Aug 30 2011

Happy Stashy Mail Day

Posted on 30 August, 2011 by TheDailyMel

Wow, today was a GREAT stashy mail day! Two orders I placed last week both arrived today. The first was an order from Drema at Needlecraft Corner (my favorite ONS):

The first part of the order was my auto-ship of the latest Ornament of the Month collection from Little House Needleworks. This is an on-going series that I’ve been collecting since it began last year. We won’t talk about the fact that I’ve only stitched one of them so far.

Next up, I was very excited to get my hands on the new Halloween Collection book hot off the presses from Just Cross Stitch! It has over 50 Halloween designs, everything from ornaments to full-size designs. There are 36 brand new designs, 15 “favorite” designs from previous Just Cross Stitch magazine Halloween issues, plus a Tombstone Angel (Susanna Goose) from Carriage House Samplings. I’ve already spied a couple of designs I definitely want to stitch! Looks like I’ll need to invest in some Prank or Voodoo from Picture This Plus the next time I’m at my LNS.

“A Spirited Mandala” by Ink Circles

“Knock Knock” by Blackberry Lane Designs

The last thing you might notice in the pic above is actually some freebie designs. Drema is awesome and always includes a nice little bundle of freebies with every order. I was thrilledwhen I saw this latest bundle included the oldie but goodie “Sew & Sew” freebie from Mary Garry’s Sewing Cabin! I love Mary Garry designs.

The second package I got today was from Inspired Needle. I recently saw a pic Valerie posted on her blog of her finished Boo Club bell pull from Lizzie Kate. As soon as I saw the hardware she bought at Inspired Needle to use for it, I immediately went online to their website and bought it because it. is. perfect. for Boo Club! Be sure to click and biggify the pics to really check out the tombstones. They’re so fun!!

Tombstone Bell Pull Hardware

Close-Up of the Tombstones

My Planned Bell Pull (when I finish the stitching)

Lastly, I stumbled across a design today when looking at some stitching stuff that may end up finding its way into my stash. Even though we don’t really have winter here in SoCal, I still love this design!

6 Fat Men

It’s called “6 Fat Men” which is a new Flip-It series from Lizzie Kate. It comes as 6 separate charts which can either be stitched individually or put together as shown in the photo above. The chart for putting it all together in a single piece can be downloaded for free from the Lizzie Kate site. I may have to contact Drema again to buy her fabric/fiber kit and get on the auto-ship for the charts on this one!

Well, that’s it from me for now. Until next time …

Jul 4 2011

Happy July 4th!

Posted on 4 July, 2011 by TheDailyMel

July 4th Image

First and foremost, I want to wish all my fellow U.S. readers a very happy July 4th. I hope everyone has a safe & happy holiday filled with fun, friends, and fireworks.

I know I haven’t posted in a long time, but that’s mostly because my time has been filled with school and work which left little time for stitching. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually stitched this year. On the other hand, I could count the number of new professional certifications I’ve earned this year, so it’s all good.

That having been said, I actually DID get in a bit of stitching a couple of days ago at Stitchy Saturday at my LNS. I was so much fun spending time with Terri, Darla, Sarah, and the rest of the gang. Since it was the weekend leading into July 4th, I decided to do some “patriotic” stitching. I pulled out my Little House Needleworks piece called Sea to Shining Sea. I got a pretty good amount done of the Southwest panel.

It was the perfect way to end a long and stressful week of testing. Not to mention that fact that if it weren’t for the monthly Stitchy Saturday gatherings, I wouldn’t get any stitching done at all.

Until next time …

Jan 24 2011

Winter Band Sampler Progress

Posted on 24 January, 2011 by TheDailyMel

Yes, as you can see, I’ve been playing around with my theme again since my last update. I decided to go with a somewhat generic theme that will allow me to swap out photos of my own stitching from time to time as the header image. The piece currently being displayed is my Rosemarkie from French designer Long Dog Samplers. I stitched it over 1 on 25-count Lugana using Dragon Blood silk from Hand-Dyed Fibers by Vikki Clayton.

Now, on to more current topics. Amazingly enough, I’ve actually been able to make some time for stitching recently. I unplugged from the internet and my iPhone for a few hours last night and spent a bit of time doing some guiltless stitching. It was heavenly!

I thought I would share my progress so far on my Little House Needleworks Winter Band Sampler which is part of my Crazy 2011 WIP/UFO Challenge. I’m stitching it 2-over-2 on 28-count Summer Khaki Lugana using the recommended DMC fibers. I did make one color swap. I’m using DMC 321 for the red instead of the recommended DMC 355.

I know the colors are off a bit in the photos, but I didn’t have any choice but to photograph at night. I took these under my Ott without camera flash. As always, you can click to biggify.

Aren’t those little cardinals cute?

Speaking of Little House Needleworks, I guess it’s time for me to come clean about something. I know I committed to little to no stash spending this year in my 2011 Goals. Unfortunately, that was before I learned that Diane was going to continue her Ornament of the Month series for another year. Since I already have all of the ornaments for 2010, I decided to add this to my list of exceptions for the no stash spending.

I had been struggling with myself for a couple of weeks trying to decide whether or not to continue. I got an email from Drema on Friday asking me if I wanted to continue this year or not. I took that as a sign it was meant to be. Yeah, I’m ~~looking for any excuse~~ easily swayed, what can I say? So, yes, Drema will be hooking me up again this year with the autos on the ornie kits. (Thanks, Drema! )

Ok, off to bed for me. If I don’t get there soon, I won’t be able to get out of bed on time in the morning.

Until next time …

May 31 2010

Meh

Posted on 31 May, 2010 by TheDailyMel

Meh … I haven’t felt like blogging lately mostly because I haven’t felt like stitching either. I think I’ve only stitched three times this month, so I’m definitely in a stitching slump. However, I’m apparently not in a stash acquisition slump. Here are my latest purchases:

Most of these items were purchased Saturday when I headed over to my LNS for our 5th Saturday open stitch class. Yes, this is in addition to our regularly scheduled monthly Saturday stitch, so we got to stitch twice this month! So, for those of you who are quick studies, you may have quickly deduced that this was two of my three times stitching this month.

On the left is the latest in the anniversary series called “A Wish for You” from Blackbird Designs. Given it’s 1) designed by BBD, 2) has a house, and 3) has a bunny, how could I not get it?

I also picked up the Lila “Needle Tweets” needle case from Just Nan. As an added bonus, the owner of my LNS had them kitted which was really nice. One of the other woman at our all-day Saturday Stitch had hers finished and it was absolutely adorable! I also picked up the matching stitch marker “tail” to complete my little birdie.

At the bottom of the photo are a couple of accessories purchases. The blue rectangle is actually a magnet mounted to a metal bracket. It’s for use as a needle park with the mini stretcher bars used for canvas work. The magnet is actually strong enough that it will hold a pair of scissors as well. The other accessory is a button pack from Just Another Button Company. It’s the set needed for the Miracles Happen chart I picked up during my trip to San Francisco back in December.

The last item didn’t come from my LNS. It’s the next installment in the Little House Needleworks ornament of the month series that I get on automatic from Drema at Needlecraft Corner. The design is called “Red House in Winter” and it so cute! I just love Diane’s houses.

I also learned about another canvas class coming up at my LNS beginning in August & September (two Saturday classes with a month between) that I would love to take. I’m just not sure if I can swing it though which I will explain in the next paragraph. The piece is called “Summertime” and is from my dear friend and local designer, Margaret Bendig. The photo simply does not do this piece justice. It is absolutely GORGEOUS in person. It’s worked entirely in silks and is just so delicately beautiful. If you’re in the southern California area and are interested in the class, just contact Diana at the shop for more information. I wish I had a larger photo so you could see it a bit better, but this is all I have:

Now, as to the reason why I don’t think I can swing two Saturdays for the class, I’m going back to school. When I was younger, I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year to get married. I intended to go back and finish my degree after taking a little time off, but I just never did . I’ve been putting off going back for years, but finally decided it’s time to just suck it up and get it done. I’ve already been accepted into the program. All I’m waiting for now is for the school to receive my transcripts and to get the approval from my employee for the tuition reimbursement program. If everything goes well, I’m hoping to start classes on July 1. If I can’t get everything finished in time for that date, then it will get pushed back to August 1 instead. Either way, I’ll likely need those two Saturdays when the “Summertime” class is taking place to study, write papers, etc. Time for stitching may definitely become a real luxury for me now which makes it all the more sad that I’ve been in a slump of late.

I guess that’s it for now. Until next time …

Apr 24 2010

Planning for a REALLY long life

Posted on 24 April, 2010 by TheDailyMel

I’ve always made the joke that I won’t die as long as I have unfinished/unstitched projects in my stash. Well, I’m clearly planning to give Methuselah a run for his money. I’ve not had a lot of time for stitching lately due to my work schedule and training for my upcoming half marathon, but that hasn’t seemed to stop me from acquiring more stash.

First of all, I do want to thank all of you for your input about my fabric choice for Garden of Eerie in my previous post. Between my own preference, your votes, and votes of the women at the monthly Saturday Stitch group at my LNS, I’ve opted to go with the Lentil.

Lakeside Linen: Lentil:

I have decided to use the Sand Dune on another project — Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow from Carriage House Samplings. Yes, I bought it!

Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow

As soon as I saw those Halloween squares, I just knew I wanted to stitch it. I love the entire design, but it was really the Halloween squares that spoke to me the most. So, I have decided to adapt the design a bit and make a smaller piece using four of the Halloween squares that didn’t include any of the verse. Here is my own mock-up of what my planned piece will look like when finished … some day.

My version of Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow

By the way, for those who may not have heard yet, if there are any Carriage House Samplings charts you have on your wish list, you might want to go on and purchase them. Kathy has decided to hang up her designing hat. You can read all the details on her blog in this post. The quick overview though is that she will continue to sell and ship to shops until July 1, 2010. After that, any remaining inventory she has left will be listed at her Etsy shop and will be sold there until December 31, 2010. Her charts will no longer be available as of January 1, 2011.

I had the day off yesterday, so I took the opportunity to drop by my LNS to pick up a new Prairie Schooler chart she ordered for me. While I was there, a few other things managed to find their way into my basket.

In addition to the Prairie Schooler The Tortoise & The Hare chart, I also picked up the SYHO design from Belinda at Blue Ribbon Designs called Established With Love. It’s such a sweet little design, and I’m a sucker for houses. Since I’m also an avid reader, I picked up The Book Store from Nikki over at Country Cottage Needleworks. Although, I do most of my reading on my Kindle these days, so it’s pretty rare for me to make it to a book store any longer. When I do though, I try to find an independent bookseller instead of one of the major chain stores.

You may also notice there was a floss toss in my new stash photo. I can’t share what the project is yet since it’s for a gift, but let me just say, I am IN LOVE with the color palette! I thought the design I selected was so pretty when I chose it, but once I pulled the fibers, I loved it all the more! I absolutely can’t wait to see how this design comes together. Here’s a closer view of just the toss:

The photo is a little dark because I took it around 9pm last night. I decided I couldn’t wait until it was daylight because I wanted to start stitching.

Ok, this post is starting to get really long, but I still have more to share. Perhaps this means I should get back to posting more often. Anyway, I’m sure most everyone is already familiar with these other items, and I don’t really have anything to say about them other than the fact that I purchased them. That being the case, I’m just going to share the photos and call it good.

Honeysuckle Manor book from Blackbird Designs

Needle and Thread (with bed) from Little House Needleworks

Winter Sheep – ornament #5 in LHN Ornament of the Month series

Ok, so I do have something else to say, imagine that?! This last piece is actually an OOP design that I purchased from Nicole. I had the pleasure of taking a class from Liz & Ann from Brightneedle Designs a few years back and fell in love with their designs. Subsequently, they have retired all of their old designs and are now only doing teaching pieces. This is one of their retired designs that had been looking to find for quite a while. When I saw Nicole was offering it fully kitted on her trade/purchase blog, I swooped it up. I’m so excited to finally have it in my stash.

The Sampler Sampler by Brightneedle Designs