 32 ct Lugana - Goldspinner! It's BEAUTFUL fabric! And so lovely to work with! OH! I can't say enough. It's mottled beautifully too. I'm sorry that you can't really see it on the scan, but perhaps you'll see it when I take a picture of it with the camera. It's just beautiful. It's the same fabric that I'll be using for the 4 girls as well.

So that's it for today. I hope to show you some progress on our SAL tomorrow!
Have a stitchy day everyone!

Red House finished

2010-06-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a hit and run posting that I'm doing here. I'm tired and want to go to bed, but I had to post my finish! wooo hooo. Another of LHN"s ornie's. I love how Diane does her trees. I think it's one of my favorite things about her designs.

Red House in Winter by LIttle House Needleworks - 25 ct lubana 1 over 1

Kati and I connected this week and she's recieved her fabric as well, so we have decided that we will be starting our Sunday SAL again next Sunday. I'm so excited. I've been drolling over the chart now for 2 months, and now we can start them! YEAH

So tonight, I kitted up my new project. I'm going to be starting The Song They Sang by Carriage House Samplings. Another one that I have unexplicably fallen in love with.

Finally here!

2010-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

I came home today and low and behold, my fabric from the "delight"ful company is here. And it's gorgeous! So the quality is the same, just the wait is much longer. So I guess if I want to order new fabric from Silkweavers, I will just set my mind to the fact that it will take 2 1/2 months to get here, and I should be fine. Hopefully Kati has recieved hers as well and when she gets home from her trip we can start Carriage House's Molly for our Sunday SAL. Anyone want to join us??

Still working on my Red house ornie. Hubby has left to go work out of town again so that means I should have plenty of time to stitch.

Last day of May

2010-05-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

And right on time to post my May Reindeer, mind you it was finished last week, I just haven't had the time to post and upload it. It's a design out of the 1997 JCS Christmas Ornie magazine. I forgot to mention that the PS two by two deer that I posted in my last post was also from an old JCS Xmas mag from 1998. This month's has much more too it, but I thought that this was enough out of it to make my ornament. Sometime's you just have to take creative liberities...right?

Reindeer on the roof - By Mary Garry from 1997 JCS Xmas ornie issue - stitched on 29 ct white lugana

I'm working on LHN's Red house in winter right now, over 1 so it will take a while for it to be done, but I'm hoping by the end of this week I'll have that done, and then I can start a new big project. Just haven't decided which one yet.

Still haven't received my fabric.....argh! Although they assured me again that it was shipped last week! We'll see.

But exciting news. Hubby and I booked our flights to Europe! We're leaving for Hungary on Aug 11 and coming back on Sept 1! Hoping to make a side trip to Prague as well, so we'll see how things work out there. Now I have to do some research to get a list of stitchy shops in Hungary. Have car...will drive! LOL

It's the weekend

2010-05-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

Oh yes it is! And it's going to be a beautiful one weather wise. So that means working outside. YEAH! And doing some recycling! Not so YEAH! But it needs to be done and it'll be a nice pay-off in the end as well. May even be enough to pay for a little long weekend getaway! Hubby has been gone for a few weeks working out of town, and he's coming home to mama! Wooo hoooo!

I finished my April reindeer, yes I know that it's May, but I didn't stitch April's so far, so here it is. I love it!

Two by Two - Deer by Prairie Schooler Stitched on 26 Ct White Lugana

I have my May one all set in the qsnap's already. So we'll see what's on tv or put a good girl movie into the dvd player and see how it goes.

Is there anyone still out there?

2010-05-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! I know I am such a bad, bad blogger! I haven't abandoned my blog, in fact I visit it every day to get to your blogs to read them all and look at all your lovely pictures. It's just that mine sits here all dusty. Haven't been motivited to write anything about myself. LOL Nothing much to write about. Still feeling a little sluggish, but I'm thinking it's more just lazy than anything to do with the cold that I had.

I've been going room by room and cleaning and de-cluttering. Goodwill is one of my benefactors....lots of stuff I'm getting rid of cause there is no sense in keeping clothes that don't fit anymore, and even if I did get back down into being able to wear them I want new clothes. So bags of clothes have been leaving my house on a weekly basis. Same with loads of books, lots of stuff that we dont' need anymore, or should have been thrown out back in the day but you keep it "just in case" Does anyone in their right mind have 5 coffee pots? You know when the coffee maker doesn't work anymore but you keep the pot? "just in case" I have a lot of those. LOL Oh well.

I did finish the Bitter Flower Sampler. I LOVE this! I don't know why but I can't wait to get this framed and up on the wall. I still haven't stitched my April reindeer, so I have that all kitted up and the fabric in the qsnaps ready to go. I'm hoping to start that tonight and get that posted before next month. Gosh!

The Bitterest Flower Sampler by Birds of a Feather - Stitched on 32 ct Cameo Lugana

One thing that I am upset about, and I don't know if anyone else has dealt with these people before, but ARGH!!!!!!!! I placed an order thru Silkweavers back on March 20 for fabric for our Sunday SAL with Kati....we are going tot be stitching the Carriage house girls...starting with Molly. But we (or at least I) are/am still waiting for the fabric. Well let me tell you Silkweavers now ships thru or distributes thru or I don't know what it has to do with "Needleworker's delight" Let me assure you...there is nothing delightful about them. I wrote to them on April 13th asking about my order and got a reply that the fabric was out of stock but it was arriving that week and will be sent by the end of the week...fine...I'm in Canada...give it some time. Waiting...nothing...I wrote to them again May 5th. No reply. Wrote to them again yesterday May 10th...got a reply today "that will be shipped this week...sorry for the delay" hmmmmm what about the one that was supposedly shipped on the week of April 13th?? Interesting... NOT!!! ARGH! I love silkweaver's fabric and I loved dealing with Silkweavers when there was no "delightful people" involved...but I'm really sorry to say that I will not be ordering from them again. So I will be needing suggestions of where you get your handdyed fabbies. :)

MIA & TUSAL

2010-04-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

I've been sick! Oh boy have I been sick. Pretty much by the time the doctor dragged me in to an exam room because he couldn't stand how I sounded anymore, he said that there was only a 25% chance that I would fight of the cough and cold that I had without antibiotics and that if I chose to do that it would most definitely have been pneumonia! Nice odds!! So I went on the antibiotics. the first round didn't work and I'm on my second round now. But I am feeling human again. So that's a bonus.

Along with the sick...my stitching mojo went out the backdoor as well, so I didn't get much stitching done. Only really started again this weekend, so here's a quick scan of the progress on BOAF's - Bitter Flower Sampler. I love how it's turning out...and hoping to have a finish of it this week.

I didn't have much to add my TUSAL jar, but here that is as well, it holds the orts of the finish of the humminbird, Reindeer, He's a flake and Snowy pines. All the ornies were stitched over one so it didn't have much bulk.

Hubby is going out of town this week for work. He was supposed to be leaving today, but they decided they are going to leave in the morning instead, so I have one more night with him before he goes. After that it's going to be junk tv and stitching until he gets back. LOL

Easter's coming!

2010-03-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

I love Easter, I love Easter almost as much as I love Christmas, I just don't decorate for it...however...next year I might have an Easter tree! LOL I love the food and the baking and the CHOCOLATES!!! Has anyone tried these new Aero Eggs? Oh my WORD!!!! This was a brilliant invention! And only 120 calories! Brilliant I say, just brilliant.

And now because it's Easter, let me post a picture of another tiny Christmas ornie...or one that will be an ornie. LOL (it doesn't really have anything to do with Easter, I'm just stressing the irony)

LHN - Snowy Pines, stitched on Platinum 28 ct Luganan, over 1

Still waiting for my charts and fabbie, on Molly. ARGH, I am not a patient waiter AT ALL! But I will wait some more. So today I think that I am going to start BOAF's Bitter Flower Sampler. I love this design, so now I'm going to do it for my future sampler wall.

A tiny finish

2010-03-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post this while I was sitting here reading blogs, I thought it would probably be nice if I posted more than once a week too. I wish my life was interesting enough to write every day...but alas....

I did finish my LHN ornament He's a Flake. I really liked stitching this one. Although I am still of the opinion that stitching over 1 is tedious, but it makes for a pretty little ornament. People are going to have to look at this year's ornaments on the stitching tree with spectacles. LOL

LHN's He's a Flake - Stitched on 28 ct mystery teal, 1 over 1

I'm going to settle in and start LHN's Snowy Pines (over 1 of course) and then I'm not sure what's next. but good news Kati and I have decided that we are going to stitch Carriage House's girls for our Sunday SAL's. We're going to start with Molly. We are just both waiting for fabric I think. I am anyway, and also the charts, I went ahead and order all 4 of them at once so that I have them. But I'm very excited about it. Until then though I'm not sure what I'll do as a bigger project, but a new one is definitely in order.

Good stitching weekend

2010-03-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

I love it when the weekend comes together and you manage to get all the housework and the grocery shopping and everything out of the way early enough that the rest of the weekend is your's to do with what you want. That's the kind of weekend that I had and I managed to have not 1, but 2, happy dances.

The first is my Hummingbird. I love the way it turned out. The picture doesn't do it any justice AT ALL. It's really quite fetching in real life.

Hummingbird by Island Art, Stitched over 2 on 28 ct. white Jobelan

Second happy dance is my March reindeer ornament, this one is a freebie by Aury stitched over 1.

Reindeer by Aury, stitching over 1 on 28 ct Jobelan

I actually started He's a flake by LHN on Sunday as well and planned on finishing it up today, but after settling in and after about 10 stitches, I didn't feel like stitching tonight. So I packed it all up and will pull it out tomorrow.

TUSAL & Stash enhancement

2010-03-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to have a pic of a happy dance ready for you today, but it didn't happen. Hubby came down with a brutal cold...so I don't know about your husband's...but when mine gets sick...he turns into a whiny sniveling baby, that is convinced that he's going to die any second. ARGH!! So between that and putting drops in Mom's eyes all weekend, it was GREAT!!! but I did manage to get some stitching done, just not enough to finish. I'm hoping though that this week should do it and I'll have my hummingbird finished. Then I'm on to stitching Ornaments, my March reindeer still needs to be stitched and my LHN ornie for this month as well.

But in the meantime....I've put a few more threads into my TUSAL jar. The only threads that were added to it were from my efforts on my hummingbird.

Then I did some shopppppinnnnnngggg! I love it when the mail brings delightful things. The Goode Huswife book has been one that I have been going back and forth on for a year now...and I finally couldn't stand it anymore and I had to get it. There's still another book that I want to get of her's but I'll wait and see on that one. Maybe another year of going back and forth. LOL

Frederika & Frederick are ones that I have been coveting since they've been published as well, so I had to get those ones. There are also a few other ones that I want to get by Carriage House. I need to get the 4 girls. I never thought too much about them until just recently, when I saw them all done up and framed side by side, and fell in love. Thank you very much enablers! You know who you are! LOL

Hola!!!!

2010-03-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

We've been back for 1 1/2 weeks now, I am living in the delusion that we just got home. It helps me get thru the days. It has been a whirlwind of activity since we've been back. We got the call right after we got home that Mom was scheduled for her cataract surgery. WOW...they don't kid around either, the wait is long (almost a year) but when they call on Monday, they said checkup on Wednesday, 1st surgery on Saturday, recheck on Sunday....then they did the second eye today, Wednesday, and then recheck tomorrow morning. So she's got both eyes done now. The one from today is bothering her a little more than the one that they did on Saturday, but it'll be fine. :)

Work of course is crazy, the worst part about going away on holidays is that no one does your job, and the bits that they do aren't done as well. So nothing flows right. So with some overtime, and some organizing, I'm getting caught up and should be by the end of this week. WHEW!

Mexico.....aaaahhhhhh..it was WONDERFUL!!!! We snorkled everyday, sat by the pool every day. We went on two excursions....the first was a day on the boat deep-sea finishing, which was amazing. Hubby thought that he was going to get seasick, but nothing came of it, so that was good. We did land an 89 inch Sailfish. GORGEOUS! I will post pictures soon. I still want to develop our underwater pics from when we were snorkling. And then the second excursion was to Chichen Itza. Also amazing. We are definitely going back next year. We have a couple of other places that we would like to see, and things to do :)

I have managed to stitch since we've been back. Here's a pic of my hummingbird project. I'm hoping to have a good stitching weekend and might even manage to get it finished.

I did some stash shopping as well. I'll post a pic of that too in the next couple of days. I just wanted to write so that you don't start thinking that I abandoned my little blog.

Missed you guys!