New Year's Stitching 13/15

Happy Weekend! After a couple of months of oooohing and awwwwwing which Heaven and Earth Design to start, I found this lovely to be my first HEAD, it's A Peacock and Doves In A Garden. Here are the first 150xs.

In other stitching news, I just ordered the complete set of Brooke's Books The Bride's Tree Ornaments, there are 12 of them on Sale for $20, but I am only stitching 4 this year; Home, Plenty, Faithfullness, and Hospitality.

Non-Stitchy news, I am finding it somewhat funny that everyone starts their New Year's Resolutions on January 1st. Instead I started this fun and crazy Stitch Maynia, with only 15 projects, most are new projects and some are WIPs, AND now, yesterday my husband and I are both going on a healthier eating plan. Not so much to lose weight, but I have a weak heart genetically, and he's a Type 1 Diabetic and we are both on medication for our hearts, which he is bound and determined not to be on, and I agree with him. We're going to work on eating better, and see if we can get healthier to not need this medication. I am in no way going off the medication, unless my doctor advises me, but it's worth it to get healthy.

Until Next time!

Have a Fun Stitchy Day!

xo, Christine

New Year's Stitching Days 12/15

Happy Wednesday! Not only is this week flying by, but it is hard to believe where did January go??
My oldest daughter is possibly going to visit us this week or weekend, then my son has his first bowling tournament, which I can't tell who is more excited my son or my husband!! Also Saturday, I would like to go to a new Nursery that is opening up on the West side of the Valley and pick up a couple of new rose bushes. So it looks like it's a busy busy weekend! Of course when I'm on that side of town, I'll be picking up some stash for next month!

Getting caught up with Day 10 of the Stitch Maynia's New Year's Stitching, is actually a WIP Teresa Wentzler's 'Heart Sampler'. This is on my to finish list for February!

The pink hearts in the top first part are Queen Stitches, which I was happy to practice on them for this piece, because I noticed that my Chatelaine's Desert Landscape has a ton of them in one part with the cacti.

Today I am working on Queen Mermaid for my WIP Mermaid, I will have an updated pic of her tomorrow. I am also pulling out another WIP a small Chatelaine that got thrown into the time out bin because I found where I need to frog out a row.

Also, I looking in my stash for a Victoria Sampler pattern with again pretty blue and aqua colors.

Until next time!

Happy Stitching!

xo, Christine

New Years Days 10 & 11/15 and Finish #3 'Gingerbread Girl and Peppermint Tree'

Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a relaxing stitching weekend! Friday night we got together with my husband's sister, BIL and the cousins. Just a fun night with Pizza and Wings! I'm loving this stitch maynia challenge to start or work on 15 or 31 new starts for the New year. It gives me that push to start projects I've been meaning to stitch in my stash or that I've had my eye on, that really called to me.

Finish #3, CCN 'Gingerbread Girl and Peppermint Tree'. I started her on the 1st, and I would have had her finished sooner, if I had finished 'Gingerbread Train' before January, but with Christmas and New Years, I was working to finish them both. Now I'm back on track to start #3, 'Gingerbread House 1' on February 1. I also bought to stitch for my husband's client who loves 'Fleur de Lis',  Ink Circles "Fleur de Orleans' to give her and if I have time stitch for myself too! Aren't the colors gorgeous??

Continuing on with 15 days in January for New Starts. Here is Day 8

from Country Cottage Needleworks 'Beach Cottage'.

It was ages ago that I tea stained my first fabric, and I thought I'd give it a go again.

I took 28 ct. White Monaco, and covered it in a stock pot with a pot of freshly brewed coffee.

Let the fabric soak in it for 10 minutes and pulled it out. Wrapped it in a towl to dry.

I ironed as much of the wrinkles out as I could, and I absolutely love the color!

Here is Day 9

from The Praire Schooler 'When Witches Go Riding'

I'm no where near Finishing Ink Circles 'Mistletoe Stained Glass Ornament' by the end of Januar, but I'm going to give it a go tonight and see how far I can get!

Until Next time!

Have a Happy Stitching Day!

xo, Christine

Day 9/15 Finish #2 and a WIP for Queen Mermaid

Happy Day before Friday! Sorry, I've been lax on finishing up posting New Years Days, I'll be back to those shortly before the end of January. My last 4 for the month are Country Cottage 'Beach Cottage', Prairie Schooler 'When Witches Go Riding', I finally found my Lavender and Lace 'Forest Santa', and I'm thinking a small Chatelaine mandala! Any suggestions? Are you working on one, and which one??

I finally put the last stitches on Gingerbread Train, earlier this week. I am so excited to see how seriously cute it turned out! My husband is making me a custom frame for it. So hopefully I'll have it framed before the end of the month as well. Gingerbread Girl is almost finished. She should be done by Saturday!

This weekend, I am going to get ready for my daughter and her boyfriend to come and visit for a few days. Not sure how much stitching I will be getting done, but I've been making some great progress on Three French Hens, and Stardust Fairy, I'll have WIP pics of them at the end of the month.

On Thursdays, I'll have WIP pictures of Queen Mermaid. I was surprised to find out that she has been discontinued. Right now I'm stitching the Peacock/Emerald green sparkly area of her bodice, working my way up to her face. I like to look at a face while I'm stitching away! Sounds a little odd, but it gives me a smile!

Until next time,

Have a fun stitching day!

xo, Christine

New Year's Day 7&8/15 First Finish

Happy Tuesday! I hope your weeks are off to a great start! I noticed yesterday, that the day seemed a little warmer, and the sun was out a little longer. Between now and the end of April, I'll be out in the garden. This year I've got plans to start a rose and herb gardens. I'll update more on that is going and what I've got planned!

Yesterday I finished my first finish of 2016!!

'Pierre Penguin' by Brooke's Books her Advent Animal freebies 

He's stitched on 28ct. Ice Blue Cashel, and I switched out the DMC 321 (red) in the border

for 'Red Ribbon' by Classic Colorworks!

Cheers!

After finishing all the white of the Penguin, now I can focus on the snowflakes in Gingerbread Train, and Gingerbread Girl and Peppermint Tree, which I hope to have both of them finished by the end of the week!

More of Ink Circles, Stained Glass Mistletoe

Yesterday's start is Teresa Wentzler's 'Futurecast' for my son! I've always loved her blended floss color combination, which are absolutely gorgeous!

Wishing you all a fun stitching day!

Until next time!

xo, Christine

New Years Day 6/15

Happy Monday! I hope you all had an amazingly fun stitching weekend! On Friday, I picked up some overdyed floss for my Chatalaine Desert Landscape, one of them happened to be called 'Stormy Sky', reminded me of how dreary and rainy the week had been. Then later today, I looked up and all I could see was never ending blue sky!

I'm hoping to finish both, Gingerbread Train and Gingerbread Girl and Peppermint Tree, this week!

I'm this close to finishing 'Pierre Penguin'.

Even my husband commented on how pretty a design Ink Circles Stained Glass Mistletoe is. I've been thinking about picking up Ink Circles 'Get Kraken' for him for a Christmas Gift, since he says I haven't stitched anything for him. 

This weekend, I also started stitching Stoney Creek's Paradise Banner. I'm stitching it on 14ct Aida, which I haven't stitched on in ages. It's a nice break from linens and evenweaves. I'm loving these tropical colors, and such fun to stitch!!

Here's to a great stitching week!

 Until next time, 

Christine

New Years Days 5/15

Happy Friday! It's hard to believe it's Friday already! This week has just flown by! Even my girls were wondering where the week went! It poured all day yesterday, and today it looks like another cold, dreary day, threatening of rain again! Living in Arizona we'll take all the rain we can get! I'm just not used to it raining all week! Makes for great stitching weather!

Just catching up, my daughter had a school project and presentation to work on yesterday, and my son had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, that got me behind a little, but I'm making great progress on Desert Chatelaine; Part 4 is a joy to stitch. The colors are gorgeous, and the pattern and stitches are fun and easy to stitch. Part 3 has some Queen stitches which I'm going to practice on before I actually stitch them on it!



Pierre Penguin is just about finished, as is my continued stitching on the snowflakes of Gingerbread Train, both of these should be finished by the end of the weekend! Continuing on with Gingerbread girl and Peppermint tree, I bought some new Krenik #4 braid #32, and I don't like how it looks, so I'm going to go with blending filament #32 and white, then after this one, I'm going to switch to the recommended fabric.

Working on Ink Circles Stained Glass Mistletoe, I am starting to love the colors. I already love the design, it's just the muted colors of gold and yellow-green that were dragging me down, but the mint green picked me right back up!!

For Stitch Maynia's 15 in 15, my new start for the day is Joan Elliott's Stardust Fairy. Purples and neon greens are a couple of my favorites, so this one is starting off fun! The colors are gorgeous!

New starts this weekend, include Stoney Creek's 'Paradise Banner', and Country Cottage Needlework's 'Beach Cottage, which I am excited to start!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
Happy Stitching!
xo, Christine

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day4

New Years Day 4/15

Today is another cold, wet, rainy day! While I did get some stitching done, I was only able to work on 3 projects. My daughter had a school project I worked on with her last night and this morning!

Starting off with a new Start, 2014 JCS ornie mag Ink Circles Stained Glass Mistletoe  . It's funny, but the colors of this design are off for me. They are just a little too mute for me, but I love the symmetry of the mandala. I'll be stitching the companion piece Stained Glass Holly next month, which I do love the colors. 

I continued on with Pierre the Penguin. What can I say, he's the sweetest penguin I've ever seen!!

Finally, I'm this close to finishing the first page of Ocean Unicorns, that I've been working on for about a month now. It's my first full coverage piece, and am finding the confetti stitching interesting!

Tomorrow, I'm going to keep working on Part 4 of Desert Mandala as my WIP for day 5, then on Thursday, I am going to start Joan Elliott's Stardust Fairy!

Wishing you a fun stitching day!

xo, Christine

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

New Years Day 3/15

Happy Monday! Today, I am enjoying a wet and cold, rainy winter day with a cup of hot tea, and working with silks, always puts a smile on my face!

I'm making some good progress on my 'Summer' Celtic lady from Lavender and Lace, and I'm finding the border of part 4 on Desert Landscape not only fun, but the colors of the silk combinations, absolutely gorgeous.

How cute is the Gingerbread Girl with her peppermint tree??!! I love working on Gingerbread Village series by Country Cottage Needleworks.

Tonight, I should have Pierre the Penguin's face completed. It's wonderful to see my daughter happy to see my progress on her Penguin ornamet from Brooke's Books.

Also, tonight, I'm working on finishing up Page 1 of Ocean Unicorns, for my Day 4 WIP. I'll have the stitch count on that for you tomorrow, but I can't believe I actually finished a whole page in a full stitch chart.

Wishing you a great week!
Hope you have a fun stitching day!
xo, Christine

New Year's Day 2

Happy Weekend! I hope you are all enjoying your Holiday weekend! I'm a little sad to say that today is the last day of our Christmas Vacation. The ornaments and decorations are all packed away, and I'm just getting ready for back to school tomorrow. Last night my husband and our son had a bonding night, so the girls and I made cookies whilst I stitched away, watching House reruns and Pirates of the Carribean on Netflix.

For Day 2, I started with my Brooke's Book SAL, Pierre the Penguin, her Animal Advent Freebie. I also bought Dorthy for her Wizard of the Oz, she's on her way, and my 12 year old daughter decided for next month to do her Grumpy Merry Christmas Cat, another freebie. That's 3 down, 9 more to decide on.

As much as I am having fun stitching Gingerbread Train, and believe you me, it is a quick stitch, I'm loosing steam, so to say! All I have left is half a peppermint wheel, and snowflakes. I just have to keep plugging away.

Now this is funny, and I don't know how it happened, but I figured out why I stitched the wrong colors on Desert Landscape, my printer somehow inverted two symbols, and I just stitched the  wrong colors. C'est la vie! Yesterday, I really wanted to pick up Mediterranean Waterlilies, but apparently it was a Waterlilly Kind of day at my LNS, they were all out, so I picked up Grape instead. When I finish the band, I will post an updated pic, but the color combination of Emerald, Grape, and Periwinkle is gorgeous, along with the turquoise cabochons of Delicate Teal, and I am loving Part 4.

My New Start for the day was Nora Corbett's 3 French Hens. In my kitchen nook, it's decorated Italian Rustic with Roosters and Hens, and I absolutely love this chart and can't wait to hang it in there. Although I'm not a huge fan of golds and browns, this was a fun and easy new start.

For today, I'm going to continue working on all the 3 WIP, if I have time I'm going to start Joan Elliott's freebie for my younger daughter, if not, I'm going to pick up Summer Celtic Lady from TIAG. I started working on the border, and I love the Green's and Golds.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Have a fun stitching day!
xo, Christine

Day 1

Happy New Year: Day 1

Happy New Year, to you! Last year was definitely better than 2014, and this year I am looking forward to being better than 2015! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Years Eve!
This year, I am all excited not only to have some fun new starts, but I'm planning on a couple big finishes, with my Desert Landscape Chatelaine, and Kustom Krafts Ocean Unicorns, being the top two!

Yesterday, My New Start for the New Year is Teresa Wentzler's Egyptian Sampler. I stitched once before as a gift, this time, I'm stitching it for me. I also joined the Brooke's Books SAL on FB, and started one of their Advent Animals ornaments for my youngest daughter who adores Penguins. His name is Pierre! So cute! I worked on Desert Landscape and caught two mistakes. One I stitched the wrong color on the outer border, and need to find where the mis stitch is, the outer border, doesn't line up quite right!
Even though, I'm so close to finishing Gingerbread train {hoping to finish tonight}, I started the second chart in the series Gingerbread girl and Peppermint tree, from Cross Country Needleworks.

For day 2, I am starting Mirabilia's 3 French Hens {I collect Roosters and Hens}, and I'm working more on Desert Landscape, as I'll be rotating this and the Kustom Krafts Ocean Unicorns, until I finish them.

Wishing you all a fun stitching day!

Unitl next time,

xo, Christine