An overhaul

Hi all! It's been awhile. I've had to fix a few things, hence my title. I had to change the two emails that were connected to this blog, comments went to one email and comment moderation went to another. It was that second one that was giving me problems. My family and friends started calling me asking what was going on with the emails I was supposedly sending. After they told me what kinds of emails they were getting from me, I had a feeling my email account got hacked or something. It definitely wasn't me sending them this stuff. How terrible. My iPad email is through iCloud and I ended up having to cancel it and then make another. In iPad alone I couldn't find a way to change this email. I had to search for instructions on how to do this. I did it and then ended up wiping out my Notes among other apps, where I had important things typed down, recipes that sounded good. What a pain but I now have a new email. The other email account that sent me your comments I had to change also because of all the spam I started getting. Around July is when all that crap started. I never used to get all that before so I was befuddled. That took a phone call to Centurylink that lasted an hour just to lose the old email and establish a new. Viola, no 6 or 7 spam emails a day like before. Unfortunately it means that if any of you have a personal question for me, you'll have to communicate with me through the comment section on this blog and I'll send you my email. If you comment on my blog, I'll respond right underneath your comment. It sucks to have to go this route. I hope none of you received any awful messages or emails, I want you to know I would never do that. Its seems that not only do you have to be aware of normal things like locking your doors, and strange cars parked in the neighborhood, but you have to be careful of things on the World Wide Web and people who don't have anything better to do than mess with people's lives. I really don't know sometimes. So what did I learn after this fiasco? Change those passwords on your emails often!

I also overhauled how and what I stitch. I think I was stressing out over all these ornaments that I stitched and needed finishing. I quit stitching on them after deciding that the world wasn't going to fall apart if I didn't get these ornaments finished. So now all I'm going to stitch on are my WIPs, the big ones. When I feel like finishing up an ornament, I'll do that. I'm joining no SALs in 2016 and I'm pulling out of another that I tentatively said I would join. Would you like to see what I picked up after my new way of stitching? Here is Winter Wind by PSS, all finished..

This design is found in the Jan/Feb 2011 JCS issue. Fitting for the crazy weather we're having here. It has snowed almost every weekend and for a couple of days the high temps never climbed higher than 40 degrees. But back to this pretty design...I had some reservations over the colors of the snowflakes. Timber? Stepping Stones? All Classic Colourworks but after looking at it after I ironed it, it works! It's very pretty and I'm glad I picked it back up. All I had before was a few snowflakes on the left and 3/4 of the house. It's on 36ct quicksilver linen by Lakeside. Here's another angle..

I love houses, labor intensive but worth it!

I also finished my Fleur d'Orleans by Ink Circles before my about-face, lol!

The fabric is much more whiter than the picture. I used DMC and 32ct antique white linen. Now that I look at it, something's missing..like beads maybe? I'll have to go back and look at the chart, ha.

My daughter and I headed to Las Vegas the first weekend of December. We took my new ride and it drove perfectly. We stayed at the Venetian and wow, what a lovely room!

Two queen beds, a sitting area, a gorgeous bathroom. I was quite content to ignore the sights and just stay in that room! There was also a well-stocked mini fridge..

Next to the lime Powerade at the bottom left was a bottle of Moët Chandon Champagne...ooooh! But! If you lifted anything in this refrigerator for more than two seconds, you got charged for it! If we didn't use anything, $100 was credited back to me. Whew! I told my daughter to not touch anything! The Venetian was super nice and we discovered there was a Carlo's Bakery inside, you know, the Cake Boss? We finally found it but there was a huge line of people and I wasn't up to waiting. I really wanted cannolis though. Shucky darn! Also inside is a short canal where you can take a Gondola ride, high end stores like Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Ralph Lauren, etc. we also found macarons

I really wasn't impressed. Somewhat dry I thought. Maybe in France they would taste better!

Well, that's it in a nutshell. I almost gave up blogging after my email account problems. I decided that I like doing this though so I'll continue for a bit. I'm also trying to limit myself on blog reading! It's hard but I can sit for 3, 4 hours on a weekend morning reading blogs and that is doing me no good as I'm ignoring housework, and being a slob. I did this with my Facebook also as I was spending a lot of time on it. I just need to move it! Move it!

This is certainly turning into a novel! But I have a couple more pictures for you, all season appropriate, lol!

Ignore the man! This tree used to be a bush. It's just a juniper that's in the median of I 17 between Flagstaff and Phoenix, AZ. Twenty-some years ago, someone began sneaking out there to decorate this bush for Christmas. Well this is what it look like now. It's grown and the ornaments have gotten bigger. The highway patrol has not been able to catch anyone decorating the tree so it continues on. We're glad of it!

Downtown Prescott, AZ. my hometown. As you can see it snowed! And we're supposed to have a white Christmas too, but after that it can melt! Haha.

I wanted to come back and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm glad you all haven't absconded and that I still have followers! Take care.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi all!

I'm ready for Thanksgiving! Are you? I had one stop to make for sour cream and I am done.

I thought I would show the two Christmas stitching that I knocked out in two days. Yeah, it didn't take long!

Ho Ho Ho freebie by Pineberry Lane and Peace Bird by Rosewood Manor found in the JCS 2012 Ornament issue.

Last weekend I did have a finish finish, Joy to the World

Please ignore everything in the background! This design is also found in the 2012 JCS ornie magazine. The back fabric is the same as the bottom and trimmed with that big chunky chenille, and finished off with the kind of metallic gold bow and three tiny rusty bells. I feel like I make an awful lot of flat ornaments so now I'm going to concentrate on pillows for a bit!

I thought I'd throw in a Halloween finish, you know I've got to!

This is Waiting from the 2012 Halloween JCS issue. See?! Flat ornament! Haha. The same ribbon used for the bow I used for the trim. Then I attached the Mill Hill bat charm on the moon. It's just a tiny thing!

I mentioned snow in Arizona some posts back so I thought I would put up a couple pictures! This is my driveway, lol

Once that sun comes out, it's byebye snow! It was gone by noon. And those of you who have been to Jerome, the ghost town, which is on the other side of the mountain from me, here ya go!

The Jerome Grand Hotel at the top center is said to be haunted. You have to be on a waiting list to stay there Halloween night. The hotel was a former hospital and my 73 year old aunt was born there. So there you have it! Snow in AZ. Also, you can drive two hours east and north to go skiing! And no the tourism board here is not paying me:))

I'm off to have another slice of pizza! My efforts to lose a few pounds is on hiatus!

Happy Thanksgiving! May the day be filled with food, family, and fun!

Post Frolic, An Apple a Day, and a finish

Morning!

I am returned from the Dead! I think this might be a quote from a book or something, not sure! It applies to my stitching and blogging mojo, there was nothing, nada, zilch. I stitched enough to have one finish which is below. So I joined the Kitten Stitching and Friday Frolics SAL to jump start my mojo and to remind myself to stitch with FNSI which is always on the 3rd Friday. Well, I forgot FNSI AGAIN! But I remembered the Frolic and here's what I stitched..

Halloween Revelry by the Primitive Needle and stitched for the Sept./Oct. 2009 JCS issue. Here's where I was last time..

This is a Crazy project and so I would love to have it finished before this Halloween but at 40ct fabric, I don't think that's happening!

An Apple a Day. Part of the problem was working on my apples..

I have them completely blanket-stitched and now just have to blanket stitch the base, the round circle, and then attach the apples to the base. It was relaxing to stitch on the apples while bingeing on Longmire! 

Over at the PS SAL, I had this finish, in case some of you hadn't seen it..

It's from the unnamed card but I'm calling it Queen Bee. Took me all of a few hours, the only stitching in the 18 days between posts. This will be a gift. I have some ideas for the FF (Final Finish) of it.

I also finished the item for the Exchange that Dixiesamplar is hosting. I have to the 23rd or 24th to get the whole kaboodle into the mail and sent off. Just glad Terri hooked me up with a fellow countryman or woman! I have a few more things to buy for the package and a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy supplies for the finishing for the Exchange item will be today. So I'm going to be a busy bee today!

Next week, I'm announcing a Halloween Giveaway. I love Halloween as I'm sure most of you know! I've been collecting things through the year and am making two of the items in addition to other stuff. It's more like a Prim kind of Halloween. There won't be any laughing pumpkins or things like that. It'll be great! So if you like/love Halloween, be sure to check these pages out next week. I'm doing it early so the winner can display the items early enough.

Luckily, most of of the things are exempt under SFS rules!

Glad you could stop in. Welcome to the new Bloglovin' followers. Hope me and my stitching are interesting enough! Lol. Take care!

Gone around the bend, a detour

Hi all!

Yup, I've gone around the bend. In the last week, I've signed up for a Fall/Halloween exchange and two, yes 2, SALs! The exchange hosted by Terri from Dixiesamplar, and the SALs are the Prairie Schooler and the Americana hosted by Kaye of Kitten Stitching. I would put up links but they don't work so well on this app on my iPad. Now, I haven't stitched up a whole lot of PS but since hearing they are retiring, I had to join in on the fun. As soon as I can, I'll add to my stash some PS.

I took a detour recently. Here she is..

The Black-Hearted Queen by sub-rosa. Here's a better picture of the color of the fabric I used..

Here's a commercial for DixieSamplar fabrics, unpaid of course! But because I love her fabrics! This is 28ct Vintage River Rocks. I also made some changes to the pattern: red lips, a different neckline. I knocked this out in a weekend. 

So, I've been tackling some long time WIPs and put in a few more stitches on this one..

This is Pumpkins & Sunflowers from a Cross Stitch & Needlework magazine. It's taking on a life since the last time I stitched on it..

October 11th of last year is the last time I stitched on it. To the left of the sunflower is a ginormous pumpkin taking shape. You can see a leaf above it and the stalk. I'm looking forward to it because it's one color of orange!

I haven't stitched a whole bunch in the last week. It's been pretty warm here and it just sucks the life outta you! 

I'm off. Just finished watching the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies on TV. It always ushers in football season and the start of cooler weather around here. I am so ready for Fall! 

Thanks for stopping by! See you around the 15th!

Do the Happy Dance!

Hi all!

I did it! I finished Salem Sisters some time last week. Take a look..

Love it! I believe it is stitched on 35 or 36 ct Havana. If you look at the previous post of Sisters, the fabric color is more true there. Stitched with Classic Colourworks thread. That row of kitty heads and their whiskers took some doing but it wouldn't be the same without them. That last word 'swangin' brings to mind a country western song some years back that had that word as the title. Can anyone remember the singer? Heehee. Fire up that Google! I may have something for the first person to supply the singers' name in the comment section.

After I was done with Sisters, I picked up a couple WIPs to work on. Here's a long standing one, Blackwater Hollow Sampler..

I can't seem to get a good pic of this. It's by Stacy Nash Primitive Designs. Here's what I had last time..

March 1st is when I last worked on Blackwater, for short. I would love to have this finished this year sometime.

Without a Mouse by BBD is the next WIP I picked up..

I've been working away on that pumpkin house. When I get bored with all that dark color, I work on the lettering on the left side. Here's the before picture..

I put in that row in January! Actually, I've stitched a little since then. I recently updated my iPad and now my pictures are all dated which is neat but also points out the last time some of my stitching has been touched! BTW, this last picture shows the actual color of the fabric.

That's it for now! I see Teri of DixieSampler will be holding her Halloween exchange again this year. I'll be joining that again. She will have details on her blog August 1st or thereabouts. 

It's hard to believe it's almost the middle of July. This is when I start thinking Where has the year gone?! Five months to Christmas, 3 to Halloween. I have quite a few Christmas ornaments but no Halloween. That's crazy says this Halloween fanatic! But I do have Salem Sisters!😀

I'm off to poke around in my WIP pile. I found bulbs for my stitching light so I'm back to evening stitching. Take care y'all and come on back now, ya hear! (Watched Hee Haw earlier today!)

Some progress, some stash

Hi all!

Here we are on the cusp of another 4th of July, in the halfway point of the year. It has been hot here which explains my header picture! Last week before our Monsoon rains came in with a bang, the temps had been around the high 90s. It was just torture! So I thought I'd put up a picture of something cold. This isn't where I live. It looks like it may be the Swiss Alps maybe?! I don't know but it feels great to see that.

So onto progress..

Salem Sisters by PSS, my evening stitch. I haven't stitched on her because my pole lamp I use for stitching busted its last bulb Sunday and I haven't been able to find the bulbs. Since I've begun my 5 day weekend today, I'll be putting in some more kitty heads which makes up the border on the bottom. I'm almost done! This will be my 13th DUCJ/FSAL finish. Yay!

Here's where Sisters was before..

My summer stitch is this, Bee in Your Bonnet..

This will be so pretty when it's done. I had to make a change to the light over dyed thread. Chart called for GAST Oatmeal but it pretty much disappeared into the fabric. So I hauled out every light colored over dyed thread I had and guess what worked? Good ole' DMC Blanc! All it's for is the trim around the crown and the honeycomb one of which is being stitched there at the bottom of Bonnet. Love the colors going in here in this section. Below is what I had before..

Here's my very first start of DUCJ/FSAL. I just recently picked the poor thing back up. Here's where I'm at now..

This is Ambiance Automnale by Danybrod. It finally got it's very first ironing. I believe the fabric is Sandcastle maybe or something like that. I really like the splotches of pinkish/beige color. So I've made some changes on this. The crows body took black and light gray DMC. I'm using GAST Black Crow, appropriate, huh?! His beak is steel gray DMC. The orangey flowers which may be Bittersweet? got their own change from DMC which I didn't have, to an overdyed thread of some kind, can't remember! The witchy boot will be black DMC, see below on the chart. Last time I stitched on this I had just the crows head. So there's been progress!

Well, I up and joined Stitch from Stash 2015-B, which started on the 1st. I'll try and make it to December this year! I liked the idea of earning virtual $$. It's nice incentive to finish more. The past two months I hadn't bought any stitchy stuff. Yay for me, until the last week of June when it looked like I wouldn't have any patriotic stitching done. I tend to stitch a lot of Easter, Halloween and Christmas things. I don't have any patriotic charts so I bought this chart..

I saw this when it first came out and just thought Wow, that's a lot of stitching on that whale! But looking at it a second time, that whale really grows on you! I've found some patriotic freebies here and there, with the help of Frances and her Independence tree. I'll be prepared next year! 

That's pretty much it! Those 3 WIPs I have next to my stitching corner of the couch (I've put in a big hole here. A new couch is in order, I think!) and they're the ones I've been working on lately. I'll continue my search for bulbs for my stitching lamp in the meantime!

Happy 4th to all you Americans! Have a nice weekend to those of you who aren't! Thanks for stopping by!

Big and little finishes, and more

Greetings from a blustery sunny day in Arizona!

I just couldn't wait for the 15th to show off my bigger finish-Fancey in all her glory!

Fancey Blackett's Brooms by Pineberry Lane, on 30ct WDW Beige linen, stitched with DMC. She was a lot of fun but I'll tell you, those corn tassels were a pain! I made a few mistakes with them but its hard to tell and I'm calling it done! And i just noticed I forgot a stitch! I was moseying about at the 123Stitch site and saw two other Fancey charts. I can envision a whole Fancey wall! Hopefully the designer will keep on with Fancey Blackett.

My next finish is my 6th Crazy start/finish..

Hats off to Halloween by LizzieKate. So cute! The buttons came with the kit. 

And here's the 7th finish..Joy to the World, an ornament from the 2012 JCS issue..

Looking at this this way, I can now see that North America is noticeable with South America at the bottom right and my area is in browns. When I was stitching Earth, I couldn't tell what was what. I'm pretty sure you can see the Great Lakes too. It was all fun and games after stitching Earth!

I stashed again! It's getting out of hand, my spending. I see the first section of Stitch from Stash is about to end; I may throw in for the second portion. But anyway, here's my new stuff..

In the Pines I bought from my favorite ONS and the other three were bought from a blogger who was downsizing.

I finally bought some fabric for my Red Velvet project..

The fabric is 28ct Brandied Apple that I bought from an eBay store. It's much cheaper than the Picture this Plus fabric the chart calls for. I saved at least $30 buying something different. The color is a little off as there is more a red tone to it. I'm in the SAL called Glendon Place Amazing Desserts. I didn't bother posting for it April 15th since all I had was the chart and silks. July 15th is the next posting date for this SAL so I'll have some stitching to show then.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! I'm watching the 3rd season of Longmire on Netflix right now. The new season starts this summer on Netflix so I'm getting reacquainted. I noticed MASH is on Netflix too, the whole 11 seasons! I'll check that out soon too.

Have a great week everyone!

Gifted Gorgeousness April, Finishes

Where do I begin?! I feel like I've been gone forever!

So it's GG time. GG is a year long SAL hosted by Jo of Serendipitous Stitcher fame. We stitch on fabric, use threads, kits, charts, etc. that have been gifted to us. 

 So here's Fancey and what I've done with her..

And before...

Wish I could get a better shot of the color of this fabric. It's Beige from WDW. This is Fancey Blackett's Brooms. I feel like I could have her finished by this time next month. She has to be pretty happy to get her red lips!

I was a recent winner of a giveaway from Frances from Symphony of Stitches and here's what I received..

Love all the PS! Whoo's There? in the upper right will be my next Gifted Gorgeousness start once I'm   finished with Fancey. Thanks again, Frances!

Don't you love this guy? Or girl! Can't tell! I had two Sheepy finishes though, woohoo!

On the left is Blackie Pincushion by Homespun Elegance. This thing is tiny. I can't remember what count the fabric is but the whole thing is a little over 2" across. It's one of my Crazy starts and finishes. Yay! I can't remember what the sheep on the right is called or who the designer is. I was stitching on it before the start of the Crazyness and put it aside. Didn't have much to do to it and now it's done! 

And miraculously, I had another finish and its yet another Homespun Elegance!

This is Holiday Samplings II and it's also a Crazy start. Don't look to closely at my version of French knots around the holly leaves! I don't do French knots, these are just knots! Too bad the color of the fabric didn't come in very good. It's a Terri from Dixiesamplar hand dye and its darker than this picture and has a great feel to it, like silk. It was great to stitch on.

And I bought a chart, a big one. I had to print out 26 pages of chart and instructions and even ran out of printer ink. It's from a lady called Diana70 on Etsy. I don't know how I came to be on Etsy. I have bought stuff from there but kind of traded that for Pinterest. So here it is..

This is Romantic Castle, a pdf. I haven't looked at how much DMC it will take, too scared! But I love castles. It was only $6-something! I have some plans about next years stitching, like doing a couple big charts with Castle being one of them. Because, you know, I plan to stitch every single chart I have this year. One can dream!

I'm off to jump on my exercise bike. I'm in the middle of overtime at work again and my brain is tired. Which is why I can't remember a darn thing! 

I've got to say a big Thank You for all your great comments last post about my bunnies. 28 or 29 comments. It was great!

I think that's it, can't remember! Take care all!

Bunnies Galore and a winner!

Can you guess what I spent my morning doing?

Yup! I finish finished up a few things. I started last weekend on this one..

Harvest 1823 is one of my Crazy starts and finish. I planned this as I went! No real idea on how to finish but I'm happy with the result. I wanted to fill this with lizard sand but forgot to use fusible lining on the linen section. Oh well.

Also last weekend, I finally gave Dream Big some attention..

I had a marathon session with this. You know how it is..you smell a finish coming on and stay up late to get it finished! I had to look back in my posts to find when I started this and that was just last year. Not too bad. But today, here's what I did with it..

Eeeeeee!! I'm just in love with it. I attached white ric rac to the sides and pins that somewhat matched the hearts and the sun. I didn't put any beads at the bottom because I'm buying an easel for it. At the top is a funny beige ribbon. Here's another side..

Hope it's not too blurry. I believe the designer is CCN, Country Cottage Needleworks. It's very cute. 

And here's Happy Bunny Bunny Day by the Trilogy. I started this last year, finished it, and left in on the unfinished pile until now..

Love how it turned out. I wanted to bring out the color of the heart so sewed in the hand dyed ric rac. I made up new cuss words sewing that ric rac to the dark green fabric! I spent more time ripping out seams than actual sewing. Sheesh. I like the look of it though! I only added two buttons instead of the six it called for. Finished it all off with the ivory-ish chenille trim. 

My other 'bunny' design is an unknown freebie. Just a tiny thing, I added the grass, the sun peeking from the corner, his tail, and more flower. Here it is with the other bunnies!..

I'm done! Two Saturdays in a row of finishing...whew! I just found out this morning that Easter is April 2nd, so this is my Easter/Spring contribution.

Time to announce the winner of the magazine and fabric and that would be...

Congrats Jacquie! Email me at campbo41@q.com to give me your mailing address. By the way, can you all let me know if I'm a no reply blogger? Frances gave me a head up on it. I went and tweaked a few things and I'm not sure if its fixed.

Thanks for coming by! Have a wonderful rest-of-the-weekend!