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.