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.