May Update

I haven't been super busy but I have managed two more finishes for 2015 as well as working on my Glendon Place Plum Pudding & a new Ink Circles design. Hopefully no one minds my switch to a once a month update. I just can't find time to update every week anymore.

Here are my two finishes:

I have two more in the series to compete. I'm unsure if I will want to frame them separately or all together in one frame, but I'm planning to find a spot for them in the kitchen.


Here's my new start, Damask Square by Ink Circles:


It's on 40count sparkly fabric from SilkWeavers with Peacock floss from Weeks Dyed Works. It's sooooooo tiny I can only work on it in good light, with my reading glasses on for short periods of time, but it's going to look so great when it's done. I'm almost a fourth of the way done. :)


And last but not least, Plum Pudding update:





What's everyone else working on? Have any bug summer stitching plans??

Read more ...

Merry Christmas Eve!

Hello everyone! And Merry Christmas Eve (or merry Wednesday!) to you & your loved ones.

We've been pretty busy, Sunday was my husband's aunt's Christmas dinner. He's got 3 little cousins now and they are always quite entertaining. I ate too much, per usual. It's so easy to do when the food is amazing! :)

Tonight we're going to my in-laws house for presents and dinner. Then tomorrow we're going to my aunt's for dinner and I'm having my parents over to view Japan vacation pictures (I'll post some soon, I promise!) and eat some desserts. THEN on Friday we've got a surprise party to go to. It's a never ending busy schedule. Well, ok, it's over after that and hopefully no longer busy.

We finally made NYE plans. We usually stay home on the sofa. I cross stitch, he plays video games. Well we were going to go to this great restaurant for our anniversary (Jan 5th, we went last year and loved it) but they will be closed for January. But they are having a pre-fixed menu for NYE. And they are BYOB! Score! It's pretty expensive, but we're going to say it's for our anniversary too. That makes it better... I think!

I finished my co-workers ornament at about 8 o'clock on Sunday to give to her on Monday and she decided to work from home on Monday! I gave her a hard time, but she did come in on Tuesday so I was able to give it to her, I barely left enough room between the two designs on the fabric to cut them out, but I think he turned out super cute! Sorry, no back pictures. I didn't think about it!

Right after this, I ran out of bobbin thread and couldn't get the silly thing out, so I'm waiting until tomorrow when my mom is coming over to help me out and finish my second finish of the week. I'm still new with this whole sewing machine thing! I did also manage to finish the presents one, but I'm not sure if the mom reads my blog or not, so I'll be safe and not post it until next week.

I managed to finish stitching a grumpy cat ornament:

You can't really tell from the picture, but I used wisper thread for the hat to make it fluffy, DMC light effects for the star & some blending filament for the snow flakes in the sky. It's quite nice in real life.

I think my next project will be for our 2nd anniversary, it's cotton, so a stitched piece totally makes sense. I'm going to do "Wedding Row" by Bent Creek. I'm thinking about using my two favorite Weeks threads, peacock & taffeta. Which are almost our wedding colors. It won't be a secret since I do all my stitching with him sitting on the sofa beside me.

I was messing around with our fancy camera and took a some what  pretty Christmas tree picture that I'll leave you off with today! Enjoy the day everyone! May your day be merry & bright!

Read more ...

MMMM 2.1 & a SAL

While Pull the Other Thread's MMMM might be over, the lovely Justine over at Justine's Cross Stitches decided to host in November. You have until November 5th (today!) to sign up! This one only requires 4 posts since the sign up deadline is a week into November already. I'm breaking away from the roman numerals and starting to number these posts instead.

I'm really hoping I'll manage to get 4 posts in this month, but honestly, I'm going on vacation for 2.5 weeks later this month and it might be a struggle. I do have a post or two lined up already, I'll just have to add some mini information and status updates to them! There will be a few train rides, so I'm thinking some stitching might be accomplished then.

My husband and I are going back to Japan and this time I'm looking up cross stitch stores. I don't know if anyone out there reading this knows of any stores, but if you do please feel free to let me know in the comments! I think I might have found one in Kobe, but I am not totally sure of their hours. Google translate can only help so much. I am for sure going to the fabric district of Tokyo, so I might find some cool stuff there.

I have finally started my holiday stitching! I'm 79% sure that none of my friends read my blog, so I am not really worried about posting pictures. :)

I started this little guy on Friday and he's been such a quick stitch! He's called "Festive Ted" and he's from the November 2013 Cross Stitch Collection magazine. It's amazing the difference back stitching makes!

The lack of light this time of year is really effecting my pictures unfortunately. My husband did buy me a light box, so I'm going to bust that out soon. The background is actually a lovely pale blue Monika linen I had in my stash. The bear's colors are from Victorian Motto. I think they were... shades of pumpkin maybe and a mix of DMC. I love love love Nacy's threads. They are really a pleasure to work with and I find that they don't tangle as much. Maybe because I don't keep them on bobbins, but in Floss A-Way bags instead.

He's got 3 buddies (Presents, Stars, & Mistletoe) but I think candy cane was the best. He is meant to go in a card, but I thought he would be just as cute as an ornament. I wish all of my projects where this quick!!! I think I'm going to make a buddy of his too since he turned out so well.I still have to add the year and my friends' baby's name, but it's done for now! 

I'm also getting around to stitching my swap gift up with the beads. I really don't think I'll ever do this again, my needle isn't small enough and picking up each silly beads is super annoying. I need one of those tacky bobs or something:

I have three more patterns picked out for some other people. I am hoping to start working on one of those tonight! I'm hoping to get these four finished by December so I can concentrate on one for my parents and then have a finishing day and crank them all out at once. Fingers crossed! At least I have already finished 7 of them this year so no one will be missing out on a present or anything. :D

Speaking of quick projects, or in this case, not quick for me projects, Neilteil (Stitched Up!) and I are going to jointly host a Glendon Place Amazing Desserts Stitch Along for 2015. You can find all of Glendon Place's "Amazing Desserts" Series here (scroll to the bottom). If you are interested, check out my link in the sidebar: Glendon Place SAL for more details and to sign up! There will be a fabulous prize at the end! The sign up deadline is January 1st. With your first post due by January 15th (but you don't even have to start stitching until April!) Hopefully there will be enough interest in this. If not, Neilteil and I will be doing our own!

I already have the Plum Pudding pattern so I'm asking for the floss, fabric, and beads for Christmas! I've clearly already started the Tiramisu pattern, but I think that would be an unfair advantage, so only new starts are allowed for the SAL (to be eligible for prizes).

Update: Nacy is having a 25 Days of Christmas giveaway, go and enter here! Her fabrics & threads are AMAZING. :)

Who else has signed up for another Mega Mini Madness Month? Who is interested in the Glendon Place SAL?

Read more ...