First WIPs of 2013

The bad blogger is back.

It's WIPocalypse time again, and though the world isn't ending this year, it's a fun idea for posting WIP pics every month. :)

This year I'm going to try to participate in Theme-a-licious, too, so there is one wip that I won't share until the 31st. I'm very confused about it all, but that's nothing new.

The theme for WIPocalypse this month is to introduce ourselves and share our goals for this year.

So, who am I? Hmmm. I'm Karen. I'm a stay-at-home mom of two kids, Boy-child, aged 10, and Girl-child, aged 3. My husband, Sean, is a hard-working, put upon, computer geek, who tolerates my stitchy and stashy habit, but just barely. We live in Marengo, Illinois, USA, which is around 60 miles west of Chicago. We have a very sweet soft-coated wheaten terrier named Teddy; four cats that I adore, Bubba, Mimi, Squash, and Honeybee; and a tank of fish. I used to be a travel agent until I had the boy-child. I've got a few hobbies, but stitching overshadows just about everything. I'm trying my hand at designing cross stitch patterns, but it's going to take me a while to get the hang of it. (I'm working on a mermaid right now) I'm completely addicted to hand-dyed fabric, as you can see by looking at the "Fabric" tab above. I used to bellydance, but I haven't for a while because all my time and money has been going to stitching. I'm a little obnoxious, I freely admit it, but I think I have a decent sense of humor. Up until recently I was posting pictures of good-looking men on "Hunky Fridays." I've been a bit lax in the last couple of months. I'll try to get better, as it seems to be quite popular. Sometimes I think you only love me for my hunks. (Just kidding.)

I recently shared my "to-do" list, but for the purposes of WIPocalypse, I'll copy and paste.

2013 Stitching Plans

1.      Mermaids of the Deep Blue – Mirabilia

2.      Queen of Fairies – Passione Ricamo

3.      TOT Fairy for October birthday

4.      My 2011 Mirabilia RR – finish my square

5.      My 2011 Band Sampler RR – finish at bottom

6.      2012 Band Sampler RR – almost done

7.      Key to My Heart – Stoney Creek

8.      Handiwork Memories – Stoney Creek

9.      Spring Garden – Stoney Creek

10.  Passione Ricamo Mistery Fairy SAL

11.  Bellydancer No. 1 – Yiota

12.  RAK Project – Maidenhair

13.  The Book Store – Country Cottage Needleworks

14.  Overlook Café

15.  Mirabilia Large-Stitch RR 2013

16.  Joan Elliott RR – May 2013 start

17.  Butterfly Garden – The Drawn Thread

18.  Fire Goddess – Joan Elliott

19.  Joan Elliot 2013 Diary SAL

20. PIF project

So what have I accomplished this month? Lots!

I stitched my section of Jo's Band Sampler round robin. Her theme was "purple with an accent color." I chose turquoise. I love turquoise. My bands are from four different Just Nan patterns.

I'm really proud of and happy with this. I finished all the seaweed, and my mermaid on my Mirabilia large-stitch round robin. I really love how the softened edges came out!

My South Seas Mermaid

Tons of beads!!!

And more beads!

 I also started January's entry in the Joan Elliott 2013 Diary. I hope I can finish it before the end of January, but we'll see.

Not much worth mentioning on this one, but what the heck... I put in a few more stitches on Overlook Cafe.

I treated myself to a new start after finishing my mermaid, but like I said, it's for Theme-a-licious, so I won't post it until the 31st.

Lastly, it's not a wip, it's a finish! I received my 2012 Joan Elliott round robin back, right around the time that my FIL passed away. I was in a funk, so I didn't post a picture of it. Well, here it is!!!!

 It's fabulous and I love every stitch that went in. Thank you so much to all the ladies that worked on it!! I'll get around to framing it some time this year, I swear. I'll post another pic then.

So, there you have it, my first WIPocalypse of 2013. If you got this far, thanks for reading. See you next time.

Oh, and I just hit 10,000 page views! How cool is that? I have to go tell Sean.