IT'S BEEN ONE LONG WEEK

I have never been so happy to get to Friday.  The weeks usually just fly by but this week has been endless.

I couldn't decide what I wanted to stitch on this evening so I closed my eyes and reached into my WIP pile and out came Fern by Nora Corbett.  Here's how she looked when I started on her.

And here's how she looks after a few hours of stitching.

This is what she'll look like when she's done.

Sorry for the crappy pictures, I don't know why the last two have that weird tint to them.

Now I'm tired and calling it a night.  Hope everyone has a great weekend full of stitching!

LOOK WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL!

The LHN chart that I won from Lesli arrived in my mailbox yesterday!  She even added some floss to make it extra special!

Thank you so much Lesli!  I can't wait to get started on it and to use the floss that you sent along with it! 

I will always remember my first win in blogland!!

Happy Stitching!

LOOK WHAT I DID!

On Sunday I pulled out this WIP from my pile

And I turned it into this!

Looks okay right?  Wrong.  Look again, closely this time.  It doesn't have any stuffing in it!  I figured out how to make the pillow top (at least I thought I did) and was so excited when it looked like the picture from the instructions I was following.  The problem happened when I stuffed it as you can see in this pitiful picture.

Can anyone tell me where I went wrong?  I'm determined to make this pillow, but as you can see I'm in need of some serious help!

Is it written anywhere that I have to stuff the thing? It just looks so pretty without the stuffing! LOL

IT'S FINISHED!

I finished Birdhouse Welcome!

Here is the front.

And the back.

This is a design by Joan Elliott.  It's stitched on 14 count white Aida using DMC floss.  I just love all the bright colors and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

That's about it for today. 

Happy Stitching!

WHAT A SURPRISE!

I logged on this morning to find that Pam from One Slow Stitcher had given me this award!  What a surprise!  Thank you so much Pam!!

Here are all the details about the Liebster Blog award:

Liebster is a German word, meaning favorite, dearest or beloved, and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:




1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.


2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.


3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.


4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.


I read so many great blogs so it was really hard to pick just 5 (but a lot of you already have this award) but here are my picks:
1.  Binky from Binkys Stitching and Stuff


2.  The Inspired Stitcher from The Inspired Stitcher


3.  Lana from a Joyful Stitcher


4.  Erica from Bits of My Own


5.  Blue Star Stitcher from Blue Star Stitcher


Now for five random facts that you don't know about me:


1.  I hate to cook.  I cook because we have to eat,
     but I don't enjoy it.


2.  I got married right out of high school at age 18.
     We are still married, going on 28 years now!


3.  I lived in Germany for 18 months when my
     husband was stationed there in the US Army.


4.  I have been to Paris, France.




5.  I can retire in five years with 30 years of service. 
     I will only be 50 years old.

Okay now a question for you, how do I add this award to my blog?  I see other blogs where it's located on the right or left hand side of their blog, but I have no idea how to get it there myself? Help!


Thanks again Pam!


Enjoy your Sunday everyone!

SATURDAY STITCHING PLANS

I'm up at 6:30 on a Saturday, again.  I have three cats that want their breakfast and they pester me relentlessly until I get up and feed them.  The problem is once I'm out of bed, I can't go back to sleep no matter how hard I try.

So since I'm up I may as well get my coffee and start stitching!  It's suppose to rain here today so it will be a good day to sit inside and stitch.  I'm still working on the back stitching for Birdhouse Welcome and I'm almost halfway done with it; I'm hoping to finish it this weekend.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday of stitching too! 

I WON!!

Lesli was have a giveaway and I won!  I was reading blogs on my lunch hour at work and I read that I won a beautiful chart by LHN called Tall Pines!  This is the first time I have won something since I started blogging and I can't wait to start stitching it.

Hop on over to Lesli's blog and check it out!

Happy Stitching!

I'M ALMOST.....

....finished with Birdhouse Welcome.  I hope to start the back stitching in the next day or so.

Thanks for your suggestions on Clancy.  I think I might be able to save him but I'm not sure if I'm going to frame him or send him to someone that knows what they are actually doing for a proper finish.  I have to think about it for a while.

Now off to finish Birdhouse Welcome!

Happy Stitching!

POOR CLANCY.....

...he didn't make it.  Here is a final shot of him.  I can't show you the whole pillow because it's just too painful (and embarrassing!)  The poor guy is misshapen and has holes in all four corners? (can't even understand how that happened).  And you can also see the fabric is different; I destroyed the original fabric I had planned on using.  I may try this finish again one day, but it won't be soon!

In case you are wondering Clancy was in the April 2011 edition of Cross Country Stitching and was designed by Hearts 'n' Stitches.

RIP Clancy.  You deserved so much better then I could give you.

CLANCY NEEDS YOUR HELP.....

...and so do I!  I finished stitching Clancy and I want to make him into a pillow that looks like this one

Trouble is, I don't have a clue how to do it.  Can someone give me EASY TO FOLLOW instructions on how to make a pillow like this?  I have found some instructions on the Internet, but I can't understand them at all!  I'm getting frustrated and I'm afraid Clancy will end up in the finished but not quite finished pile if I can't find some easy to understand instructions.  Any help would be soooo appreciated!





I'M THIS CLOSE.......

...to another finish!

Meet Clancy.

He's enjoying a little catnap. I've been working on him for the last couple of days and should have the back stitching done soon.  I'm not sure how I'm going to finish him yet (my finishing skills are sooo limited) but I know I want to use that cute paw print fabric. I'm thinking maybe a small pillow.

Well the sun is shining here and it's 70 degrees so I think I'm gonna take my stitching outdoors so I can enjoy some sunshine!

Happy Stitching!



 



WEEKEND STITCHING

It was warm in my neck of the woods over the weekend, but I still managed to finish two of my WIP's!

First is A Good Night Santa a Lizzie*Kate design.  I stitched this fat guy up on 14 count natural Aida using DMC floss and the buttons that came with it.

Next is Here Comes Santa Claus, another Lizzie*Kate.  He is stitched on 14 count gold dust Aida with DMC floss and the buttons that came with it.

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish them off yet but I have plenty of time to think about it! 

If you follow my blog long enough you will see that I'm not a seasonal stitcher, I stitch whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it. 

Hope everyone had a great start to their week!

Happy stitching!

FLOSS STORAGE

I spent some time last night reading some wonderful blogs and a lot of them were sharing how they store their floss so I thought I would share too!

These are actually for storage of nuts & bolts but they work perfectly for my entire collection of DMC floss.  I'm also able to store my Kreinik threads in the drawers too.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone and Happy Stitching!!

RICE REALLY DOES WORK!

I put my phone back in the rice last night as one last try to dry it out and it worked!  My phone is back up and working and all is right in the world again!

Now on to more important things.  I pulled this little beauty out of WIP's pile.  It's Circle of Friends by Nora Corbett.  I'm stitching it on 14 count dark khaki Aida using DMC floss, Kreinik thread and Mill Hill beads. 





 I'll put some stitches in it over the next few days before I pick Birdhouse Welcome back up.

It's been a long week and I'm happy to be heading into the weekend and I hope to fill it with lots of stitching!



BIRDHOUSE WELCOME PROGRESS

Here's my progress on Birdhouse Welcome.

I'm going to put this one down for now and work on something else for the next few days.

Well the rice didn't work to dry out my phone; It will turn on now but the screen is frozen.  It will ring and receive text messages but I can't answer it or read the messages because it's frozen.  I'm so mad at myself for not getting the insurance on the phone because now it's going to cost me over $300.00 to replace it.  That could seriously cut into my stash buying!

Off to read some blogs.

Happy Stitching!

BLAH!

What a crappy day.  I dropped my cell phone in my cup of coffee and now it's dead.  I have it in a bag of rice hoping to revive it but I'm not sure if that really works or not. 

Chelle, I have tried to post a comment to your blog but for some reason I can't.  I can type in the comment box but when I hit "publish" it disappears.  Am I doing something wrong?  Help!

No pics today as I'm at work right now but I will try to post my progress on Birdhouse Welcome tomorrow.

Happy Stitching!

DREAMING OF SPRING

Woke up this morning to about an inch of snow. Blah.  I really hate snow but I guess I shouldn't complain since we've had a pretty mild winter here in Ohio.
Still, I'm dreaming of spring and wish it would hurry up already. 

Since I'm in a spring mood, I pulled this out of my WIP pile to work on for the next few days.

It's called "Birdhouse Welcome" by Joan Elliott.  I'm stitching this one on white Aida with DMC floss.  Hopefully I can make some progress on it in the next few days.

Happy Stitching!

A LAZY SUNDY

It's gonna be  lazy Sunday around here today. My house is clean and the laundry is done, nothing left to do but stitch!

Here is March.........

I'm still working on April and I hope to have it done by the 1st but I still have quite of bit of work to do on it so it might not be ready until next April.

Enjoy your Sunday and Happy Stitching!

NEW STARTS

I had a wonderful "Carrie Day" yesterday. I spent it stitching and catching up on my DVR and then my hubby took me out to dinner.  Perfect day.

I wanted to start something new yesterday and I have had these four beautiful fairy's in my stash but I couldn't decide which one to start, so I made a small start on all four! I'm crazy that way.

Aren't they just beautiful?  I only made a small start on them so there are no real progress pics to share just yet.

Well it's back to reality today, must clean up the house and start the laundry. Blah. 

I have to plan another "Carrie Day" very soon!!

Happy Stitching!

IT'S A "CARRIE DAY"


I took the day off work today to have what I like to call "A Carrie Day".  It's a day for me.  A day of doing whatever I want, which for me means a day of stitching.  No house cleaning, no cooking, no laundry, just stitching! 

Here is "February" by Waxing Moon.  Again, I stitched it on 14 count oatmeal Aida using DMC floss.



And here is the back.

Now off to get another cup of coffee and start my "Carrie Day". 

Happy Stitching!



LET THE BLOGGING BEGIN!

Happy March Everyone!  It's day one of my goal to blog everyday this month.  Today I want to share my January Sampler by Waxing Moon Designs.  It's stitched on 14 count oatmeal Aida using DMC floss.  As I share my stitching, you'll notice that I only stitch on Aida.  I have never stitched on linen because I'm really intimidated by it.  I just can't seem to get over my fear but I'm happy stitching on Aida so I guess that's all that matters!

Here is the front of "JANUARY"

And here is the backing fabric that I used.  There is a dowel rod with a ribbon tied to it so I can hang it from a hook I have on a shelf in my living room.  My pictures are not the greatest, but you get the idea.

I have purchased all 12 of these designs by Waxing Moon and I have finished January, February and March so far.  Tomorrow I'll share February with you.

Happy Stitching!