It's My Turn!!!

Edited Date to keep on top!

Well, I have completed my list of what I want to stitch from my books and magazines and found that there are four (4) magazines that I have no reason to keep. So, for my very first ever giveaway, I am offering to you, my readers, a chance to win one of these fine magazines: The World of Cross Stitching (Jan 2005 - also includes a pullout Giant Mr. Men chart of the Alphabet), Cross Stitch Crazy (Feb 2005), Sampler & Antique Needlework (Spring 2009), and JCS (Mar/Apr 2009 - a duplicate that I received after purchasing a copy in the store). I have included pics of the covers of each of these magazines.




I also have a progress update on Quaker Medallion. I am nearly finished with the stitching, should be done tonight, and will decide how to finish (i.e. frame, ornie, etc) it over the weekend. Here is a pic:



I bet you're wondering how to enter this giveaway! Well, here are the simple steps to take for a chance to win:

1. Post a comment here letting me know which magazine you would like to receive and please be sure to include your email so that I may notify you directly
   
2. Become a Follower, if you haven't already
3. and, Post a link to my blog on yours

Pretty simple, huh?! This giveaway will close on January 31st and the drawing will take place on February 1st. I will post the winners (there will be 4 since there are 4 magazines) on February 1, 2010. Prizes will be mailed shortly thereafter...

In addition to the magazine, each lucky recipient will receive a little bit of Florida and a small something stitched by me.

Loretta's Giveaway

Loretta is having a wonderful LHN giveaway. Go over there and check it out fast. You only have until Feb 13th to sign up for a chance to win!!!

As the wind and rain blows...

I sit here an type this blog entry giving you updates on some of my projects. Well, an update and a new start! Can you believe it's the end of January already? It will be St. Valentine's Day in two weeks and I haven't even begun anything for that holiday yet. I did begin stitching The Great Pumpkin Conspiracy by Vicki Hastings of the Cricket Collection. Here is a picture of what I did last night:


I also did some more stitching on '68 Charger. I have all of the car stitched (with the exception of the backstitching) and some of the tree trunk. Here is a picture:


Today, I am going through some of my designs to see if I have anything small and quick so that I may get my four prize winners' packages completed. No, I haven't done the drawing yet. There is still 33 hours left before the giveaway actually closes. Since I won't be drawing until Monday morning, I will let it go until 8am Monday, Feb 1st.

Two Card Insearts and a question

I complete two card inserts for my mom over the past couple of days. Each of them took me approximately 5 hours to complete. I am stitching the first 6 inserts on 14ct Sea Green Aida using assorted DMC floss. The designs are from a booklet that came with one of the Cross Stitch Crazy magazines in 2009 called "126 Xmas Designs". Here are the pictures:


I plan to complete 2 each month until November. I am storing them in a Glad storage bag to keep them clean.

Now for my question. I recently asked which way is better when making ornaments. I now would like to know if anyone has, or has seen on another blog, any tutorials on how to make ornaments? In all of the magazines and books I have I cannot find anything the shows the steps clearly enough. For a firmer ornament, what type of backing is used? For a filled, what type of filling is used? I was also wondering if there are any tutorials for biscornus, pin cushions, etc that just gives basic instructions.

Thanks for your help!

Wednesday Poetry Prompt ~ Poetic Asides

State of the Union

The romance was long and sweet

The courtship – loving and pure

She longed for the day when

He would hold her in his arms again

But knew it would be too long

The state of the union was short

Too short for love to grow full

Too short for their life to grow strong

The wedding was beautiful and white

With fragrance of love in the air

He longed for the day when

She would take his name

But knew that for now had to do

The state of the union was short

Too short for his name to be hers

Too short for their life to be one

The marriage was short and harsh

The ending – such a surprise

They never knew the day would come

When their hands would no longer touch

The state of their union was short

The state of their union was sweet

The state of their union is done.

27 January 2010 ~ Poetic Asides Wednesday prompt

Chilly Tuesday in Florida

Well, it is 68' F as I type this, here in central Florida. And after reading another blogger's post, it appears that we will be getting more of the storms from Northern California. For some reason, their storms end up here and not north of us. Oh well, life goes on...

I finished the second section of the Christmas Design SAL. My design is Coming Home for the Holidays. I know, I posted an update of it yesterday, but here is my submission for this month's work:


And a close up of where I placed the beads on the wreath:


I think it's turning out pretty nice if I do say so myself. :D

Now I will turn my attention to stitching a few card inserts for my mom and the Charger!

Until then...

Off the Blocks, and other updates

Well, I pulled '68 Charger back out the other night and sat for what seemed like hours counting all, yes ALL, of the stitches I had done trying to find where I went wrong. Here is a picture of what it looked like when I last stitched on it before putting it "up on blocks":

It turns out that I was just one measly little stitch off and that created havoc on the rest of the stitching I had completed. So I frogged about 3 rows and then went back to work on it. Here is where I am now:

A very subtle difference, but I have the entire bottom half of the car and the ground beneath it stitched (except for the backstitches). I should be able to have this one completed, shipped, and framed in time for my Uncle's birthday in April. I'll have my mom take it to get it framed somewhere local to them so I only have to send the design. All in all, I am really happy with the way the Charger is looking and may have to stitch one for myself at a later date.

I have also been working on Coming Home for the Holidays and have the second section nearly complete. I opted to use a few beads in the wreath instead of one of the red colors. A picture of that will be posted in a few days.

For now, here is a picture of what I have completed so far (well, as of earlier this afternoon anyway as I have done a bit more since then):

I have also decided to kit up The Great Pumpkin Conspiracy by the Cricket Collection. One would think that I had all of the DMC floss that it calls for, but no! And, I need to purchase the SilkN floss that is called for. I don't know if I want to use substitute DMC colors or not at this time. I did look around on the internet trying to find SilkN retailers and found that they cost $7.00 per skein! For someone on a fixed income (i.e. unemployed student), that is a lot of money. The chart lists DMC equivalents for the SilkN, but some of the colors are already used elsewhere. Here is a picture of the chart that I purchased last fall:


I am still waiting for my fabric and floss to arrive for Ink Circles Cirques des Carreaux. Still hoping it arrives in the next couple of weeks, but I am not going to hold my breath. I have time...