Framing Day

I do love picking up my finished pieces from the frame shop. I was able to bring home 2 of the 3 that I had framed.

This one is a pattern I designed myself, still no idea what to call it. After hunting for a mat that wasn't overbearing,  I decided to go with just the frame.

This one is Shepherd's Bush "Shepherd's Hill". Framed it with a traditional frame and green mats in similar shades of green, but different textures.

I'm hoping to pick up the third one this weekend, it needed to have the mat adjusted. Then I get to add them to the wall o' cross stitch I've started. My goal is to fill up the wall by the end of this year and start a new wall. 

I should have gotten MUCH larger frames.

Yay Short Attention Span!

Yay short attention span!

Which means that I started another pattern and don't feel guilty about it! Now, if I studiously avoid the basket of WIP's I can maintain this reckless disregard I have for ever finishing a project. Go reckless disregard!

With quite a bit of uninterrupted stitching time this weekend, I started Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman and cant seem to put it down. I think it's the green linen. Ooooo, green, pretty...

Started this long weekend off with an awards dinner (I won two awards for graphic design, so, Yipee!) and finished the weekend off today with a rainy day of cross stitching. Stuff happened in the middle there, too.

Yard work on the first nice day of the season. I did have an eager little helper who decided it was his job to relocate the slugs we found under a pile of leaves. Seriously though, if someone had come to me even three years ago and said "You will willingly pick up slugs so Boybat can see them better" I would have snorted in my fruity-flavored adult beverage.

Easter is a low-key holiday for us. I'm still trying to clean the egg dye off of Boybat, and I'm pretty sure he's been on some freaked out jellybean, chocolate bunny high since yesterday morning. I even hid the candy today. Probably doesn't help that he's still finding little plastic eggs with chocolate in them around the house (I forgot where I put them all–next year I'm making notes).

Hope you all had a happy Easter!

WTH Mother Nature?

C'mon, really?

This is just rubbing salt on the wound now.

Gardening by Neglect

I want to plant flowers. I don’t normally want to garden, mainly because if I come in contact with flowers they wither and die of what I can only imagine is plant terror. 

The only plants I can keep alive are ones that thrive on neglect. Cactus. I have three cactus plants that are alive because I never water them. I don’t know how they get watered. They’re above the sink, so maybe they water themselves at night after everyone’s asleep (OK, I just creeped myself out).

The outdoor plants are only alive because there’s a sprinkler system. When I go to the plant stores, and some nice lady who probably loves to garden asks me if I need help, then starts inching away from me when I say “I want flowers that are supposed to come back next year providing that I don’t kill them first."
 

My need for flowers is brought about by the fact that it’s the end of April and we have yet to hit the 60 degree mark here. In fact it snowed today. I want some flippin’ sun. I shouldn’t have to scrape my car windows in April, damn it!

Haven’t got a lot of stitching done this week. This week seems like a whirlwind of crap I have to do, but when I try to nail down what I did with my week, I cant think of anything important. Boybat made me an organizer box. It’s just the right size for some floss and scissors. As far as I’m concerned he’s a architectural genius in the popsicle stick genre and he’s thrilled that I’m using it. 

Because everyone loves FREE stuff

I called this post "Because everyone loves FREE stuff" because the only other way I figured I could grab your attention was to call this "Hot guys and free beer" and I didn't want to disappoint  anyone when they figured out I was lying. 

I was experimenting with my new software this week! In the process, I charted the heart cross stitch that I designed and stitched for Joe's Valentine gift.

Go to this link  Heart String and get the free pattern. If you use it, I'd love to see your finished project!

Update: The link is active now, sorry about that.

Brand New Distraction

I've been on an organizing/cleaning/decluttering thing this week. My problem?

I usually get half way and then have to go do something else, like work, sleep, feed boybat.

This weekend I've distracted myself with my new cross stitch program. Oooooo, shiny new toy!

I charted a pattern I drew a while ago and hope to start it tomorrow after I find the right floss...which I could have probably found if I would actually finish a organizing/cleaning/decluttering project (Eh, screw that, I'll just go to the store and get some during my lunch break).

Lo How a Rose has to go away for a while. Seems like every time I pick it up, it sucks my soul. OK, that's a little exaggeration, but I do get frustrated with that piece so it's going in the bottom of the rotation.

The Evils of Organization

Rainy days rock! They're the perfect excuse for planting your butt on the couch and stitching. Which I did this weekend and managed to finish In the Sweet from La-D-Da. Yay rain!

I also snuck in some cross stitch supplies organization time. Now I have everything in one place, I think. In my house, you never know.

I weeded through a two foot stack of stitching magazines and patterns.
If I hadn't brought all of my cross stitch crap together in one place, I would never have realized that I have more patterns than I could ever stitch in a lifetime. Patterns from 1980, faceless bunnies, things like that. Admitting that I actually bought a pattern with faceless bunnies at one time in my life is embarrassing. There, I got it out in the open (I can live with that shame, but there's absolutely NO WAY I'm going to tell you what "reality" show I'm addicted to. I just can't face the ridicule. I will tell you it has nothing to do with Jersey anything. I do have some standards, even if they're pretty low).

This should probably be considered a parable on the evils of organization. This glut of patterns isn't going to stop me from getting more, I'm just going to convince myself that I'm making room for better stuff.

The lesson, don't organize.