April WIPocalypse

I only worked on one piece since the last WIPocalypse update....Coral 

And I am delighted to report, she is FINISHED!  :)

Here she is:

 I've washed and pressed her and dropped her off to be framed yesterday.   This is my first official HAED finish.  I was worried I couldn't take on a HAED, but I loved every step of the way.  The confetti was a nightmare in the beginning, but I've come to actually like it and stitching with the metallics is still a little iffy for me, but I'm better at it!

This means I can mark off item # 3 and #5 from my rotation schedule.  I skipped #4 because I couldn't put Coral down until I finished her. 

I've had some wonderful things happen to me since my last update!  Holly at Holly's Crafts Blog awarded me the Liebster Blog Award!  Thank you, Holly!  I'm honored! :)

I also had my name drawn by Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe to win her new sampler chart giveaway.  The sampler is Teach Me to Feel Another's Woes and I love it!  The verse she chose is by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) and her design brings it all together beautifully.  Here is a picture:

Today I've decided to take on the task of sorting through all my DMC floss!  Like a mad-stashing woman, I've gone on various trips to the craft store to buy floss for this chart and that chart, but then leaving it all aside to work on later.  I'm going to officially kit up 5 HAED charts, just to make sure I have all the floss I need, then make a final floss run tomorrow for any missing colors.....and then cut myself off from buying floss for the rest of the year!  (yeah...riiiiighhhhht, lesli!)   :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter holiday weekend and you get to spend some time with family and friends...and of course, some time with needle and floss!


-lesli


Edit:  Ooops!  I lied!  I also did a little work on Wings since the last WIPocalypse update!  I was laser focused on Coral that I completely forgot.  You can see my progress on that piece here

I've Been Spoiled by Ewa!

As I had shared in a previous post, I was one of the lucky names drawn for Ewa's recent giveaway!!

Imagine my giddiness when a package arrived in my mailbox this afternoon!  I think I even ran back inside just to get to open it quicker  :)

Look at all the beautiful items I received:

She baked home-made biscotti!  I put them in a pretty green bowl as if I'm going to serve them, but we all know I'll gobble them up by the end of the day! They are soooo yummy.  I just made a fresh pot of coffee to go with them.

She also included the prettiest card and personal sentiment....so sweet :)

The most incredible part of the gift was her stitching and beadwork!  Here's a close up:

My shadowy picture definitely does not do it justice!  Her work is sitting on top of some divine Architex fabric which she also included.  It matches her stitching perfectly!  Now.....my mind is spinning ideas on what I want to do with them!


I'll have a grin on my face for weeks after this, it's like Christmas in March!..... Thank you Ewa!!


For anyone who hasn't visited her blog....wander on over and check out her great plan to finish one of her current HAED projects before Christmas....I know she can do it, so let's all cheer her on!


-lesli

Quick Crafty Update....before Midnight!

So my Monday has gotten away from me!  Midnight is creeping up on me and I have every intention on posting my weekend update BEFORE Tuesday hits!

I had a WONDERFULLY crafty weekend!!   In addition to crafts...hubby and I went plant/flower shopping and have a front and back garden full of flowers...Spring has officially sprung in the Daniels house!

Now on to bigger and better news.......

I can officially cross off the first two items on my "Rotation Schedule" Check-list!  <woooo!!!>  

My first item was to finish pages 4 and 7 of Coral, and here's how she looks:

Only 4 pages left to go!

 And my second item on my list was to finish page 1 of Wings:

It looks like a big huge block of light gray...but there are actually 3 colors in there!

I'm off and running on my third list item!


I also chipped away on my "yarn stash" by making some cute Spring Kitchen Towels.  I have tons of yarn I need to use up, and I found some kitchen towels I bought last Spring at a sale.  I also hit the craft store this weekend and bought a towel that was on sale for half off (I couldn't resist!).....here's the results of my de-stashing:

My cotton yarn stash

My sale purchases

My Spring towel stash

And here is what I turned those into......

The two made from knitting

The two made from crocheting

 I'm very happy with the outcomes!   Now I have some cute towel sets to give to my sisters for Easter!

That's it!  Just a quick update before Tuesday lands on me!!   Hope everyone had a wonderful start to the week!


-lesli

March TUSAL~Giveaway Winners~Rotation Plan

Even though the title makes my post sound like its going to be long...I'll make it all as short as possible!

First off we have....my March TUSAL picture!

I finally found something to move my ORTs to, from my jelly jar.  I found this vase under my sink, from a beauiful bouquet of tulips my hubby gave me a bit ago.   The vase is HUGE, but that just entices me to stitch more so I can try to get it at least half full by the end of this year!   I'll keep using my jelly jar monthly and transfer them over.

Next up... my LHN giveaway winners!!   Here is a shot of the full list of participants (sorry for the bad picture, I used Paint in a hurry!)

I chose two winners (via random generator) to win the following charts (in this order):

LHN - Strawberry House

LHN Tall Pines

And....the WINNERS are........ (those dots are my drumroll!).......

YAY!   So Strawberry House will be making its way to Joysze at Random Ramblings and Tall Pines will find a home with Carrie at Carrie's Cross Stitch 

(Please email me your mailing addresses!  leslidaniels@gmail.com)  I have a few surprise items to throw into the packages as well!  :)


And finally.....My Rotation Plan!

Thank you to everyone that responded to my last post about how you rotate your work!  I LOVED all the great ideas!!  I thought about it long and hard ...and I decided to be a "deadline rotationer"  (is rotationer even a word?).   I have this "thing" about not putting a piece down until I finshed the page or the section or whatever.....so deadlines seems to be the way to go with me!

Here's the schedule I've come up with so far.  I don't have timelines/dates to each deadline, once I finish the first one on the list, I'll move to the next one.  I did give myself an overall goal date for this list, and if I meet it, I'll make a new list!

1. Page 4 and 7 of Coral (page 7 is just under page 4 with only 3 rows of work, so it made sense to work together)
2. Page 1 of Wings
3. Page 5 and 8 of Coral
4. Page 2 of Cathedral
5. Page 6 and 9 of Coral (FINISHED!)
6. Page 1 of Nature's Beauty
7. Page 1 of Blue Moon
8. Page 1 of Lanterns (new start)
9. Page 1 Moonlight (new start)
10. Page 3 of Cathedral
11. Page 2 of Wings
12. Page 2 of Nature's Beauty (FINISHED!)

My target date to finish this list is July 1st

This gives me around 14 weeks (so about 1 week per line item).  This is a stretch goal and I'll be happy if I get even a little close!


Thanks again for everyone's rotation input and congratulations to the giveaway winners!


Happy Spring!


-lesli

Weekend Update and Rotation Inquiry

Sooooo....... I had a fantabulous weekend!    Was able to stitch on Friday evening and most of Sunday.  Saturday was spent as a "date day" with my hubby....he took me shopping and to dinner, then we spent the evening with family.  Doesn't get much better than that!  (Oh, Saturday I did do a little frogging, but even that couldn't ruin the great time I had!)

And to make my weekend even sweeter....I found out that my name was drawn by Ewa's "helpful and handsome" boyfriend as one of the winners for a home-made surprise!  (check out her blog and you'll get the humor there!)   I can't wait to find out what she's making!


Now......Here's my IHSW Update........

Before the weekend, this is what Wings looked like:

And after the weekend, here's my progress:

I ALMOST completed page 1, which is about 3800 stitches!

Keep in mind though, I took out the top 40 rows to fit on my fabric .....and.... there were only THREE floss color changes so far!!   What a nice change to work on a HAED with no confetti!  (but I can't speak too soon....page 2 begins some confetti!).  I could never have completed this many stitches otherwise!

What I loved most about starting this piece was that Katie at Jeremiah's Mom also started a new HAED and we agreed to start together!  Check out her blog and see her beautiful progress!  I love the little bit of green colors that are starting to show!

Now for my "rotation inquiry"....for those stitchers out there that rotate your projects/pieces....do you have a set plan or way you go about it?  

Do you have a timeline set, for example, I'll work on piece A for one week, then piece B the next?  or do you have set goals, for example, I'll finish page 1 of piece A then page 4 of piece B?

Why do I ask?   I can't figure out how to work mine!  I've always been a "one at a time" stitcher...working one piece to its end before starting a new one.  But since entering blog-world, I noticed so many people that worked mulitple projects at a time, so I got hooked.  Now I find myself with at least 5 started WIPs and 4 that I'm just itching to begin.  ( I think my addiction is with starting/kitting them! )

I've just started feeling lost...not overwhelmed ...just lost.  I feel like there is one piece I should focus on until it's done, with maybe a secondary I work on as well....then as I finish a piece, I pick another focus project?  I know, with the majority of my projects being HAEDs, I won't finish but maybe one this year (hopefully the one that is a gift!)...so should I just drop everything else and work on that one?

HELP!  I need advice! hehehehehe   :)

Anyhow, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and you're enjoying the Spring weather!   The New Moon is this week, which brings with it the March TUSAL!  Can't wait to see everyone's ORTs!

 
-lesli

Calling All Hermits!

Who's joining me in the IHSW that starts.....today!?

I'm ready to go with Please My Wings Take Me Away <whew>!   Going to refer to it as Wings going forward.

Have my floss and gridding ready to go!

Have some time tonight I'll be stitching, but my Saturday is planned as a "date day" with my hubby.  Maybe I'll get some time in on Sunday as well.  

I'd really love to work on Coral also....as I'm itching to get her finished.  But starting a new HAED is just too difficult for me to pass up!


This past weekend I worked on the LHN chart, Nature's Beauty.  Maybe I'll even work on this one a little this weekend too!! Here's an update on my progress:

If you have a chance, travel on over to my little giveaway! 


Have a happy stitchy weekend!


Oh...and don't forget some green beer tomorrow!  :)



-lesli