UFO week

For me this is my UFO week, as well with a forum I am apart of, even though I haven't posted anything there and I am feeling a little guilty about that... but I will post soon.  For those of you that don't know UFO stands for Un-Finished Objects.  I will be working on Woodland Enchantress this week.  So if any of y'all have any UFO's pull them out and stitch on them this week.  Take a picture before you start and then at the end of the week take another and post them to show what you have done.  You might be surprised :).

The Great Emancipator

I have been working on "The Great Emancipator"  Which is a quote by Abraham Lincoln in the "Fathers of Freedom" series by Summer House Stitche Workes.  I am liking it a lot.  It's a small piece but it's taking some time to do and with my work schedule I don't always get a lot of time.  Like a couple of days ago I came home from work and went straight to bed.... and I slept until the next day... ooopsie. haha.  I made only one change so far which is the fabric.  I went with lambswool instead of the tea dyed linen, I didn;t like the yellow fabric.  I thought the lambswool would give more of an authentic paper look that has been aged.  I quite like it :).  I am also planning on beading some of the boarder but that is still to be determined.

 

as of July 31st

 

 

as of August 1st

Sorry if this seems rushed I just have to head to work :).  Hope y'all have a great day now :).

More Stash, Progress, And A New Start

I just couldn't wait to start on one of the Father's of Freedom series and I needed fabric and some floss for all of the projects.  I also decided to complete the series by purchasing the 2nd in the series (I had 1 and 3 already).  I changed the fabric to 32ct Lambswool Belfast Linen and I thought about changing the colour of the red but decided to keep it.  I will also be adding beads to all of the projects in some way.  I will also be showing an update of Liberty (Lady of the Flag).  It looks like I haven't done a lot but I have.... lol.  I started The Great Emancipator, which is number 3 in the series.

Portland Stitching Stash!!!

Oookay so when I was in Portland I was able to go to a LNS and get some stitching stash!  This has been a first for me to go to a LNS store.  I usually just go to Joanne's or on-line to get what I need.  More on-line than anything else.  I actually enjoyed it soo much that I want to go back to Portland just to go the store I went to.  I acutally went to two of them but only one of them was really awesome that I was in heaven.  Literally.  The two stores I went to was "The Playful Needle" and the other and my personal fav is "Acorn and Thread".  Alright time for some pictures!!!

 Here is everything that I got. two of my pieces were bought at The Playful Needle (Dressmaker's Daughter, and Santa).  The rest of them were bought at Acorn and Thread.

•  Faerie Spring Fling
•  Santa
•  Dressmaker's Daughter
•  Persephone
•  The fabric is 32count Lugana Ash Rose

I'm planning on using the fabric for Persephone.  It is a little more pink than what the picture shows.  I fell in love with it right away and knew this piece would be perfect for her.

 Ink Circles Cirque des Cercles:  I am planning on doing this as full beads.  I saw it on Ink Circles website and thought it was brilliant and beautiful and since I haven't seen or heard anyone else doing it, I thought it would be great to do it as well.

•  Chatelaine "Japanese Octogon Box"

1.  Mr. President
2.  The Great Emancipator

I just recently bought fabric, and floss for these lovely pieces and I also bought the "American Ambassador" to complete the set.  Yaay me.

















I hope you enjoyed the goodies I bought.  I am trying to find another method so y'all can click on the images to see them up close... but that hasn't happened yet....

Vacation

Well I'm in Portland and I got some goodies. But for some reason my phone won't load up the pictures. I also have news on Liberty. I didn't finish get like planned. I made a huge mistake and had to start over. I will post the updated photo when I can. I will also post photos of what I got fro
Two LNS's. I am very pleased and excited because I got a few of my Favourite designer and a couple others that I do like that I wouldn't of gotten while here in Portland. I will also post a couple if pictures of my travels as well.

A new start and a new GOAL!!!

So I got a new project.... and I started it!!  Yay!  Usually I am a little more controlled especially when I have 5 other projects and 3 of them have become UFOs... Anyways, I have always wanted to do something for 4th of July because I am really patriotic about my country; because of all the freedoms I am very proud and hopefully more freedoms are abound in the future not just for me but for others here in America and in other countries :D.  I have never really found a piece that called out to me like "Lady of the Flag" from Mirabilia.  I of course, thanks to my new job, was able to get all the items I needed from the pattern to fabric and all the floss and beads!   I had envisioned what fabric would look good because I wanted to see all the details, such as the beads pop off the fabric.  I believe I have chosen the right fabric - 32 count Twilight Blue linen.

Floss Toss:

 

Progress:



 

 

 

Now the goal is to be finished by 4th of July!!  Which is in t-minus 14 days!!!  And the progress is after a few hours like 4ish... Either way this is my new project that I will be working on for the next 14 days.  *crossing fingers* I will finish.

Reinvigorated!!

I know I haven't been stitching or updating anything in a very long time.  I have been busy looking for a job and I have finaly received one.  I have been working over a month now and I was able to get some stitching stuff.  As I may have stated before, my mermaids had to be laid to rest out in the ocean blue, lol. If I haven't a quick synopsis will do:  My niece drew on my stitching with a permanent marker.  She wanted to show her artsie side hahaha.  Anyways, I have a new job and have been reinvigorated with my stitching!

I bought a couple of fabrics:  32 count Amsterdam Blue, and 32 count White Chocolate.

Here is a new start and a little progress on Mermaids of the Deep Blue:  2 weeks of Progress!

One is the Loneliest..... Cupcake!

Since it is Valentine's Day and I am single and babysitting little ones.  I decided this would be a great opportunity to do a wine review on one of the wines I have that I have been afraid to try it for my gut tells me it will be bad.  I also made pizza tonight to go with my wine.

 

 

On the Nose:

1.  Rapsberries
2.  Flowers

On the Palate:

1.  Spices
2.  Sugar


On the nose, there was a hint of a sweet fruit which left an impression of raspberries.  There was also a light aroma of flowers... I want to say lavender specifically but flowers it will stay.  On the palate theer was an overwhelming hit of spices I couldn't really determine which spices but it was overwhelming and kick to it.  The spices were followed with a dose of sugar followed with a weird after taste.  I decided to let the wine breath for a little bit thinking "As it breathes it will get better".... errr that was not the case.  I pared this wine with pizza and I thought it fit for Valentine's Day if one is single like myself...  This wine did not get better with time it actually got worst.  The after taste was horrible, it was similar to that of a ballon taste - very rubbery.   As far as the pairing went... the wine did nothing for the pizza but the pizza def covered the horrid taste of the wine.  As my dinner went on I kept drinking less and less of this horrid wine.  I wanted to finish it and the only way I could was by inhaling the wine and not let it linger on my tongue at all.

 I really wanted to like this wine since there was the word Cupcake on the label... But that was not the case.  This was more of a bitter grapefruit and sour lemon than a cupcake.  Let's just say my gut institnct about this wine was correct and I shouldn't of had it.  This wine retailed for $10, the alcohol was not listed but I would assume it was about 7%.  Merlot, Cupecake Vineyard from California, cork, and red.


*Disclaimer:  Drink at your own risk.

Permanently Resting!

Sooo This happened a couple of weeks ago but My Niece got a hold of a permanent marker and coloured on my Mermaids!!  So they are premanently resting in the garbage.  I got some good advice from the Mirabilia facebook page but I decided it was too much of a waste and it did get rid of some the marker I could still see it.  My niece is only 2 and she was just showing off her artistic ability.... I would of prefered it not on my stitching...  But oh well.  Also it is not easy to get angry at a 2 year who is soo proud of her work and wanted to show it off.  All I could do is laugh and tell her good job but next time ask so I can give her some fabric she can colour on.  I can always redo them which I am planning on to.  Since today is my birthday I am purchasing myself some fabric(s) so I can stitch them up again.  Hopefully this time my needle will be swift!

I hope every one is having a great stitching day and hope your stiching is not being terrorized by some 2 year old.

p.s.: I also just gave my nice some white linen to colour on to her hearts content.  Hopefully that will prevent her from colouring on mine lol.

TUSAL Jan 2013

The first new moon of the year was yesterday do I'm late for this but better late than never... Which my English teacher said was not a good motto. For if a paper was late it was still a zero so she thought it was better to never turn in.  Anyways...  I just have been adding to my little mini flower vase becaues I haven't been stitchin a lot but thought "Eh, it will make it look nicer with more floss" and so more floss is being added.

For those that are visiting and have no idea what an ORT jar is or a TUSAL, well I will tell you a little snip bit.  An ORT jar means Old Ratty Threads:  It is the cut-aways from ending of threads on our projects.  Stitchers put the cut aways in any glass containers i.e., ornaments, cups, vases, ect. ect. and saves them for whatever.  TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch A Longs:  Threads that are useless like cut-aways.  These are also put in glass jars as well.  Now once a month there is a new moon and that is when Stitchers post their TUSAL or ORT jars up for others to see how much floss they have accumilated for the month.  Any one can do this, there is a sign up HERE and all you need to do is leave a comment saying you are wanting to be apart of the fun.  There is no commitment at all.  Only when you can post any time around the new moon and if you miss one... No big deal... There is no flogging.  Well maybe the first time we wont flog you, but surely the second time we will Muwahahaha :D :D :D.... ooh jk jk hopefully you can't read this... I have always wondered if people actually try to read the little tiny font and if it actually makes an impact on anything... and you know what is really bugging me is do fish breath underwater?!?!  Also why does Ellen keep talking about her car........  So go ahead sign up and join the fun :D.

Hope any scooby-newbies will join and learned something new!

Dove of Peace

I recieved a stitching piece this past Christmas from my parents called "Dove of Peace".  I think it is cute.  Although not my style whatsoever... it will be nice to stitch something different.  I really didn't like the floss it came with which was 14 count something....  So I decided to switch it with a 32 count linen I have.  I don't remember the name but it feels like burlap.  I wanted the white to pop off the fabric more than it would of with the other fabric.  So I did a floss toss and then I started stiching on it.  I have done about 2 hours so far, 30 minutes a day,  I like that pace so far.  Although I have been frogging lately.  Note to self:  Do NOT stitch when tired, lol.

Mermaids

I have been working a little mad these past few days on my mermaids and I am pleased with the progress that I have made!!  This piece even though I love it, has been difficult to work on.  I have no idea why really but I was not into it and thought I needed a change but I didn't want to work on any other piece I had so I plodded along slowly on this one until I eventually jsut stopped and then picked her back up right before the New Year and got myself to stitch.  Soo without any further ado....

2013

Soo I was on a hiatus for quite some time now.  There was personal stuff happening and became busy and I have been working this past holiday season at a retail store so that has me working all hours.  Which I do apologize to my followers.  I also wasn't stitching that much at all.  My stitching bug went away and I was only doing very little stitching on my Mermaids and not on anything else.  So with this New Year, there will be New Beginnings.  I also have my stitching bug back so I am very excited to show you some progress that I made on my Mermaids and show you what I got for Christmas.

Hopefully everyone had a great New Years and Christmas and Hanukkah and recieved some wonderful stitching gifts.

Goals for January:

1.  Finish Mermaid skin on the first Mermaid.
2.  Stitch 10 hours on my new project Dove of Peace.
3.  Stitch 10 hours on Woodland Enchantress.
4.  Finish my Niece's piece Let it Bee.
5.  Do a wine review.

July Wrap-Up

Well this past month I was able to find my stitching mojo but worked only a little bit.  I am finding I get distracted pretty easily and especially with the Olympics I have been somewhat glued to my tv.  But I am stitching a little here and there during the boring parts of the Olympics... i.e... commercials and whatever sport I find boring.  I am happy that the US womens gymnastics got gold, but disappointed to what happened to Jordyn Wieber.  Even though she is a great gymnast, that day she just didn't perform and that's the day it really counts not your past trials.  I have also watch Equestrian as well.  I do love equestrian and actually pretty exciting that Mitt Romney's wife Ann Romney has a horse that is competing in the Olympics as well.  Even though the US didn't place at all it's still a fun fact.  I have always wanted to do equestrian.... but....  I just don't like the dressage part... it's like watching paint dry!  Swimming I just watch bits and pieces and that's it.  I am finding there are more and more controversies happening at evey olympics, even in badminton.  BADMINTON!!!  Seriously?!?!  here's the low down if you didn't know... Four teams (8 players in all) were disqualified from the Olympics this year for trying to manipulate who they played in the knock-out round by purposely throwing the round-robin stage to get an easier match-up later.  Seriously... what's next ping pong?

enough about that onto cross stitching.

Goals for July:

1.  Stitch on my Mermaids.  I did, buuuut.... I had to frog it all.2.  Finish up my new start for my nieces'.  Getting closer but no cigar.
3. Work on my UFO's. eeeehhhh......4. Do a Wine review.  (I feel as though this should never be on my goal list lol.).  Yeeesss!!


Goals for August:

1.  Finish my nieces' piece.
2.  work on my UFO's.
3.  Do a wine review.


I am keeping it simple this month for who knows what will happen!

TUSAL #1

This is my first TUSAL and for those of you that don't know what it means... it means... uuuhhh... *Goes to look it up for a refresher*  "Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long".  It's mainly a jar or any container that you want to use to keep all the threadings from your stitching.  I have been doing this already but have not really participated and I was one of those... "What the Stitch?!?!"  Whenever I saw the pics on other blogs and had no idea what they were talking about until recently.  Now I am apart of it and here is the link TUSAL.  The rules are simple and you can join in anytime!!  That is good :D.  Here is my picture of my "Jar"  I have an idea now of what I would like to do buuuut we'll see... hmmm....

A LONG over due update

I have been working on my niece's piece called "Let it Bee..." and I have been taking update pictures but I keep forgetting to blog about it!  I am sorry you guys.  There is no no no NO excuse for this what. so. ever.  So without further ado... I have lots... well a few pictures for you guys of where I am at.



 I am backstitching on this piece and I have a frame in mind that I think would be great for this!!  I only have been working on this for a little bit everyday because my boyfriend just recently moved to Portland and we were spending a lot of time together so I didn't want to let this get in the way of "our time".  I have also been working on the grass growing in the backyard and with living in Arizona...it's almost near impossible but there has been grass growing, and I have been doing my niece's hair just about everyday with all different ways of braiding or at least doing the same braid in just different styles.... lol.

Hope ya'll enjoyed!

Camino Del Inca

So I went on a shopping spree with my boyfriend and he wanted to show me the new look of a restaurant we like going to - Delux. I wasn't entirely hungry but after getting a mani-pedi and the restaurant was right there and they had sliders that you can get individually or a group of three.... I caved. My boyfriend wanted wine so we ordered a white wine. He likes to follow trends and seasons as I like to get what I want whenever. But I decided to go with what he wanted.

On the nose:

1. Watermelon
2. Pear
3. Grapes

On the palate:

1. Watered down fruit
2. Flowery
3. Honey

On the nose i got hit with lots of fruity smells such as watermelon, pear, and grapes. This wine smelt sweet but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it exactly was. I was very excited to taste this wine with my food. Trying Camino I was very pleased as it was thin and airy but taste like watery fruit as my first reaction but then the honey came in and then a flower feel like daisy petals. I paired this with three sliders

1. With Monterey Jack Cheese
2. With American Cheese
3. With Mozzarella.

I had the Mozzarella and half the Monterey Jack. My boyfriend had the American and the other half of the Monterey Jack. Camino brought out the spices of the slider's relish, and the sweetness of the ketchup. This wine also went great with the french fries as well. This wine was like a bit of fresh air with the sliders and all their flavours. It was nice to have this wine bring out more flavours but relax them with the watery fruit so the sliders weren't too powerful in your face.

Overall this was a good wine, it was thin, light, cool, and refreshing. Something I would drink on a cool summer day watching the grass grow in my back yard lol. This wine retails for $20-25 and since we were at a restaurant we paid $36, and it's 13.5% alcohol. Camino Del Inca is a 2010 cork, white wine, from Argentina. Now pictures!!!

 

Let me know if this was helpful or if more was needed. If you tried this wine or get to try this let me know what you thought of it in the comments :).

*disclaimer: Drink at your own risk.

June Wrap-up

I have been in a slump for quite some time now with my stitching.  I have been looking for a job so sometimes it may seem like I've been neglectent, but I have not.  But lets just get to it.

Goals for June:

1.  Stitch on my Mermaids.  Haha nope.  When Mr. Frog came for a visit I stopped.
2.  Start a new project for a going away gift.  I found one but... I don't have it.
3.  Do another wine review sometime this month.  Ehh.....
4.  Try to get a grip on my rotation schedule and stick to it haha.  Did not happen and will not be apart of my goal list.

Unexpected this month:  Started a small project that is going to my Nieces.

Goals for July:

1.  Stitch on my Mermaids.
2.  Finish up my new start for my nieces.
3. Work on my UFO's.
4. Do a Wine review.  (I feel as though this should never be on my goal list lol.).

ATC Exchange #1

Soooo... I took part last month in my first ATC exchange, which means Artist Trading Cards for those that have no idea what I'm talking about.  I am very pleased with hwo mine did turn out except how I finished it off.  Well my recipient really likes it and and I am pleased with that.  The one I recieved I erally like as well and it's interesting how on such a simple theme there are so many interpretations that can be done.  The cards were sent out the beginning of this month and mine went to Sweden and sending it from America snail mail took about 3ish weeks and mine came from I believe the UK... at least Europe lol England.  I'm really bad at rememberin such details.  I was just too excited for taking part in this exchange.

RECIEVED:

Recieved:

Group:  crossstitchforum
Theme: London Olympics
Stitched By: Jo, England
Sent To:  ME!


Sent:

Group:  crossstitchforum
Theme:  London Olympics
Stitched By:  ME!
Sent To:  Agi, Sweden
Information:  Stitched on off-white 28 count linen. The UK flag is sitched 1-over-1 with floss red, blue, and white, finished with Metallic grey beads, and the olympic rings attached with a sepreate piece of fabric.  Desigtned by ME!




SENT:

As many of you probably can see why I am not happy with the finish....  I tried to save it but once I decided to cut it real close the edge of the piece it all went down hill fast.  So I am more than likely going to restitch it and send her the new one which will look exactly the same but with a better finish/polished look.

A New Start

I started a new project today. I helped out a friend of mine today and since I had a long wait for him to get off from work and I forgot my mermaids I decided to start something new. Here in Phoenix we have a needlework shop that I had no idea about. I was very excited and wanted to check them out. Of course I did the smart thing first by calling to see if they had any fabric for cross stitching. I was informed they do. So I started my journey to their location, which was only a few minutes away from my friends work. When I arrived I kindly asked where the fabrics were located at. That's when I heard it, "we don't sell fabric here, only floss, yarn, and other form of threads".... Soo needless to say I was a bit upset. So I went to Michaels instead. Now Michaels has like zero cross stitch stuff, it was depressing! But the little they do have... is nothing too exciting. I did however find a cute project that would be great for my nieces room. After purchasing my cute find I went to a Starbucks nearby and just had uninterrupted stitching for a couple of hours. Then this lady wanted to sit with me at my table. She pulled her stitching stuff out and stitched along with me. Now I'm not one to stitch with others for I become a control freak and want to fix everything I think they are doing wrong. But it was nice having someone to stitch with and talk to. Okay, now I can show you what I have been working on and how much I got accomplished. It's a Dimensions kit and although I have 2 other kits this one seems like it will be a quick finish.