Happy New Year!

I wish all of you a safe and joyous new year!  Over the last two days, I've managed to put away my Christmas decorations, done all the laundry and waded through quite a pile of newspapers and old magazines and put a lot of stuff in the recycling bin.  I plan to start tackling my office/craft room space tomorrow.  I need to clear off my project table and put away all of the crafting materials that are strewn everywhere.  Gotta have a clean workspace to enhance creativity!  I also need to complete the end of year filing and set up a new computer printer!

I hope that there will be some time for UFO stitching as it's UFO Sunday tomorrow and I want to pull out my HAED Storeykeeper which is part of my WIPocolypse project list as well.  And I plan to wade through my stash to pull materials for a BBD SAL project I'm going to be starting with Britt.

Sweet Christmas Present

I received this adorable and very unique pincushion from a friend.  Other than my 25 Days of Christmas exchange, this was the only stitching related gift I received this year.  I think it is very clever, don't you?

As you can see I'm doing some end of year sprucing up of my blog in anticipation of the new year.  I finally figured out how to add a page for my WIPocolypse projects and I'm going to redo my blog list to add a rotation as there are so many wonderful blogs out there.  I'm going to try and focus on a variety and look for stitchers other than the "favs/superstars" we all visit daily. 

My 2012 TUSAL Container

I joined the TUSAL for 2012 after seeing so many postings about it on various blogs this year.  I don't normally save my orts but my hope is by joining this SAL, I will be motivated to do a lot of stitching in 2012 so that I can fill my jar.  I found this little glass container at Michael's last week and loved the shape of it.

Now, I must empty it of its current contents before it can be used appropriately, but I don't think that will be too hard as it is filled with Dove Peppermint Bark squares - delish!

This week I hope to make a list of all the projects I plan to work on in 2012 so that I can fill this little jar full at least once during the year!

25 Days of Christmas Closing

I wanted to share some of the last few gifts from my 25 days of Christmas as this was such a fun exchange.  My partner is a very talented stitcher but she also crochets and sews as evidence of these wonderful exchange presents.  I love the coordinating fabric and the usefulness of each item. 

My Christmas Eve gift was this clever little sewing small using a jeans pocket and the fabric that matches my other smalls.  Opening the flap reveals a wonderful pincushion and is such a clever design.  Nancy said the pattern is from the internet.  Isn't it cute?

This adorable stitched pocket was my day 25 gift.  I love the stitching on the front cover and the little pockets inside a perfect for holding a package of needles or my little measuring square.  I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of these wonderful smalls. This was the second year we did this type of exchange and I'm hoping we will be doing it again next year as I've got some great ideas for what I'd like to work on in 2012.

It's back to work tomorrow unfortunately.  We still have some snow on the ground from last Thursday and it feels much colder here than it was in NH.  My oldest sister and her boyfriend are winging their way back to OH and I wish that we all could have stayed together longer.  Maybe next year!

Merry Chrismas!

Wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays!

Framed

Michael's was having a really great deal on framing a few weeks back - 60% +10% for a total of 70% off.  I decided it was high time to get my With Thy Needle and Thread mystery sampler framed.  This cost me less than $90 by the time all the discount was applied! 

It's not the greatest photo because the lighting in my house is so bad but I'm really thrilled with the finished piece.  I used archival glass so there is no glare when you look at it straight on.  I'm always a little leery of taking a piece to Michael's or Joann's because you never know who's doing the framing but the new Michael's about 20 minutes from my house seems to have a pretty good framer who knows what she's doing - thank goodness!

Has anyone seen my Christmas Mojo?

As usual, my holiday planning and prep got off to a strong start but has since dwindled to barely discernible motion.  Despite a plan and great motivation, I got knocked off track and am still trying to find my way back.  I don' think it's going to happen. 

 

I did actually get decorations on my tree including my wonderful Day 19 gift from my 25 Days of Christmas partner.  Yesterday was a wonderful mini box of See's chocolates which didn't last long enough to be photographed and today was a really cute "scrunchy" ornament in red and white which goes perfectly with my tree decoration this year.

We finally had a sunny day today so I took a photo of the fabric and thread combos I've gotten on previous days.   These are going to be great for finishing.

I hope you are way ahead of me with your Christmas planning, shopping and preparations.  If not, you only have 6 days left to get going!!

Christmas in the City

Over the weekend I went to visit a dear friend in Connecticut and we went into NYC on Saturday.  This was my first time ever in the "Big Apple" and it was a wonderful day.  The weather was not too cold and despite the massive holiday crowds, it was pretty easy to get around town.  We walked our legs off!

Breakfast at Times Square

Some of the holiday displays

Radio City Music Hall

Crafters Mecca

Central Park

It was a lovely weekend and I can't wait to go back again.  Hope you had a great weekend too!

Christmas Blooms

I was in Trader Joe's just before Thanksgiving and they had a display of Christmas cacti at the front door as you entered.  I decided to buy one and it has it's first full bloom this week.  I'm not that good with green things so my fingers are crossed I can keep it alive to see it in full bloom.

I also wanted to share my Day 6 and 7 presents from my Christmas exchange.  Day 6 was a wonderful new pair of scissors and today was a package of really cute Christmas emery boards.  They are perfectly timed because I desperately need to give myself a manicure!

Days 4 and 5

The fun continues with opening my 25 Days of Christmas gift packages.  Yesterday was a really neat bead organizer which will come in handy for some new beads I bought to work on a wreath using make up pads.  I saw it in a magazine last year and just finally got around to buying beads.  I'm not sure if I will get it finished in time for Christmas but it should definitely be ready for next year.

Today was a really lovely sewn 14" pillow sham using some really gorgeous Christmas fabrics.  Didn't my partner do an incredible job.  I am pretty sure I have a pillow square somewhere in the house - I just have to remember where I stashed it!

Hope your Monday was a smooth and easy one.  Only 4 more days till the weekend!  

UFO Sunday Stitching

The first Sunday of the month is a UFO stitching day with my online stitching group.  Today, I brought out my HAED Story Keeper which hasn't seen the light of day in quite a while.  I was surprised at how little stitching was needed to complete page 1 and managed to do that and start page 2.  Now I only have 28 more pages to go!!!

This is one of my WIPocolypse pieces for next year so hopefully it will be seeing a lot more daylight in 2012.

Christmas Exchange - Day 2 and 3

Day 2 of my Christmas exchange was a fabulous Sees dark chocolate and almond candy bar and today was a package of Sour Skittles.  The candy bar did not last long enough for a photograph but I did manage to get a picture of the skittles. 

I have been working on a knit Christmas gift today and have managed top make some great progress.  I've been watching sappy holiday movies on Lifetime which is not my usual viewing choice but it's kept me parked so that I can make some progress.  My hope is to finish the cowl I'm working on tonight so that I can start something new tomorrow.

Best Parade Walker Ever

My fur baby Beau is a Treeing Walker Coonhound.  Tonight, he was a very special parade walking coonhound.  Tonight was the town's annual holiday kick off parade and my company had a float.  I decided to see if Beau would walk along.  He isn't always comfortable around a lot of noise but he did absolutely great.  And he was a huge hit.  He loves kids and he was very glad to give kisses and get some pats.  And of course as many pieces of dropped popcorn as he could scarf down while keeping up with the parade float!!  LOL  It seems our holiday season has begun.

Se abre la caja/Laatikko on avattu/Sa okno/Mae'r blwch yn agor/La boite est ouverte

The title above is the translation of "the box is opened" in Spanish, Finnish, Slovak, Welsh and French.  Today starts my 25 days of Christmas exchange.  My box came from Nancy in San Diego and it was so fun to slice into that white USPS flat rate box tonight. 

My first gift was this adorable little notebook which I am going to label as my 2012 Stitching Journal.  I plan to use it to finally track my stitching for the coming year so I can remember when I started pieces and the materials I used.  

Last night I slowly started to put out my Christmas decorations including this primitive little tree that my sister gifted me with last year.  It's looking a bit bare at the moment but if you look closely at the foot of it, there are lots more wonderful little packages to be opened - 24 more in fact!  If they're anything like today's goodie, I'm in for a real spoiling.

I'm off to find my labeler so I can tag my new little notebook and then I'm going to drag up another box from the basement and get to "Christmas-fying" my house.  That bare tree looks pitiful!