Happy New Year!!!

Hello and a Very Happy New Year to You All!!! 

It is that time a year again, the New Year is just hours away (in my time zone), time to make those crafting goals! What will we get finished? What will we start? What do we want to make good progress on? For me, I have several. 

CROSS STITCH GOALS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Finish Queen Bee

2. Finish Red Rose

3. Finish Elemental Cosmos

4. Start and finish Tribal Teapot

5. Start and finish Save the Stitches

6. Make some good progress on Queen of Hearts

7. Make some good progress on Transformation

8. Make some good progress on Wicca

9. Make any progress on America the Beautiful

10. Make any progress on Dark Force

11. Make any progress on Monopoly Game Board

CROCHET GOALS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Make some good progress on my son's afghan

2. Make some good progress on my daughter's afghan

SEWING GOALS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Make the Save the Stitches cross stitch piece into a table cloth

2. Start getting some aprons and stockings ready to be sewn and get some made

3. Create patterns for additional projects I'd like to start making

MOST IMPORTANT GOAL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Finish getting my craft room completely and totally organized so that I can get back to sewing! 

That's quite the list for now. I will continue with my weekly rotations. Although with the new year starting on Thursday, I will be changing the rotations from Saturday thru Friday to Thursday thru Wednesday. Looking forward to a productive 2015!!! I wish you all the very best in the upcoming year!!! Happy New Year, One and All!!! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

Another Finish & a Couple of Updates!

Hello Friends and Fellow Stitchers and Crafters! 

It's been a while since I've posted and I realized I forgot to post a photo of my second finish of 2012! I crocheted a scarf for my son and have put it away for the holidays. :) I think it turned out pretty good. I think he's really going to like it ... well at least I hope he will. 

Here is a photo of it ... 

So what do you think? I hope this photo posts correctly. I used PhotoBucket and used their program to adjust the size of the photo. But they changed they way their website is set up and I kept getting an error message. And even though the site showed the additional copy of the photo, saved to the new size, I'm not so sure it actually did save to the new size. 

Anyway, so I did attempt to get Elemental Cosmos finished in time to enter into the county fair for this year, but with all of the kids activities both in and outside of school, and the time it takes to stitch on black evenweave (SO NOT easy), I was not able to finish it in time. So I put it back on the back burner, temporarily, while I work on the birth announcement piece that I designed for one of my best friends and her husband. I was making some good progress on it, and then I discovered a mistake. That mistake caused me to have to take out a bunch of stitches. I am just about finished re-stitching all that I had to take out, without the mistake of course. 

Here is where I'm at with that piece at the moment ... 

It's coming along and I hope to be finished before the end of the week. Again, I'm not sure if the size of this photo will show up correctly. I hope it does. :) 

As I said, I also worked on Elemental Cosmos a little bit. So I thought I would post a photo of my progress on that as well ... 

It's coming along slowly. You can see where the stars are that I added the beads. Do you think it looks alright? As for the size on this photo, I started playing around with sizing photos on PhotoShop and then uploading them to PhotoBucket and maybe this will help. 

Well that is all I have for now. Looking forward to hearing your feedback. 

Happy Stitching & Crafting!!! :) 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

PS ~ I messed with the photos a little bit on PhotoShop and then on here and I think I got the photos looking just right now! :) 

First Finish of the Year & One Goal Completed!!!

Hi there fellow stitchers, crafters and blog followers :) 

Well, here we are about 6 weeks into the new year. I have just been able to get into working on some crafty things this past few days with moving and everything. Sadly, it's just my husband and I that are having to move an entire house of things that we've accumulated over the last four years. And of course during that time my husband also has to work. So needless to say, moving is taking way longer than it should. C'est la vie, I suppose. 

So on to happier subjects ... CRAFTING!!! :) Those of you that read my previous post know of my crafty goals for this year. One of those goals was to finish crocheting the scarf that I started for my daughter. Well, I am happy to say ... IT'S FINISHED!!! So even if it is not cross stitch, I do have my first finish of the year and completed one of my goals! :) 

Here is a photo of the scarf ... 

I used a bright "hot pink" and a darker gray for colors. I did all the rows in double crochet and then stitched around the whole thing using single crochet. Then I just cut a bunch of long pieces of yarn to create the fringe and looped them onto the ends of the scarf. I'm trying to get a good jump on gifts for the holidays this year, so after I took this photo, I folded it up and put it into a ziploc bag to keep it nice until the holidays when I will give it to my daughter. 

Well, that is all I have for now. I'm going to start on the scarf for my son. He has mentioned that he wants a red/black scarf. He's only 5 (almost 6), so it should be a quick project. 

Happy Stitching and Crafting Everyone!!! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

It's 2012! Time for My 2012 Crafty Goals!!!

Happy 2012 Everybody!!!

It's a new year, so it's time for 2012 Stitching/Sewing/Crocheting GOALS!!!

 Let's start with the shortest list to the longest ... 

2012 Crocheting Goals

1 ~ Finish crocheting my daughter's afghan

2 ~ Finish the scarf that I started for my daughter

3 ~ Make a scarf for my son (if he wants one)

2012 Sewing Goals 

1 ~ Finish blanket for my father in law

2 ~ Make apron for father in law

3 ~ Finish aprons for stitching friend's kids

4 ~ Make stockings for sister & niece

5 ~ Finish blankets for two cousins

6 ~ Work on inventory of aprons and stockings

And now for the LONG list ... 

2012 Stitching Goals 

1 ~ Finish Henry for stitching friend

2 ~ Finish birth announcement piece

3 ~ Get back to & finish Red Rose that is artwork by my brother

4 ~ Finish Elemental Cosmos

5 ~ Stitch 3 versions of "Rules for Life" pattern

6 ~ Make some good progress on HAED Wicca

7 ~ Make some good progress on HAED Pale Rose

8 ~ Make some good progress on America the Beautiful

9 ~ Make some good progress on Elemental Masks (& maybe finish?)

10 ~ Finish the kids trick or treat bags

So there are my Crafty Goals for 2012. I would like to get at least one or two pieces stitched in time for the county fair in April, so we shall see! :) 

Happy New Year!!!

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

... 2010 ...

~ 2010 ~

Wow. So here we are just 13 short days until the new year. For me 2010 has been both eventful and uneventful. It has been eventful in that so much has been happening with family and with friends. And uneventful in that all the eventful parts have kept me from being productive in my stitching, my sewing, my painting, my scrapbooking, etc. My only finishes for 2010 were ATCs.

My year started with the saddest of occasions. One of my best lifelong friend's son had died in a motorcycle accident and I attended the funeral just a few days into 2010. He was a good kid and so young. He was one of her twins who are the oldest of her kids. I've known him since he was born. It was a very hard time. The accident took place on Xmas eve and he passed on December 28th of last year. It was a terrible tragedy. I think of him often and I keep them all in my heart especially this time of year.

This time of year always makes me sad. This was my dad's favorite time of year. We had family traditions. Dad & I always went shopping together just him & I for Mom. We loved going shopping for the tree and there was a tradition to that too. But my Dad passed away 12 1/2 yrs ago. I know that is a long time. But this is the time of year when I miss him most. Lots of holiday movies bring tears to my eyes. And it seems that each year it takes me longer to "get in the spirit". Here we are six days till Xmas and I just don't feel excited about it. I think it's a combination of a few things, but I know missing my Dad is part of it.

Something very exciting that has happened is that my brother, who is a very talented artist, has been contracted with White Willow Stitching!!! :~) I'm very excited & happy about that. I emailed Jaime and asked her if she was interested in having a new artist to design patterns of and she wasn't looking for any new ones at the time, but she agreed to look at his artwork. Once she saw it, she absolutely wanted to sign him to a contract. As of right now, there are six patterns so far. But she's working on several more. Take a look at the patterns of his artwork HERE. There is also a red rose pattern, however she needs a model stitched of it first for the picture before she can post it up for sale. So as soon as I found out that she didn't have anyone to stitch the model, I quickly volunteered! :~)

Ok, so 2011 ... my main crafting goal is to have more finishes than just ATCs (including one of two pieces to enter into the county & state fairs), to at least ten aprons and stockings made and posted up for sale, and to get two more sections of my daughter's afghan crocheted. I think that I set my goal list for 2010 way to high. I mean of course I didn't expect so much chaos to take place. But honestly , do we ever. This time I'm going to plan for chaos and maybe it WON'T happen lol.

Well since it's nearly 2am, I am going to take myself off to bed for now.

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful holiday season and get everything you asked Santa for! And the very best wishes for an amazing 2011! :~)

Happy Stitching & Crafting!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

PS ~ I have a few more ATC pictures that I need to post so I'll get that up a little bit later on. :~)

Happy 2010!!!

Happy 2010 to all of you!!! I hope you all have a very productive and successful and happy year!

So, very little stitching for me in the last quarter of 2009. But with the new year comes new stitching & sewing goals for me! I have a bunch of UFO's I would really like to get done in my stitching world, as well as some sewing ones and a crochet one. "Hello, my name is Margie, and I am a serial starter." I would like to concentrate more on finishing UFO's and maybe squeeze in a couple/few new SMALL projects.

Ok so here we go ...

2010 Stitching UFO Goal ~ I would like to finish at least four of my UFO's. I have many more than this, but since they are larger pieces (with the exception of the 2 RR pieces), I don't want to give myself an unreasonable goal. I'm not sure yet which UFO's I will work on other than the RR pieces, so below I've listed all of my UFO's.

2010 Sewing UFO Goal ~ I would like to finish all of my UFO's.

2010 Crocheting UFO Goal ~ I would like to finish my one and only crochet UFO. This project is a HUGE afghan that I started for my daughter a while ago, but I put it aside to work on stitching and sewing projects. I don't really crochet much at all (that's my mom's job lol). So once I finish this afghan, crocheting is done for me lol.


My Stitching UFO's
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) HAED Pale Rose
2) HAED Wicca
3) America the Beautiful
4) Song in Your Heart
5) My Son's Trick or Treat Tote Bag
6) My Daughter's Trick or Treat Tote Bag
7) Elemental Cosmos
8) Elemental Masks
9) Sleepy Moon Birth Record
10) Angel RR Piece
11) Snowman & Robin RR Piece

My Sewing UFO's
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) Placemat set for my Grama
2) Apron for my Daughter
3) Apron for my Son
4) Stocking for my Son
5) Stocking for my Husband
6) Stocking for my Sister
7) Train blanket for my Cousin
8) Pink Camo blanket for my Cousin
9) American Indian blanket for my Father in law

Now let's talk about new projects that I'd like to do this year ...

2010 New Project Stitching Goals ~ I have a cute little pattern of a holiday saguaro cactus that I would like to stitch a bunch of them so that I can make them into handmade holiday cards to mail out, so approximately 50 of them ~ I have a small back stitch only pattern that I would like to stitch for one of my uncles ~ I have a pattern called For My Husband that I would like to stitch "for my husband" :~) ~ for new projects I don't think I am going to put anymore on this list bcuz I really don't want to get myself in another serial starter year

2010 New Project Sewing Goals ~ now this is the list that could get very long lol ~ I have several apron and stocking fabric pieces already cut & ready to be sewn together that I would like to get done so that I can have a full inventory for our local Octoberfest as I'm hoping to have enough to set up a booth this year ~ i have an order for a UofA apron and queen size blanket ~ also I'd like to make ... a blanket for my husband, a blanket for my son, placemat set for my Nana, apron for my Nana ~ since the Octoberfest inventory needs to be such a large amount, this is all that I'll list for now here

So there are my craft goals for 2010 ... I am really hoping to be able to get them all accomplished! :~)

Again, I'd like to wish you all a very happy New Year!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥