January TUSAL Update

I’m a day late in getting my January update for the Totally Useless Stitch-a-Long posted. I meant to get it up yesterday, but time just got away from me. So, without further adieu …

The orts in the bottom of the jar are from my new start on Royal Holiday by Mirabilia. Next up is a bunch of red from work on Celtic Christmas from Lavender & Lace. Sadly, a good portion of that big chuck of red orts is the result of having to frog nearly 600 stitches from that piece a couple of weeks ago. The darker orts on the top of the pile are from some recent stitching I’ve done on my Hannah Beeby 1816 reproduction sampler from Timeless Designs.

My little jar has now been emptied into my larger clear paint bucket. I didn’t bother taking a photo of it this month since it would just be the same orts. I’ll include a photo of it in next month’s TUSAL update after I’ve added my February orts to it.

Until next time …

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24 January 2012

Challenges, Stitching

1 comment

Celtic Christmas, Hannah Beeby, Lavender & Lace, Mirabilia, Royal Holiday, Timeless Designs, Totally Useless SAL

Friend Makin’ Mondays: Short Answers

I haven’t participated in Kenlie’s weekly Friend Makin’ Mondays in a while, so I thought I’d jump back in today since it seems really fun.

Per Kenlie’s instructions: If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Short Answers

Mac or PC? I have both, but definitely prefer Mac. I’ve been a Mac user since the late 80′s.
Do you paint your own nails? Sometimes. I like going and getting pampered occasionally, too.
Beach or mountains? Living in southern California, I’m fortunate enough to have both in fairly close proximity. If I had to choose just one, I’d probably go with the beach.
What’s the title of the book you’re currently reading? Lover Mine (book nine from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series) by J.R. Ward
Do you dance? Not very often, but I enjoy it when I do.
CNN or Fox News? Neither. I usually watch MSNBC. I <3 Rachel Maddow and would happily run away with her if it weren’t for that pesky detail of her partner, Susan.
Do you ride a bicycle? No, but I own two of them. Don’t ask.
Do you get a yearly flu shot? No.
Best movie you’ve seen in 2012? I haven’t been to the movie theater yet this year. I watched The Help on DVD a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it.
Do you prefer to workout at home or at the gym? It depends on what I’m doing for my workout. If I’m going to walk or want to do an aerobics-type workout, then I usually just do it at home since I have a pretty large DVD selection. I usually hit the gym if I want to spin, swim, Zumba, etc.
Last airport you were in? Well, the last was technically LAX on a return flight from Dulles following a business trip to the D.C./NoVA area in December.
Married or single? Single
iPhone or Android? iPhone
Do you prefer to be in pictures or taking pictures? Definitely taking pictures. I’m not really a fan of having my photo taken.
Favorite brand of sneakers? It’s a toss-up between New Balance and Asics. I really like Brooks, too.
Do you like snow? For visiting, yes. For putting up with an entire winter, no, which is precisely why I live in southern California.
Do you have/want to have kids? I wanted kids, but couldn’t have them.
Summer or Winter? I actually prefer Spring and Fall over either Summer or Winter.
Do you know how to swim? Yes
Do you prefer to shop in store or online? With the exceptions of food & clothing, I do most of my shopping online. I’m not really a fan of malls and it just works better with my busy schedule to shop online.

Until next time …

Friend Makin' Mondays, Fun, Kenlie, Memes

Welcome MeYou Health Readers!

I just wanted to give a quick shout-out post and welcome those of you who found me today by way of the MeYou Health blog! I’m a major fan of the work they do and their small actions approach to health and fitness. I’ve participated in the Daily Challenge for almost 13 months and love it! Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog! I hope you like what you see and will stick around and subscribe via RSS feed or email (widget in my sidebar).

Until next time …

MeYou Health logo used by permission.

MeYou Health, Small Actions

SOPA/PIPA Protest

I will be participating in the internet strike on Wednesday, January 18 in protest about the SOPA/PIPA legislation currently being considered by both the US House of Representatives and US Senate. So, on Wednesday, my regular blog will be replaced with information for contacting your members of Congress to ask they NOT support SOPA/PIPA since these bills are nothing more than legislated censorship.

While I certainly understand the need to protect intellectual property and the need of protection for copyright holders (although that’s technically already been covered since 1998 in the US by DMCA), SOPA/PIPA are just not the best way to handle that task. Both pieces of legislation are poorly written and too far-reaching. Please contact your Congress Critters to let them know your thoughts before they vote on this legislation on January 24th!

See you on Thursday …

P.S. – You can’t even begin to imagine how difficult this post was to write without citing Wikipedia! If you think this legislation doesn’t apply to you, just think about how often you use that or similar resources. What would you do if they were suddenly gone?! They, along with several other major sites, will also be going dark on Wednesday in protest of SOPA/PIPA. So, I guess we’ll all have to step back in time to a world before Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist, LOLCats, and more for at least one day. Personally, that’s not a world in which I want to live!

Blogging, Congress, Internet Protest, PIPA, Politics, SOPA

Viva Las Vegas! (Part 2)

I gave most of the stitchy part of the trip in yesterday’s Viva Las Vegas (Part 1) post. Today’s second (and final) installment of the Viva Las Vegas series will cover the gambling part of the trip.

As I mentioned yesterday, we all won a little something. That really made the trip that much more fun. I was actually the first person in our group to hit for a win. It happened on Thursday night after dinner. I was playing one of my favorite games — the 5X Diamond slot machine.

I actually like all the Diamond slot machines, but having the chance of getting that 5X multiplier is pretty appealing. Speaking of which, if you look closely at the photo, you may have noticed that I did indeed hit on the 5X multiplier with a couple of 7′s on the wheels. Normally speaking, having any combination of three 7′s on the wheels would yield 120 credits. Since I had the 5X multiplier, that gave me a 600 credit win. w00t!! Needless to say, I cashed out immediately rather than risk losing it all again. So, what exactly did that mean?

Slots Winner

Yep, $150!! The other $4.75 was what I had left of the $10 I put into the machine initially. Who says playing quarter slots can’t pay off?!

Still high from my slots win the night before, I was a bit hesitant initially about gambling more the next morning. I ended up deciding to give it a go though and threw $20 into a video poker game since Annette was already set up playing on one. Well, I’m glad I did since I won again! As soon as I hit for a small win, as is my way, I cashed out. Yeah, casinos probably hate me because I take the money and run!

Last up in the gambling department was bingo on Friday night. It’s probably been 15 years since I’ve played bingo and it’s definitely come a long way in the interim. Did you know that bingo has gone all high-tech?! Well, it has!

They have electronic bingo “cards” now that even mark themselves. Gone are the days of big paper sheets of bingo cards and ink daubers. These days, all you have to do is sit and enjoy your drink until it’s time to yell BINGO when you win, which I did! I hit for a $100 win on a triple bingo game.

Annette’s mom, Pat, also won a $100 game. The big winner at bingo was definitely Terri though! She cashed in winning two games and took home a tidy sum. I’ll let her share that news on her blog if she wants. While Annette didn’t cash in on bingo, she did manage a nice win on the Wheel of Fortune slot machine I posted about yesterday. Again, I’ll let her post about that if she wants.

Speaking of Annette, please keep her family in your thoughts. Her grandmother passed away early yesterday morning. Due to that, she’ll be taking a short break from blogging. You can certainly go by and leave a condolence note in her comments though. I’m sure she would appreciate the love & support now.

Oh, and thanks to some ~~enabling~~ help from Cheryl, I found some great brick fabric for the stand-up that I mentioned in yesterday’s post. I ordered it today, so hopefully I can actually figure out how to make a stand-up and finally finish-finish my Ho Ho Ho piece nearly four years after I stitched it. Oh, and I may or may not have ordered a few other pieces of fabric, too. For those wondering about my stash diet, I never said anything about not buying finishing fabrics, so there!

That’s it from me for now. Until next time …

Annette, Cheryl, Cross Stitch, Fabric, Friends, Gambling, Lizzie Kate, Terri, Vegas

Viva Las Vegas! (Part 1)

Sorry I haven’t posted in several days. I was off having an awesome weekend in Vegas with friends. We had an a.maz.ing time and even all came away winners on the gambling front to boot! We all won at least $100 or more. I was up $222 at one point, but ended up gambling a bit more and came home “only” $180 to the good. Given I usually break even or lose a bit, I’ll take it.

We all arrived in Vegas pretty late on Wednesday night, so we pretty much just crashed at the hotel. Thursday marked the day the fun stuff began! To kick things off, Terri surprised me while we were still in our hotel room with an early birthday present since we won’t see each other next month for my real birthday. It’s the Chocolate Sampler design by Jean Lea who owns the Attic Needlework shop in Mesa, AZ.

We then headed downstairs to meet up with Annette and her mom, Pat. We grabbed some breakfast at one of the hotel restaurants (remind me sometime to tell y’all about the vegan shrimp cocktail! ) and then headed out to Stitcher’s Paradise for some stash shopping!

Since I’m on a stash diet, I limited myself to only what I needed for the Chocolate Sampler. Ok, ok, I know I shouldn’t have even bought that, but it doesn’t really count since it’s for something I got as a birthday present, right? Annette also added to the birthday stash list by gifting me with the couple of charts on the left as well!

While we were at the shop, I saw an adorable finishing idea for a piece I have stitched! It’s the Lizzie Kate 2007 Special Edition Christmas piece. I’ve had it stitched for around four years, but I’ve never finished into anything. Well, they had that same piece on display at Stitcher’s Paradise finished as a chimney stand-up made using brick fabric. So, now my quest is on for some brick fabric so I can duplicate this idea. I wish I could’ve gotten a better photo, but the piece was on a shelf almost at the ceiling. Anyway, isn’t it just awesome?!

After the stash shopping fun, it was back to the hotel for some stitching time. Unfortunately for me, I realized I made a HORRIBLE error on my Celtic Christmas piece and had to do some massive frogging. In fact, frogging was about the only stitching time I had while we were in Vegas. At least I’m ready to start making some forward progress again. By the time it was all said and done, I had to frog about 580 stitches to get myself back on the right track.

Ok, that’s about it for part one of my Vegas trip recap. I’ll post part two about the trip in the new few days. I’ll leave you all with this photo which I’m also using as my entry for this week’s PhotoHunt theme which is circular. Given I was in Vegas, it seemed only appropriate. This is the Wheel of Fortune slot machine which was definitely a favorite of our group this weekend! I think we all played on a WoF slot at least once over the course of our stay.