RAK's!

BLOG LAYOUT
It's been years since I've changed my blog layout.  I'm looking for a new three-column layout template.  Does anyone have suggestions?

RAK's
I've said this before and I'm going to say it again:  Stitchers are the most thoughtful people ever.  Last year, I was RAK'd three times!  (Yes, i'm just now getting around to posting about it... bad me.)

Vickie from Reading and Stitching was going through her magazines and asked me if I was interested in various Asian-themed charts.  A nice package arrived in the mail that made my mind whirl as to which one I want to do first!

Fantasy Cards by Joan Elliott

Land of the Rising Sun by Maria Diaz

Graceful Geishas by Joan Elliott

Oriental Elegance by Lesley Teare

Oriental Sampler by Susan Bates

Sacred Serenity by Joan Elliott

Winters Beauty by Lesley Teare

Aren't they wonderful?!

Thank you, Vickie!

I've been a long time reader of the Stitching Dreams blog.  Carol does such a wonderful job finishing her ornaments.  She is always sharing stitching eye candy.  Recently, she hosted a giveaway for a patriotic chart called Uncle Sam by Bent Creek.  After Asian-themed designs, Patriotic designs are my favorite.  I'm also a fan of Bent Creek.  She pulled my name from the hat!

 Thank you, Carol!

This is the cutest thing ever!  I want to stitch it up now, but I'm finishing up a mailart exchange.

On Facebook, Glenna in KS had posted a July 4th photo of a towel she stitched a while ago.  I had admired it in a comment.  Much to my surprise, she sent me the chart.  

Coincidentally, I have towels I can stitch the designs on.  I'm so excited to start the July 4th one!

 Thank you, Glenna!

Until next time...

Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Since Google Reader will be dust before too long, I've switched my reader to Bloglovin.  It allows you to create categories just like GR.  The other thing I like is that Bloglovin sends an email with all the new blog posts that you set up in reader.  This allows me to see at a glance what's 'new'.  I have my email set up with a filter that sends those emails to its own folder.  The only thing it doesn't do is allow you to rename blog titles in the reader.  That feature was helpful to me in that I'd put the person's name along with their blog name.  It helped me to remember who went with what at a glance.

It's A Blog Hop!

"Have you ever had a case of the “stitching blahs” where you just didn’t want to stitch? Or maybe it was more like you didn’t get to stitch because you were busy and that created a chain reaction sense of the “blahs” and led to even less stitching…. sort of like a case of “the Mondays” that we are all familiar with. How do you handle your stitching blahs and get back into stitching mode?"

Can't say that I've ever gotten the stitching blahs.  For the past 4 or 5 years, I've juggled work, school, house, and hobbies.  I rarely have enough time to stitch in order to feel the "blahs", I guess.  Now that I'm out of school, I have more time to stitch and stitch I do.  I imagine at some point I may get the "stitching blahs", but until then I'm enjoying every stitch!

Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here.

Marvelous Monday Update 2/6/2012

As you may have noticed, I have a new look to my blog. I thought it was time to change it up a little. I'm still in the process of tweaking it. This is an older template so the advanced design features of blogger don't work with it. What's that mean for me? It means I have to change the HTML code for some things in order to get them to work (like the tabs in the upper right corner). What do you think of my new look?

WEATHER
Phil says, six more weeks of winter. Really? Thanks to El Nina, we've been experiencing weather unheard of for January. Way above normal temps. Last year at this time, we were digging out of a blizzard. This year, there's hardly any snow on the ground. With weather like this, I'll take six more weeks of winter!


STITCHY STUFF
I received mailart from my exchange partner last week. What's funny about it is I used the same chart to create mailart for the exchange, who was a different person! The piece I did can be seen HERE and HERE. I really like what Connie did for my mailart:

Don'tcha just love those tiny scissors?


DMC has 24 NEW shades of the Color Variations floss line coming out soon. You know what that means, don't you? More stash! A color chart for Color Variations can be dowloaded HERE.




I made some good progress on JG last week. I really like how it's coming along.

Other WIP pics can be seen HERE.
GIVEAWAY
Mary Louise is hoping to reach 100 followers. When she does, she'll be sending out a giveaway. Check out her latest stitching and Holly the kitty at Stitchey Stuff!

COOKING
Last week, Vickie talked about trying out a Zuppa Tuscana (love that name!) soup in the crockpot. Crockpot cooking is awesome -- easy, peasy -- throw the stuff in and go. I did a quick research on Zuppa Tuscana and apparently it's served at Olive Garden.


Doesn't it look good? I did change it up a little... I have another recipe that adds spices to turkey and it ends up tasting *just* like sausage. So, I added those and did a few other tweaks. Yummo!

What does nori, shoyu, gari, and, rice vinegar have in common?

Sushi!!
I love sushi! It only took me about an hour to make a huge platter of sushi this past weekend. Again, Yummo!

VALENTINES
I participated in a good old fashioned Valentine's Day exchange. SNS2 hosted a Historical Valentine Exchange whereby the participants create a valentine with supplies on hand. I received a valentine from Kari in Canada:


I thought she did a really creative job in making this valentine for me. I like how she used the torn paper wording. I'll have to remember that idea!

I made a valentine for Char in PA. As you can see, I'm not so creative in the papercrafts. Even so, she said she liked it so much it has a special place on her mantle. I'm glad she likes it!


To all of my readers, Valentine's Day isn't just for couples!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Until next time,

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)

Thanksgiving and More

THANKSGIVING
I hope those in the U.S. had a great Thanksgiving holiday. This year, my sibling families scattered for the holiday, so it was just me, the BF, and my parents. I did something I haven't done in almost 25 years... Cook a Thanksgiving dinner! I did come up with a couple of tips for those who are a bit rusty, like myself:

TIP #1
When using the water method of thawing a turkey, it does not mean to drown the poor thing. After all, it's already dead!


This is what happens when I try to multi-task. I walked away to check my email while the sink was filling up. You know how it is... I got immersed in reading and then "Oh Crap!" Off I ran to the sink. I'm not exaggerating when I say: Five seconds later and water would've been running onto the floor! See how the water went over the right side of the sink and across the stainless steel portion of the counter? Luckily, there's a ridge around it!

TIP #2
When the store bought pie instructions say "keep frozen until baking time" and "let sit for TWO hours after baking", they really do mean it! I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of the resulting pie, but suffice to say I had one very runny apple pie.

Here are the results of my manual labor:


It looks burnt on top, but it really wasn't. The darkness is herbs under the skin of the turkey.


The BF made homemade baked Mac & Cheese. So yummy, and of course calorie free!

My Mom brought Udon (yummo). We also had stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits. I ate so much my tummy hurt, LOL.

All in all, it was a nice Thanksgiving. I'm lucky I have people in my life who really do care about me - both in R/L and online. With the economy the way it is, I'm also grateful I have enough as I know there are many others who do not.

SCHOOL
I'm in the homestretch now... Week 6. Next week, I have my second paper due in addition to the normal textbook reading, postings, and homework. I'm not feeling so bad that I "don't get" and am not "digesting" the textbook reading assignments since my CPA coworker told me that she didn't get anything out of the auditing class when she took it.

STITCHY STUFF
Not a lot of stitching done last week, but I did finish Part 7 of Purple Garden. Only two more parts to go! I do believe I will make the December 31st deadline required by the SAL.

Other WIP pics can be seen HERE.

I've also been stitching the bonus pin pillow chart that goes with the iStitch "Sew A Mystery" SAL I finished a couple weeks ago. There's not much to show other than the border, so I don't have a pic to share.

I've decided to participate in Daffycat's Totally Useless SAL (TUSAL) for 2012. I am so glad she posted the dates for the new moon, LOL.

Last week was my 6 year blogversary. I've been working on a project for one lucky reader of this blog. Stay tuned!

Until next time,

Marvelous Monday Update 11/14/11

For all the wonderful comments regarding my commencement ceremony last week. Wow, I'm still amazed and thrilled at how many of you took the time to congratulate me!

STITCHY STUFF
Now that graduation is over, I'm settling into my routine again. I finished the last part of the iStitch Mystery SAL. I ended up frogging the initial box twice and finally decided to use one of the other motifs instead. What a bugger it is to frog over-one stitching. I highly don't recommend it!


I'm also almost finished with Parts 4 and 5 of Purple Garden. I ran out of the purple thread. One would think with as much floss as I have, it'd be there somewhere. Nope! After getting the needed floss, I went to town on stitching. Here's what it looks like now:


Last week, Shanda asked what the backs of projects looks like, so I thought I'd share mine here:

iStitch Mystery SAL

Purple Garden

Treasured Memories Quilt Afghan

Guess what? It's my blogversary at the end of this month! Six years ago I started blogging. Lots of bloggers celebrate by doing a giveaway amongst the commenters of a particular post. I'm going to do something different to celebrate my blogversary! Not gonna tell you what, though... that would take all the fun out of it, LOL. Suffice to say, I'm working on a stitchy project. Shhh! It's secret.

And now onto other stitchy news...

I have had Maia's Winter Majesty on my wishlist for a long, long time. Thanks to some retail therapy on eBay, I was able to get the UK kit for less than 1/2 the price it normally costs! Look at this gorgeous piece of art:

The packaging
What it looks like in its entirety
Look at that beautiful face!

YUM-YUMs
Have you ever had pumpkin muffins? I made some over the weekend and they are DE-lish. This was my first attempt at baking them, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Absolutely scrumptious!!



TREASURE HUNTING
Oh Yeah! (I feel like the kool-aid pitcher guy. Remember him?) I found a hinged double 8x10 frame from the 1960's-70's that I'm going to use as part of a birthday present. More on that present to come in December -- I am so excited about it! Also found a desktop pencil holder like I bought years ago for my desk at work. Why is it when you buy a product in the store and really-really like it, it gets discontinued? Anywho, now I have one for my desk at home for a HUGE fraction of the cost I paid for the one I have at work. Now for the "good" awesome finds:

I flipped through every "project" in this book. The information and photos are great! Easy to understand, and even gives good tips on using various things around the house.

Wouldn't you like to "play around" in this workshop?? I would!

These are photos on the inside cover of this book:

Even though I know how to frame, there is a section in the book that talks about making your own frames. So you know me... Ms DIY... I figured it'll come in handy one day.

Years ago, I tried my hand at making Teddy Bears, and still have supplies to make them. The ones in this book are so adorable. It even tells how to dye the fur, which is really cool! The patterns are full size so it should be easy peasy to whip one or two up. Can you believe this gem was only 10cents?

If you love Victorian stitching, these older Leisure Arts books are wonderful! A couple of projects that caught my eye:

Kissing Ball
Isn't this pretty?
Victorian Santa Ornaments
Santa and his reindeer.
I really, really love this project!

Here's another ten-center. I mainly wanted this magazine for "The Stitcher" project in it.

All of the books/magazines (except for the Crafts Encyclopedia) above were purchased at our local VOICES used bookstore. VOICES is a domestic violence program in my area. Having had to utilize the program about 20 years ago, it does my heart good that my purchases are going to a good cause. If I can get my act together, I'll be gathering up the books I no longer want and donating them to VOICES.