Special Gifts

Thirteen years ago, I did a series of black and white hand-tinted photographs of my my nieces and nephew. At the time, I had four nieces and one nephew.  I matted and framed 11x14 prints to hang as artwork for my townhouse apartment. I matted and framed 8x10's of two nieces and gave them to my brother as gifts.

The above photos have hung in both the homes my brother has lived in. At Thanksgiving last year, he nodded toward the photos and said to me, "Ya know, I have another one now." Then he told me how those photos would be the first things he would grab if his house ever caught on fire. Awwww!

So what's a sister to do? I took a bunch of candid shots of his youngest daughter. I turned this one....

 

into a companion piece to the ones I did of her sisters:

 

I hope he likes it!

 

Until next time,

 



 

 

Stitch From Stash - February

It's that time of the month again.... Time to report on the Stitch From Stash challenge coordinated by Mel at Epic Stitching.  The idea is (obviously) to stitch from our stash to reduce spending.  I also look at it as a way to focus on reducing my accumulation of stash.

Last month, I spent $4.  This month, I didn't do as well.  I succumbed to the Bay of Evil and bought a chart to complete the set I've been wanting to stitch.  Well, actually the set isn't complete because I'm not getting the first chart in the series.  For February, I spent $14.  Are you wondering what I *had* to have?

Sampler Cove has a series of charts called Rhapsody in Red.  Part One is a ribbon sampler.  I have no desire to stitch it, so that's the one I won't be getting.  Above is Part Four.  It completes a series of stitching accessories: a chatelaine, thimble nest, needlebook, and needle threader.

Just because I'm in a sharing mood, I'll show the other parts.  Part Three creates a scissor fob, a pin keep, a tape measure, and a floss box.

 

All of these charts call for linen and Gloriana silk.  I doubt if I'd splurge to buy Gloriana to stitch all of these accessories.  I'm also debating whether or not I'd do them in red.  So much to think about!  Anywho... onward... Part Two shows you how to create thread winders, a biscornu, and a huswif.

 

If you've never heard of Sampler Cove, they're from Thailand.  The charts are well designed with very good finishing instructions that include photos.  I'm looking foward to stitching up this series.  The question is... When?

Ok... What did I stitch from stash in February?  I actually started... stitched... and finished!  In a previous post, I showed my finish, You Are So Loved.  I mounted it onto a photo album:

The fabric, floss, and trim were all in my stash.

Incidentally, I had a heck of a time finding photo albums at Walmart!  One would logically think photo albums with be near either 1) photo frames -or- 2) the photo counter.  Were they?  Nope!  They were located in the aisle where party supplies are kept.  *off the soapbox*

I started N is for Nurse.  I'm close to finishing the nurse.  I changed the color of the backstitching because I really didn't like how the original color blended in too much.  The fabric is Khaki Cashel Linen.  It looks gray in the photo, but it's more of a brown/tan color. 

Until the next SFS,

Snow Photos

Last week, Faith mentioned she'd like to see some of my winter photos.  I meant to have the BF take a photo of me with some of these piles, but I forgot.  So, I tried to include something as a point of reference to show how high the piles are.

This is my back yard.  I've had to start three snow piles.  The one to the left and middle are over 5 feet tall.  This is snow that I shoveled off half my driveway and then used the snowblower to put it into piles.

 

View of sidewalk.  The pile to the left was created from the yucky stuff the plows push into the end of my driveway.  It's almost as tall as I am.

 

The snow bank that goes down the left side of my driveway is four to five feet tall.  Taller than the hedges which you can see peeking out up by the house.  This snow bank stretches from the end of the driveway all the way over to the pine tree.

 

This the first year the steam from the white pipe created an icicle from the ground up.  It's probably eight to ten inches in diameter.

Until the next snowfall,

Second Happy Dance!

STITCHY STUFF
Yesterday, I did a small happy dance after I finished up You Are So Loved.  As you can see I changed up the colors quite a bit.  Mine contains more blues and purples than pinks.

 

Designer: The Snowflower Diairies

Fabric:  28ct White Linen - Unknown brand

Fibers:  DMC, WDW Blueberry

Now that I've finished it, I'll be starting to plan out my next mailart project.  It'll be a Spring/Easter theme.  Hmmm... what should I choose?  I'll also be working on JG as time permits.

WEATHER
As you know, this winter has been one that just goes on and on and on... like the Energizer bunny!  I tell people we've been having two types of winter:  Wind and Snow -or- Subzero temps.  Speaking of subzero temps:

 

We did have a heat wave over the weekend.  A whopping 20F.  We also received another 2" of snow.  Today, we're under a 12-hour winter storm warning.  I started off for work at 6am and after driving on a drifted highway and whiteout conditions, I decided to turn around and come back home.  It started sleeting when I got home.  Forecasters say the worst is yet to come.... 4-7" leaning toward the 7.  If we get that much, it'll be our largest single snowfall of the season.  In that aspect, we've been lucky... We've received a lot of snow, but not a lot of snow with each snowfall.

Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 2/10/14

WEATHER
It's pretty sad when the temperatures get into the 20's, people here say, "It's pretty warm out today!" LOL, amazing how perspective changes when there's weeks of subzero temperatures.

 

 The colder temps have created some gorgeous sunrises.

 

A new term was coined at work:  Tunnels of Terror.  This is a view from the front windshield of my car.  See how high the snowbanks are?  Normally, I can see cornfields, bean fields, and farms.  Now, nothing but snowbanks.  This one is actually pretty good because both lanes are fully cleared.  There have been times I've driven to work where half my lane was covered in snow and ice.

 



Over the weekend, my area received another 4" of the light fluffy stuff.  My snowblower barely throws the snow up and over the banks of snow on the side of my drive way.

 

STITCHY STUFF
My ort bag was quite full, so I pulled out all the orts resulting from 2013 stitching.  I was surprised at how many snippets there were:

(As you can see, Froggie insisted on sneaking into the photo!)

 

I have two new starts this week.  The first is You Are So Loved by Snowflower Diaries.  If you look at the original design, you'll notice I have changed the colors.

 

The second start is N is for Nurse by Sweetheart Tree.  It will be a pretty quick stitch once I finish the nurse.  You can see the over-one stitching on her hands and face if you click on the image.

 

More BFC arrived in last week's mail.  I received an adorable card from Sue and Peanut (who is her "baby" chihuahua).

The sweet "SM" (surrogate Mom) that she is,

she also sent a couple of gifts for me:



 

Thank you for being so thoughtful, Sue!

 

Japanese Garden saw some progress, too.  I finished all the lazy daisy stitches for the bamboo stalks at the 9 o'clock bridge.  (Never thought I'd get them finished!)  Here's what it looked like before:

 

And now: 

 

 

Random Acts of Kindness

Did you know Feb 10-16 is Random Act of Kindness Week?  I plan on doing a RAK at least once day for the entire week.  What about you?  Next week, I will post the kindnesses I did.

 

Until then,

 

 



Marvelous Monday Update 2/3/14

With recent weather conditions, I need more than a tortilla!  Everyone in the midwest is asking, "Will this ever end?!?"  According to the news, so far this is the 8th worst winter weather on record.  My area has received over 35" of snow since December 1st.  That's about 12" above average.  While it's a good workout and aids in my getting the 10,000 steps in per day, I'm also tired of the snow, ice, and cold.

BELATED BIRTHDAY
A few more cards (and floss) arrived in the mail last week.

 

 I've really enjoyed the variety of birthday wishes that came this year. 

Here's my wall of cards:

GIFT
Long time readers may remember the shelf remake I did last year.  (If not, you can see it HERE.)  Deb sent me a lovely teacup and matching saucer for my collection.  Her note said it was her favorite pattern when she was younger.  I think it's absolutely beautiful!  Thank you, Deb.

STITCHY STUFF
:::happy dance:::  I have my first finish of 2014.  I put the final touches on Thinking Positive.  The photos really don't do the opalescent fabric justice.

Designer:  Jardin Prive / Nathalie Cichon

32ct Opalescent Luguna - Heritage by Enchanting Lair

Fibers: DMC, Weeks Dye Works

 

Edited 2/9/14:  I've had quite a few requests asking which WDW threads I used for the lettering.  The purple varigated is 2296 Sweet Pea.  The magenta varigated 4115 Mothers Day.

 

I also did a bit more stitching on Japanese Garden:

Until next time,