Waiting for Neptune

I figure I'm around 1/3 of the way on this one.  I fell in love with the colors and the giraffe pattern on the mermaids.  I may stitch on this one a bit today.....

Salamander A Finish

I did finally finish this project and I love how it turned out.  It's a rather large box, around 14Lx10Wx5D.  I keep all my wine stuff in there; corkscrew, stoppers and sets of wine charms.

Back and ready to create....

I haven't blogged since the end of 2010 but I'm back!!! I quit my part-time job and am now home full-time; lots of changes at blogger.com. I'm going to give the site a revamp and upload a bunch of new WIPs (with a few finishes thrown in too) so check back in a few days. Hope everyone's having a great spring and enjoying whatever craft is calling the loudest.

New start........

So I've been trying to hold out until we sell our house and move to celebrate with a new start. But, I've been absolutely dying to start this one!

It's Salamander by Ian Daniels (you can google for a picture) and I broke the chart up to fit into this gorgeous black box I purchased. It's roughly 10x14 and 4.5 inches deep; so a nice size. It has a glass insert and cutouts for photos only I'm stitching my Salamander chart on a solid piece of fabric to match the cutouts. I took a permanent maker and with the glass in place, just traced around the inside of the cutouts (onto the glass)..... see the next picture.




Here's my Salamander by Ian Daniels piece. What you're seeing is the start of her fingers and arm. On top of this is her other hand/arm with all the sparklie stuff falling from her finger tips. I can't wait to get to the top of this box and start on the bottom of the butterfly! I just started this last Saturday (a week ago, 7/24).

This is the bottom left insert of the box top. Notice the glass piece with the pen tracing of the cutout shapes? These are easy to do and once I'm finished it can be removed from the glass with nail polish remover. If anyone wants to try a piece like this, just remember to start at the top and work your way down (if your starting at the top of your chart) LOL - that doesn't make much sense does it? What I mean is I was starting at line 1, column 1 of my chart so even though I had counted down and over and thought I knew exactly where to start on the bottom left, if I had made a mistake in my calculations then once I had started stitching and worked my way up to the top - I would have been stuck with no where to go and no chart to stitch to make up the difference. So, once I realize this, I started with the top box, line 1, column 1 of my chart and stitched down towards the bottom of that box then moved to where the box underneath started and that's where I resumed stitching from my chart until I got to the bottom of THAT box....then I started working my way over and up. It's a perfect match for the cutouts.

The thrills of summer......

go on and on around here. Staying up way to late and getting up a little earlier than usual. Totally worth it though; I wouldn't want to miss out on anything while the kids are out of school and home.

It's been 6 weeks or so since my last post, let's see - I celebrated my birthday, then my wedding anniversary, DD is home till the middle of August and we still have our house for sale. I'm still loving my part-time job. It keeps me busy and the time just flies by.

I don't feel like I've had much time to stitch but I think all those 30 minutes here and an hour there truly ad up. This is Evening In The Park by Chatelaine Designs.


Get out there this summer and enjoy all the laughter and late nights...happy stitching

It's a gorgeous day.....

and about time too! The rain and drizzle has finally moved out; the sun is shining and it looks to be a perfect Sunday. We have Open House this afternoon - cross your fingers - you never know when that one person will see and fall in love with your home. So maybe today will be that day and we'll get an offer sometime this next week.

Here's an update of Linda Ravenscroft's Waiting For Neptune.


Hope you get lots of stitching in this week.

The most wonderful time of the year......

isn't the holidays around our house but rather the transition of Winter to Spring/Summer. So much work to be done inside and out. Then add all the outdoor activities you've been dying to do while you were couped inside all winter and you have our busiest time of the year.

I also found the perfect part-time job (after looking since last summer). I hit the gym for my Zumba exercise class in the morning then go to work when I'm ready (I really love this one), I can wear shorts and flipflops (really can it get any better?) the owner buys me Sweetbay coffee and lunch every day (yeah, it's really great) AND he pays extra good. I'm the business manager/office admin. for a small business in town - they have 3 locations. And, I'm loving it! My only concern after the first 2 weeks was the amount of projects and work to be done and my adament plea that I only want to work part-time. I was reassured that once we got things organized and I feel comfortable with the work activities, I could hire an office assistant to help so that I could stick to my 20-25 hour week. I mean really now, it just doesn't get any better than that in my world.

Now added to this hubby and I decided to list our house for sell and upgrade. Keeping the house spic-n-span clean for Open House every weekend is wearing me down but I'm excited at the same time. I just can't wait to sell it; it's a beautiful home and I know some wonderful family will come along and fall as madly in love as we did. We have 3/4 of an acre in the middle of town - kids can hold their own softball game in the fenced backyard and not bother anyone. Just need a family with young kids to come along.

I was feeling so wornout and realized that part of it was because I haven't been stitching. I put away my ott-light and stitching utility tray that holds all my floss and accessories. Now the living room looks stream-lined and clean but all my joy is gone when I sit down. So I brought them all back out and I just put them up every Saturday and drag it out again on Sunday night.

Here's Waiting For Neptune by Linda Ravenscroft.

Waiting For Neptune....

This is charted from artwork by Linda Ravenscroft. I would love to work on Evening In The Park and also start Salamander for my black box-top. But, I'm loving working on this one even if it's just a little here and there - it all adds up! So until something else ^screams^ louder - WFN it will be!

I worked in the nursery at Church this morning. I haven't seen any of my sweet little ones in nearly a month. I've had the flu and missed 2 weeks, then some of them were traveling, etc. As I was getting ready this morning I kept thinking they've probably grown so much since I last saw them and will be little grrranimals with all the new teeth they've cut! So I took my camera and I kept talking to Fox trying to get him to smile and do his little he-man-grrrr (it's so cute and completely adorable) anyway, I had the camera set to video so was pleasantly surprised when I got home and saw this tiny video clip. Note-to-self - really need to learn how to use my camera.....



On the quilting front, I've mailed 2 completed Love Quilts this month and pieced/quilted the top of a Whinnie-the-Pooh quilt (in yellow check fabric and blue striping); just need to put the binding on and it's ready to go. I have 3 other quilts ready to start. They are so much fun to work on, finding just the right fabric to match the beautiful stitched squares and then to see them all put together - it's just fantastic. So all you ladies who stitch for LoveQuilts - keep up your generous gift!

So we're in the South and can you believe it was in the 70s Thursday and it started snowing yesterday afternoon ^saturday^ and has snowed off and on since? It's coming down now in big fat flakes - so beautiful to watch. I think we've seen a total of 8-9 inches. But best of all is that we are just hovering at the 33/34 degree mark and so it's cold enough to accumulate on the lawns, houses and such but not cold enough to be anything more than slush on the sidewalks or roads.

We are leaving for Tunica, MS in the morning. It's about 30 minutes south of Memphis, TN. We have free rooms at the casino and will just relax and play for a couple of days. Our daughter is home from college for Springbreak so it's nice for us to get out of town for a couple of days while she is home to care for the dogs. Honestly, I would rather just stay home than have to board them so it's just a nice treat for me. She gets some alone time since she doesn't get much of that while she's at school as she has a room mate this semester - so it's good for everyone!

Have a fantastic week and happy stitching!!!!

Waiting For Neptune.......

Linda Ravenscroft's beautiful mermaid piece. I haven't actually gotten to any of the mermaids but it's a great over 1 stitch. See the small pink flower I'm working on? At the top right of this flower is the tail of a beautiful seahorse!!! I can't wait to get there but I'm going to put this one up and give it a rest so I don't burnout. I'm already excited about picking it up again. Now what can I work on the next few days? I'll have to see what can call louder than this one.



Or maybe I'll make a trip to the Library today. It seems like forever since I finished a book.

I love March. It's the beginning of warmer days here and lots of bright sunshine. I can usually work in my flower beds at some point and just generally start being outside after long months of being stuck in the house. I think I'll plan a BBQ this weekend to celebrate!

Finally framed.....

Once Upon A Tree Sampler is finally framed and hanging in the kitchen. This chart was featured in Just Cross-Stitch Magazine in 4 parts during 2009. It was beautiful as charted but I just grabbed from my box of silks and changed all the threads and beads. I love it!


On the exercise front - I'm going. Some days that's just as good as it gets; so I'm proud of myself for getting up and not talking myself out of it, but actually going. Today was TurboKick and while it was a great cardio class, I'm beat!

I think I'll go stitch for a bit and recoup. Have a great Monday!

Quick note on survival.....

I survived Zumba and most of a toning class this morning. I don't know how the rest of my day will go, and while I'm very sore - it feels good.

I have a ham bone in the soup pot with white beans, finely minced carrots, fresh garlic and sweet onion. Add a nice crispy skillet of cornbread and we'll have a great winter dinner this evening.

I don't think I've posted this on my blog so here's my Chatelaine piece, Evening In The Park. It's stitched on Silkweavers 32ct Jobelan in Sudden Storm. It's a really softly mottled piece and is a wonderful companion for the colors in this piece.

While Dear Husband's away.....

the wife will play. He's gone until Friday and I've planned something special for everyday. Usually I hibernate at home and luxerate in having the house to myself, staying up till all hours of the morning and sleeping in. If you can call 7:30 really sleeping in. LOL

This year I decided to step out of the box and try something new. I hit the casino with friends last night (it's ladies night). Broke even and had a great time; that's what it's all about!

Tonight I have a group of friends coming for dessert, manicures (and hand dips in one of those paraffin spa baths) and of course swimsuits and the hot tub. They will all go home loose-as-a-goose and ready for sweet dreams. Of course I'll stay up and stitch. Can't quite put down WFN and I even have a new start all ready to go!

Gym update - I need to get back into my early morning machine routine which consist of the elliptical, the treadmill then making a round of the free-standing weight machines. Who knew they were actually fun? I called Lisa, my exercise partner and we both decided we have to get back to it. Also convinced her to come to a ZUMBA class with me and give it a try. If you have the opportunity but have never tried one, your really missing something!

Today will consist of cleaning house for my guests, including bathing the dogs (you know they have to greet everyone who enters the house). Baking a homemade chocolate cake too, from scratch!

I think I'll turn the music up really loud and practice some Zumba routines while I'm cleaning......

enjoy today, no matter what you do!

Here's an update of Waiting For Neptune (Linda Ravenscroft is the artist). You can see the beginnings of the scroll work on the left. I can't wait to work over to the tail of a seahorse or up to the tail of a mermaid.

Not everyone.......

loves Valentine's Day but I do. We've made it into an elaborate celebration and had years where it was simply a quiet, romantic day spent together. It's all good - so Happy Valentine's Day, feel special and loved all day.

On a crafting note, DH will be out of town next week and I'm anxious to start my new piece. It's ready to go and these past few days I've been so excited about putting those first stitches in. Can't wait to get started and see it start to grow. ooh - it's Ian Daniels, Salamander piece for the black box.

The perfect little black box.....

since I'm to fat for a perfect little black dress, I'll have to settle for a perfect little black box. ROFL

I spent the better part of a late afternoon and evening plotting the fragmentation of Ian Daniels Salamander chart to fit the openings for this box. I think it's going to be fantastic!

On a whiney note, I did my first Zumba exercise class on Friday and I'm still sore. It was great fun and I will be going back.

A couple of new starts....

there are so many beautiful charts I would love to start. Here are two relatively new ones.

A Chatelaine, Evening In The Park stitched over 2 on 32ct. Jobelan from Silkweaver in Sudden Storm.

A Linda Ravenscroft piece, Waiting For Neptune stitched over 1 on 28ct. Lugana in Ivory.


I have a couple of new craft projects in the planning stages, along with 1 new cross-stitch piece. I found these beautiful black boxes (about 10x15 or so) at Hobby Lobby. They are very, very nice and are lined inside with black felt like a jewelry box and also have a hinged lid. The top is cutout into various spaces for pictures but rather than having the entire lid cutout with a large mat that has individual cutouts (have I lost you yet?) these pieces actually have the wood top cutout, leaving behind the black wood outlines around the cutouts. There is a layer of glass under the cutout and a compartment to insert your photos into. Now I thinking I could stitch parts of Ian Daniel's Salamander chart to fit the cutouts. It's in navys and orange/peach/shimmer shades. It would look very nice sitting on the coffee table and would be a great place to hold all that damn remotes.

Pretty and functional too...

New beginnings.......

are awesome! my bad, I've been neglectful of so many things since this past summer. I quit several groups and activities so focus more time on family and the things I really want to do. Time to reinvent my stitching blog and that means a beautiful new template. It's courtesy of Izzie Grace Blogging Backgrounds; you'll find her button at the bottom of my blog. They are free and she literally have 100's of beautiful backgrounds to choose from.

I've been traveling, stitching and quilting up a storm since last summer. I'll be back with pictures after tweaking my template.....

June is nearly over.....

but what a wonderful month it's been. It sure doesn't seem like I've done much stitching or other crafting but I think a little here and a little there adds up to a nice bunch by the end of the month.

I've been working on my Love Quilt squares and really enjoying them, especially this time of year. The Aida is so nice to work with and the designs are usually so playful and light hearted that they make the perfect thing to work on during the busy summer months.

I'm also putting together my first quilt for Love Quilts. I received the squares last week and will wait until it's finished and sent to the intended child before I post a picture. It's a real pretty one too! Dusty pinks and blue colors.

June has been very busy around our house, my birthday and our wedding anniversary and all the usual summer stuff. We have enjoyed the college kids being home this year.............so much better than last year. We've termed 2008 as our summer from hell, what is it about turning 18? They think they are adults and can just do anything they like and run all over their parents to boot! Thank GOD this past year has been so much better and she thoroughly enjoyed her first year of college - took to it like a duck to water.

DH and I had such a wonderful time in Gulf Shores last fall we decided to go back this year. So, we start talking about it and planning a trip for the first of Sept. and invite my B&SIL to go with us. We are all getting so excited then our kids (ours 19, theirs 20 & 15) start complaining about how they would just love to go with us would we please go the first week of Aug. instead?

Trust me, I know - we are still in shell shock that they want to go anywhere with us and are looking forward to it too! I've rented a beach house for Aug. 1 - 8 which works out well. DD has to be at college Aug 9 for check-in. She is a mentor for her dorm this year so they have to show up a week before everyone else for orientation, etc. We are taking 2 of our vehicles to Gulf Shores so we can load them both with her stuff and she can leave it all at her Aunt's house (she literally lives less than 1 mile from the university). We will be back Sat. night and she can stay with a friend in the dorm then move all her stuff in on Sunday.

I'll leave you with some my favorite picture of Gulf Shores from fall of 2008. We went after the hurricane dumped a TON of sand - like a solid month after the storm surge and the sand still looks like snow drifts but it was completely relaxing and wonderful.

This is my favorite sunrise photo. It was worth getting up at 5:30 to make coffee and see such a glorious scene.

A finish.....

makes a Monday seem like a great day!

I finished the stitching on Mirabilia's Crescent Dreams. The plan is to use the gingham fabric with white ribbon and make it into a doorknob hanger for the baby's room.



Of course I changed some of the design details as it's charted, but right off hand the only things I recall are changing the ribbon that hangs from the moon to 2 strands of the lightest yellow floss; I used Mill Hill 12299 petite silver glass star beads and the Mill Hill 03018 Antinue Glass Beads for the background in a matte baby pink rather than white.

Okay, I better get going and finish this piece out. I'm thinking it will be a nice idea to use it in place of the bow on my gift for her baby shower which is this coming weekend.

Have a wonderful week my fellow stitchers..........

Tada.........

Leah's quilt is finished and already sent. I sent her a card with a message from all the stitchers.

Dear Leah, there are many mistakes in this quilt, as you grow and become aware of them know that there isn't another quilt in the world like this. It was made special for you. It carries our prayers and hopes for you and each time you wrap up in it your wrapping yourself in a huge hug from The Crafty Coven.

I'll just leave you with many pictures, and a few close-ups of the different sections. It was my first quilting experience and super fun!