Baking instead of stitching...

Hi everyone! It has been a bit since I have written a blog. My computer died, so I have been borrowing the child's computer, which is a task in and of itself. Have you ever tried to pry something electronic out of a 14-year-old's hands when they are glued to You Tube and Netflix?  LOL.

Anyway, while I have made some progress on my Mirabilia piece, I'm not where I want to be to take a picture. So I have posted no stitching updates. I also have not had a great deal of time to stitch for whatever reason. Hasn't stopped me from purchasing patterns or threads mind you, but nonetheless, I have not put many stitches in fabric lately.

However, I have been cooking and baking, and tonight I made the copycat of the Cranberry Bliss Bar at Starbucks, which I must say turned out amazing! I tweaked the recipe just a tad, but wow, are those things good. One must like cranberries and white chocolate, however.

I also made Ginger Jump Ups, the recipe of which was put out by Zingerman's - a most wonderful place here in Ann Arbor Michigan. I won't bore you with details, but this place not only has a bake house, but a creamery and a coffeehouse where they roast their own coffee and make the most wonderful desserts. Anyway, they published their cookie recipe, and I made my second attempt at them tonight. This time I did a much better job than a few weeks ago. :) Not quite as dark as they should be, but they are chewy and also amazing, even if I do say so myself.

Baking is like stitching to me - Therapy! And since I am low on funds and don't really have a great deal to do on a Saturday evening, the butter and brown sugar started calling my name. LOL. I will take the proceeds into work on Monday for the work peeps to enjoy, and my dad and daughter will also have a couple bites of something on Sunday to eat as well. I, of course, had a bite of the bliss bar and one of the cookies. Have to make sure they taste right after all. ;)

I hope you have a most wonderful evening. I have saved a few short minutes to stitch, so off I go to find that needle and thread. Thank you for stopping by!

A Teacher Gift

My daughter finished a little piece for her history teacher.  It was Let Freedom Ring by Lizzie Kate. She stitched it on a little piece of opal fabric (a first for her).  She was supposed to finish it last year, but she didn't complete it until just recently.  I used a tutorial by Totally in Stitches to complete it for her.  I think it turned out quite nice for a first time doing it.

It was fun to do it like this. I do need a little work on making bows, but still not bad.

I think her history teacher will be pleased, especially since he also has served in the US Military as a Marine.

Thanks for looking.

Karen

Recent Things Framed.

I've also had a thing or two framed this past summer.  I'm trying to frame things that I've had put away so as to preserve them.  Here is "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" by Sisters & Best Friends. I wanted a Key West feel for this piece, and I think I did a pretty good job of accomplishing that.

I kept it in my cubicle during the month of August. Every time I thought the day was a little long at work, I just looked over at this piece. :)

That is it for me this evening.  Wow, 2 posts in one night after not having been on here for months! Look at me go. LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

Check in Time

Haven't been on here in quite some time, but it doesn't mean I haven't thought about it.  Just busy and lacking in words to say I guess.  Anywho, have you ever found a box that contained stash you had totally forgotten about? Just happened to me. I went into my closet and dug out a sewing box looking to see just what kind of ribbons I might have collected over the years for finishing small projects.  Inside that sewing box were freebies I had collected from all the British cross stitching magazines I used to collect.  OMG there were so many cute little freebies!. I immediately called my daughter to the closet and pulled them all out of the box. She went mad! She is such a little stash collector anyway. She immediately started pulling out the ones she wanted to keep. Makes me laugh. She's just like her momma. LOL. That little box I hadn't looked into in a few years brought back so many memories. Oh, and yes, there were quite a few ribbons in there, as well as various specialty threads.  Bonus!

Sometimes the little things bring the biggest smiles.

I hope that you find a little box somewhere that brings a smile to your face this week too.

Until next time,

Karen

My Lady Progress

It has been hot and steamy here in Michigan over the 4th of July.  Last night we finally got some needed rain, but it was rather stormy. Lots of branches blown out of trees, and some folks saw a little damage. But we did need the sprinkles.  I think we are in a bit of a drought here.

I have had chance to work on Lady of the Mist over the weekends thus far, and here is her progress.  She is going slowly in my humble opinion, but slow and steady wins the race!  That dress...

Nora truly outdid herself with this design.  As I am stitching her on 28 count, she is HUGE! Lol! I can't imagine what it will cost to frame her, but in the end, she will make a lovely addition to my walls. This is my biggest project to date I think. Or maybe it's just that dressssssss...

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by.

Good evening all! It has been a long week for me this week. I haven't gotten much stitching in. It has been warm, sunny, and muggy all week, and of course, now it is raining on Saturday night.  Go figure! Seems the weeks are always beautiful while you are working in a cubicle and never see the light of day, but when you have the weekend off, you are bound to have a raindrop and cloudy skies! LOL.

We ventured to the stitch shop today and to our surprise the little town that it is in had an art fair going on, so we perused those things as well.  My daughter enjoyed a lemonade, and we ended up purchasing the Leaf Collector by Nora Corbett for her. I have my eyes on several things, but since I cannot start another project until Lady of the Mist is done, there is no sense in my bringing in another chart to swoon over.

In my past, I was NOT a one at a time stitcher.  No, I had not only 1-2 going, but more like 7-8 going at one time.  I had stitching in every room of my house.  But now my stitching time is few and far between, so those days have passed. Seems odd sometimes when I look at LOTM and think that there was a time when I would have had her done quite quickly.

Anyway, it is late, and maybe I can get a stitch or two done before bed. I hope that this finds you having sunshine in your neck of the woods. Until next time..

Happy Saturday!! Here it is May 21 already.  Wow, this month is flying by. The year end school functions have started.  Thursday night was the last choir concert for my daughter.  Friday they ventured to Cedar Pointe, and Monday they have their banquet.  Then it is button down the hatches for the last 2 weeks, and she'll be out of there and heading into her Freshman year of high school.  Doesn't seem possible.  I remember when she was under my feet...

But not so much anymore! LOL!  This was taken when she was about 3 years old, and now she's almost 14. My mom always told me to enjoy every minute, because they grow up all too fast, but you just don't realize it. Seems when you are a parent you are trying to provide for them until you get them grown, and you just can't stop and smell the roses.  Maybe that is why being a grandparent is so sweet to most. You get the chance for a "do over." Can't wait for that to happen someday.

I am endeavoring to have some of my finished stitched pieces framed.  It is so expensive to do. I have never really sat down and tried to learn how to do it, although I am sure I'd still have to have help with the mat board and frame anyway. I had Noel framed in November...

So this month (I had to recuperate from the cost LOL!) I had Mermaid of Atlantis by Mirabilia framed. She was stitched on Reef by Heaven Lee Creations (wish she was still in business). She is my favorite mermaid so far by Nora Corbett.

I wish I had the funds to frame all I wanted to frame, but one by one, they will get framed. :)

Well, off to finish off my Saturday.  I hope that you all have a charming weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Okay so this weekend should have been one where I accomplished a lot of stitching.  It is cold, raining, and just downright miserable outside. However, this has not lent itself to much stitching. While I got in about an hour on Friday night, today has seen not one needle pass through fabric and it is 10:30 p.m. I have, however, made a carrot cake and yeast rolls for dinner tomorrow. And I did make it to the grocery store. But I fear that tomorrow will not bring any time either. Seems the weekend is always stacked, and there is little time for "me." Ah well. I shall make this post and see if I can't bring fabric, needle, and thread together for just a bit.

I say all of this to state that my progress on Lady of the Mist has been slow. Looking back at progress pics from when I started her, I find that I began this particular journey in 2008 and had finished her upper body (or the top part of the chart minus the rose trellis around her).  I picked her back up in February of this year, so I've been working on her roughly 3 months. It is frustrating.  I can remember a time when I would finish these projects in those 3 months! Anyway, without further ado, here she is...

She IS a gorgeous piece. She is just very large! LOL. That dress is something else.

So that's all for me.  I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend and thank you for stopping by.

Where Did I Put That?

Good Sunday to you all! It has been a beautiful day here. The kind of day that you just don't get much done because you want to be outside.

In my quest to finish projects that have languished since, oh, I don't know, 2008 or so, I had pulled out "How Does Your Garden Grow" by Papillon Creations. Problem is, I couldn't find the chart. This was a stitch-a-long done on their website some years ago, and I had started it with my 6 colors of DMC. Besides not being able to find the chart, I couldn't find the floss for it either nor the paper on which I had written it down on. Seems I had put it where I would sure be able to find it...NOT!

I had emailed Papillon Creations and asked if they would be so kind as to send me the chart again.  She was so very kind and did so promptly.  So I had the chart again but no thread or key. But last night I went out to the garage to look through some cross-stitch bins, and low and behold, I found the floss and the key!! I was ecstatic. 

I am so glad that I found it because way back in the day I had decided to use a Dinky Dyes silk in it. Had I tried to match up the colors with DMC, I would have been banging my head against a wall. I would never have found a floss to match that Dinky Dyes thread.

It looks like I might have gotten through about part 4 of the design, so after Lady of the Mist, I believe I will try to pull that out and see about finishing it.

Here is what it looks like right now -the  point I stopped stitching years ago...

It's a sweet little design and easy to stitch. It does have beads but there are no specialty stitches.

So it was a good weekend after all. The sun was shining and I found something I thought I had lost. God is good!

It's a quiet Friday night here in the mitten state. The weather here has been cool but pleasant. We did have a little rain this week but not much. Helps to clean things up a bit after a long winter. I love the spring rains and gentle thunderstorms we sometimes get here. Seems to make everything pop. The trees are starting to bud, and you can see tulips peeking through the ground.  A few really warm days, and everything will probably burst with life and abundance.

I promise that I honestly don't have many more finishes for 2016 so far. I am currently languishing in Lady of the Mist by Mirabilia and that gigantic skirt she has! My Lord if the woman really had to carry that around all the time she'd get a true workout. LOL. But I am trying to persevere here.  I just keep telling myself (in the voice of Dory from Finding Nemo) "Just Keep Stitching, Just Keep Stitching."  I will give an update on her soon.

But here is another 2016 finish I had that was a long-time WIP.  It is Recipe of Love by Ursula Michael and is stitched on a white jobelan.  I was on a cherry kick when I started this piece. I am happy with how it turned out.

The colors are very vibrant on the piece.

Well I am off to bring needle, thread, and fabric together for a few stitching moments. I trust you will all have a beautiful weekend.

The Itch to Stitch

I am lucky enough to have a cross-stitch store about 40 min away - The Rocking Horse. Since the beginning of the year, it has been a trek I have made about every two weeks with my daughter.  We strayed out that way on Saturday as I had to pick up the third installment of Nora Corbett's Wherefore Art Thou. And yes, it is Juliet if you were wondering.  Haven't started it yet, but the colors intrigue me.

Anyway, I love to watch my daughter step in the door.  She immediately becomes enthralled with all the stitched pieces, and suddenly, she has an itch to stitch. LOL  She hasn't picked up a needle in two weeks, but she walks in the shop, and suddenly, she wants to stitch everything.  She even told me Saturday she wasn't going to look around for fear that she would see something she wanted. Wonder where she gets that from? LOL

Anyway, in continuing on with my finishes in 2016, I present Remembrance by Cross-Eyed Cricket. I'm hoping to finish it into a pillow so it can be on my mantle at Memorial Day and possibly 4th of July beneath my Lady of the Flag by Mirabilia.

Thanks to anyone who has stopped by.  I am new at this and am not sure I have my settings correct for people to follow or leave comments.  I apologize if you cannot do that.

Enjoy your evening.

Is that sunshine?

The sun has lent us some rays this afternoon and evening after such gloomy and rainy weather the past week or so. It isn't called the mitten state for nothing!  Temp today is 55, but we've been about 20 degrees below normal.  Honestly, I don't think a single flower has started peeking through the ground. The trees did start to bud, but then stalled.  But it is good to see the sun shining through the windows this evening, although, um, those windows could use some washing. LOL. Will have to schedule that spring cleaning!

When I started back into stitching in October 2015 after an 8 year hiatus, my plan was to finish my WIPs.  I had quite a few of them. I started this gem in October and finished him the first week in January 2016. I did not do the poem at the bottom; it just didn't suit me.  It is Secret Santa by Lavender & Lace and is stitched on Cashmere Glitz, an opal fabric by Silkweavers. He is beautiful in person, although that tree was something else!  I do plan to frame him before the holidays this year.

Enough from me for today.  It's about time for me to pack the lunches and get ready for work again tomorrow.  I hope you have an enjoyable evening.  Thank you for stopping by.

I began cross-stitching in my early 20s.  I was taught by a couple of ladies I worked with when I got out of high school. I don't think they realized just what they were passing on. The needle arts have been around for so long, and to pass it on to someone young is so important. I am so glad that my daughter "teethed" on this stuff so to speak. After she was born, I'd have 6-7 projects going in every room of the house. She never touched my needles or threads. She was taught to have a respect for them. At 9 years, I tried teaching her a simple project, but of course, she lost interest. Then in September 2015, she asked for a project and flew through it. She went from aida to linen in a matter of weeks. Now she sits and stitches just like I do. I love that she is doing something that isn't electronic. Here is her first  project - made for her choir teacher. It is by Ink Circles and is called Treble Trouble. Stitched on a white jobelan.

Nora Corbett's Sunflower Fair

Since this is my first blog post, I'm going to start with one of my 2016 finishes. This was from a magazine, and is by my most favorite designer, Nora Corbett (Mirabilia). It is on a hand-dyed limited edition by Dinky Dyes. Picture doesn't do the colors or beads justice.