I realized yesterday that I've been neglecting my blog again. I just don't have much to report. I'm not crafting at all these days, although I want to be. Baseball's not in season. The girls are keeping me busy. My spare time is currently devoted to finishing an article I started writing last spring. The drop-dead due date is February 2, so I'm under pressure to get the final revisions done. This is definitely a case where "good enough" will have to prevail, because I don't have the time to do all the recommended revisions. Sigh. I'm also wasting time over on Twitter. Who knew that 140 words could create such a big time drain? Ah, well.
My next post will be #100. I'm thinking about doing something special. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Best of 2008
From Lee.
1. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) designers in 2008? And your favorite was? I think the only one was Casey Buonaugurio.
2. Same question - New Fabrics? I bought hand-dyed fabric for the first time.
3. Same question - New fibres? No
4. Same question - New finishing techniques? I made my first biscournu at the end of 2007.
5. Did you have a favorite "theme" in 2008? ornaments
6. Did you try any new gadgets? No. I'm not a gadget girl.
7. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) LNS in 2008? And your favorite was? No, but Donna just pointed me in the direction of one. The Stitching Post remains my favorite.
8. Same question: new or new-to-you online stores? I ordered from the Silver Needle for the first time.
9. Same question: new or new-to-you bloggers? I discovered a whole lot of new-to-me stitching bloggers through the Brides Tree SAL and Christmas Ornamenet SAL blogs. My favorite is Olenka's Stitches. I love her biscournu designs. For non-stitching blogs, I discovered Gov Gab. It covers a whole host of topics and points you to the federal resources available.
10. Same question: communities/forums? I really enjoyed the Brides Tree SAL and hope to be able to finish stitching my remaining ornaments this year.
11. Whose blog in 2008 was the most inspirational for keeping you stitching? This is a tie between Dani and Jennifer.
12. Whose blog was funniest in 2008? Anna continues to inspire me also and make me laugh.
13. Which blog's posts did you "star" the most in your reader in 2008? Lee's. She is always posting things that I want to go back and take a better look at when I have time.
1. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) designers in 2008? And your favorite was? I think the only one was Casey Buonaugurio.
2. Same question - New Fabrics? I bought hand-dyed fabric for the first time.
3. Same question - New fibres? No
4. Same question - New finishing techniques? I made my first biscournu at the end of 2007.
5. Did you have a favorite "theme" in 2008? ornaments
6. Did you try any new gadgets? No. I'm not a gadget girl.
7. Did you discover any new (or new-to-you) LNS in 2008? And your favorite was? No, but Donna just pointed me in the direction of one. The Stitching Post remains my favorite.
8. Same question: new or new-to-you online stores? I ordered from the Silver Needle for the first time.
9. Same question: new or new-to-you bloggers? I discovered a whole lot of new-to-me stitching bloggers through the Brides Tree SAL and Christmas Ornamenet SAL blogs. My favorite is Olenka's Stitches. I love her biscournu designs. For non-stitching blogs, I discovered Gov Gab. It covers a whole host of topics and points you to the federal resources available.
10. Same question: communities/forums? I really enjoyed the Brides Tree SAL and hope to be able to finish stitching my remaining ornaments this year.
11. Whose blog in 2008 was the most inspirational for keeping you stitching? This is a tie between Dani and Jennifer.
12. Whose blog was funniest in 2008? Anna continues to inspire me also and make me laugh.
13. Which blog's posts did you "star" the most in your reader in 2008? Lee's. She is always posting things that I want to go back and take a better look at when I have time.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Card Types - Results
Thanks to all who voted. The results were 4 votes for traditional seasonal cards, 3 votes for handmade cards, and 2 votes for photo cards. No one voted for my favorite - skip the card, send the newsletter. While I am a big fan of all interesting cards, especially handmade ones, I'd rather have the newsletter. DH and I have lived all over the world and have friends scattered across the globe. Christmas is often the only time when we here from some of our friends. I love the chatty newsletter telling me what someone's been up to. It's even better if it contains pictures, especially pictures of the adults and not just the kids.
Besides the totally preprinted cards, my other pet peeve is photo cards that only ever contain pictures of the kids. I appreciate the argument that only the kids are significantly changing from year to year, but the adults are generally the ones with whom I am friends, and I'd like to see a picture of them every couple of years too. My favorite photo card this year was one of DH's cousin's family taken while riding a flume at the amusement park. It made me wish it were summer already.
So, you might ask, what does C do for her cards? Well, for most of the years we've been married, we've sent out traditional cards with newsletters. Sometimes the newsletters have been incredibly brief - like the year in San Diego where I managed in 10 pt type to fit all of our news on the front of a quarter sheet of paper. In 2004, I switched to making cards (plus newsletters). This year, we did photo cards with a newsletter. Our photo cards had 3 photos - 1 of each of the girls plus a family shot. It's the best picture of me I've seen since our wedding.
What did you do this year? What was the favorite card you received?
Besides the totally preprinted cards, my other pet peeve is photo cards that only ever contain pictures of the kids. I appreciate the argument that only the kids are significantly changing from year to year, but the adults are generally the ones with whom I am friends, and I'd like to see a picture of them every couple of years too. My favorite photo card this year was one of DH's cousin's family taken while riding a flume at the amusement park. It made me wish it were summer already.
So, you might ask, what does C do for her cards? Well, for most of the years we've been married, we've sent out traditional cards with newsletters. Sometimes the newsletters have been incredibly brief - like the year in San Diego where I managed in 10 pt type to fit all of our news on the front of a quarter sheet of paper. In 2004, I switched to making cards (plus newsletters). This year, we did photo cards with a newsletter. Our photo cards had 3 photos - 1 of each of the girls plus a family shot. It's the best picture of me I've seen since our wedding.
What did you do this year? What was the favorite card you received?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Winter Sampler
Happy New Year All!
While I still haven't been stitching, I pulled the following piece out as part of our Christmas decorations. I'll leaving it hanging up throughout the winter.
The design is from Little House Needleworks, called Pinetop Lodge. I completed it in 2006. It was stitched on the recommended fabric. I substituted overdyed threads for the recommended DMC colors, because I wanted varigations in the colors. The center part of the design went together really quickly for me, but the outer border of leaves took me forever.
My stitching goal for 2009 is pretty simple: Start stitching again. If I can accomplish that, I will be doing well. I have one of my nephew's samplers in progress plus I want to finish the SAL ornaments. Wish me luck.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
One Year Ago
A year ago, I started blogging. Yes, I set up the blog in October, but I didn't really start using it until Christmas Day. To commemorate the event, here is a picture of our Christmas tree this year.
If you look closely in the middle towards the bottom, you'll see the Washington Nationals ornament I made and showcased in that first post. What you won't see are any of the ornaments I made for the Brides Tree SAL. Ornamentification awaits.
Our tree features an eclectic mix of ornaments that were handmade by family and friends over the years and ones that DH and I collected as we lived and travelled around the world. The spire on top was my grandmother's and dates from the 1950s or 1960s, I think. I made the tree skirt a couple of years ago. (That's our cat lurking on the bottom left. Both of our cats like to nap under the tree.)
If you look closely in the middle towards the bottom, you'll see the Washington Nationals ornament I made and showcased in that first post. What you won't see are any of the ornaments I made for the Brides Tree SAL. Ornamentification awaits.
Our tree features an eclectic mix of ornaments that were handmade by family and friends over the years and ones that DH and I collected as we lived and travelled around the world. The spire on top was my grandmother's and dates from the 1950s or 1960s, I think. I made the tree skirt a couple of years ago. (That's our cat lurking on the bottom left. Both of our cats like to nap under the tree.)
Happy Christmas to those who celebrate it and a Peaceful New Year to All.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Card Types
I have lunch at work with the same group of friends just about every day I'm there. We often have lively discussions, about a wide range of topics. We're an opinionated bunch.
One of the hot topics last year around this time was on Christmas and seasonal holiday cards. Some of us preferred more traditional cards, others photo cards, and others combinations. I have strong preferences on this.
Before I give you my opinion, I thought I'd ask for yours. I've set up a poll in my sidebar. I've made it an exclusive choice, so pick the kind you like the most. I won't hold you to it, I promise. Please leave me a comment about your choice, if you'd like.
What I hate most are the ones that are commercially printed (what I labelled "pre-printed" in the poll) where people (not businesses) have also had their names pre-printed and include nothing personal at all in them - not even a signature. Why bother?
One of the hot topics last year around this time was on Christmas and seasonal holiday cards. Some of us preferred more traditional cards, others photo cards, and others combinations. I have strong preferences on this.
Before I give you my opinion, I thought I'd ask for yours. I've set up a poll in my sidebar. I've made it an exclusive choice, so pick the kind you like the most. I won't hold you to it, I promise. Please leave me a comment about your choice, if you'd like.
What I hate most are the ones that are commercially printed (what I labelled "pre-printed" in the poll) where people (not businesses) have also had their names pre-printed and include nothing personal at all in them - not even a signature. Why bother?
Friday, December 19, 2008
Booties
I received two sets of handmade baby booties. I had delusions that I was going to cross stitch two pairs myself, but, of course, I ran out of time. So it's really nice that my friends and family made some for me.
The first set is from my SIL and are made out of felt. I like the fact that she wasn't afraid to use blue in one set.
The second set comes from my college friend Lisa. These are knit. My mother is going to be delighted when she sees the ladybugs, as that's one of mom's "things".
I think both sets are great and will serve different purposes.
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