Wednesday, October 31, 2012

It's Giveaway Time!

I just got the urge to have a giveaway!! It's a mystery - just a few little things to hopefully make someone smile. Leave a comment on this post only and tell me if you are a stitcher or not. Then, I can gear the winnings to the winner! Please post on your blog and you get a bonus entry! Just leave a separate entry to tell me that you did. This is for U.S. residents only, please. The deadline to enter is midnight E.S.T on Friday Nov. 2. I will draw a name on Saturday sometime and mail out on Monday! Good luck!!

Storm Stitching




Who knew that a hurricane would affect those of us here in Michigan? While we are no where near as devastated as the people on the Eastern coast, we did have a scary night here. We are very close to Lake Huron and there were reported 20 foot waves. All around us, people were losing their power. We were lucky and only lost our internet, phone and cable for a day and a half and a few trees. The youngest hasn't been in school for the last two days because the school doesn't have power. It has calmed down here ALOT and looks as though the trick or treaters will be able to do their thing. We got our garage cabinets installed last week and the storage is fantastic. With all the weather issues, I haven't had time to get all the shelves in, but that is on the list for tomorrow.  See all the storage?
 
Hockey season has started here and that is the time that I get alot of stitching done. There is so much time spent waiting at the rink. I also got alot of stitching done when the cable was out. These are the two - one I finished and the other I should finish tonight. Loved them both! I will Halloween stitch until about the middle of November then will start on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
 
Take care, friends! Talk to you soon!!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

I'm A Winner! And Some Finishes!!


A great big thanks to Jeanine from http://okiobdesigns.blogspot.com/ - I won a giveaway on her blog and the package was so wonderful! Here's a pic of the beautiful package I didn't want to spoil by opening, but when I opened it, there were some great treasures! Go check out her blog - it's great!

I decided to do a picture wall down the hallway to the bedrooms. I like the idea of a picture wall, but the placement of the pictures was very scary. Finally, after WAY too much thought, I decided to close my eyes and hang the first picture and go from there. So far, so good. There is no rhyme or reason to it - just what I think looks good and the pictures are just the ones that made me smile. I am sure it will be a work in progress, since I will want to update pictures along the way. It is hard to take a picture of the hallway, but here is a shot from one end and a shot from the other. I am happy with it!
It's not done yet - there are more pictures yet to frame so I hope that the wall will be filled with family. It makes me smile every time I walk to my room. Success! Too many times I see things on Pinterest or blogs and just agonize over how to do it the "right" way. I should just DO IT already and stop with all the over-analysis. Next project is to paint the downstairs bathroom and I have a great idea for a wall in our bar area. I am going to paint it with chalkboard paint so that guests can doodle on it. Yep, another Pinterest idea. Oh, that site will be the death of me!! But I love it - so happy there are alot of people out there alot more creative than me!
 Finally, here are some finishes, but not the complete finish. I like to finish my smalls with a vintage button on the back or in the design. I am auditioning buttons for these finishes, but the are ready for the final touches. Some of them had been sitting for awhile, so I am glad to get them done.
Almost done!

Love the colors in this!

So happy to find the perfect backing fabric for a project. Taking these colors and using them in the master bedroom. LOVE!
 

Well, thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for the painting of the bathroom saga - wait till you see the color! Yikes!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

It's Done!!

I am so happy!! I LOVED this chart when I first saw it - and I love, love, love candy corn (the regular kind, who ever came up with gourmet kinds??) and just knew I had to stitch it. Got it on Saturday and finished it last night.
Behind it are two of the finishes from this year. This is on the table in the entry way. I am going to try to get some more house pictures as I go through and get things done. I got  the glass pumpkin years ago at Walmart on clearance for $3.00 (actually I got 3 of them) and they are so great! I fill them with fall leaves, candy, cookie cutters, whatever but now it's filled with candy corn! Not sure how long it will last, since it's so easy to just grab a handful on your way out the door, but for now it looks pretty! I think we are going to paint the downstairs bathroom in the next few days. This should be interesting - stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Still Organizing, but Almost There!

The floss organization is coming along nicely! Thanks for the comments on how you store your floss. There are alot of "accessories" when you cross stitch or craft, and I am so lucky to have a craft room. I hope to show pictures of it when I get done with the floss organization, but that would mean cleaning it, soooo...... Well, I might.


Here are some pics of the stitching I have been stitching on. Still working my way through the magazine, but when I was organizing, I came across some other projects that needed just a few stitches. Also, I have an insane love of candy corn,so I bought "Death by Candy Corn" and hope to finsh it today. Well, off to put laundry in the dryer and then it's stitching time!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Floss Storage


Can we just chat a moment about floss storage? I have been stitching a long time and I have never really had the perfect floss storage system. I started out with a fishing tackle box. The Plano one? Anyone remember that or have one? That was OK but then, somewhere along the line, I got more floss. And more floss. Maybe it grows in the dark? Yeah, that's the one I am going with. It certainly isn't that I am too lazy to look for floss, so I just buy what the project needs. No, ma'am, I would not do that :) So I started to organize in the little plastic floss boxes. Ugh. This is what I have at the moment in the stitching room.
So, here's the plan. I am having a box for the 100's, the 200's, etc. of DMC. If there are duplicates, I am planning to store those in a box, after I make a list. Not sure how I have duplicates..... yeah, right. Then, when I use up a skein, I will look to see if I have a duplicate in the box and if not, THEN I buy. I have almost all the DMC colors. I will have a full set when I am done organizing. Oh, and here's a tidbit that I am sure you all know. I am always late to the party. If you write on the floss boxes in permanent marker and you need to change what you wrote or erase, you can easily erase with a magic eraser. I used the kind from the Dollar Tree and it worked just fine. So, that's my plan. I am stitching alot - here are some snaps. Will update my stitching through JCS Halloween issue later - I was planning to finish 26 projects! Yikes! Any comments on floss storage? What's your favorite system?