Final Post of 2011

Well, Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! The Hubmeister and I went to Half Moon Bay for the holidays and stayed with his mother. We all had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed being that close to the beach again. We have plans to go back in March to go see the Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks. My MIL got us tickets for our Christmas present. She also got me a Ryan Miller Premier Road Jersey and The Hubmeister a Ryan Miller Premier Home Jersey so we will be suitably attired come game time. I'm so excited to go see another pro hockey game. I wish I could go see my beloved New Jersey Devils, but they aren't going to be on the West Coast again until next year. It's a bummer, but whatareyagonnado?


At any rate, since we had a 10 hour car trip (one way, I might add!), I took along my A La Belle Etoile SAL. I managed to get a fair amount completed. My house finally has a roof (yay!), however, I think if I ever stitch this again, I am going to swap out the beige of the house for the dark purple. I think it would look better that way. I didn't change it this time, as I am stitching with silks, and there is no way on God's green earth I am ripping out 20 dollars in silks to do a mere color change. Nuh uh. No way, no how...


ANYHOO...enough of my yapping! Time for some pictures! :)




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

I like the way it looks so far. I am hoping to get a bit more completed, but it alas will not be finished in time for the new year. I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in.


Here is my list of completed work for 2011. I think it's fairly respectable, but I am disappointed in how few WIPs I managed to complete. I am hoping to rectify that in 2012 with the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi. The only rule I am making for myself is to just grab a project out of the bag and go. No lists because every time I make one, I can never stick to it, so I am not going to set myself up for what I would consider failure. I stitch to have fun and relax, not to make myself feel bad!



At any rate, here's my list of finishes:



1. Merry Christmas by Blackbird Designs finished 07.07.11

2. Season of Growth by Little House Needleworks finished 04.26.11

3. Cherries by JBW Designs Finished 04.14.11

4. Let's Go To The Beach by JBW Designs for Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine, July 2009. Finished 04.20.11

5. Spooky Sunday SAL by SanMan Originals. Finished 11.01.11.

6. Harvest Sampler by Linda P. Reeves. Finished 10.26.11.

7. At Plimoth by The Sampler Girl. Finished 10.25.11.

8. Apple Butter by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.22.11.

9. Quaker Acorn by The Workbasket. Finished 10.21.11.

10. Leaves by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.18.11.

11. Witchy Hat by SanMan Originals. Finished 10.14.11

12. Salem Witch by The Primitive Needle. Finished 09.10.11.

13. October Quaker by The Workbasket. Finished 08.26.11.

14. A Very Merry Summer by JBW Designs. Finished 06.27.11.

15. Fleur de Lis by JBW Designs. Finished 06.22.11

16. Joy of Christmas by My Big Toe. Finished 05.11.11.

17. Miniature Monogram Hornbook-Margin Marker by Kelmscott Designs. Finished 05.04.11.

18. Bunny's Bloom by The Primitive Jewel. Finished 04.28.11

19. Downton Abbey by The Sampler Girl. Finished 04.27.11

20. Now I Know My ABC's by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.13.11.

21. Basket of Memories by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.10.11.

22. A Very Merry Spring by JBW Designs. Finished 04.05.11.

23. Summer Iris by Blackbird Designs. Finished 03.30.11.

24. Cupcake by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.26.11.

25. A Stitcher's Companion by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.17.11.

26. My Home threadkeep by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.07.11.



Well, I had best be off. I have a TON of stuff to do and time's a wastin'! I hope everyone has a blessed and prosperous new year!


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Here a WIP, there a WIP, every where a WIP WIP

Goooooood morning, sports fans! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far. I have made little progress on my Thread Basket SAL and have even started yet another project. I have decided that I am going to treat the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi as a Bacchanalian free for all fest. I have all of my WIP and UFO bags dragged out and on stand by. I am going to start with the projects that are in my stitching area and then I am just going to grab one out of the bags and GO. I am NOT going to make any lists of specific projects to get done, because when I did that this year, I was less than successful. As in I only completed FOUR out of the TWENTY ONE I had wanted to do. For the most part, this also means going on the wagon and not buying a anything other than the odd floss that I ran out of and/or didn't have. I may buy the odd chart now and then, because let's face it, we are spoiled enough to have wonderful designers who manage to produce such lovely things, and Nashville Market is in a few months, and you know what THAT means. Guaranteed stitchy goodness and probably overtime for me to pay for it. :D


At any rate, here is what I have so far on my stitching:





WIP #1:


Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.

WIP#2:


Design: Sew Red


Designer: iStitch Designs


Fabric: 28 count linen in Vintage by Fleur de Luce Hand Dyeds


Fibers: Au Ver a Soie Soie d' Alger 7-strand silk floss in 2926. Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in PB03 Gold.

Well, I am off for now. I have a mild headache and looking at the computer screen is hurting my eyes a bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with all joy, peace, and lots of eats and treats! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Making it look like I'm doing something...

Not much of an update on my Thread Basket SAL. I seem to have caught the 'bug' that is floating around work. Yay. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything for any length of time, so as consequence, I sort of skipped around a lot when I was stitching.


Permettez-moi de te présenter, mes offres maigres (Allow me to present to you, my meager offerings):



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone and Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone.

Closeup of the beadwork:

Well, I am off for now. Not feeling so hot again. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.