Happy Halloween!!!

I think I may have more than one post today. I love Halloween, last year I had a party but this year I get to go to one, which hands down is totally better because 1. I don't have to clean up afterwards and 2. I don't have to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves, which is such a hard job. Ummm, thanks to those that have stopped by to look at my latest finish. I'm glad it's done, I was so ready to move onto the next project. I chose The Goode Huswife's Sampler Farm. I think the fabric they gave me is 40 ct! I know it's small which I'll probably go blind on when I stitch the over one part. But I did just go from 28ct so it's probably just 32ct. I didn't get far last night I ended up faling asleep, but today I'm going to get the things for my quilting class (I'm taking a 6 week class) so while on the train I'll stitch some. I took some pictures which I'll share but it's really not much. I just like to add pictures to my blog really LOL. Oh, I decided to join this challenge alot of people are doing to reduce their stash. I have a bag of projects I want to stitch next to my bed and just listed all of those projects. Some people are doing 50, some less. I think my list is like 15-16 I'll post it later on in the sidebar or something. Ok ltr!


Before the "damage"

After the "damage"

Happy Dance!

A picture is worth a thousand words and this picture has my feet dancing around :) Now on to the next project!


Without the buttons and snaps

With the buttons and snaps

My own special touch :)

So I had to take off today and I have to take off tomorrow because of my wrist. The left one is ok, which is great because again I'm left handed but the right one is all screwy. With a brace on its ok but if I take it off 10 minutes later I'm in pain. Its not carpel tunnel *yea* the doctor says its tendonitis and just to rest it. I won't lie I probably haven't been resting the way he meant to rest it. I've been slowly stitching...I've been taking breaks here and there so no pain, but it feels weird with this brace on.

Anyway I have an update pic of Spring Snapperland and yesterday I went through my stitching and found one of my favorite pieces that I stitched for Halloween some time ago so I'll share that too.

I'm getting to the finish line slowly but of course around this time is when I get anxious about actually getting it done!

My favorite ever piece stitched by Sheperd's Bush. I think its called Trick or Treat.

My wrists

I think I may have carpel tunnel syndrome. I had to stay home from work tonight :( I know usually I always say I want to call out sick but I hate calling out sick when I'm actually sick! My wrists are killing me and so are my thumbs and my right arm. Last night they went numb at work. I couldn't hold my pen this morning and my grip isn't what it use to be. It doesn't help that I'm left-handed and write with my wrist in a weird position. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully get acupuncture from my cousin soon. So if I don't blog for a while then you guys know why. It makes me sad because I have a wrist brace but am still in pain and can't type (I'm in pain now) and probably can't stitch either. Well until later...

When We Were Young

The concert last night was kick ass!!! We went thinking it was going to be bad since we didn't really like the new album that came out but OMG they put on such a great live show that now we love the new album just as much as the old one. I was able to get live footage of 2 of the songs they performed and of course I'm sharing. They aren't the greatest - I recorded them with my camera so its a bit shaky and goes in and out of focus. Our seats were nosebleed but the concert made up for it. I can't wait for our next concert in November, we're going to see Panic! At the Disco (My cousin's favorite) and Bloc Party (My ULTIMATE favorite.) Modest Mouse is the days before that one so I have another one too look forward too also!! I saw Bloc Party in concert in July I think when they came to Brooklyn and swore to myself I'll go see them whenever they come to New York City. Well enjoy the pics and video. I work tonight *tear* and want to stitch some before having to get ready.

This is Somebody Told Me - off the old album


This is When You Were Young

Update :)

I haven't been doing much stitching, unfortunately my wrist has been hurting me. I don't know if it's from typing on my laptop or from when I went bike riding with my cousin. Its a bearable pain nothing excrutiating. I have been putting some stitches here and there but the progress has just been to slow for me to get motivated. Plus its like something ALWAYS comes up just when I think I'm going to get some uninterrupted time for stitching. I've been going to sleep early and I usually stitch late at night so its like everything is just working against me stitching *sigh* Good news is I have a progress pic *and* I went ahead and bought the scissor fob from the needlepoint store hehe.

I'm going to The Killers concert tonight at MSG *yea* hope they put on a good show. If I don't get home too late or too tired I'll stitch. I'm tempted to kit up a small project to take to the concert with me just in case LOL. I laugh because only a true stitcher would want to take along a project to something like a concert. TTYL and enjoy the pics. I've done some vamping to my blog also so if you haven't seenchecked it out yet enjoy that too!

Picture Time!

To start off we have a picture of Ana modeling her Halloween Costume. I decided to make her Tinkerbell for this Halloween but really don't like how it looks on her. It just looks like she has a green frock on and compared to her last year costume (she was a butterfly and looked so cute wish I had pics) this one is horrible! So it's going back and judging from the second picture she's happy with this decision LOL.

I found these zipped up folders at Target yesterday and thought they make a good project holder. They don't fit my largest Q-Snaps but the second largest fits perfectly. They were the only 2 they had, so I'm going to check the Target by Kelly's house to see if they have more in a bigger size. I know Stitch-a-Gift makes zip up folders in a plastic perforated material that may fit the bigger Q-Snaps so maybe I'll check those out next time I'm at Where Victoria's Angels Stitch.

And next up are my scissor fobs. I ordered 2 from Nordic Needle and they came in yesterday *yea* I love stitchy mail :) The first one is the animal print for my Cheetah's, they aren't as nice as the ones at the needlepoint store so I may not keep them PLUS they scratched the handle when I put them on :( If I can tolerate it I may stay after work again to see if the animal print are still there at the needlepoint store. The next ones I *love* (almost as much as my Stitch Bitch ones) they have ladybug's on them. When I saw them online I was a bit iffy on them because of the tassle but they are so nice. I don't know if you can see it but the red round beads are ladybugs and they have 2 ladybug charms at the end. I love them :) I thought I'd put them on Sophia or Penelope but they matched better with Lindsay. Last pic is of all of them together.

No update picture of Spring Snapperland because I haven't stitched on it since last update *sigh* so depressing. I actually wanted to be don't with it by now, but weekends are horrible for me to be off because my cousins are off and expect me to hang out with them, which I don't mind but sometimes I'd like to just stay home you know? I work tonight so plan to stitch until its time for me to get ready. So maybe if I'm not running late I'll take a picture of what I got done, that is IF something doesn't come up again!

This Morning

This morning I woke up with a plan, a really good one. I was up by 9am, brushed my teeth, climbed bag into bed with my laptop and my stitching planning to veg away. Good plan right? Well I get online and my cousin IMs me. We talk and he tells me he's going bike riding to Target. I told him I had to go there today and somehow I got bamboozeled into riding to Target with him! Last time I rode a bike was maybe 2 summers ago and since my knees are bad I paid for it the next day. I'm hoping tomorrow my knee won't hurt. I still remember the pain and not being able to walk down the stairs. Hmmm maybe if that happens tomorrow I can stay home from work and veg tomorrow?

Well I'm going to take a shower and try to veg since the errands I had to do are done and there's pretty much nothing left to do today, although I'm pretty sure something will pop up.

Good Finds! - Longish Post

So I decided after work to wait around for the needlepoint shop to open so I could go buy some new Zecca magnets. I got out at 8:45am and the store didn't open until 10:30am so I had lots of time to waste. Kelly and I had breakfast and walked around. We passed this upscale pet store and they had the cutest things in the window so of course I had to go in and browse. First I'd like to say I'm EXTREMELY proud of myself for not buying as much as I wanted to, although I did sort of order Ana a new coat for the winter - it was too nice not to buy soI had to, once I get it in I'll have her model it for everyone to see. I did come out with a small bag - I bought Ana this braided rope giraffe (Giraffe's are my fav animal hence they are Ana's fav animal,) and this water bottle adapter for Kyle for when we take him to the dog park. I didn't get one for Ana because she's a diva and will only drink water out of her bowl in her house, I have seen her turn up her nose when offerred "strange" water. The giraffe is small and was expensive for its size ($15) but part of the profits go to help out animal shelters so I don't feel too bad about paying so much.

We then walked some more after leaving the store and I resisted the temptation to go into a baby clothes store - my cousin is 5 months pregnant with her first child and I wanted to get her something but I'm on a budget!! But I don't know how long I'll resist baby clothes store since everything is so teeny and cute. Ok so blah blah blah we walked around some more and finally it was 10:45am and I could go to the needlepoint store.

They had the nicest things in this store - needlepoint wise. I don't think I'd like to try it but it was nice to look at. I asked for my magnets (this is where I bought my first pair of magnets) and bad news they were out. I was sad for a moment until I saw that they had beaded scissor fobs. They only had 4 but they were nice. I again resisted buying more than one but now that I'm home I regret it. I mean they only had four all different what if I go back now and the animal print ones are gone?!?!?! (These are the ones I decided I didn't need - I ordered a pair from nordic needle and am waiting impatiently to receive them *sigh*) I bought the ones that caught my eye first and of couse I have pictures to share of them :-) I'm really happy because they match the first pair of gingher's Kelly has ever bought me - my first real scissors. The pictures don't really show the color of the beads but they are sort of a purple/green irridescent color - they match perfectly. I have been using my Cheetah's but I put those away once I got home and am now going to be using my Leah's. I don't know what I'm going to do when my other fobs come in. How am I going to decide which scissors to use???? I guess I'll stress myself out when the time comes...oh and about my magnets she's (the lady at the needlepoint shop) is going to order some more for the holidays and will call me when they come in - until then I'll still try to find them at other needlepoint/knitting stores!

So here are pictures of my diva dog playing with her giraffe and my new beaded scissor fob!

The fabric shown is actually the fabric to the next project I'm going to work on. I may have to take a break from Spring Snapperland since it's a Halloween design I want to stitch.

SBQ

*****Today's SBQ was suggested by Vash(http://seasidestitcher.blogspot.com/) and is:

Which way do you stitch, i.e. do you stitch /// followed by \\\ ontop, or the other way around \\\ followed by ///? Are you left- or right-handed and do you think that this affects the way that you stitch?

I stitch the other way around - some people may call it the wrong way. I'm also left-handed. At first I thought I stitched that way because I was left handed but I've spoken to left handed stitchers and they stitch the other way. I tried to switch it and stitch the other way but it took the fun out of stitching. I don't really think it affects the way I stitch. Sometimes I find it hard to follow directions for specialty stitches and band samplers because they all direct you to start from the left and go right and I'm use to stitching right to left.

Lookie here :-)

I'm hoping to finish this soon. I won't say when I plan to finish this by since I don't want to jinx myself but, I just hope to finish it soon. I work tonight and if its not busy I'm going to stitch and try to finish up this 3rd square and start on the last square which is the first square. I left it for last because it's really the one I want to stitch. I think that little girl in it is just too cute. Well I'm going to take a nap before I have to get ready for work.

I've slept my first day off away. I think my beauty sleep lasted for close to 20 hours! I was up for about 4 hours between that stitching so really I slept for 15 hours. It's hard working 3 days in a row but it's also hard working 2 days off for 1 and then working 2 days again. *sigh* 12 hour shifts are just never easy. I'm back to work tomorrow. Today I don't really have plans, I told my cousin I'd go to the movies with him and yesterday morning I bought the cutest little baskets to put my halloween candy in for all of my tiny cousins and neice and nephew, so I have to buy candy. I'll show pics once I get them together.

I have no update picture of my stitching. I really don't feel like I've made much progress. Maybe after tonight's stitching I'll show a picture. While at the craft store yesterday I saw they had a flyer up for knitting classes for $22, of course I wanted to sign up but I work the day they're holding it. There's this knitting store around Kelly's house that I always say I'm going to go in and sign up for classes but never do. I'd like to try other things besides cross stitch, but I'm pretty sure it will remain my first love. I'm taking a quilting class in November and December. I'm excited about this because I figure it will teach me new ways to finish my finishes. I just have to get my sewing machine fixed. I plugged it in one day and it wasn't working *tear*

Well I'm starving and need to go eat to get rid of this "hungry" headache. TTYL

No stitching for me for a while :-(

I work the next three days, I'm already tired just thinking of it. Nothing but work and sleep for the next 3-4 days *sigh* Hopefully it won't be too busy this weekend and the patients will be nice and not cranky and demanding. You can need something and be nice about and I'll bend over backwards to get it for you but once they start bossing you around and complaining about everything under the sun then that's when they start to get on my nerves.

Anyhoo, I wanted to show a picture of my progress. I won't count on stitching on this for a while. If I get a chance at work to take a break I might just sleep since I'm going to need it. Ok enough complaining about work LOL. Here's the picture.

Mini Finish and some other pics

I've been up since my last post. This is what happens when you work nights I guess, your sleep hours get all screwy. By 8pm tonight I bet you I'll be asleep in bed *sigh*
Good news is that I've been stitching since then and have finished my second square *mini happy dance* Here's a picture:

In one of my groups a question was asked which stitched up piece to do you cherish the most for sentimental reasons. The first one that popped into my head was one that I stitched by Birds of a Feather called Love. I stitched the little guy brown to resemble Kelly. I pulled it out this morning to take a picture of it and decided that this will be the next piece I take in to get framed. I stitched it on Sugar Maple Fabrics some sort of evenweave dunno what kind, don't really know what the color is called but its gray and its my favorite color :)

And lastly here's a picture of my baby. This is what she does as I stitch in bed. I have to take her out soon before it starts to rain again. She has bumps from when I washed her. Not too bad like the last time so I'm not taking her to the doctor. I'm thinking maybe I should wash her with Johnson's & Johnson's baby shampoo next time since she's so freaking sensitive now but shouldn't puppy shampoo be equivalent to baby shampoo? The toy she's laying on is her favorite toy of the week. I bought it for her when I saw the Pet Smart commercial of the dachshund with "Bobo" I love that commercial!

She has a big basket with stuffed animals. Guess I'll share a picture of that too so you can see how spoiled she is. What's so amazing to me is that she smells all her toys and then picks one to play with, like she knows they're different. Kyle doesn't do that you tell him get your toy and he picks up whatever, he doesn't care lol.

SBQ

I decided to do these - it gives me something to blog about and seeing people answer them on other blogs is interesting and sometimes helpful to read the answers so here goes...

*****
Today's SBQ was suggested by Lee (http://lakestitcher.blogspot.com/)
and is:

As we all know, stitching in the winter can really be rough on the
hands. What do you do to treat your hands well in the cold winter
months? Do you have any suggestions for creams or soaps? Or perhaps a
special regimen that you would like to share?

Being a nurse my hands are always dry since I'm constantly washing them. The only thing that prevents this is not washing them so much but I'm a nurse and that isn't an option. My mom uses this oatmeal mixture that softens hands immediately I forget whats the second ingredient I think it's honey (she works with chemicals that dry out her hands) I've never tried it but if my hands get really bad I would try it. What I do is just put this Bath and Body works lotion on them - It's C.O. Bigelow brand and it's called Dr. Hiosous Quince Hand Lotion. Doesn't smell the greatest (actually it smells like carrots to me) but it does the job and my hands can even handle silk threads afterwards :-)

Here's the picture of Spring Snapperland as promised. I didn't realize how delirious I was earlier LOL. After eating and sleeping I felt much better though.

I get paid to search cross stitch blogs while at work LOL. Not really but it's been not so busy at work the last 2 nights that I've pretty much been relaxing between rounds. I like it when its like that. I know this weekend it will probably be hectic which sucks because I work 3 days in a row. I may call out hehe I doubt it though. I always say I'm going to call out today but end up going to work, but I think that's how it is with every job no?

Ok enough blah blah blahing - my progress on Spring Snapperville is ok. Like I said work has been easy so I get time to stitch. I don't have a picture right now but I'll add one later. I'm sleepy and really just wanted to blog right now before I forget later on.

Oh I'm also hungry - I feel like I should be in that McDs Snack Wrap commercial because Kelly is talking to me and I like can't concentrate on him. Wonder what my blood glucose is right now...

Ok so this is where my pic would be LOL. TTYL!!

It's pretty late - well early for some but I haven't been to bed yet so it's late. Here's my progress on Spring Snapperland. Wish I could stitch more but I work tonight and need my sleep. Have a great day everyone!

Ana Post

I made the decision to sleep for as long as I could today last night. Apparently Ana felt otherwise because she decided to get into God only knows what this morning which required me to wake up and give her a bath *sigh* She was nice enough to wait until 11am to be discovered though.

I've had problems washing her the last 2 times so believe me I was pissed that I had to wash her. I've been keeping her clean by limiting her outside time and brushing her daily. It's not that I don't like washing her, she's rather cooperative while in the tub compared to Kobe who I use to yell at "and you think about what you just did" while turning off the lights, slamming the bathroom door and leaving him in the tub lol. She's just been breaking out in these horribe bumps no matter what shampoo I use and if you have pets then you know the vet bill isn't so cheap. So anyway, I used puppy shampoo that's soap free this time, didn't brush her while she was wet, rinsed her with a bucket instead of the showerhead, and dried her off with the blower - nothing to irritate her skin so we'll see what happens. Right now she's laying down on her bed licking her paws so we're not out of the woods yet. I'm praying that tomorrow she doesn't have bumps. They always appear the 2nd or 3rd day after a bath.

On a happy note, I can now start my stitching since it's still early (2pm is early for me) I usually go visit Kelly and take him to work on the Sundays that I'm off but today I just want to stay home and veg. TTFN!

Some stuff

I want to stitch but I'm sneezing like crazy again...this is how it started last week when I was getting sick, I feel ok now but I hope I'm not getting worse. It's late and I just wanted to show my progress. I frogged the row that I messed up and re-stitched it. I think that's what got me down. Tomorrow or rather in the morning starts a new day. Ana was also kind enough to model my new scissors - they are Penelope and I tracked them down online. Sweet dreams everyone! (if anyone reads this blog lol)

I'm GREEN!!!!

And not with envy. It's more like green like The Hulk. I pulled out my stitching yesterday at work and finally stitched to the point where I could start on the part that I had been waiting for - the border. I got 2 flowers done and today when we were on the train (Kelly and me) I pull it out again because I'm so excited to stitch on these flowers. Three stops before our stop Kelly goes to me (he knows I'm excited about these flowers) "I don't want to rain on your parade but I think that box is bigger than the other." Of course this was something that I did not notice until he pointed it out. All my excitement over the flowers went down the drain. I counted and on the first square that I stitched I was one off *grrrrr* one measly stitch!!!! So I ended up ripping it out. I still have a picture to show though, but you will notice that I'm in the process of ripping out part of one of the squares! I must go to bed now I work tonight and should have been sleeping an hour ago but honestly aren't my 3 flowers cute? LOL Enjoy!!

Changed the layout and had S.E.X.

So I played around with my layout all morning, haven't really decided on it so this is sort of a test drive so far I like it.

Went to the cross stitch store in NJ today *yeah* It was mainly to get my last 3 finishes framed. I'm getting EDs Green Old Gardens with the same frame it shows on the model picture as well as SBs Spooky Spots. The mat and frame for Spooky Spots was the most expensive, I almost cheaped out and didn't get it framed but I figured I'm there it's there might as well just do it. I did get a new pair of scissors (hehe) as well as 2 new charts that I want to start now and the materials I was missing for other things.

I'm going to stop shopping for a while I know it's going to be EXTREMELY hard since I'm like a shopaholic. I want to save a little and get all of my cc's paid. The next time I spend is when I pick up my framing in about a month or longer. Of course I'm going to spend money to buy little things but nothing that I don't need. While I write this I'm thinking of the things that I buy that are not "needs" and I'm like OMG I can't buy those things anymore?!?!? LOL

Well I took pictures of the things I bought as well as the progress on my new WIP, I decided not to start any of my new things until I get maybe 1/2 way through this one.
TTFN!

This is the one I want to start ASAP! I'm gonna go blind doing it but I love love love it. I saw it stitched up on someone else's blog and it was so pretty.

Can't really see the model picture that well. I got the fabric and will probably stitch it in good ol' DMC but it really calls for silks which don't work well with my dry hands. Here's a link of better picture http://www.arachnessilkenweb.com/acorns_-_german_sampler_series.html

And this is the rest. Yes, those are the new Julia's :) I got fabric for the things I wanted to stitch as well as the floss.

Look familiar? It feels like I'm stitching Winter Snapperville again hehe.
It's BCs Spring Snapperland. Dunno how long it will take but I think I have the patience to see it to the end.

Another finish :)

So my medicine didn't agree with me yesterday. I don't know if it was because I took it late and went to sleep later than usual but I'm usually able to wake up at 6p and my mom couldn't get me to open my eyes until 9p and even then I would sit up and fall over to go to sleep. I'm thinking maybe I just needed to rest since I worked the last 2 days...

Well anyway the real reason for this post is to share my finish! I just realized that the fabric is dirty (a first for me) so I'm hoping when I spot clean it it won't get ruined, this piece has gone through enough already I just want to put it away. Ok so here's a picture with and without the buttons and with the bottom satin stitched fixed hehe. I think I'm going to do something small next - the top 3 list I made the other days on here has changed but I don't think I have all of the materials for the things I want to stitch. For one I don't have some of the threads or fabric, for the other one I don't even have the pattern so let's not even talk about fabric and threads, and for the other one same as the first. Well I'm going to look through my stash. Thanks for looking and enjoy the pics!

TRAGEDY! (well almost)

So I'm on the train and I figured to keep Kelly up for a minute longer I'll show him the progress I've made on my Spooky Spots, little did I know that what I'd see when I opened my bookbag would break my heart.

It seems that when I put my stethescope in my bag I pulled down the ziplock bag off of my fabric and then while moving around the pencil I had in my bag (ready for this?)went through my fabric! I didn't know what to do and of course Kelly did not know the severity of this. I made major progress on it last night and to see that pencil go through my fabric was just horrible. Kelly (my knight in shining honour)just grabbed it from me took the pencil out and sort of shook the fabric and fixed it.

Well I just wanted to share that with you, I took my usual sick medicine cocktail and its starting to kick in and I'm getting sleepy. I'm off tonight so *maybe* I'll have a finish tomorrow!! Okies I'm off - if you get a chance watch Kicking&Screaming it's a dumb movie but it makes me laugh :) I love Will Ferrell!!!!

I'm sick and happy!

I'm so sick that I feel like dying! Of course I'm really not because if I was I wouldn't be blogging about my illness, instead I'd be in bed resting. I have something exciting I want to share :) I stitched last night at work during my break and afterwards since it was a quiet night and I'm so happy with my progrss. I love specialy stitches ALOT, they're so fun and sometimes easy and go so quick. I'm almost done although if I go to work tonight (remember I'm dying so I may stay home) I may not find time to stitch so who knows when's the next time I pick this up - I'm really close to finishing this and I don't know if I'm happy because I'll have another finish or because I'll get to start something new...anyhoo here's a picture of my progress. I'm now off to drug myself into a peaceful slumber, hopefully what I take decongests me and I'll be able to breath through my nose. TTFN!

P.S. Pay no attention to the last row satin stitch I have to pull that out because its wrong *sigh*