A Sunday Snippet

I am bettween a hockey practice and a hockey game - home getting my exercise in and reading my blogs - so I thought I would also take this opportunity to post. Yesterday morning I did have a Happy Dance - I finished "Trick or Treat"!!!! I am so excited...but ashamed (whip me with a strand of Krenik #8 braid) because I haven't taken the opportunity to take a picture of it. So, I definitely owe you all that - and will try to do that by tomorrow. 
Yesterday, while we were without early morning hockey - it was busy! I utilized the morning to get things done that we just haven't had an opportunity to do...like, get the boys haircut...make sure that Matthew got to the library to get the book on our "hold" shelf...go to Jo-Ann Fabrics in order to get the perfect backing to Trick or Treat (I think that I am going to make it into a pillow). So by the time all our errands were run, it was time for lunch and then time to head to Matthew's hockey game (he had a 4:00pm game - unfortunately they lost 4-0...oh, well - we are still playing exhibition games).
Today - Sunday - both boys had an early morning practice: 6:15am for Robert (older son) and 7:00am for Matthew (younger son)...and then this afternoon, Robert has an exhibition game.

Yes...it is a crazy life we lead, but I wouldn't change anything!

Thank you for visiting and I will see you back here tomorrow and be able to greet you with a photo of "Trick or Treat".

Have a great Sunday and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Trick or Treat - update

Trick or Treat

Smell my feet

Give me something good to eat

I am sorry...not a pleasant way to start Sunday morning. I thought I would post a photo of the status of "TorT". Doing one letter at a time, including the back stitching, really makes the project go quickly. After taking the photo last night before I went to bed, I got a little of the E (in trEat) started. This continues to be a really fun stitch - with bring colors and a whimisical feel. The glow in the dark Krenik is really cool too! Last night, I let is sit in the light for a few minutes and then took in my sons' rooms (when I went to tell them good-night) and when I turned off the light, anywhere the GitD thread was used, it actually glowed. "That's cool, mom!" Matthew (youngest) yelled.

Here is a close up of "K" and Witchy Poo (do you remember H.R. Pufinstuf and Jimmie & his magical flute named Freddy? - I know, this dates me).The letter "K" contains some of the confetti Krienk #8 braid. I am also finding this fun to us and if I manipulate it as I stitch, sometime flecks of blue stick out and sometime it is the yellow that stands out.

And here is a close up of the "A" and the "T". The pattern in the magazine does have an error...on the top of the "A" there were a few symbols for the electric blue color - but I just followed my gut feeling, as well as the color picture that accompanied the pattern. A little electric blue would have not looked correct on the candy corn "A" (I love candy corns...did you know that they now make them in chocolate flavors?)! I am not totally happy with the witch's cat - his eyes look droopy. The glow-in-the-dark Krenik didn't cross perfectly on the right eye, but I assume since he is stuck being a witch's cat, he might not be too happy. For I have heard that some witch's cats are not treated very well...so maybe he is somewhat sad. The squares in the "T" are satin stitched instead of crossed - and I like the way it turned out adding a little "extra-special-something" for that letter. I almost wish that I would have satin stitched the white squares in the "I"...oh, well.

I believe that I will be done with this very soon. Today I will be taking Matthew (younger son) to his hockey practice this morning...which just happens to be located somewhat near my LNS...Needle in a Haystack. So, I might just have to run over there after practice and after lunch. I really don't need anything (do we really ever need anything?) but it is hard to be that close and not go (for NiaH is about 35 miles or so from where I live). 

As far as the "little procedure" I had on Friday morning...it went well and I seem to be recoving pretty well. Thank you very much for the very kind comments left on Fridays entry. It means a lot to me. As I have said manytimes, I am still very overwhelmed how close we all seem to get by just blogging. I have found myself reaching out to many of you more so than some of my close friends...interesting, huh?

Well...I will leave you now and hope you have a wonderful Sunday! 

Remember to Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

 

Show and Tell..."yes" we have some photos

Well, as promised, here is a photo of "Trick or Treat" - I am all the way to the "k".

And here are some close ups of the detail. I love the way the letters and the little characters look when they are outlined (backstitched) in black. It really makes the design "pop".

My favorite letter so far is the C...the 'man in the moon'.

So - there you go...I kept my promise :)

Now, another quick show and tell. Throughout the month of September Cameo held a daily give-a-way, kind of a great opportunity for her to do some stash cleaning and some of us to increase our stash. Today I received my package of all the winnings I won. It was like Christmas.

So that is my "Show and Tell" for you today.

Hope your Wednesday is going well...got to go finish folding laundry before the boys get home.

Lisa

Saturday's Stitching Update, Stash Weakness and a Salute to Friendship

I thought I would start our today's post with a update on my progress on "Trick-or-Treat". It is coming along as I am working on the "C" which is a man-in-the-moon. As soon as I get that done, I will go back and back stitch the I an the C before moving on to the K. Since Halloween is (somewhat) around the corner, I am hoping to get a lot of work done on this over the weekend. However, I might have to make a trip into my "not so" LNS because the Krenik Glow in the Dark seems to be running low already and I would hate to run out before it is done. I did run to another needlework store that is local. It is called 2 the Point. This shop specializeds in Needle point - but they do have a wonderful selection of threads. When I need to satisfy my craving for color and thread, I drive down to this store and just walk around the perimeter of the store looking at all the thread. Unfortunately I experienced low will power yesterday during my visit - for while I was only going there to look for some glow in the dark Krenik, I happed to spy:

1. A new magnetic accessory keeper by a company called Namaste. The outside has sort of a soft leather/vinyl feel. There is a little snap on the outside...and on the inside, there is a suade like covering over magnet. So it holds needles, scissors and any other accessories you might have. I chose the color eggplant (kind of a purply color). (note: the scissors and other accessories I already had in my stash...didn't go that crazy

2. Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art - a couple new colors: Grasshopped and Mistletoe...but then I felt the need to pick up a few other colors that would be good for Christmas ornaments.

It was a nice little fix to my stash craving, but I still need the glow-in-the dark color for Trick-or-Treat, for they were out of it.

It has been a crazy week, so I am glad that it is the weekend. But as DH mentioned last night - we always get a stunned chuckle from friends and family when we tell them that we actually wake up earlier on the weekends then we do on the weekdays. For the last couple of weekends, Robert (older son) has had practices on the weekends either starting at 6:15am or 8:00am. Which means that we need to get up at 4:30 in the morning (that is when I make the waffles or pancakes, good thing to fill the belly before practice) for breakfast and packing the hockey gear up; then DH & son have to leave around 5 to be down at the rink by 5:45am. At least with an early practice, we will have the rest of the day to do something. However, Robert does have a backpack filled with homework, which he will need to work on today because tomorrow is another practice (followed by off-ice workout and another ice time - thus he will not get back home until 2:30). And my younger son, Matthew...well he has practice but not until Sunday night. But he is in desperate need for tennis shoes, so I guess a trip to the shoe shop is on my agenda for sometime this weekend.

As I said, it was a crazy week. Actually life has been a little strange lately. Not only have I been busy with work, supporting the kids' school work and dealing with hockey stuff...but there has been some personal things going on which just make one grateful for what you have and the love/support of family and friends. So, I am going to close this post with a couple of writings - and remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often! Lisa

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible
comfort of feeling safe with a person;
having neither to weigh thoughts nor
measure words, but to pour them
all out, chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand will take
and sift them, keep what is worth
keeping, and then, with
the breath of kindness,
blow the rest away.

George Eliot

The most I can do for my friends is simply to be their friend.  I have no
wealth to bestow upon them.  If they know that I am happy in loving them,
they will want no other reward.  Is not friendship divine in this?

Henry David Thoreau

WIPs...RRs...and other things.

It is Saturday...yahoo! I haven't been able to update my blog as much as I wanted to this week - after getting back home from Minnesota, I got hit with the cold that the majority of the players and parents (who went on the trip) came down with; so, it just took me some time to catch up with life. It just seems that now that I am over the 40 year mark, it takes me a little longer to recoup for such travel. Why is that?

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some photos of some of my stitching projects that I have been working on this week. First up is "Trick-or-Treat". The last photo I posted was the T and R without any backstitching. I received some supportive comments which suggested backstitching as I go. So I took that advice and here is what it looks like:

Thank you for the suggestion...now completely done with the T and the R, I have been able to move on to the I (which you can see the beginnings of the purple witch's hat - it is on top of the I). The 2 little black squares between the R and the I is a mask, just having put the yellow & orange "x's" yet.

One of the reasons I haven't gotten too much further on "Trick-or-Treat" this week is because I received the next rounds of the Friendship Sampler RR - the envelope contained Marian's and Carolyn's. Knowing that we all are getting anxious to keep these moving through the mail, I pulled out Marian's on Tuesday evening and started the heart and was able to finish it up on Wednesday (while at the hockey rink...go figure!). So here is a picture of Marian's RR:

Marian followed the DMC colors that pattern called for...and asked all of us to stitch our first and last name, including a little backstitch of where we live. As each of these RRs visit my house, it has been fun to see where each RR member started their RR (some started in a corner, some with the middle heart) and how it has grown since February. Marians is interesting because she did start hers in the upper left hand corner and each of us seem to be adding our heart right after the person ahead of us, thus it is growing in rows (I don't know if that makes sense..but looking at the photo I am sure you know what I am babbling about). Here is a closer look at my heart I added.

In addition to stitching on "Trick-or-Treat" and the Friendship RRs, I have been rotating in some models of Christmas Quaker Ornaments for CindyMae Designs. Her Halloween Quaker Ornaments which she designed and stitched are awesome (I posted them in my previous post, but visit her website and take a look for yourself). In the Christmas Quaker Ornament set there are 5 different designs in the set and they, too, are cut. So, I will be working on getting the models stitched so she can post them on her website...so stay tuned!!!

So this weekend...Carolyn's RR and Christmas Ornaments are on my stitch "to do" list and will be great things to take with me to the hockey rink (as we do have a weekend full of hockey!).

Hope the weekend is good to you and your family. Take care...and...remember to:

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Back home...physically and mentally

It was a nice weekend in Minnesota - for hockey and visiting with family. On the hockey side of things, Robert (old son) and his hockey team placed 3rd out of the 9 teams who were part of the tournament. Nothing to sneeze at! After our 8am game on Saturday, we had to wait to find out the outcome of the game being played after us as that was the determining factor in our placement; and would tell us if we were playing Saturday evening or if we got to wait until Sunday morning for the semi-finals. Since we weren't sure, we fed the boys after the morning game and then went back to the hotel so that they could nap...just incase they had to play again. The wait came to an end around 4pm with a phone call from the tournament director letting me know that we had placed 3rd and would be playing in the 7am Sunday semi-finals (we would play the 2nd place team). In the Semis, we played the Chicago Young American team who were undefeated. We scored first when one of our players had a penalty shot and scored...unfortunately this team was very quick and passed well, which frustrated our team - we lost 8 to 3 and remained in 3rd place. At breakfast after the game, the boys were a little bummed, but didn't seem too depressed as they seemed to have smiles on their faces.

On the non-hockey side, we got some nice opportunities to visit with my parents, sisters and niece/nephew who live in Minnesota. Saturday night, as soon as I found out that we didn't have a game to play, Robert and I drove to their house for dinner. We all had a good time catching up. And on Sunday, after we checked out of the hotel, Robert and I went over there to "hang out" before we needed to leave for the airport. While we do a lot of traveling for the boys' hockey activities, it is times like this that is nice...when we either get to meet up with family or high school/college friends.

I didn't get much chance to sit and stitch. On the plane ride there last Thursday morning, I basically slept the whole way; especially since it was very early in the morning and I didn't get much sleep the night before. Coming home, I did take out Trick-or-Treat and took the advice of a few Blogging Friends' comments...I back stitched the "T" and the "R" before moving onto the "I". I don't have any photos of it, but will try to get some posted soon.
I received a new group of patterns from CindyMae Designs - Quaker Style Christmas Ornaments - to stitch models for her. And if you haven't visited her website in a while, you should check out her Quaker Style Halloween Ornaments . I also heard that the next round of Friendship RRs are on their way to me. I am so excited to stitch a few more hearts. The RR took a little longer than anticipated - as we only have 16 members and were trying to send it 2x a month...but life got in the way and probably a few other situations. But I hope that none of the women get too impatient and we can all stick with it to the end.

It is good to be home and I am looking forward to having a free night tonight as we have no hockey practice to drive either boy to. Gives them a time to catch up on their school work and sleep and me a chance to get a little R&R. Today is also the first day of Autumn...so...

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Have a good day! 

Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Give me a "T"...Give me a "R"...now take a look at my WIP.

Just thought I would share the status of my current WIP..."Trick or Treat" from the October issues of The Stitcher Magazine. Sept. 7 I finished the T...Sept. 14 I finished the R. Well, almost finished, all the xstitches, for I will save the backstitching when I have totally completed the stitching.

That is all for now.

Remember - live, love, laugh and stitch often!

Lisa

"Trick or Treat" a haunting fun WIP

It has been a long time since I have posted anything - I have been getting sucked into facebook and playing a game called Farmville, where you build a farm, plant & harvest crops, add animals and so on. That game seems to have monopolized much of my on-line time lately. Nevertheless, over the Labor Day weekend, we were busy with hockey (go figure, right?). Robert (older son)'s team was playing in the Labor Day tournament here in San Jose. They ended up making it to the championship round, but lost. So, they placed second (out of 4 teams). It was the first games they played as a team - and they looked pretty good. Next week, I will be traveling with Robert & his team to Minnesota for another tournament. But I will probably be writing more about that as we get closer.

In the meantime, I really wanted to show you my new WIP...From The Cross Stitcher Magazine, I fell in love with the "Trick or Treat Greeting" by designer Ursula Michael. It has so many bright colors and a whimsical pattern, it looked like something that would be fun to stitch...and I don't normally stitch Halloween patterns. So, last Friday I kitted everything up, using Zweiart Belfast Linen (32ct)-Toasted almond and the colors the pattern called for...and then started immediately. As of right now, I have just about finished the "T" of the word "Trick". This is the first time that I have used Krenik #4 braid thread, and one of the colors is 'glow in the dark', which is used around the ghost (and it really does glow...how cool is that).

Well, that's the show and tell for today! Hope you all are doing well. Off to go pick up the boys from school!

Remember...live, love, laugh and stitch often! Lisa