Quick (or not so quick) Update

I have the whole house to myself (Jerry is at work and Josh is with friends either playing video games or Dungeons & Dragons) so I decided it's ok for me to sit here and play on the computer. :o) I actually have a bunch of stitching that I need to work on, some that I almost forgot about that has to be done soon for a friend so I will probably work on that after finishing here.

I will send off the last 2 SFEs tomorrow and will post pics here as soon as they are received. I did receive a Biscornu swap in the mail today from Bonnie on bbinteractive yahoo group. She stitched a pretty blackwork design on really pretty fabric with gold threads in it. Here is is:


Before I remembered the stitching for a friend I have to do, I fianlly got a start on my sister's Christmas gift. I haven't gotten very far but it's a start. The finished size will be 16x20 inches. Hopefully it will be done by Christmas. :op Here is the link to what it will look like finished. She is a cook and I thought it was appropriate because it's called Gourmet ABC You can click under the pic to enlarge it. I'm glad I got it when I did because it says 'No longer available'. I looked it up by the item # that is on the package. (The picture on the front of the kit is about 2 inches tall!) I had to replace the fabric in the kit because it wouldn't have left much room for framing. I also replaced all the threads. They said they were 'similiar to DMC'. Not even close. They almost looked like varigated because they had dark & light spots but they were pretty ugly! I matched them to DMC. Here is how far I am:

As long as we are still on the subject of stitching, I have a new wish list item that I really, really want! It's from Little House Needleworks and is called Sea to Shining Sea The problems are that 1.) I have never worked with silk threads and that's what the thread packs are. My hands get so chapped in the winter I could never use silk then! (I'm allergic to almost all lotions), 2.) The thread packs come in 6 parts which means they are probably really expensive, 3.) it's done on 32 count fabric and the biggest count I like is 28 count. Even if I could afford them, I don't know if there would be enough thread to stitch it on 28 ct since it would be a bit bigger. On 28 count, over 2 it would be approx. 17.36 x 8 inches. Isn't it soooo pretty though?

I have been seeing the thread rings that several people have been making with small stitched pieces. They are really cute. They have an eyelet through them to add a ring to hold flosses (they could also be keychains). I have been debating buying the crop-a-dile which is what most people use for adding the eyelets. I was reading Meari's blog yesterday and she bought one and posted a review. Now I think I really want one! I also found a video on You Tube showing a demonstration of using it. I was pretty impressed to see how easy it goes through thick things like a cd. I have a few different eyelet setters for my scrapbooking but they don't even work well on thick paper sometimes. I could use this one for scrapbooking too. (notice how I'm talking myself into it?) The only thing I don't like is that it only goes 1 inch from the edge of whatever you are punching/adding an eyelet to. That woould work for me most of the time though. And when it doesn't? I have others as backups. :o) The tool and extra box with 400 eyelets would be about $36 at Hobby Lobby but I have a few 40% off coupons that expire tomorrow. Decisions, decisions..... If I don't get it this week, they will have the coupons again in 2 or 3 weeks. You can only use one coupon so I just have Jerry buy one thing for me. :o)

This morning we had a visitor to our back window.

A squirrel jumped up on the air conditioner and then onto the window sill. He just sat there looking in at us. :o) I had my camera sitting here so I snapped a quick pic. Sorry it's so blurry. I was on the other side of the room and didn't want to move and scare him, plus I was afraid he would jump down so I did it quick and had it really telephotoed. (is that a word?) I was wishing Punkin would have seen him so I could see her reaction. Well, about an hour later we heard the squirrel jump back up and so did Punkin. She went running to the chair and stopped suddenly. They sat there staring at each other for at least 30 seconds with neither one of them moving a bit. Then the squirrel took a few steps closer and then jumped back down. Punkin really wasn't sure what to think! It was pretty funny. :o)

Well, I think that's all I have today. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. :o)
{{{{{Hugs}}}}}