Hunky Monday??

Sorry. I missed Hunky Friday. We had another death in the family last week. I had relatives in from out of town all weekend. If that weren't enough, I've got another lousy, stinking, terrible cold. Sniff.

Okay. Enough whining.

I've had several follower friends placing hunk requests of late. Over the next few weeks, I shall honor those requests. If you have someone special that you'd like to see featured, feel free to drop me a line.

The following hunk is not really my cuppa, but he is cute. Requested by a fellow blogger who has been watching Ripper Street with me, I present to you Matthew Macfadyen.

I'll try not to miss this next Friday. :)

Theme-a-licious Check-in

So this is my first mid-month check in for Theme-a-licious.

I don't have any pix ready to post, so I think I'll just tell you a bit about my plans.

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

Most of what I stitch includes people, but I will make a special effort on a couple of neglected pieces this month. (I hope.)

I received my 2012 Mirabilia Round Robin back (finally). However, the last stitcher only put in a partial section, and she stitched it in the wrong box. :(    So, I picked out the stitches she had done, and I stitched Nora Corbett's Lavender Pixie in the correct box. Dear, sweet Julie from Red Couch Stitcher , has volunteered to stitch the remaining box with Sweet Pea pixie, so I don't have to do two boxes. When I get it back from her, I will do the beading on all eight pixies. I will share a picture during my WIPocalypse check in.

I really want to put in another couple hundred stitches into Yiota's Bellydancer No. 1.

Here is what she looked like last time:

I'm almost certain that I won't reach the actual bellydancer, but I'd like to make some progress.

I have also long neglected my Passione Ricamo Mistery Fairy SAL. I completed through Step 2. We've received Step 8 at the beginning of February. I guess I'm a little behind.

This is what it looked like through Step 2 (keeping in mind that I do the beading at the end):

So, let's see if I've made any progress by the end of the month. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

February ORTs

Quick post today.

It looks like 2013 might be a very stitchy year. It's only February, and look at all these ORTs!!


 

Sorry, I didn't have a chance to coax a cat into the picture this time.

*hugs and stitches*

Hunky Friday Redux - "Got Milk?"

Yes, I know. I did him before....ha ha ha! I just had to say that. (Wishful thinking)

I was inspired by a Super Bowl Ad. I wish I could send Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson out to get a gallon of milk for me. :-D You've got to love a hunk that doesn't take himself too seriously.

I just love this guy!

The Boys Are Back in Town!!

Forgive me, dear readers, for depriving you of hunky manliness for so long. You know the last couple of months were rather stressful. But, fear no more, I'm bringing back the hunks!

I hope you don't mind a repeat. Manu Bennett was my second ever Friday Hunk. The final season of Spartacus began last week, and I'm newly enthralled by this guy. Be still my little heart!!

I have some new pictures of him. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Just look at that smile!

Love the black tee!

I almost shorted out my keyboard with all the drool. ;)  Heavy sigh.

See you next time.

My First Theme-A-Licious: Jardin January

I'm excited to be participating in Theme-A-Licious this year. Or doing my best, anyway. Sometimes I get distracted by other projects calling to me. Really, I have a fantastic amount of attention, and focus, and...SQUIRREL!

I'm not sure I completely understand the TAL check-in on the 15th and last day of the month. Whatever.

So in the theme of "Jardin January," or "work on a piece with flowers or gardens," I chose to start a new project that has been calling to me. "Karen? Oh, Karen? Please stitch a little section of me!!"  Now you all know that I have such a shortage of WIPs and things kitted up, right? (Ow! I think I sprained my eyes by rolling them so far into my head.)

I managed to scratch that stitch-itch by doing the first section of Butterfly Garden from The Drawn Thread. The first flower section was "buddleia." I will mostly be using substitute Threadworx cotton floss, instead of all the silks called for. (I'd break the bank if I bought all those.) I did happen to have the Silk n' Colors Grape Melange on hand that the buddleia called for. It is soooooo pretty.

Original chart pic

 

The theme for next month is:

 Figural February

Who are the people in your neighborhood...your WIP neighborhood, that is? Give your people-populated projects some face time this month.

While most of what I stitch has a person in it (or fairy, goddess, mermaid, etc.), I want to make sure that I put it some stitching time to Bellydancer No.1 from Yiota's.

See you next time!

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.