Happy 2017!

New year, fresh start. Time to empty out the 2016 orts and start over. 2016 wasn't the best year for me but not the absolute worst either. We lost some family members, dealt with some illness (extended family), but also took some fun trips, spent good times with friends and had a little more free time for hobbies. My 2016 ort jar is definitely more full than the last couple despite being shook up and dumped a few times by my favorite helpers. The boys are all a year older and have grown so much since last January.

I'm excited for so many things in 2017- more soccer for Josh, a trip to Celebration of Needlework for me in May, and of course another year of Measi's WIPocalypse SAL. My blogging and stitching has been spotty over the last couple years with babies in the house but I'm hoping to improve on that this year. 

So welcome if this is your first visit and here's a short intro- I'm Sara, wife, Mom of 3 boys, retail pharmacist and stitcher of BAPs (note that does not read finisher!). I love the big pieces but I stitch
plenty of smaller things too. My taste in designers ranges from tiny Mill Hill kits to Teresa Wentzler
and Heaven and Earth designs and lots in between. 

My goal for 2017 is simple- stitch. As I said, I have 3 boys in the house, an 8 year old and twin 2 year olds, so my stitching time has been limited to nap time and after bedtime. The twins will sometimes
allow me to stitch on something simple while they play and watch cartoons lately though I am getting lots of "help" while I do. I guess I will have to organize my stitching by complexity this year- ornaments and small pieces during the day and HAED and other larger pieces at night. As far as specific pieces I don't have a solid list for 2017 but there are 3 main HAED pieces I'd like to make progress on...

Coppervein, my main focus as it is a gift for my brother-

Space Traveler, pretty equally for me and my husband-

Dragon Master, definitely for me-

There are a number of smaller pieces I'd like to work in as well. The only must is the Vervaco birth announcement I'm working on for my cousin who has a baby boy due in February. Here's my current starting spot on that...

The rest of my very fluid list includes but is in no way limited to

-a yet to be determined block from CCN's Frosty Forest set for my Mom

-a Mill Hill Christmas village kit

-maybe some of the chalkboard ornaments from Hands On Designs

-a possible start on Death By Cross Stitch from Long Dog Samplers

-some things I haven't even thought of yet but will see at Celebration

I'm off to a good start at the very least since this should be posted on time (writing on 12/31). I'm also excited to be part of Measi's Facebook group this year. I'm on FB every day anyway so it's a great quick place to check in though I love the idea of keeping the blog for goals and longer check ins. See you all at the end of the month for the first check in! 

A late TUSAL and some stitching updates

Totally missed TUSAL last week but I come bearing all kinds of pics to make up for it today! First of all, I got a new ort jar!





We were out shopping a couple weeks ago and came upon a display of these Mason jar mugs at Bed Bath & Beyond. Seemed a perfect ort receptacle at the time and it has been so far. Check out everyone else's orts here. And yes, those are non-black orts up on top. Since I finished stitching A Spirited Mandala a few days ago I made a fair start on the first round of My Favorite Teddy birth announcement from Vervaco. I bought the kit online and have swapped the Aida out for 32 count ivory Lugana and converted the threads to DMC since there won't be enough for all four of the stitchings I'm planning. I like it so far and it feels like its going fast...



The fabric's a little yellower than in person but otherwise the colors are about right. Strangely, the other project I've been sneaking in is on the same fabric (found a use for some of that extra Lugana already!) and was photographed at the same time with better results...



That's the start of Jack-A-Rachnid by Tempting Tangles Designs from the new JCS Halloween issue (the one that came with subscription). Just couldn't get out of the spooky mood.

And speaking of spooky, I turned A Spirited Mandala into a finished object...







I used a combination of instructions found in tutorials here and here. I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt. One change I made was to leave off the ribbon and bow and do a row of beads down the middle. I tried it a couple ways and liked this one best. Oh, and I also used four round beads stuck into the bottom with straight pins to make feet so it stands up a bit.

So other than all of that stitchy goodness we've been keeping pretty busy. We're at just a few more days until our camping trip so my dining room currently resembles a camping supply store but we're slowly getting it all organized. Hoping to try to get in a quick picture post while we're gone but I'll share some pics when we get back if not. Either way, everyone in the house is counting down the days for now.

One minor change to my 2014 plans- I will apparently not be attending the retreat I previously mentioned. I don't want to get involved in a big fight with the company but am a bit disappointed in how they handled things as it was not made clear up front the process used for "selecting" attendees and was made quite obvious that "first come, first served" wasn't it when I called to question my declined registration after receiving a seemingly positive original email followed by a second last week to say sorry but no. That's fine, my money will instead go toward attending Celebration next Spring where it clearly states everything on their site. Plus there's a decent chance I'll be able to meet up with some online stitchers as this seems to be a much bigger event.