To Trim A Tree started

So, I've been working pretty hard stitchy-wise over the last few days.  So much so that I actually have a stitchy picture to share with some progress! 

Above is what it looks like now, and below is what it will look like when it is done.



To Trim A Tree
Dragon Dreams

Aside from stitching, can you believe it is New Year's Eve already!?  We generally don't do too much on New Year's Eve.  It is more of a family night for us where we watch movies and just relax. 

I know I haven't been the best blogger over the last couple of years, but I have jumped back in with a vengence this year and thank you all for your kind comments and support.  I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that all of your dreams come true in 2011!

Happy New Year!

Goals for 2011

I sat down and made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish this coming year.  So, here it goes with my stitchy goals for 2011:

1)  Stitch from Stash!  I don't know if any of you remember a challenge from a few years back where people were stitching up to 50 projects from their stash before making new purchases? I plan on re-inventing this challenge in 2011.  Nothing so crazy as 50 projects, but what about 5 or 10 projects? I think my goal will be 10 projects, big or small, before any new purchases are made.

2)  Keeping in line with stitching from stash, my stitching purchases will be kept to a minimum.  New purchases will be mainly for fabric and fibers for charts that I already own. Chart purchases will only be made if they are drastically reduced in price.  I am not going to say "no" to any purchases this year, because I know that is un-realistic, but I am going to limit myself and possibly even make a budget this year for what I am allowed to spend on my hobbies.

3) Keeping track of my stitchy spending.  This is again keeping in line with my goals mentioned above.  I will keep all receipts and record what I bought and what I spent.  I feel I over-spent in 2010 and I need to curtail that from happening again in 2011.  I am far from rich and need to watch how I spend my money, especially where hobbies are concerned.

4) Buy from my Local Needlework Shop, Because You Count, whenever possible.  I want to support my LNS as much as I can.  There may be times I need to buy online because they don't carry the item or something like that, but the majority of my purchases will be made through them.  Since my LNS is 1.5 hrs away, this may help with my spending habits as well.

5) Stitch something for each season again.  I really do have a tendancy to go for winter/Christmas themed projects. This is really only 4 projects, so, it should be attainable!

6)  *edited* Finish of my finishing pile this year.  Try to do a finish-finish each month.  Originally, the plan was to finish my pile off in January, but I have decided to change that. 
7)  Make time to stitch each week! I find I get so busy with life sometimes that I don't have any time left to stitch.  So, in 2011, I will try to stitch on something every week even if it is only for 30 minutes or so. 

The majority of my goals have to do with spending and spending habits.  I really hope I can meet these goals in 2011!  What are your goals for 2011?

2010 in Review

My goals in 2010 were pretty simple:

1. No more stash! I am going to continue with my goal of not adding to my stash. 

- FAIL - I definitely didn't meet this goal as I spent quite a bit of money on stitchy stuff in 2010.

2. I am going to try to complete one project for each season. Since this is only 4 projects it should be totally manageable. Last year, it seemed like I was only working on Christmas projects.... 

- SUCCESS! I stitched something for every season! NOT just Christmas.

3. More comments on your blogs. I am also going to update the list of blogs I follow since several of them are now dead links.

- I was successful with this "sometimes."  At times I was just too busy/tired to post comments, but I did read everyone's blogs faithfully. 

4. Try more sewing projects. I don't have any projects in mind, but I'm sure I will come up with a thing or two. 

- SUCCESSFULLY completed! Remember the bag and the cape I made? 

So, just to see what else I accomplished in 2010, I went back through my posts and made a list of all my cross stitch projects:

1. Winter Banner - Victoria Sampler
2. Star of Wonder - With My Needle
3. Mine! - Brittercup Designs
4. Windows of Faith, Hope, and Peace - Primrose Needleworks
5. French Country Star - JBW Designs
6. Let it Snow - JBW Designs
7. Mini Block Books - Hinzeit
8. Just A Little Peace and Quiet Please - Dragon Dreams
9. Beyond Cross Stitch #4-2 - Victoria Sampler
10. Easter Bunny Freebie - The Stitcherhood
11. Spring Banner - Victoria Sampler
12. First Snow - The Drawn Thread
13. Reindeer on Parade - JBW Designs
14. Beyond Cross Stitch #4-1 - Victoria Sampler
15. Autumn Bouquet - Blackbird Designs
16. Is It Spring Yet? - Designs by Lisa
17. Cedar Hill - Country Meadow
18. Holiday House - JBW Designs

Eighteen finishes in all.  The majority of these are small projects, but since I didn't stitch for about 5 months last year, I'm quite pleased with this list.  You can see most of these and more by clicking on Some Finishes here or in my side bar.  I try to post pictures of all of my finished pieces there. 

Overall, 2010 brought back my interest in stitching and blogging.  Both of which have brought me great joy and a sense of accomplishment. Both lessen the burden of the regular stresses in my life, such as, work/life balance and money.  On top of that, I met the majority of my goals and will continue setting stitching goals for myself, as well as, some more personal goals. 

I know goal-setting isn't for everyone, but it's really nice to go back and see what I accomplished. How did everyone else do with there goals in 2010? Are any of you setting goals for 2011?


Stay tuned for my 2011 goals!

Slight alteration to the challenge

I posted awhile ago about joining the "Not-So-Crazy January Challenge" made up by Jenna, but I think I'm going to have to alter my plan slightly.  I was originally thinking about stitching a bunch of smalls to make my finishing pile add up to 15 pieces.  All of this stitching was going to take place over my Christmas vacation.  I'm now in my second week of vacation and there is no stitching to show.  So, what I'm saying is that I have been so busy with other things that stitching has taken a back seat for now.  Now that Christmas is over, I'm hoping to get some stitching time in, but it's not practical for me to think I can get that many smalls completed.  So, now my version of the "Not-So-Crazy" challenge is going to be to finish-finish whatever I have on hand in January.  I still have a week and a half of vacation, and hope to get some stitching time in, but reality has set in and I think I was a little too ambitious. 

Hopefully my next post will share the rest of my goals for 2011.  Can you believe another year has passed by already!!!  Time sure does fly!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas day!

Finally....

I finished Winter Banner a couple of days ago.  YAY!

Four Seasons

Winter Banner

by

Victoria Sampler

Recommended silk threads from thread pack

28 ct pearl grey linen

I finished this off the other day when I was transitioning between my day and overnight shifts.  I am so glad it's finally done, but if I were to do it again, I would change the colour of the border.  It's a tad too pink for me although it is starting to grow on me. 

Here's a few Christmas pics of my tree and stuff:

One of my favourite pieces that I've stitched is Shephard's Bush, The Stockings Were Hung.  I made it into a flat fold.  Behind it you can see my newly finished Winter Banner.

This one is a LHN piece from last year's JCS magazine I think.  I made it into a cute little pillow.  The little lamb was a gift from my son. 

My little snowflake tree - it stands a whole 4' high.  Behind it you can see a little bit of the snowmen that I made a few years ago on plastic canvas.  This is another of my favourites.

My stitchy tree and you can see one of my Christmas presents behind it...  a ceramic space heater.  The wooden Santa was purchased at a local craft fair. 

And the other end table.... I have a Santa in the basket that I never backed or put a hanger on.  It is made from plastic canvas as well.  It was supposed to be a set of four coasters, but I only ever made the one. 

And that's pretty much it for decorations. 

I'm on vacation for the next three weeks and hope to get a lot of stitching done. 

In case I don't post again before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Best Wishes,

Karen



So close, but yet so far....

I have an "almost" finish to report.  Yes, that means I'm still not done Winter Banner, but I am sooooo close. All that's left is to attach a few little beads and to carefully cut it out and it will be done! So, why isn't it done yet?  I was called in for some more Overtime.  I should have a nice paycheque coming to me though! I might even have Christmas paid for by working all of this overtime over past couple of weeks.  What a great feeling that is! 

Hopefully my next post will show you a finish, but the way this week is going, I can't make any promises. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Karen

The Not so Crazy Challenge

Everybody's talking about the Crazy January challenge.  I've seen it on all kinds of blogs, and since I'm such a one-at-a-time stitcher, it's just not for me. 

Jenna at a A Tale of a Shooting Star has come up with an alternate challenge, the Not-So-Crazy January Challenge of 2011.  This challenge goes like this:


``The Not-So-Crazy January Challenge of 2011 is to take 15 finishes from your waiting-to-be-finished pile and finish-finish them. They can be framed, made into ornaments, sewn into bellpulls, hand-stitched into biscornus, whatever strikes your fancy. My goal is to clear out that finishing pile in which some pieces have been languishing for years. If you choose to frame any pieces, you can either complete the framing yourself by the end of January or take them into a framer by the end of January, your choice and either one counts.``

This idea is more up my ally and I am taking part with a small change.  I don`t actually have 15 things waiting to be finished, so, my goal is to do a little more than the finish-finish 15 things.  I`m going to attempt to stitch and finish 15 things.  I will finish off whatever I have in my finishing pile, but the remainder will have to be stitched first.  This may take me a bit longer than the month of January, but I will do my best to complete this goal as quickly as possible.  I see a lot of ornaments in my near future haha.   I will try to post some pictures of what I am going to do. 


Jenna would love to know of others taking up this challenge, so hop over to her blog and leave her a comment.

I know I was supposed to have a finish to share with everyone by now, but I was called into work for some overtime and I just can`t say no to OT, especially this time of year! So, I went to work instead.  I`ll try to finish off Winter banner ASAP!

Enjoy your day!

Karen

time and money...

Between wrapping and shopping.... I'm running short on time and money these days! My days off are all about getting ready for Christmas.  I`m slowly progressing on my Winter banner and hope to have it finished tomorrow and then I will finally have a picture to share.

I was shopping earlier today and I was really surprised to see how few people were out and about doing their Christmas shopping.  Normally, by now parking lots would be full!  I`m sure the weather plays a big part in getting people into the spirit and with the bizarre weather this year it`s sure to put a damper on everyone`s mood.  We`ve had some snow, but it`s all gone now and it`s downpouring out! I think the temperature was in the low teens today...  temperatures pretty much unheard of for this time of year.  The fourteen day forecast doesn`t show this area going below the freezing mark either.  So, probably no snow for Christmas this year.  That being said, the economy here has never been great for long and I`m sure its taking a hit this year as well.

Since I have a few spare minutes I think I`ll go stitch for a little bit before bed. 

Happy Stitching!

Karen

16 Days til Christmas!

It's so close! Just a bit more than two weeks away and Christmas wiill be here.  I have been so busy getting stuff ready.  What a crazy time of year it is.  The tree is up and decorated and the shopping is done.  I still have some (quite a bit) of wrapping to do, but it's getting there. 

Stitching time is at a minimum.  I don't even have  a picture to share with some progress, because there just hasn't been that much progress made. 

I will be going on vacation soon.  Three weeks of glorious vacation and I can't wait! I hope to get some stitching time in then! 

I guess I don't have much else to share.  I will try to get a picture of my little tree and post a picture fo that later. 

I hope everyone is having a good week!

Karen