Tuesday, March 27, 2012

March Tusal Report!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Well the moon looks new to me tonight so with that said here is my March TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch Along) picture. :) If you would like to participate, just hop on over to DaffyCat's blog and play with us!

My jar is looking quite colorful. I've been stitching with overdyed threads lately.


No progress pics to show tonight. I did finish my exchange piece for the Stitched with Love Exchanges blog. I love what I stitched for my partner. :D I will post pics once Lainey gives us the green light to share.

Good night friends and have a wonderful rest of the week.

Bye for now!
Jen

Monday, March 19, 2012

March IHSW and an Award!

Hello Friends:

I hope you all had a great weekend. Not sure what kind of weather everyone else is having, but ours in Miami has been strange this year. For one, it was an abnormally warm winter and now the rain has kicked in early. It almost feels as if our yearly wet summer is already upon us. No fun at all I tell you.

Anyways, this weekend was International Hermit and Stitch weekend. I definitely did my share of stitching today. I actually started a new chart last weekend which I am enjoying very much. I just love Country Cottage Needlework designs. I'm just drawn to the vibrant colors in many of the charts because they are so cheerful and colorful. I think I've also developed a new love for stitched cottages too!

I am now stitching "Sunflowers in Summer" by Country Cottage Needleworks.

(Photo was borrowed from CCN's site)




My Progress as of March 19:
I'm stitching this design on 30Ct Cocoa Linen by Weeks Dye Works and using the recommended DMC and Over Dyed Threads. I really love the happy sunflowers in the design. So pretty. :D 



In other news, I got a surprise this week and was awarded the Liebster Blog Award by Linda at Stitchin with my Furbabies.

Some background: Liebster is a German word, meaning favorite, dearest or beloved and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers, who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting.

1.  Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to. 
2.  Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.  
3.  Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.  
4.  Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.
 

**Unfortunately, I'm gonna be a rule breaker with this one. My problem is that most of the blogs I read have more than 200 followers and the ones that are under 200 followers have already received this award. Some bloggers have gotten it more than once it seems. So! I will just have to enlighten you all with 5 random facts about me and call it a day. :D Some of these I have mentioned before in other posts.

1) I am a competitive bowler. I bowl in two leagues a week and at least one tournament a month. My son and boyfriend are bowlers also. My son who is only 7 is really good and I always get a kick out of watching adults bowlers Oooo and Ahhhh over his skills.

2) I love Disney and take 2 vacations a year to Walt Disney World. 

3) I live in Miami but I hate the beaches here. I think our beaches are crappy. Not kidding!

4) I am addicted to coffee especially from Starbucks.

5) I absolutely adore the Harry Potter series. I have watched all of the movies (except the last) at least a million times and never get bored of them.

Thanks for stopping by everyone. I hope you all have a lovely week. The count down is on for me as I will be moving in about 3 weeks. My boyfriend and I are moving into a bigger apartment within the same complex. I am excited about that, but not excited about having to pack all my things. Believe me when I say, I have a lot of stuff. I think I could open a craft store with all my stash. If only genies and fairy godmothers were true I tell ya. I know what my wish would be right about now!

Take care friends. :)

Jen

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Some projects to Share...

Hello Friends:

I'm back today to share some projects with you.

First up is a birthday card that I made for the February card swap over at the Paper Wishes Message Board. We are only allowed to use Paper Wishes products on our cards, so for this card I used papers and die cuts from the Cherry on Top Artful Card Kit. I was very pleased with the result.


In a previous post I mentioned I participated in a biscornu exchange on the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo Group. This is the biscornu I received from my partner, Lindsay. Isn't it fabulous?! She used a freebie design for this. Not only do I love that variegated thread she used, but I just love the buttons she used for the middle. They are so colorful and pretty. Just perfect!

Biscornu Top Side:

Biscornu Bottom Side:

Lindsay mentioned the bottom side was designed by her since the pattern she used didn't have a pattern for the bottom. I think it turned it great. Don't you?

In case you didn't see my biscornu to her, here it is again:


Finally, here is a picture of my weekend stitching progress. I had a bowling tournament Saturday afternoon, and I was exhausted by the time I got home. My stitching mojo was non-existent on Saturday, but Sunday was a different story. I decided to work on my BAP project Little House Neighborhood. I'm loving this piece. 

Before Picture:


After Picture:

That's all for now friends. Thank you again for your sweet comments and notes of encouragement to me on my projects. Take care and have a great week. :)

Jen

Sunday, March 4, 2012

SAL Update: Halloween House

Hello Friends:

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed my 3 days off from work, but alas I have to go back tomorrow.

I did some stitching this weekend on my SAL project - Halloween House by Ursula Michael.

Progress as of 02/16/12


Progress as of 03/04/12


I also made a special purchase this weekend. I gave into temptation! I finally decided on a Heaven and Earth design to stitch. I chose mini Sunflower Cottage.


I have a weakness for Sunflowers. They are my favorite flower...so bright and cheerful and no matter how crummy of a mood I'm in, they always seem to make me smile. I'll probably wait a few months before I start on this one. I have a few other projects that I would like to finish first.

Thanks for stopping by friends. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Jen :)

Friday, March 2, 2012

"Joy and Peace" by LHN

Happy Friday Friends:

I had a lovely relaxing day off today. Something I really needed believe me...so it gave me time to do some fun things.

I finished my February ornament for the Christmas All Year Around SAL. The theme for February was Christmas tree. I chose "Joy and Peace" by Little House Needleworks. I used all of the recommended materials. The overdyed threads just really makes this piece beautiful. I love the richness of the colors.

I finished it as a flat ornament with the help of Vonna's most wonderful finishing tutorial here. The background fabric is the fabric on the back of the ornament.
"Joy and Peace" by Little House Needleworks
Fabric: Weeks Dye Works - 30 Ct Straw Linen
Threads: DMC, Crescent Colours, Gentle Arts Sampler Threads
Finish: Flat Ornament
Finished: March 2, 2012


Thanks for looking! Have a wonderful weekend.

Jen