Help Randi reach 100 or more!!

Randi is having a giveaway of a 10 gc to 123 Stitch if she can reach over 100 followers! Click on this blogs title to go to her page and enter or become a follower!!

Terrible Tuesday

Holy cow the week is not starting off good! James was trying to fix our kitchen faucet as it was getting difficult to shut off. It is a cheapy that the landlord put in and the handle broke 3 days after he did. We are really not that rough on our stuff. Anyway, he did something, I hear "oh crap" and Tyler telling me not to look. Yep, water shooting up to the ceiling. The shut off valves wouldn't turn so we had to go outside and turn the whole house water off. Got it put back together, but now it steadily streams. I sure hope the landlord fixes it tomorrow so my water bill won't run up!! To add insult to injury, the modem for the internet was on the window sill above the sink. Yep, it's fried!! Then I go to call my mom on my cell and it's not working!! Holy cow!! That better not be the way the rest of the week is going to go!

On a good note, the "blizzard" that was supposed to hit us swirled all around us. Luckily it didn't hit us. We got a smattering of snow, but not much.

Now Monday the week started off great. I got a gift of a ton of coffee packs from my mom and they are delicious. I also got some Christmas money from my auntie. I paid a bill with part. Then I ordered PC Stitch 10 for myself! I'm so excited!! I also got a year subscription to Just Cross Stitch magazine. I feel very spoiled!! Saturday I got in the thread I ordered from 123 Stitch for Ty's "A Beautiful Wolf". I started going back in a filling in the blanks from the areas I didn't have the thread color, but tonight just went too crazy. I had to put it up. Also, Saturday hubby spoiled me and took me to Joann's. I got a cross stitch magazine with included projects that I had been wanting really bad. I picked up a couple of these cardboard/magnetic needle holders and tried to use them today. Do not like them at all, thank goodness they were cheap. I think I'll wait and get the one that you stick the needles into. I know the beautiful wolf uses about 15 different thread colors. My poor couch arm rest turns into my needle/thread cushion. It's okay until one of the dogs jump on it and scatter everything!! I also ordered my first piece of evenweave from 123stitch. I have a specific project for it but won't start it till I finish "A Beautiful Wolf".

I also got my laptop back this week! I've been enjoying playing my facebook game again. Been playing that more than stitching the last few days. Shame on me!! No pics today, but I will try and post some soon!

Shanda

New Year's Giveaway

Click on the title of this post to go check out another giveaway! Nancy is giving away more of her gorgeous hand dyed floss on New Year's Day!! If you go enter from my passing it on, please give my name!! It's an extra entry :)

Tis the Season for giveaways!

Yet another give away over at dixiesamplar! Deadline is the 16th so hurry and enter!! Click on title of this blog entry to go to her page!!

Another Give away!

Nancy has added more items to her give away. click on blog title link to go look and enter!!

Shanda

Beautiful Hand Dyed Floss Give away!

Nancy is having a give away of some gorgeous hand dyed floss. Click on this blog title to go enter!!

Things I have learned.....Edited

So it has been about amonth since I have staarted cross stitching. I have learned several things!!

1. Count, count and count again. Ialways thought I was pretty good at counting, but now wonder as I still always seem to be off somewhere in my stitchy projects. I am trying to slow down and focus more. I am a little better at counting than when I first began!

2. You don't have to start in the middle! My first project, starting in the middle, just did not turn out well. In fact, I refuse to finish it but will keep it for prosperity. It will always be a shining example of how far I have come!!

3. If you don't start in the middle, leave 2-3 inches around the edge!! I am currently working on a little project that was my first for starting in the top left corner. The count on it is much better, but I really didn't leave much room around the edge. Finishing it will be interesting!

4. Finishing ornies is not as easy as it looks!! Of course it doesn't help that the craft board that I got to finish it with is just a booger. Really look at what you are purchasing, play with it in the store if necessary before purchasing. This might help you avoid purchasing a huge sheet of craft board that you hate!!

5. Stitching can be just as orgasmic as quilting!! As a previous quilter, there was nothing like going in a fabric store and just looking at all the beautiful fabrics. Touching them, smelling them, dreaming about them. I wasn't so sure cross stitching would give me that same feeling, but ah yes, put me in front of the DMC display and there it is. I want every color!! They look so pretty!! Lord help me when I branch in to other types of thread!

6. Beware of patterns!! Oh my! I have particular design themes that I like. It would seem this would narrow your field greatly, but oh no! There are hundreds of designs in any theme you can dream up!! 1 or 2 patterns is never enough!!

7. Watch out for your needles!! I don't have a dedicated stitching spot. Nor do I have supplies of a certain type yet. This means, when I'm using multiple needles for different color threads in the pattern they get stuck on the arm of chair of the couch, or just in the comforter beside me in bed. And yes, if I have run out of thread, but don't need to re-thread immediately, and empty needle gets stuck there too. These needles are always lost and then found in the most uncomfortable ways!!

I am loving my cross stitching. I am not all that good yet, but practice makes perfect. There are so many delicious designs out there I don't think I will ever be done "practicing"!!

*Edit*

8. I have learned this loop stitch thing for when you are using 2 threads. No more ugly knots!! Now if only you could do it with any number of threads!!!

9. I have learned that threads love to tangle. Shorter lengths help avoid this, but I sure wish I knew a more sure fire trick!

Crazy Weeks!

You know the phrase when it rains it pours? Yep, that has been our life lately it seems. I did drag my guys out over to Aunt Denise's to clean...we just never quiet made it there. We were letting Ty get some driving hours in. Long story short, yep, he's learning, yep, he wrecked the car. So we are carless until tax returns and we can fix it. It's mostly bumper/radiator/front end stuff. But there is still that leaking manifold gasket at a 800 buck repair. Ty has court Thursday and we'll ask for defensive driving. I did my baking the day before Thanksgiving. I made the dressing, candied yams and pumpkin crunch. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving was moved to granny's instead of Aunt D's because Aunt D became sick. She has been in the hospital. I talked to her today and she is feeling much better, finally holding a little bit down and may be released tomorrow if she is able to eat solid foods. Tyler has been doing the "I procrastinated my hours" crunch on his math class. He would've completed all 60 for an A in the class except...... Yeah, he got sick. He called me yesterday from campus and asked me to make him a dr appointment. He NEVER asks to go to the doctor, if he does you know he is feeling really rotten. He had had a cough over the weekend and I was figuring sinus infection. James picked him up and took him to the dr. The dr took one look down his throat and said "oh this is bad". Ty has strep throat! It doesn't hurt! How weird is that? He has an immune deficiency so once he gets an infection it can get bad fast. Out of curiosity I looked down his throat after he got home and boy it did look bad! How it doesn't hurt I do not know!! He only has 27 of his 60 hours completed. He has to have at least 42 to make a D in the class. That will put him on academic warning, so he can make no mistakes next term. He had to stay home today he was feeling just too awful. I'm giving the anti-biotics a few days and if his energy level doesn't boost back up I'm taking him back to be tested for mono. On the stitchy side, I've been a bad girl. This holiday weekend and week I've been reading more than stitching. Some gals over on Stitching Sisters turned me on to this Anita Blake series. I have fallen in love with it and have been escaping into reading. I did get the Markham family ornaments all stitched. I do have to finish mounting them though. I have a few of them mounted, but I am HORRIBLE at mounting them. I only found 1 "tutorial" (yes, I do get impatient) and it mounts them on thin board with batting. I thought I would be smart and get that crafters board that is soft in the middle, hard board on the outside. Yeah, it's changed since I've lasted used it and I hate working with it. But I hopefully I will learn a better way to mount them next year and we can all laugh at this years when I do so much better next year!! I got my nephew's presents stitched and will look for frames this weekend. Aunt Denise's friend had her baby on the 24th so I need to go in and add that date and then she can take it to get it framed. I think tonight I will get back on to my stitching. I still have to stitch something for hubby and Ty.

Shanda

Fellow Blogger's Contest

Fabulous Frogger is having a great contest. For every 10 new follower's she adds a gift to the stash to be given. How great is that? Click on the title (Fellow Blogger's Contest) to see her page!

Technically it is Saturday....

3:03 am and I'm finally getting settled in for bed. It has been a rough week. I have Meneir's (or however the hec you spell it). It's a type of inner ear imbalance. It doesn't flare up often, but when it does it bites the big one!! Wind, sinuses, and ear infections are usual triggers. I seem to be in denial that I need to cover my ears when outside, especially here in Amarillo with the constant wind. So I had a few days of things jumping around on me and having the "whirlybirds" as my mom calls it. Finally get over it only to come down with the tummy virus that has been going around! Double yuck!! As a result, I did not get over to Aunt Denise's but Monday and Tuesday. I'm dragging the guys out the tomorrow to give it a real good cleaning before Thanksgiving. She is having it at her house, but we (the family) are all making dishes and bringing them over. Then Seb will be spending the night with his grandpa, and Ty will be having a friend spend the night with him. Sunday our house will have to be cleaned. I have very little laundry to do. I don't do much, if any, of the weekly housework anymore due to my back. So guess what that means?? Yep...STITCH time!! I've stitched each evening and will try to post pics tomorrow. I've gotten all but the DAY of the birth on the birth record as we are still waiting on Gavin to make an appearance. I finished 3 more Christmas Ornies and am halfway through with a 4th. Yippee!!! Okay, correction, they aren't FINISHED finished. I really don't like the board I got to mount them on, but can't really afford to buy different materials at the moment. I'm going to have to google and find some different ways to finish finish them. I've become so addicted to stitching! I bought a Cross Stitch magazine the other night and have fallen in love with many of the patterns. I also finally got to visit my LNS. She doesn't have as much cross stitch stuff as that seems to be a rare hobby here. It is a teeny tiny store too. She had some pattern books for 10 cents and 50 cents. Of course I got 2 Christmas themed patterns, 3 angel patterns and a Celtic pattern. Today when I was hugging the porcelain god, I printed off some free patterns I found on-line. So many things I want to cross stitch and so little time!! Now I am off to read and hopefully to fall asleep!

Happy Saturday!!

Whew, what a week! When I'm home, I'm busy busy trying to catch up on things here at my house. Of course when I'm not home, I'm sitting with Aunt Denise keeping her company and trying to help out a little too. Had a few really bad days with my back, but 2 nights of pain pills and muscle relaxers and it was really just "uncomfortable" by yesterday. Of course I'm making it hurt again. Today we are home, but James has a gig tonight. So I'm on my own today. Trying to get laundry caught up. Got real industrious and cut up the pumpkin. Got the seeds drying in the oven, then I will roast them. Then I will start on the pumpkin itself. I want to make a pumpkin pie with it for Thanksgiving. I'm also in charge of the sweet potatoes and dressing for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow hubby and I will go over to Aunt Denise and he'll do a weekly touch up on her house for her. We had some drama last night. My poor baby Cashew got a little too curious for her own good and got "skunked". Holy cow did it stink. The smell seeped into the house from the outside. I'd say her bath was 90% successful. She got a "layered bath", 1st with puppy shampoo, then peroxide, then tomato sauce, and then puppy shampoo again. There is only a little bit of smell around her nose and mouth. I'm making progress with the birth record. It's not near as good as I want it to be, but even I know I'm just not good enough to make it as good as I'd want it to be!! Hope everyone has a great weekend with lots of stitchy time!

Shanda

New Projects

Since hurting my back a year ago, I haven't been able to quilt. I've sorely missed having something to craft. I remember when I was much younger, like 16 or 17, I had done a couple of tiny cross stitch projects. That is something I could sit back and do and take pressure off my back, so off to Joann's I went to pick up some floss and a project. I'm thrilled to say that I very much enjoy it!! I now have a new craft!! I'm working on a wedding record for my bedroom. I've also decided to stitch Christmas ornaments for the family this year. I love snowmen and that is my holiday decor theme, so I made myself a snowman Christmas ornie. I've also started the family ones. And you know I can't be satisfied with just one or two projects, so I'm also working on a little Snowman project. I've had to take a break from those for now because my aunt requested that I make a birth record for a friend who is due in 11/11/11! It is a very detailed project. I'm nervous because I"m not that good of a stitcher yet, but I"m doing the best I can. I love curling up in the evening and listening/half watching the TV and stitching away.