Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas + Catching Up


I wish you all the merriest of Christmases surrounded by friends, family and fun. I had hoped to come back to my little blog space earlier but as you can imagine, life just does not slow down no matter how much I think it might. It has been mostly fun and I cannot believe tomorrow is Christmas Day. It's finally here!

In case anyone was curious, I did not end up going to SantaCon the weekend before last. The weather here was terrible...40's and rainy. Ugh...terrible weather to be traipsing all about San Francisco dressed up in a cheap red felt Santa costume. So I bailed and am kind of relieved I did. Instead, I hung out with my stitching group at a friend's house, eating yummy food and drinking red wine in the warmth and comfort of a glorious home while stitching my little heart out and chitchatting. I had an amazing time and even made progress on my Pumpkins. So much so that I finally finished it yesterday afternoon. About time!!
I think it came out really cute. Stitched as directed on 32 count Antique Ivory Belfast. But wow, was it a lot of stitching!

So IHSW was stitching on Pumpkins at stitch group on Saturday. Sunday was a blur of dim sum, coffee plans and socialness in the city that by the time I got home, all I could do was lie down and stare at the tv. Being so social is tiring! I'm exhausted. :)

But I did take a snap of my TUSAL...here with my Christmas tree snowglobe.
All the threads at the top are from Pumpkins with some frogging I had to do. Thankfully it wasn't much. I am so happy that Daffycat is continuing TUSAL next year. I can only hope I am better about posting on time. I just love seeing the colors change in my jar and it's validation that I did manage to stitch even if it's not as much as I would have liked. I did realize this year that I don't have as many Christmas decorations as Halloween ones so my goal next year is to stitch Christmas smalls in between BAPs so I can put out a few more stitchy things. Looks slim pickings this year since I have no tree so hence, my ornies are packed away.
Since I finished Pumpkins, I pulled Jane Pattison out of my wips basket and slapped her on the stitching stand. I hope to stitch faster this year. I didn't take a photo since it's just more green border but that pine border sure is fun to stitch at Christmastime!

I was a lucky girl last week as I won Melanie's giveaway and she sent me some Christmas goodies!
How fabulous! A BBD stocking pattern, cute little ort container and a snowman bead. Love it all...especially the card. Thank Melanie. I love it all!

And to those who sent me cards, thank you so much! It has really lifted my spirits to receive cards and be able to post them on my door and look upon them from my stitching nest.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank you for your visits and friendship over the years. I am forever grateful to this blogging community for its kindness and support. Much love and hugs.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pumpkins turned out GREAT! I love pumpkins and yours are just adorable.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas with lots and lots of stitching time in 2013.

Giovanna said...

Congrats on the lovely pumpkin finish. And a very Merry Christmas to you!

Anonymous said...

Best wishes, Valerie!!!

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Your finished pumpkins looks great, you're so right though it is a lot of stitching. Have a wonderful Christmas Valerie.

Myra said...

Your pumpkins look great Merry Christmas!

Margaret said...

Love your Pumpkins finish! Beautiful! Looking forward to seeing Jane. Congrats on the giveaway win! I hope you have a happy Christmas!

Ariadne said...

Merry Christmas!Enjoy the holidays!AriadnefromGreece!

Melissa said...

Merry Christmas, Valerie!

(I'm afraid you've got the rain that we've been having here too!)

Catherine said...

Wonderful goodies. Have a wonderful Christmas!!

Chris said...

Merry Christmas Valerie!
Lovely finish. I am looking forward to seeing an update on Jane!!

Kiri said...

Merry Christmas! Your pumpkins look great and I just have to say that I love that tree snowglobe!

Cole said...

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas Valerie!

Julie said...

Pumpkins is a wonderful finish.
I hope you have had an enjoyable Christmastime. Xx

Anne said...

Yay!! You finished pumpkins!! Such an adorable and cute "little" design. I can see that was a lot of stitching, but it turned out perfectly. Can't wait to see some of your vine progress on Jane Pattison. I really love that sampler. Lovely gifts from Melanie! Those little ort containers are darling! Merry Christmas to you! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Jeanne said...

Happy holidays Valerie..I'm still trying to get around to all the blogs on my list before the holidays are over. I hope you had a good Christmas and congrats on your "Pumpkins" progress. Hope you have a great New Year and lots of stitchy fun in the new year!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Congratulations on your Pumpkins finish! Its fantastic (and about time ;-))

Hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!

Melanie said...

*mwah*
Hope you had a great Christmas!!! :)

Carol said...

Love your pumpkin finish, Valerie--it's nice to wind down the year with a finish, isn't it... And congratulations on Melanie's giveaway win, too. That little snowman bead is so adorable!!

My son and his girlfriend went to SantaCon in NYC--crazy kids :) Glad you decided not to go--no sense in risking getting sick at this time of year...

Wishing you a new year filled with lots of love and laughter, good health and happiness, my friend!