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I played all day (with scrapbook paper)

This past weekend, my sister and I participated in an all day scrapbooking event given by Shelby of Embellish IT! in Charlotte, NC.  The weekend started with a bang as we had to move up our original travel plans to avoid the sleet and freezing rain that were forecast for Friday afternoon.  We didn't exactly miss it, we drove through it early Friday morning.  It was not fun, but we made it to the hotel in Charlotte iwthout incident.  We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing in the hotel (plus a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with our aunt who also came to the event) and were ready bright and early the next morning for a full day of scrapbooking.  

I had not scrapbooked in several months.  Between the discomfort of standing on broken toes, and just a lack of motivation, I simply haven't felt like creating with paper.  Happily, this weekend really seems to have broken through my loss of scrap mojo.  I finished about 14 pages for our honeymoon album!  I won't share all of them today, just a few.  I used a lot of Basic Grey's "Soleil" line for these pages.  The bright, sunny colors were perfect for a tropical trip.

This first layout will be the beginning of the album.  I won't repeat my story about the leis, which is what the journaling covers:

I loved those pretty flowers.  Personally, I think we should wear leis on a more regular basis.  Next up, a layout showing off two of my favorite photos from Oahu.  The statue in the vertical photo is of Duke Kahanamoku, who considered to be the father of modern surfing.  We hung our leis on his arms on the day that we left Oahu.

Next, we have a two page layout covering our visit to Pearl Harbor.  I used a postcard and our admission tickets as part of the decorations for this page.  

This next layout covers our visit to 'Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu.  We couldn't take pictures inside the palace, so there's just the one outside photo for the layout.  I did include our tickets, which are reproductions of invitations to a royal ball at the palace.  The main reason that I wanted to visit the palace was to see Queen Liliuokalani's crazy quilt.  She made it while held prisoner in her palace by the United States.  It is a beautiful work of art.  

A closeup of the admission tickets:

Finally, here's a layout that I made using one of our class kits from that weekend.  The colors and layout of photographs was perfect to capture the walk Alton and I took through Honolulu's Chinatown in the afternoon after our visit to the palace.

I have to say that the entire day was very enjoyable and relaxing.  Shelby is a fun instructor, and the fact that we were all sitting in one room for so long, not rushing from class to class, made things feel much calmer than they normally do at a convention.  Shelby has said that she intends to return to Charlotte for another "Play all Day" event in the future.  I really hope she does, because I definitely want to do that again!

I'll share more of the layouts in the near future.  Til then, I hope everyone has a wonderful, creative day!

January 2013 WIPocalypse update

Yes, even though we are no longer 'in fear' of the end of the Mayan calendar, the WIPocalypse stichalong goes on.  If you want to know more about it, or you think you might want to join in, check out Measi's blog, here.

For this first month, we are supposed to set goals for which unfinished projects we'd like to complete this year.  So here's my somewhat lazy list:

1- everything on last year's list that wasn't complete (told you it was a lazy list)
2- Coraggio by Scarlet Letter
3- Giraffa sampler
4- Feast of Friendship by Blackbird Designs
5- 12 Christmas-related pieces (one for each month)

And now for this month's progress... I finished the stitching and 'finishing' on the Sugarplum ornament from Heart's Content.  I thought about attaching a hanger, but then decided that I was just going to hook a metal ornament hook through some of the lace:

I have also done a little more stitching on Coraggio:

Of course the over-one alphabet is slow going!  Recently, I've been working on a model for market in March.  I'll share photos of it (I hope) closer to release time.  I'm thinking that I will actually be going to market this year.  Whee!

So that's it on the stitching front.  Between now and the next update, I plan to continue working on Coraggio and finish another Christmas piece.  I was thinking that I would stitch up the large pillow I finished at the end of last year, but I might finish a Little House ornament that I stitched last year instead in fitting with the monthly theme.  We'll see what kind of mood I'm in when the time comes to choose.  ; )

In a day or two, once the sun is bright enough for me to get some decent pictures, I'll share some scrapbooking that I did over the weekend.  Yes, for the first time in a very long while, I actually scrapbooked!!!

Til then, stay safe, stay warm, and stay creative!

TUSAL and some other progress

Good morning everyone!  I'm overdue for my first ort report of 2013.  I slipped outside early on this foggy morning and took a quick photo of my freshly emptied ort jar.  The threads from this month are all from Coraggio:

If you'd like to learn more about the TUSAL, or maybe even join in yourself, check it out here on Daffycat's blog.

As I mentioned, the only thing I've worked on so far this year has been "Coraggio" by Scarlet Letter.  I've been plugging away at the top band and the over one alphabet... that over one is S L O W.  Still no word on the back ordered threads.  I'll have to put this down soon if I don't get them.  But anyway, here's where I am as of this morning:

When I went out to get the paper this morning, I noticed that the crocuses (crocii?) have started popping up in the front yard:

I love these fresh, pretty little flowers.  And I'm happy to see that the bulbs seem to have divided quite nicely since last spring.  BUT, I know that a nasty freeze will come along before too long and I will probably not see the daffodils or many of the other crocuses this year.  Sigh.  That's the life of a garden, I suppose.

I think that on Monday morning I will set to work on the Christmas ornament I mentioned in my last post.  Turns out there is a little more work to do on it than I realized.  There are supposed to be lots of eyelets in varying threads all over it.  I'm trying to convince myself to add them.  But part of me doesn't really want to.  Who will win?  Lazy robin or perfectionist robin?  Tune it later to find out!

A New Year's Start

Happy New Year!  I'm calling this my New Year's start, but I actually started a couple of days early.  I was unable to resist the stitchy goodness of my newest project.  So with 3 days of stitching under my belt, here's Coraggio as of this afternoon:

I'm enjoying it so far, but of course, the threads that are on back order are all over the place!  Hopefully, they will arrive before I run out of alphabet or the top band.  If not, I may be in big trouble.  And I still haven't decided what to do about the one unavailable color yet.

I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish stitching-wise this year.  I haven't firmed up everything yet, but I know I want to finish my Giraffa sampler this year.  I want to finish Coraggio, too.  Beyond that, the only certain goal I've set for myself is to try and finish at least one Christmas project each month.  There were just too many that didn't get done in 2012.  One month isn't enough time to make a real dent in the pile of unfinished or unstarted projects.  So I figure if I do at least one each month, I should be able to make real progress on the backlog.  This month, I intend to do the finishing on this piece designed by Maureen Appleton of The Heart's Content:

I couldn't even tell you how long this poor ornament has sat around in this unfinished stage.  Sigh.  The other thing I certainly want to continue working on is my Cabinet of Curiosities projects.  I am 2 (no, it's 3 now) months behind on my reading.  Only one project has been stitched, and none have been finished.  Gotta do something about that, too.  Oh, speaking of the cabinet, check out one of Mom's Christmas gifts to me:

Nice, huh?  I'm confident they will all be put to good use when I finally get around to stitching the panels for my cabinet.  Now I'm off to see if the wooden frame is available yet, and how much it's gonna set me back.  Hubby and I are probably due for a serious conversation here in the near future.  ; )

Hope you have a happy, crafty week everyone!

WIPocalypse - the year end wrap up

Well, here we are.  The year will be over in a little over 24 hours, and it is time to take stock of what I have accomplished in relations to the WIPocalypse challenge (next year's signup and an explanation of the whole challenge can be found here.)

My original list looked like this:
1. Jenni Bean's Creation Sampler - Shakespeare's Peddler
2. Sarah Hatton McPhail Sampler - The Essamplaire
3. Sarah Johnson 1793 - The Essamplaire
4. Anne Maria Clarke - The Essamplaire
5. Sous le Soleil de la Lune - Reflets de Soie
6. Rachel Mauger Reproduction - my personal collection
7. Peapod Purse - Catherine Theron
8. Tulip Slip - Thistle Threads
9. 3 Halloween ornies from JCS issues
10. 1 Christmas ornie from JCS issue

The final list for the year looks like this:
1. Jenni Bean's Creation Sampler - finished Jan 2012
2. Sarah Hatton McPhail Sampler - finished Feb 2012
3. Sarah Johnson 1793 - finished Feb 2012
4. Anne Maria Clarke - not even touched
5- Sous le Soleil de la Lune - finished Aug 2012
6. Rachel Mauger Reproduction - some additional charting done
7. Peapod Purse - not even touched
8. Tulip Slip - abandoned as a horrible idea to begin with (for me, not for everyone else.  It's pretty if you do it right)
9. 3 Halloween ornies from JCS issues - one finished Nov 2012 (and I'm not sure this was correctly described.  2 of the finishes listed below may have been part of what I inteded to finish, so all may have been done)
10. 1 Christmas ornie from JCS issue 2011 - finished Dec 2012, additionally, one other started

not on the original list, but still progress made:
Waiting for Harvest - finishing completed
2002 Heart's Content Christmas Ornament - finishing completed
Janet Gibson reproduction sampler - stitching completed
Black'd Skie - stitching completed
3 Homespun Elegance ornaments - finishing completed
1- Ink Circles ornament - stitching and finishing completed
Boughs of Holly - stitching completed, finishing still to be done
Wicked freebie pattern - finishing completed


pieces actually put into frames:
Sarah Hatton McPhail, Quaker Christmas, Jenni Bean Creation Sampler, Janet Gibson, The North Wind, Winter in the Park,  Sarah Bateman sampler, Elisabeth Ramsay sampler, Spot the Cat, Shores of Hawk Run Hollow, Sarah Johnson sampler, Salem Sisters, Mary Ann Henderson sampler

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the amount of old stitching projects that got finished this year.  Way more was finished than was begun and left unfinished, so that's progress too!

I hope everyone else is happy with their final WIPocalypse results as well.  Now to make a list of things that I'd like to finish over the next year!  Stay crafty, and stay safe over the coming holiday.

Happy New Year!

Final Ort Report of 2012 and a quick jaunt to NYC

What happens when you put off going upstairs to get the camera all day long?  You end up taking not-so-great photos of your ort jar long after the sun has set.  Since it was too late to take a photo in my usual spot, I decided to get a little festive and take my last pic under the tree.  Two of the cats supervised the process:

I think I'm going to get one of those clear glass (or plastic) ornaments and fill it with all the orts.  Then I can start all over again next year!

As I mentioned in my last post, my mom, sister, and I took a road trip to New York City over the second half of last week.  Mom hadn't been to NYC since the 60's, and I hadn't been at Christmas time in several years, so just seeing the city all decked out her holiday brightness was a treat.

We caught a matinee showing of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.  Words cannot express how thrilled I was to see the Rockettes performing in that famous location.  And the nativity, complete with live animals, was stunningly beautiful.

After the show let out, we hoofed it across town to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  There, we joined several other women who are taking Trish's Cabinet of Curiosity online course.  They had generously allowed Mom and I to join them even though we don't live in the area.  Once inside the Ratti Textile Center (located inside the Met), we saw about 20 exquisite antique needlework and beadwork pieces from the museum's collection laid out before us.  No glass between us and those lovely ladies.  We could photograph to our heart's content.  They would turn things around for us.  In a word, heaven.  There were two caskets available for observation, although we weren't able to see either opened up and pulled apart.  I wish I could show you all the pretty, pretty photos I took.  Sadly, this craptastic photo is all I can share:

Catch me in person in a few weeks and I might have some more interesting photos to share.  ; )

We finished our day with a stroll through Times Square, and dinner at Bubba Gump's.  I know, I know, chain restaurant in NYC.  But we don't have such things here in North Carolina.  And Mom really likes the food there.  We made friends with some funny British guys while waiting for our table, much to the amusement of the restaurant employees.  They kept asking Mom if she had a Dolly Parton cd.  Made me wonder if there is some sort of joke about the lady that we're just not aware of.

The next morning, we visited the 9/11 Memorial.  Beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.  I visited NYC for the first time in 2010, and spent time in one of the towers.  The next time I came, there was nothing but a big hole in the ground, and some damage to surrounding buildings was still visible.  Now, there is still lots of construction going on.  And the memorial:

We wandered around the financial area, saw the Statue of Liberty, shopped at Macy's, and finally, ended the day at Tinsel Trading.  Wow.  What an amazing place to shop.  Here's a few photos to give you the general idea.

Although it isn't exactly the kind of cabinet our course is covering, we still got a laugh out of this window decoration.

I bought some glass glitter and vintage ephemera for scrapbooking, and some gorgeous trims for edging some of my stitched ornaments and pillows.  Mom went nuts over the giant wall of trims.  Can you tell how much fun she's having?

And there you have our whirlwind trip to New York City.  Throw in one night at Foxwoods Casino, followed by an all night drive back to North Carolina, and I've covered it all.  We had a blast, but we were completely worn out.

I hope to post again with my final WIPocalypse update over the weekend.  But just in case that doesn't happen, Merry Christmas to my fellow Christians, and Happy Holidays to everyone else.  May the final days of 2012 find you safe and warm with someone you love.