What I have been doing

I have been having a crazy year! My stitching progresses in fits and starts. I am currently trying to figure out how to finish a gift that is intended for the SM's mother. In the mean time I have not started anything new. so for now there is nothing to report. 

Blog hopping and some stitchie finishes..No pics though

Merry Meet!

I have been doing a lot of blog hopping and reading lately. I know that i have not been posting very much about my many hobbies, but that is because life has been a bit crazy. I have finished a few different cross stitch items.

My favorite has been "Celtic Christmas" designed by Lavender and Lace. I love the colors in it and it swas a nice simple stitch for me. I started it July 14th and finished it September 9th. Yes both in 2011. I really love the look of it. I made two changes to the pattern. 1.) I did the face 1 over 1 because I felt that it looked smoother and blended better. 2.) I added a few extra beads around the outside boarder. I wanted to put my own stamp on it and i had so many beads left

I also finished up a Quaker Sampler that I sort of made up on the go. I have several different patterns and I wanted to make my own design. It is stitched 1 over 1 on linen that I had left over from another project (not sure of the manufacturer or the count). Since there is so much repeating between the patterns I just sort of pulled the ones that I like to stitch from about 4 different ones. I like how it came out.

I have also been working on "Quaker Halloween Sampler" by Cherished Stitches. Once again I am making it my own by using a bunch of different threads that make me feel "Holloweenie". so far I really like it. Once again it is a bit of fabric that I have owned for a long time. It is a Charles Craft that looks like Burlap. I am also stitching it 1 over 1. I do not know what colors I have been using, but they are all DMC 6 strand embroidery floss.

So that's what I have been stitching. I will post some pictures as soon as I get a new camera. The old one has breathed its last and been put to rest.

Merry Part,
Tina

I found another site that I have been devouring!  The authoress is so talented not only in her designs, but also in how she finishes her work. Pop over and give it a loook

Trying something new

I have been wanting to learn appliqué for a long time now. I took the plunge and bought a few blocks from the JoAnn's old block of the month on clearance. I am working on the 6th block of the "Tulip Twist" collection.

For this being my first ever attempt at this technique I am not to disappointed at how it is coming out. I will improve as I continue to work on this. I will post photos as soon as I can get to my computer.

Another Cool Blog

3 Creative Studios is a really cool site, They have lots if cool techniques and challenges that i think are appropriate for many different skill levels. They also have lots of cool tutorials, block of the months, and other fiber art related activities. So cool. Stop by and Check them out

Another cool idea

Melinda has a quick and easy steno book cover on her blog. I am definately going to give this one a whirl.

Again I started reading her blog from the beginning. She has been blogging since 2006!!! Lots of great Eye Candy!!!! Don't we all LUV Eye Candy!!!!

Pop over and take a look. She does beautiful work with fabrics and other textiles. Fun read

Cool Things I have found out in bloglandia...

First off let me say that I have not doing much in the way of either crafting or sewing of any sort. This is because I am not at home. i have however been skipping about bloglandia and have found som really cool things that I thought might intrerest others.

Can you guess what this used to be? It took me a moment. I found this awesome giftwrap center at Sew Many Ways. I started reading from the newest post and got hooked. I popped into the archives and started reading from the very first post.  So many cool ideas...This one really hit me though..(we got a new tree last xmas and now I know what i can do with my "retired" tree.

This is the first of what I hope will be much more frequent blog posts.

Let's try this Again!!!

Ok, I'll admit it...I am a BAD blogger! I have had so much on my plate that I just spaced on updating anything!  So do you wanna see what I have been doing?

Well, your gonna anyway...LOL

we had to clear out the basement and storage areas

all the old broken mowers, rusty metal bits and broken bits and pieces so that we could

end up with storage for camping gear, canning suplies and misc. other things.

It amazes me how much stuff we pulled out of the basement and crawlspaces of the house. we ended up taking two trailers and three truck fuls of "STUFF" away..Why you ask???? We had to make room for ......

Our NEW heater!!!

 Our NEW HEATER!!!!  That meant that we had to have the old one and the old oil tanks taken out.

While all that was going on we also had projects going on outside:

We put in a new kitchen window as well as a matching livingroom window. Notice the UGLY gray siding? Well all of that was taken down...

And we put up new vinyl siding..It is a NAPCO product. The color is "Heather"

I LUV, LUV,LUV this color!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now notice that the basement walls are all peeling and chipping...We fixed that and also put in some lovely new flower beds........

The kids and their friends were a great help! they did all of the digging and removal of grass, turned the soil and tilled in soil ammendments (read that as "stinky manure"). then they helped me to move all the flowers that you see from the various beds around the property. We finished filling the beds with wood chips and watered thouroughly. WHEW!!! All this work took months to complete because of the Rainy Wet and Chilly SPRING we had in Syracuse!!!



Why did we do all of this work?  My DS graduated from HS and we were trying to get things ready for his graduation party. My family drove out from Minnesota and we wanted to have everything finished! We did get it done in time for the party, but we were working straight through until the evening of his graduation ceremony! i have never been so exhausted as I was after all of this craziness!

The week after the DS graduated was spent in cleaning up and packing for my big move. I did absolutely no stitching during all of this. I also did not get any blog reading done. When I did open my reader the other day I had 4500+posts to read!!! Can you say Skip and start over!

So like my header says...Lets try again!









Wow! 2 Months, really?

I have had such a crazy new year. I have had very little time to sit down and do anything. Between the SM getting a new job, in a new city(Green Bay, Wisconsin) and helping him start to get our stuff slowly moved out there, and running the DS hither and yon as he completes his senior year of High school, I am exhausted!

I have made several trips between Syracuse, NY and Green Bay, WI over the last two months. I like the area that my SM found us an apartment. It will be interesting to go from a 5BR, 3Bath house to a little 1BR, 1Bath apartment. I am slowly going through all of my craft supplies and fabrics. I never really realized just how much STUFF I actually have. So far I have dug out 4 (yes four) huge 35 gal bins of fabric and 1 that is stuffed to the gills with yarn. The scary thing is that as I am going through my workroom I continue to find more.

In addition I have 2 drawers full of beads, buttons and misc. findings. a double sized filecabinet that is chock full of papers and stickers for my scrapbooking, and 2 half bookcases stuffed with books. I guess I should not be suprised. I have had 20+ years to accumulate all of this STUFF. I am thinking that I will have several giveaways or some such over the next few weeks. I need to work out how I will do so.

I am both excited and nervous about this whole move. It seems like we just got the house all in order and now we are up and leaving. DD#1 and DS will be living at the house while they are going to College. I am hoping that the experiance will help them to see that life is not so simple as they seem to think right now. They will be paying a bit of rent and have to work at keeping the house and land kept up. Good experiance and safe at momma's home.

My permanent move will take place the first week of July. I am doing it this way so that the DS can finish his Senior Year at the same HS he has been in for the last 3 years. I could not see pulling him out and transfering him to another school when he is doing so well now. He is in the National Honor Society and several clubs as well as the first chair in the Winter Percussion Mallets section. (not like he ever gets to sit down, lol.)

DD#1 is done and out of the US Army as of May 11th! YAY!!!!! She is so excited, as are we all! I am looking forward to spending  a month and 1/2 with her at the house. She will be of great assistance to me as I get things ready for the final move.

So as you can see I have been crazy busy. I will be posting here more as I go through STUFF and perhaps running a contest or two. Hopefully some people will actually enter.

TTFN

Tina 

HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY!!!!!!!!

I have gotten the greatest news!!!! my DD#1 will be coming home from Afghanistan soon. YAY!!!!!!!


We only recently discovered Skype, so we have been able to talk to oneanother and have even gotten to see one another via video, but having her home will be SOOOOOOOO much better!

Just had to let someone know!

Peace, Tina

just another day

There are no pics here because my old computer is no longer...I need to get all my pics off it and as of right now I have no way to upload any pics. You will have to use your imagination to "see".

It is another snowy day here in Upstate New York. After a few days of sunshine the gray skies have returned. I enjoy the snow for the most part, just not the having to move it. LOL

With the kids off to their father's for the weekend, snow removal is up to the SM and me. So we bundled up and headed out to shovel. It isn't to bad if we keep up on it; however, it seems to fall faster than we can shovel. It is not so bad for me and the SM; poor Jack (our teacup Yorkie...all 3lbs of him) is struggling to make his way through the snow to do his business. He is not all that fond of the snow. I have to giggle when I see him out in it looking for a place to do his business. His favorite thing to do when it snows is to find a tire track or some footprints and follow them for a bit.

Nose down and meandering through the tracks he finally decides that he will just have to do his business as best as possible in the adverse conditions. He returns to the house looking decidely dejected and much more white (the snow loves sticking to his coat). At the door his yelp signals me to open the door and admit him to the house. His little body is looking a bit plumper, from the covering of snow, but only for a moment. His whole body is a blur as he goes into a frensy of shaking to rid himself of the snow covering.

Snow scatters through the porch and he has to check out the mess that he has made. After a few sniffs he is finished and lets me know that he is ready to enter the house. As soon as the door is opened he madly dashes into the familyroom and jumps up into the SM's lap. They have a quick conversation about how mean I have been to send him out into the snow. Gotta love that the dog favors the SM over me...probably because "mommy" is the one that usually puts him out to do his business.  Gotta love it!!! LOL

I do hope that you all have a lovely day. Stay warm and cozy...that's my plan for the day...knitting a scarf and finishing some xmas ornies that I started. I think that I will be putting them away after today, finished or not. Time to start someting to brighten my gray days.

Peace,
Tina

Happy New Year

I hope that everyone has a peaceful, and joyful 2011.