Collecting Shells and TOL sampler

Okay so here is my progress on Colecting Shells, its not much since I couldn't stitch while I babysat of course, but I got in a few hours and then had to frog about 20 stitches and then I redid what I ripped out. Please forgive the hoop marks as I don't like having to iron it each week before taking a picture though I promise to iron it before I take the final picture.

And as I was putting up collecting Shells for the night I realized that my TOL Sampler had not been completed, so this will be my Sunday project until its completed, maybe another 1 to 2 weeks I think as I completed part 7 and about 1/3 of Part 8 completed too. There are 10 parts to this sampler.

OH! My new Monday project is going to be EMS 2008 Rose Sampler, she releases a new part each month I believe as there is already 3 parts out. So now I have to play catch up, lol.

Anonymous in my last comments - About the lettuce, I called the vet before giving him any and the vet told me anything green and leafy was good for him but that anything orange was bad for him.

Chinese Goddess Of Mercy

Woohoo! I finally completed the moon! I stayed up until midnight determined to complete the moon this week so I can start on the little girl to her left where you see the red and the beginnings of a smaller moon. So in total now I have 5 pages complete and about another 13 to go. The bottom 4 or 5 pages are going to be the hardest because every stitch on each of those pages is filled in unlike these top ones where you have spaces so they are faster to complete. Okay time for me to go to bed now, I am babysitting 4 additional kids on top of my 2 at 3 pm until about 8 or 9 pm so their parents can go out to dinner in Pottenstein before the DH gets deployed.

Snowman

2008 January Calender

SanMan Originals

32 count Opalescent

Started and Completed March 06, 2008

I had to take a break from all the big projects and just get in a little finish. Now this was little, its like 28 by 28 stitches. But its cute. :)

Okay back to my Chinese Goddess of Mercy, gotta get that moon done!

My Lady Of Snow

Alrighty, here is my progress from yesterday and today. I took a picture of the entire fabric to give you all an idea of the portion size that I have actually completed.

Not much went on today though i did remove the bandages from my leg to find the top of my foot was swollen and there was a huge hard lump in the middle of my inscision. DH thinks its liquid built of from my bandages being too tight. So I propped up my foot and put ice on the lump and most of it is gone except this small hard lump. Hopefully with me now leaving this bandage off, it will shrink down. I'm kind of freaked out though and am thinking of going into the clinic tomorrow and see if a Dr can take a look at it.

Cocoa my newly adopted bunny is depressed. He is not eating. Only about 1/4 of his bowl is empty and I found out from his previous owners he should be eating more. They also said he was depressed for about a week when they got him so I got him Sunday so maybe by this weekend he will feel better. I have been feeding him lettuce each day to help put food in his tummy and he is eating that at least. Tomorrow I go buy his food and I'll pick up some bunny vitamins for him too. I have found he truly hates my wood floors, to the point he climbed onto my bottom shelf of my book shelf and just sat there, so i put him on my livingroom carpet for him to hop around so DH and I are trying to figure out a place to keep his cage where we can leave it open during the day so he can come in and out as he pleases. In case some of you are wondering, no he doesn't leave poop pellets around my house, he is litter box trained. :)

Dani - The pattern I used is from Nostalgic Needle called Tudor Rose Ornament. I got it out of the book 'Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments 10th Anniversary Collection page 80. Her roiginal colors were pink instead of the purple but I changed them to go with my partners likings. In case you want to know I used DMC 554 instead of 224 and 553 instead of 3722. :)

F&S Exchange

I heard from Darla that she has received my Round 5 squares so I can finally show you all what I did for this round. I'm glad you liked them Darla, I had fun making them for you.

Also I spent my Monday designing a biscournu though I have not made it up yet and theres no pattern for the back side but if you all click on the right side, it will take you to the patterns I have designed, theres still one missing from there so I'll have to post it soon.

Have a good couple of days and I'll see you all again on Wednesday night.

Flower Biscournu Freebie

Flower Biscournu
click here for pattern

Collecting Shells

Okay so here she is after a few hours of working on her. Saturday I couldn't get anything stitched up and most of my Sunday was used up too. I had a busy weekend between the kids, DH and the housework. So I did manage though to get in some stitching time on her. I received the color I needed to fill in some spaces from my floss mom and then at the top, I am not sure how well you can see it but I did up a lot of the white.

Our family also adopted a bunny. They had him named cocoa but I am not sure if that is going to stay or not. Bunnies in Germany are considered exotic, which to me is strange to hear because in the states all pet shops have them. Anyway Cocoa is 4 years old I believe but his family wasn't able to take him when they left so i adopted him. I am owner number 3 for this little guy. His original owner had dogs that barked at him and pawed at him through the cage so he is skittish right now. I can hold him a little and pet him some but I am going to have to work with him to get him completely domesticated again.

Chinese Goddess Of Mercy and picture day

Okay so here is my oldest DD before she leaves for school. Today was picture day and her pics were at 1400 so I wanted to take a photo in case she messed up her hair while at school. She didn't do too bad though, but I'll have to wait for the proofs before I know how her pics came out. And in case you are wondering, thats a cheese stick in her hands. I took this pic out on the balcony before she left for school and I don't think it came out too bad considering it was a rainy and cloudy day. :)

And here is my chinese goddess of mercy after working on her yesterday and today. I worked on just the moon. I want to finish filling it in so I can be done with that page. I got a large amoutn of it completed and could finish over the wekend if I chose too but I have chosen an old WIP collecting shells as my Saturday and Sunday project. If blogger lets me, my rotation will be in one of the side bars. Not too many projects in it for now but some kind of rotation is better than none. So my goal will be to get at least 2 to 3 pages done this year.

My Lady Of the snow And Coffee Break

Okay here she is, there are some large spaces that use the sparklie thread mixed with a DMC thread so I thought I would do some parts that are just DMC before filling in with the sparklie stuff. The empty space above her hand is all beads which I will do last after all the stitching is complete. I would have had more done but all the white is boring me, so today and tomorrow I am going to spend doing Chinese Goddess of Mercy. I have come up with some kind of rotation for now but I might change it up later, we'll have to see how this works out.

And here is a little freebie I did up which i plan to finish into a biscournu, just not today. I don't feel like doing any finishing.

Thank you everyone for your concern of my recovery. I'm actually doing a lot better. I can walk about 1/2 mile now but my foot is still a bit swollen and needs some elevation and ice while I am at home. Next week the tapes come off of the incisions and I can take regular showers again! Yay! Right now I have to cover my leg with a garbage bag and put a rubber band around the top to keep the water out.

PIF Giifts

Ok so today I was finally able to get to the post office and mail out all my PIF gifts. I apologize to all of you for them being so late, its ridiculous but I had some money probs and had to wait them out until I could afford to mail out your gifts. But they are on their way now so be on the lookout!

Tomorrow I will show you all an update of my snow lady but I am seriously contemplating a rotation in hopes of getting progress on some of my other projects and there is also some I want to start too.

Thank you all for your comments and sweet wishes of fast healing. My smaller incision is finally closing up as of last night and has stopped bleeding finally. Though my larger incision and the area around hurts a lot. My younger DD pushed my older DD who then landed right on top of it. And with only getting 800mg Ibuprofen, its not killing the pain, only taking off the edge so I can somewhat function. But don't stress it, I'll be okay. :)

My Lady Of the snow And Round 5 received

I apologize for not posting sooner but I couldn't get to the computer before today. Okay so here is what I have completed of her over the past week. I know its next to nothing done. I also had to finish up my squares for Darla for Round 5 of the F&S Exchange. But as I thought I could stitch a bunch in the hospital I was wrong. There were complications during my surgery. Screws brok off in my bone and they had to cut a bigger incision and drill bigger holes to get all the metal out. They put me on some much anesthisia that I woke up at 1600 and was feeling so nauseas I just laid there trying not to throw up from the smell of dinner being brought in. I didn't eat Friday or Saturday I was so nauseated. By Sunday I was feeling better and the Dr said I could go home! But the trip on the crutches was painful and long as they wouldn't wheelchair me out. My foot was very swollen and the pain meds knocked me out. I was kind of that way all week until a few days ago. My foot still swells and it hurts my leg to walk. I am also under orders to do nothing but walk for the next 3 months! So much for my trip anytime soon.
Here is my Round 5 F&S Exchange from Darla. I love it! Thank you Darla! The chocolates are already gone too! I shared it with my 2 DD's and they loved it too. :) Monday I am mailing Darlas squares out too. I would have this week except I was put on sitting with my foot propped up orders for the entire week.

Love Letters

Love Letters

By Chocolate Cat

Started Feb 11, 2008

Completed Feb 13, 2008

14 count Blue Aida cloth

Well after seeing Dawns beautiful piece, I had to stitch one myself. Though mine has not been finished into anything as of yet and it will have to wait until next week. I still have to pack my weekend bag for my stay in the klinikum plus tonight is Daisy Scouts for Destiny and then by the time we get home dinner, shower, story, and bed for them. I sure hope the weekend goes by fast, at least for me. I have promises of lots of visitors too so we'll see how much stitching I get done. I am going to take My Lady of the Snow and my second square for the F&S Exchange. I still need to do up the labeling square so I can mail it off next week.

Yesterday Destiny's class had a Velentines day party and the teacher took some pictures so I'm sharing the one of our family. DH couldn't get off of work but the school nurse was there so she posed in the picture with us. Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

My Lady Of The Snow, tagged, and some Stash

Okay sorry for such the delay, I have been battling an ongoing migraine for almost 2 weeks now. But here is the stitching I have finished on her so far. The silver part in the blue is shiny petite braid I believe but I love how it stands out on the blue. Even DH says its looking pretty! LOL. The peach part is her hand and above that is suppose to be a ton of beads. I want to put this on my big hoop so I could put in the beads but am thinking otherwise and waiting to attach the beads last especially because I am thinking this will be the project i take to the hospital with me and its easier to work on the size 8 hoop I am using right now.

I am so sorry I haven't commented on your blogs lately but as I said before, this migraine is really bad. I have finally gotten it down some and am going to visit as many blogs as I can today. I want to thank you all for the comments you leave me, they really are inspiring. :)

I have been tagged by Nicole!

THE RULES:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post THE RULES on your blog.

3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

4. Tag 7 people and link to them.

5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

1. Okay I know I have posted this before but I'll do it again. My second and third toe join together making a V shape. Both my daughters also have this. Someone actually asked me if this affects the ability to walk, the answer is no it doesn't.

2. I taught myself how to do cross stitch except my older sister taught me the x's and I learned halfway through my first project that if all x's go the same direction it looks prettier. My older and younger sister only cross stitch every so often as I do it on a daily basis.

3. My mom never completes a cross stitch project. I took on her first one after the intended person it was to go to when completed passed away and now her second one, she has lost interest in and plans on giving it to me when she comes up in August and its a BAP

4. I can't wait for both my kids to be in school, I know most moms enjoy their little ones at home but I have one or both of them 24/7 and I really need a break.

5. My mom taught me the beginnings of crochet and from then on I try to learn everything I can on it as I do enjoy it.

6. I can't knit. I tried when I was 10 and then again when I was 15 and I just don't have the patience for it though I love how knitted stuff turns out

7. I can't crochet a sock to save my life, its too hard or complicated for me. I need how to crochet socks for dummies, lol.

Okay 7 people....

1. Carol

2. Dawn

3. Dani

4. San

5. Chiloe

6.Vonna

7. Natty

Also here is some stash Sue sent to me. She was giving away some stash for free to good homes of those she no longer had interest in or would never do. I fell in love with the heart warmers snowman bellpull and also asked for the cute mother and daughter alphabet and then to my wonderful surprise she also included these 2 cute wizzers ornaments. Thank you Sue!

My Lady Of The Snow and Snowmen!

Well over the weekend I completed my F&S exchange square but still need to do up the name, date, and country one which maybe I'll do tomorrow. So I got startitis and so after digging through my stash for a bit I decided that since My lady of the snow has been kitted up for a year now that I should start that one. So before I go to sleep tonight I just wanted to show you my progress. Its not much since using Treasure Braid thread slows down my stitching and I started in the middle of the pattern and that began with a blend of Treasure Braid and DMC thread. I am using the suggested fabric since I like the way it looks. Its 28 count Jobelan 'Lightening Strike' by Polstitches. Anyway heres about 3 hours of progress:



Okay now onto my excitement. Vermillion stitchery has chosen a Snowman theme for their 2008 series! Woohoo! I think I am going to put down My lady of the Snow and stitch up January's snowman. February isn't out yet but hopefully soon.

Altoid Tin finish

Joy Abounds by Lynne Herzberg

The Gift Of Stitching Magazine November 2006

Started: January 24, 2008

Finished: January 25, 2008

stitched using 32 count white Opalescent Linen

Red Heart Plum Pudding Yarn used on base

Okay since destiny is now 6 years old. She has had a serious interest in stitching and is doing a great job with her x's so I decided its time to make her, her own little tin to hold her needles and scissors. She picked out this design herself and i stitched it for her and put this together. I was going to do a blue and brown theme for her but she then decided she wanted the base covered in pink and purple so I stitched it up using some leftover yarn since I don't have any ribbon. It looks really odd to me but she loves it so I guess its alright.

I am now working on my Round 5 Fair and Square exchange which I hope to complete over the weekend. I am also mailing out all my late PIF gifts in a few weeks before I go to the Klinikum for my leg surgery. Its just to remove all the metal from my leg from when i broke my leg in 3 places. Theres a long rod, a plate and 13 screws getting removed. I opted to be completely knocked out for this since I had a bad experience before with a spinal. I go in Friday 15th at 0700 and on Monday 18th they should release me. DH is having a 4 day weekend that weekend so he can be home with the girls. And yes I am going to take some stitching with me so I can stitch for 3 days straight!

Have a Great Weekend!

Stitching, Crocheting, and life

Here is the blanket I have been working on. Its a little over 1/4 completed. So maybe by winter 2008 it will be finished?And here is the set of Fingerless Mittens I made in this super soft pink yarn Dawn had sent to me but it had no wrapper on it so I don't know what kind of yarn it was.
And here is the little bit of stitching I was able to do. Her hair is complete and I am now working on her dress. The empty squares you see currently through her dress is a DMC color I don't have and when I purchased the floss for this chart using the color list on the back, this color wasn't there so it had a misprint which I now have to order.

And in my life:

I apologize for being gone so long. My DH and I had decided on a divorce and then with me being upset and all we were pulled into his 1st SGT's office and I found out my DH was on leave for a month and for 2 weeks had been lying to me about it. He claims he spent his days at the CAC center and working on his car. Anyway with all this I was ready to pull Destiny out of school and move back home ASAP. But after the meeting with his 1st SGT we sat down and talked and he actually told me how he was feeling and all and I got the truth from him. And then we figured out it was all a misunderstanding and so now we are no longer divorcing. So we spent these last 2 weeks of his vacation working things out and re discovering our love for each other. DH also went to do a bowling tournament and won! He won $98 and a 3 day trip for 2 to Switzerland and Austria! I'm excited. He has to get his passport first before we can go but then we are going to get a babysitter and go. We also are going to a marriage retreat sometime in the beginning of February. Children can go and daycare is free and thats also for 3 days. So it looked like everything was smoothing back out again. On this past Wednesday DH and I went to the Klinikum to schedule my surgery to remove all the metal from my leg from when i broke it in 3 places in July 2006 when we get a phone call from Social Services saying they want to see us Friday as there is a complaint I don't give Destiny her insulin in the mornings before school. So I spent the rest of the week too angry to do any craft let alone sit down for 5 minutes. We spoke with the principal at the school and the nurse, turns out it was her teacher who called because my daughter who hates to wear socks showed up a few times without them and a few times she hadn't eaten breakfast. And instead of coming to us with her problems Destiny's teacher immediately called Social services which she told us she does not need to go through the parents for any problems. And her TA tony said he would report any problems for any child to SS so I asked him do you ask every child if they have eaten breakfast? Do you check every child to make sure they have socks on too? He refused to answer me but stated he wasn't prejudice against my family though everyone says this sure looks to be prejudice against us. So Friday at 1400 we showed up and I filled out a huge stack of repitive paperwork and after Mrs Kelly spoke with each of us alone she came to the conclusion that the accussation was false and we told her what the teacher said and she wants to have a meeting with the principal and this teacher as she even believes all problems should go to the parents first. We meet with her one more time this Friday to hand her paperwork stating the days and times we have seen her off post Dr for the last 3 months and for him to put Destiny is doing good. The lack of insulin claim was immediately tossed into the waste basket. Also my DH's 1st SGT advised us to report this teacher and TA to DODDs, ICE, and the Garrison commander. We plan too. :)

Kiley went to Audiology today and has something green like a bead stuck in her ear so an ENT has to remove it. And then she goes to get retested. The initial test was her left ear passed barely and the one with the bead in it, well the Dr couldn't get that eardrum to even move but said it could be because of the bead. So tomorrow I make the appointment with the off post ENT and then she can go back to the Audiology Dr and hopefully we get good news but for now we get a lot of "huh?" "What?" from poor little Kiley.

Now since DH and the kids are out bowling for another 2 hours, I am going to try and catch up on all your blogs

Sweater Completed and Collecting Shells WIP

Okay on Friday night I could proudly say I finished Kileys hoodie sweater so now both girls have matching outfits. You can also see Ruby had to watch the girls pose for the picture too, lol. Take a look:



So then after a week of crocheting I really needed to do some cross stitching and so I went and dug into my stash to see what inspired me. I felt like working on Collecting Shells and so I worked on her hair, none of it was done except maybe 2 or 3 stitches of her hair and so here is what I completed over Saturday and Sunday. This is also the one I chose for the TOl challenge which was to complete 1 WIP or UFO at least a year old. Well I started this one when Destiny was only a few months old which makes it 6 years old.

PIF from Carol and Kiley's Sweater

Here is one of her sleeves awaiting to be attached which I'll do tonight.
Anfd here is the front and back completed and attached to each other, I know its not much yet, theres still a border to be put on which is done last after the sleeves and hoodie.

And here is the wonderful PIF I received from Carol yesterday, I just couldn't take a picture yet since the DH had the camera. Thank you Carol its wonderful!

Heart Magnets and WIP sweater

Heres what I completed the other night of the hoodie sweater for Kiley. I made Destiny the same one using the same colors in Sept 2007. The front two strips are the front of the sweater and the loose squares are the start of the back piece. I need 25 for the entire back and as of last night I have all the squares completed and so my goal tonight is to get them pieced together and attached to the front two pieces. Then I can start on the arms and then the hoodie and then the border so with any luck you'll see the finished product by Saturday.

Crocheted Heart Magnets
Red Heart yarn

Completed: January 05, 2008

Free Pattern is here

Well my weekend was eventful. We all received free tockets to the circus here at the Arena. So they called us 1 hour before it was to start so I had to rush and get the kids ready while DH grabbed the tickets and we got there in time. Destiny was hungry but they didn't have anything there she would eat so DH promised her McD's if her and her sister would behave. So they did and we got McD's for dinner. The next morning we all woke up with food poisioning. Destiny had it so bad she was vomiting every 5 minutes. It took 3 doses of Vomex to get her to stop. She was so week I had to bath her, dress her and carry her to bed. she wouldn't eat or drink so I was checking her sugar more often than I normally do, thankfully with small insulin doses through out the day she remained in the normal levels. By Sunday we were all doing better. Thankfully Destiny was able to be at school on their first day back form winter break. And I was able to babysit lil Toby for 12 hours today, its going to be that way all week until he is able to start at his daycare place on the 14th. Thankfully I am getting paid for this. So tell me what are the first thoughts of when you think circus? Mine were animal and people doing hard stunts and bending in ways that people don't normally bend and even a bearded lady. Well, Europes version is a guy reappearing and disappearing and pulling out women in tiny outfits out of a box. Though they had 2 seals come out and balance a ball on their noses and the magic guy made a tiger appear in a little cage which he then opened and petted the tiger. No other animals. Nothing really exciting except the 3 motorcyclist in a little ball on the wall. Anyway here is a few pictures of our circus experience:

This one he gets in abox and theres glass on top of him and then a sheet is pulled tight over and he magically appears on top of the glass.

These 2 made me laugh, they reminded me of those cartoons where 2 people did the most stupid stuff but it was funny.

These guys did basic gymnastict moves, things your HS would do, nothing impressive.The seals and their trainer. The brown one didn't really want to do anything

Bday/Xmas Club and Fair and Square Exchange

Here is the wonderful exchange I received from Jenna as she was my sender for the Birthday/xmas club. I love all the pretty flosses and I am showing you both sides of her pretty biscournu she sent and then theres the stitched piece that for the life of me I cannot remember what its called. She also sent me a gift certificate to Patternsonline. Thank you Jenna!

And I also received my squares from Vicki for Round 4 of the Fair and Square Exchange. I love this square! As you all know I love snowmen and this piece is just too cute. Thank you so much Vicki!

Daisy charity square

I made this square up last night. Its my first one and its for a charity group. The pattern is free here if anyone is interested. The owner of the group pieces each of these squares together to create an Afghan and she donates them.

TOL Sampler Part 6

Wow I got behind on this one. Our last part which was part 10 was given to us in October and I barely finished part 6 today. I am starting to use a blue in Part 7 and am seriously thinking about using it also for the words. It really bugs me that they are so light.

Stitchy Stuff and the end of the year

Here is my Fair and square exchange to Vicki. She received it so now I can show my final cross stitch piece for the year. She loves birds so I knew I had to do this freebie from Vermillion stitchery It was so much fun to do.

Also in the year 2008 I plan to start or try a new hobbie. I want to try scrapbooking. I don't know that I will post the pages up on here or not.

In the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! See you in 2008!

Completed Projects through 2007

Okay all in I finished:

10 crochet projects: pincushion, hat, bag, hoodie sweater, barbie dress, stuffed bear and elephant, and 3 magnets

27 cross stitch projects:

4 rounds of the Fair and Square exchange, 2 bookmarks, 4 scissor fobs, 2 needlebooks, 1 biscournu, 8 Ornaments, 5 Medium Projects, 1 large project which should be finished early January 2008 and 1 BAP which may be another few years till its completed.

All in all I think I got a lot done in 2007, how did your year go?

Christmas 2007

Newsboy Cap Finished! And xmas slide

Newsboy Cap

Red Heart Super Saver yarn

Country Blue

Started: July 02- 06, 2007 Completed: December 27 -28, 2007

Okay I know my stitcher friends that you have seen a lot of crocheting as of lately. But I have been going through my stash and pulling out those projects that need completing. This hat, I had made the diamond shapes but then put it away so last night I found it and decided to put them together and finish off the hat. Its an adult size but I had no other female around to model it for me. Maybe tonight I can get my DH to snap a picture of me in it.

Okay time to go see what I am going to work on next. :)

Etsy shop Now Open!

Okay well after the holidays and all, I have some bills in need of paying and Ruby needs to go to the vet and get fixed so I am going through my stash and will be selling things I no longer have interest in doing. I'll be adding a little bit each day so please do keep checking. I put the link in my sidebar -------------------------->>>
I'm also thinking of crocheting some things too for those who don't know how or don't want to crochet. I take requests too. :)