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?

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 …

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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!

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 …

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I want to pose a question to those of you who blog and are also active on social media sites. Do you find you blog less often now? I have definitely noticed that about myself. I know that many of my regular readers (based on those who frequently comment) are also friends with me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. I tend to post photos and quick updates of what’s going on in my life in those places. Accordingly, I don’t feel as much “pressure” (for the lack of a better word) to update my blog as often. I’m just wondering if others have found the same to be true. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

In stitching news, amazingly enough, I actually have been doing a little bit. I stitched a summer pinkeep for Kim as part of a seasonal exchange. After that was away in the mail, I’ve been working a bit on “Snow Garden” from Blackbird Designs as well as another secret project. Here are some pictures of the exchange:

The pinkeep design was taking from the “Friends for All Seasons” chart by Lizzie Kate. I also included the “Small Sampler 1” chart from Ewe & Eye & Friends, a couple of skeins of Dragon Floss from Polstitches, a couple of skeins of Soy Luster floss (one solid & one shadow) from The Pure Palette, and a pack of strawberry blank notecards.

Here are some close-up shots of the pinkeep by itself:

My Dovos were for demo purposes only and weren’t part of the exchange. Sorry Kim!

This was my first attempt at doing a scissor pocket on the back. I thought it turned out ok, but I definitely learned some things that I will do differently next time. For example, I didn’t leave a bit of slack in the pocket when I assembled it. As I was sewing, the pocket kept getting tighter and tighter to the point that it pulls slightly downward. If I had given it a little leeway at the beginning, I think it would have come out much nicer in the end.

Here are my before & after progress pics on Snow Garden:

Previous Progress

Current Progress

I know it’s not much progress, but at least it is noticeable. I try very hard not to compare myself to the speedy needles of some of my other stitching friends whose speed is simply astounding! I just seem to be in a bit of a stitching slump this year, and I’m not sure why. Normally by the mid-point of the year, I would have at least 10-15 finishes, but this year I only have three. The sad part is that I know my time available for stitching is about to get drastically reduced, too.

That leads me directly into my last bit of news. I’ve officially gone back to college to finish my degree. I dropped out of college at the start of my senior year back when I was 21 years old. I said I was just going to take a couple of quarters off, but somehow that mushroomed into taking 25 years off. One of my biggest regrets in life has always been not finishing my degree, so now I’m going to remedy that. In fact, my plan is to finish my Bachelors as quickly as possible and then go immediately into a Masters program.

I have chosen an online competency-based program through Western Governor’s University. It’s basically an independent study program where each student goes at their own pace. They will also allow students with extensive real world experience to test out of some classes. I decided this particular model sounded perfect for me, so let’s hope that it is! I guess I’ll find out soon enough given that I start classes today.

One of the best parts is that since the university if fully accredited, they qualify for tuition reimbursement through my employer. w00t! By the time I get my reimbursement checks each year, I should hopefully only spend around $1000-$1200 out of pocket annually. That means no student loans!

I suppose that’s the last of my news & updates for now. I will try my best to update as often as possible, but please understand that I’m likely just uber busy between work and school should I disappear for extended periods of time. If you want to keep track of me more frequently, I would recommend Facebook.

Until next time …

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So the saga continues … this is part two of my new stash acquisitions of late. Given how much I now realized that I’ve picked up in the past month, I’m not sure I really saved anything while on my stash “diet”.

Design: It’s Never Too Late
Designer: Primrose Needleworks

Design: One of Those Days
Designer: Miss Crescent’s Crowne

Design: Three Blox – Noel, Joy, Fa-La-La
Designer: Lizzie Kate

Design: Eek! Limited Edition Scissor Fob
Designer: Lizzie Kate

Design: Poinsettia House
Designer: Little House Needleworks

Design: Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler
Designer: Shakespeare’s Peddle

The final photo actually includes a few new purchases. The first is a counted canvas piece called Rodeo Queen by local designer Margaret Bendig. I’m not sure if I’ll ever do the little cowboy boot scissor holder, but I *love* the little heart-shaped needlebook. I bought the kit just to get that.

Next is the “Toil & Trouble” chart from La-D-Da. It’s is a companion piece to last year’s “Something Wicked” chart that I already have.

The last chart is the “Afraid of the Dark” sampler from Belinda at Blue Ribbon Designs. I’m not sure if I’ll ever stitch the actual sampler, but I love all the little smalls options and just had to have a copy.

Finally, there are also a couple of adorable little metal Needle Nannies from Puffin & Company. One is a kitty and the other is a sheep. I don’t use needle minders much when cross-stitching, but use them constantly when working on canvas projects.

Until next time …

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Well, my hope of starting the new project I mentioned in my previous blog entry came around sooner that I thought. Initially I said wasn’t going to start this piece until I finished the exchange piece I have due on June 15, but I just couldn’t resist. I started my version of the Mary Wigham 1790 reproduction sampler last night. I’m stitching her on 32-count Legacy linen from Picture This Plus using the recommended DMC fibers.

I’m so very pleased to see how much this SAL has taken off thus far. Jacqueline Holdsworth has done a wonderful job of organizing things on the Needleprint blog. There are coordinators in place for several countries, and many of them have set up sub-blogs so that the stitchers of the various countries can interact more and get to know one another better. The coordinator for those of us living in the United States is Shari. She has set up a blog for the U.S. stitchers which can be found here.

In related news, I was speaking with the owner of the LNS tonight and mentioned I was starting a new Quaker sampler. She immediately chuckled and asked if it was 24″ square. I told it was and then looked at her rather quizzically wondering how she knew. She told me that I was the third person she spoke with today who is stitching this sampler. The other two stitchers had been in the shop today purchasing the fabric & fibers to get started on it as well.

As for the rest of my day, I had a really nice evening with friends. It started out with dinner at a local Mexican restaurant after my physical therapy appointment. After dinner, we all headed over to the aforementioned LNS for an evening of stitching. As always, I had a blast! There’s nothing better than good food, good friends, and time to stitch.

While at the LNS, a couple of us who are taking an upcoming counted canvas class (Plum Blossom Kimono by local designer Margaret Bendig) picked out our fibers since we wanted an alternate colorway. My kimono will be done primarily in shades of green (to match my stitching chair) with burgundy, blue, and gold accent colors. I’m hoping to pick up my kit on Saturday during the monthly all-day stitch at the shop so I can start the homework stitching soon.

I also have to admit that I also succumbed to a brief lapse of willpower in my 25 project challenge. The shop currently has a Lizzie Kate trunk show going on, and all the LK charts are on sale. I ended up purchasing two charts (Fall Crazy and Just Text Me). I’m hopping right back on my no-stash train though! I won’t be purchasing anything else until I have completed my challenge. Promise!

Until next time …

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