Trying to vamp up my blog

I'm liking the background but not really liking the really bright white columns.  Anyone know how to change that? I would prefer it to be a light grey background so my eyes aren't blasted by my computer screen (and probably yours too).  I can't seem to find where to change that...a little direction would be greatly appreciated!!

As for stitching, I am still waiting for some things to arrive and have just celebrated Christmas yesterday.  It was a fairly quiet Christmas but lovely all the same.  My husband and I really wanted to be up in Prince George with my family where all the craziness was happening.  My father decided to build a fire pit in the backyard amidst the snow! They were supposed to cook wieners but I heard that there was more drinking and silliness happening in the snow instead!  Perhaps next year we will make the trip up to good ol' PG and join in the revelry!

Itching to stitch....need fabric....need threads.

Birthday Fun then sickness

So I had an amazing birthday on the 3rd with family and friends.  On the second, my aunt took me, my husband and my nana to the boathouse for lobster...yum!!  The next day my friends came over to play games and drink coffee and tea.  It was really nice to see lots of people come out to celebrate my birthday, which is rare seeing that my birthday is so close to New Years and most people are pooped out from the holidays.  Unfortunately, the next day I caught some sort of stomach bug, or perhaps it was the two raw oysters I had on the 2nd that made me sick.  I don't know.  But I will tell you that I haven't been sick like that since I was a little girl.  To top it off, I got a call from the school district to work for the next five days which I had to decline!!!  Luckily, one of the principals of a school called me and wants me to work for her for the next 6 Thursdays at her school, so all is not lost!  Funny that even while I was sick, I wanted to stitch but my achy body wouldn't allow me to even lift my arms up!

I have a few stitching plans for 2011.  If I am correct, my mother bought me two charts for Christmas, which I won't receive until next week (we celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January).  One is "Tanglewood" by Ink Circles and the other one "Queen's Sampler" by Plum Street Samplers.  I spotted the Queen's Sampler on Meadow08's stitching blog and fell in love with it.  I can hardly wait to get the charts so I can order the linens and threads to start stitching.

By the way, I got yet another Traditional Stitches gift certificate from my friend in Prince George for Christmas!!!! I have a lot of fun shopping to do and some great stitching ahead of me!  I will post pictures of the goodies I get once I receive them, then I will motivate myself to finish the projects this year.

Happy New Year!!

Here's to hoping 2011 will be a good year.  I look forward to working on more projects, and more importantly, finishing them.  I have a couple of finished pieces to show that I have wrapped and about to send off to my mom and my friend.  The pillows were fiddly to finish and took many hours to do.  I had to hand stitch the lace onto "The Rose Garden" by Blackbird Designs because the trim is crocheted. I think it worked out well but wished that I had made some sort of pocket on the back for my mom to put her glasses into.  I'm learning slowly but surely and I feel that this year I will be much better with my finishing touches. 

Rose Garden by Blackbird Designs

 

 And for my friend, I chose my own threads and fabric and monogram from Sajou alphabet.

 

Another "A" for a friend from Sajou Alphabet (I'm a bit obsessed if you can tell)

This photo was taken by my cell phone so it is very grainy.

Take care and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!!

Blurry Photos!!

Here are a few photos I took of some of the gifts I made for my friends this Christmas.  Sorry about the quality.  I suppose it is time to look for a new camera.

Oh and I received a gift certificate to Traditional Stitches from my friend who I stitched the "J" for.  I am very excited to do a little shopping for my next projects in the new year! Thank you Jenni!!!!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, but I have had troubles with my camera.  It seems to deplete batteries even though I added new ones in.  So I am stuck with my cell phone camera which doesn't take the best photos.  I may use my husband's cell phone camera, which seems to take slightly better photos than mine.  I wanted to say Merry Christmas in my post because I celebrate Christmas on January 7th and am getting excited to having a turkey dinner with my family (plus opening my presents!!)  The beginning of January is always so busy, starting with New Years, then my birthday, then finally Christmas.  I hope to fiddle around with the cell phone cameras and put up some pictures of what I have been working on.