Monocromatic Stitching

Some time at the end of January, I found my stitching groove again. Blame it on the weather or in anticipation of the Olympics. I'm just happy that I've had time to put needle to fabric again.

I started this project last fall and finished it yesterday. It's Autumn Spice + White by Bent Creek. I used WDW Tobacco Road instead, and I'm still trying to decide if I want to fill in the turkey. I also changed the wording from Bless You to Thank You, because that's more my style. If I did it again, I would adjust the lettering a bit, but overall, I loved working on this project.

Not a stitching project, but the Valetine's cards I made with the girls this year. So much fun. They're from Stampin' Up, and we added little heart erasers (instead of chocolates) under the hands. Normally, I'm all for chocolate, but I've found that my girls get a steady stream of sugar at school already, and I appreciate when we receive non-food treats.

This is another project I started in the fall. It's been my travel project as much as anything. It's DMC (108 + 310) on Aida, so I'm not afraid to wash it if I have to. I found the pattern via the DMC blog, and the original pattern is here.

Finally, do you remember this project? I started it in June 2008 as part of the ornament SAL.  The last time I showed you the progress on it was January 2011. I had a babysitting gig through our co-op the end of this January and was able to spend some quality time with it. If I have one real stitching goal this year, it is to finish this. Only 30 rows (of 81) to go. It's over one with two threads of GAST Cranberry on platinum cashel. The pattern is Rejoice from Milady's Needle.

One of these days, I'll return to more complicated patterns. For now, I'm enjoying the one-color-floss challenge. Especially since I only spend 1/2 hour stitching at a time, these kinds of projects allow me to see progress quickly.

Winter Thanks

Happy New Year! The holidays were quiet for us. We stayed in town, and only took a few days off. The girls went to day camps most of the time, but we had a few days of Mommy Camp, too, which they loved.

One day, we went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. I asked the girls which museum they wanted to see, and they decided they wanted to see the "presidents' dresses". So, off we went to the First Ladies gallery. They really enjoyed viewing all the dresses and wanted to know which First Ladies were still living.

We also visited a "pirate ship", saw Kermit the Frog, and viewed a phonograph. Of the three, the last was the most perplexing to them. I had planned to go see Julia Child's kitchen, but the girls energy was running out by then, and we were distracted by the doll house. I think we spent 20 minutes checking it out. It is really, really cool. A book about the doll house came home with us. We ended our visit with ice cream and took the Metro home. I think riding the Metro excited them almost as much as visiting the Museum.

On another day, we went to see Frozen. The girls loved it. I thought it was cute, but I'm not as enamored with it as many parents seem to be.

While I've been stitching, I don't have enough to show you a progress picture. Sadly. I also ran out of thank you cards, so I made a set of these quickly one afternoon while I was home with the girls. The design was inspired by a foggy day here in DC.

All products Stampin' Up [mostly retired]: Bordering Blue paper; 

White, Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa, and Baroque Burgundy inks; 

Branch Out, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, and Artfully Asian stamps.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a happy thanksgiving. May you be spending time with those who are most important to you. I have a houseful, with my in-laws and my sister and her kids. Here are some of the Thanksgiving cards I've made in years past. Everything is Stampin' Up, except the ribbon on the Happy Harvest card and the "Happy Thanksgiving" on the last 2 cards.

Let me know which one(s) you like the best.

Given Away

Back in March, I offered a giveaway on my 250th post. I selected a name, and started working on what I wanted to do. There were little delays here and there, and I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to complete this.

Last Friday, I finally managed to give Christine the prize. I stamped some cards for her. Stamps are Flower Factory and one of the greeting sets. All products are Stampin' Up.

I also turned a piece from the Bride's Tree stitchalong into an ornament. This is the "house" and the image is Liberty's of London. Christine and I both lived in London, so I thought this would be perfect for her. The fabric in the background is what I used to back the ornament. While it's not a Liberty's of London fabric, it reminds me of something they would have. The brown ribbon is from Stampin' Up.

Tri-fold Cards

This month, the swap theme for my stamping group is "designer series paper". I have a lot of DSP and thought this was a perfect challenge to use some of it. I was also inspired by Anna's post on tri-fold cards. Anna was also kind enough to send me some tips on making the cards.

The tutorial for making this card at here, including dimensions. Note that the vertical end panels should be 1-3/4" x 5-1/4" (not 5-1/2" as listed on the site).

Also, you score the base card at 2", 4", 8", and 10" (or if you are using your cutter as your scorer and not one of those fancy scoring bases, 2" and 4", flip the card, and score again at 2" and 4"). The cuts are made between the 2" score and the 10" score at a depth of 1.5" on either side. One thing I discovered is that it is much easier to tape on the smaller pieces before you start folding the card.

Here's a wonky scan of an unfolded card.
I used Chocolate Chip base and the Love Me DSP from a few years ago. 

 

Here's a card folded up.

This one uses Purely Pomegranate as the base. 

To make 12 cards, I used 4 sheets of Purely Pomegranate, 2 sheets of Chocolate Chip, and 5 sheets of the DSP. All sheets were 12"x12", and all I have left are scraps. Oh, I also used a bit of textured Close to Cocoa paper for the larger punched circle on the pomegranate cards. This is a really great project for using up scraps or DSP paper sets that you haven't figured out how to use on other projects.

On the cards going to the swap, on the white panel on the inside, I stamped "Mon Amie" from the Carte Postale set in Close to Cocoa ink. All products are Stampin' Up.

More finishing!

Just in time to go to the needlework store tomorrow, I finished the last of the samplers for my nephews. I'm so excited. In all its beaded glory, I give you the Bluebell Sampler.

Furlough Finishing Flury

It rained last week. A lot. Here are a few of the projects that I finished. I'm having others do the final finishing on all of them and will show you pictures when I have them back. I am >< this close to having a happy dance on my other nephew's sampler. I also have a few other projects almost ready to show you. 

Bent Creek, The Pumpkin Flower Sampler

WDW Chrysanthemum, Mulberry, and Bullfrog

Buttons from Just Another Button Company in Plum 

(instead of the Tarnished Gold)

North Star sampler from the Sweetheart Tree

 Stitched on 28 ct Platinum Cashel with the recommended threads.  

The charm is from ArtBeads.

 

Acorn Garden Sampler from Patricia Ann designs. 

Stitched on 28 ct Platinum Cashel with the recommended threads. 

I may add a couple of crystal paillettes to this, to help it coordinate 

with the other two samplers for my nephews.