Another All-in-One Post (sorry)

Yes, I did it again. I got a bit behind on blogging. Apologies! Now I have to update you on everything at once.

Let's first discuss WIPocalypse and Theme-a-licious:

The WIPocalypse theme for this month was:
March 27 – Themes: Designer – Chatelaine, Style – Springtime, Colors – Green and Yellow

and the theme for Theme-a-licious was:
MARCH MADNESS - Work on something different every day...it's madness...of the funnest kind.

 I posted during the mid-month check in that working on something different every day just wouldn't happen this month since I had so many RRs that needed to be done. I did try to put a few stitches into other things each night, to a varying degree of success.

I was not about to start my first Chatelaine, and will not likely do one this year. I did do a wee little bit of Springtime stitching, including some green and yellow.

Here's some pictures -
  

I finished my section on Laura's Celtic-themed band sampler round robin. It came out rather fabulous, if I say so myself. :)

I also finished my section on Angi's band sampler round robin. I used bands from Just Nan and Sweetheart Tree. Angi provided tons of coordinating silks, metallics, and beads. They were amazing.

In honor of Spring (wishfully thinking), I stitched the "Phlox" section of Butterfly Garden from The Drawn Thread. Included was some green and yellow stitching. See, I'm trying to go along with the themes.

I added a couple more bottles to "99." Each time, I ask my hubby if he recognizes the bottles. So far we have Blue Moon, Heineken, and Fat Tire Amber Ale.

Oops, I allowed myself yet another new start. Naughty me. I'm amused by my interesting word combo.

I've been working on Andie's Mirabilia large-stitch round robin, but I don't want to show any pix until it's done. Andie is, after all, an attentive follower of this blog. She follows the hunks, anyway. :P

I also did some more stitching on "Baked Goods," but I forgot to take a picture.


Speaking of being naughty...I've been ordering stash right and left. I got the most wonderful package in the mail yesterday, from Leslie of Under the Sea Fabrics. Included was my custom FOTM, perhaps to be used for the upcoming Joan Elliott RR, a bunch of fabrics I picked up at her latest Jewel sale, the most adorable mermaid tail scissors and mermaid fob, and, best of all, I won a full kit from Leslie. The kit is for the Poppy Pixie, and Leslie created a fabric just for her. It is called Volcano, and it is truly amazing. I'm going to try to stitch her up for the Pick-a-Pixie Facebook SAL. Thanks, Leslie!!!

The WIPocalypse theme for April is:
Themes: Designer – Mirabilia, Style – Samplers, Colors – Blue and Orange

Mirabilia will be easy. I don't have any current plans for samplers, since I finished the RR, but we'll see. Blue and Orange? Umm, maybe.

The Theme-a-licious theme for April is:
AMAZON APRIL - Dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects.

That'll take some thinking. I'll get back to you on that.

DON'T FORGET: If you haven't already entered my 100-follower giveaway, your last chance is tomorrow, March 31. I will do the drawing Monday or Tuesday. Leave a comment here.

Last but not least, I owe you a hunk.
I have another reader request. I thought him appropriate, since my hubby and I saw The Hobbit last week. I offer to you, Thorin Oakenshield, King of the Dwarves, aka Richard Armitage.

Another one who is not really my cuppa, and honestly, I couldn't bear to show a pasty white bare-chested pic of him, but he has really pretty eyes.

I hope to not overwhelm you with any more all-in-one posts. Key word=hope.

An All-In-One Post (it's a biggie!)

 

This is becoming a bit of a habit. I've been a less than reliable blogger. Sorry.

In my defense, we had another death in the family in February. We suddenly and unexpectedly lost my uncle. We had family come in from out of state, for whom we were entertaining for a couple of days. In that same time frame I got terribly sick. (again!!)

I apologize for whining. It was just a tough month.

So here I am with a huge post. I will cover not only my February WIPocalypse update; not only my end-of-month Theme-a-Licious wrap up; but, I've also remembered that it is Friday, and you are overdue for your hunk.

Let's see...Where to start?

WIPocalypse
The themes for Feb. were Little House Needleworks, Love/Family, and white and red colors.

I found and started a new project that would fit all the categories of the theme. (Don't expect that to happen often!) I started stitching LHN's Baked Goods. I love baking pies for my family at the holidays. This reminds me of that. It does have the colors of white and red in it. The red that was called for was GAST Mulberry. The skein of Mulberry that I got, though, was very brown and has almost no red in it. The next time I'm at my LNS, I will pick a different color that I like better.

In January I started my Joan Elliott Diary SAL. This is how far I got on the January piece.

And this is how far I got on my February piece.....

[  ]

Yes, it is supposed to be blank. I never got to start Feb., so on to March I go.


I allowed myself another new start. (So naughty!) I did the first bottle of Ink Circles' "99." This piece is for my dear hubby. He really has been supportive with my stitching, even though I tend to make him sound grumpy. He even turns a blind eye to my stashing addiction. (mostly) I wanted him to see me start on something just for him. I changed the shelf color from the charted solid mauve to a pretty wood-colored overydyed cotton. There will be more to the shelves than just one row of stitches. That's all I got to before starting the Blue Moon beer bottle.

I have been working really hard on Laura's band sampler round robin piece. It is sucking the life out of me! The problem is that the sections ended up side-by-side (long story) and quite wide. Each section seemed to get larger and larger as each stitcher got more adventurous in the Celtic theme. Dear, sweet Catherine, who did the section to the right, was so inspired that she created an absolutely enormous section. Normally that wouldn't affect me at all, but since I had to stitch across from her, and because I am the last stitcher, I felt that my section needs to be the same size as hers to keep it symmetrical. Gaaaaaaa! This thing is eating my mojo.

How about some entries for Theme-a-Licious?

The theme this month was:
Figural February: Who are the people in your neighborhood...your WIP neighborhood, that is? Give your people-populated projects some face time this month.


Firstly, I posted last month that I finally received my Mira round robin back, with Lavender started in the wrong spot. I ripped out the offending stitches and re-stitched her in the correct position. I will send this on to Julie to work on Sweet Pea shortly. When I get it back from her, I will bead everything and call this one done!

I had wanted to get at least another 300 stitches done on Bellydancer No. 1. I didn't get quite that far. Almost 200 done in a couple of hours, but it doesn't look like much.

Before

After

 

 

 

I had intended to stitch a step or two of my exceedingly neglected Passione Ricamo SAL. I didn't get to it at all. I blame Catherine of the uber-large band. :-b (If you're reading this, Cat, I'm just teasing.)

The theme for March is:
March Madness: Work on something different every day...it's madness...of the funnest possible kind.


Honestly, that's not going to happen. I have too many obligation stitches to finish. Once I get through those, though, I might jump around a bit to some WIPs that have been neglected. I may even make a new start or two, just because I'm nuts that way.

Now, what you've all been waiting for...HUNKY FRIDAY!

Again, I'm sharing some special requests. Today I have John Cena for your entertainment. I much prefer Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson over this guy, but to each her/his own, right? ;-)

Oops. How did that get in here?

If you got all the way to the end of this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink post, thanks for sticking it out!

Until next time...
*hugs and stitches*

~Karen

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.

Out with the old (list)

So, in reflecting back on 2012, I decided to look at my original WIPocalypse to-do list that I posted in January. It's frightening, truly, how little off that list I got done.

Here is a recap of the list, along with the status of each project:

2012 Stitching Plans (aka Wishful Thinking)

1. Mermaids of the Deep Blue – Mirabilia ~~Didn’t touch
2. Mediterranean Mermaid – Mirabilia ~~ Stitched a little
3. Enchanted Dreamer – Mirabilia ~~ Didn’t start
4. Queen of Fairies – Passione Ricamo ~~ Bought some floss and fabric
5. Bluebell Pixie – Nora Corbett ~~ Nope
6. TOT Fairy for a special friend’s October b-day ~~Stitched some; didn’t finish for October birthday
7. Shimmering Seashells Sampler – Patricia Ann ~~Nope
8. Gingerbread Garden Sampler – Victoria Sampler ~~ Uh uh
9. Something bargello-ish ~~ No
10. My 2011 Mirabilia RR – finish my square ~~ Still sitting there
11. My 2011 Band Sampler RR – finish at bottom ~~ Ditto
12. 2011-2012 UFO RR (maybe someday I'll get my own back. sigh) ~~ I finished everyone else’s. Mine is gone.
13. Mirabilia RR – 2012 ~~ Done! (Still missing mine.)
14. Joan Elliott RR ~~ Done! Yay!!! Mine is beautiful!!
15. Band Sampler RR 2012 ~~ Almost done. Two more mailings.
16. Key To My Heart – Stoney Creek (for my Dad) ~~ Put in a few stitches
17. Handiwork Memories – Stoney Creek (nearly done gift for MIL) ~~ Nope
18. Spring Garden – Stoney Creek (nearly done gift for Mom) ~~ Nope
19. Hang bellpulls for sis ~~ Bell pull hardware is still sitting on my desk
20. Frame at least 50% of finished projects ~~ Not a one.

Because that list wasn’t big enough (d’oh!), I added a few new starts, too.

1.      Passione Ricamo – Mistery Fairy SAL

2.      Yiota’s Bellydancer No. 1

3.      RAK Project – Maidenhair

4.      Country Cottage Needlework – The Book Store

5.      Overlook Café

6.      Mirabilia Large-Stitch RR – January 2013 start

I guess it's safe to say that I set my sights a little high.

I will post a new list for 2013 shortly. Do you think I can make it a tad more realistic??

Did you miss me?

It has been over a month since my last post. December turned out to be a very difficult month. I don't want to whine too much about it. Let's just say, I'm glad it's over.

I did, however, make out like a bandit at Christmas. I put, pretty much, only stitchy things on my wishlists, and I got, pretty much, only stitchy things under the tree. I finally got a needlework stand!! I am now the proud owner of an Ergo from Artisan Designs. And I received tons of new charts. I also got a gift certificate to my LNS and a little cash, which already got used on...you guessed it...more charts!

Here is my spoilage:

So I'm going to do my final TUSAL and WIPocalypse posts of 2012. Just a quick report.

What did I stitch on in the last month-ish?

I did my section of Sophia's Mirabilia RR

I have finished the center shell cluster and almost all of the seaweed on my new Mirabilia round robin that goes out mid-January. I should have the last of the seaweed done today, and then I hope to get my mermaid stitched before mailing time. (I have two Band Sampler RR sections to finish in the meantime.)

Because I apparently don't have enough to stitch (major eyeroll), I picked up a little kit and had to put in a few stitches. In my defense, I wanted to have a small kit that I wasn't extremely attached to, so that I could have one to bring when I'm out and about.

And here, with a look at a year's worth of ORTs in my bottomless jar, is Mimi. I'd heard the suggestion earlier in the year about putting the ORTs out in the spring for the birds to build nests. I wonder what I should put them out in? A pie pan? In a pile on the ground? Any suggestions?

So that wraps up my TUSAL and WIPocalypse reports. Obviously the world didn't end. (Take that, you pessimistic Mayans!!) It's a good thing, because I didn't make a dent in my WIP list.

In the next day or two I will post about the year in review and make a new useless list of stitching plans for 2013.

Have a Stitchy New Year!!

Love,
Karen

p.s. I'll try and bring back Hunky Friday soon.

Lions and WIPs and ORTs, Oh my!

I have one lonely picture of what I've stitched since my last WIPocalypse post. However, I did that post about two weeks ago, so....

I completed my portion of Sophia's Band Sampler RR. You may be wondering why it took me so long to do. Don't let the appearance fool you. It may look fairly straightforward, but WOW, that thing was difficult!!! For every whole cross stitch, there were another two or three quarter stitches. And, if that weren't enough, everything, and I mean everything, was backstitched. In four separate colors, no less! Holy smokes!

My bands

The whole piece

 I sure am glad I'm finished!

I know. Tardy doesn't begin to describe my TUSAL entry. I just plum forgot with everything that has been going on. Fortunately, Bubba seemed willing to help with my picture today.

I just had to share this picture of Honeybee and Squash playing with a rope, today. They were so cute. :)

October? (November) WIPocalypse #11

Okay. Late again. But there is a small amount of good news. I seem to have gotten some of my stitchy mojo back. I haven't gotten lots done, mind you, but I did start getting into a groove.

So, let's check in...

 I did a wee little bit on CCN's "The Book Store." Just a bit on the door and the bricks.

 

 I did an even "wee-er" little bit on the centerpiece of my Mirabilia Large-Stitch RR. It's got me a little concerned that I won't have all my seaweed or my own mermaid done before it's time to get it in the mail.

 I'm not quite half-way on Sophia's Band Sampler RR, but I am doing two sets of colors (red and orange) instead of one. It is a series of Celtic knot bands that are in beautiful rainbow colors using all silks. Yum.

Here is my big finish! I did the last portion of the Joan Elliott RR on Jacqui's piece. I have stitched for her Joan's Goddess of the Sea. She came out beautifully and was pleasant to stitch.

 

Here is the full piece. Jacqui just needs to finish her square with Cinderella, and add, I think, verses in the blank squares. It is a lovely piece, and I'm so glad I was part of this Round Robin.

 

 Well, here's hoping my mojo will stick with me through the end of the year, and beyond!

September WIPocalypse - Epic Fail

I have no idea what happened. I just couldn't get any darned stitching done. I must've had a lot more available stitching time this summer than I realized because once school started, I got nothing done.

This is it. Two round robin pieces, and I only just finished the Joan Elliott one today, so it doesn't even really count as September.

Catherine's RR - Scent of Old Roses

Additional flower section on Catherine's RR

 

 

Jo's Joan Elliott RR - Lily

I'm just glad it's over. I hope I can make a better showing of it next month. (I'm not holding my breath, though.)