Reflections

As 2010 closes, I just want to say thank you to all of you who come by Joanie's World.  It's nice to know that all of you are in my corner of cyberworld. I've made a ton of friends through this little slice of internet and each of you leave me inspired, spark my creativity and just sometimes kick me in the a$$. 

My year was fair to mid-land.  Some good things happened, the house finally got finished.

Mike and Jenna spent the year in Texas.

The DH retired:

And I kept my job.

Stitching wise, I finished a few things but started many more:

So, here's to new beginnings and learning from the past.  Onto 2011!

Breathe

Oh after 9 long months, my kids are here!  I feel that I can breathe again.  They are here.  I am very happy.

Sophie, Mike & Jenna

They are my greatest joy and this is the best Christmas present that I received  :-) .

Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends!  Thank you so much for your friendship, inspiration and love!  I cherish each and everyone of you that drop by to visit Joanie's World.

May you have a wonderful Christmas filled with laughter, friends, family and great food.  I hope that Santa's good to you and that you take a moment to reflect on God's gift to us.  Blesssings to all of you in 2011!!

The GIVE-AWAY

Ok, I've made a decision about the give-away.  Today is the first day of Winter and it's the day that I put out my snowmen.  I've got quite a collection and each year I add a few more.  So in celebration of the longest day of the year, I am holding my give-away.  IT'S A SURPRISE (cuz I don't have a camera to take pics...LOL!!).


Just a few hints...

 

There's cross stitch charts, fabric and fibers, a painted thing or 2 and it's going to be all wrapped up in something very pretty.

If you want to play...please leave me a comment on this post only.  Make sure you have your email address or a way to contact you if you are the weiner!!!

You do not need to be a follower, although it would be nice if you joined the party.  You just have to like Winter.

I'll draw the winner's name on January 1st. 

Hope you'll play...

Christmas Time is Near

Hi Everyone!  I hope all of you are ready for Santa Claus.  I'm just about ready to go, the presents still need to be wrapped and I have some baking to do but the good thing is that I am on VACATION!!!!  OMGosh, 2 WHOLE WEEKS OFF from the madness of my job (which I dearly love but am completely burned out.  I am crispy).

What do you think I'll be doing with my time?  Well, I have some household things that need attending to desperately and of course there's the baking and present wrapping.  I have a list that could wrap around the earth a few times.  If I get a 10th of it done, I'll be a happy camper. 

First of all there's the general housecleaning, not too big of a job and it's necessary.  I want to clean out a few closets and I really want to organize my craft room.  It's claustrophobic because I have stuff literally hanging from the ceiling.  It needs a good clean and scrub.  I want to go through some old magazines, put things away and generally make it a nice place to work again.  When I let it go, it becomes a catch-all room and all the creativity gets lost.  I don't want to be there and work. 

The other big job is the basement dungeon.   The TV show, Hoarders, would have a field day down there.  You take a chance with your life to go down there, you may never return to the light of day!  We have things that we trucked from our old house that we lived in for 11 years (we've been in this house for 21 years) so I have stuff from 30 years ago that hasn't seen the light of day and I figure if we haven't opened those boxes by now, it's a safe bet that we won't miss the stuff when it's gone.  There's construction stuff from when the house was built, craft goodies, holiday decorations, Mike's things and the flotsam and jetsam of 21 years of living here. Well, you get the idea.  It's time to purge.  I want the house to vomit it out to the landfill.  A clean slate for 2011 and I hope to break that law of nature that says Nature abhors a vacuum and avoid filling it back up.  Wish me luck!

But I really want to finish some cross stitch things this week.  I spent most of my time painting snowmen this weekend and had absolutely NO needle time in over a week.  I have a few ornaments that need to be put together and a pillow I want to finish.  And I want to stitch.  And stitch some more.

Next week, Mike and Jenna will be here!!! I am so looking forward to seeing them!  They will be home for a few days.  Mike will be leaving for Florida mid-January for additional training, Jenna will be with her parents while he is there and they will leave for Japan in mid-February.  I am glad because originally they were to leave for Japan on January 6th.  Now Jenna will get a chance to say a proper good-bye to her parents and friends.  They won't feel like they are getting ripped out of their lives here and dropped into Okinawa.  They now get to ease into Japan. 

I promised you my list of Wips that I pledge to bust in 2011 during the Flipin' Crazy January Challenge.  So here it is...in no particular order:

• Alphabets - Merrily Beams
• Snow Day - With Thy Needle and Thread
• Christmas Double Flips - Lizzie*Kate
• Her Sampler - Carriagehouse Samplings
• Sweeping Snowflakes - With Thy Needle and Thread
• Friendship Sampler - BOAF
• Eye on the Sparrow - Silver Creek Samplers
• Quaker Medallion Sampler - SANQ Winter 2000
• Ellen Birdseye - The Good Huswife
• Remember Me - Mary Garry
•  Thankful Wheeler - The Good Huswife
• Time and Season Sampler - Moira Blackburn
• Maria Chivers - Samplers Remembered
• This is the Day - Hands to Work
• True Virtue Sampler (Janie Applebaum) JCS magazine

That's the list...I hope to finish them this coming year.  I always start a new goodie on January 1st but I haven't made up my mind if I want to do that or pick up one of these that I haven't touched in months or years.  If I do that, it'll "feel" like a new start and not add to this growing and growing list.

I also joined the Crazy January 2011 Challenge to stitch Christmas ornaments and I joined the All Year Long Christmas Stitch-a-long just to stitch Christmas things.  That SAL is really no pressure and I'll post the ornaments I finish there.  I wish someone would start an All Year Long Halloween Stitch-a-long.  Now that would be sweet!

The DH is in Texas to attend Mike's graduation from Mil Intel School and to help the kids drive their cars back to NY.  He won't be back until late Christmas Eve.  The camera is with him and I won't be able to post pics until he gets home.  So be patient.  I know I promised a give-away but unless you want it to be a TOTAL surprise you'll have to wait until next week for that post with pictures. 

Anyway...sorry for the long post and thanks so much for visiting my corner of the world!  I love it when you come by!  I'll post something later in the week....for Christmas...

There is a Method to my Madness

I am certifiably insane.  I decided to join the Crazy January Challenge.    But!  There's a method to this madness.  I am ONY stitching ornaments and small pieces throughout the year for my christmas tree and as bowl fillers.  You know, the cazy idea I had this year to stitch seasonal items and display them?  Well, I think this is going to keep me focused on doing just that!

And I've chosen my 15 WIPs for Jayne's challenge. That challenge will be the more difficult one because most of my WIPs are only 1/2 completed.  I guess the bloom fades about 1/2 way into the project.  I was so surprised when I pulled them out and realized that just about all of them are at the 1/2 way point.  LOL!  Anyway, I'll post all of my lists later this weekend.  I'm on my way to a cookie exchange.  T'is the Season!

Hi There

I hope all my US friends had a great Thanksgiving!  And to all my out of country buddies, I hope you had a nice weekend.  I made it a l-o-n-g weekend out of it, I took vacation 1/2 day vacation on Tuesday, a full day of vacation on Wednesday and Friday was shutdown.  I thought I'd get a lot of stitching done but that didn't happen.  I worked on Miss Snow Fairy and my Lizzie Kate Christmas snip-its.  But what I spent most of the weekend on was our bedroom.  The David decided he wanted to remove the acoustic ceiling, sand and repaint it.  That led to repainting the entire room and steam cleaning the carpet.  My knees still aren't happy from getting up and down the ladder a bojillion times. We painted the room a lovely caramel color called Cracker Bitz.  I thought I'd get a pic of the room for you but there hasn't been any sun in my chunk o'world since LAST week.  It's rained and rained and continues to rain here.  But, the bedroom looks spectacular and it's stayed clutter free for 4 whole days!!   A RECORD!!! LOL!

Tonight I am very tired and somewhat down.  There is so much to do to get ready for Mike and Jenna when they come home for Christmas (crossing my fingers).  I haven't done any decorating yet. I usually wait until mid-December to put up the tree but I think this year I'm going to put it up next weekend.   I think I'll do some decorating on the weekend, the table decorations and window garlands.  Probably, I'll start on Sunday cause I'm going to a Cookie Exchange on Saturday (I'm making 8 dozen peanut butter blossom cookies on Friday night). 

Have you heard about the Crazy January Challenge where you start a new project everyday for the first 15 days in January and then working on them throughout the year until they are done?  It's like a 1/2 month Guilt-free January.  I've decided instead of starting 15 new pieces (which is truly crazy and got me in the WIP mess that I'm currently in), I'm going to chose 15 WIPs and work on them until they are finished.  I'm joining this blog Up 4 a Challenge .  Jayne from An Eye for Threads at Henley's Landing is hosting it.  I'll post my 15 and then let the challenge begin.  Want to join me?

Oh, I've decided that I will have my Give-Away on December 21st.  It's a Frosty Friend Giveaway, filled with Snowmen...a painted Frosty Friend, some Frosty Stash, fabric and a chart or 3....stay tuned for the details. I'm going to keep it simple....so watch for the post announcing it on the 15th!

Anyway...I'm going to go off and try to stitch.  Sorry no pics.  Maybe when the sun returns soon, I hope.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I am so blessed to know all of you.  Isn't it wonderful that our love for needlework "stitch" us together?

I wish you a wonderful time with family and friends.  Share laughter, love and stories.  Smile a lot and eat LOTS of pie!

Just to Prove I DO Stitch!

Picture time!!!  I just wanted you to know that, yes, I DO stitch.  I don't finish much but yes, the needle and I are close friends.

Finished but not framed:

Lucy Minton

The City Stitcher

32ct Raw Belfast Linen

DMC

Halloween pieces that I wanted to make into small pillows.  Didn't happen, obviously.  I love to stitch, fear finishing.  Go figure.

The Prairie Schooler
Mary Gary's Sewing Cabin
35ct Lambswool Linen
DMC

At least these made it to their intended finish and were proudly displayed at Halloween.

The Prairie Schooler

Sweeping Cobwebs

35ct Lambswool Linen

DMC

Broom Hilda

Wtih Thy Needle & Thread

35ct Lambswool Linen

DMC

Liberty

The Trilogy

32ct Linen

Overdyed Thread

And I'm working on these With Thy Needle and Thread Patterns:

Snow Day

With Thy Needle & Thread

35ct Confederate Grey Linen

DMC

Snow Fairy

With Thy Needle & Thread

28ct Mushroom Lugana

DMC

He's a Flake

30ct Straw Linen

Weeks Dye Works Cotton Thread

Can you tell I love snowmen?

I started the Christmas flip its 2 Christmas' ago.  I put it up but picked it back up yesterday.  I am not fond of Weeks Dye Works thread so I think that's why it got sent to the "Land of the Misfit Stitching".  I'm enjoying it now though....

Christmas Double Flips

Lizzie Kate
32c Lambswool Linen

Weeks Dye Works Cotton Thread

Another design destined for pillow finishing....eventually.

Plum Pudding Designs

32ct Unknown Linen

DMC

When I had grand ideas to have a basket full of Patriotic pillows, I stitched these:



Let Freedom Ring

Lizzie Kate Snippet

32ct Lambswool Linen

Weeks Dye Works & GAST overdyed thread

The Sampler Girl

32ct Lambswool Linen

Weeks Dye Works Linen

Lastly, I participated in a Halloween Exchange with All Season's Ornaments.  Dawn made me the cutest treat bag from a Lizzie Kate Halloween design.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!



A-nn-n-d...there's the stash haul...no, not all at once but over the course of a month or so....gluttonous I know, but just the same I'm happy.

So there ya have it sports fans!  The last few months stitching!  I hope you liked what I have to show you.  Thanks for visiting!!! Love when you stop by, truly I do!



Good Sunday Morning!

Today when I woke up, I was blinded by a bright shiney thing streaming in through the window of our bedroom.  What could it be?  Was it SUNSHINE???  Sun???!!!  Isn't that the big bright thing in the sky that is very scarce in my part of good ol' Upstate NY?  Why, yes, yes it is!  Mr. Sol decided to pay a visit.  He's not been around for the last 2 weeks and honestly, I am thrilled he is here.  Now, maybe I'll get some pics of my stitching to show you instead of just talking about it or not talking at all because there's no stitchy pics to accompany my musing.

I will not be able to show you my All Season's Exchange ornanment because of Mr. Sun's absence.  If Daisy posts it on the blog, I'll snag it and post it. I also actually finished something, I made 2 pincushions for Halloween, one of this pattern from With Thy Needle:

and one of that marching witch with the broom from this one too.


Currently, I've been stitching on 2 new pieces and I've picked up a WIP that got put away last year. I can't stop myself from starting new things. The WIP is Miss Snow Fairy:

And the new piece is With Thy Needles, Sweeping Snowflakes:

I love the broom idea but I want a bowl of snowmen this year. 

And the other new piece is an oop Birds of a Feather sampler, Friendship Sampler:

Melissa from Words in Bloom offered it as a round robin piece to stitch so it's my turn.  I've got the top few rows of the border stitched.  Not enough to show you.  I had the Barn Owl fabric to stitch it on and I'm using the recommended thread. 

So now that I've bored you with my pieces, hopefully later, I'll get pics of the finishes.  I want to say thanks for hanging with me and a big THANK YOU to my newest followers.
 
I've got my plans made for my giveaway.  I've decided to go with a Winter's theme.  Since I'm a bona fide snowman freak, those frosty fellows are going to be front and center.   Stay tuned!
 
Have a blessed and wonderful Sunday.  And if the sun's shining where you are, ENJOY IT!!!

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you all a Spook-tacular day! 

Where did a month go???

Honestly, it's been a month since my last post?  WOW!!!  I don't know where the weeks have gone.  Doesn't it seem that as you get older, time speeds up?

There's good news with the DS...he got his next assignment!  Jenna and he will be going to JAPAN!!!!  Can you believe it?  I was totally in shock and so were they because they never expected an assignment like this... They will be stationed at Kadena AFB in Okinawa.  He hasn't gotten his official orders but I expect that by mid-January, they will be there.  So we will have a flurry of activity in the next couple of months as they prepare for their latest adventure. 

And I've painted and stitched this month.  I've painted a LOT of Halloween things that sold briskly to the gals at work.  And now I'm beginning Christmas things.  I stitched this cutie: 

and this one too:

but I haven't made them into ornaments yet.  I've also stitched a Halloween exchange with the All Season's Ornament Exchange group. It will be mailed this week.  I love what I made and I hate to part with it.  Isn't that the way it always is though??

I had great intentions of finishing up my Halloween bowl fillers but I ran out of time this weekend.  The weekend blew by!  I hope to get to them this weekend. 

And I decorated the house up for Halloween....here's a picture of the mantle & fireplace...I did the kitchen shelf and the sunroom/porch area too.

So, thanks for paying a visit!  I hope you'll stop by again soon.  Have a great week!!!

The Last Time I Looked...

This WAS a stitching blog.  So, I took a few (bad) pics of what I've stitched on the last couple of weeks.  I admit, I haven't stitched as much as I usually do or like to do.  It's been catch as catch can.  Right now, I am up to my elbows in acrylic paint. 

Before we begin...Here's the disclaimer.

The day is overcast in upstate NY.  The colors are a bit flat. I am using a point and shoot camera and the zoom makes things a little fuzzy.  And the camera operator was in a hurry when she took these pictures and is not responsible for off color or wrinkles in the fabric cause she was too LAZY to drag out the iron and ironing board.

Sue me.

First up! This is an older Merrily Beams chart called Alphabets.  I am stitching it with a very nice AVAS red on a creme fabric. 

I am trying not to get bored stitching the alphabets so I play games with myself and stitch in 4 letter blocks.  So I don't poke my eyes out stitching the line of birds I've included them in the block while stitching the alphabet above them.  I have to play games with myself to stay motivated.  Do you do that?

He's a Flake by Little House Needlework. 

He's eye-less and nose-less right now and looks a tad scarey. Hmm-mn. Honestly, I am stitching him on the recommended Weeks Dye Works linen, Straw but it definitely is g-r-e-y in this pic instead of that yellow ochre color. Sorry folks, see the disclaimer above.


Lately, I've been on a Prairie Schooler binge.  I think it's cause it's Halloween time and I adore her Halloween charts.  (And her snowmen but that's later.)  This is the upper half of Sweeping Cobwebs.  I will be making it into a pin pillow/cushion.   And yes, I just realized that I left off the orange in the border on the lower right.  Geez. 

Lastly, here's another Prairie Schooler Witch from the same chart that's destined to become another pillow finish with a black beaded edge.

Have you been perusing the OLN sneak peeks for the St. Charles Markets?  I have a couple of things on my short list.  Not a lot of the charts have appealed to me yet.  I do want this however:

Kelmscott Needle Minder:

I have a couple of these that I've stuck on my stitching lamp base and I don't know what it is about them, but I find them charming.

And I've recently added to my very gluttonous stash:

From the Drawn Thread because I adore Halloween and she's finally designing something other than flower beds:

I like this one (Too Everything There is a Season) too but I'm going to have to save some shekels before it comes to live with me:

I have a lot of Drawn Thread charts.  I used to buy them just about sight unseen until it seemed that all Cynthia was designing were charts based on gardens.  I love gardens too but they just became tedious to me.  (Sorry true Drawn Thread fans.)  I adore her house designs and was very happy to see the chart above.

And of course, another Blackbird Designs chart was added to my umm-mm, collection. 



This one reminds me off my grandparent's home so I think when I get around to stitching it I'll add their initials to it and the date they married in the flower urn. 
Well, I think the paint has dried sufficiently so I can start adding faces to the pumpkins so my break is over.  I hope you are having the best day doing what you absolutely LOVE. 

I hope you enjoyed your time with me checking out my little corner of the world.  I do appreciate you guys so much!  Thanks for coming by!

Painting - For Sale

As you know, I've started to paint again.  I posted a picture of Boo, awhile back but now I've got a few more things to share.  If you are interested, please email me at Mikes1mom@gmail.com. 

Primitive Bee Skep

Witchy Poo

Pumpkin Witch

Boo!

Thanks for taking a peek! 

One Year Ago....

Our son, Mike, married the lovely Jenna!

Congratulations, Jenna & Mike!  We love you and wish you many, many more happy years together!!!