TUSAL and February Update

Happy Family Day to my fellow Canadians!!  And Happy President's Day to my American neighbours to the south!  And Happy Whatever to the rest of the world!  (My calender only listed the two holidays, so if I missed anything, I apologize!)  This Canadian holiday is not very old, only a couple of years or so.  Basically the kids get a day off from school, and govenrnent offices are closed.  February needed some sort of holiday, and it's a great excuse for a three-day weekend!  My DD is very happy, to say the least!  lol

This will be quite a lengthy update, so please grab a beverage of your choice!

Here is my February TUSAL update!  I did quite a lot of stitching, if I do say so myself.

 February TUSAL

 This is the jar that I empty out the previous month's orts! (Mentioned this last month, so here is the picture!)   I just wanted a way to keep track for my own personal amusement.  I'm weird that way!

I am really liking that I have to post every month for the TUSAL as it forces me to post to my blog as well!  And this way I kill two birds with one stone.  

Now on to the stitching!

 This is where I was previously on Mirabilia's Cinderella.

 And here is where I am at now, as of February 20, 2012.  She is coming along beautifully!  I am having so much fun stitching her!  But that darn Nora Corbett has come out with a new design, "Silver Moon Tea"!!  Why must she do that?!?!  It's a beautiful lady holding a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea in the silvery moon!!  That's my favourite tea!!  So you see why I must stitch this?!?!  Stay tuned for an update.  Sigh.  (I can justify anything!!  lol)

I have a couple small starts to share this month.

 First off is a Needle Fob Challenge for TGOS magazine Yahoo group.  Basically we choose a needle fob chart and stitch it and finish it by March 2.  I chose the Ladybug needle fob from TGOS April 2011 issue.  And as it's a challenge and not an exchange, I am making it for my sister's birthday in May, once again killing two birds, one stone!

 This is what I have done so far!  Yes, I know, not much is done, but I have been doing it only during DD's rowing practices, and sometimes I get yapping with other parents.  I'll try to do better from now on!

This is my second start of the month!

 It's a freebie called "Heart of My Heart" from Abi Gurden of The Stitch Specialist's Yahoo group.  But you have to be a member to get it!  I used some raspberry coloured fabric from my stash and ecru DMC floss and perle cotton.  I am having a ball with all the specialty stitches and can't wait to use my new-found Hardanger prowess to cut!

Now on to some exchanges!!

 I sent this out to Theoria in South Africa for TSS Birthday Threads exchange.  She finally recieved it, so I can now post it!

The second one is from The Friendly Stitchers Yahoo group!  A Spring Biscornu exchange!  My partner was Sara from Ireland, and she stitched me this lovely one on tea-dyed fabric that she dyed herself!  Thank you so much again, Sara!  It has a place of honor with all my other biscornus!

 This is the one I sent to Sara.  And between you and me, if it had been finished when my mom first saw it, it would have went home with her!  She really liked it. I may have to make this one again. 

 My DD has been stitching up a storm lately!  She has stitched three Dragon Dreams freebies in the last month, with a fourth one very close to being finished!  She is going a marvelous job on these!

 Dragon of Hope 2005

 Dragon Love

 My Treasure

And I have done a wee bit of shopping in the last month too!  Nordic Needle had a few things on sale and Hubby paid for part of my order for Valentine's Day, as well as the 2011 Back Issue Bundle from The Gift of Stitching magazine.

 I have been eyeing up these scissor since I saw them, and being the patriotic Canadian I am, well, they found their way into my cart!

 I bought this one to continue my Hardanger journey.

 And this one needed to join my library so I can learn and practice new stitches!

This is the card I made for Hubby!  His Aunt Bev and I started this at her house, and I finished it up in time for Valentine's Day.  It folds out, and I wrote a lovely sentiment inside.

 Here is DD at the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships (CIRC) on February 5, 2012.

 She did really well for her first time, placing 4th in her division out of 9 competitors.  Her best friend Kaylee, placed 1st, beating the previous record!  The girls had fun and represented the club well!  Their coach was very pleased!

Now on to my bird pictures!

 This one was taken at the farm where my parents live.  There is a bird sanctuary close to their place, and the swans often fly across the road to the field to feed.  

 This one is one of the Blue Jays that often come to my feeder.

And this one is my favourite!  An Eastern Blue Bird!  It is very rare to see one in Ontario in the winter, but I think that because it's been so mild here this winter, they are still here!  I emailed my dad this picture and he and I both got our bird books out to discuss over the phone what it could be! I was very excited to get this picture!!

I may be late with my update next month, as Hubby, DD and I are going on vacation over the March Break!  We have rented a house down in Florida for a week, near Disney World and Universal!  We are so excited to be getting away!  It has been a few years, 7 to be exact, since we have had a real family vacation.  We are driving down and back, so if any one knows of any good LNS, please feel free to let me know!  We will be going down I-75 and then back up the Eastern Seaboard, and I hope to hit a couple needlework places as Hubby said he would stop if we knew of any!

Well, need to get going to put a roast beef in the oven with carrots and potatoes, so supper will be easy today.  Then DD and I can spend the afternoon stitching and watching movies!  What a nice way to spend Family Day!  Thanks for sticking with me!
Chat soon!

A time of Introspection (Plus an Update, of course!)

Hi all!  I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and had time to spend with loved ones, eating, drinking and laughing!  And stitching of course!

I have spent the last month thinking about my stitching and my blog, trying to come to grips with what I wanted to accomplish this year.(which is why it has taken me so long to update!)  I seriously considered a rotation of stitching projects (of which there are many, lol), but then I realized that over the last year I had finished quite a bit!  I finished 12 ornaments and 8 other stitching projects, including a new type of stitching, Hardanger!  One of those projects was a two year commitment, Castles In The Air, which I kept up on, to my surprise!  I like routines, but I also like the freedom to choose, and lets be honest, this is my hobby.  Why should I make it stressful for myself?  So I am going to continue on the way I am going with my stitching, and update when the mood hits me!

On to the stitching!  I bought this one a while ago because I fell in love with it on someone else's blog (sorry, can't remember who's!)  It's from Jardin Prive, called Christmas Sampler!  Started it December 23 and finished it January 27!

 Not sure if I'll frame it or make it into a pillow!

My Mom and Dad spoiled all of us for Christmas, and in my stocking was a gift card to Chapters, a book store.  Their online store has way more selection, so I placed an order and these were the books I chose!

 All of them are types of stitching I would like to try!  But seriously, aren't those birds the cutest things ever?!?!  They are soooo fluffy!!  lol

Here is my DD's latest finish!  She is becoming quite accomplished with her stitching!  Metallic threads and all!

 Dragon Dreams-A Spot of Tea.

During the Christmas break, the weekend before DD started back to school, we took a small drive up to Hubby's aunt and uncle's place to visit with them and spend the night before they went back to Florida, and to exchange gifts!  Aunt Bev and I also used the time to get a little scrapbooking in!  I was the one that got her started on her scrapbooking journey!  I took a couple page kits that I made up to work on, and this is what I came up with!  Plus she showed me some really great paper techniques, which I will get into in another post!

This picture was take a few years ago.  I had came outside to see what everyone was up to, and found DD all set up, with her father's pop/soda, relaxing in her lawnchair with sunglasses on playing her little video game!  What's a mother to do?  Take photos of course!  I laughed myself silly when I saw this!!

Now here are my wildlife photos!  I had a whole bunch of birds that like to eat the seed I put out!  That bird feeder fell after the wire broke from where I had hung it on my porch, but it still holds seed, and my birds love it!

 And here is my lovely Red-Tailed hawk!  I took this photo from my craftroom window!  Isn't he a beauty?

 On the other hand, this one is not so pretty!  I have a possum that comes to visit my porch every once in a while!  I guess those are the joys of living in the country!  The variety of animal life!

I have a couple more pictures that I want to show, but as they are for exchanges, I can't show them yet!  I have a Birthday Thread exchange that is winging its way to South Africa to Theoria for The Stitch Specialists Yahoo group.  The other one is a Spring Biscornu exchange with Sarah for The Friendly Stitchers Yahoo group.  I have finished the one side and am almost finished the second, and hope to finish it today or tomorrow, so I can get it mailed off to Ireland on Tuesday!  I can't wait to see what Sarah thinks of it, as I used the most fun threads!  Silks and perle cotton, lovely varigated shades with tons of specialty stitches!  Chat soon!