Wish List, Likes, Dislikes...

I had a brainstorm idea this morning. (Watch out world!) I belong to several online stitching groups and each group has a questionaire asking about wish lists, likes, dislikes, etc. I find it time consuming to be typing the same things over and over, so I thought... Why not put it all in my blog, and then reference this entry? Good idea, eh? I thought so! So here goes:

FAVORITES

Favorite fabric: 28/32ct evenweave/linen, hand-dyeds

Favorite needles: 26ct petite needles

Favorite Threads: Victoria Clayton Silks, GAST, Glissen Gloss Colorwash Silks, SSS (needed floss colors are in my wish list link below). Love specialty flosses.

Colors (include favorites & least favorites): Favorites: soft pretty colors such as pastels and lighter tans/mottled browns; Dislikes: dark, drab colors.

Themes (include favorites & least favorites): Likes: Fobs, Stitcher Accessories, Christmas ornaments; Least favorite: religious, folksy, abstract, fantasy, Celtic.

Magazines (include favorites & any that are subscriptions): Any UK mags, Stoney Creek , JCS

Favorite Designers: Miribilia, Joan Elliot, Bent Creek, Lizzie Kate as well as a few others.

Favorite Foods/Drink: ice tea (or flavored hot teas), cocoa, skittles, jelly belly jelly beans, Lindor chocolate, Ferrero Rocher chocolate

Collections (things you collect other than stitching): old cameras (I’m a photographer too)

Scents (include favorite & least favorite): My favorite scent is Lilac. I have allergies and asthma so strong scents don’t work for me.

Favorite ONS:
123 Stitch www.123stitch.com I have a wish list there. My email addy is: mearitaira@yahoo.com
Keepsake Needlearts www.keepsakeneedlearts.com
Hand-Dyed Fibers www.hand-dyedfibers.com

Favorite LNS: Don’t have one close to me. There’s a Walmart, JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels and Hobby Lobby.



WISH LIST

Pictorial Wish List located HERE

Charts wanted: see Pictorial Wish List link above

Kits wanted (including just charts from kits): see Pictorial Wish List link above

Threads/beads wanted: anything but DMC/Anchor floss. I don't use Anchor, and I have 2-3 complete sets of DMC.

Accessories/Gadgets wanted:

Leather Scissor sheaths
#26 Stitch Fixer
DMC Brand Plastic Bobbins



Other
Do you have an online photo album? My Album

How do you store your threads? On bobbins in plastic storage cases

Floss bags or bobbins? (Cardboard or plastic bobbins?) I use both bags and bobbins. Mostly bobbins. I’m in the process of switching from cardboard to plastic DMC bobbins.

Do you have pets? Yes. A little 6lb. dog named Celeste

Vickie's DeStashing!

Hop on over to see what Vickie of Reading & Stitching did with her craft room. It looks great!

Tuesday Tidbits 12/27/2011

Can you believe it's already the last week of the year? The years seem to fly by the older I get. Where does time go? Hopefully 2012 will bring some good things my way. ☺

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS/GIVEAWAY
A couple weeks ago, Daffycat held a "secret giveaway" on her blog.


Froggy is always so inquisitive when I get a package. "Rip It, Rip It!!" he says. Although I didn't take his advice and rip it open, I did unwrap it to find this:


I was thrilled when I thought I won the scissor fob. When the package arrived it came with the scissors, too! ☺☺☺ Thank you, Daffycat!

CHRISTMAS


Here's one last photo of the 12 Days of Christmas exchange I received from Shelley. I love everything! Thank you again, Shelley.

I hope you all had a great holiday. I went to the BF's family gathering. Everyone brought "finger food" and we all had a good time standing around chit-chatting. I've only met the family one other time, but they were so warm and welcoming! The BF got me a large bottle of my favorite perfume and a necklace I put on my "Christmas Ideas" list, lol.

COOKING
Yesterday, the BF and I got to cooking. He's been wanting to make a quiche, so we did. Doesn't it look yummy?


We put whatever I had on hand in it... Thawed spinach, onion, shredded cheese, and shitake mushrooms.

There was some chatter on one of the Yahoo groups about Latkes. I'd never heard of them before. Then on "The Chew", one of cooks made them. They are similar to hashbrown potatoes, but there's egg and onion in them. They're good warm/hot, not so good cold.



HOMESTEAD CHRONICLES
As some of you may know, I have a fireplace. Last year, my Dad gave me a fireplace insert/blower he had stored in "The Shed". The Shed is my Dad's mancave. He has all his stuff there. In conversations if you mention you need something, chances are he probably has it in the shed. He will say, "Let's go up to the shed..." LOL I wasn't particularly looking for a fireplace insert, but he knew I used my fireplace and was concerned about all the heat going up the chimney. Hence, he gave me the insert and doors.

My parents bought and used the blower a long, long time ago before they had a new one installed. It came with a black door trimmed in gold (Think 1980's). When I received it, there was a bit of rust, the fan needed oiling, and the cord needed to be replaced. My Dad got the fan running smoothly again, I repainted it, and the BF replaced the cord. We finally got it installed over the weekend. I opted to forego the doors that came with it since the gold trim was tarnished and rusted pretty badly. Looking at the insert now, you'd never know it didn't come with my fireplace doors. ☺

Before
After

STITCHY STUFF
It's sorta weird going home right after work and not having to jump on the computer to login to my online classes or read pages and pages of textbooks. Instead, I've been going home and have started scanning a bunch of stuff for my stash-for-sale blog. I've barely made a dent in the big box of stuff I'd like to destash! If you're interested in taking a look-see, click HERE or click on the link in my sidebar.

Also... I've had quite a bit more time to stich. Imagine that! Blossom Splendor has received a lot of attention over the past week. I'm almost done with page the current page. I think there's one more page left, plus the backstitching and beads.

Bottom right of the kimono and grass

Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 12/19/2011

Last week was my Mom's birthday. She's always looked good for her age no matter how old she was. I always tell people she was a HOTTIE when she was younger. For her birthday this year, I thought I'd do something special. She has a couple of wallet sized photographs that she had taken when she was 19 or 20... before she married my Dad and came to the U.S. Over the past 40+ years, the photographs have become creased, stained, and damaged. For Mom's birthday, I digitally retouched them: removed the creases and stains, and even recreated portions of the photograph that were missing. Then I made them into 8x10's. Remember the vintage dual 8x10 hinged frame I bought at a thrift store a few weeks ago? I put the photographs in the frame.

Before
After
Before
After
Mom said she liked it and that they turned out really beautiful. She was amazed and asked me how I did it. LOL - Lots of painstaking work!

WEATHER
My area received our first "significant" snowfall on Friday night. I woke up on Saturday to the sounds of snowblowers and 2-3" of the fluffy white stuff. We've been so spoiled this winter with above normal temps that I hadn't even gotten my boots out from last year. Soon, I was out joining the ranks to shove and blow snow off my driveway. By Sunday afternoon, most of the snow was melted.

COOKING
Last week, I ordered chinese takeout/delivery. Shrimp Lo Mein. It wasn't that good. I said to myself: "Self, you can this much better!" Gotta love Google. I looked up Lo Mein on my favorite site: allrecipes.com



SCHOOL
Did you hear the big "WOO HOO!" heard 'round the world? That was me! I am officially done with school. ♪♫♪♫ No more teachers, no more books, lalalalala ♫♪♫♪


Unofficially, I've received a final grade of a B! I'm happy with it since I have no prior experience with Auditing.

STITCHY STUFF
The winner of my blogversary giveaway was Shelleen of Queen Stitcher. I received a very touching thank you email from her.


When I started my blog six years ago, Shelleen was the first person to comment on my new blog. Six years later, she still reads and comments. Thank you Shellen for following me all these years.




I finished the bonus chart from the Sew A Mystery SAL I participated in. I've started assembling the project.





Finally, I was able to put a few hours of work on Blossom Splendor. I've started the grass at the bottom!

Other progress photos can be seen HERE.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Whether you're spending it alone as a singleton or spending it with family and/or friends, I hope you have the best time ever!

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

½ lb. macaroni
1 med. onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp. garlic, finely chopped
1 stick of margarine or butter
1/3 pkg. Velveeta cheese
3 tbsp. dried parsley (optional)
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 c. shredded Havarti cheese
½ c. milk or half and half
1 c. bread crumbs


Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare macaroni according to box directions. While macaroni is cooking, saute onion, garlic, and butter in a medium sauce pan until done. Add parsley, cheeses, and milk. Put half cooked macaroni in 9x13 baking dish. Add half the cheese mixture, then remaining macaroni. Pour remaining cheese mixture as top layer. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake 25 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

Tis The Season & Happy Dancing!

Yep, it's looking a lot like Christmas around my house. I hauled both my trees down from the attic, along with my tubs of Christmas decor. The BF helped with decorating the trees -- He even said he had fun doing it. Yikes... It's been a long, long time since I had anyone help me decorate a Christmas tree, let alone saying it was fun. Whatta guy!

Trees
Mantle Lights
The Fireplace
I decided to do a collage of all the stitchy ornaments that hang on my trees. Some I've made and others I've received from exchanges over the years.

(Click on photo to enlarge)
I put "stitched by" on all the ones I kept track of. If anyone sees one they did that I didn't put their name to, feel free to let me know.

STITCHY STUFF
I finished Purple Garden!! It only took me about 8 weeks, LOL. I really did enjoy stitching it up and "personalizing" it with color changes.

Le Jardin Pourpre
Designer: Angie SB, from Argentina
Fabric: 28ct Charles Craft Dusty Rose Monoco
Fibers: DMC
Started: Oct 5, 2011 ~ Finished Dec 9, 2011
Size 14 x 17"
Now to find the perfect frame!
If you're interested in doing a SAL, the designer of Purple Garden is hosting two new ones for 2012. Angie SB has designed Lavender Blue -and- Sweet Flowers. Sign ups end December 15th, so hurry if you want to participate. I'm partial to Sweet Flowers, but I'm going to pass on the SAL since I have a couple of other big projects I want to finish in 2012. Angie's blog is HERE.

I have some progress to show for the Sew A Mystery bonus chart:


GIVEAWAYS
Cucki of Cucki's Stitching Cove is hosting a Christmas giveaway. Hop on over to take a gander at her beautiful stitching.

Jennifer at Feathers in the Nest is also hosting a Christmas giveaway. She has a sweet little dog. Click on over to see what it's all about.

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is also having a Christmas giveaway!

Must be the season... Terri at Dixie Samplar is also hosting a Christmas giveaway. ☺

BLOGVERSARY
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I celebrated my 6 year anniversary of blogging. Hard to believe I've been sharing my crazy thoughts with ya'll for that long. Not only that, a lot of you who started reading me at the beginning are still with me today! Currently, I'm up to 310 followers which amazes me, too.

For several months, I thought about what I wanted to do to celebrate my blogversary. Finally, I decided what to do...

Blessed Be
Designer: Plum Pudding Needleart
Fabric: 28ct Antique White Linen
Fibers: DMC
I changed the wording to Needles and Pins since I knew I was going to make it into a needlebook. This is the second time I've stitched one of these. I was "smart" this time... I used my cross stitch design program and redesigned it for a needlebook cover.

In the next day or so, this needlebook will be winging it's way to a lucky recipient. Who you ask? Shhh... It's a secret! A secret blogversary giveaway. The lucky stitcher will be announced next week. So stay tuned! (There is a method to my madness)

12 Days of Christmas

Days 11 and 12 have finally arrived. On the 11th day, Shelley sent to me ♪♫♪♫

Festive potholder and dish towel
Christmas Tree Collection by JBW Designs
and the beads/floss to stitch it up
AWESOME!
More treats for Celeste!
She's not going to know what to do with
herself... she's set for treats!

All good things must come to an end *sniffle*... I would like to thank Shelley for all the wonderful gifts. It was great fun opening each and every one of them! (Incidentally, it was her birthday last weekend, so hop over to her blog and wish her a Happy Birthday!)


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On the 9th Day of Christmas, Shelley gave to me ♪♫♪♫

A sparkly Peacock Ornament
And on the 10th Day...

Boo Boo Stick
I've been wanting one of these!


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♪♫♪♫ Fa... la... la... la... la... ♪♫♪♫


Another present? Oh yes! It's Day 6. I wonder what it could be?

The cutest pair of snowman socks,
complete with glittery snowflakes!
I'm saving these to wear on Christmas Day.
On the 7th day of Christmas, Shelley gave to me.... ♫♪♫

A pom calendar!
Great timing, since I don't have a 2012 calendar yet.
The 8th present was equally appreciated.

Charles Craft Monoco -- Love this stuff!
I figured out the trick to getting Celeste to eat the treats Shelley sent her. If I break them up into dog food sized pieces, she will scarf them down faster than a seal eating fish!


Here's the little snot darling after her haircut at the groomer's. They don't do the greatest, but the other groomer claims she wouldn't behave, LOL.


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On the third, fourth, and fifth days of Christmas, Shelley gave to me...

Day 3: Crafter's Ribbon
Very pretty! Hmm... What can I make with these?

Day 4: Photo Album
It is SO adorable!

Day 5: The Needlework Shop
by Country Cottage Needleworks
This has been on my wishlist for a long time!

Does Shelley know how to spoil a girl or what?!?


Here is Celeste posing with a new friend compliments of Shelley:

"Does it HAVE to touch me?"

"Mom is making me do this!"


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Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (Just not too much!) I woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground and temps of 17F. On this second day of Christmas, Shelley sent to me:

Mary Engelbreit Goodies!
Magnetic List Pad, Notepad, and Post-It Notes... Perfect, since I'm a notorious list maker!


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This year, I participated in the 12 Days of Christmas Exchange hosted on the i-love-cross-stitch group. Shelley not only sent me beautifully wrapped gifties, but also sent Celeste some goodies as well:


My First Christmas Card of the Year!
Cute! Cute!
On the first day of Christmas, Shelley sent to me....
I wonder what it could be???
Ohhh... a package of my favorite sized needles!
These certainly will come in handy.
Here is Celeste carrying around one of the dog "cookies" Shelley sent her. The silly dog never did eat it... just carried it around. LOL


I wonder what tomorrow will bring????