A Crazy 2nd start

I had today off so I stitched on and off for about 5 or 6 hours. But for some reason, it sure doesn't look like it! It's called Pretty Poppies from the Cross Stitch and Needlework May 2010 issue.

This design called for 25ct beige linen but I'm using 28ct natural undyed linen that I had in my stash. It'll make a real difference what it looks like when finished but I think it'll look fine. I'm also using a mix of regular DMC and variegated DMC listed.

I also finished the beading on this cute ornament that comes from the 2009 JCS ornament magazine

This is Rejoice by Mosey 'N Me. The body of the sheep took a while but it's so cute! The beads are the snow.

Being Crazy that I am, I saw that Becky at BeckyBee's is hosting a BAP Challenge. I took a look at my stash and found that I have only one design that is big enough to meet the requirements! But it means buying a nice big chunk of fabric because one side of this design is over 300 stitches. I think it's a sign that I'll have my hands full enough with this Crazy Challenge! AND at Laineys Stitching Hoose, she's hosting a year long SAL for ornaments. But you know what? I have two ornaments in my 15 so that's good enough. I might become tired of Christmas by the time it arrives after stitching ornaments for 12 months straight!

Well this is it. My daughter and I like to watch this series on tv called Pretty Little Liars and the new season starts tonight but right now they've got re-runs on, so I gotta go!

Welcome to my new followers, BTW! And Thank You for your comments too! It's exciting to see 7 comments left!

My Crazy Challenge start

I did make it to midnight to start my first start in this Crazy Challenge. Here she is

I used the called for fabric and threads: 32ct Lt Mocha, and CC, WDW threads. I stitched all day today, watching movies and in between making dinner.

I'd been itching to stitch something big and different and Pumpkin Hollow Farms fits the bill. I'm going to have fun with this challenge.

Have a great evening! See you tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's hard to believe we're at this point! Since I'm not going anywhere tonite other than a hockey game, I'm going to try to finish up an ornament that I put down in November. That depends if I make it past 10:30 p.m.!

The test that I took Friday didn't show anything. Although the technician can't say anything, he did say that either my gallbladder is not functioning (ya think?!), something is blocking the bile ducts and therefore, the radioactive tracer didn't show up in the scan. I kept having to go back and forth to see if the tracer made it through (not a problem because I live less than a mile from the hospital!). He kind of thought that the insurance company can't argue with this obvious fact that something is going on. I'll know more in the coming week whether I get to have surgery. I hope so because I want to eat everything in sight! I want pizza, Chinese food, Mexican food like tamales and menudo, anything that has 1000 calories and lots of greasy fat lol!!

Meanwhile, I've lost 11 lbs. There are better ways to lose weight...

At midnite is the beginning of the Crazy January Challenge and I can't wait! At first I was going to abandon it but decided it might take my mind off of how lousy I feel. Well, I had to leave out the two PSS designs because of my budget constraints and I would rather stitch on fabric that is called for. If you look at the sidebar, I've included 3 Christmas ornies that I had kitted up for this Christmas but was unable to get to. Also I'm starting The Queen's Crowns from PSS because of my fascination with anything British! I've ordered the fabric for that. Everyday I'll have pics up to show my start and where I've gotten to. Check out the sidebar for the list as they're all shown from first days start to the last. As they say, I'm crazy! I'll try to keep up!

I'm looking forward to 2012. 2011 was tough physically, financially and emotionally. Every year I say the new year will be so much better. Well 2012 is going to be so much better. I finally have a decent job, my daughter is in her last semester of 11th grade, she'll have her own car to drive when I get my tax refund, and one large bill was paid off the first of December. On the stitching front, I finished up 13 WIP's, and stitched some ornaments and had quite a few people sign up to be followers. Thank You for following!!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Take care, and have a great Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Hope this Christmas Eve finds you all finished with your shopping and baking!

I just wanted to thank you all for the kind words concerning my surgery and my grandmother's passing. However, the surgery was cancelled because my insurance company wants me to go through a test that'll PROVE that my gall bladder needs to come out! I will not even repeat what came out of my mouth when the surgeon's office called and told me this. I will not let this disappointment ruin my Christmas. I'm doing fine. Of course, I just can't eat much of all the baked goods that have come our way! Next Friday I will be at the hospital going through this procedure called the H.I.D.A. scan. I looked it up on the internet and I'm not liking the radioactive part for sure. But I'll do what they need me to do.

Mary, I received your package today, and it's the cutest ornament ever! Thank You, it is a great mood pick-me-up and it's now on our tree with its buddies! You do such beautiful finishing!

This is just a short post today. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

An Eventful Month

Hi All!

I haven't been posting because this past month has been something else. Let me fill you in:

I'm having surgery next Friday the 23rd for the removal of a bad gall bladder. How did this happen, you ask? I ask that myself! I had been having these pains in the middle of the night or early morning that would wake me out of a sound sleep. Usually after eating too late or something spicy. They didn't happen every day, just maybe once since summer, and then around 2 times a month if I wasn't careful. Until early Tuesday morning a couple of weeks ago, around midnight. I thought my usual tricks of dealing with this would work; not this time. This hurt! It was like giving birth again! I woke my daughter to drive me to the E.R. They ruled out bad heartburn and ulcers. Morphine finally got rid of the pain, and then they released me with orders to get an ultrasound. I missed 3 days of work which is going to hurt (no pun intended) for Christmas. The ultrasound was done and after the words of the radiologist-"I don't like your gall bladder", was sent to my family doctor for a referral to a surgeon. Final diagnosis-inflamed gall bladder or Acute Cholecystitis.

I have never had surgery before. I spent the night in the hospital when my daughter was born but that was it. In one week I lost 6 lbs. because I just can't eat like I used to. And I've been tired. I fall asleep on the couch at 8:30 p.m.! Fridays, I found out, are the normal times for surgery here at this hospital. I'm nervous about it but realize it's important to get this thing out.

The same day I found out about my gall bladder, I returned home to find phone messages that my 95 year-old grandmother had died that same morning! That was a double whammy Thursday! Her services were held this morning. She raised 9 children, 2 have already passed, one being my mom. She had 30-something grandchildren, 29 greats, and 5 great-greats. She was a strong woman, and I hope to face adversity like she did, with a smile and a steely resolve.

Due to my imminent surgery, I'm going to have to shelve my plans to have a giveaway to celebrate my 1 year blogoversary. My birthday is coming up at the end of January so I will have a giveaway to celebrate my birthday. So please be sure to check out the details for that in the middle of January.

Now it's time for more cheerful news! My Christmas ornament stitching has been almost non-existent. For the Christmas Ornament Challenge, I've stitched AND finished just 2. I have a small one that I finished but don't know about the finish on it. I am stitching one from a JCS ornament magazine but it's taking awhile.

The first weekend of December, Prescott has a very nice Christmas parade. My daughter and her ROTC group from school were to march in it. Saturday dawned with a bleak sky, low temps with the forecast of snow.

My daughter is the third one from the right. As you can see, it's snowing like the dickens. It was 32 degrees. And here's the rest of her group

When they were done, we just left and headed to the nearest Starbucks!

About a month ago, I put in an order for fabric, threads, and a few buttons. Well I just received the package yesterday

I'm still awaiting a backorder for 1 button. That's 30ct Parchment linen from WDW, Belle Soie for PSS's The Queen's Crowns, and DMC for one of my CJC 15 projects. Of course, the linen was for an ornament that I just won't have time to get started! Speaking of CJC 15, I'm so excited! I pretty much have all the supplies for most of them. There are 3 that take Lakeside Linen. I'm not a stitcher who likes to pick a different linen. 123 Stitch, I've noticed, have small cuts of Lakeside, and they're affordable. Of course, this will depend what my finances will look like in January. Here are some pics of what I have planned for the CJC:

I'd better quit now, Blogger is acting up. I'll post more pictures soon!

Surprise, Surprise! I actually won a giveaway! A secret giveaway for being the 500th comment at Mary's blog. I was asked for the holiday of my choice of something stitched and finished. I just can't wait to receive it! Thank You Mary! I've seen your finished stuff and just know it'll be gorgeous!

This'll be it for now. I'm off to stitch on my ornament and watch some t.v. It's been a couple of emotional weeks for me and I just want to couch potato. Wishing one and all a Merry Merry Christmas!

A Giveaway and more!

There's a Giveaway at Hockey Mom Stitchin' Hobby. Win some mystery stash. She is one busy mom!

We survived Thanksgiving! Ate too much, of course and still have turkey. Tomorrow I'll be stripping the bones and making a turkey stir fry from it. The rest of the leftovers are gone!

As for the stitchy front---nada, nothing, zilch. I've lost the mojo, for about 7 or 8 days and counting! After I finish finished my two ornaments for the ornament challenge, the stitching came to a screeching halt!

The top one is from a PS card with no name. This one right above is from a Sue Hillis freebie. I think all the hustle and bustle of the upcoming Turkey day probably killed off my mojo plus I've been reading the Diana Gabaldon 'Outlander' series and I'm nearly 3/4 of the way through the last one so that's all I've been doing! She has a new one coming out on the 29th of this month so I want to be done with this last one. Those two ornaments are all I have to show toward the ornament challenge! I find myself putting on the brakes whenever I stitch and have a due date. Like it's no longer fun because I have to hurry. That's why I never sign up for exchanges, although they sound like so much fun. Plus my vertigo (besides other health crap that's cropped up) has been back and forth with me and that'll bum me out. So with these three remaining days of my weekend, I'll try to get back to stitching.

If you look at my sidebar, you'll see I finally have my CJC '12 list up for your perusal! It's final but I realized I have mostly large ones. Some of those are stuff I've been wanting to stitch for years! I am so looking forward to January 1! A lot of those projects are ones that I had fabric for already and uses DMC or over-dyed's that I have. Others I have to buy the supplies for. That Buffalo Spirit design is real big with a lot of color changes so I'd better buy me several packs of needles. I have read that it's easier to stitch large projects with needles already threaded with the called-for thread for each symbol. There might be some tweeding too. I whittled my list of ornaments down to a manageable level because I have other things I need to finish that are not stitched and time is running out!

Every Christmas, I HAVE to watch my most favorite Christmas movie and that is this one

The Little Drummer Boy song is my favorite and so is the story. I found this at Kmart for $5.00. I didn't hit Black Friday sales at all, but bought this this past Tuesday.
My first blogoversary is coming up real fast, so stay tuned!

Thanks for taking a peek! And a big WELCOME to the newest followers! Have a wonderful Saturday!

Late to the Party!

Here she is! I finally finish finished her..


If the Broom Fits Fly It!
the Cross Stitcher Oct. 03
14ct white aida
DMC fibers

She looks so much better in person! I bought shiny black ric rac and hot-glued it on! How do you all put on your trim, hot-glue or sewn on? It took awhile to like that bottom and backing fabric but it has grown on me. A month before Halloween, I found a black and orange check fabric that I thought would go great with this design but when I got there it was gone. This fabric makes me think of a psychedelic pumpkin dream. All those circles are hypnotic! The orange goes with the dark orange on the witch's dress and the circles play off the squares throughout the border and her dress. I love it and will keep it!

As promised, here is that 2nd ornament 'Let it Snow' that I finished into a flat ornament with the woolfelt framing. As you can see, the board under the design is not all that straight! That's something for me to perfect with more practice, and the purchase of a nice sturdy utility knife, I'm thinkin'!

See that left side? Sometimes I can be such a perfectionist! The hanger is a dark brown ribbon to match the snowman's arms. A nice fun design to stitch! Well, with best intentions I've joined yet another challenge! Like I have all the time in the world. This one is the Christmas Ornament Challenge over at Betsybees Stitching Hive. She still had room so I thought...What the heck?!!! I dropped the ornament I was stitching and started a new one, from a JCS ornament issue. I got to thinking that that one was going to take a while, so I started and finished a little Prairie School design from an untitled card

I think I'm going to place this design on a woolfelt pillow with buttons on the 4 corners and some kind of hanger. This one stitched up quick. It was great to break the ice on the challenge with this one. Because I work 10hr days, I'm doing this challenge for fun. I can only stitch at night and during my 3-day weekend. The challenge will pick someone with the most points to win a gift certificate from an ONS. Some ladies have aleady finished 4 or 5 ornaments! Oh well, like I said..best intentions! Here is my new start for the challenge..

Santa dressed as a Pirate! I know, not very politically-correct! But he's cute. There's more beard to stitch, backstitching and the words Yo Ho Ho Ho above him. This is a Sue Hillis freebie. I'm not sure what I'll finish this into, maybe a hanging pillow. I will update my Christmas Ornament Challenge list on my sidebar because I just know I'm not going to finish half of those by December 31st! For the Crazy January Challenge 2012, I have a list of 12 right now and some of them are big. The last 3 are going to be small and fast to stitch. I may insert a WIP in there too. December, I will have the list up on the sidebar.
Hit any after-Halloween sales anyone? I checked out Walgreen's and found these..I'm so excited! Two coffin and two cauldron shaped metal containers. They have orange hot chocolate in packaging (which I have already drank up) but I really bought them for next Halloween's stitching. I'll turn them into pincushions with a spooky design.

The lids of the coffins are stamped metal so I'll cover that with a thin cardboard and then some kind of primitive Halloween paper on that. The bottom will be the actual pincushion. For the cauldrons, I'm not sure; I can see pincushion on top of lid or inside the bottom. Hang around and find out a year later! But please continue to visit!

I also bought some stash! Woo Hoo!

The charts are La D Da, various fibers and beads for those ornaments. Bottom pic is an R&R fab, bitter Betty Brew, 32ct for an ornament also. Just love that color. Not shown is an ivory linen, 32ct and also for ornaments.

Now for the usual news from home! We got some snow last weekend, about 2 inches. It was gone within a few hours. Daughter attended the defensive driving class today for receiving the red light running ticket. $175 buckeroos! Whew! But at least that ticket will not be on my insurance and I'm sure after sitting for 4.5 hrs, she will avoid tickets in the future!

Thanks for stopping in and since I rarely get another post in sooner, I will wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving right now! Enjoy your time with loved ones! I will be doing the same!