December WIPocalypse check-in

So life kinda got in the way and I missed a few month but January is just round the corner and it is all about resolutions so I will try again and hopefully life will cooperate. Nothing particularly bad happened just got busy with kids and school and work and soccer.

Anyway since it is still December, how about a look back at what I've accomplished? My first big accomplishment was actually making it out to Celebration of Needlework in New Hampshire last May. It was a stitcher's dream to have so many teachers and vendors and stitchers in one spot and to meet in person so many stitchers I've gotten to know online over the years and some new ones too. The DH and I both took trips for our hobbies last year and had originally planned to alternate years but I think we've found a way to make Celebration 2018 fit into the budget😊

As for the actual stitching, I didn't do so well blogging toward the end of the year but I was stitching. The finishes of 2017...

Sleeping Baby (Vervaco)


Lovebirds (CCN)


Some Bunny Loves You (CCN)


America (LHN)


Joe's Garage (Mill Hill)


Chalkboard ornaments (Hands On Design)



You Were Hatched (TW)


Mill Hill ornament


Teddy Bear Birth Announcement (Vervaco)
 

I actually finished quite a lot more than it felt like during the year but none of them were the old WIPs, the ones that have birthdays and are older than my kids. I've got several of those and am hoping to clear out at least one or two in 2018. But we'll get into all that next time in the 2018 kick off post. I've been working on revising the WIPocalypse page of this blog for next year so check that out if you'd like a preview. For now, I think I'm going to go check out everyone else's blog and get some stitching time in while it snows and the kids are semi-quietly playing. Happy New Year, may it be a good and stitchy one.

June WIPocalypse

Hi there, sorry about last month. Life got kind of crazy for a bit but is hopefully settling down again. We had kind of a blur of First Communion, Celebration, end of school, soccer season, and Mom had knee replacement surgery all combined with extra shifts at work to help cover summer vacations. 

I did make it to Celebration and had a wonderful time. There is definitely no other event quite like this around me. I came home relaxed, with new friends, new stitchy ideas, some new stash, and a definite stitchy bug.  I had a chance to meet such stitching celebrities as Erin of  Fairy Tales and French Knots, Abi of you tube fame and last but certainly not least Measi herself. There were tons of other awesome stitchers too but those are the ones I know of off the top of my head with an online presence. A couple quick pics I took since I'm sure everyone has shared bunches already-

I've got lots of WIP pics since I skipped last month so let's dig right in. I got my birth
announcement framed just in time to start another soon for another cousin due in the fall...

There's Dragon Master, where there still is no dragon or master but I did achieve flame...    

 

Then there's Country Cottage Needlework's Love Birds which I stitched mostly at Celebration
and finished shortly after...

One of my stash acquisitions at Celebration was a fat half of Slate linen from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie which I'm using part of for the Hands On Design Chalkboard ornaments that came out last year. I'm thinking of adding real jingle bells to a few instead of stitched ones so Be Jolly isn't quite done yet. Here's where I'm at now.

And finally I'm almost finished with Little House Needlework's America, just in time for July 4th though I don't know if I'll have time to get it display-ready this week. 

Lovebirds and America are part of a series of seasonal smalls I'm hoping to finish for my Mom.
My parents just downsized into a condo and she's gotten rid of tons of her old decorations (non-stitched pieces) so I bought her a small easel for her new mantle (which hasn't been installed yet but will be) and have planned a number of pieces to finish flat to display there throughout the year. I've started another CCN piece too but it's in timeout for being off a single stitch that's going to cause me to frog a bunch to fix. I'll show you that one later when I'm not angry at it anymore. 

Finally, my stitching space. It isn't really all that exciting since I have to hide the stitching stuff from my twins until I'm ready to stitch but this is my recliner in the family room with my favorite fleece blanket since our family room is in the basement and it gets cold down there.
I've got a decent floor lamp with a small adjustable light and a side table big enough for coffee and a WIP.

That's all until next month, stay cool and keep stitching! 

July WIPocalypse

Almost on time for once, how in the world did that happen? So last post I left with plans to stitch Christmas in July. I've done pretty well so far. Finished another of the Frosty Forest pieces from Country Cottage Needleworks, Snowman's Cottage this time...

Made a start on some Brittercup designs from old JCS ornament issues. I'll dig out the details when I'm done. Apologies for the sideways pic, Photobucket claims to have turned it around several times but it just won't stick!

And finally I stitched 1 of 3 gingerbread men for the boys' Christmas ornaments. I'm adapting Little House Needlework's Gingerbread Cookie to be a name ornament this year, just have to settle on the charting of the names and the color to use. The fabric is a little washed out in the photo, couldn't get the light just right but I promise the border really doesn't blend into the fabric in person.

So I've been thinking about my stitching plans for the rest of the year and I think I've got a plan. I'm going to use the rest of the month to finish off as many Christmas ornaments as possible and the first couple days of August until the Olympic challenges start. I'm going to go for a distance challenge and work on a HAED for the month, just not sure which one yet. I've got options and they all want attention. My priorities for the rest of the year are to finish Christmas stitching and stitch one more birth announcement and then I can go back to whatever I want for the rest of the year, probably HAEDs.

So that covers my WIPocalypse check-in and then some. Been meaning to share a couple stash additions so I'll tack those on to the end here. First of all I was the lucky winner of a Facebook contest from the awesome ladies over at Weeks Dye Works. I never win these things and was so excited to see my name posted:) Can't wait to find the perfect project to finish off with that wool!

As a Mother's Day present I joined one of the subscriptions over at Stitchybox for an every other month box of semi-mystery stitchy stuff sent to my house which is kind of nice because the LNS is about 45 minutes away so I don't get out there as often as I'd like. Here's what the first box I received contained-

They seem to base the box contents on a colored theme, this one being the picture and color guide in the upper right corner. Looking forward to trying a couple new brands of stitchy things and finding just the right projects for these things. 

That's about it for now, off to stitch until bedtime. Can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to this month! 

January WIPocalypse

Time to talk about 2016 goals as we start the new WIPocalypse year! Can't believe we're almost a month into 2016 already but here we are at the end of January and I've been thinking about the crafty things I want to accomplish vs what I really think I can accomplish and have updated my WIPocalypse page to reflect what I think is achievable. Mostly my plans are to work on the WIP pile and stitch and finish a few ornaments and maybe a small for my Mom out of the Country Cottage Needlework Frosty Forest series. I would not rule out a new start or two, this is a hobby and is supposed to be fun, but I'm going to try to keep the new starts to a minimum and try for more finishes.

And to that end I actually have a finish since last check in- this is Snowy Friends from the Frosty Forest series I mentioned above, finished just in time for my Mom's birthday.

As for the WIPs I'd like to work on in 2016 the two big ones are HAEDs, Dragon Master which I've worked on since last time so there's a before/after pic and Space Traveler.

So that's about it on the stitching end for now. If you aren't familiar with Measi's WIPocalypse SAL please do click and check it out.  The participants have done some amazing work in the past and I'm looking forward to seeing more this time around. Wanted to leave you with a few non-stitchy pics but I guess Photobucket has decided to stop cooperating so maybe next time.