What have I stitched on lately?

A Friend's House
by Sisters & Best Friends

Tuffet's Cupboard
by Just Another Button Company

Well, I haven't done much stitching but here are a few of the things I have been working on this month. On A Friend's House, I have finished the left side house, tree, and hill.  I'm about 45% complete on it.  For Tuffet's Cupboard, I have completed the first pattern and am about 50% complete with the 2nd pattern.  There are 4 patterns total.

Tre civette sul comò
by Madame Chantilly

Sisters Three
by Staci Nash

For the owls, I have completed the owls and am now working on the chest of drawers.  This one has gotten a little boring because of all of the ecru in the chest of drawers.  For the 3 sisters.  I have completed about 40%.  I ran out of the blue thread.  If you look closely the center of the flowers are the wrong color; I pulled the wrong color.  They are suppose to match the apron on the dress.  But the apron color on the dress blends into the fabric.  So I left the centers as they are.  But, that color is also supposed to be the flesh color.  So I think I'm going to change flesh color to DMC 754.  We'll see.




My parents are doing better (Dad had the stroke in February and Mom fractured her pelvis in March).  My brothers and sisters and I are taking turns staying with them.  It's hard on all of us, my parents included, but it is what you do for the people you love.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon

July, What a busy month!

I have no real excuse for not blogging.  I have been really busy with vacationing in Abbeville, Louisiana with my friend Sharon, Vacation Bible School, and working the lab on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have been trying to clean my house of all the clutter.  But it seems to get worse instead of better.  Well, let me be more specific.  My bedroom and bathroom have been cleared of clutter.  These rooms are comfortable and organized.  There is very little "stuff" sitting on the counters and nothing extra on the floors.  My office is completely empty waiting on getting rid of the desk.  Well, all the stuff from my office is in my kitchen, which looks like a cyclone hit it.  I hope to have everything organized before I go back to work on the 8th of August.  We shall see.

As for last week,  I didn't complete any new projects.  I did, however, finish a few old projects.  I got my sister Jennifer to come over and show me how to make pillows.  I have several small projects that would look good as pillows.  The pillows are actually a little larger than I planned but they are cute.  I finished 4 of the 8 that I have (see below).  A couple of them I finished as ornaments.

Lizzie Kate - Flip It Blocks - January

Rainbow Gallery Freebie - England, Ireland, & Scotland Blackwoork

I don't remember.  I finished it in 2006

Raise the Roof - Wise Old Owl

Next week is "camp" week.  I hope to have a lot of things to post then.  This week is preparing for camp.  I plan on bringing 7 new cross stitches, the Halloween Pudgy Needlepoint that I have had for at  least 10 years, and several amigurumi characters that have been crocheted but not put together.  I am very excited about the trip.

Well I am off to choose what to bring.  Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

July, What a busy month!

I have no real excuse for not blogging.  I have been really busy with vacationing in Abbeville, Louisiana with my friend Sharon, Vacation Bible School, and working the lab on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have been trying to clean my house of all the clutter.  But it seems to get worse instead of better.  Well, let me be more specific.  My bedroom and bathroom have been cleared of clutter.  These rooms are comfortable and organized.  There is very little "stuff" sitting on the counters and nothing extra on the floors.  My office is completely empty waiting on getting rid of the desk.  Well, all the stuff from my office is in my kitchen, which looks like a cyclone hit it.  I hope to have everything organized before I go back to work on the 8th of August.  We shall see.

As for last week,  I didn't complete any new projects.  I did, however, finish a few old projects.  I got my sister Jennifer to come over and show me how to make pillows.  I have several small projects that would look good as pillows.  The pillows are actually a little larger than I planned but they are cute.  I finished 4 of the 8 that I have (see below).  A couple of them I finished as ornaments.

Lizzie Kate - Flip It Blocks - January

Rainbow Gallery Freebie - England, Ireland, & Scotland Blackwoork

I don't remember.  I finished it in 2006

Raise the Roof - Wise Old Owl

Next week is "camp" week.  I hope to have a lot of things to post then.  This week is preparing for camp.  I plan on bringing 7 new cross stitches, the Halloween Pudgy Needlepoint that I have had for at  least 10 years, and several amigurumi characters that have been crocheted but not put together.  I am very excited about the trip.

Well I am off to choose what to bring.  Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

What have I done in the past YEAR?

Has it really been a year since I posted?  I really don't have an excuse.  I should have been posting the whole time.  But, I have really slow internet at home, and forget to post at work.  So here is what I have finished and/or the stage I am at the moment.

First up, the Mississippi State Fair results.  I entered the Ink Circles Mystery Stitch along, The Silver Needle 2013 Pumpkin with buttons we made at the retreat, The Bent Creek Summer Snapperville, Barbara Ana's Owlscornu, Shakespeare's Peddler's Passport Pincushion, and an scarf that I created using double crochets and front post stitching.
I got blue ribbons on everything.  I am so proud!

Tiramisu Complete

 I finally finished the Tiramisu.  It is gorgeous!  I haven't framed it yet but will soon.  I used DMC floss on beautiful yellow fabric from Silkweaver.

Girl's Christmas Ornament Exchange

 Every year the girls in our family create an ornament to exchange.  My mother says that every Christmas tree should have a bird in it.  So this year I crocheted these cute little birds for everyone.  I used different color combinations for everyone.











My cousin Liz's daughter Michelle wanted a purple and green afghan.  So I crocheted 9 different granny squares.  Well, actually 8.  Katie, my sister-in-law crocheted the round one that is at the beginning of the top row.  Michelle picked the colors.  I finished this during spring break.  Michelle loved it.

Michelle's Afghan

Also, during spring break I started a new craft/art.  I found a book on Zentangles. I truly enjoy drawing these min-art projects.  They are so relaxing.

Zentangled Owl

My Zentangle Art

For my Mom for Bridget

My mother started this Irish Coffee for my sister Bridget in 1995.  It was almost complete (just lacked the "coffee" section and the border.)  So I finished it for her.  I dated it 1995 2015 and put both of our initials on it.















Other Cross Stitch Projects I have completed this year are: Raven Bewitch, Pumpkin Kitty, and Chicken Love (which is suppose to be a pin keep but is too large for a pin keep)

Raven Bewitch

Pumpkin Kitty

Chicken Love

I had to make mushrooms for Liz, Patrick, Theron, Tucker, and Jennifer.  Theron, Tucker, and Patrick got the blue mushrooms.  Jennifer's dog Sally loved the mushrooms.  Now I have to make her a new red one.  :)  They turned out really cute.

a troop of mushrooms: Grow up (red) and get a life (green)

This summer I decided that I was going to complete as many of my craft projects as I could.  So here are a couple of the things I completed.  I finished 3 sets of bead ornaments, a crystal angel, these two snowmen (for my brother Pete), and Raggedy Andy.  I still have several crystal angels to complete.

Better late than never

Raggedy Anne now has an Andy

Crystal Angel

This year we didn't go to the Silver Needle Retreat.  Rather we created our own retreat.  My sisters (Jennifer & Bridget), Katie, Lisha, Theresa, Maddi, and I went to Birmingham for a week.  We each brought a craft to teach each night (a different person each night) and crafts for us to complete.

Katie's chain maile earrings

Katie's Chain maile earrings

Theresa's Paper Mache Craft

Jennifer's Basket weaving

Lisha's Christmas Ornaments

I completed three project and made a major dent in the other project.  I finished Panel 1 of the Halloween Pudgy, a hot pad, and some crocheted containers.  I have nearly finished Jennifer's LaLaLoopsy doll.  I only have to add the hair.

Panel 1 of Halloween Pudgy

crocheted containers

hot pad

95% complete LaLaLoopsy Doll

Jennifer found a sewing pattern to create a cover for your notebook.  Well of course we all wanted one.  Here is mine.

Sewn by Sharon

Mari, Jennifer and I also became interested in stained glass crafts.  We took a class at the Craftsman's Guild in Jackson with Jane Mullins.  We made the star sun catcher.  Then Mari and I took the intermediate class (Jennifer had a prior engagement) and made the bird.  Mine was horrible.  I had a bad day (cut myself 3 times).  So I will probably take the class again.  The bird looks good here but when I put it together the gaps were too big.

And last but not least.  The Rose of Sharon.  I am nearing completion of this project.  This week has been very busy (preparing for school).  Next week will also be very busy (first week of school).  I plan to have this finished before the end of the year.

I have decided not to make plans with definite deadlines.  Every time I do things go awry.  So I just plan on working.  I have started several projects that I hope to post as I go rather than one large post like this.  I have also started using up my small amounts of yarn.  I am crocheting afghan squares for "Warm Up America!"  I have decided that when I finish a project that I will get rid of the pattern rather than keep it.  I am trying the KonMari method of cleaning and decluttering my house.  Let's see what happens.

Thank you for sticking with me all this time.  Hopefully I will post more often.

Sharon

Sisters Weekend

Hey.  Long Time; No Post!  Sorry, like everyone else, I have been so busy; with what I don't really know.  I don't know where the time goes.

Back story:  Last year at the beginning of October, my entire family, 18 people (ages 2 - 77) went to Disney World.  We had a great time but my sisters and I felt that we missed out on some things.  You know what I mean. For example, older kids who don't want to meet the characters, little kids who need constant monitoring, etc.   So when we came back home, Jennifer, Bridget, and I decided that we were going to Disney World.  Just the three of us.

Art of Animation

So, Columbus Day Weekend we went to Disney World.  Bridget & I drove through the night on Thursday.  We got to out lodging (Art of Animation) around 6am.  Our rooms were ready, so we went to our rooms, bathe, and changed.  We drove over to Animal Kingdom.  We had a great time seeing the shows like "Finding Nemo - the Musical" and riding rides like "Expedition Everest" (yes Bridget and Jennifer rode it once, I on the other hand rode it twice).  It did rain on us but only for a little while.

Here we are in the rain at Animal Kingdom

On Saturday, which was Jennifer's day, we went to Epcot.  The food and wine festival was happening while we were there.  Last year, Jennifer wanted to go but didn't get to enjoy it.  So this year we were determined to go to every booth.  There were 31 booths and we ate at over 20 of them.  Some of the food that we ate was escargot from France, mussels from Belgium, Moosehead beer from Canada (very good).  Our favorites were:  Barcardi Frozen Dragon Berry Colada from the Carribean,  Crispy Shrimp Taco with Lime Strawberry Margarita on the Rocks from Mexico, Kona Brewing Company Big Wave Golden Ale from Hawai'i, and the most liked meal the lobster and seafood fisherman's pie and cheese platter with Bunratty Meade Honey Wine from Ireland .

Bridget & I in Germany

While we were eating our way around the world, I did the passport for all of the countries.  We also rode rides and met with characters.  I did  "Soaring" for the first time.  Loved it!!

On Sunday, we went to Magic Kingdom.  We rode so many rides.  When we left at 2am I only had 3 rides left to ride: Dumbo, Space Mountain, and .  We met a lot of characters as well.  Jennifer got to meet Marie from the Aristocats.  I got to meet Aurora and Snow White.  While in line for Snow White, we met a guy who has been to Disney World 22 times and had every character's signature but one - Snow White's.  He was so excited; he was as giddy as the little kids in line.

On Monday, we went to Hollywood Studios.  I rode the "Rock n Roll Roller coaster" without Jennifer and Bridget.  I loved it. It is fast, has a loop and a spiral loop in it.  We rode the "Star Tours" and I was the rebel spy on our ship.  We also went to "The Magic of Animation" show then had our own animation lesson where we drew Minnie Mouse.

Goofy wrecked his plan (The BarnStormer)

Jennifer in the knife throwing target

We left a little early to go change into our costumes for "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween" at Magic Kingdom.  We dressed up as the boys who went to Pleasure Island in Pinocchio.  We had a good time, got a lot of candy, stood in line to meet characters, and rode a few rides.  We didn't get to do as much as we wanted to do but it was fun.

Tuesday we were going to go to Universal Studios to do the Harry Potter rides but we stood in pay to enter the park line for 30 minutes and was only half way to the ticket booth.  So we decided to go to Downtown Disney and shop instead.  We left for home about 4pm  and got home around Midnight.

I had so much fun.  I want to go again.  Maybe next year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sharon