12.30.2013
Happy almost New Year everyone!  After taking some time off for the holidays, I am back at it and motivated for 2014.  I stitched a cute little card for my niece's birthday and of course forgot to take a picture of the finished card.  Here's a picture of the cross stitch portion.

The card was orange and I put black cardstock behind the cross stitch to frame it.  She plays soccer and her club colors are orange and black.

I also spent some time on my Artecy project, Rainforest.  I had posted a picture back in October of my progress and below is updated as of 12/28/2013

I added quite a bit in the bottom left corner.  The finished project is 16 1/2 " (230 stitches) wide by 11" (153 stitches) high and I am roughly 20% done.  I'd like to finish it by the end of 2014...but there are still an awful lot of stitches to go.

Hope everyone has a great New Year.

Michele

12.20.2013

Tada!  The finished super secret project for my friend. We are doing our gift exchange in a couple of hours so I figured it was safe to post this today.  I have to say I am very proud of the way this turned out.

Michele

12.18.2013



Finally, after more years than I care to admit, the stockings for my family are complete. There's a story behind this in that my husband and I received beautiful needlepoint stockings from a friend of his mother's when we got married. Well, she spelled my name wrong, and since it was needlepoint, I really couldn't take it apart and fix it.  As a result, we never used those stockings. When our boys were about 2 and 4, I decided to make them cross stitch stockings. I stitched one fairly quickly, and then started on the second. I had the tops done and started on one for myself (with my name spelled correctly)...and then life got very busy and I kind of lost track of mine (and part of the pattern). Keep in mind I still hadn't assembled the boys. Two years ago, I found my incomplete top and missing pattern piece and decided that no matter what, our three stockings would be done and up for Christmas. Since our boys were 12 and 14, it was about time.  Somehow I did it, even though mine was a very complicated Dimensions pattern. Now, our three stockings were cross stitch and facing to the left and hubby's stocking was needlepoint and facing to the right...you guessed it, he wanted to know why his was so different.  I reminded him, about our wedding gifts and he seemed to shrug it off, but I decided to surprise him with his own stocking and set a goal of Christmas this year.   It was a good thing I did, because when I put our stocking ups, with his old one, he commented again.  As you know, I've been working on it off and on all year and last night, when he took our youngest to soccer, put it together. I need to give it a good press before I hang it up. Wonder how long it will take him to notice once it is up.  Below are all four of our stockings.

12.02.2013

Happy December.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and successful shopping if you ventured out over the holiday weekend.  We spent the holiday with my dad in South Dakota and now are back and in the holiday mood.  I finished the stitching portion of the stocking Saturday night

and now just have the assembly.  I always dread making the actual stocking for fear that I cut something wrong and ruin the stitched piece.

I also completed several cards and I think I have enough for immediate family.  I would like to make two more that are more religious in nature, but I don't think I will have time to stitch and assemble.  We'll see. In the meantime, below are the ones ready to go out.

I will also pick up the super secret project from the framer's tonight.  Can't wait to see the finished piece.

Michele

11.25.2013

Happy Monday and almost Thanksgiving. Had a great weekend  of stitching and am so close to finished Mike's stocking it hurts.
I finally finished the white portion of the beard and the last green area of the toe and moved on to the top.  After counting rows, I ascertained that I had enough space to finish the stocking without modifying. I had been quite worried about the spacing.

Here's my progress after Saturday, 11.23.  Doesn't look like much, but I'm not showing the bottom portion that I finished.

And here's after Sunday, 11.24.  Only one small section in the top to go and then I start the backstitching and gold metallic on the glasses. I always save the metallic threads for last because they tend to fray.  Hope to work on this during lunch at work and then finish the missing section tonight. If I'm really lucky, I'll start the backstitching...but we'll see.

Michele

11.20.2013

WooHoo!  The super secret project is done. I will take it for framing tonight after my orthodontist appointment and then back to the stocking.  In the meantime, I finished designing the purse birthday card a co-worker wants to give his wife.  So, my to do list (in order of priority) is
stocking
purse birthday card
January birthday card
boy baby cards-3


and this doesn't include any fun projects I may want to do, just for me. 
What's the saying?  No rest for the wicked?

michele

11.19.2013

Productive night last night as I put the finishes on three cards.  It amazes me how much time it takes to pick the paper and determine sizes of cuts, etc.

First was the card for my co-worker.  I had all the stitching done except for outlining the feet and adding the baby's details.

Then I put the finishes on the cards for another co-worker, the requests she had put in for her parents and grandma. I believe the Mary and Jesus card is for Grandma and the angel is for her parents, but I could have that reversed.  I  had trouble deciding what paper to use, until I found the antique-y looking paper in the middle. It really tied the other colors together and gave the card an elegant look.

Tonight I resume working on the super secret project for another co-worker.  I'm two-thirds done and I need to finish this week so I can take advantage of the Michael's fabulous framing special.

Michele

11.18.2013
Another Monday which means another week closer to Christmas!  Friday was an exciting day as I had two people contact me with special requests.  One was a birthday card for a dear friend and isn't due until late December.  The other was a co-worker with a  special request for his wife who was pregnant.  When she was young, she had a tortoise that lived in her back yard and he  wanted to know if I could make a card for her that had turtles, possibly a mom and daughter turtle.  I started looking around and found the Ellen Mauer-Stroh "Turtle baby" pattern.  He loved it so I stitched like a maniac all weekend and stayed up way too late  last night in order to finish.

Why the rush? because she was due 11/09/2013.   Yes, he asked me on Friday to make the card, as in a week after the baby was overdue!

My late night was worth it as Baby Lillian Francesca was born yesterday.  I'm waiting to hear from the happy dad to see if he wants to get it framed or wants me to put it on a card for him.  And...since the baby is finally here and named, I can finish the card I am making them as a gift. All I have to add is the name and details.

I also finished the second third of my secret project.  Will hopefully have time tonight to work on that as Michael's has a great sale on their frames this week and I want to finish the project this week in order to take advantage of that sale.  60% plus an additional $15.

And then...back to the stocking.

Take care,
Michele

11.15.2013

Happy Friday!  So glad the work week is over.  I'm ready to sleep past 5:50am.

Finished the singing mouse last night.

It turned out really cute. 

I also worked on the secret project for a while last night. Good progress there and I hope to have the entire project stitched by next Friday.  I'm actually hoping to finish this weekend, but I have some cards to make out of stitched projects and there are so many hours in a day.

Michele

11.14.2013

A great night of stitching last night, despite a late start and early end.  Things just clicked for me.

I finished the tree I was working on

 

 

Decided not to go with metallic garland and instead of putting the year into the "tree stand", I made it one row larger and put "Merry Christmas".

 

I then started a mouse design

 

 I should finish this today and will then get back to work on the secret project.  I just needed a break from the secret project as the monochromes scheme is a little boring. It's a beautiful design, just a little boring color-wise.

 

Michele

11.13.2013

Happy Hump Day!  Another beautiful day in Colorado. I love our weather. 

Yesterday was an absolutely splendiferous day for me.  I had a 1 1/2 hour massage at a new massage place and can't wait to go back for another.  Then, I received my package that I won from WOCS. All kinds of goodies in it.  Including some gorgeous 32 count light green linen. I've never stitched on 32 count before and will have to find the perfect project for it.  I felt so energized after my massage that I worked out on the elliptical and did 15minutes of calisthenics.  Just a great day. I even found time to stitch a little. I am working on this Christmas tree pattern to add to a card.

The bulbs are in assorted colors and then black thread outlines the bulbs and acts as garland on the tree. I may use a metallic gold for the garland portion, but well see.  I want to finish the tree today so I can get back to the "super secret project".  I'm over 1/3 of the way done with that project and want to keep going. It's a little hard to stay motivated as it's all one color, which is why I started the tree, needed to mix things up a little.

 

Michele

11.11.2013

Happy Monday!  Another beautiful day forecast, although we are supposed to have a change in weather and get more "seasonal" temperatures.

Short post today but I did lots of stitching this weekend.  None I can post as it's  a secret for a friend.

Michele

11.08.2013
Last night was a busy night.  I put the finishing touches on Akele's journal.

I debated whether to put the picture on the inside cover, but figure it should be easy to remove if she wants to.

I also finished the "L" for WOCS.  I even remembered to add my name, which I usually forget. 

 

 

I will get this, along with my fall tree in the mail either today or tomorrow.  I'm also sending some small Christmas designs they can use on cards.  I stitched some of these designs when I lived in Arizona, which was 1988-1989.  I had hoped to assemble the cards myself, but time is getting short and I have to get Mike's stocking done. I also committed to another project that will have to be stitched and framed by Christmas.  It's a super secret project so I will only post the initial picture.  The finish will get posted after the gift is delivered at Christmas.  It should be a fairly quick project to stitch because it's got a lot of outlining/ blackwork, ok, I guess redwork :)

 

 

 

Also put a felt backing on a bookmark for a friend.  She is having a tough time and I wanted to let her know that things will get better.

 



And then found out she won't be in the office today. Oh well, it will be a nice surprise for her on Monday.

That's all for now,
Michele

11.06.2013
Well, I finished the super secret project last night. It is a mouse for my oldest son's girlfriend.  She turns 16 Friday and I am going to put the mouse on a purple journal to give to her.  She loves mice and purple, so how can I go wrong?

The pattern is a Lucie Heaton Pattern.  She has some really cute patterns and this one is perfect for Akele.

I also started a new project for WOCS. Someone had not turned in their letter for the alphabet quilt and I volunteered to do it for them.  Got about 1/3 of it done last night as it's a pretty quick stitch. If all goes well, I'll have it out to them in Friday's mail.

Happy Stitching,
Michele

11.05.2013
Where did the last few days go?  Yesterday was back to work day and boy was a dragging this morning.

I had to put Santa away for a  few days as I have some projects with deadlines that needed finishing.
Here's a picture of my progress through 11.02.2013

It's really looking good, however, I'm a little worried that I have enough room above his hat to finish the stocking.  I think I'm ok, but I'll have to count stitches before I resume

So, what did I get distracted with?  A couple of projects for a friend at work.

 

She's wants cards for her Grandma and her parents.  And while I was stitching these two, I decided to make this one as well.

Not sure who I'll give it to, but I really like the pattern.  Maybe on a card for my dad.

I have a small project I need to complete by Friday. I'm not going to say much as it's a gift for someone that just might read this.  I'll post after the gift is given.

That's all for today.

michele



10.31.2013

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was another great day of stitching. You can tell the shape of the "foot" of the stocking and about half of the white portion of santa's beard is filled in. 

I won't get much done today as I spent the morning raking leaves and putting up outside Halloween decorations and need to do a little cleaning.  And of course, watching out for ghosts and goblins tonight.

Michele

10.30.2013
Great progress yesterday. Of course, I stayed up far too late.  Tonight will have to be an early night.

It's a little hard to see, but I started on the white portion of Santa's beard.  and you can tell where the heel of the stocking will be.  Depending on how much I get done today, I may take  a break from this and start work on my Rainforest 1 project from Artecy.  I haven't worked on it for a while and am itching to get back to it.  Here's my progress to date.

 

Time to stitch!

 

10.29.2013

Hello and welcome to post #2.  Well, I've been busy stitching away on my stitch-cation. 

Finished the polar bear baby for WOCS and mailed it today.   Below is the stocking I'm making for a family member as of yesterday morning

And before I begin stitching today.  You can see the progress on the beard. 

My goal is to have this stitched by the end of the week, but as you can see by the picture below, that's a pretty ambitious goal.

 

I did finish two projects for Christmas cards for a co-worker. These will be for her parents and grandma.  Obviously, they need to be ironed :)

 



And now I need to get stitching.  Will  update tomorrow with progress.

Michele

Opening day

10.24.2013
Well, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and start a blog.  Not sure how often I'll post and of course, I'm assuming I can find my way back...but it's a start. My name is Michele and I am in my late 40's. I am married(Mike), work full time and have two teen-age sons Joe and Matt. Tonight is parent teacher conferences and I'm excited to meet their teachers.  They are both doing very well in school ( Joe's a junior and Matt's a freshman) and I am so proud of them, as is their dad, Mike. 

Cross stitch is my passion and I always find time to work on it.  I belong to a great group, World of Charity Stitching, and hope to finish the polar bear fishing pattern today.  This project is for an "animal baby" quilt. World of Charity Stitching, WOCS for short, is a group stitchers and sewers that make quilt for a variety of charities.   We cross stitch small projects that are incorporated into quilts, walker bags, cinch sack, tissue covers, you name it, it can be made by the incredible members that do the sewing. 

I think I'm being a little ambitious to finish this today as I have to finish stitching the hat, add another gull, finish the detail on the snowmounds and then the backstitching.  Yeah, probably not going to finish today.  Next on the agenda is to finish a Christmas stocking  and get a few birthday cards and special requests completed.  I'm itching to get back to the large Artecy project I started earlier this year. And of course, there's so many other projects to stitch.

signing off for now, hopefully I'll figure out how to come back...
Michele