March Smalls SAL

03/05/2016

Goodness time does fly.  Work has been even more insane than normal and time is slipping away so this will be a little short.

 

I have finally finished the calendar for my friend with the completion of the above three.

 

 
The two "Happy Day" cards were for my Etsy shop and the sympathy card is for a friend who's mom passed away.  The wolf is for WOCS and the sleds are "just because". I find I make cards for so many other people that I sometimes forget to stitch for me.

Happy Spring!

Michele

February 2016 Smalls Update

02/26/2016
Hello friends,

Sorry I'm a day late posting, but yesterday was my birthday and in between people wishing me "Happy Birthday" and needing to actually work, I had no time to spare for a post.

In honor of my birthday, it was my 50th, I dyed my hair purple.

The picture does not do it justice, but it's a silvery purple color.  I'm a natural strawberry blonde and my hair stylist had to bleach my hair first to "tame the red".  I've never dyed my hair before and while I like the color, I'm not sure if I'll ever dye it again.

On to "stitchy" updates and as always, thanks to Heather at Stitching Lotus for sponsoring the monthly SAL check in.  I overcame some of my technical challenges and was able to add a link directly to her blog on mine.  Be impressed people; while I am great with excel and word, I'm not great at this "blog" stuff!

Wow, I guess I finished a lot of projects this month.  

 Finished the "Dragon of Air" by Dragon Dreams.  Not sure what I will do with the set of patterns, but they were fun to stitch.

 
Lots of co-workers having babies, so lots of baby cards to make.  The pacifiers are by Ellen Maurer-Stroh  and the Heffalump was a freebie from some magazine.

 
And lots of friends with February and March birthdays, all of which like purple!  I designed these patterns myself.

 



Freebie Lizzie*Kate pattern and the balloons birthday card is from a sale on my Etsy shop.

These two pieces are for WOCS.

And finally a Mill Hill Kit.  All of the above projects were starts or WIPs from Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge.  This year's challenge has kept me focused on planning ahead when it comes to birthday cards, etc.  AND, I've already started my Christmas cards for the year!  Last year I made over 60 Christmas cards (most of which went to WOCS) and it takes a lot of planning to get them all done.

Dad update, he gets his cast off today and will stay at rehab for another week to learn to navigate with a boot and to continue to build strength.  Next weekend we take him back to South Dakota and he will stay with my brother until he is able to live on his own again.  He's been a trooper through this whole ordeal and is more than ready to get on with the next stage of his recovery.  To every one out there with aging parents, or just their own aging body ( I did say I am 50 now), keep your body strong!

Happy Stitching
Michele

January 2016 Smalls SAL

Happy New Year!

2016 started off with a bang as my father fell and both dislocated and broke his ankle while visiting New Year's weekend.  He had surgery Jan. 14 and is recovering in a rehab facility, but my stitching time has been drastically reduced  since I work full time and then go to visit him at night.

Nevertheless, I did manage to get a few finishes in for the wonderful SAL that Heather, from Stitching Lotus sponsors.  If I was more tech savy, I'd add her link to my blog, but in the meantime, I'll just say "thanks Heather!"

 

 

The snowman is from a Sudberry House flyer and is for WOCS, The cats are for a calendar I made for a friend and are patterns from Happiness is Cross Stitching.  The card is a custom designed card for a neighbor that stopped and helped my dad when he injured himself. It's a long story, but with unusual circumstances, and I am very thankful that he stopped to help.  Our neighborhood is called the "Dam East"  and  my dad is from South Dakota, hence the personalization of the card.

I'm also participating in Deb's Ultimate 2016 Crazy Challenge.  The goal is to start a new project ( start, not necessarily finish) every day for January and February.  Last year I had enough starts for Jan-Mar. and I know some people are trying to do one start every day of the year.  I'm not sure if I can accomplish that, but I am starting Christmas cards early this year:) You can also  include work made on WIPs.   It's fun to see the different projects that people work on and to be inspired by other stitchers.

That's it for now.  I hope to have  more stitching time in February as things with my dad settle down, but we'll see.


Happy Stitching!

michele

Smalls SAL

12/31/2015

Happy end of December!  2015 has gone by so fast and I'm incredibly thankful for my friends and family and their continued health.

And a BIG thanks to Heather at Stitching Lotus and her 2015 Smalls Challenge. It ensured I posted at least once a month and it's been enjoyable looking at some of the posts and projects by the talented participants.

I was busy stitching last minute Christmas cards for various friends and family.

 

 

Sorry that some of these are sideways, but I'm a little short on time and want to get this posted.  The "Merry and Bright" was a design I made combining a couple of different alphabets and is for a co-worker that loves purple.  "Joy" was adapted from a pattern by Gazette 94, as mentioned in a previous post.  And the minions were adapted from patterns by Brooke Nolan.  She has both freebies and patterns you can purchase and I'm a big fan.  The card is for a co-worker that loooooooooooooooooooves minions.

I did a few non-Christmas finishes this month as well.

 

A card from a sale on my Etsy shop, a card for my niece from Daily Cross Stitch and dragon of fire from Dragon Dreams Needlework.

And a Christmas present for a co-worker from a Secret Santa gift exchange.

 

I still have a few months to finish, but these are from Happiness is Cross Stitching.  I love her cats and have combined patterns from 2014 and 2015.

And that's a wrap for 2015 stitching.  I look forward to continuing the smalls challenge in 2016 and want to finish some of my larger WIP's as I did not stitch much on them.

I will also participate in Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January/February Challenge 2016 (DUCJFC2016).  This is a Facebook group and the premise is to start a new project every day for 31 or 60 days ( January or January and February).  A few of us actually did 90 starts this year, Jan-March.  I'm not sure how many of those I finished, but I know I started and finished many more when I count all the Christmas cards I did.

Celebrate your hearts out tonight, for tomorrow we stitch!

Michele

Merry(Almost) Christmas

12/23/2015
Merry, Happy everyone!  Hard to believe Christmas is only 2 days away and 2016 is almost here.  The year has gone so fast and while I stitched a TON, I left many projects unfinished.

Today is my day to post as part of the Online Advent Calendar, sponsored by Jo at serendipitous Stitching.  I stitched like crazy this month trying to finish last minute Christmas cards and I wanted to share this one with you

It's a card I made for a friend that used to be my manager.  She left the company in May and I miss her a lot.  Her mother, who's name was Joy, passed away when my friend was 18 and I always make her a card with "Joy" on it.  This is adapted from a free pattern from Gazette94,   The original pattern is the second one listed on the page the link opens to. She has some great freebies on her website and I've used several of her patterns.

How I spend Christmas Eve. As a child, we always spent Christmas Eve with my dad's sister's house. She has 4 kids, all older than I and by the time I was in the 9-12 age range, my cousins had kids of their own.  As a result, there was usually over 30 people at her house and it was utter craziness, especially when it came time to open presents.  Now, most of those kids have moved away and Christmas Eve is much smaller, but it was a blast when I was a kid.  As an adult with children of my own, we spend Christmas Eve with my husband's extended family.  Everyone draws a name and we do a Secret Santa  gift exchange.  It is always a challenge to disguise handwriting and wrap presents in a unique manner to try and keep the "secret" as long as we can.

Merry Christmas,

Michele

11/30/2015-WOCS cards
Happy Monday.   I wanted to post the pictures of the cards I made for WOCS, since I seem to post the finished cross stitch items, but not the complete "finishes"

 

 

 

The cards are either 4 1/4 x 5 1/2, 5 x 5 or 5 x 7 and will go out in the  mail tomorrow to one of the groups owners. She will then distribute them to a senior citizens center.  The group also makes quilts, walker bags and a few other things.  It's a great way to share your love of stitching if you are looking for a great charity to support.



This is the finished ornament for an ornament exchange I participated in.  The recipient loves dragons and the colors pink and blue. I hope she likes this as it's not your typical ornament.

 

Happy Stitching,
Michele