Blue bunny

I never finished my blue bunny project, so now that I'm done with Walk in the Woods, I have picked it back up again. I ran out of thread to finish his little bunny tail, so I have been waiting on the mailman to deliver it. I ordered it from one of my favorite shops online, because I didn't want to drive the hour it takes to get to and back from my LNS here for just one skein of thread. I really like the color, but in the chart his spots are darker. So I am waiting to see what he looks like all done to see if I want to change his spots to maybe purple so they stand out more.



I was in a rush on my last post so I didn't get to mention my trip to the Phoenix Sewing expo last weekend. It was OK, it cost $30 bucks between parking and tickets for my mother and me. So I probably won't go next year. They had alot of quilting stuff, but really most of the fabrics weren't any cheaper than my local quilt shop. And I didn't see any fabrics I really couldn't find in my local shop either, so that part was just so-so. But what I did find were these two really cool patterns below. I had my three year old with me, and when we got to this booth full of these awesome dolls, and pumpkins, and all sorts of animals I think both of our eyes lit up. It was hard to explain to a 3 year old why we couldn't touch and play with all the beautiful dolls (it was a little hard keeping my own hands off them). So I bought my two favorite patterns and will be re-creating the awesomeness at home. I am a little worried though as my sewing expertise is definitely novice. But I figure the dolls are meant to look "quirky" so if I mess them up a little it will only make them cuter!

The top picture of the mermaid is by Elinor Peace Bailey, and if you haven't been to her blog its worth it just to watch the clip of her talking about her dolls. She is the cutest artsy funny old grandma lady, definitely the type of woman I aspire to be. And her dolls are so unique/creative/amazing. I so far have not been in to art dolls really, but at the Expo the details on all the dolls literally took my breath away and got my creative juices drooling. Anyway it's not the same looking at them on the computer, but her blog is worth it just for how funny she is.

Walk in the Woods is finished!

Yea!!! Walk in the woods is done! For a pretty large piece it actually got done really quick. Isn't it funny how some projects are just a breeze and then others take FOREVER to finish. I started this the beginning of December. It's all DMC threads without a lot of back stitching which made it an easy one to work on.
This is my Lizzie Kate exchange from Aubree of "For the Love of Cross Stitch". Wow she did such a great job on it. And it was such a cute idea changing the February part of it to say Stephanie instead. Also the finishing on it is awesome. That is my least favorite part of making stuff is finishing them, because mine never come out as perfect as I want them to be. Needle books like this are definitely still above my skill and courage level.
Anyways I love the little needle book and am very excited to show it off in my sewing kit! Thank you so much Aubree.

Mission accomplished!

I am participating in the Lizzie Kate exchange, and mailed off my piece today. It is such a relief to have it on its way! The mailing date was Feb 1st, so I got it done down to the wire. I have actually had my piece finished for a week now, I just really hate the post office. I don't think of myself as a procrastinator, maybe I'm in denial, but it is always such a relief for me to just have things finished.
This is my WIP for the week. I am hoping to have it done for springtime, I love the blue bunny on it. Whats funny though is I didn't use a single color it called for because they all looked so different from the cover of the chart which I really liked. On the cover the letters look purple, but then the threads were actually shades of grey which didn't seem springy at all to me. So I changed everything. Hopefully by my next post my bunny will have a head :)

Rain rain go away!!!

It's been raining for 2 days straight here, with a third day (at least) of more rain expected. And normally I love any kind of weather here (I live in a desert- the land of eternal sunshine). But this week I have been sore and grouchy and tired, and I am blaming it all on the weather. We have gotten four inches of rain so far (which yes to us desert reptiles seems like A Lot) and our 3 dogs are refusing to go out in the puddle our backyard has turned into. So four times today I have been forced to stand in our front yard with them (only slightly less puddley) and yell at each of them to "Go Potty"!!

My husband who got a weather station for xmas though is thrilled with all this weather, I dont think he's talked about anything but low pressure and barometers all week.

OK enough talk about the weather. Besides the grouchy mood (or maybe in spite of) I managed to clean off my dining room table. I now only have four boxes of stuff/debris left to sort through. Which almost seems manageable. What doesn't seem manageable is the amount of WIP's I have going. And whats funny/worse is I actually have more "finished...but not finished" projects than I have WIP's. In the assorted boxes I found 23 finished cross stitch projects ranging from small Lizzie Kate/Bent Creek ones to huge ones that I am done stitching but never framed/made anything out of! They have just been sitting in boxes since I finished them. So now in addition to lots of WIP's to get through I have lots of DBD's (done but not done's) to actually do something with.

These pics are of my first Done but not done finish. I stitched this two years ago and loved the design! I think it is a Dianne Arthur? And it has sat in a box since then, all I needed to do was cut it out (it's stitched on the plastic canvas stuff), and sew the ends together. So in anticipation of Spring (especially this week with this gross weather) I pulled it out and put it together. It's a candle wrapper, I'm not sure if you could tell from the other pics. Anyways 1 down, 22 more to go!

I've got it under control...really!

So this is my work in progress craft pile. Underneath of it is a very nice dining room table, that we haven't seen since Christmas. Also underneath of it is the 500 pieces of dollhouse that my husband is putting together for our daughter. I called in sick from work last night, and literally went to bed right after dinner. Well the extra rest must have done me some good because I woke up this morning with a new zeal for my resolutions. So far I have managed to sort out all my quilting stuff from the pile, and now all that left is my cross stitch (at least 20+ WIP's are buried among this) and my drawing stuff.

Another blog I follow had mentioned "The Fly Lady" on her blog a week or two ago, and after checking out her website and totally being in that place, I have been kind of getting into her whole system of cleaning. The Fly Lady's big thing is to do a little at a time and not to get overwhelmed. Which is exactly what I tend to do, to go all out for a day or two and then be so exhausted I can't/don't organize for another month. I wish I was better at the organizing part, I love reading Spinster Stitcher's blog (she and her dog are SO FUNNY!), and looking at the pics of her perfectly organized craft room. So I am doing a little at a time, and trying not to start anything new until I can see my dining room table again.

This last pic is of a Lizzie Kate x-stitch I did for an exchange that has to be mailed out for February. I figured something Valentines would do nicely, but I changed my mind. I stitched it one over one, and it turned out really small (duh!!!) so I figured I wanted to do something more substantial. Maybe this will get turned into a card for Mr. Stitcher or something. And yes I am ripping out the white edging on it still cause for some reason it didn't agree with me, the brown of the fabric was showing through the white too much. Hope your weekend is off to a great start, and wish me luck keeping this cold at bay!

How are your resolutions going?...or are they already gone?

OK, it's been a busy year for me so far, and I feel like I have barely gotten anything accomplished! I made three resolutions this New Years. The first one was to be healthier (i.e. lose 50 pounds, work out more, and eat less sweets). I have been doing a little better on the eating healthy part (baby steps...baby steps...I must keep reminding myself to put down the Hershey bar!). On the working out part of it I have been running 4 times a week (I've ran 20 miles already this year!) And I've also been using the Nike+Ipod thing to track my runs and am doing a challenge with a friend on Nike's website (I'm kicking her butt...I can't help it I'm competitive). The losing 50 pounds part of the resolution is sad to say kicking my butt though, I don't think I'm fat but I am definitely chubby. I keep losing then gaining the same 5 pounds over and over again. Sigh...I keep reminding myself that I'm not 20 years old anymore, the kids don't care how big my thighs are, and when I was 20 I also had 2 free hours everyday to spend at the gym, now if I did that my family would report me missing!

My second resolution is whats been keeping me so busy, it was to be more organized. And man is it a lot of work to be organized!!! Does the Hoarders show scare the bejesus out of anyone else?! It gives me new motivation to keep on going. I have been sorting through my craft stuff and so far have filled 25 16 qt plastic tubs with stuff. I keep telling myself when it is all done it will be so nice to know where everything and have everything labeled and stacked up nice and neat. I dream of some day have a studio all to my own, but right now I have settled for the hall closet.

My third resolution was to be more creative. And I have yet to figure out the logistics of this one. I can't start anymore projects without blowing my second resolution..so maybe I should focus on finishing more projects. I also want to work on my drawing/painting/making stuff up from scratch more.

The pictures above are my projects for the year. The Love one is a Lizzie Kate design I changed the colors on cause I love the over-dyes. I plan to make a little pillow for Valentines day, as I never finished my penguin pillow for winter and still have my Fall harvest pillow out cause I love it so much and can't bear to put it away for the season. The other pic is Walk in the Woods which is actually almost done, just the bottom border and the nest to finish. And the top pic is of a new quilt top/wall hanging I started that I almost have all together already. I'm not sure I'm loving the colors yet, as they look so different from the one in the book. But the fabrics called to me in the quilt shop so I figured it's a small piece if I hate it I can make it again with other colors.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!! I am so excited for tomorrow! My kids are still at the "eyes all aglow" age and still really really believe in Santa Claus. It is so fun to get to see them be so into the true joy of the season. We finished up a few ornaments tonight (the wooden kind you paint from Michael's) and then drove around looking at Christmas lights. This is our Christmas tree this year.

And this is my little mouse ornament, the only one I have made for myself..... Next year I will have more I swear (if only it wasn't so much fun to make them for other people!)

This is a little snowman one that was made for me by a friend. Everyone always assumes I made it since I do so much stitching. So yes I have a total of two x-stitched ornaments on my tree. But lots of homemade ones by my girls which are really my favorites anyways. Hallmark just can't match an inspired toddler with some glue and love thrown in the mix.And this is my little bit of progress on walk in the woods. Only five more letters left to go, I am hoping to have it done by the end of the year. It has been so much fun to stitch.
I hope everyone has a wonderful blessed holiday tomorrow. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all a good night!