I've been on this kick now for 4 days and so far, I've managed to put aside 4.69 for charity. I'm keeping a list up at the top now, just to keep me honest.
It must be a sickness. I pulled out Autumn Winds to work on at lunch yesterday, and realized I did not have two skeins of silks I needed. I kitted this up so long ago, how did I miss out on those two skeins? I was kinda in a fluster, because I can't stitch around those areas for 6 weeks, I'm not that talented. And I have all those Oops Packs and threads I bought from Vikki Clayton over the years. Surely I have a rust brown, and a gold in there. I mean, I am a floss hoarder. But, as soon as my little hoarding soul heard that I was planning to open the boxes of hand-dyeds and look, it rebelled. "You CANNA DOOO THATTTTT! We MIGHT NEED IT for SOMETHING BETTER LATER! What if you have the PERFECT PROJECT and you USED THE FLOSS? Buy some more. Forget the children. Forget your promise. Leave my floss alone! I mean it!" Have I told you my hoarding soul is greedy and unpleasant? I ignored it and went through the boxes and found two skeins I can use, but I have to say, it killed me to cut the first length off one of them. Hoarding soul was not pleased, but I don't care, I am using that floss! I am saving $3.40, plus shipping. I have that to give to charity. It's not much, but it's more than I would have had to give had I bought floss.
I got a lovely package from Jennifer of Sweetpea Stitches yesterday. 2 skeins of her gorgeous floss. She really is wonderfully talented! I see bright things for her future as a floss dyer! Let us know when you open your Etsy store, girl!
18 November 2008
17 November 2008
Why there are no pictures on my blog yet
Let me tell you about my weekend.
We partied this weekend. I had Friday off--I haven't worked a Friday afternoon in three weeks now, how am I going to get through this week?. I took my mom to my LNS for their model sale and to get some things for my secret sisters and my friend Kathy. (It's pretty fun to shop for two people who have divergent tastes, along with your mom, and your penpal). If you are in the Catonsville, MD, area, or can get there (and gas is $1.97, a level we have not seen since I purchased the Neon, bless her poor murdered soul, in 2004), all proceeds from the model sale go to help a battered woman's shelter in the Catonsville area, and there were some great bargains to be had. Mom spent $120 and got a finished Christmas tray, 3 framed Waxing Moons, and a small thingy to put in the wall. I ended up buying the newest issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework and Bent Creek Littles Christmas Trio for myself.
Then we headed up to Needlecraft Corner in Baltimore to get my birthday month discount from Drema. I ordered Bent Creek red threads from her, because Mom likes them a lot. And she had the 2009 CS& N calendar, which had a couple really lovely charts in it, so I picked that up. I also got Goode Huswife's E is for Eggs, because Iloved the colors, so bright and cheery. And I got the Dickens mittens for my ornie tree. I figure this will be the last stash I am going to purchase for a while, so I wanted to enjoy it.
Friday commenced my "on the sleigh for charity" event. No more stash purchases until at least January, not even threads and needles. I'm a little antsy, because 6 weeks is a long time to be stash-less, but I have plenty of stuff to work on, in the grand scheme of things, 6 weeks is NOTHING, and it's for charity. I can give up stash so kids can eat. Although, I did realize on the way to my part-time job yesterday, I had no needles in my stitching bag, and I couldn't stop at Michael's to get a pack. So, I just didn't stitch. I didn't die. There was plenty of stuff to look at online between customers. It's worth it.
So I guess you are wondering why I have no photos?
My birthday party was on Saturday. We got tied up in my hometown with the annual Odd Fellows fruit sale, and I was running short on time, so I forgot to grab my tote with the camera in it on the way to SOs. Not to mention he had no power when I got there, so I had to do the best I could do to get ready while there was still light to see. Tights and I have a love/hate relationship at best in the light, and it was not something I want to tackle in the dark.
We have a rule that no party is good til someone has thrown up, someone is running around with no pants, and we've eaten cake. Usually the kids take care of the sick and pantsless. We are adding "someone has caught something on fire." I brought my jewelry box into the living room to get something out of it and see it, and leaned over some candles. I had my hair up in a pony tail on top of my head, because I couldn't curl it, and I guess I need a haircut as I had no idea it was so long. I leaned over, and just as SO said, "Watch your hair," to which I gave him a look and leaned over, I heard a whoosh and realized the tip of my ponytail was a light. AAAAAAAAH. I put it out really quick, but it was a little disconcerting and stinky, and I realized later I had a lot of alcohol-based product in there. I know, it could have been much worse, but the smell disappated, and I guess I don't need a haircut anymore. LOL. (And note I am only laughing because it could have been worse and wasn't. Why are bad things only funny when you don't get hurt?)
We did try a new dish from this website:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/recipe-file/
We tried the Circa 1980 Bacon Holiday Appetizers. They were good. SO was a little concerned because they took two hours to bake. He seemed to think we could turn the heat up and cook it shorter, but I told him "Patience." So we had them during the Cowboys-Redskins game. I realize eating a club cracker wrapped in bacon is not on anyone's list of appropriate diet food, and I should be more careful with what I eat, since I have lost 10 pounds since the middle of September, but it was football. It was good. And we rationalized it by stating we were using reduced sodium bacon, and cooking it on a rack so the fat dripped down (although one fell down into the bacon fat, but it was still YUMMY).
We partied this weekend. I had Friday off--I haven't worked a Friday afternoon in three weeks now, how am I going to get through this week?. I took my mom to my LNS for their model sale and to get some things for my secret sisters and my friend Kathy. (It's pretty fun to shop for two people who have divergent tastes, along with your mom, and your penpal). If you are in the Catonsville, MD, area, or can get there (and gas is $1.97, a level we have not seen since I purchased the Neon, bless her poor murdered soul, in 2004), all proceeds from the model sale go to help a battered woman's shelter in the Catonsville area, and there were some great bargains to be had. Mom spent $120 and got a finished Christmas tray, 3 framed Waxing Moons, and a small thingy to put in the wall. I ended up buying the newest issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework and Bent Creek Littles Christmas Trio for myself.
Then we headed up to Needlecraft Corner in Baltimore to get my birthday month discount from Drema. I ordered Bent Creek red threads from her, because Mom likes them a lot. And she had the 2009 CS& N calendar, which had a couple really lovely charts in it, so I picked that up. I also got Goode Huswife's E is for Eggs, because Iloved the colors, so bright and cheery. And I got the Dickens mittens for my ornie tree. I figure this will be the last stash I am going to purchase for a while, so I wanted to enjoy it.
Friday commenced my "on the sleigh for charity" event. No more stash purchases until at least January, not even threads and needles. I'm a little antsy, because 6 weeks is a long time to be stash-less, but I have plenty of stuff to work on, in the grand scheme of things, 6 weeks is NOTHING, and it's for charity. I can give up stash so kids can eat. Although, I did realize on the way to my part-time job yesterday, I had no needles in my stitching bag, and I couldn't stop at Michael's to get a pack. So, I just didn't stitch. I didn't die. There was plenty of stuff to look at online between customers. It's worth it.
So I guess you are wondering why I have no photos?
My birthday party was on Saturday. We got tied up in my hometown with the annual Odd Fellows fruit sale, and I was running short on time, so I forgot to grab my tote with the camera in it on the way to SOs. Not to mention he had no power when I got there, so I had to do the best I could do to get ready while there was still light to see. Tights and I have a love/hate relationship at best in the light, and it was not something I want to tackle in the dark.
We have a rule that no party is good til someone has thrown up, someone is running around with no pants, and we've eaten cake. Usually the kids take care of the sick and pantsless. We are adding "someone has caught something on fire." I brought my jewelry box into the living room to get something out of it and see it, and leaned over some candles. I had my hair up in a pony tail on top of my head, because I couldn't curl it, and I guess I need a haircut as I had no idea it was so long. I leaned over, and just as SO said, "Watch your hair," to which I gave him a look and leaned over, I heard a whoosh and realized the tip of my ponytail was a light. AAAAAAAAH. I put it out really quick, but it was a little disconcerting and stinky, and I realized later I had a lot of alcohol-based product in there. I know, it could have been much worse, but the smell disappated, and I guess I don't need a haircut anymore. LOL. (And note I am only laughing because it could have been worse and wasn't. Why are bad things only funny when you don't get hurt?)
We did try a new dish from this website:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/recipe-file/
We tried the Circa 1980 Bacon Holiday Appetizers. They were good. SO was a little concerned because they took two hours to bake. He seemed to think we could turn the heat up and cook it shorter, but I told him "Patience." So we had them during the Cowboys-Redskins game. I realize eating a club cracker wrapped in bacon is not on anyone's list of appropriate diet food, and I should be more careful with what I eat, since I have lost 10 pounds since the middle of September, but it was football. It was good. And we rationalized it by stating we were using reduced sodium bacon, and cooking it on a rack so the fat dripped down (although one fell down into the bacon fat, but it was still YUMMY).
12 November 2008
Christmas SAL
Just found out about this today. For $5US, you get a bunch of charts! And they're cute! You just go to her website and then sign up. I've stitched her charts before. They're sweet. They're colorful. They would look fabulous on my ornie tree.
http://free-pu.t-com.hr/hmdesigns/index.html
http://free-pu.t-com.hr/hmdesigns/index.html
Major milestone
After almost 8 years, geisha has a full body. I finished her skirt last night. Woo hoo! And I am almost done the grass around her feet. I'm looking forward to the backstitch on her, because it means she will be done.
I am going to try to get some pictures posted this weekend. It's just been a time matter. I spend a great deal of time running around lately. But I have the photos from camping, and some WIPs, and that adorable kitty box I did for the Halloween exchange. I need to make that a priority, especially since we are opening a new show at the theatre next Wednesday, and I am going to be pretty busy, at least next week. I work 5 days in a row. I am OK with that, it's money I need for the holidays. It's just a daunting task. I hope that things run a little smoother for this year's show than last year's production, which got a little out of hand due to the short staff and sheer amount of people in the area who wanted to see the show, on top of that we were doing several shows at once, plus having parties--I think every person in the county showed up to at least one event at the theatre by the time January rolled around, LOL. I asked to not work the weekend between Christmas and New Years, just because I need to recover.
I am going to try to get some pictures posted this weekend. It's just been a time matter. I spend a great deal of time running around lately. But I have the photos from camping, and some WIPs, and that adorable kitty box I did for the Halloween exchange. I need to make that a priority, especially since we are opening a new show at the theatre next Wednesday, and I am going to be pretty busy, at least next week. I work 5 days in a row. I am OK with that, it's money I need for the holidays. It's just a daunting task. I hope that things run a little smoother for this year's show than last year's production, which got a little out of hand due to the short staff and sheer amount of people in the area who wanted to see the show, on top of that we were doing several shows at once, plus having parties--I think every person in the county showed up to at least one event at the theatre by the time January rolled around, LOL. I asked to not work the weekend between Christmas and New Years, just because I need to recover.
11 November 2008
My buy of the week
I went to AC Moore up on "the Pike" today at lunch to get my stuff for my exchange partner. I think I did a good job. 4 skeins of floss as a mea culpa, plus a doggie ornament, and a Mary Engelbreit tiny Scotty dog kit, plus some doggie fabric. And then I got her a musical card from CVS. I hope she likes it.
But I got the best buy! I have wanted an ornament tree to hang my hand-stitched ornaments--all three of them--on, since I plan on stitching ornaments for a tree. I never liked the tiny ones. I don't know why, but I didn't.
We were in AC Moore the other day, just passing time, and letting my friend, Gloria Jean Anne, look at silk flowers. We've decided and accepted that between the Michaels on the pike and the AC Moore, if you want stitchy stuff, go to Michaels, but for silk flowers, AC Moore is better.
Anyway, we wandered over to look at the ornaments, and right next to them were these small artificial trees. They weren't lifelike, but I thought there was a good amount of space to put stitched ornaments on the trees. And they were small: 3 foot or 4 foot. I can't set something like that up at my mom's house--the cats would climb that sucker in a heartbeat and swing from the top like a little yowling star--but at SO's, it would work.
But they were $19.99 and $29.99. Which is too much for my budget. Not for a little tree. Not when I have to make the first payment on Trouble. So, instead, I decided that I would buy it on Friday, when I get paid!
Today I braved the Veterans' Day crowds--one of the joys of being here in the DC area is that on these federal holidays, traffic is good, but once you are in the office, you keep your butt at your desk because all the federal employees shop the pike on their days off. I wanted to make sure the trees were still there. I went over, and they were marked $3.99.
I brought mine home. The cashier said she was buying one too, with her discount.
But I got the best buy! I have wanted an ornament tree to hang my hand-stitched ornaments--all three of them--on, since I plan on stitching ornaments for a tree. I never liked the tiny ones. I don't know why, but I didn't.
We were in AC Moore the other day, just passing time, and letting my friend, Gloria Jean Anne, look at silk flowers. We've decided and accepted that between the Michaels on the pike and the AC Moore, if you want stitchy stuff, go to Michaels, but for silk flowers, AC Moore is better.
Anyway, we wandered over to look at the ornaments, and right next to them were these small artificial trees. They weren't lifelike, but I thought there was a good amount of space to put stitched ornaments on the trees. And they were small: 3 foot or 4 foot. I can't set something like that up at my mom's house--the cats would climb that sucker in a heartbeat and swing from the top like a little yowling star--but at SO's, it would work.
But they were $19.99 and $29.99. Which is too much for my budget. Not for a little tree. Not when I have to make the first payment on Trouble. So, instead, I decided that I would buy it on Friday, when I get paid!
Today I braved the Veterans' Day crowds--one of the joys of being here in the DC area is that on these federal holidays, traffic is good, but once you are in the office, you keep your butt at your desk because all the federal employees shop the pike on their days off. I wanted to make sure the trees were still there. I went over, and they were marked $3.99.
I brought mine home. The cashier said she was buying one too, with her discount.
Drama, drama, it's all drama
I've been a little frazzled the past couple of days. SO and I came down to his shop on Sunday to get his work van so he doesn't have to drive his Tahoe all week, so on the way back, I stopped in at my/Mom's house (I don't know what to call it now that I am moving in with SO, but if my mom doesn't stop asking me when I am gonna get my boxes of stash out of the dining room, I'm not moving) to see if my VC silks I ordered for my birthday were there.
They were!
And SO's Marcus Deware jersey, which he has been saying he wanted for a year, and it was a little spendy, so when I found it on Ebay for half the cost of the Cowboys store, I bought that sucker.I thought about trying to get him a Deware autograph to go with it, but they were rather expensive, like a week's takehome pay. Not happening. But he'll like the jersey.
And there was a box labelled from my secret sister. HUNH? Secret Sister. Not the one from a little board I go to, cause she doesn't live in Indiana, where this lady lives. It slowly dawned on me that this was another round of Secret Sister on a Yahoo group. I thought I had to sign up for each round, and apparently not. She sent me this lovely Pine Mountain pillow kit, a dog picture frame, perfect to put pix of mummy's main man in, some beads and some needles. So I had this lovely box of stash from someone, and somewhere my Secret Sister was waiting for her box of stash.
Y'all, I could have thrown up. I felt so horrible. So I ran around, trying to get a hold of the moderator, so I can get my partner info and get her up to date. I was so upset. I try not to be a flake, if I can help it, and this was just awful.
I got her today. I like my partner! She likes dogs. She likes Halloween. She just seemed kinda sad the last time she posted as she thought her partner didn't want her. So I fully intend on spoiling her. Seriously.
So I am off to AC Moore at lunch to get her two skeins of floss and some goodies for a small intro package. They have really nice little Bucilla ornament kits, and one is a dog, so I'll get her one of them, plus their Christmas ornaments have gone up in quality, and I think I saw some dogs there. I can't be sure, but I think they are trying to copy the Hobby Lobby model in that, as HL has AWESOME ornaments.
Then, on Friday, I'll get her her big treats. I hope my LNS has them. We're going by there, because they're having a model sale to benefit a battered women's shelter in Catonsville, and my mom likes to go. I should be able to pick up some nice things.
They were!
And SO's Marcus Deware jersey, which he has been saying he wanted for a year, and it was a little spendy, so when I found it on Ebay for half the cost of the Cowboys store, I bought that sucker.I thought about trying to get him a Deware autograph to go with it, but they were rather expensive, like a week's takehome pay. Not happening. But he'll like the jersey.
And there was a box labelled from my secret sister. HUNH? Secret Sister. Not the one from a little board I go to, cause she doesn't live in Indiana, where this lady lives. It slowly dawned on me that this was another round of Secret Sister on a Yahoo group. I thought I had to sign up for each round, and apparently not. She sent me this lovely Pine Mountain pillow kit, a dog picture frame, perfect to put pix of mummy's main man in, some beads and some needles. So I had this lovely box of stash from someone, and somewhere my Secret Sister was waiting for her box of stash.
Y'all, I could have thrown up. I felt so horrible. So I ran around, trying to get a hold of the moderator, so I can get my partner info and get her up to date. I was so upset. I try not to be a flake, if I can help it, and this was just awful.
I got her today. I like my partner! She likes dogs. She likes Halloween. She just seemed kinda sad the last time she posted as she thought her partner didn't want her. So I fully intend on spoiling her. Seriously.
So I am off to AC Moore at lunch to get her two skeins of floss and some goodies for a small intro package. They have really nice little Bucilla ornament kits, and one is a dog, so I'll get her one of them, plus their Christmas ornaments have gone up in quality, and I think I saw some dogs there. I can't be sure, but I think they are trying to copy the Hobby Lobby model in that, as HL has AWESOME ornaments.
Then, on Friday, I'll get her her big treats. I hope my LNS has them. We're going by there, because they're having a model sale to benefit a battered women's shelter in Catonsville, and my mom likes to go. I should be able to pick up some nice things.
10 November 2008
I must have this
I can not explain why, but I must. I wonder how the fair people would judge a piece like this?
It's by Xs and Ohs:
It's by Xs and Ohs:
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