The rain... it fell and fell.

First of all, let me say 'hello' to all my newest followers! Hi!
I went from 4 to 13 in about a week... so I now feel a greater
responsiblity to blog more consistently. I musn't disappoint. :)

It has been a really drippy day today... a perfect day for
stitching. But have I been stitching? Nope. I've been busy
with cleaning, cooking, and altering my blog. I was ready for
a decorative change... though I'm still not in love with this
look. Hmm....??? I may be tweaking it more in the near future.

I've been back on the 'Psych' bandwagon, seeing as the season
re-started last week. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about
the new 'developments', but at least it gives me something to
look forward to each Wednesday. *lol* I'm sure I'll end up
buying the season anyway.....don't want the prior seasons to
get lonesome. ;)

This week has not been totally void of stitches...I was
able to get a bit of stitching done on my two latest projects,
so of course I will be posting some updates for you
all. ;) My Crystal Symphony is looking like this so far:




I also decided to start a new picture... it's called "M'Lady &
The Unicorn". I am a huge fan of the 'Narnia' stories... & this
picture reminds me of Jill & Jewel In "The Last Battle". Here
is how she looks so far:

So... wow... it's almost November! That is just hard to believe.
Only two more months to figure out what I will do for Christmas
gifts. Hmm.. this could take some intense thought!

I have been quite the busy stitcher this last month. I took a
few days off due to some 'under the weather' moments, but am
pulling out of that now. I finished the DMC and Kreinik of my
Queen Mermaid last week. She took about 6 weeks to stitch. I
put her on a hand-dyed solo...& used some additional outlining
so she would pop with all the 'activity' behind her. I am very
pleased with how she turned out.



I also finished my contest entry for the Mirabilia board.
My goal was to add in all the kreiniks. I didn't realize
how many beads are on this one! The embellishments
alone for just the pictures I've stitched so far.... not even
mentioning the pile of pictures I PLAN to stitch.... will
require quite an infusion into my bank account. These
pictures need their own retirement fund I think. haha!



I am plainly not in the mood to tackle my Cinderella right
now, as I plan too many alterations, and am feeling rather
intimidated. I will get to her eventually, but for now, she
is being put in my UFO file. I started a new Mirabilia last
evening.... & have pretty much come to the conclusion that
I'm too good at matching colors! Here is my first picture
of Crystal Symphony - and you can decide for yourself.

Midst of August

This is a busier time of year for us. I have been helping my Mom
with the canning. We have been preserving fruit and berries, and
have a new supply of jam to eat on. Yum!

Let me see what has happened in the last month. Hmm.

Well... I've celebrated a birthday... been visited by family from
out of state... canned alot... and completed stitching 2 models.
They aren't big models, but they are very cute, and were rather
intricate all the same. Here are pictures:

H for Hearts - Sweetheart Tree


S for Stitching - Sweetheart Tree


Now I await my next commission. :)

I have been working in spurts on Cinderella, but have lost the
'mood' to stitch right now. I feel like I should take a few
days off, but will probably just push myself through. :) I did
attempt to shake off my stitching slump by starting a new project
(Queen Mermaid), but I am such a stickler for completing WIP
pics before starting new ones, that my conscience is pestering
me for leaving Cindy in the lurch. What is up with that? lol!

Prgress pics coming soon! ;)

And the rockets red glare...

Howdy! And Happy 4th of July! :)

I went outside for a little bit to enjoy the neighbors
firework displays, but came in soon after to get back
to work on some more of my stitching. My goodness!!
It sounded like a reenactment of WWII out there!!! I
don't know about you... but I'm not fond of the sound
of bombs exploding...even at the best of times! Yikes!

I guess it is fitting though... as it is in rememberance
of a war and the freedom that came to us because of it.
What an amazing gift those men and women gave us
through their sacrafice! Thank you veterans! And thank
you God! :) We still need to fight for that freedom,
because there are evil people out there who wish to take
it away from us bit by bit. We cannot let that happen!

It was a nice day spent at home. We had a lovely meal
of Orange Chicken, & I was almost tempted to have some
lemon cheesecake, but I was a good girl. ;) I hope
the scale reflects my self-control in the morning. ha!

I'm busy trying to get some of my wips finished up this
week, as I will be expecting a model to arrive in the
mail pretty soon. It will have to be a pretty quick
stitch, so I need my calender free of other projects.
It should be fun though. My first model-stitch. :)

I hope you all have a lovely Summer!!

What a great start to July!.... *rolls eyes*

Okay... so this just made my day!

I woke up today... checked email... visited my fav.
stitching board, & within 2 hours, my computer was
completely useless.. having been taken over by a worm!!!
The only explanation for the worm is visiting boards.

So... I am now unable to visit the board!

So... I am devestated!! *sobs*

The irony of it is I was just thinking about shutting
down this blog as I was spending so little time here.
But now I will have plenty of time to blog due to my
lack of board visits. So, this blog will officially
remain open. :)

For those of you who know me from the board.. I'm sorry
for my abrupt departure. I hope to keep in contact with
some of you if possible. If any of you would like to
write me.. you can contact me here: StitchingCafe@yahoo.com

True, I'm a little depressed about it, but it's not the
end of the world, and it certainly won't be the end of
my stiching! I love it... and will continue to love it! :)

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On a more 'happy' note... here is an update on my Cindy:




And here is my semi-finish of Poppy.. minus embellishments:

Happy June!

Goodness! I really must remind myself to update this blog
more often.

I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend! I
spent the weekend at home... enjoying my quiet time...
& of course stitching! What weekend would be complete
without it? We were going to have a BBQ, but the grill
is not working right now. SOOO.... I made chicken salad
with Yam Fries. Yum! For desert, I made brownies for
the fam... and a small batch of cookies for me. (From
dough I froze the last time I made them) They turned
out just as delish as ever! :)
I'm glad that I settled on Chicken Salad...because it
got to be so muggy in the evening! *whew!* It's the
kind of night that begs for an ice-cream treat!

_______________________________________

I was able to get some more of Cinderella stitched up:




Joanns just had a sale on floss, so I bought myself
enough to start of "Poppy". I feel a little silly
though, because after I just bought the floss and
wound it on bobbins, I've decided to change up the
colors. So the new floss was just an extra expense.
*rolls eyes* Oh well. Only a few dollars, and there
are always other pictures that may need them later on.
I will post a picture of her as soon as I make a little
more progress. Hopefully my choice of colors will be
just as dramatic as the originals..... but avoid the
reddish orangey tones. (That is just not my thing)

The thing that frustrates me is that I am so slow
at stitching! It's not sloth-pace by any means,
but my Mom seems to fairly fly in comparison. I
think I am just paranoid about how the stitches
will lay, and aware that I will have to look at
it for years to come. My eyes will always be the
most critical, I know, but I want to be pleased
with how it looks upon completion. Does anyone
else find themselves picking apart their stitches?
or is it only me?

Well... that's all for now. Happy June everyone!

My Week in Picture....

This post is long past due, so I will just give a little update of
my week in pictures. :)

First... I came upon my kitties cuddling, and had to capture it!!
Aren't they cute?




I also made a cake using my gluten free book. It is called
"Zuccini Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting & Fresh Fruit" It's
pretty yummy... though I may tweak the recipe slightly for
future use. I generally don't eat dairy, but I have been
able to tolerate it a bit better with some supplements.
(sorry that the picture is so 'loud'!! lol)



A couple nights before I tried the cake, I made another
batch of those wonderful Peanut Butter Cookies I wrote
about before. They even LOOK good! :)




I came across a new hair accessory while grocery shopping,
and I just HAD to try it! I have waist-length hair, & have
such a hard time finding hair clips that actually hold my
hair in place. Well... these work!!! They are called Goody
"Spin Pins". I thought about posting a picture of my hair
clipped up with then, but decided to just show the clips by
themselves. They are great! They hold tight, & don't hurt.





My favorite picture update is of Cinderella. I have worked a
good deal on her this week.. & have made some good progress.
I am tweaking a bunch on this lady, along with stitching the
skin 1 over 1, so check back to see how it goes! :)






And for those interested.... This is the picture I am stitching
for my Mom. I was unable to get it finished for Mothers Day, so
will be finishing it up in the next couple weeks. I ran out of
some floss..and must pick out the beads. :) FYI: She loves it!!!