Going mobile

So I am still working out how to use my new phone. It runs android so it gets a bit confusing going back and forth using my phone and my ipod touch. The differences aren't really big, more of having different buttons/functions in different places.

Anywho, I'm trying out a nifty new app on my phone to post blogs so this is purely experimental...(and if it sucks, it shall be deleted!)

With holidays coming up I've put aside my own personal projects to work on some gifty things. This is my most recent picture of venetian opulence before I put her away for now.

Heres hoping that picture goes where I want it to! (edited to add...ok so it didn't go where I wanted, none of them did. boo....but it's still a nifty little app, I'll keep it for awhile.)

On the gifty front I've been making ornaments. One that I've finished is for my bff and moh who loves all thing french. Her husband actually proposed to her under the eiffel tower so when I saw this design in a past issue of jcs ornaments I knew it was for her!

I also decided to attempt to make an altoid tin. Its very hard to find designs that fit on such a small space but I found one I like and stitched it 1 over 1 on 28 count linen...my eyes!! Its a cute little quaker birdie! It's a freebie chart I found, I will have to come back and post a link.

I have a few more projects in my head that have yet to come to life but hopefully I can get it all done in time for christmas!

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Time Flies!

It's been a hectic couple weeks here at our casa. Which is crazy, because nothing that exciting has been going on. Just the same ole, same old. Going to work and coming home. Preparing for the wedding, which for me, means coming up with ideas, changing my mind, and changing it back. We have the "big" stuff taken care off - ceremony venue, reception venue, food, photographer, pastor. Weight off my back when decisions are made!

Lately I've been making decisions about my bouquet. I am making my own using antique white felt flowers which I purchased off of etys.com. I am currently embroidering them with white thread. Then I discovered french beaded flowers....knock me over with a feather! They are gorgeous, and I just so happened to find at least THREE bead shops near where I live and work. So I am excited to include so much creativity and different mediums into my bouquet!

Today I had off work so I was able to go to the place closest to my house "The Potomac Bead Company". It was fantastic! I picked out some opal white seed beads and pretty seafoam green beads. I spent three hours today getting all the seafoam green onto beading wire so I can start shaping my petals. I think the beaded flowers will really pop with the felt and embroidery!

On the stitching front, I've been working on Mirabilia's "Venetian Opulence". She's so gorgeous, the colors so virbrant! Last night I was able to finish up her arms and her face, so I have the boring skin all stitched and I am ready to have fun with her beautiful gown! Also on the stitching front, one of my favorite designers and one of the nicest people around, Belinda, of Blue Ribbon Designs is having a cool giveaway! She gave one of these lovely sewing companions to Sue at the Mystic Retreat and it is a very nice sewing accessory, we were all so jealous! *Fingers crossed*!

Now off to play with some beads! Next time, I promise to have some pictures! (hopefully)

Stitcher's Hideaway

After spending Sunday exploring the needlework exhibit at the museum, Monday started our two day stitchathon. After a very late night hanging out with my new friends, I was up early Monday morning to start our class.

Our teacher for the two day retreat was Belinda Karls Nace of Blue Ribbon Designs. I had a few of her designs at home and was very excited to actually be a taught a "class" by a designer. Not to mention the excitement of getting to spend time with a group of other ladies that share my same interests in cross stitch. I could talk about linen counts,fibers, and designers without getting that deer in the headlights look I usually get from Matt and my friends. For our class, Belinda designed a special sampler alone with matching ornaments! All charts and instructions were wonderfully packaged in a lovely white, shiny binder. Oh, I loved her already! Our class materials also came packaged as a kit including fabric, all the threads we would need to stitch not only the sampler but the ornaments, finishing materials for the ornaments, and beads! It was fantastic to just be handed these awesome goodies! Not to mention, upon our arrival, all attendees received a goody bag full of patterns and accessories donated by other designers and Sue who organized the retreat.

Class Sampler

We were off and running after introducing ourselves and receiving our kits and binders for the class. Since we wouldn't all have time to stitch and complete our samplers in the two days the class ran, Belinda actually designed a special ornament to teach us all the specialty stitches that are in the sampler. Some of them were a bit difficult, but Belinda provided excellent illustrations in our binders and was more than happy to work with us one on one until we got the hang of it. Belinda had also brought models of her designs and had patterns available to buy from her. A few patterns I already had, but of course, couldn't resist buying a couple more. There was also a mini needlework shop set up in the one of the hotel rooms by Chris' Collection. So, during breaks, we could wander in and take a look around and spend some dough. I picked up a few things by the end of the two days, but reined myself in quite a bit.

After dinner, we all got a surprise visit from Santa!

Santa had his naughty and nice list and gave each of use little treat bags with some yummy candy inside!

By the end of class that day I was about halfway done the front of my ornament when I realized I hadn't made my backstitched outline quite big enough so I wouldn't be able to fit all of the design inside it. I spent the evening in the my hotel room relaxing to "Intervention" and "Hoarders" while I ripped and restitched the outline then finished stitching the front.

Tuesday morning we stitched a bit more, I started working on the back of my ornament. Belinda was letting us go willy nilly on the back so I decided to personalize it by stitching my initials. Then decided since I had room to add the dove from the sampler and some stars to perk it up a bit. Belinda then used class to teach all of us how to make twisted cord to use as the hanger for our ornament and then how to assemble and finish it.

My friend Lisa and her mom, Kathy

Belinda of Blue Ribbon Designs, Teaching Twisted Cord

By the end of class I had successfully finished my ornament! We even had some time to spare before dinner, so Lisa and I decided to go through town to the local bead shop You've Got To Be Beading. That place was fantastic! I'm not really a beady type person, but there were just a few things I could not pass up. I picked up a couple silver charms and a few bead packs in my favorite colors.

Front of ornament

Back of ornament

Tuesday night after dinner, those who had made ornaments and brought them to the retreat were able to participate in an ornament exchange. I made the Blue Ribbon Designs ornament from this years JCS ornament issue. All the ornaments were wrapped and I drew number one so I was the first to pick! I picked a love ornament that was also a Blue Ribbon Design and was finished with a really pretty paisley fabric on the back, with a sassy little tassle!

I picked the top left ornament (prettyyyy) and I made the one on the far right second row

All in all, Stitcher's Hideaway was fantastic and I am definitely looking forward to a time when I can go again! Sue and Belinda were so nice and fun to spend time with, I would recommend the retreat to anyone. The best part about the two days of class was how flexible everyone was, Belinda in particular. If you couldn't do a particular stitch on the class piece or you just simply didn't like it, you could just do whatever you wanted. It was so much fun, I left Wednesday morning wishing I didn't have to leave!

A view of Mystic Seaport

The road trip.

Hello all! I'm back from my trip and loads to tell! Well, I actually got home Wednesday, but I have a life and was trying to get back to it the last two days. Please note that this post and probably the next are going to be very picture heavy, but you definitely don't want to miss them.

Saturday I left home around 6 in the morn and began making my way up north to see my friend, Lisa, who lives in Rhode Island. I arrived after about 7 hours of driving. Honestly, the driving wasn't that bad, traffice was pretty light. The worst was the last stretch when I got on I-95 and drove through Connecticut....very boring. After arriving at Lisa's, I sat on her couch and never got up, and we watched True Blood. Good night.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to the northern end of the state to meet up with Lisa's stitching group at Panera Bread. It was loads of fun to spend a couple hours stitching with a group of people, which is something I've never gotten to do before since I don't know anyone around home that has the same interest. After hanging out for a bit, we headed out to pick up Lisa's mom and then make our way to Connecticut.

Our first stop: The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. The museum currently has an exhibit of antique needlework.

All of the needlework in the exhibit was done by girls that attended schools that taught embroidery in the late 17 and 1800's. It was very cool to see all of these intricate pieces stitched by 8, 9, 11 year old girls. The piece pictured above is all stitching except for the faces which were painted, as is the sky background.

The girl that stitched this piece was 11! amazing! Oh, and the exhibit said no photos, but Lisa and I were total rebels and bucked the system. Hey, I turned off my flash!

See the date in the lower right corner....1774!....age 12!

Closeup!

This was one of my favorite pieces. Although the piece is clearly unfinished, it shows how the girls worked on their needlework. The picture being stitched was sketched on the silk fabric. Button holes were punched in the sides and then the fabric was tied to the frame using a ribbon. In person you can see on the lower right hand where the sketch marks were to guide the stitching.

The museum was also having some outdoor exhibits. There was an exhibit called "the rambles" tha was made of twigs and branches. It's left outside for about a year before it starts to disintegrate and then they tear the rest of it down. It was very neat, it had windows and there were kids running through it!

So our first day in Connecticut was alot of fun! After spending some time at the museum we headed to the hotel and then had dinner at Mystic Pizza!

Mind Blown

So there is some excitement comin' up in the next couple weeks, but I will get to that later.

First, I must discuss my new techno gadget. It all started in the last few months. Matt and I have been talkin about getting new cell phones. He has had his for alil over two years, me almost two years. Lately, his phone has become a bit possessed. By what, we don't know. But, the screen would randomly light up and go off, shut itself off when he was in the middle of talking or texting to someone. So, we decided it would be best by now to get new phones. We prefer to buy all our phones online because the deals tend to be better and we can avoid long lines or pushy salespeople.

We decided to go with this :

This is the Samsung Fascinate, and it's about the coolest thing since Derek chose Meredith. Seriously, I like to think of myself as pretty techno savvy. I got my ipod touch and it's pretty rockin', but this phone is AH-mazing. If you ever find yourself in a store that sells these things, you. must. play. with. it. Even more fantastic was the deal we got online. Buy one, get one free! On both phones we ended up saving about $400 smackers! Yes, we have to pay the fees for the additional data plan for both lines, and I was totally against that which is why it took us so long to decide to get new phones in the first place. But, after having this phone for only two days, Matt and I decided it's well worth the access we now have anywhere, anytime. And the camera on this thing, it's good.

On the needlework front, I haven't actually been stitching much. I was getting kind of worn down getting project after project finished and moving onto something new. For my next project, I decided to go with a completely different method and am currently knitting a pair of socks.

I am about 80% done, which, considering I've only ever made one other pair of socks (last year) is pretty amazing for me. I started them about three weeks ago, last week I didn't really work on them at all or I would probably have them done by now. I have really enjoyed making them and the best part is knowing when I am done, I get to wear them! The socks I made last year, I learned how to make from a book called "2 at a time socks". It's a method that uses a really long circular needle so you can knit both socks at the same time. I really liked that method because I tried the making sock one at a time thing, and I only made one sock and got sick of it. Back in April, the author of that book came out with "toe up 2 at a time socks".

Where the previous book gave direction for making socks from the cuff down, this book teaches you how to make them from the toe up. I quite prefer the second method. The toe is easier to create and I found the heel to be less complicated compared to knitting cuff down. This will definitely be my preferred method from now on.

In a couple weeks I will be taking my first road trip all by myself driving up to Rhode Island and then to Connecticut for my first ever stitching retreat. It's going to be alot of firsts for me. First solo road trip, first stitching retreat, first time meeting some new friends, and the first time since we've been together that Matt and I will spend more than one or two nights apart.

It's going to be an interesting and hopefully exciting trip! Between you and me, I'm just hoping I don't have a big mess to clean up when I get home from this party that Matt keeps talking about ;)

I am hungry...lets look at food

So my go to recipe for an easy week night meal is one I have been eating since I was a kid. My mom would make it every once in awhile and then when I became old enough to request it, I wanted it everyday. My mom called it cavitini, I call it cavitini. You can call it yummy!

First, the makin's

1 lb. ground beef, package of slice pepperoni, pasta sauce, pasta (fun shapes) i like to use shells, rotini, or penne for this dish, and some shredded italian cheeses. I LOOVE sargento cheeses, they melt so perfectly and gooey. This bistro cheese is fantastic!

While you heat your water and boil the noodles, brown up the meats. After the meat is browned and drained, add the sauce. While the sauce is simmering I like to add some pepperonis into it for added flavor.

yum-o

After the pasta is cooked and drained, throw it back in the pot and add the sauce. Mix it up, pour into 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread evenly in dish, pile on the shredded cheese, arrange some pepperonis on top. Pop it into a 350 degree oven and cook it up until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Sometimes I also turn on the broiler to brown up the cheese and to make the pepperonis alittle crispy.

Dish it up onto a plate and enjoy with cheesey garlic bread! (yes, we like the cheese in our house) We also don't have a dishwasher, so the less dishes used the better, which is another reason I love this meal.

Bacon on my grilled cheese

I have been very productive the last couple of weeks....stitching wise. Otherwise, well, not so much. Although, I did get our spare/my craft room organized one Saturday while Matt was working some overtime. It so much neater with everything where it belongs. Too bad I dont spend as much time as I thought I would be when I set it up.

I was able to finished stitching Little House Needleworks "Simple Joys" pattern earlier this week. I am too lazy to go upstairs to take a finished picture of it, so you can just use your imagination. In the middle of stitching it I ran out of one of the threads, so I was forced (yea, right) to take a trip to the LNS near my house (about 45 mins) The Stitching Post to pick up another skein.

Well, you can't just go there for ONE thing, especially if it's just some thread. While I was there, I picked up a Mill Hill bead kit that I knew Matt would love and also another new pattern by Little House Needleworks.

Sarah Street - Faithfulness Sampler

I haven't started working on her yet, but I am very excited to begin. Probably this weekend when Matt is working and I've got the place to myself . I had another finish this week. I stitched the Mill Head bead kit that I got for Matt. It's a pirate!

Irate Pirate

This is my finished product, I think it turned out pretty well. Please excuse the bad picture. I was too impatient to get out the camera so I took it with my phone. It was the first project like this that I had finished. I was really nervous because it is stitched on perforated paper (paper with holes in it) and then I had to cut the parrot and the skull without cutting any of the holes that had stitches, which would totally ruin all the work and time I had put into it. It came with a magnet so once I put a felt backing or something on it to hid the ugly stuff in the back, I can glue on the magnet and stick it on the fridge.

After finishing it earlier tonight I realized I hadn't yet eaten dinner so I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich. About halfway through, I thought to myself, "this would be good with some bacon on it". Wish I had thought of that earlier.

The summer has come to an end and kids are starting to go back to school around here. That means more traffic in the morning, there goes my peaceful morning drive. I am very much looking forward to labor day weekend, I really need my four day holiday!