Busy as a bee.....

January 15, 2011

BIG Time updating going on tonight! LOL

I can't believe I've let 7 months slip by again. I guess I have to wait until I'm ready to let everything pour out at once.

Anyway, I hope every one's holiday's were wonderful and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all!

So, here we go....I'll try to take a breath in here once in a while for all your sakes.....

This first picture is of a carrying case I designed for my Ott Light. It opens from the top and there's a pocket on the front of the bag to hold a handy dandy extension cord!

This piece is by Glendon Place and stitched on an unknown piece of fabric I picked up at the Celebration Of Needlework Convention one year. The fibers are Weeks Dye Work and the beads, (which are hard to see but sparkle like crazy!) are Mill Hill. This was a birthday gift for my niece Lauren.

This stocking was my very first design! . I designed it using PC Stitch 9 and it's for my youngest grandson.

This is a Sweetheart Tree Biscornu.

Christmas Tree Name design by Nouveau Encore for Benjamin

This is a Sampler in a Year 2000 by Linda Driscoll. I finally got the courage to stitch it and it was wonderful! The specialty stitches were a challenge but a pure joy. My spin on it was to stitch it in a green fiber. The original was white on white, and while beautiful, I was not putting all that work in to have to be on top of it to see it. LOL

 Blue Ribbon Designs, (thanks for the info Shannon!).  I used premium fibers by Vicki Clayton.

Now, this one I know!

Lizzie Kate's ABC"S of Life Lessons. I stitched it on 28 count Jobelene with the fibers that were supplied in the packet. Gee, where did my "Spin" go on this one?

Who knew?

About 10 years ago, I decided to give cross stitching a try. A friend, Donna and her mom, introduced me to counted cross stitch and to a lovely store that a group of women met at each Thursday to stitch, chat and get inspiration from each other. Sadly, the store is no longer available to us, so a small group of us meet almost every week, taking turns in our homes. From this craft, I have made many of the most wonderful , loving, generous and talented friends. If I were to stop stitching tomorrow, I would have these friends for life. They are family to me.

Speaking of family; many years ago, my Uncle Jim in Maine, watched me stitching while we were camping. He told me that he had started a project back in the 80's,( during a very long, cold winter and between wives), but never completed it. When we returned home, he found it and gave it to me. It sat away for about 7 years, my having almost completely forgotten about it.

Then, last year while doing some cleaning, I again came across it and decided to tackle it. It wasn't a really fun stitch. It was almost completely solid stitching and a mirade of color changes to boot but I was determined.

I delivered the finished piece to Uncle Jim this past fall.. He had stitched the entire tower section of the lighthouse. I finished the piece by stitching our initials on the bottom and the dates.

JL 1988 and RL 2009.

He loved it and was quite pleased when I told him it was his to take home. It gave me a great feeling of warmth and pride to share the love of my craft with my Uncle; himself is a very talented man in many fields.