Ornament SAL, plans for the new year, etc.

I'm just now getting over my Holiday Hangover. I did receive two things from my Wish List-5 pairs of those plush socks, and slippers! Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Here's the last ornament as part of the Ornament SAL



This is a freebie from an unknown designer. Not sure of the count of the linen. This took me all of two days to stitch and that's in between going to work and doing normal household chores. It's a quick stitch.

I also started and finished this



Peace by Erica Michael. On 28ct linen with overdyes. I started this up Christmas Day after everyone left for their homes. I'm seeing a door hanger with this one, flat or stuffed with wire for the hanger, rusty bells at the bottom, hmm....

I've been lining up all my WIPs and new starts for next year, and finding patterns to pair up with all these small cuts of fabric I have. Peace and Merry Christmas are stitched on fabric that I've had forever. I have a bad habit of buying fabric and forgetting what I bought it for! Now that I'm 'Stitching From Stash', I need to use up some of these pieces.

I'm really excited about getting my stash down to a manageable pile and having extra money to use on really important things like, oh you know, bills!

Here's another of my Turtle Trot stitching



Haha, I don't know what I've done with the magazine and graph for this. This won't be the first time I've misplaced a graph! Aaaand....I misplaced another one and this time it's both the magazine and fabric! I have some excavating to do:),

Here's all of my 10 new starts for 2014! Starting with this one below. After that-who knows?!



No intro needed! I live by this LK motto!


School Days by La D Da in the October 2003 issue of JCS. This is a subscription I had and this design has been a I-Wanna-Stitch all this time!


LK's Snowy Day, part of the 6 Fat Men series.


Cutest PSS design, found in JCS Jan/Feb. '11. Need more CC though.


Hornbook Angel



Dear House, waiting on fabric


No intro needed!


Blackwater Hollow Sampler by Stacy Nash


Celtic Bird by The Sunflower Seed. I may use a lighter fabric for this one. And this, number 10, Christmas and Halloween ornaments



See all those blue markers? It's my goal to stitch every one of those ornaments, Christmas or Halloween! There are some bigger designs in the two Halloween-only magazines also. Woohoo! I'm looking forward to New Years Day!

Don't forget to click on the pictures. From my vantage point on this iPad, my pictures are small and kinda blurry. So when I click on them, they appear larger and not blurry. They may look different if you're using a PC or laptop.

See my header picture? The new season of Downton Abbey starts the 5th of January! I'm so excited!

Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Lots of things going on in 3 days, new starts, revisiting some neglected projects. On a personal level, get in shape, take care of my finances, and a new outlook on life!

Take care, you all! I appreciate your comments and visits!




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Ornament SAL October, The Giveaway That Almost Wasn't!, and progress

Helloooo!

Here's my ornament for October






I have misplaced the printed freebie chart. For the life of me, I can't remember who designed this. Maybe some of you know. I stitched it on 32ct ivory linen with WDW Louisiana Hot Sauce and I love that color. I thought it would look great against the ivory linen. Then I used a Kreinik fiber, the shiny colorful stuff, for the dots on the I's. They don't sparkle in the picture though. Don't forget to click on the pictures for better looks. This stitched up in just a couple days.

The Giveaway That Amost Wasn't, hmm. For starters, some of the items never made it to me until almost a whole month. I mention that in my last post, I think! And then two of the packages sat in my post office for a couple days because I made some mistakes on the packaging and the kind of postage I put on them and the clerks didn't notify me of the problem until 2 days later. On a side note: my local post office is trying to single-handedly save the USPS from going down the pipes and therefore, catch everyone on tiny mistakes that mean the difference between 1 cent and 0.50. Whatever floats their boat! Okay, rant over, onward!

I finally sent off everyone their Giveaway winnings and Diana let me know she got hers. Since she doesn't have a blog, I'll show you what I sent and made for her. She picked Halloween



Btw, she's the nicest person! I sent the Book of Days needlework calendar for 2014, the Halloween Silhouette pattern with a skein of silk and the linen that is below the scissors, the Halloween fabrics, the D needleminder, the scary scissors, scary DMC colors, and the Mystifying Mints in that great Ouija board tin, and






This is the Eliza An Pinkeep from the Merry Hallowe'en book of pin keeps by Stacy Nash, made into a flat ornament. I finished it off with the spider charm, the pretty fabric for the backing, and black trim. Diana liked it all. Thanks Diana, for visiting. I'm just glad it made it to her in time for Halloween!

Moral to the story-Give gift certificates! Lol. I really did enjoy making the flat ornaments though; could do without the drama!

I've been stitching and here's a new start



Love this! It called for 40ct but I'm using 36ct flax and the called for threads. I'll make it into a pillow and trim it with a dark brown chenille that I have. I just finished the cookie.

And here's Home by Pineberry Designs



Looking more like a home! I didn't read directions and am using 2 strands of the Toasted Marshmallow when it called for 1 strand. I'm hoping I don't run out of Toasted Marshmallow!

As for Mary's Sampler from PSS, I only stitched two angels. There's more to stitch this time around I've noticed! So no picture of Mary.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Thanks, everyone, for stopping in and leaving a comment. Hope those of you who do Halloween, have a real spooky one, watch some scary movies. To those who don't, have a Happy Autumn Thursday!



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Blingin' Downton Abbey!

Speaking of Downton Abbey, did you know that the new season comes out sometime in January? Can't wait! I love that show! It's been gone for almost a whole year. Deadliest Catch is like that in that the show comes back on in April and ends in July and then the wait begins.:(

I'm making inroads with finishing all my ornaments and small stuff. Remember Downton Abbey? Well here she is, all blinged out!









Designed by The Sampler Girl, I chose my own fiber colors for this. I checked out Vonna's tutorial for the flat ornament, and since I haven't figured out how to put a link on here that'll connect you right away, here's the address http://tts-learntofinish.blogspot.com/2011/10/flat-ornament.html. Thanks Vonna! Anyway, my confidence doing the flat ornament has gone up exponentially! And now I just want to flat-ornament everything!! So I'm trying to use fabric that I have already, and this fabric I thought could match the silk that I used for the words. Then I prettied it up with the trim, made the small bow and attached it with the gold pin on top. It's pretty!

Diana, Ann, and Myra, you'll be happy to know that the Giveaway packages you've been patiently waiting for will be in the mail Tuesday! Yay! My gosh, that ONS I ordered from took forever. I emailed them and asked about my order, and on this past Friday, it arrived. It took a month. I was disappointed in how they packaged it up though. They took a loose piece of bubble wrap and put everything in it, didn't try to tape it up and when I got it, half of the things were in the mailer and the other half rolled up in the bubble wrap. Their website says they answer their emails in 48 hours, but I never got an answer. I'm liking the Inspired Needle and 123Stitch more and more! They do a great job.

I thought I'd show my glue-smooshing technique to stick the back and front of an ornament together



What do you think? Lol! Top to bottom: a five pound weight, broken 3 lb. weight, a book of the best poems, a Harry Potter book, and An Echo in The Bone by Diana Gabaldon! Below all that is the ornament! Haha. All amongst the chaos that is known as my crafting table. It does the job!

Here's my stitching on Mary's Sampler by PSS




So since it looks like Diana doesn't have a blog, I've taken a picture of the ornament I made for her and the goodies. I'll wait for her to receive her package and then I'll post pictures. I forgot to take pictures of Myra's and Ann's prizes but they may post pictures on their blogs.

I think that's it. Today is the last day of my 3-day weekend, back to work tomorrow, and I've got laundry to do. Not to mention my new favorite show is on tonight, Sleepy Hollow. It's almost Halloween too. Bwahahhah!

Thanks for stopping in!



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August Ornament SAL-Under Construction!

Hello!

Here's my ornament for August. Be sure to click on the pictures for a better look.



This is what I mean about Under Construction! This is Black Cats Trick Or Treat by The Sweetheart Tree. Stitched on 28ct Tropical Orange linen. I love that color! It reminds me of Orange Sherbet ;) As you can see, I'm turning it into a flat ornament. That corner of fabric there at the right is the back of this thing. It has black cats on it. This was a limited kit that came out after the last Market back in February or March. All that backstitching was a bit intense though but it turned out nice. I'll have a picture up after I'm done putting it together.

I have another finish! Man, I'm just a stitching machine!



Buttons Black is done! Love the witch with her green skin and her dress which is GAST Walnut-Simply Shaker. The Walnut color reminds me of old barnwood with light pinkish tones, well to me anyway!

So my stitching plans for September are biting the bullet on my Trot WIPs, starting some small stuff like LizzieKate and JBW, and finishing the pile of UFOs I've got. Wish me luck!

Thanks, everyone, for your comments! And a big WELCOME to my 99th follower! Giveaway time when I hit 100 followers! I was supposed to have one for my 100th post and pfftt....forgot.



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Ornament SAL May

Here's my ornament for May

From LizzieKate. This can be found on their website under 'Free Charts'. On 32ct cream linen with over-dyed threads. Except the green area around the W and that's DMC.

From here on out I'm stitching nothing but Halloween & Christmas ornaments. We're just about half way through the year, ladies (and the stray man or men!!)!!

That word sums up the hectic last couple weeks we've had. Two weeks ago my 9 year old computer gave up the ghost. I lost all the pictures, music, tax returns that I saved to my computer, and a bunch of other stuff that one saves. Luckily, I printed all my tax returns. The next computer I buy, which is way off in the future, I'm making sure I backup and do all that I'm supposed to. I'm using my IPad to write this and upload pictures. Instead of uploading from my computer, I now upload to Picasa and then upload to here. Whew!

On a good hectic note, my daughter graduated! From high school. The hectic part came to play when it was discovered she was short 3 credits. So she pulled some all-nighters (stay up ALL night), and made the effort on online classes to get caught up. I'm very proud of her.

I'm closing in on yet another finish from my Turtle Trot list, yay! I got totally bored with all the WIPs and started something new which I'll have a picture of at TUSAL time. Starting something new really gave me a second wind. On the other hand, I've failed miserably with the LHN Sheep Virtues. I stitched the border of LOVE and promptly went onto something else. And I'm getting those patterns on auto, so you'd think I'd be motivated to stitch them-NOT!!!!

I've gotta run. Take care everyone. Welcome to Anne for becoming my 92nd follower! Thanks for your comments last post-I enjoyed reading them. Poppies was the WIP some of you especially liked. That's the WIP that has a few stitches left to go!

My April '13 Ornament

This will be a quick post because it's bedtime!

Downton Abbey freebie designed by The Sampler Girl. Can't wait for the next season of this show! I used Belle Soie silks from my stash on a light coffee-dyed 32ct Cream linen.
Sweet Dreams! (Me-I prefer no dreams!)

Ornament SAL 2013-January edition

Or the title could be the 'Pink Blog Post'. Keep readin' and scrollin' and you'll find out why!

Here we are, the last Wednesday of January, time to post my ornament that I actually finished the first week of this month! I haven't finish finished it yet, got lazy! I took a bunch of light gold beads and sewed scattered them across the front. I know Mardi Gras is not a holiday, but I think it should be! 

Mardi Gras
The Sampler Girl freebie
on Mystery linen
using over-dyed floss



Here's a blurry shot of Mardi Gras! I have some crazy plans for the finishing of MG so be sure to check back (can't say for sure when that'll happen!). It involves chains, wooo! We had been dealing with days of rain and then of snow, so my pics are going to look dreary!

In between stitching the ornament and working on WIPs, I started Baby, It's Cold Outside from Heartstring Samplery.

It looks pink which isn't the true color. Now I'm using 36ct fabric, like the model on the chart, but the finished design measurement is soo different from mine. Mine is smaller. I worried that the words on top weren't going to fit but as you can see, they do. It'll be interesting to see how the big house and trees fit!

I  recently stashed too

Wow, what is up with that pink?! Anyway, I'd seen a few bloggers stitching 'Ghoul' this past Fall, admired from afar and bought it. The 'Salem Sisters' from PPS is the first of 3 and I want to stitch 'em all, so cha-ching! I also bought on eBay these charts from Victorian Motto, the letters V and S, along with some chenille trim that isn't in the pic.

Very cute designs. V is for my daughter and she is graduating this coming May so I want to stitch the little sampler-type design at the left right below the 'V' for her. S is for me!

Aaaanndd, here's Hope of the LHN Sheep Virtues, I'm not too sure of the title. This is the SAL that Vonna is hosting. I have the fabric and the threads to start this NOW but I'm just pooped so I'm planting my rear end on my side of the couch and watching TV! I just might start stitching on Hope for a little this evening, Might.

My last post or the one before I think I mentioned a birthday giveaway. Well my B-Day was yesterday and no Giveaway! I ordered some stuff and I'm still waiting on it. So I'll have a giveaway sometime soon and name it-oh I don't know, maybe Shelly Actually Sunk a Needle Into 'Hope' Giveaway!! Haha! I'm hoping this isn't a sign of a loss of MOJO! I can't have that happen, not with all these SALs I'm a part of!! Oh, the pressure...

Thanks for coming by! A big HUGE WELCOME to my new followers too! So glad you're here! I really appreciate the comments you all leave, it does my heart good. Take Care!

What the SAL??!! Happy New Years!

Oh boy! This is what can happen when under the influence of several pecan pie bars loaded with chocolate! I've joined 3 other SAL's besides the Turtle Trot!

Stitching The Little House Flock

I figured that these cute sheep are small enough for me to stitch and finish. After all, Vonna does ask for just the stitching completed. Finishing the sheep are optional. If you haven't heard of this yet here's the link Little Sheep Virtues. Stitching Bits and Bobs have the pattern and button for sale at their site and may offer both as an auto program. I've already pre-ordered; I now need to order the fabric for these sheep. I'm looking forward to this!

Ornament SAL 2013

Reflections in the Pond is starting an ornament SAL for 2013. You can stitch any kind of ornament be it Halloween, Christmas, Easter, or etcetera etcetera. Here's the link Ornament SAL 2013. Check it out.

TUSAL

I already have the dates up for posting on my sidebar. Just another way to get me to post more often! Here's the link TUSAL.

And of course, the Turtle Trot 2013

I'm supposed to post pictures of my WIPs. There are dates to follow for posting progress and I think it's the 13th of every month, yikes! So here we go

I have not touched this since stitching this little bit almost a year ago!!

My poor, poor neglected Winter at Beacon House. I'll try to stitch this more often and finish it because I have another Praiseworthy Stitches design I want to stitch later on in the year.

This is Christmas Magic from the 2010 ornament magazine from JCS. This is part of the ladies' dress. The designer and the magazine escapes me! I guess I better find the magazine.

Called Klagetoh IV, a Navajo rug. This'll be a perfect Christmas gift for a friend of mine who is Navajo. This is on 14ct Aida. Lots of stitching left!

From an old BH&G Christmas magazine. This is the year of the Mitten!

(Hanging head)

(Can't wait to see what Blogger will do with these two pics!) It's supposed to be a castle.lol.

This one is a contender for early finishing as I just have the flower heads to stitch.

It's pretty overcast today, we may get some rain/snow tonight. I need to stitch this; it's too nice to leave it lying around! So far so good. I'm waiting for Blogger and/or my computer to act up with all these pics I'm putting up!

I must admit that I've been stitching on this for the last 3 days. Filling in that boot is some work! Do you see my mistake here? I'm a center starter and that's what I did. But I must've turned it around and started stitching. I may have just enough fabric for framing! It's supposed to be lengthwise..lol! I took it off the Q-snap and thought-oh crap! But my mistake turned out to be good as I'll have 2 pieces of fabric to use for ornaments for the SAL I mentioned above! I think you may know that La D Da has an ornament of witches feet in one of the JCS Halloween magazines. Not bad huh!

So I tried to load another picture and no go so I'll post the last 3 WIPs tomorrow. I have leftover Christmas ornaments kitted up, a few Halloween and I'm looking through all my charts and freebie charts to get ready for the Ornament SAL. I'm looking forward to all the stitching I'll be doing in 2013! I'm certifiably committed!

I need to put an ALL POINTS BULLETIN out for the MIA Deb from Threadgatherers! Where are you Deb? If you see this, you won the big prize! Send me an email azcampis@yahoo.com to let me know your address.

I'm going to get back to stitching cheating on Something Wicked. It's back to work tomorrow, then off for the 1st. I'm still in Christmas mode because I feel like it just snuck up on me. We had a great time eating too much and opening gifts. Hope you all did too! Thanks everyone; I appreciate your comments and even those who lurk, coming from a former lurker!