Crazy Day 2 & 3-ish

Today is day 2 of the Crazy January Challenge....so for today I thought I'd do something BIG. I've had this chart in my stash for so long and it's called to me and called to me but I just never had the chance to start it. This was a free SAL sometime around 2008 or 2009...*I think* Here's a pic of kinda what it will look like....

And here's my little progress for today.....not much.
Now before you all go...why is THAT all the progress she made? Let me explain.....this project is VERY large. I've had to pull out my largest scroll frame just to keep the fabric out of my way so I can stitch. I've tried a hoop, a q snap and stitching in hand...nothing is comfortable for me with the size of this fabric. So on my largest scroll it went! Which is why there is such limited progress....the scroll frame is hard for me to hold and stitch. I do not have a stand for it. Just to give an idea of the size of this frame......here it is propped against a chair in my craft room. See what I mean by BIG?
And since I can only work on that project for about 15 minutes at a time because of the frame size, I decided to start something else too. I pulled out this little Lizzie Kate boxer.....
And here is my progress.....
Since I started 2 projects today I will NOT be starting another one tomorrow. I'll just continue to work on these two projects for day 3. Grand Marquoir is going to be a long time consuming project just because of the sheer size of it and until I can get a stand for my scroll frame I won't be able to work on it for long periods of time. I'm looking forward to seeing it progress as time goes on though.

Well, there's my day 2 for Crazy January! Happy Stitching everyone!

Day 1 of Crazy January Challenge

Since today is the first day of January 2012 it was time to start my Crazy January Challenge. The challenge is that we start a new project every day from January 1st - 15th. This is the project I chose to start today........

And here is my progress...... not a lot yet, but it's a start.
I had a big list that I've changed numerous times and even went so far as to pick which day I'd be starting which project. At this point I have over 30 projects fully kitted up and ready to go. I've tossed my list out the window and said the heck with it! I am now picking whatever project calls to me each day when I go to start a new one. I'm not going to worry about how big each project is or how long it'll take to finish it....I'm just going to choose according to my mood at that moment. How's that for crazy?? :)

Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Happy New Year!!

Just a quick note to say....HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope everyone has a wonderful year full of love, health, good friends and family!

For those that love a good giveaway, Miss Sarah is having one over on her blog for the New Year. You can hear all about it here: http://craftymoo-sarah.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-new-year-january-give-away.html

Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Goodbye 2011....Hello Crazy January!

Whew, what a year of ups and downs 2011 has been! I am so ready for a new year! I joined the Crazy January Challenge for 2012....we get to start a new project for each day in January. So in a mad dash to at least finish one or two old UFO's I got out moms moose and decided I'd try to finish it in time to give for Christmas.

I did make that goal!! Yay me! And here's mom with the finished and framed moose on Christmas Eve.......

Since I did so well with finishing moms moose I thought a new goal should be set. So the next old UFO in my bag was Alla Turca. I was hoping to have it finished by midnight today. Well, I did it....and I have a little over 4 hours to spare!!
I am so proud of sticking with my goals on these two projects. I've been really bad with keeping up this year and have slacked off alot in my crafting. For 2012 my goal is to enjoy doing more of the crafts I love and to keep up a bit better.

I hope 2012 brings everyone better and brighter things, good health and happiness. Happy New Year everyone!

December Already?

Wow! I can't believe it's the first of December already! Seems like this year has just flown by so fast! So much has happened over this year it feels like a roller coaster ride.

I have been busy with my stitching over the last month or two. I recently "taught" a class at my local LNS on how to make a biscornu. That was a big step for me since I don't do crowds or people very well. I am glad I did it though, it took me out of my comfort zone and I needed it. This is one of the biscornu we did......

Here's the top view....the pic does not do this one justice. It's very elegant looking in person and I think it's one of the nicer ones I've done. I believe the chart was a freebie from flossbox.com
Next up is a round robin. I was the final person in this round so I got to do the patriotic snowman....it was a nice change since it's fall and I've been seeing so many fall type things lately.
Here is the entire piece all finished with everyone's stitched parts. Isn't it adorable?! I believe this is a stoney creek chart...not sure though.
Next we have my round robin that was returned to me. I love the way it turned out! The ladies did an awesome job. Just need to iron it and finish it into *something*...just not sure what yet. Any ideas?
I have three options rolling around in my head....a holiday pillow, frame it or turn it into a flat fold. What do you think it should be?

Next on my stitching list is a final round robin then I'm going to pull out 2 of my UFO's and try to get them finished before Christmas. If I succeed, one will end up being a gift and you'll see it in my next blog update. Wish me luck on getting done! Happy Stitching everyone!

Fall is here!

What a month it's been! Seems like this time of year just keeps me busy and I don't have time for much stitching. Fall is has come to Idaho and I've heard reports that there's snow in the mountains. We've had frost on the cars in the morning and the leaves have been changing and falling all over. I love the crisp air!

We recently did a Halloween exchange in my yahoo group. We had to find items from a list...something with a witch, something with a ghost, etc. My partner was Vicky and she sent me this.........I love it all!

Here's my part of a round robin....it's not backstitched yet. Thankfully the owner of the robin is letting me off without doing the backstitching because I have a couple more sitting here that need to get done. This one was kind of unplanned and landed in my lap when one of our gals had to pull out due to health issues. I'm glad that we are able to get it back into the rotation though and we should have happy people in the end.
This next one is my part of Tara's round robin. She chose these adorable little teapots....they are all so cute! I may have to do these for myself eventually....hard to resist that cuteness.
Next is a biscornu.....I'm going to be teaching a class on finishing a biscornu at my LNS so I've been trying to get a few stitched up to show.
This little biscornu is teeny...about 1 inch in diameter. I designed it myself and forgot to show the cuter side...LOL Hope to get a few more stitched up and have a little basket full for the class.
I know it doesn't look like I've been doing much stitching but I have been a busy girl. I'm looking forward to falling back into a routine and getting things done. Now that I have a craft room of my very own I should be able to be more productive. I'll leave you with a pic of my Rudy....he's my stitching buddy. (when he's not chewing on my boxes)
This is his "I didn't do it" look.....such a little diva dog! :) Hope everyone has their needles smoking! Happy Fall everyone!

Stitching again.....

Now that we are finally starting to settle into the new house, I've been stitching again. It's been awhile and I can honestly say I've missed it. After a few visits from the frog, I was finally able to finish my section on Katie's round robin. It only took me THREE WEEKS!! I don't know what it was about this particular piece, but it did not like me! I'd get partway through it and find I messed up and have to take out half of what I had stitched. This one was a hard one for me for some reason and the funny thing is, it's easy...whole stitches and on aida. Piece of cake for most people....just not for me. Anyway, I'm happy to say Mr Santa is finally stitched up and moving on to the next person in the rotation! Yay!

This next piece was a quick and easy stitch, thankfully. One of our round robin participants had to drop out due to health issues so I've taken her place in the rotation and recieved Carein's piece to work on. These hearts are super easy and quick to stitch! I enjoyed doing this one and was so thankful to have a quick finish fix.
Next up is an exchange I recieved in the mail from Vicky. She made me the cutest little Fall ornament....I LOVE IT! Loved the extra's too...hee hee.
I went to my LNS today and picked up a few goodies......
While at the LNS today I got into a conversation about different finishing techniques. I have agreed to teach a biscornu class and I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I am not a public speaker at all, and I'm totally NOT a people person. I just don't do well with crowds so this will be a new and exciting experience for me.

Ok, this is a short update, but it's all I've got at the moment. Life has just been a crazy mess lately and I know there is so much more I can put on this little blog but it's just left my mind at the moment. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and stitching like crazy! :)