Snowmen Stitchery complete

Well, I finished the snowman stitchery! Here it is!

It didn't take as long as I thought. Next thing is to really get to work on deciding what to do with it. 

Actually I lied... I already started a new piece of Mickey Mouse and Minnie dancing for my dear dear Aunt who loves Mickey and Minnie! I think she is going to be pleased... again, in the end I will have to decide just what to do with them. Then I really would like to get back to work on some felt projects I really wanted to have done before Christmas arrives. I am pretty sure my time is running short though. Soon the hustle and bustle of the holiday season will over take my crafting time, and before I know it I will be left with many unfinished works. Nothing new LOL

 For now, I think I will hit the hay, much to-do before we head to Old Town for Thanksgiving. It will be my husbands first holiday with his father. A memory for him that I am sure will be cherished!

Catching up

It's been a while I know.. but holy cow we have been super busy! We spent one weekend in Old Town with the hubbies family which was a blast, can't wait to do it again! We went to Fort Knox's  Fright Night at the Fort... let me tell you what, that was awesome! I am definitely going next year,  but with no children this time. Poor Samantha, who was the most excited to go, spent the entire tour crying her eyes out and screaming bloody murder! It was so bad, the goblins and ghosts who were supposed to be scaring us, were apologizing for scaring her! Really it was quite funny. We followed that with a stop at the Witches Foot in Bucksport. The hubby could not resist jumping her there LOL! A good time! Here are some pics!

Sam and Nick before entering the Fort

Scott had told his sister Mary to make a scary face.. he was the only one who did LOL

The following night we went to see The East Coast Ghost Trackers premier at Penobscot Theater in Bangor. That was pretty neat. Scott's sister Aimee Jo almost pee'd her pant when she found out the Theater itself has been investigated and found to be hosting some spirits! The girls were all decked out for our next adventure which was the Halloween Party at the Karaoke Bar they frequent. They also took us out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner to celebrate my birthday which was so awesome of them to do! This was our first evening out without kids, and in the company of other adults in soo long. We had a great time, even if Mary and Aimee made us sing at karaoke!

I am never in the photo's... always the photographer, never the photographed!

The following day was Halloween.. here are the kiddo's!

Nicholas aka Freddy Crueger, Kaitlynn aka little miss Genie of the Lamp, Samantha aka punk rocker girl

Since then, life has been centered around kids activities, housework, work and many many errands. My Birthday fell in the mix of all that, and I got LOTS of FELT and FELT related items! It was great. I also got to finish my Penny Mat which I think came out pretty well!

Wish I was better at taking pics of my work, but here it is :)

And that about makes us pretty current. I am working on a stitchery project now of these oh so adorable snowmen I got the pattern for in the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Craft Magazine I picked up on Saturday. It's so cute..  I will post some pics when I am further along. Does anyone out there know this though... I am doing it in red work, and am curious what you use to transfer your pattern? I used a black shapie, but I am nervous if I don't hit the lines just right, you will still be able to see black marker? So, all you stitcher's out there.. what do you use ?

Cruisin' my Blogs

I was doing what I do best every morning and reading all my blogs that I follow and came across a great opportunity on the Little Lady Patchwork Blog. She has a special guest blogger today by the name of Melanie Thorton who has an amazing store online called All Above Fabric.

 Melanie is giving away a fat quarter bundle of PURE by Sweetwater for Moda !  So hop on over and have a read! There is great info on Melanie's Blog as well! What an awesome find, so awesome I was just bursting to share!

Busy Week

   So, it's been a while since my last post. I wish I could say I have been just so busy crafting it isn't funny...alas that is not the case. We have been without a car for about a week now which has been about the biggest pain in the rear! Simple things you take for granted such as running up to the store when you are out of milk are so taken advantage of. 

  We brought the car in initially for a leak in the power steering fluid and a state inspection. Took a few days to get the rack needed for the power steering, then when they did the inspection it was found in need of an additional 3000.00 worth of work. I am thanking the good LORD above that we had a warranty! If we had not purchased that we would surely be returning the car and be without because we just don't have that kind of money. I will be calling the service center in a little while to see how the work is going and to be sure it was indeed all covered. I am still a little nervous.

  We also took a nice trip to Scott's fathers house. We had a nice visit and I got my first ever tattoo! I was a nervous wreck, but I did it. I have thought about it over the years and just couldn't get over the fear of how bad it would hurt. But, ya know what? It didn't hurt all that bad. I am not going to lie and say it was nothing. It was very irritating, almost like a burning, but it was tolerable. I managed. I like the way it looks too! I can't wait for it to heal to see what the finished product will look like.

  Now before you go thinking, "What she can't fix her car but can go get a tattoo?" Think again. Scott's Dad has his own tattoo gun, and Scott's sister is learning the art of tattooing. Therefore, FREE tattoo! Wanna see it?

   Please remember it brand new, so still puffy and red. It will look much much better in a week or so. Today it is actually a little itchy. Boy, I sure do love kitty kats :) I miss my Princess Sophia :(
   Well, since I had some time to kill while Scott was getting his (which is much larger than mine) I worked on putting the back onto my little fall decoration. I had added some beads to it since my last update too. Here it is.. finished I guess :)

 My little penny mat seems to stay an unfinished piece for the time being. I really just wanted to finish this first so I could not have too many things going at once. What I really really need to do it sew my sons badges (or whatever they are called) on his cub scout uniform... poor kid, he has been waiting so long.
OK, I guess that is about it. Hopefully another post will come soon with that finished mat :) Have a wonderful Monday!

Progess

Really quick post with the latest progress... all the stitching I am going to do is done, just need to finish the edging. I want to put a binding on the outside, I think that would look nice.

Off to finish it up!

New Wool Crazy

Well I started another wool crazy thingy. I think I am hooked. I have housework piling up and can only seem to pull myself from the wool long enough to check the computer and cater to my 3 YO's every whim! But here is what I am working on

Here is a close up of my pumpkins, which I am so proud of because I finally got the blanket stitch down! I am was so excited I even attempted the feather stitch!

I think I am doing ok! On this one I decided to go square and do more of a decorative thing vs the pin cushion. All the elements I did myself as well instead of using a template. I am still trying to work out how I will do the stems to stitch them down, but I am confident I will come up with something. OK, well more later! Like it or not I have to get ready for work and actually stop playing.

First Crazy Quilt Square

Well, it was a pretty good day off today. I really wanted to more than what actually got accomplished...but that is the typical day in my house. After finishing off my cushion, I was eager to do something else. I made a crazy quilt square.. yes only one. Having 3 little ones hinders me a tad LOL. But here it is

I still have to square it off a little better... the angle is aweful, it's more squared than it looks. But, if anyone out there see's this I would love love love an opinion. I am going to keep things this short and sweet. Back to work tomorrow, plus football, housework, and getting the car to the garage... ACK, it's worse than I thought now that I just made that little list.... CALGON take me away! Goodnight!

The Wool Pin Cushion

Well, I finished my wool pin cushion inspired by the ones at The Painted Quilt and Pumpkin Patch Primatives. It's not perfect, and I learned alot, I really did... I also learned I have a lot to learn. I am going to try to do a crazy quilt square tomorrow given I got the house all clean and I only have laundry left to work on. But here is the finished result, would love any constructive criticism!

I really have to work on learning some embroidery stitches, mine are horrid. I have a book on the stitches, found some video's online, but it is not as simple as it looks. I admit, I kinda gave up a little in the end. I will however try it again :) Have a good night!

Cast and Crew

These are the most important people in my life, the ones who occupy my time and keep me from my crafting... but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Samantha Jo age 11 and a spitfire!

aka "Jo Jo" & "Jo Jo Bean" & "Princess Puppy Toes"

 Nicholas age 9 cub scout enthusiast!

aka "Nick-a-doodle" & "Buddy" & "The Boy"

Kaitlynn Mae age 3 and very happy go lucky!

aka "Buggy" & "Lady Bug" & "Mae Mae"

I am blessed to have some very awesome kids. Each one as different as night and day. They could very well become the topic of many many posts! I would love for them to be about crafts.. but you know how that goes :) That's about it for today, still trying to figure out how to use Blogger and get it set up. We have eye doctors appointments this afternoon for the two older kids, then double football games for Nick tonight, so we will be pretty busy...hoping to clear off my craft desk tonight though! Have a good day!

The Evolution of my Crafting

Hi there!
I have tried my hand at blogs before, but just thought I would give it another go. I am always into something crafty, and I am always sharing it with my friends and family, so I thought I would branch out a bit and share it with anyone I could.
   I started my artsy-ness in elementary school with painting. I was taking lessons from a local artist in 3rd grade. I had a very encouraging family, they really wanted to develop my talents. I took those painting lessons until high school when I switched gears and worked more on drawing. I had hopes and dreams of working with Disney as an animator of cell painter. Plans changed. I met the love of my life and we began our life together right out of high school. I continued drawing, when I wasn't working and soon that faded and I moved more into crafts. The first big one was rubber stamps. I loved them, collected them, obsessed over them....even sold them. Then, people started using their rubbers stamps in scrap booking. Wow, that was a lot of fun. I had two children at the time and boy oh boy I had plenty of photo's to scrapbook with. But holy cow, what a mess all that stuff made, and with 2 children how on earth could I keep them out of my stuff.. it was near impossible! I was surfing scrap booking sites and came across this person who did scrap booking...digitally! Wow that was incredible! I got a copy of Photoshop and started learning the program until I was pretty darn good! That was my passion now. I sold all my rubber stamps, gave away all my paper, scissors and accessories and digital scrap booked for about 4 years. It was a great fit, since now I had 3 children and no time to dig out anything too messy.
   Somehow, I can't quite remember, I came across a site that showed me how to make paper beads. That was pretty cool... here we go again, a new passion in the making! It even brought me back to purchasing some scrapbook paper (gads, I wish I hadn't given that all away). The paper beads led me to getting some other beads... then tools... then wire... then seed beads. I love the seed beads. Made bracelets and necklaces for a year or so until I saw someone stitched their seed beeds and various beads onto some fabric. WOW that was pretty neat, very visually striking! I could do that. I got some fabric a few tutorials and I played with that. That has morphed into me wanting to learn how to sew. So, I picked up a sewing machine at a yard sale... then some fabric... wow this fabric shopping was fun. And here we are. Addicted to fabric and felt and all that. I have really only just begun this new venture, and it is a challenge. I am going into this knowing virtually nothing... at all :) So, you lucky readers get to follow me into this new adventure! I hope you enjoy!