Finished!

Enchanted Cottage finished as of about a half an hour ago, September 25, 2011.  The cording wasn't as horrible as I imagined it would be and dreaded the whole project, so I'm grateful for that!  I am also a pro at French knots now!

I'm still waiting for my patterns from Mystic Stitch, and I found a couple patterns that I'm going to turn into pillows, one for each of my two younger ones.  Still looking for something of interest for my oldest... sports cars maybe, if I ever find some of those.  My daughter will be getting cupcakes, my baby a pillow with farm animals, both from the same past issue of Cross Stitch Gold.

I've got threads sorted to start the next in line... so much for finishing some WIPs lol  I'll be starting Footprints tonight.  It came in a kit from a friend of mine and has evenweave... another first.  Excited to try it!  Happy stitching!

Once Upon a Weekend...

Ever have one of those weekends that you wished you could rewind and just sleep through instead?  Yeah, whatever could go wrong this weekend, DID.  Among some minor things, I don't know how many times I had a bit of a mistake on the stitching and had to unstitch... that's no fun for any of us to realize our small imperfections, but we know that we can't live knowing that mistake would be in our work, even if others wouldn't.  The weekend was filled with eventful incidents, among them my daughter possibly either dislocating her shoulder or fracturing her collarbone and my 12-year-old son getting sick in the car.  At this point, both are feeling much better, thank God.

It doesn't hold a candle to those over on the East Coast.  My thoughts and prayers have been with you all this weekend.  The hubby and I have kept tuned in to the news and can't believe the damage done.  I hope that as waters recede and more and more survey the damage, it is done with care and safety to your person above all else.

On a good note this weekend, I did stumble onto a couple of prizes at garage sales.  I picked up a Minnie Mouse for my daughter for $1.00.  How awesome to find this, the one toy I desperately wanted to get her at Disney and couldn't see paying the $20.00 at the gift stores for this little stuffed Minnie.  So that was quite the find!  I'm also pleased that I managed to find a couple of cross stitch charts for a quarter each:

They're charts for somewhat larger projects -- 13 x 10 inches and 12.25 x 10 inches -- and I'd prefer kits, but they're cute, and I couldn't pass up a quarter!  If nothing else, maybe they'll make some cute little gifts in Christmas cards this year for some favorite stitchy friends.

I also found another project of a different breed, something brand new that I've never done before.  It is a full kit, a felt Christmas stocking kit.  I'm not sure when I'll begin this as I already have so much in progress, but some day.... I certainly have the patience, so I'll try my hand at it:

I haven't yet decided which child it will be for, and if it turns out, it will have to be equal, so I'll have to buy two more suitable for the other two, naturally! 

Last, but certainly not least, I had a finish today!  I finally finished the two little monkeys for my friend's baby's nursery.  Her baby shower is on Sept. 18, so I have plenty of time to get a frame and get it wrapped up and ready to go for her along with the other couple of things I have to go with it.  I'm sure she'll be quite pleased!

Now to decide what's next.... I have several projects in the works already and should do one of those.  I have another friend expecting and have a pattern picked out for her that I'd like to do, but until I get to the store for thread, I think I'll have to satisfy myself with a current WIP.  I'm thinking possibly Noah's Ark Christmas -- over on the right is a WIP picture.

Christmas in July Finishes

It seems as though I've been working on these little items for ages, but it's only been about six weeks or so.  These items came about from a Christmas in July exchange I got involved in.  Always one to have a creativity spaz attack, I ended up with not one ornament for each person I'm exchanging with but several little items since my mind wouldn't stop coming up with ideas, and I couldn't decide.

The ornaments that started it all:

Bookmarks--A brand new experience for me. The fringe on the bottom one is courtesy of my wonderful husband. I was going to leave it with just the ribbon. I'm SO glad he suggested something for the ends... looks much better. The top one is my favorite -- the colors, the beaded "ribbon." I really like how it turned out!

Magnets -- creative experiment number two. The top is stitched on aida with green and silver ribbon on the sides. The bottom is stitched on perforated plastic. Both are fit nicely into 4x6 photo magnet holders. I have a few of them here and since I couldn't get to the store to buy stuff to secure to the back to make magnets (or even know what to look for), I figured this was a clever solution.

Satchets -- yet another first. Both are stuffed with "Ocean Breeze" potpourri. I suppose with Christmas in July, "Evergreen" would have made more sense, but I wasn't thinking at the store. I was thinking more about vacation in Florida, so "Ocean Breeze" it was.

Finally, some finishes to post on my blog.  I'll be working furiously on the monkeys for my friend over the next week or so.  If it isn't finished before we leave for Florida on August 2, it will be going with me... they'll be going with me.  I won't pretend I'll have it done by then.  I will be bringing along another WIP just in case I'm able to finish that one up while we're off relaxing.... too bad the beach is so sandy.  It would be an awesome spot to stitch!