Cross Stitch Patterns · Mermaids · Passione Ricamo SAL

A Journey Into the Deep-Progress

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In my last post I told you I pulled out my Passione Ricamo mermaid.  Here is my progress so far:

A journey into the deep progress 1

Sorry it’s not the best picture.  And now looking at it, it seems I haven’t made much progress even though I am on step  4.  I don’t think it will be done in a month, so I may have to purchase another large frame to put the new Mystery SAL on.  Here is how this mermaid will look when I am finished:

Sirenatessutosfumato.jpg (248092 byte)

Just beautiful, don’t you think?  This is available to purchase on the Passione Ricamo site. As you can see, I have a ways to go.

I also purchased 2 more of her designs:

Passione Ricamo patterns

They are so beautiful! I am happy to add them to my small PR collection.

So, what are you stitching on today?

Passione Ricamo SAL

There’s a New SAL Coming!

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I finished my last Round Robin last week.  I am taking a break from Round Robins for a while to do some personal stitching.  I can’t post it yet until the recipient receives it, but I will when that happens.

So I picked up my Ella to stitch on for a few nights…stitch and rip, stitch and rip.  Then I heard the news that Passione Ricamo was opening a new Stitch-A-Long.  It is open now to purchase and, YES, of course I am going to do it! I haven’t finished the last Mermaid SAL, but YES I want to do another one! So I signed up and received my list of materials.  We have no idea what it is, but it is to celebrate the designers 20 years designing.  I know it will be beautiful.  I already have my fabric and threads:

Floss toss for PR SAL

I had purchased this fabric from Stephanie for Lavender & Lace’s Angel of Spring.  It is Nantucket Sky in 16ct Aida. But when I was getting ready to start it, I was afraid the wings would not show up well.  Passione Ricamo’s Laura, suggested a few of Stephanie’s hand dyed fabrics for the SAL and Nantucket Sky was one of them.  And luckily I have a 26 x 36 piece as according to the stitch count, I will need a 25 x 33.5 piece.  I can’t wait to see how a PR design looks on Aida.  I am so excited about this SAL. If you are interested in joining, you have time.  The first section won’t be released until March 25th, so there is still time to go to the  Passione Ricamo site and sign up.

So I pulled out the Mermaid SAL last night and decided I need to get that going and hopefully finish as I will need the scroll frame it is on.  I will post a picture of my mermaid progress later this week.  You can see my original start on this one here. Have you ever done a Stitch A Long?

Storage

My Bead Storage

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Yesterday a friend asked me how I store my beads for my stitching.  Then I realized I never shared my bead storage.  So, this is how I store my beads for my cross stitch projects:

My bead storageI purchased these boxes at Joann’s.  Each box has 30 little jars inside.  I use circular labels from the office store to label each jar.

my bead storage 3 I currently have 3 boxes full,  with the 4th box just about full.  Here is how they look from the bottom:

My bead storage 2So if I want to add beads to a project by color instead of number,  I can turn the box over and see all the beautiful colors and size of the beads.  It used to be when I purchased a cross stitch pattern, I would buy the fabric, beads, and any specialty threads all at the same time.  A couple of years ago, I realized that I was buying the same color beads over and over.  So I de-kitted everything and started storing my beads like this.  And this is where I keep all of the duplicates:

bead duplicatesSo as you can see, kitting things was not a very good idea for me.  So now I look in my bead box and my duplicate bead box before purchasing any more beads.  Do you have a great storage tip?

Joan Elliott Round Robin · knitted scarves · Knitting

Two Completed Projects

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I feel like I am getting things accomplished.  Yesterday I finished another block on a Round Robin.

Spring Garden Fairy

This is Joan Elliott’s Spring Garden Fairy.  She is in the March 2014 issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine.  She was a fun, easy stitch.  I usually hate stitching the hair on JE’s fairies, but this one was super simple.  I love the way she turned out.  I stitched her on Johanna’s Round Robin.   She is going to love getting this one back.  Here it is in full:

Johannas JE Round RobinSuch a beautiful RR.  Everyone did a great job on this one.  So sweet and sparkly.  I will be putting in the mail to Johanna soon..well, maybe..yeah I will return it 🙂

I also finished this pidge scarf for a sweet stitchy friend.

Pink and Plum Pidge for KarenShe received it in the mail yesterday and loves it.  I knitted it using Deborah Norville’s Serenity Chunky weight yarn. When I first started knitting it, I thought it may be a bit too bulky.  But once finished, I think it turned out nice and will definitely be warm during this cold winter.  I need to knit myself one in reds to match my coat.  The buttons took me a bit to find, but once I saw these, I knew they would be perfect.

So, 2 more projects off of my list.  Now on to the next Round Robin piece.  What are you trying to  finish up?

Angels · Joan Elliott Round Robin

Spring, Spring and Spring?

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Weird title, huh?  Well, I have sort of a Spring theme going on.  First, I have been working on Spring Garden Fairy on Johanna‘s Round Robin.

Progress on Spring Garden FariyShe is Joan Elliott’s Spring Garden Fairy that is featured in the current issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework.  Johanna asked if I would like to stitch her on her Round Robin and I am so glad I am.  So far she has been a pretty easy stitch and she is so sweet.  Even the hair in this one has been no problem.  Can’t wait to finish her.

On Saturday, February 1, I started Lavender & Lace’s Angel of Spring:

Start on Angel of Spring

That is all the progress I made on this one.  I wanted to start this one with Tanya, a stitching friend , and I am so glad I was able to.  After many fabric changes and problems with scroll frames, this one finally came to life.  I will have to put her down and finish the RR, but I will pick her up again soon.

And for the final “Spring”, where is the real Spring?  Here in Michigan we broke a record for the most snowfall in any month this year.  Can I say that I am so sick of snow and winter? And we are expecting 2 more snow storms this week 😦  I have no idea where hubby and son are going to pile up more snow.  I think a lot of people are saying that this year.  So…where is Spring?  Is is just around the corner?

What are you stitching these days?

Angels · Frogs · Mermaids · New stash! · Nora Corbett · snowmen · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized

A Birthday Finish

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I celebrated my 50th birthday on Friday, and this weekend.  And the birthday present to myself was I finished Angel of Grace!  Woo Hoo!  Yep, finished her just before midnight on Friday for a great birthday finish. Here she is:

Finished Angel of GraceShe is Angel of Grace by Lorrie Birmingham Designs.  She is stitched on 28 ct Salmon and Gold Linen Banding, which was not fun to stitch on.  She is pretty much stitched as the pattern is charted, but rather than outline all the little squares that were left open on the dress, I decided to add gold beads.

Close up of basket on Angel of Grace

A basket charm, Austrian Crystals and 14kt butterfly charms were included in the pattern.  She really turned out beautiful, but there were many obstacles along the way on this one.  I truly wondered if I would ever finish her.  She will eventually be turned into a bell pull and given to my Mom for her birthday this summer.  I am just so happy to have her finished, and on my birthday 😉

So speaking of my birthday, here is how I celebrated all weekend:  I had a Stamping workshop at my house on Thursday night and the hostess brought me this:

birthday cakeYummy!  White cake, my favorite.  And I love that she had 29 put on it rather than 50.  She also brought me these:

HyacinthsBeautiful, pink, fragrant hyacinths.  My personal Spring!  Every time I look at them, and smell them, I know I am edging towards that much awaited day when the weather breaks and green starts poking though.  It’s a good thing I am in the basement right now as I don’t want to look out the window at this moment.  And a cute little frog key chain that lights up and croaks.

I spent most of my actual birthday on Friday, stitching.  My hubby and youngest took me out to Chinese for birthday dinner and then it was back to stitching until I finished the Angel-almost midnight, but I did finish her on my birthday.  Hubby bought me this:

New selphy printerMy own little personal printer and it’s wireless!  I had the earlier model, but the printer cartridge got stuck inside and it would have cost almost as much as a new one to fix it.  So now I have a new one and it’s wireless!  I love having my own personal printing for my scrapbooking.  And now I can print from the computer, too.  Awesome!

I also received a Gift certificate for 1-2-3-Stitch from a my sweet stitching friend, Annie.  I am waiting to see if they get the new Ophelia’s Pearl mermaid in so I can get that and her bead pack and threads.  That will be a super project to have in my stash.

On Saturday, my Friend, Carol, came over and we spent the day scrapbooking.  We did take a break for presents!

Carol scrapbookingShe gave me pink tiger ribbon (great for all of those zoo pictures I still have to scrapbook), Lindor Limited Edition chocolates (My favorite and in a pink bag :),  2 boxes of adhesive, (we scrapbookers go through a lot of that) and a set of Vampire Academy books.  I had not heard of them, but Carol knows I love vampires.  Can’t wait to read them.  And all my gifts were in a very nice re-usable shopping bag.  I love taking them to the grocery store instead of getting tons of plastic bags.  We also went out to Chinese for lunch and then back home to scrapbook.  While scrapbooking and having fun, this is what came in the mail:

shopping spree stashThe items from my Birthday shopping Spree at Stitches N Things. The thread is my missing thread for Biancabella.  The Snowmen Trio by Country Cottage Needleworks was too cute not to add to my stash. And the newest Mermaid Letters from Nora Corbett.  The “G”  is for Ginny of course, and the “I” is beautiful.  It almost doesn’t look like a letter.

And this was in the other package I received in the mail:

Frog pincushionMy Best Stitchy Friend, Johanna, sent me this adorable pin cushion.  It’s not small either.  It’s about 6″ tall and 7″ wide. The most adorable thing I have ever seen!  I love collecting decorative pins, so now I have a beautiful pin cushion to put them in.  I have to get a better picture of the froggy pin in the back:

Frog pinIsn’t it just the cutest?  And he is even wearing a birthday hat 🙂  I love it!

Blowing out the candle

So I had a wonderful birthday weekend and it wasn’t so bad turning 50.  And I finished the Angel!!!  Do you have a project that has been hanging over your head for a long time?

Angels · Cross Stitch Patterns · Mirabilia · New stash!

I See An Angelic Finish Coming

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After my first finish for 2014, I picked up a WIP that has been around way too long.  At least a few years.  You may remember her; Angel of Grace? Well here is how she looks now:

progress on Angel of GraceI’m getting really close to a finish.  She certainly is a challenge on that fabric.  It is 28 ct Salmon and Gold Linen Banding.  It is the most uneven fabric I have ever worked on.  The pattern is Angel of Grace by Lorri Birmingham Designs.  I am hoping to finish this by the end of the weekend.  I just have her ruffle to finish and some gold stitching on the right of the dress,  then outlining and some charms, buttons and beads.  I am so happy this one is actually coming to a finish.  It is a gift for someone special and I will by happy to finally have it crossed off of my WIP list.

And because I don’t have enough Mira stash, this is what I purchased on Saturday from Stitches N Things:

Biancabella stashThis month is my birthday, so I went on a birthday month shopping spree.  Shown here is the lovely Biancabella and her bead pack and one of two Waterlilies needed.  The other is on backorder.  I love the colors in Biancabella.  I am thinking of adding a snowflake in her hand instead of the apple.  She is my favorite winter colors, so I think a snowflake will be perfect.  Some day I will get to work on her.    I also ordered a couple of patterns that were not in the shop yet.

So now, back to stitching on Angel of Grace.  What WIP have you had in your stash for a very long time?

Fairies · Joan Elliott Round Robin

Last Finish of 2013 and First Finish of 2014

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Now that Christmas is over, I can show you the last project I finished in 2013.

Carol with her wine stitchThis is my friend Carol.  I made her this Wine A Little stitch by Sue Hillis Designs, Inc. I tried framing it myself…what a disaster.  Let’s just say I am leaving the framing to the professionals.  I’ll take it into Stitches N Things sometime this month.  It was a pretty quick stitch and even came with the little wine bottle charm.

My first finish of 2014 is Iris Fairy on Debbie’s Joan Elliott Round Robin.

Iris on Debbie's RRShe turned out very pretty with lots of sparkle.  Someday I will have to stitch her in full.  While I wait for the next Round Robin to come my way, I will be working on “The Angel” and will get her done this year. And since it is -35 degrees out, I think it’s a good time to cover up with a blanket and do some stitching.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I have been up to.  What are you stitching on?

Stitchy Gifts

Lots of Stitchy Gifts

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I am finally just about over the flu.  I still have a bit of  a lingering cough, but I feel much better.  I want to share some wonderful stitchy gifts I received from wonderful stitchy friends.

First, from my best stitchy friend, Johanna, I received a subscription to Just Cross Stitch Magazine:

Just Cross Stitch magazine

I am hoping to receive this issue in the mail as my first issue, but if not, I can view it on-line.  The subscription also included the last 2 years of digital issues.  So I have been having a lot of fun looking at all the patterns in the back issues.

Next is a beautiful handmade project bag from Karen:

project bag from KarenIt is Beautiful with all those fairy frogs!  I love it!

Next is a gift from a fellow-blogger- Angela over at Pretty Little Things in a Box.

pincushion from Angela

A pretty stitched pincushion and some stitchy supplies all the way from Singapore. What a sweetie.

I also received this wonderful knitting book from Sue:

knitting book from SueIt’s a wonderful book full of great knitting projects. I love the cute hat on the front. The project that really caught my attention is this scarf:

scarf in knitting bookI love how soft and lacy it looks.  I will have to pick up the perfect yarn when I am ready to start a new knit project.

I received these wonderful gifts from a new stitchy friend, Annie:

Stitchy gifts from Annie3 wonderful pixie patterns to add to my collection and a gorgeous froggy scissor fob.  He is so cute and I can’t wait to stitch these Pixies.

This next gift I received from Stitches N Things as part of the stitchers club.  I always look forward to the wonderful gift Deb comes up with for her stitchy club members.

stitchy gift from SNTA beautiful wooden box with the option to add a stitched piece to the center.  I rather like the the Stitches N Things name and logo.  And a miniature thread holder scissor fob.  So cute!  I also received a $10 Gift Certificate for the shop.  And since this month is my birthday month, I will use it when I go on my 25% off shopping spree (also part of the stitchers club rewards).  Can’t wait to shop there!  I already have a list going 🙂

My last stitchy gift is from my wonderful hubby:

yarn shelfHe bought me this shelf for Christmas with the thought that I could put my yarns in it just like a yarn shop.  Isn’t he sweet!  I’ve already added a few yarns that I had in bags here in the house.  The rest of my yarn is in bins out in the garage.  I think this week I will go out to the garage and bring in some of those yarns I haven’t seen in a while.  Maybe it will help me use them up if I can see them 🙂

I hope I haven’t forgotten anything.  Thank you for visiting and seeing what I have been up to.  What stitchy gifts did you get for Christmas?

Uncategorized

As 2013 is drawing to a close…

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imagesAs 2013 is winding down to the last 11 hours or so, I would like to take this time to wish all of my family and friends a Happy New Year!  I hope that 2014 is all that you want it to be and that all of your dreams come true.  This year really seemed to get away from me.  It went by in the blink of an eye.  I didn’t get to do all that I wanted nor see all that I wanted to see.  But all in all it was a pretty good year.  I set some really unrealistic goals for myself last year, so this year I am not setting any goals.  Not today, anyway.  I just want to have fun this year and not be stressed with deadlines and lists of things that have to be done.  I only completed one personal project this year.  That was “Emmy”, Emerald Mermaid.  I did several RR projects and stitching for others.  Even though my “2013 To Do List” was quite unreasonable, I had hoped to accomplish more.  So, this year, while I have many projects that I would like to do, I am not listing them.  I will stitch what I can and list them at the end of 2014.  I have received quite a few things in the mail in the last month, and haven’t had time to get on my blog to share.  I have been fighting the flu and bad cough for the last 11 days.  But I will share all of my goodies received  in my next post which will be next year, in 2014.  So for now, I wish you all a happy day, happy New Year’s Eve and Happy New Year!