TerriTag Archives

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 …

17 January 2012

Stitching, Travel

4 comments

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.

I know I’m several days behind in my 30 Day Blog Challenge. I’ll try to get caught up on those over the next couple of days, too.

Until next time …

16 January 2012

Challenges, Photography, Stitching, Travel

3 comments

Annette, Birthday, Celtic Christmas, Friends, Gambling, Photography, Stash, Stitcher's Paradise, Terri, Vegas

Happy July 4th!

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 …

4 July 2011

Stitching

8 comments

Darla, Holiday, LHN/CCN, Sarah, Stitchy Saturday, Terri

OMG The Cuteness

I had such a fun weekend. It started with a Stitchy Saturday at the LNS. I arrived late due to a work emergency, so I didn’t get that much stitching done. What little I did accomplish was on my Sophie stocking from Shepherd’s Bush. I don’t have an updated photo of it, but I’ll try and get one posted soon.

After that, I had a lovely early birthday dinner (it’s actually not until Thursday) with Terri and Darla at Rainforest Cafe over in Downtown Disney. The whole day was just filled with fun and laughter. It was just what I needed.

Terri stayed the night at my place, so we headed back over to Downtown Disney this morning. Our final destination? Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen for some beignets and chicory coffee. Sooooo yummy! I was even a good girl and only ate two out of my order of four. I gave the other two to Terri to take home to her DH.

So, where exactly does the “cuteness” part of this blog post come in? Well, I just have to take a minute to share a few pics of a little birthday present that my friend Cindi gave me when we were at the LNS. It’s a kitty in a bunny costume pincushion that she found on etsy. She knows I love both bunnies & kitties, so she said she just had to get it for me. She doesn’t have a blog, but I know she reads mine occasionally.

Front View

Side View

Back View

Close-up of the Face

Isn’t that absolutely adorable?!! Thanks again, Cindi! I love it so much!!

All in all, I great start to my birthweek. Until next time …

14 February 2011

Cross Stitch, Misc.

3 comments

Birthday, Darla, Friends, Life, Terri

Stash Pics from the Road

First of all, I will apologize for the quality of these photos. My batteries are dead in my good camera, so these were taken tonight in the hotel room where I’m staying with my iPhone. I just wanted to share my goodies I acquired today while everything is still fresh on my mind.

Terri and I are hanging in Mesa, AZ for the weekend. We did some shopping and are taking a finishing class tomorrow. I actually experienced the following three firsts today:

Got to meet Annette!
Got to visit The Attic.
Got to vist a Hobby Lobby.

Now, for what I’m sure most people are interested in, here are the goodies I got from Annette for winning the Day 3 drawing of the 31 Days of Halloween extravaganza:

Isn’t that pin cushion just too cute?!! I always want to send out a big thank you to Annette’s daughter K for the adorable bookmark! There was also a bag of candy goodies, but I forgot to grab it out of my bag to include in the photo. Thanks for all of the wonderful goodies, Annette!

I also did a bit of damage while we were at The Attic this morning. I immediately started oooohing and aaaahing as soon as we walked in the door and I was greeted by the sampler wall:

After getting over the initial drooling stage, I wandered around the shop. Jean has so many beautiful models all over the shop. It’s amazing how many were done over 1 and on higher count linens. I was blown away by how different some Shepherd’s Bush designs looked when they were stitched on 36- and 40-count linen. It definitely makes me rethink my fabric choice on a couple of designs in my stash.

Speaking of stash, here are my new acquisitions today from The Attic:

I should point out that the little bag in the upper left-hand corner of photo wasn’t purchased at The Attic, but was acquired there. It was actually another gift from Annette. Terri got one, too. Thanks again, Annette!

The last stop of the day was at Hobby Lobby. OMG! It’s probably a really good thing we don’t have these stores in southern California because I would probably be constantly broke if we did. The mere fact that we spent over THREE hours in the store and never even hit the floral or seasonal departments should say something. The only thing that kept me from buying even more stuff there was the fact that we’re traveling in Terri’s two-seater car. Here’s what I did buy:

The coffee stuff is for decorating my kitchen in my new place. I’m planning to make some pot holders and placemats using the coffee print. I’m planning to use the coordinating brown diamond fabric as the backing on the placemats. The other fabrics and papier mache boxes will be used for finishing stitched pieces.

Well, that’s it for now. Tomorrow we’re off to The Attic again to take our class. It’s for creating a crocheted edging with antique buttons, so it should be fun.

Until next time …

9 October 2010

Cross Stitch

4 comments

Annette, Fabric, Hobby Lobby, Terri, The Attic

The Time has Come

Yes, the time has come for me to admit that I have hopelessly fallen off my no-stash diet challenge. Thank goodness I’m doing better on my actual weight loss diet than I did on this challenge. I did manage to get 11 projects finished, so I made it almost halfway.

My latest finish was the first shoe for the Hagatha’s Slipper class that I took recently from Margaret Bendig. I finished this part up on Friday night, so now I just need to do it again in reverse for the opposite side.

What caused me to stray from my challenge? Well, once all of the Halloween designs started coming out recently, I knew I was doomed. I *love* Halloween stitching! Here are my latest purchases that I picked up at my LNS yesterday when I was there for our monthly Saturday Stitch.

Click to enlarge

I’m going to leave my 25 Projects page (also linked at the top of my blog) in place. After I make a few purchases from the St. Charles fall market for TNNA coming up in a couple of weeks, I plan to get back on my challenge and make NO MORE purchases until I finish the remaining 14 projects to reach my goal of 25.

Speaking of the St. Charles market, have you seen one of the new designs coming out from Paulette at Plum Street Samplers? I’m not usually much on the whole Adam & Eve samplers deal, but this one is a MUST have for me! It’s called “Garden of Eerie” and cracks me up every time I look at it. What an incredibly fun design!! (Hey Darla, did you spot there’s a vulture on it?! )

Paulette has three other designs coming out at market as well. You can see them on the Kelmscott website since they are the distributor for her designs.

Oh yeah, as long as I’m confessing, I should probably ‘fess up to not sticking with my new rotation plan either. I am actually in the process of reworking it though, so I’m not saying yet that I’m completely abandoning it. I’m playing around with a concept that Terri mentioned to me. Rather than selecting particular designs to incorporate into the rotation, each slot would be a particular theme instead. Here is what I’ve come up with so far:

10 hours on current projects (started within the past 6 months)
10 hours on older projects (started more than 6 months ago)
10 hours on seasonal projects (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.)
10 hours on samplers
10 hours on canvas projects
10 hours on “anything goes” project(s) of my choice

I’ll just have to decide if I want to go forward with it. I made it through three slots of the previous rotation I had set up and found myself hating it the whole time. I think it’s the rebellious child in me. I just want to stitch on what I want when I want without some stinkin’ rotation telling me what to do.

I have a couple of floss toss pics to share with you all as well. I think since this entry is already getting pretty long, I’ll save those for another day.

Until next time …