All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, once again, I've been MIA on my blog.  Big surprise.  But I have an excuse!

I GOT A JOB!!!!

I start tomorrow.  The last 2 weeks have been really, really busy!  I interviewed last Thursday (18th) and got called back that afternoon to come for a second interview this past Friday.  I met the lady who's retiring and I met with the management team again.  They told me not to worry if I didn't hear from them for a few days.  Well, at 5PM the recruiter called and offered me the job starting tomorrow!  The only downside is that I am on probation with their temp agency for 30 days.  But, I can live with that.

I've been stitching.  Mainly Halloween goodies.  I did finish Lizzie*Kate's Halloween. I will take pic when the sun comes back out.

Well, for those affected by Irene, you've been in my prayers.  I hope that all of you are safe and sustained little or no damage.  Here, we've got flooding. 

So, wish me luck tomorrow cause it's the start of a Good Thing!

Stop by again,

Blessings,

Joanie

Where the Magic Happens - Usually...

Welcome! Please come in and make yourself home as I walk you through my creative space. My muse lives here and I find creativity and joy in this 10 x 12' space. It is here where I experiment with paint, fabric and of course, fiber.

Looking in the room from the entrance to the room, you see my work table straight ahead.  It faces South and I have views of the pond and the hayfields.  It's great to look out the window and be inspired.

(Pics are clickable)

Along the right wall you will find many things that I find inspiring.   Samplers that I recently stitched.  A picture of my first kitty, Puffer.



On the dresser that holds all my cross stitch fabric, I've set up a display of stitching things, scissors, Sajou cards, painted items. The round candy tin was my Mom's sewing box so it's got top billing on the dresser.

 Dresser (left side)

Continuing on the right side of the dresser, you find my first piece of needlework I made for my husband right after we were married. He had it on his desk at work for many years. It's a cruel piece of crewel embroidery but I did make it with love.  Also, you will find jars of buttons, marbles, spools of thread and a lovely lady pincushion.

(Dresser - right side)

 

Above the dresser is an 8' shelf.  This shelf holds memories, toys of my childhood, items of my home, things that I love, some of Mike's things. This shelf is sentimental and it's filled with items that remind me of my home, my parents, and good times.

The stuffed animals were Mikes.  Buzz Lightyear is my reminder that anything is possible if you believe. I love the toothy alligator, behind that is an art piece made by Mike.  The clock cookie jar was in my Mom's kitchen.

Continuing along the shelf there's funky plaques that hung in my parent's home,  a Huckleberry Hound bank that was mine when I was a child and a stack of old cameras.

Underneath the shelf is a pantry that holds some pieces from exchanges, patterns.  On the top of the pantry, there's a Mr. Machine that was a childhood toy.  I loved that toy! And I have a thing for bunnys.

To the right of the window is a peg shelf that holds a stitched piece made just for this room. A Mcoy planter holding wooden spoons from my Grandma.  Folk art painted pieces from another lifetime.

On the peg is my Dad's work hat.  I treasure that hat.  When he wore it, I knew he was in his groove, fixing, painting or sprucing something up.

Underneath that peg shelf is another book shelf.  If you look on the top, there's a nod to cross stitch.  On the shelves below you will find Halloween goodies, more books(!) and a tray of stuffed goodies that I put out during the various holidays throughout the year.

Then, we turn to the right wall.  The wall of storage.  In the hatbox, you will find just about every card, letter or keepsake from my DH and son. Baskets hold ribbons, cards, paint tubes. DMC is stored in those nuts and bolts containers. And there's my typewriter from high school. LOL.  The pantry holds my painting supplies.  The drawers hold stitching supplies.  Further to the right is another pantry unit that's stuffed with binders that hold my cross stitch patterns.  The globes were from childhood too. I love globes and would collect them if I had the room.  In this pic, you can see the color of the room.  Tangerine!  Love the color, it's so cheery!



And swinging back around to the back wall, you'll find an overstuffed bookshelf.  Cross stitch, work books, quilting books and some novels that I can't part with live here.  The paper mache pumpkin is another childhood piece.  It's at least 50 years old.

So kids, this is the place where I find inspiration, joy and peace. It's still a work in progress and that's what I like about it. As art and my style evolves, so will the room. Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll come back again!

Joanie


When We Last Left Our Plucky Stitcher....

She acquired some stash (Shh-hh-h, that's not all of it!).

(Pics are clickable)

She contemplated Halloween / Autumn /Christmas stitching:

Made progress on the Beeman's Garden but didn't finish it in time to get framed: 



Stalled on Do Unto Others:

Love that hive!!!

Got "Bewitched"

Picked out a frame for the little witch: (Aquired at HomeGoods, my new BFF store!)

Pattern for the little witch cause I know you'll ask.

Candy Corn too!

And finished Lizzie*Kate's Halloween to be made into a long cube using the fabric behind it:

Stitched up a linen pumpkin (I see more of these in my future!):

Pulled out another finish that has been buried far too long (Stitched when Mike was 6 and he's now 24. Do the math.) and will be made into a wallhanging:

And contemplated working out until Miss Ella beat her to the treadmill.

I took pics of my stitching /craft room too but I won't bore you with all of them just yet.  Here's a tease though:

So my friends, there you go!  A post with PICTURES!! Go me!  LOL!!!
Thanks for coming by and seeing what's going on in my world.
Keep stitching, kids. 

Joanie



Oh My...Has It Really Been That Long?

Over 2 weeks since my last post.  Shame, shame on me!

Well, what's been going on with me.  A whole lot a' nuthin' besides the job search and taking care of house-y type stuff that looks like it would only take an hour or so to do but ends up taking most of the day.  I honestly don't know how I did it when I was working, I think I used to "slick" housekeep, not doing a thorough job but "slicking" it to make it look presentable and hiding the rest.  Now, I'm actually doing a complete job and I'm embarassed to tell you that I'm embarassed at the housekeeper that I am.  I used to blame alot of things on our critters (dragging in dirt from the barn, the cats and the dog) and the DH.  But, now that I have "time", I'm realizing that I was a large contributor to the state of affairs at Chez Dirt.  Oh, say it's not so!  But it IS!  Hopefully, my house drudgery now will prevent me from house fudgery later on when I get back to work (which isn't looking like any time soon). 

I am actively being courted by a recruiter for a firm in Nashua NH.  It would mean me moving away in order to take this job if it presents itself.  The DH and I talked about it and it's doable for awhile until the economy in NY rights itself.  The job would look fabulous on my resume, it's management and dealing with medical device compliance.  But there are a couple of glitches, I've managed teams but never a department and although I have experience in medical compliance, my previous employer was not a final device manufacturer so we were not involved with FDA submissions or QSR 820.  Weak areas in my work experience.  But nothing I couldn't handle.  It's convincing the company to take a chance on a rookie who would have to learn by doing instead of hitting the ground running. 

Stitching wise, I sorta lost my mojo during the last heat wave and the last round of resume rejections.  I switched my focus from stitching on Done By Me and the BeeMan to small things for Halloween.  (Although BeeMan is so close to being done I might just finish it off and use my 60% off Michaels coupon to get it framed.)  I've stitched Halloween from Lizzie Kate that I want to make into a long cube and I'm working on a little witch from The Cricket Collection and Candy Corn from With Thy Needle and Thread.  I found the bestest frame for the witch at HomeGoods (my BFF store!).  I'll post pictures soon. We are having a blessed day of gentle rain (sorry Texas) that my gardens sorely needed but it's not conducive to photoshoots. The light is not present so the pictures taken with my little camera wouldn't do the designs justice.

If you could, please keep my boy and all the soldiers in your prayers, I read today that 31 of our finest were killed today.  I'm sure the news is weighing heavily on him.  And he's been working around the clock, on what he can not tell me, so I know it's not good. 

So sorry for the long winded, un-pictured post but I did want to check in to say I'm HERE!!  (waving to everyone new and old).  Thanks for dropping by...until next time...

Joanie