New Linens and Patterns Oh My!

Whoohoo!! Just received my package today from 123stitch.  There's nothing more exciting than coming home from a long day at work and finding a glorious package on the kitchen table!!  Now all I have to do is get the threads for the patterns that I want to finish this year.  I will be ordering them this weekend using my gift certificates that I got for Christmas!

Before I post the photos, I want to thank all my followers for becoming my followers! It is exciting to meet new people from around the world and make new friends! I love all the comments and the encouragement from my readers and I am always open to suggestions on how to improve my blog and even my stitching!  I truly admire all the beautiful stitching and finishes that people create and am amazed at how fast some people can stitch, since I am a slow stitcher.

Toodles!

Anne

My beautiful new linens and three threads from The Gentle Art

My cute lil' Elizabethan scissors

Two patterns I fell in love with and can't wait to get the materials to begin stitching

Another "A" for my aunt using the Sajou Alphabet

Useless Post

Hello all!  Yesterday I noticed everyone is posting jars of floss so I began to investigate why.  I found out that Sharon, aka Daffycat, started a totally useless stitch along.  Wow there's tons of members!! What fun!! I really wanted to join Daffycat's TUSAL but unfortunately it is too late to join. Ah well, maybe next time.  Perhaps I'll start my own jar of useless bits of floss just to play along.  Here are some pictures I thought I would post just for the sake of posting them.

Snow in North Van about two months ago

Greeta and Hamish playing (my aunts' dogs)

My brother's dog Misty...sooo cute!!

Backstitched squirrels frolicking

I think the above squirrels deserve a bit of a story.  They are part of this really OLD WIP I started when I was a teenager and is, embarrassingly enough, not yet complete.  It's a rather large project and unfortunately I used 18 count aida, which I don't like stitching on (at all!!), especially when the pattern has a gazillion 3/4 stitches and uses loads of Kreinik 004 gold filament.  This is the main reason why I haven't finished the project.  Not only that but I have had to seriously frog out loads of it throughout the years, noticing the mistakes I made from years ago.  For some reason I tend to work on this project when I'm tired or there's bad lighting.  It's the bane of my existence!!!! Perhaps tomorrow I will reveal other bits to you, so check back soon!!

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!!