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