A long break!

Hello friends,

I am back from a very long break from blogging.  I feel like I've
lost touch with everyone and everything that has anything to do
with my hobbies, and I've missed that.  I was on a serious
stitching binge back in 2015, but hit some snags and ultimately
lost inspiration for over a year.  Part of my excuse is that I have
recently picked up some new hobbies that have quicker results,
thus more finishes, which is much more appealing than feeling
the hours drag by with little to no progress. Lately I've been
watching youtube videos of one lady who shows videos of
her stitching progress and finishes, and have found a fragment
of inspiration to start up my blog, and my stitching, once again. 
I hope this spark will take off and help me tackle my to-do pile.

The other hobbies that I've been focusing more of  my time on
are adult coloring...(there are SO many lovely coloring books
being published these days!) ...Writing...(as in poetry, but hope-
fully that will spill over into working on the book I started a few
years ago)... the occasional sketch...(which is something I do
very rarely, but I'm pretty sure I have at least a granule of talent
for it that seems to pop up out of nowhere on occasion!)...and
I've been making scissor fobs.  I have a whole line of scissor fobs
for sale in fact.  I even opened an Etsy shop last year, and I have
them for sale on Ebay as well.  My number of sales is still low to
date, but I really hope that by getting exposure in my blog, and
through word of mouth, that my sales and shops' popularity will
increase.  Please check out my Etsy page HERE

As I want to make my blog interesting enough to re-visit, I will
be posting my stitching progress, stitching finishes, fob finishes,
possibly a sketch finish here or there, coloring pages when one
turns out particulary nice, and I may even post a book review
here or there.  Of course I will leave it open to posting pictures
of cool stuff... oddities... or humour.

Will I use pictures?  You betcha!  Will I post novella length
entrees?  Probably.  Will I make it interesting?  I'll sure try!

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I'll start with my 2 lonely stitching finishes from 2016.  They
are both very nice finishes, but for some reason it was a real
challenge to push through them. 

The first is "Merry Christmas, My Deer" from Country Cottage
Needlework.  It probably took me a week & a half to finish.  I
used the recommended fabric, but substituted some of the hand-
dyed floss with some that I had on hand, as they were very
similar. I like the subtle variations in the red colored balls on top
and bottom....some deeper, and some lighter.  I believe I used a
DMC Variations thread instead of the Weeks Dye Works that it
recommended.

My second finish is a lovely picture that I am really pleased with,
as the picture looks so life-like and the colors are so pretty and
ideal for my home decor.  This chart is called 'Rose' by Inna
Peshkova  The berry tones are so very 'Me'.  I'm not sure what
this fabric is called, but it is a 28ct cream colored evenweave.  It
probably took me about 6 months to stitch, as I finished around

60% of it, then took a break for a few months and didn't get back
to it for a while.  There is actually alot of backstitching here, which helps the little details to pop, and the background is softened by using half stitches.  I love bird themes and roses,
and I'm so glad I persevered on this beauty!

There will be more to come...but this is a good start for now.  I
hope you find my ramblings interesting, and perhaps find some
inspiration along the way with me as we venture to make our
lives more beautiful and delightful through crafts and projects
that bring enjoyment.

Happy stitching!