my April WIPocalypse Update

WIPocalypse time again!

Things have not been going as I had hoped ... but I am going to post the little bit of stitching I managed to accomplish anyway.

I put some stitched into my Butterfly Forest.  The image below shows where I left off last time. So yay! some progress has been made.

The only other project I stitched on was my "Too Much Honey" Sampler.  I finished the alphabet and the honeypots ... but "Uh-OH!"  Who Moved my Honeypot?

Clearly the honeypot on the right has jumped a stitch or two to the left.  UUGH!  Looks like I have some frogging in my future. The image below shows where I left off last time.

So, I did make a little progress - even with the moving honeypot.

And that's how my Spring stitching has been going.

On the brighter side, several new art pieces and murals have been popping up around Midtown Atlanta.  Here are a few:

Finding art around town is one of my favorite things about living in the city.
Happy Stitching!

my WIPocalypse Update : June

Another month has flown by, and it is time for my WIPocalypse update.

I am really enjoying stitching on this project: Multi-Coloured Alphabet by Gail Lawther.  Using bright variegated colors gives it a happy feeling.

I've made more progress on Butterfly Forest ... hard to tell, but I added quite a bit of half stitching to the trees.

And, I also worked on Summer Sampler by Sandy Orton.  I finished the text under "Summer Time" and some ecru stitching - which makes it hard to see any progress. 

Question of the Month:
Do you find yourself more productive with stitching in summer or winter?

I don't really think I am more productive in one season over another.  My business is slower during the summer months, but I spend more time outdoors at festivals and walking in the park.  In the winter months I am busier with work, but enjoy sitting under a blanket and stitching in the evenings. 

I spent a little time outside the High Museum yesterday morning.  There is an installation called "Los Trompos" (Spinning Tops) on display.  It is a display of colorful spinners that you can sit on or inside while they spin.  Of course, my sweetie and I took turns spinning each other, just for fun.  Free and open to the public.

Happy June!


 

a Prize, a Project, and a Parade

First, a big THANK YOU to Jo at Serendipitous Stitching for the lovely gifties she sent to me for winning her Halloween Blog Hop drawing.  Jo sent Blackbird Designs "Spell of the Moon" pattern,  a beautiful dark pumpkin colored piece of 32 ct. fabric to stitch on, and a lovely holiday card (my first of the season).  I will enjoy stitching this during the stitch alongs I have joined: Gifted Gorgeousness,  Halloween Ornies, and WIPocalypse.

Next is a recently completed project of mine.  This button wreath was simple to make and is "cute as a button" (well ... cute as a bunch of buttons).  You can find many of these online - just search "button wreath".

And last, but not least ... a parade!   We were lucky enough in Atlanta to get a break in the rain this morning for the annual Children's Healthcare Christmas Parade.  Here are a few photos:

Ringling Brothers Circus walked a giant tiger (balloon) down Peachtree Street.

Paddington Bear waves "Hello".

Let's not forget "Frosty the Snowman".

Santa and Mrs. Claus closed the parade, riding on a giant Rudolph float.  There were many marching bands, balloons, floats, and much more.  A wonderful parade!  Merry Christmas.

Pumpkins for Cathey

Happy blogoversary Cathey! (Pumpkin Patch & Co )
I'm seeing lots of love from blogland. 
 

I can't believe I don't have any stitched pumpkins to share (what?!) ... so I will share my most favorite pumpkins in the world.  These pumpkins are all blown glass!  They were on display a few years ago at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  I hope you enjoy them!

To join in on Pumpkins for Cathey and find out what iit's all about, please visit Daffycat's blog.

September WIPocalypse Update

Here I am - standing in the cement koi pond.  I love found art!

It's that time again ... time for the monthly WIPocalypse Update!  This month's themes were: Designer – Heaven and Earth Designs, Style – Specialty Stitches, and Colors – Brown and Green.

Well ... I haven't yet tried any of the HAED projects ... so I managed to find some specialty stitches to work on my "To Everything A Season" Sampler.   Here is my current progress:

I started the Bargello stitching in the zig-zag band, and worked the Four-sided back stitch underneath the F G H I J letters.  It is nice to work a different stitch once in awhile.

I must have Halloween on the brain, because I had the colors black and orange in my head ... instead of brown and green.  So I worked on my Halloween Pumpkin from Just CrossStitch 2012 Halloween Issue.

current progress:

previously:

I had one small finish this month.  It is "Let It Snow" from the 2013 JCS Ornament Issue.

All of my updated WIPs can be seen on my WIPocalypse page.

Happy Fall and Happy Stitching!

a photo, a finish, and a new start

Spotted these blooms on our neighbors cactus last week.  So lovely that I had to run back with my camera.

I am so happy to report a finish this week!  My Quaker Sampler is officially done.  I really enjoyed stitching this.  It was a nice change to just use a single color. The free pattern can be found here: http://gazette94.blogspot.com/2010/04/quaker-2010.html

And this is my new start.  I "won" this kit in a gaming competition with my boyfriend over Memorial Day weekend.  We like to play board games and games on our Wii game system, so we turned it into a marathon gaming weekend (with prizes).  We had a lot of fun & now I will have more fun stitching this sweet kitty - who reminds me of my sweet baby "Chaos" who passed away a few years ago.

I have a busy work week ...but I hope to report progress on my Teresa Wentzler projects by my next WIPocalypse update.

Happy Stitching!

holiday happenings

at Piedmont Park in Atlanta you will find horse drawn carriages,

and a carousel.

Pretty lights at the Botanical Gardens.

And to all a good night.

Beautiful Glass Pumpkins!

I spent the day at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where they are featuring an amazing selection of hand-blown glass pumpkins (as well as apples, pears, waterlilies, etc...) by Michael Cohn and Molly Stone (www.cohnstone.com). 

Truly amazing!   The pumpkins were my favorite things to see ... however I also enjoyed the over 100 scarecrows (in all sizes and shapes) that were lining the many paths and walkways throughout the gardens.

A very busy Halloween weekend for me ... but lots of fun!

the Little Five Points Halloween Festival & Parade

Hopped over to the Little Five Points Halloween Festival & Parade this afternoon. 

As always, there were lots of cool costumes worn by adults, children and pets. 

We had perfect weather & I took lots of pictures.

I was hoping to see some artists selling Halloween goodies, but this festival is more about partying.  

We stayed for the parade & grabbed some ice cream, then bid a hasty retreat. 

Tomorrow, I think I will do some blog hopping down the Halloween Party list at Vanessa Valencia's blog  "A Fanciful Twist".

a wonderful weekend

We had the best weather this weekend. I think I spent more time outside this weekend than I did all summer! Here are some of the photos I snapped while I was out & about:

The world's largest fantasy/Sci-Fi convention, Dragon*Con is running all weekend. I managed to make it to the parade ~ but it was so crowded that my pictures aren't too hot. It was a pretty good parade, anyhow.

The "Monsters" exhibit is wrapping up at the Kai Lin Art Gallery. I just had to take a quick shot of the window, before it was redone.

High Museum is hosting work by Dali through January 9th. (That was the actual color of the sky this morning, BTW.)

Lots to see and do around Atlanta!

Snow in Atlanta

Not just a few flakes, either ... We had a wonderful full day of snow!

some luck with photography

My stitching and photography skills have come a long way since I started my Etsy shop in 2005, so I have been working this year to update my product photos. Today I had some good luck taking this photo, which is now my most favorite product photo in my shop.

PS. Here is the photo I am replacing:



Quite a world of difference. I just love before and after makeover photos!

PPS. By the way, I don't have any special equipment - just an old digital camera and a spot next to a sunny window. The lake is actually just a piece of aluminum foil, the clouds are polyester fiberfill & everything else in the shot is felt and stitching.

cats & cuteness

I couldn't resist snapping this photo through the window. Awww! The kitties don't usually get along this good ~ so this was a rare moment.

My boyfriend has been feeding these little guys since they showed up. The full grown kitty was left behind last year when her owner moved (uugh!), and the two kittens just showed up one Sunday morning. They are being cooperatively taken care of by several neighbors.

Hope you enjoy this moment of cuteness.

a colorful morning sky

good morning bank of america
Originally uploaded by chaosatlanta.

What a nice way to start the day... with a beautifully colored sky over the Bank of America building.
(Midtown - Atlanta, Georgia)

a Happy Halloween

even though my sweetie has the flu. He has been sick the past few days, but is feeling a bit better today. Yay! because we have yet to carve our pumpkins.

Photo is from a yard display here in Atlanta. Have a Happy Halloween!

L5P Halloween Parade

Little Five Points Halloween Parade
where I had an enjoyable afternoon. Perfect weather all day and lots of cool, colorful, creepy and crazy costumes, decor and more. I have a few more photos posted at flickr.

myself busy busy busy

7 legged garden spider

This photo shows a common garden spider known as a writing spider or zipper spider, for the characteristic zipper pattern they weave into the center of their webs. Each day these spiders eat their entire web and respin it in nearly the same location. That is exactly the way I feel when I have to replace a whole page of dead links on one of my affiliate sites. Take all the links down and rebuild the page with new ones... sometimes I feel like I'm doing that every day.