Thanks and a Question

Thanks for all the nice compliments and comments on my Snapper Year! Wow! I'm so overwhelmed! That was almost as much as my blog anniversary giveaway last year! I am really happy with them. Thank you, thank you. I did get all annoyed over it this past weekend though because my apartment manager, who is a nice helpful guy, is also an opinionated "I am right" type of guy and he convinced *the boy* that where I wanted it hung was not a good spot. So when I got home on Saturday, it was still not hung and still isn't today. I don't really think I have to justify where I put things in my own apartment. So, I'm kind of annoyed. Mind you, I've been cranky and punchy for the past week as well because...it's just that time of the month. Fact of the matter is, I have plans for most of the walls in my apartment...I'm just slow in making the reality happen. I will probably get it all perfect and then have to move! Oh wait...positive thinking...got to think positive. =D

So onto my question. As most of you know, I'm diligently working on a gift and it's really all I've been working on because I've been very deadline conscious about it. My goal is/was the end of this month but I know that's unlikely now. I mean...there's only two nights and two days of stitching time left! I'm about 85% done with it which is very good but I am rapidly running out of silk! Oh noes! I definitely do not have enough to complete the project. I saw this coming and went to my LNS and ordered more silk because the LNS was out of stock. The silk has come in and I'm planning on stopping by on Saturday to pick it up but I am worried that the new silk/dye lot will be noticeable different. Really, I'm kind of freaked out. Has anyone had any experience of one skein of Gloriana being completely different from another?

I was wondering if anyone out in blogland has the same color silk in the same dyelot in their stash that isn't spoken for any particular project. I know this is a long shot but then I know I've done everything I can other than call every needlework shop in America. I'm crazy but not that crazy. So I'm looking for a skein of Gloriana silk in Cranberry (color #062), Lot T37/3289. If you have one, please let me know. Please, please, please...it's for a special gift! I can exchange for another skein of Cranberry or another color, trade for something else or just pay outright. If not, I'll just wish really hard that those skeins waiting for me at the LNS are a close match.

I'll come back to share some stitching, whether sneak peeks or otherwise, over the weekend. For now, I'm off to stitch until I run out of silk!

Thanks for the comments and looking in your stash...

Until next time...

Tease

As promised, I've returned with show and tell but am being a tease and only showing one of the two pieces I got framed by Jill. I probably should have mentioned that these are not extravaganzas like the Letter G I got framed. In fact, after I received Letter G, I emailed Jill gushing over her talent and then asked if she could do "simple". She said she could and to send whatever I wanted framed to her. So I did! I decided to send on my Bent Creek Snapper Year and Plum Street Samplers Christmas Tea.

Here's Christmas Tea:
I liked how the model looked so much on the pattern that I wanted to frame it exactly as pictured. That was harder than I thought though because Jill didn't have any moulding that matched the one in the photo and I couldn't find it online anywhere.

Then out of the blue, I received an email from Sharon Crescent about some old duplicate magazines I was unloading that I posted on a message board and lo and behold...we traded! Yay! I was so happy! Off went the frame to Jill and ta-da! I'm quite pleased with it and I haven't even seen it in person! The package came Monday but since the housecleaner was coming today, I didn't want to make a mess or have things in her way of cleaning. Yea, I know...I'm weird.

This was stitched with the recommended fibers but I changed the color of fabric to Lakeside Linens Tundra because I liked the silvery-blue effect.

I'll come back with Snapper Year. *The boy* is playing photographer and this piece is very hard to capture due to it's size. So...I'll be back! :)

Snapper Year Reveal!

Ugh, *the boy* is a bad photographer! He falls asleep in the middle of his photo shoot! I had to steal the camera and try to pick the best photos. Seeing as I leave early and get home late, it's practically impossible for me to take photos of anything during the week. Here are the best photos of the now framed Snapper Year! (all photos should be clickable!)

Wannabe artistic side angle with lots of glare
And close up of frame detailThis piece is really hard to photograph and show it the justice it deserves. It's just so big and now that it's framed, it measures 12" x 47". It was a huge, huge box that got delivered and I was very happy I didn't have to drag that box up my three flight of stairs. Thank goodness for apartment managers! lol

I LOVE it though! I originally told Jill I was looking for a colorful frame...but she emailed me with this moulding choice saying that it just seemed meant to be what with the leaves and swirls that matched the leaves and swirls in the stitched border. I had to agree and I am so glad that I did! The warm cocoa tones in the frame really brought out the warm "caffe latte" tones of the linen in person. I am so happy to have this sucker stitched and framed. Now the task to hang it...I have to rig things with fishing line and moulding hooks so I don't make holes in the plaster walls. It's challenging...I think Ill have the apartment manager do it while *the boy* is around...they can both talk each others ears off and I can keep stitching!

Thanks for all the nice comments on Christmas Tea!! I am really loving it! I was going to put it in my bookcase with a little japanese tea set I have but *the boy* is trying to convince me to hang it in the dining room because of the "come to my table" reference in the piece. I can't decide so for now, I've left it on the chair near me so I can enjoy it. Decisions are not my forte!

I am feeling rather glum. Why is it that when you have big plans with your money, other things come up?! In my case, I'm seriously shopping for a new sofa and snuggler. As I suspected, I owe taxes but I owe 60% more than I anticipated! I have no idea why and am considering making an appointment with an accountant to understand and make sure I set up my W-4 correctly so this doesn't happen again for this tax year. Then, on the way home from Valentine's Day dinner, *the boy* goes "uh-oh, the check engine light came on". I am hypervigilant about the car since it's old and my only way of getting around. After some research, we came up with three possible scenarios of what was wrong and took it to the mechanic. Of course, of the three issues, the car has the most serious and expensive problem! I suppose that's the risk when driving a 13 year old car. After being without a car for two days, the part is now on order and the car will go back to the mechanic next week. Between the taxes and the car repair, I am out the amount of money I would have used to buy the sofa and snuggler. You know what that means...no new furniture for a little while. Argh! It's hard to fulfill the positive thinking goal when your car and Uncle Sam are sucking you dry! Wah! I'm going to go drown my sorrows in stitching. Thank goodness I have enough stash to pull be through this dry slump!

Okiedoke, hope everyone is having a good week!

Until next time...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

I did not have huge expectations for Valentine's Day this year as *the boy* is still technically unemployed and isn't due his first paycheck until mid-March and he is scraping pennies since his unemployment ran out months ago and EDD is slow on appeals. That's ok. We're going out to a nice dinner thanks to a gift certificate he bought at half-price months and months ago and that's fine by me.

We wakes up *way* before me. This morning, when I got up and went to the front room, I bypassed the kitchen and saw a bouquet of roses, card and small box of chocolates on my dining table. I did a double take and asked how he managed to sneak that stuff in! He snuck clothes into the hallway closet last night and woke up at 7am. While I was sleeping, he snuck into the hallway to change and snuck out of the house and walked to the nearby grocery store! I'm surprised I slept through it all but most nights I sleep with earplugs. What a sneaky boy! He says there were loads of guys out trying to pick out flowers and cards too. Hmmm....
He also said he'll be stuck eating tuna this week! haha Good thing we have a stocked pantry. Neither of us will starve! After slowly waking up, *the boy* made me a pancake breakfast and we headed to Costco. Normally, I need a valium (joking) before or after any Costco run but it was very quiet there today...although I got the usual sticker shock at the register.

It's also time to report on my TUSAL. Here's my jar modeling with our cards.
and a rather dark close-up...notice all the red threads!
I've been gift stitching every spare moment I have. I'm only about 40% done with it but I'm enjoying the process thus far. I'm only showing sneak peeks because the recipient peeks here every so often.
Hope everyone enjoys their day!

Until next time...

P.S. I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for my delivery from Jill Rensel scheduled for tomorrow. I'll be sure to share my framing soon. So excited!!

The House That I Built

So I'm back a day later that I thought. Let me tell you something...furniture shopping is really tiring!

Friday, we ordered chinese delivery and I stitched my little heart out. I built this house.
This is a sneak peek of part of the gift I am stitching. I think it's cute! The windows need to be backstitched but I am holding off on that until I finish all the cross stitches because I am fearful I'll run out of the Gloriana I am using and all the stores near me are out and let's not even get on the topic of dye-lots, etc. I hope I make it to the end! Hmmm...looking at this pic, I realize I missed a stitch...

Saturday, I made my pitstop at NiaH and had my list with all the fabric, threads, accessories and charts I was looking for and sadly, almost everything I wanted was out of stock! I walked away with this small collection.
Some black belfast for some ornies I will be making later in the year, some WDW for another project I plan to start late Summer and the dowel I think I will be using for the end result of the gift I am making.

And the kicker is that while I was shopping, *the boy* said he was going to go for a walk and I had to remind him not to walk far since we'd do more walking. So I shopped and was pretty much done fast but he hadn't come back yet and so I did more circles around the shop and he still didn't show up. I checked out and you know where I found him?! Asleep in the car!? We'd have gotten a move-on sooner if I had known that! *sigh*

The we hit four furniture shops. We sat down and got up like a million times and by the end of the day, I couldn't bear to get up one more time and was a log on the futon for a good part of the evening. *The boy* fell asleep the minute we got back home and he laid down. How does he do that?! The only times I nap is when I'm sick or incredibly exhausted! I think I am set on a Lane Snuggler and a Flexsteel sofa. I was disappointed to find out Lane doesn't really manufacture Snuggler and stationary sofa combos hence the mixing and matching. I still have more shops and research to do but that's the road I'm headed.

Sunday, I headed out for girly pampering and while I was at Hallmark picking up the month's selections of cards, I came across a display of Peanuts paraphernalia celebrating their 60th Anniversary and came across this cute little trinket. There were 4 to choose from and even though I wanted all of them, this one made me laugh out loud! It has a place of honor in the bookcase.
OK, this is getting pretty long but I have a couple of other things to share.

First off, thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment and share in our happiness. *The boy* came by and read all the comments and says thank you for the congratulations and good thoughts. I think he realizes that there were really people everywhere who were rooting for him and us and you all have been a great support system over the past year. For reals! He's also very happy I didn't chuck him off the balcony. haha He doesn't start until the Monday after next as they conclude his background and get things set up for him. His position is an entirely new one...not him replacing someone.

Second, Hillery pointed out I didn't share I am the new moderator to the Mary Wigham USA SAL blog. I didn't want to take away to *the boy's* news. So I'm the new moderator and I'm hoping to get everyone all excited to stitch on their Mary's and share. Of course, I do this transition when I am solely gift stitching and Mary is yelling at me every night. What a contradiction, right?! I am stitching as fast as I can on these gifts so I can return to my Mary. I can't wait! I hope everyone is stitching on their Marys! And if you want to join in on the fun, there's one spot left and I can start up a waiting list if anyone is interested! Just email me and let me know.

Thanks for sticking with me and this long post. I better peel off...I need to draw up *the boy's* to do list (taking full advantage of the time before he starts working full days) and figure out if I owe Uncle Sam and money or he owes me. I betcha...I owe him! And if I can stitch a little bit, that will really round out the day.

Until next time...

Huge News!!

I have wonderful news to share after a week and a half absence.

1. *The boy* and I went to the doctor's yesterday for his follow up appointment. After waiting for two hours in the eclectic waiting room of a county-run hospital, we were finally ushered into the exam room. *The boy* was nervous and anxious and basically driving me crazy as I reassured him it was highly unlikely they'd say he'd need another surgery if he was actually walking around without pain at this point. We finally heard the news we wanted and needed to hear. After one year and fifteen days, *the boy's* leg is finally 100% healed!!

Frickin' about time! Oh, did I say that out loud?

2. After three weeks and one day, *the boy* was offered a job...with a company that will pay well...and one he really, really, really was hoping to work for. I just got home, heard the news and we had a champagne toast. I'll be happily drunk by the end of the night! He's accepted the offer. Now to hear when his official 1st day of work will be.

Can I say frickin' about time again? Yea, really!!

These two things are huge! I really think that things will slowly get better and times will get happier. It's hard to be in a relationship with someone who is disabled and unemployed. Now he's completely fine and employed and we can do fun stuff like nice dinners out, weekend trips, theater and all that stuff that money buys.

The last couple of weeks have been rough. *The boy's* been sick and anxious and freaking out...a total pain in the ass. He's been driving me nuts. One more week and I may have thrown him off my little balcony. For reals!

I'll come back with some stitching photos. I figure if I snap sneak peeks of the gift I'm making for my sister, it'll be ok. I can't stand not sharing!

This weekend will be the Superbowl sale at NiaH, furniture shopping and Superbowl stitching...uh watching. Oh who am I kidding, stitching with the occasional "huh, what happened!?".

On the furniture shopping, I came across a chair and a half recliner. OMG! I want one! Does anyone have one? They are sometimes called Snugglers or Cuddlers but it's a huge recliner with room for two people. *The boy* and I fit in one so it'll be nice for movie watching and cuddling and would be my primary stitching spot. If you have one, would love to hear about it.

I'll be back later this weekend with show and tell.

Enjoy the weekend...and for you mid-westerners and east coasters...watch out for the snowstorms! Stay warm and cozy!

Until next time...