April Ornament

Here is the little cutie for April!! And he is the last Snowman in the series.  The next series in the book is a "Noah's ark" theme,  so, looking forward to those. I have got a small start on the First one in the series, but it was such small progress, I decided I'll wait to share it next month.

So, still staying on track with these! Even if I get very little stitching done overall,if I am still able to get these little ornaments done (one each month), I'm happy!

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last months postings. It means so much to me that you take time to stop in and read and say hello. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I have been able to find more time for stitching lately, and that makes me so happy! I am really starting to see some significant progress on my larger pieces, especially, so that makes me feel accomplished.

Well, next up will be an update on autumn Peace. Thank you for reading, and I hope you all have a lovely weekend! See yah next time!

Santa ornie

Sorry for the craptastic photo. It's dark and rainy today. I didn't finish it yet... But almost!  I probably won't be posting again for awhile, cuz we are going out of town all next week for thanksgiving, but I may find something to post about, so I may surprise yah! If not, I hope all my American readers have a great Holiday!  Joyful Stitching to you all!!

Another small finish!

I finally finished this little guy!! I feel like it took way too long! But probably because I've been busy with other things. This is before back stitch. Here's with:

I love seeing the difference!! The back stitching really bring the piece together!! Well. I hope all my readers are enjoying some great stitching of their own! Next I REALLY am going to try to finish the Abbey! Wish me luck!

Chaotic craziness!

I haven't been posting a whole lot, just been too busy with the hubs back home from deployment. We took two week long road trips the past few weeks. One to visit friends and one to Disney World Florida. We just got home from Florida last night. We had a great time, but it was anything but relaxing!!

I have only managed to get a tiny bit of stitching on this guy:

I want to get going on the Abbey and finish it up, but the small project was easier to cart along on my travels. 

While at Epcot center I was able to buy some stash! Imagine that! Here's what I got:

And:

One of the bloggers I follow finished stitching the first one just here not too long ago!! It is super cute! The second one I will be doing for Alyssa as she loves  Tinkerbell.  That's all that's been going on here. This first half of the year has been crap when it comes to getting things done hobby wise! I seem to be losing hours, and have no idea where they go!! It's really frustrating me!!! I hate feeling like I'm not getting things done. Oh well. It's life. Happy Mother's Day to my readers in America! And Joyful Stitching!!!

An explanation, some new stash, and some progress...

Well, I have not been around here on the blog much. I guess I can share my reasonings now. My husband was getting ready for a deployment, and he left on my birthday, of all days, about two weeks ago.  Sooo....before he left, I was stressed and anxious about his leaving, and wanted to spend as much time as I could with him, so the stitching and blogging suffered. Then he left, and I have just been in a funk!  I can't seem to focus on much lately. I have just been zoning out in front of the TV watching lots of shows on Netflix. So....anyway, THAT is what has been up here.

But! I have been reading lots of blogs still, and have recently been enamored with some of which the author stitches mostly HAED pieces or other rather large ones. So, I started thinking "I really should spend more time on some bigger, more detailed pieces as well."

For my birthday i got a little bit of extra cash, and I spent it on these three new patterns! This makes 7 Kustom Kraft patterns that are in my stash pile.  

 

 However, this is my FIRST by Mystic stitch. I was not aware that it would be a 15 page pattern.  I am aching to start ANY of these new ones, but! I have held myself to the promise that I will finish the Abbey first!  And you'd think that would spur me on to really work on it, but I only worked on it half heartedly as i watched TV. I have almost, just about finished the backstitching on page 5, and have started 4. (I thought I was done with 5, so went onto 4, only to realize I was NOT finished with 5 afterall, and had to go back and finish it.)

 And here is my progress on Winter Fun #5:

All that is left of him is to finish filling in the white and to finish backstitching. I have very little start on #6. Just about 35 stitches, so not enough to warrant a photo at this time.

So, anyway that is what is going on in my corner of the world. We are int he midst of a winter storm, lots of COLD rain, ice sleet so far, and they are calling for snow tonight and into tomorrow morning. So, maybe I will use this cozy time to sit and stitch. One can hope!  I will be back in a few days with an update of The abbey, and then I will share Web of Life's update as scheduled ont he 30th. 

I hope all my American readers have a lovely Thanksgiving. And if you are battling the winter storms, please be careful out there. My suggestion is you curl up on the couch with a hot cuppa, a nice fuzzy blanket and some stitching! (Or maybe a book! Or a movie!) Anyway, stay safe friends! And as always Joyful Stitching to you all!

Winter fun Ornaments #4- finished, and #5 started!

I did it! I finished Winter Fun Ornament #4. Another thing crossed off my goals list for the month!

 And I worked a little bit more on #5.  This one is a snowman, with a orange and yellow scarf around his neck.  The red in the upper right hand area is a bird, and there is some holly on his hat. I love watching these come to life when I backstitch them!

Well, I didn't even work on The Abbey this last round of the rotation.  I was too busy being upset about life. LOL....And now it's time to pull out the Web of Life and Mystic Dragon.
Happy stitching!

Winterfun Ornament #4- Progress!

Here is my progress on #4. I got alot more done than I thought I would! And I didn't even do any stitching for two of the 5 days alloted for this round. Just wasn't in the mood! This one seems to be stitching up pretty quickly! But I'm not sure if I will have a finish on it like I want by months end, but we will see!

For the next 5 days I am trying to decide what I want to pull out to work on. It is supposed to be Web of Life, but I am dying to pull out Mystic Dragon and get some work in on it, so I am thinking either 1) stitch on Dragon instead of Web....or 2) spend 3 out of the 5 days on Dragon, and 2 with Web.  That way they both get some work in on them. This rotation thing is tricky!!

Thank you for reading!!

Well, I'm back!

Wow! What a month! We were out of town to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary. I should/could have blogged, but I barely even stitched! I only took 1 project with me (Web of Life), and I think the entire month I may have gotten 5 hours stitching in.

We got home Sunday night, and I couldn't wait to get things unpacked so I could settle into some stitching. According to my rotation schedule I worked on ornaments for the past 2 days.
I was able to finish #2 in the Winter Fun series! I really didn't have much to do to finish it.

 And I worked on #3 in the Winter Fun series.

OMG WTH?!?!?! I think my husband installed an update on this computer. My picture system is all messed up on it! It won't read my memory card from my camera. And it won't allow me to crop or change the photos at all!!! WHAT?! So, sorry for the crappy photo of #3. Dang, if I have to go through all this crap just for a dumb photo, I'm not sure how much longer I'm gonna keep blogging. It doesn't seem worth it! We'll see.

Ugh! How annoying!!! I had to take the photos on my phone, e-mail them to myself, then save them to the computer,THEN post them, and I can't even edit them the way I want?! This is ridiculous!  Anyone else having issues? 

Well, it is Web of life time in my rotation, but since I worked on it during my trip, I may pull out the Abbey and get some work into it! Who knows? Well, I was gonna tell you a bit about my trip, but right now I'm so irked I just wanna get off this dumb computer! 

Joyful stitching! 

Winter Fun Ornament #2 Almost a Finish but Not Quite!

I am so close to a finish on this. All I have is to fill in a little bit of the snow in the background and finish the backstitching. I am not too pleased with the backstitch. For this one I used the called for color (DMC 535) Which is really a dark gray color, but I don't think it shows up quite as well as the black, so I will probably go back to using the black. The black just looks so much more crisp and clean in my opinion. What do you think?

Well, not sure how many more posts I will be posting the rest of this month, as we are going out of town for almost a month for vacation. We are going back to my parents to help celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary! So it will be a fun time! But I'm not counting on getting a whole bunch of stitching or other hobby type things done while we are there.

So, until next time- Joyful Stitching!!

Ornaments Progress!

I got quite a little bit into my first ornament in the "Winter Fun" series! There are 12 of these! I love the bright colors in these! And these are the kind that will really pop when the backstitching is put in, as you stitch along, it ust sorta looks like a colorful little blob, but putting in that nice dark outline will really bring it to life! 

 And I also made a small start on #2, as there were only a few stitches of yellow in #1, and so decided to use the remainder of that thread in #2, as opposed to just tossing it!

However, I think I may be putting these little guys away for a bit, and working on my new start: "Web of Life" in their place.  That way I will have these little guys to work on during the move. These smaller ones will be so much more easier to work on in the confines of a plane and car than one that has a huge piece of fabric. Unlike the last set I did, I am actually stitching these on their own individual pieces of aida.  So much easier to work with!

Ok, off to work on dad's train, I am pleased with my progress this round of the rotation on it so far!

Hope all my readers had an amazing weekend, filled with lots of stitching!

A late update on Ornies- A big finish and a new start!

Well, I did it! I finished The second series of "Tiny Christmas Ornaments" in the book of Ornaments I am working on. These little guys were so fun to work on! They took me awhile, but they came out adorable, I think. So that was a finish! 

 A little bit of a close up on #'s 1-6:

 A little bit of a close up on 3's 7-12:

 And now I am working on the next set of 12.  I made a start on the first one in the series! The pattern is so easy to follow, and yet, somehow, I ended up having to frog and restitch TWICE now! I love the colors, they are so bright. This series has 12 in it, and they are full size ornaments (About twice as big as the little ones I just finished)  So I'm guessing they will be taking me awhile to get done. Which is good, because I only had enough fabric to cut for 5 of them. I am so glad to be returning to the States soon, I seem to be running out of materials quickly, here lately! I am desperately afraid that I will run out of stuff to stitch while I'm enroute. So, I am hoping between these ornaments, The Abbey, Snow Valley Express, and a new one I just kitted up, that I will be kept occupied during the move, until my stash shows up!! And I will be a nervous wreck until it does! Kinda feel the same way about my books as well. I have a huge library of books, both that have been read and have not been read. Ugh, the stresses of a move!!! So annoying!

Ok, off to get my work out in and maybe sit down and stitch a bit today, didn't get much in yesterday, so....hoping today will be better!

Joyful Stitching!  Thank you for reading!

Christmas Ornaments....On Easter?!

Well, I must be really mixed up! Or just really LOOOOVE Christmas! I stitched Christmas Cards on Halloween last year and this year I'm posting these guys:

 On Easter!!! Yup, that's how we roll here at the Joyful Stitcher! So, here is my progress I was able to finish #10, there in the lower left hand corner and get really GOOD starts on #'s 11 and 12! I can't believe this series is just about done, then it's onto the next!!! Which are about twice as large as these little guys so they should take me even longer! Woo hoo!

I have been realizing JUST how long it takes me to stitch ANYTHING anymore. It seems like FOREVER! Case in point: I have been stitching on page 8 of The Abbey since OCTOBER!!! That's nearly SIX MONTHS!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!? Ok, some of you out there, you all need to not be so greedy and either send me some of those turbo needles ya all seem to have, or at least tell me where to get 'em!  I swear, some times I think "If I were goin' any slower, I'd be froggin' this stuff not puttin' stitches in!"  It's crazy!!!  So, I have decided for the month of April to really try to focus and get alot more stitching done! I think I say that every month! But I really mean it this time! I do!! Honest! 

Well, I'm off to enjoy a rainy stormy Easter! Yesterday was beautiful out!!! Gorgeous blue skies as far as the eye could see. Today? When children want to run and play in parks and find Easter eggs and have picnics? Rainy with thunderstorms!  Oh well, it works for me! I can sit in and stitch! 

Happy Easter everyone! 

2 new finishes and 3 new starts!

Well, these past 5 days my needles have been smokin'!!! I finished all the x stitches in ornies #'s 8 and 9, did all the back stitching  AND got Great starts in on #'s 10-12!  I don't remember when I've done so much stitching!!! Well, this has started off as a great month with the stitching! I got alot in on The Abbey in my last post as well.

Starting tomorrow is my next round with Snow Valley Express, and I am hoping to,again get alot of progress in! I love feeling productive!!!

Ornies-A finish and a start

Well, I was able to finish Ornie #7 and start on #9, and put some work into #8, so I feel pretty accomplished on this round!

I like this project, but am getting a little tired of this particular set, I'm ready to move onto the next set in the book!

Not too much stitching going on, I am still on a huge reading kick! This year I cut back my reading goal from 75 books to 60, but I am already on #15 for the year! I probably could have stuck with the 75 book challenge, oh well. I don't know why. I tell myself I need to pick up my stitching, and instead I end up with my nose in a book! I'm hoping to concentrate more on stitching next month, since I am so far ahead in my reading, I can start to slow down and focus more on some other hobbies!  We'll see how that works out!

Tiny critters are coming along!

I am really enjoying these little Ornaments! Such easy finishes!! I don't know why I decided to do them all on one piece of Fabric, but I did.  I have now finished 6 and started 2 more! I am over half way finished with this series! My goal for this month on this one is to finish #'s 6-8, I finished #6, and I think I will be able to get #'s 7 and 8 finished. 

But for now this one will be set aside and I will move onto the next project in my rotation-Snow valley Express! Yup, the dreaded train! Lets hope I get more done on it that I did last month!

Joyful stitching all!

A tiny finish and a tiny start...

First here are my Tiny Christmas Critters Ornaments! I love these little guys! They are so much fun to stitch! I've finished #'s 1-3, and have a small start on #4.

 Here is #3 all by herself. I just finished her this morning! Look at her little sunglasses! That was my doing....a little deviation from the original pattern, because as I was backstitching, when I backstitched the eyes they just looked wrong! Just huge black spots! Like a zombie cow! So I added a few more backstitches to make it look like she is sportin' shades. Not sure I really love it this way, but I like it ALOT better than zombie cow!  Now if I could just change the wreath to look more colorful she could be an Hawaiian cow sportin' a lei of flowers!

So this series is just stitching up pretty quickly!

I am about ready to go settle down with a hot cup of tea and work on #4 some more, I really need it! I need to just relax....today has been....ugh, just one of those days! The child decided to act 2 years old (if you know what I mean!) I was "scheduled" for a 3-day in a row- walk in blood pressure monitoring , today being day two, only to get there and find that the clinic was closed, so now I think I have to start over on day one again next Tuesday! (It won't be open Monday for MLKing day!) and I finally got my child to lay down and nap and the neighbors kids are outside screaming like the end of the world is coming! SOOOOO loud, and woke her up, and now she is finally settled down again.

So, off to pour another cup of decaf tea, and try to stitch in some more white of the polar bear that I am working on!
I hope you are having a lovely stitchy day! And that it has been a better day than mine has been so far!

Happy stitching!

A new start, and a New Years Goal!

First up I want to share my "New Year's Goal"  This project ("Snow Valley Express") is one I started for my dad in Dec of 2004, as you can see, now over 8 years later, it's STILL not finished!  I will be returning to my parents house this summer and I would like to have it finished by the time we get there, so I can give it to him. It has sat in my UFO drawer for long enough, my dad loves trains, and it is time for this to be framed and grace the walls of his "computer room" at home, to go with his collection of other trains! 

And here is the New start on the next collection of Christmas Ornaments. As you can see I have finished one, and am working on 2 others. There are 12 in this series, just like the Tiny stockings, but this time I have decided to stitch them all on one piece of cream colored fabric!  So these are my "Tiny Christmas Critters" series!  We'll see how long it takes me to finish these guys! It took near to 4 months for me to finish the Tiny stockings, so I'm hoping to get a finish on these guys in alot less time! We shall see.

I hope you all had a lovely New Years and Christmas! Here's to lots of stitching, health and happiness in 2013!!!

Finished with the Littlest stocking series!

Well, just 5 minutes ago, I finished The Littlest Stockings series! I started it in August and it's taken me 4 months to finish! Which is just ridiculous, considering when I just sit down and work on them it would only take 2-3 days at the most to finish each one (if that!) but oh well, they are done now, a week before Christmas, which is more than I can say for the Christmas Cards I decided to give up on!!! I got 3 done, and called it quits! Maybe next year!

So here is the series in it's entirety! I think the next series (tiny Christmas Critters) I will stitch all on one piece of fabric! 

And here are #'s 11 and 12, which I just finished up this morning!

Well, it's not raining (for once!) So, I am off to take the baby to the park to run off some energy so maybe she will actually go down for a nap today! Wish me luck!

The Abbey...page 9 done, and movin' onto page #8!

 First up, since this IS a stitching blog, here is my progress on The Abbey! 2 more pages to stitch, then back stitch the whole thing! It's comin' along!

 While unpacking Christmas ornaments I unpacked this one! My hubby got it for me a few years ago. His mug says "Grumpy Before Coffee"....Yup! That's me!


And now for the cutest thing ever........

My daughter in pigtails!!! LOL, and she is supposed to be modeling my other favorite Christmas Ornament, a tiny cup of coffee, and it really smells like coffee, but she was too busy lookin' cute for the camera and you can't really see the ornament. Oh well, that's alright, she is so much cuter than any ornament!!!

Hope you are all enjoying the holidays and stitching blissfully away!

Well, I really have not been stitching too much here! Just been too busy with the holidays! But I am hoping that now I've got most my Christmas Cards all sent off I will have that bit of time to put into stitching. Oh yeah, I've also been busy playing Sims3.  I had not been able to play for a long time, as my computers memory was very full, so the game wouldn't run correctly, so hubby went through and cleared out a bunch of stuff, and now it runs fine! Which is awesome! But it means i spend more time Simming and less time stitching....oops...

So instead of stitching we have been decorating.......

 and hanging stockings-three for me, my hubby and daughter, and an extra one for the soldiers who are not home this Christmas, and to remind us to pray for their safety that they will return safely and be home with their families next year for Christmas.

 Going to see Trace Adkins in Concert.  He came out here to perform for us, for free! He supports his troops.

And I did finish stockings #'s 9 and 10!

 and started #'s 11 and 12! So this set is just about done, so excited! Though I do believe it has taken me way too long to get these tiny little things done, but what can I say? There are trees to be decorated, and concerts to go to, and Sims to play! Whats a girl to do?

I hope all my readers are having a great holiday season, full of lots of stitching and family time!! I hope to share progress of The Abbey soon.  I actually finished page 9 and started 8!  

Joyful stitching!