Hello 2010!

It is with great joy that I bid adios to 2009!!! It was not a very good year and I am glad to see it gone. I am fully hoping that 2010 will be a much better year with wonderful things in store for me!

I started off 2010 by "finishing" this piece that I stitched a couple of years ago and never put the finishing touches on. I know it is somewhat of an odd finish, but I wanted something festive and this sparkly trim just spoke to me. Of course, I could just be losing my mind. :-) Anyhow, here it is and I am pleased with it.

Happy New Year
Lizzie Kate
Called for Threads
Scrap of Lavendar/Grey 28 ct linen

I have not set any major stitching goals except for this: finish the train project!!! I haven't started stitching on it again yet, but I promise that it will get done!!! I also want to finish up some other projects I have started and put to the side. I still have a few ornaments that I want to get finished up as well. So, I guess this year it will be a finish up WIPs year! :-) Now, I'm not completely promising not to start anything new, but, it will be something from my stash and not a new purchase.

The only new thing that I will be working on for sure is this:

The Hunt
by: Homespun Samplar
Threads: Different shades of blue by Carrie's Threads
Fabric: 28 ct coffee dyed evenweave

This is the piece we have chose for our Round Robin group this year. I am really liking it thus far and can't wait to see how it turns out.

If you remember from last post I did a personal Christmas exchange with Hannah. Well, this is the gorgeous red work Prairie Schooler Santa she sent me. Isn't it great?!!! She knows I love Santas and this was just perfect!

From Hannah
Prairie Schooler Santa

Recent Movie Thoughts:

Leap Year - Great chic flick!!! Better than I thought it would be. Cute, funny & enjoyable!
Sherlock Holmes - Enjoyable, but it is definitely a movie that you need to pay attention. Can seem somewhat slow, but, I love Robert Downey, Jr. I really liked how the movie seemed to focus on the friendship between Holmes & Watson.
The Blind Side - Excellent movie!!! Even if you don't like sports, you will like this movie!
Avatar - A really good movie, but not mind blowing like it is hyped to be. I really liked the scenery, especially at night. Beautiful!
The Princess & The Frog - Enjoyable. I loved the old style animation.
Old Dogs - Disappointing
A Christmas Carol - Enjoyed it. However, it is a dark movie and more true to the book than some of the other versions that we have seen. Might be frightening to younger children.
Did You Hear About the Morgans? - I love Hugh Grant, but this was disappointing.

Year End Movie Thoughts:

Top 10 of 2009 in no particular order:

Star Trek
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
Twilight Saga: New Moon
Up!
Wolverine
The Proposal
The Blind Side
Band Slam
Julie & Julia
Toy Story I & II in 3D (I know they aren't new, but I just love these movies!)

Other movies from year worth noting:

17 Again
A Christmas Carol
The Princess & The Frog
The Time Traveler's Wife
Fame
Couples Retreat

Biggest disappointments of the year:

The Ugly Truth
All About Steve
Pink Panther 2
The Box

Movie notes: I didn't see as many movies this year as I have in times past. There were a couple I really wanted to see and just didn't get to: Amelia & The Soloist

Movies I am looking forward to in 2010:

Dear John (really enjoyed the book)
Iron Man 2
Letters to Juliet
Toy Story 3
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I


Everyone take care & stay warm! I look forward to, as always, your lovely comments.

A Christmas Exchange!

I did a personal Christmas exchange again this year with Hannah. She also recently welcomed a baby into her household and I sent a little ornament for him as well. I made both ornaments to fit Hannah's woodland theme.

For Hannah
from the Joyeux Noel stocking
JBW Designs Stockings Full of Joy
DMC used:
471
522
3363
838
816
814
Beads: Mill Hill 62012
Stitched on 28 ct Platinum linen
WDW wool used for backing

For Baby

Bent Creek Hare Lines freebie (cannot find link for chart)

Threads Used:
Brown - Wisper W74 Cocoa
White - Alpaca 18 AL51 Ivory
Border - Carrie's Creation Peppermint
Stitched on a scrap of white linen in my stash

I'm trying to finish up a few Christmas ornaments for my family before Christmas. Why does it always take longer than I think it will?

I have also been busy trying to pick out threads for my new RR. I think I finally have it narrowed down, but not 100% yet.

Thank you all for your lovely comments that you leave. It always makes me smile. :-)

Cheryl asked if I would be framing my RR piece I showed in the last post. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what I am going to do with it. I probably will end up framing it, but am still debating between that and a really nice pillow right now.

Stay warm & happy stitching!

My Christmas Exchange!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I did a personal Christmas ornament exchange with Hannah. I forgot to take a picture of what I sent her, but just received a picture of it today from Hannah. Here is the package I sent to her:

Snow Bird by La-D-Da

2004 Cross-stitch ornament magazine

Belle Soie Old Crow

My January has been tremedously busy at work. Not much time for stitching. I have, however, worked a tiny bit on my train. Hate to announce that it still isn't finished. Started work on "F" from the Celtic Alphabet by M Designs for my niece's wedding. And also worked on a Quaker Sampler Round Robin piece. Will post pictures from both new starts soon.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm.

Happy New Year!

December is always a crazy month with the holidays and 5 B-days within the month, but this year you add prolonged sickness and a dog recovering from emergency surgery and life just completely goes nuts! Stitching has been very scarce this month, but I have been trying to stitch on my train when I can the last week to finish it by year end, but, alas, it is not going to happen! By the end of January for sure! I've been trying not to get down on myself about it. It was my one big goal of the year, but when you have 2 1/2 weeks of sickness and a major holiday thrown in at the last minute, what do you do? I feel like I am trying to have a relapse on my cold and trying not to stress on things like finances. Needless to say the dog's surgery, especially at the holidays, really has put a major wrinkle in my budget. It will definitely take me a couple of months to recover from that.

Anyhow...enough of the sickness and stresses.

My beautiful son turns 14 today! Hard to believe it has been that many years! He is such a joy in my life and everytime I hear "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon I cry. Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Boy!


I did a personal Christmas ornament exchange with Hannah earlier in December. I received this beautiful ornament and all these other wonderful goodies from her! The button looking things are magnets that Hannah made. They are so cute! I forgot to take a picture of what I sent her and she hasn't posted it on her blog yet, but hopefully she will before long. She told me she is doing a woodland theme on her tree and I stitched the La-D-Da's Snow Bird from the 2004 Just Cross-Stitch Ornament Issue.



Year End Movie Thoughts:

Here are my top 10 movie choices of 2008 in no particular order:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wall-E
Bolt
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
The Express
The Other Boleyn Girl
Twilight
Kung Fu Panda
Get Smart!

Other Movies I enjoyed and that are worth noting:

Horton Hears a Who
Mamma Mia!
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Eagle Eye
Cloverfield
Nim's Island
Fireproof
Night's in Rodanthe
Kitt Kittredge
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
The Longshots


Biggest disappointments of the year:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Speed Racer
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - I enjoyed this one, but was still ultimately disappointed

Absolute Worst Movie of the year!:

Don't Mess With the Zohan!

Special Movie Note:

I don't usually do this, but...I wanted to comment on "The Dark Knight". This was an excellent movie as far as plot, acting, directing, etc. I did not include it on my top 10 or other list due to the fact that the violence, though not gory, disturbed me. Heath Ledger's performance was phenomenal.


Happy New Year to all of you! Hope you have a wonderful year full of good friends, good memories, lots of laughter, tons of love and some stitching, too!

A finish and an exchange!

Wow! It's been a month since I last blogged. What a busy month. We went on vacation for 2 weeks. Will post pictures of that soon. After we returned I have been buried under work and we had company over the 4th of July weekend. A busy, but fun time.



First off...I did an exchange with my friend Sharon! We agreed a while back to do a monochromatic exchange. I stitched a freebie chart for Sharon from The Workbasket. I forgot to take a picture, but if you go to her blog you will see what I sent.



Here is what Sharon sent me! It is a beautiful piece stitched in such a lovely hot pink. Love it! She finished it as a pinkeep/scissor pocket. Isn't it lovely? Plus, she sent me some Carrie's Threads and DMC, a oaur if scissors, a thread keeper, plus 2 charts from my wish list. YAY! I really enjoyed doing this exchange with Sharon. My first ever exchange. Thanks so much Sharon!

This last picture is a very recent finish from Shepherd's Bush. I messed up a little on his hat, but it turned out fine. It was a fun stitch. There are several others in this series I like.

Will post vacation pictures and more movie thoughts soon. It's been a good summer for the movies!

Don't forget the Stash Sale!