Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

Went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last night at the Medowlands (now named the Izod Center (how ridiculous!)) We got floor seats for the 8 PM show, and what a show it was! I try to get tickets every year for this as it has become a Christmas event for us! As always the show ROCKED! Every SHOW I've seen, they've brought out a special guest at the end, last time it was Joan Jet, last night it was ROGER DALTREY! Get out!!!! YES! Together they did 3 songs, Behind Blue Eyes, Pinball Wizard, and See Me, Feel Me. Roger was totally on his game last night and it was a thrill! I can't recommend this show enough. If you haven't heard the Christmas album "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" you must RUN OUT RIGHT NOW AND BUY IT!!!! It's a rock opera, and the lyrics will make you cry, but the music will make you ROCK!

Goblin Tree Page HD!

Okay, so I just had to finish the page. I know I should have gone back to Best Friends after the weekend SAL, but I was so close to the page finish I couldn't help myself. So here she is.

Stats:
Artwork: Linda Ravenscroft
Fabric: Sugar Maple Fabrics - French Vineyard, 28 ct. Lugana
Stitch: 1 X 1 Full cross
Floss: DMC
Start Date: Nov. 2006

Pages 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, and 10 Complete!

Best Friend is now back on the scroll rods. My goal is to finish her by the end of the year. Hummm.... 17 days left, with a major Holiday in there. I don't know if I'll make it. All I can do is try!

December HAED SAL Challenge

I'm proud to have participated in this challenge for all 12 months this year! To give an idea of the impact it has made on my project, I present the Starting picture from Jan. 2007:
And here is the End picture after this weekend:
Only about 25 more stitches to go to finish the page!

Tagged, and GOOOOOOOOOAAAAL!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had the In-Laws here and did the cooking. Wheeew!

I was Tagged by Geri .

The Rules:
- Link to your tagger (see above), and also post these rules on your blog.
- Share 7 facts about yourself (random or weird) on your blog.
- Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

1) I work full time, from home.
2) I LOVE solitutde.
3) I'm a Virgo.
4) I can't figure out how to put on false eyelashes.
5) I've gone a total of 1,036 miles in Spin Class to, date.
6) I am left handed.
7) My only sibling is a sister, 10 years older than myself.

These things make me crazy, so I'm not going to tag anyone. Play along only if you like.

There, that's done... On to my November GOOOOOAAAAAAL!
Which was to finish 50% of page 4 on Best Friend. Well I made it well past 50%!

TA DA!!!!


Check out those wings! Confetti City!

November SAL Challenge

Here is my lovely lady after this weekend's SAL. This was the 11th SAL Challenge weekend, and I've participated in every single one so far!

Silly me.... (and other stuff)

I thought I would wait to finish page 4 of Best Friend before posting a pic. Yeah, right. Here it is 2 weeks and 2 days since last post. 1300 stitches into the page. About 20% of the page completed. At this rate I am doubting that I will finish it this year! Well, no matter. It's coming along and I have a start of a kitty wing! I'm putting this down for the weekend. It's the HAED SAL challenge this weekend, so I'll be back on Goblin Tree. Love to visit with my lovely dark fairy!

On another note....
I had an upsetting evening yesterday. Driving home around 6:30 last night a deer had an altercation with my car. I was devastated. I’m an all out animal lover, and to have hit a deer was just so awful. He grazed the front end of my car, and kept going! I can only hope that he wasn’t too injured and didn’t die. I called the police and they didn’t find him, so don’t tell me any different! I couldn’t sleep a wink last night! I just feel terrible in the pit of my heart. I can’t even explain what it feels like. I wouldn’t harm a bug! If I find one in my house I get it in a tissue and take it outside. Why do things like this have to happen? So saddening.
At least there were no human injuries. Thankfully the truck behind me at the time didn’t rear-end me. I slammed on my brakes as soon as I caught a glimpse of the deer in my peripheral vision. Thank God the guy in that truck must’ve been paying attention! I would be mush in my little 2 seater! I was only doing about 40 MPH, the speed limit on that road. I was only about a mile from my home. My DH kept telling me all the ways it could’ve been worse, and telling me I should be thankful I wasn’t talking to him from a hospital bed. I know, I know…. But the DEER!
I contacted my insurance co., and my car dealer. Turns out that the body shop at my dealer is an authorized repair site on my insurance. This is making things way easier to work out. Within 1 hour of my calls this morning, there was a flatbed here picking up my car! Looks like the repairs will be underway soon. It all just breaks my heart though. After all the worrying over the deer, there’s my little Benz to think of. It was just a year old in Feb. BIG SIGH. (A pic of what it used to look like!) You know, I drove around in a Mercury Cougar for almost 11 years and never got a scratch on it. (I loved my Cougar!) When I got my Benz, I started parking miles away from the shopping centers and doing everything I could to keep it unscathed. Now it’s crunched!

Best Friend Page Happy Dance!

Pages 1, 2 and 3 complete! Only one more full page and 2 partial pages to go! I might actually FINISH it this YEAR! WOO HOO! Isn't that kitty face just adorable!?!

HAED Oct. SAL Challenge

The latest on Goblin Tree. The pictures just don't do her justice! I am so pleased with the way she is turning out. You’ll notice that I’ve completed the wing up to her long gloved arm, and a little more of that gorgeous dress! She is put away again so I can move on with Best Friend. My goal was to complete it this year and there isn’t much of the year left! I have 1 more full page and 3 partial pages left. I may be able to make it yet! I must concentrate on Best Friend…..

I also want to thank all my dear cyber friends that visit and leave comments. I enjoy reading them and I enjoy visiting your blogs as well! I don’t always leave comments (I am bad, I know), but I always LOVE reading and following your progress!

Haven't Seen this Best Friend in a while....

I really wanted to finish the page before posting, but the October SAL Challenge starts today, so I have to put it down, and get back to Goblin Tree. Here's my progress up to today.

Retired Artists SAL

Here is Goblin after the SAL this weekend. She is a joy to stitch and I enjoyed spending the weekend with her!

More Birthday Stuff

Oh my! How could I have left this out?! My dear friend JM from the HAED Borad sent me Molly Harrison's Yellow Haired Witch and the matching eCard! Isn't she a sweetie!!! Thank you Jeannie-Maree!
I also got Amy Brown's Book Worm as part of the Birthday Club.

AND look what was released from Selina Fenech, Dragon Skies! This went right to the top of my wish list! (Like I NEED more projects!)

Birthday & Other Stuff

My Birthday was last Friday and my DH gave me this lovely necklace: A cat of course!


















My 2 boys (the cats) got their Mom this lovely figurine:


Aren't they just the best?!



On the stitching side, I did start Rosey! The bad news is I had a major visit from the frogs! Here's the deal... As you probably know, I will be stitching 4 cats on one piece of fabric. They are all close to the same size within a few rows. But since they will be together I have to make the all the same size. So Rosey needs 9 extra rows that aren't on the chart. The best way I could figure to do this was to split it up and add 4 rows to the top and 5 rows to the bottom. Sounds not too difficult... HA! IF YOU CAN COUNT! LOL! I started Friday, stitching with my delicious VC silks and loving it. Since I need the extra 4 rows across the top I decided to get them out of the way first. So I used the 1st row and repeated it at the top 4 times - that's 175 stitches across the entire top row, 4 times. THEN I realized that I had mis-counted! Holy Cow! Why couldn't I have seen that after the FIRST row!!!? I usually count and re-count a million time, I don't know WHAT I was thinking! So... I had to rip it, rip it, rip it! On top of this I had to be so careful, since it's silk and I didn't want to ruin it. What a job! But I mamaged to do it, and I've re-stitched it all now, so here is my start on Rosey after much ado!

This is what she will look like:

More Goblin

HAED's background SAL starts today, so I thought I would update my progress on Goblin first.
Now I am going to start Curly Tailed Rosy for the SAL. I finally got my fabric and the delicious silks. More details on Rosy back on Aug 16th titled New Start SAL - HAED.

Spinning Update

I've finished the "'Walk to Rivendell", in my case "SPIN to Rivendell". That was 458 miles. I'm now 7 miles into "Rivendell To Lothlorrien" which is 462 miles total. Where I am: At the Ford of Brúinen, turn south on ‘narrow paths among folded lands’.
My stats:
Classes completed (since July 10th): 47 Includes spin, weight, core & abs training
Total Miles Spun: 465
Weight Loss so far: 10 pounds
As of 9/12/2007 Lost one dress size!

Goblin Tree after the Sept. HAED SAL

I didn't get as much stitched as I would have liked. I think my stitchy mojo was on the blink or something. But since I promised an update, as meager as it is, here ya go! (It's around 700 stitches.)

Lil Blue

Wow! It's been a while! I didn't realize I haven't updated in a long time. I really wanted to finish Lil Blue's eye before posting, but I figured I owed a pic since it's been so long. I had to put him down for a bit because the HAED Sept. SAL was this weekend. I've been working on Goblin Tree for that this weekend. That is over today so I will get a pic of her tomorrow. So without further ado.... Lil Blue!

New Start SAL - Progress

Well since my fabric never came for Rosy, I had to pick something else. I settled on Lil Blue Fairy Cat. Artist - Carrie Hawks. This chart was RAKed to me for my birthday last year, thanks Jeannie-maree!


Here it is after the weekend.
28 ct. Cashel Linen - White Opalescent - Zweigart, DMC floss, stitched 1 X 1.

Fairy Name & a Video

My fairy name is Bramble Rainbowwand

She is a fortune bringer.

She lives in leafy dells and bluebell glades.

She is only seen when the seer holds a four-leafed clover.

She wears bluebell-blue dresses. She has multicoloured wings like a butterfly.

Get your free fairy name here!

And how adorable are these otters ?!!
Interesting note, Nyak, the female, was one of the few sea otters to survive the Exxon Valdese oil spill. Makes the video pull at your heartstrings even more.

Silks!

How yummy are these?!! Obviously, I got my Vikki Clayton silks for Rosy the other day. But, and this is a big BUT, I won't be getting the fabric in time for the New Start SAL this Friday. *frowns* Seems there is a problem with Lugana....they are all out of 28 Ct. White and Antique White as well. The fabric has been on backorder with the distributors for a few weeks now. So I have to drop back and punt. I've kitted up another chart for the SAL. Witholding the name for now. I may change my mind by Friday. Maybe some new charts will be released before then? Hummm... One never knows.....

Goblin Tree Update - Page HD!

I stayed with Goblin after the SAL this month. She was on the bars, so I worked on her some more. I got the page done! This was page 2, total of 5 pages completed so far! I am moving down to page 6 next. Getting to the fun part, her dress and the rest of her arm with that lovely striped glove!

I am hoping that everyting gets here in time for the New Start SAL this weekend. I got an email on Fri. that my Vikki Clayton silks were shipped. But I don't think my fabric has shipped yet. I got an order confirmation from ABC Stitch that said they would send me a shipping notification email when my order is ready to ship, that was last Tues. No news from them since. I'll just bust if I can't start Rosy!!!! How awful to have all the lovely silks in hand and no fabric to stitch with them!

This blog was featured last Fri. on Joann.com's Craft Gossip blog. The post is here if you're interested. Look for Aug. 17th. So nice to be noticed!!! (hangs head, shyly...)

Spin Update:
Classes completed (since July 10th): 29
Miles Spun: 299
Weight Loss so far: 6 pounds

New Start SAL - HAED

I fell in love with Annie Rodrigue's "Seasonal Cats" - that's my pet name for them. Meet Curly Tailed Rosy. Isn't she adorable?! Well, there are 3 more in the collection. I got the bright idea when I first saw these cuties that I would stitch them all on one piece of fabric. I fooled around with placement and settled on this: (that's a clicky link to bigger pic.)

My thinking is Rosy is for Valentine's Day so she is Spring. The arrangement of each chart has it so they are each looking at the next cat, in sequence. My next bright idea was to stitch them all in silk! So, I have the silks for Rosy ordered and a piece of 28 ct. Lugana big enough for all 4 cats ordered. If everything gets here before the last weekend of the month, this will be my project for the HAED New Start SAL.

Goblin Tree after the Aug. HAED SAL

Not a big update this time. My SIL and her youngest daugther came to stay last week, so not a lot of stichy time. But I did get that one tree limb above her head done at least. This piece is so fun to stitch. I wish I could just stitch and stitch and do nothing else....

I'm still 'spinning'! So far I've spun 249 miles, and lost 5 pounds, total. The weight loss should have been more, but I had the company over last week and we went out to eat more than I'd like. I am still taking 5 classes a week. I'm sticking to it, dedicated to getting this weight off!

Thanks to those that leave comments for me. You keep me inspired!!!

More of Molly's Best Friend

I've been working away on Best Friend. I know I said I would stay on Goblin for a while... so I lied! I am fairly close (by HAED standards) to finishing BF, so I decided to stick with it some more. I have pages 1 & 2 done and page 3 is 50% complete. That leaves one more full page (page 5) and pages 6 & 7 are only partial pages. See? So I'm pretty close... Okay, no more rattling on, here she is! TA DA!!!!



I've also been keeping up with my spin membership.
My totals so far:
Classes completed (since July 10th): 17
Class Breakdown: 6 Spin/4 Weights/3 core-abs training/4 spin & abs
Miles Spun: 171
Weight Loss so far: 4 pounds

I LOST 4 POUNDS!!!! I realize that doesn't sound like much to most people, but to me that is a miracle!!!!!

Goblin Tree - A Face!!!!

Here she is after the HAED July SAL. She is a joy to stitch! I think I will stay with her till I finish the page.

Thank you all for the comments on ACEO Best Friend. I'll be back to that for the Wed. SAL this week. If any of you are skeptical about the Art 2 X-Stitch charts you see out there, I can tell you this... HAED is the BEST! The charting is awesome! They get it down to the last detail!

I've done 3 more classes since my last post. 2 half Spin and half floor, and 1 all floor. I am working through the muscle soreness, and starting to feel better. I am proud of myself. I've been in a slump for far too long (years), and it feels good to be pulling myself up and out of it!

Got that flower done!

Wheewh! (sorry the scan is crooked) The rest of this should move along fairly fast. BUT! The HAED SAL Challenge is this weekend, so I'll be back on Goblin Tree. Hope to get her face done during this one.

On a non-stitchy note (odd for me, I know) I joined StudioSpin+ for the next 12 months (unlimited classes). I was a good deal, and I know the girl that opened it (Brand New just this past weekend). So far I've done 2 spin classes and one "Burn, Body, Burn" (floor) class. I did 14 miles in the first spin and 12 in the second, each is about 45 - 55 minutes. It's quite a workout! I know I'm out of shape but I had no idea just how out of shape! WOWZERS! *"Can you guys slow down? The old, fat girl in the back can't keep up!"* LOL! Well, I'm trying, and before you know it, I WILL be keeping up! I WILL! Did I mention that I'm so sore today that I could barely get out of bed this morning?

ACEO Best Friend HD!

Page 1 & 2 happy dance!!!!! 2 more full pages and 2 partial pages to go!
I am not enjoying the 40 ct. Newcastle. I'll never stitch an HAED design on it again! It's so uneven! YUCK!

An Older Finish

This is my only finished HAED to date. This is Wizard of Oz (Quick Stitch). Completed Aprin 2006.
Just thought I'd share it today.

Almost a Face!!!!

Here's my progress from the Fairy Day SAL which ran from Jun. 21 - 25. Her face has about 15 different shades and it was an effort to get any progress with all the color changes. Of course I know that it's all totally worth it in the end. HAED charts are the best!

Thanks for your comments on Best Friends. They are happy colors and it's a change to work on it after Goblin. I like switching between these two projects. I am hoping to finish Best Friends this year! Then I will have to add another one with bright happy colors.

Best Friend Again

Just a quick pic of it before I put it down. The Fairy Day SAL starts today, so I will be back on Goblin for the next 4 days at least.

Thanks for your comments on the kitchen. It's been a long road.... I STILL haven't picked out a tile for the back splash. Been back and forth to the tile place 3 times so far, and I just can't find something I like that will match.

The Kitchen is done! (Mostly)

Except for the tile backsplash I haven't picked out yet!


New Kitchen

Update - ACEO Best Friend

After this week's QS SAL. There are a lot of detail stitches in this bit, the going was slow. It will all be well worth it, in the end!

Thanks so much for your comments. For those of you that want to know what Q-Snap Huggers are all about, please feel free to visit Kim's site. Click on her name, either here or below. She describes them perfectly.

Q-Snap Huggers!

How neat are these? I got these from Kim. Very reasonable and fast shipping. The Cats and Sunflowers are 8 X 8, Pink Dots and Orange-Circles are 11 X 11.

Goblin Tree After the June HAED SAL.

WOO HOO!!! Can you see the top of her head taking shape? I'm almost to her face!

Kitty Antics

I had the boys out in the yard for a bit. I only let them in the back yard and only when I am with them to supervise. Here is Sky thinking he is in the tall grasses of the Serengeti.


The big game hunter lies in wait!



Storm is above it all, really.



The two boys enjoying the yard.

Cirque des Cercles

Best Friend Update

Yeah, doesn't look like much but I really have spent A LOT of time on it.

Okay, I Lied.

I didn't stick with Goblin. I went back and looked at my May goal and realized that I must've been crazy when I set it. Here it is: "Finish Best Friend. Almost one page completed. 6 total pages in the cart." It's the 3rd week of the month and I haven't finished a page yet. Granted, I am working across the full width of the design, which is 2 pages. Maybe I do have a page done, going across the top.... Anyway, here is my meager progress from this weekend.

After the May HAED SAL

Here it is! Only managed a little more than 600 stitches this time. It was a busy weekend. Washed the deck, did the grocery shopping, laundry, and straightening up on Saturday. Visited my MIL in the Poconos on Sunday. The only time I had to work on it was Friday and Monday nights.

I love this piece! I will be working on this mainly from now on, execpt for QS Wednesdays when I will work on Molly Harrison's Best Friend. This is 28 ct. 1 x 1, Best Friend is 40 ct. 2 x 2. I find that I am having a hard time with the 2 x 2 and that I like the 1 x 1 much better. After Best Friend is finished I'll stick with 1 x 1 from then on. No going back for me!

Tagged

Sara tagged me. Here's the rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My 8 things:
1. I can't knit. I've tried, but I just can't hold 2 needles at the same time!
2. I used to love to crochet, before I found cross stitch.
3. I LOVE spinach.
4. I was a JV and a Varsity Cheerleader in High School.
5. I went to France on a school trip senior year and would love to visit again.
6. My Mother's Mother owned olive groves in Italy.
7. I want to retire so I can stitch all day!
8. I must stitch each day, even if it's just a bit. If I don't get to stitch, I'm cranky.

I won't tag anyone, just play along if you want.

Best Friend

Here it is after this week's QS SAL:
This weekend is the May HAED Weekend SAL, so I'll be back to Goblin for a bit!

This is much better!

TA-DA!
Mom Cube

RAK ed!

Kitty Hat Fae (QS) - Nadia Tate - Chart HAED

Look what Jeannie-Maree (AKA fudgeykat) sent me!!! She is a wonderful stitchy friend! Look at all the lovely purples!!! Thank you Fudgey!

Updates

Fellow sitiching blogger Cindy was kind enough to send me the instructionss and answer my many questions, on how to make a cube out of my Mother's Day motif. Thank you Cindy!!! I'm not happy with the edges yet, so I am going to take it apart and re-do it. Cindy's looks much neater. This is just my firt attempt at it. You can't even imagine what I started out with! I am a bannana-head! Rather than make a block like this I originally had a 10x10x10x10 cube. What I mess I made! Cindy straightened me out on that! I'll get another picture when I have it just the way I want it.


Next my Best Friend update. This is after the Wed. QS SAL this week. I haven't been working a lot on this, not a lot of time this week.


We are renovating my kitchen from the ground up and having no sink, range, floor, etc. in there has been interesting. Not to mention the workers in and out and the random trips to the supply house that DH is constantly sending me on. It's been a real mess, but now the ceiling is up, the floor is down, the walls are freshly painted, and the cabinets started being hung yesterday. All my appliances are here now too, except for the sink. Countertop template is scheduled for Tues., and they say they are planning that installation for the following Tues. So if all goes well, I may have a working kitche by May 15th.

Kitchen Renovation