News, new start, FFO and more

Hi everyone! I feel like I've been MIA for awhile. Just been stitching! Hope you're all doing well, maybe starting to thaw out there on the East coast and in the upper Midwest. We actually had a cold front come through and left snow on the mountain tops and then the next day, right back to 60 degrees. Just crazy weather, I tell ya.

I have good news, not so good news, a new start, an FFO, and more. First I want to respond to some comments left on the last post. For those of you new here, I have to disconnect my email from my blog because of the amount of trash email I get when I do connect. So this is how I respond. Here we go:

Barb, this is your year to start Jack's Bash. I just know it. It will always be my best finish ever.

DebbieSFL, glad you're doing the Class Schedule. I have the table stitched but deciding on a color

   for Ron's half Scabbers and half goblet! 

Kay, glad to hear your new stash has made it out to you!

Linda, hope you are feeling better!

Honeybee, I have seen the Christmas version of Spirits and Spells and it's great. They stitch up fast

   as pictured below.

Some good news-I won the Mani di Donna contest!! Here's my ornament...

Couldn't believe it! I keep my iPad on my bedside table and grab it first thing in the morning before I have gotten out of bed. I opened it and saw a notification of a fellow contestant saying 'congrats to the winners'. So I thought oh Simona must've picked the winners. So I looked and there was my name for 1st place! I'm one of these people who couldn't buy her way in to win something! I smiled all day long!

She messaged me this morning to pick out some of her charts from her website to spend up to 50 euros which comes out to about $59 and change US. That was fun, haha. Can't wait to get it all.

I am home from work with Mr. Vertigo. I could feel it coming on early this morning and boom! sure enough, there he is. All the usual nausea, and dizziness. Vertigo is kind of chronic for me. It has gotten less severe than the first 7 years since 2004. I still have to lay down and get up out of bed s l o w l y. Something else that has been bugging me are my shoulders and right arm. I stitch a lot and I think it's now catching up with me. I am stitching but have to quit after awhile. Right now it's not aching so after I'm done here I'll stitch a bit.

I also have 2 finishes, yay! The first two of 2018..

Spirits & Spells by Brenda Gervais. I love Brenda Gervais! A fast stitch on 36ct Confederate grey. Her hair called for CC Muddy something, can't recall, which I didn't have so I used WDW Pewter. She's 1" bigger overall using 36ct than the 40ct called for. Ignore the redness, I think it's there because of the red sweatshirt I had on when I took the picture. I may look for some kind of oval box to put her on.

My next finish is Souvenir de France, a freebie by Blackbird Designs..

On a mystery scrap of linen with Belle Soie Poison Apple. Here is the fabric to go with. I'll probably make a flat ornament out of it. It's my plan to stitch Souvenir once a month using my scrap fabric and backing fabric. I think the fabric is Natural Light. It was very stiff.

I found that fabric on Etsy. It's so pretty. I think it's half a yard for a very good price. I have a floss, backing fabric and linen for each of these Souvenir's to stitch. In February I'll stitch this again but on a different fabric and with a different floss.

After I finished Spirits and Spells I started this..

From the 2014 JCS Halloween issue and here is where I'm at..

I have had this kitted up since 2014! I'm mired down in the yellow so I jump around to black and then back again. Saves my sanity! I'll stitch this for the rest of January.

As for the Class Schedule SAL, I have January's portion stitched in but deciding which color for Ron's half Scabbers half goblet. Some people have totally modified the pattern in that first block and changed the colors of the Scabbers/goblet and Professor McGonagle as the cat. I will try to stick to most of what the designer has down.

Now I have an FFO..

The FFO bug has gone missing but on a whim I created this. The stitch is from a JCS Christmas ornament issue, probably 2015. I ran a running stitch through the fabric and pulled it, added stuffing, then glued the cording around the top. Then added the bow to hide the join and added the bells on fishing line. Half of the time I have no plan in place doing these things and just keep adding as I go. It turned out alright as a last minute FFO! 

Also, Terri/Dixiesamplar is taking sign ups for the Easter/spring exchange. They close tomorrow if anyone is interested. On FB search dixiesamplar's exchange group, be sure to use the A and not E for samplars. I'm waffling over joining this one because I really like what I've been stitching on lately. 

I'm awaiting a package from Stitching bits and bobs, on a back ordered chart, as usual. You all might know that the USPS raised their rates again. Well, the above ONS uses only Priority Mail to mail your purchases. I took issue with the $7.00 shipping cost for one medium sized chart and two skeins of floss! Yup, I emailed her to find out why. She said her store has been absorbing the recent postal rate raises and now she can't be doing that all the time. I don't know what's going to happen when it gets to be too expensive to have anything mailed. I did not ask Bobbie if she would mail First Class on request which would've cost me about $3.50-4.00 if using First Class mail. I don't know if all ONS's mail Priority but it might be a good thing to ask if there is a cheaper way to ship.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Feeling horrible so I'll wrap this up. I hope you've all avoided getting the flu going around. Sounds bad. My daughter has been a little sick. A coworker was sick and they sent him home. 

Got to say Welcome to the new followers with Bloglovin'. The more the merrier! Hope you stick around for awhile! I have a little giveaway planned, just a little chart like Heart in Hand or another. I did some organizing in my craft corner and found that with the bird button for it. I was going to do it here but just not feeling good. So look for that next time. I'm hoping my contest winnings come soon but since Simona is in Italy, that could take a couple of weeks. That's okay, time is all I have! 

Take care all! Thanks for stopping by!