Another 3 months.....

Where does the time go?? It's hard to remember what has happened in the last few months. I'll try and catch you up and not be too boring. Again, if you are on instagram, look me up, it's much simpler to post a quick photo there. I'm ndmurdock on Instagram. I'm just starting to use it more regular and don't have many that I follow, or follow me. But I would if I knew you were there!

In the fall, I wanted to "stitch for a purpose" so I decided to join the Yahoo group called American Soldier Memorials. You pick a fallen soldier and stitch a piece for the family they left behind. The list of fallen soldiers is daunting. I couldn't just do an eeny, meeny miney mo. I wanted to have some sort of connection. I went on FB asking friends to help. Well I found a perfect family. Their son was just 6 months younger than my son, he graduated from the High school that my mom graduated (and was valedictorian) from. They gave the first scholarship in his name to my friends husband (my friend was also an old girlfriend of my son). He is buried in the same cemetery as my grandmother. And one final odd connection. His funeral was at the same funeral home as my Dad, just 6 months after my Dad. It is a large city, so there are lots of choices out there. Anyway, I tracked them down and they accepted my offer. I sent them several photos of patterns and they chose this one and asked for a personal message in the ribbons. So this is not how the pattern is charted. I went to their house and we got to know each other and then went out to lunch. They are such a great couple and my heart breaks for all those that have lost a son/daughter, husband/wife. 

There are plenty of names left if you want to give this gift to a deserving family. 

I "finished" my October cottage, which means my series is now completed. Here it is, I totally took liberty with this one and changed all the colors to be more Halloweeny and added bats and a moon and a spider charm. These all hang out around my craft room doorway when they are not on display on my calendar. I'm so glad I did the series and I will enjoy them for years to come. 

I took some time away from my Mystic for a few weeks and stitched up this pattern that was given to me by my friends in The Stitchers Village. I had the pale yellow material (it's much more yellow in real life)  set aside for it for quite some time and I started and finished it in a couple weeks. It's a pattern by Cross Eyed Cricket and now I want to do all the seasons. 

So here is my update on Balcony View of a Villa by Mystic Stitch:

Last photo: 

and now

Our office dressed up for Halloween, it's quite the process. First we have to think of possibilities, then we bring the ideas to a meeting, we vote on the theme we like the best and then when we decide we choose who we want to be. This year was Toy Story and I was Jesse. I had someone make my costume for me. She was obviously a sew-er so I made a little altoid tin for her to keep any stitching notions she may want to keep safe.

Then my last project.....I've had this in my stash for awhile. I bought the bead pack and material some time ago. It's one of those patterns that gets my attention every time I open the "to be stitched" drawer. I broke down and started it the beginning of November. Here is where I am right now. I plan on completing it in the near future and using my works Christmas money next year to frame it using Jill Rensel again. It's Mira's Winter Winter Santa. 

You would think that I've had nothing to do the past few months with all the projects I've shown. It's amazing myself when I look back. But along with all this stitching my Mom was hospitalized with pneumonia and then was in rehab for a couple weeks. During that time I was traveling to see her on my days off. Then the decision was made to move her into an apartment and out of her condo that she has lived for the last 6 years. So with that decision being made, now I have been traveling an hour to help her sort her things, decide what goes with her and finding long lost things my Dad had kept. One treasure I found were 2 pencil drawings that my Great, great grandfather drew. They are dated in the 1880's. I am framing this one for myself for Christmas. 

This fall there is a local photographer that I have been following on Facebook and I love his work. I decided to get my daughter and grand daughter an appt for some outdoor photos this fall. I got in a couple and this one is my favorite. 

Are you still with me??? :-) Well that about wraps it up from here. I had planned on putting up my Christmas tree and stitching today.....what have I been doing??? Trying to get this update posted! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season celebrating what is important to you! From the looks of it, I won't be back until February or so. That is just 3 months away. 

I'm neglecting bloggerland!

As you can see, since it's been over 3 months! I don't even know if anyone is still following this. I have to admit that Facebook groups and posting in them is so much easier than trying to keep up a blog. For a long time I tried keeping my facebook friends(who have no idea about my hobby) separate from my stitching friends. And now that there are plenty of cross stitch groups on Facebook out there, it's sort of a mute point. I'll get to the point now, it's the stitching you are interested in anyway.

The last time I posted about Cirque was back in January! I hit a snag and couldn't figure out how to put the beads in the pattern as they were too big. Well I finally figured it out and it's finished and framed!! I upcycled an old oak frame and spray painted it white. Then I bought a black suede mat. Love the finished look, if I do say so myself! And to refresh your memory, I used a custom dyed silk thread from Carries Threads. One and 2 strands and Mill Hill beads.

 

I finished August and September by Country Cottage Needleworks. I changed the 

September house to look like a school house stealing the idea from http://fullnovembermoon.blogspot.com/2012/10/september-cottage-finishfinally.html. I have October stitched (so the series is done) but I won't share until its "finished".

I did one of my 6 Mill Hill Halloween pieces. I tried stitching it on the dark material I purchased specifically for them, but I could see the holes and rather than fight with it and probably never get them stitched, I used the paper and I will use a mat to put them all together in a skinny frame. This one is called Halloween Nights.

Then I couldn't resist buying this tuck pillow kit from Pine Mountain. It's a quick stitch and can be finished with the stitching part in just one evening. Now I just need to find a good online tutorial for making the pillows again as I have already purchased enough pink and blue materials to make several more. 

I changed the threads to add the bling to it. What fairy doesn't have some sparkles or iridescent threads??

And here is my progress on Balcony View of a Villa from Mystic Stitch.

Last post:

And now:

Here's Amberlyn, who is now 4 years old and starts her 2nd year in Head Start tomorrow!! She was so happy with this dog purse I bought her!

Hope you had a great summer and will welcome fall with open arms!

A June update in May

With 3 days left in May, I figured it was time to "finish" June. I found some strawberry material that my Mom gave me awhile back and thought it was a good enough match so I didn't have to go material hunting. This is a pattern by Country Cottage Needleworks. I have September and October left to stitch.

I've been steadily stitching away on "Balcony View of a Villa" by Mystic stitch. Here is where I was when you last saw it.

A few weeks later.....

And then as of last night.....

The bottom 2/3's of the pattern is where all the action is, so I'm assuming that I will be slowing down on this one. That and the fact that I want to work on some other things now.
Our outdoor project has been redoing the landscaping where we redid our sidewalk last fall. Here's a collage of one area (on the left) before during and after and then an overall of before and after.(on the right) It's not really fair since the tree didn't have leaves on it. We spread lots of mulch and 2 tons of rock. We still have some lights to add and some accent boulders on one end to do. But I'd say it's 95% done.

And what blog post is complete without a photo of Amberlyn. She had her first dance recital. They were so darn cute!

And May is my birthday and anniversary month. My husband and I celebrated 32 years together.. I stole this picture idea from Pinterest. Happy Summer all!!!

It's spruce up time

You know, sometimes you just stitch and stitch and when they are completed  they just go in this big pile and nothing happens with them. Some of us have more of those "piles" than others. I can't stand to have too many because if I take the time to stitch them, I want someone to enjoy them!
Here is May, by Country Cottage Needleworks, that I stitched last year, but needed to finish for this month. I finished it April 30. I just love how it updates my calendar my Dad made for me years ago. I found a cute button in my stash that matched the flowers perfectly.

I stitched this one several years ago......I'm ashamed how long it's been in my "need to do something" with pile. I was planning on getting an orange frame, but that would have to be ordered. Obviously I wasn't doing that, so one day I went to visit my Mom and took it with me. Walked in the local Michael's,  picked out a white ready made frame and decided to just mat it, to give it color. This will go to my husband office, who has the Pistons, Red Wings and U of MI pictures already. Guess I need to find a good Lions one and he'll have all the sports covered.

We've been working outside, like most people this time of year. Just by adding new mulch we went from this:

To this:

I've been having fun seeing what color tulips I planted last fall. You can see some of them around the pond, but here are some close ups.

We've been redoing our front walk too, but I'll save before and after photos when we are done. It won't be until after Memorial Day weekend. Still have lots to do and 2 ton of rock being delivered. We probably underestimated what we need!

I'll leave you with my grand daughter doing her favorite thing and with the piece I made for her. Enjoy the warming weather and try and get some stitching time !

Finishing and traveling continue......

The beginning of November I was fortunate enough to be asked to share a vacation with 2 other stitchers, Stephanie and Paula. It was a glorious, sunny, warm, relaxing 4 days. I got in 18 holes of golf, shot the best score of my life, soaked up the sun, walked the beach, and got some stitching  and finishing in with friends. I don't know what could sound better than that.

I finished 3 ornaments, only 2 that I can show right now. One is Hallelujah by Little House Needleworks. Stitched on 40 ct linen over 2. This will be given to a fellow stitchers family that I make an ornament for each year. Lori passed away just before Christmas 3 years ago. She left behind a husband and 2 young girls. I thought this looked like an angel looking over 2 others and was perfect!

LHN Hallelujah

Then I started this ornament while in Florida and took me another 2-3 weeks to finish it.These take a long time to do! They are fully stitched and then TONS of backstitching. This is from a Dimension Gold kit called Christmas Village. The backing material is what you see it laying on. I have now stitched 3 of the 6. Only taken me 3 years!

Dimensions Gold Christmas Village

And last but not least I finally got the December cottage in the mail last Saturday.....even though I am auto ship, but that's another story.....and I really wanted to get it finished for next month. So I finished stitching it tonight and then decided to "finish" it tonight too. There is a little bit of burgundy felt around the edge (even though you can't see all sides in the photo) and then mounted it on some material. I covered a couple buttons with the material too. So I am now officially ready for December.

December Cottage Country Cottage Needleworks

 

I also took the May Cottage with me to stitch on the plane and I finished that soon after I got home. There is no need to rush the "finish" on that, so here is a photo with the material I will probably finish it with.

May CCN Cottage

Now I am heading to Chicago this weekend with my husband and 2 other couples. We've been to Chicago many times, but always in the summer. So we thought we'd like to see the city all decorated for Christmas. Amberlyn has already picked out an American Girl doll dress from the catalog, so I am going to the store to buy it. Speaking of Amberlyn, here she is getting her haircut.

 

I doubt that I will get another update in this year. I can't see much stitching going on during the busy holidays. So I'm wishing you all a Happy Holiday and safe travels!!!

A couple real "finishes" and my busy month!

Only a month since my last update....and I have some things to share! I did finish the Sportsman's stocking. I am still looking for someone to "finish" it because a stocking is WAY beyond my expertise! But here it is. I'm sure they will love it, but won't know for another month or so! If you are interested to see some of the details up close, you can go to my Photobuckets album.

I was actually prepared to get the November Cottage done and ready for my calendar this month. I haven't had one hanging since July!!! So this weekend I got the sewing machine out and finished it so that it is ready to hang. The flowers you see around it are still my marigolds....my baskets are still looking great even though we've had some frost. I used all my own threads I had on hand. I rarely have the specific threads they call for so I just wing it.

Then I decided I really should make my first small pillow for a seasonal bowl...and since I finished the pumpkin last month and it has 2012 on it....geez....get it done! I would so love to add little extras to them instead of just one kind of material, but I just don't have the ric-rak and abundant supply of coordinating material. So this will have to do.

And I've been working on this piece for the last month. I was gifted this pattern and had the material and threads all picked out (I hate to kit!) so when I finished the stocking it was ready to start. I just added the buttons this morning. I have the material it's sitting on and I'm thinking of maybe a no sew wall hanging. Maybe I'll get motivated today while I watch the Lions lose(well maybe not, they just scored their 1st touchdown in the 1st quarter for the whole season!). Don't even get me going on the Detroit Tigers. They make it to the World Series and as of last night they are down 0-3. No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win......

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of meeting fellow stitchers, Rhonda, Anne and blogger Shari . Shari lives about 1hr 45 minutes away and was kind enough to open her home to us. The day went too fast and before I knew it I had to go, but I enjoyed seeing all the cross stitch in Shari's home and the projects that Rhonda brought. She loves over one and love to see them all! LOL We found out that Rhonda only lives 30 minutes from me and comes to my town to shop! So we are hoping to get together again sometime and get to know each other better. And can you believe it I don't have ONE picture of us....was hoping to get a group shot and Shari's husband didn't get home until I left!

Besides traveling to my stitching day, I also went to Indianapolis with the work girls for a seminar. We left the boss at home! Here we are doing a self portrait and then the capital building from the top of the hotel bar. We had a great time together and ate at one restaurant where the bill ended up being $350 with tip!! And we shared one appetizer and one dessert among the 4 of us!!!

I also went to a concert at the fair. It was Eddie Money.....I went to see him back in the early 80's when we were both a few years younger. But hey, the tickets were less than $20 and I got front row, middle seats. Yes, he sings about as well as he does in the Geico commercial. Here is my perspective from the evening and I wasn't zoomed in!

 

Also this month we decided to switch out our plain gray straight sidewalk with the stamped concrete like we did for our patio last year. Here are the progress photos. We have lots of moving of plants and new things to plant. I did get about 40 tulips planted when it was still 70 outside. Already looking forward to spring!!

removing the old sidewalk

While the staining powder is still on

After the stain is removed and now the sealant is on.

All of the fish are doing well and it was a sunny day,  so I thought I would try and get a picture to capture all of them. Well it's hard to get them to cooperate, but here is a large group of them. We'll see how many babies we get next spring and then decide if we need to weed out a few. If you are still with me, I really didn't plan on a post this long.....here is a photo of Amberlyn with her Uncle Brett's camo hat on and her "pretty" dress! Quite the combo!! Don't know what I'll have to share next time.....but hopefully you'll enjoy it! Happy Fall y'all!!!!

And as a PS....I haven't read a book in YEARS, well the girls at work were all talking about the "50 shades" trilogy. I told them to bring them in. I'm on book 3 now and I just started them last weekend. So add 2 books read to what I accomplished in October!