February TUSAL

I'm a day late on this, but better late than never!  Here's my February TUSAL. 

Here are all my ORTs from the past month.  They're from my Mario Bookmark, Literate Dragon, and Nursery Rhyme Sampler.

And here's how my jar is looking for the year so far.  Not too bad.  I think I need to get a nicer jar though.  Everyone else has such lovely ones and mine used to hold pasta sauce. :)

Where Did My Stitchy Bug Go?

My stitchy bug has abandoned me!  Last week I just could NOT sit down and stitch no matter how hard I tried.  I think a lot of it is because I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately.  I was just exhausted all last week.  We had a snow day on Friday and I just spent the whole day napping on the couch.  Oh well, I'm committed to getting some stitching done this week no matter what.

In other news, I'm participating in Pay It Forward.  I found it through Jessica at A Humble Creation.  The first 5 people to comment on this post will receive a stitchy gift from me sometime this year.  The catch is that if you want to participate you have to put this offer up on your blog as well. 

I just realized that I missed posting my TUSAL this month.  I'm at work right now so I will make sure I post some pictures when I get home.

Blog Hop #15

Eventually there comes a time when you’re not feeling well, whether it’s the flu or a cold or something else entirely. The question is, do you manage any stitching when you’re under the weather or does it just have to wait for better days?

Whether or not I stitch while I'm sick depends on how sick I am and what kind of illness it is.  If I have a cold or am just under the weather I love to curl up with some hot tea and my stitching.  I'll turn a good movie on (Gone with the Wind is a favorite when I'm ill) and stitch away.  It actually makes me feel better and I love that it gives me an excuse to just work on my WIPs for hours. However, I tend to gravitate toward simpler projects that require less attention on these days.

On the other hand, I was sick with the flu for a couple of days last week and I found that I couldn't get any stitching done.  Just picking up a needle required way too much energy.  I spent most of that time sleeping and watching TV.  I hate when I'm that sick because I feel very unproductive.

Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:

Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here.

And the Winner Is...

The Grow Your Blog Party a couple of weeks ago was a complete success.  I went from 2 followers to 41 and found many new blogs to follow.  It's great making new friends.  I want to thank Vicki at 2 Bags Full for hosting the party and providing this wonderful opportunity.

And without further adieu, the drawing for the winner of my surprise giveaway.

 

And she flew away before I could get a picture of her with the slip she chose.  But the winner is Shanda of Stitch Crazy.  Here's a picture of your prize.

 

You'll receive the Carousel Magic collection from Stoney Creek which features 7 beautiful designs and a cute little Fizzy Moon kit that was a gift with an issue of World of Cross Stitch.  Congratulations Shanda, I'll be in touch for your mailing address so I can get these out to you.

Big thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway.  Please keep coming back because I plan to have another giveaway soon!

Mario: All Done Up

I made up my Mario bookmark a couple of nights ago.  I didn't quite know what to do so I decided to just use some felt I had laying around.  Used hot glue to attach the canvas to the felt.  Then used pinking shears to trim the edges.  Unfortunately, when I started to trim I realized the pinking shears I had were right-handed only (I'm a southpaw).  So my boyfriend ended up doing the cutting, but that's ok since the bookmark was for him anyway.  He loves it.

In other news, my surprise draw is tomorrow!  There's still time to enter.  Just go to this post and leave a comment.  Nothing to it.  The contest will be open to new entrents until I do the actually drawing around 7 PM EST.  I'll be posting the name of the winner and pictures of their prize tomorrow evening along with some pictures of my progress on Nursery Rhyme Sampler (don't get too excited, it's not much) so make sure you stop by again.  Yay!

Liebster Award

The wonderful Pam over at Crossroads of My Mind has nominated me for a Liebster Award.  Thank you so much Pam!  It's basically a great way for bloggers to get to know eachother.

The rules are:

1. You must post 11 things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose 11 new blogs & link them in your post
5. Please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster award so I can learn more about YOU!

So here are 11 things about me:

1. I just finished school last year and am still trying to find work in my field (human resources).
2. I am shy and sometimes have trouble making new friends.
3. My boyfriend is my best friend in the world.
4. I love to read.  My Mom likes to tell people that when I was a toddler I used to go to bed with books instead of stuffed animals.
5. I have trouble talking about myself. (Ssssh.  That counts as a thing.)
6. I started this blog in 2011, but only really started posting recently.
7. My father was in the military so we moved around the country a lot when I was growing up.
8. I have panic disorder.  I was using medication to control it, but came off the medication a few months ago and seem to have it pretty much under control save for a few minor attacks (mostly while I'm sleeping).
9. I love stitching for other people.  Most of the projects I do are not for me.
10. I have a hard time finishing what I start so make sure you keep on me if you don't see any progress on a project.
11. I'm really happy to be part of this blogging community.  I've read a lot of blogs for a while now, but just starting jumping in and participating.  It feels great.

Here are 11 questions from Pam:

Why did you decide to blog about your stitching?
While reading stitching blogs I saw that there was a wonderful sense of community.               Stitchers from all around the world were talking and sharing.  I wanted in on that.  Plus it's always nice to show off my stitching to people who can appreciate how much hard work goes into each and every piece.

How do you find time to stitch?
I do most of my stitching after work.  Right now my boyfriend works an afternoon shift so he's gone when I get home and doesn't get back until after I'm asleep.  This leaves me in an empty house every evening so I make sure I pick up the needle and floss for at least a couple of hours every day.

What cross-stitch designer do you like to collect?
Heaven and Earth Designs, Joan Elliot, and Margaret Sherry are three that come to mind immediately.

Have you ever been to a stitch-in?
No, but I would like to if I ever get the chance.

What’s the most you’ve spent on a pattern?
If it was just a pattern, probably $20-25.  Kits are another story.

What’s your favorite stitching tool or gadget?
My needle?  I don't really have any special tools that I use other than the standard equipment.

How do you organize your stash?
Patterns and stuff I'm working on are stored in a little wooden cabinet we have.  Everything else is in a giant cardboard box in the closet.  Lol.  I do need to get it more organized, but we don't really have a lot of space or shelving right now so it will just have to wait.  My electronic patterns are super organized though.

How do you give back? (e.g. teach young people to stitch, donate used patterns, etc.)
This is something that I don't do that I really should.  Does anyone have a favorite stitchy organization or charity that they can recommend?

What do you do while stitching (TV, movies, radio, audio books, travel)?
I usually watch TV on DVD.  I like things I've seen before because I don't have to pay too much attention to them.  I also like audio books and old time radio dramas.  A great place to find things like that is Archive.org, they have tons of free domain recordings to listen to.

Have you ever had a cross-stitch disaster (lost patterns, chewed, stained, or burned stitching)?
I don't think I've ever had what you'd call a disaster.  Like I've previously stated, my parrot likes to steal my bobbins, but that's really more of an annoyance.  The other day I accidently left a needle in the couch and my boyfriend sat on it.  Fortunately, he was not really hurt, but he was pretty angry.

Have you made new friends (local or online) through your love for stitching? 
Of course.  All the lovely people who are reading my blog right now are my new friends!

My 11 Questions:

1. When and why did you start stitching?
2. Do you do any other crafts or have any other hobbies?
3. What has been your favorite cross stitch project to date?
4. Do you belong to a stitching group or guild?
5. What's your favorite LNS?  ONS?
6. How many hours a week to you spend stitching?
7. What's one thing you would love to try, but haven't yet?
8. What does your stitching area look like?
9. What is your favorite type of project? (BAPs, bookmarks, ornaments?)
10. What is your favorite book?/Who is your favorite author?
11. What is one thing you truly love about yourself?

My nominations:

Kim at A Stitch in Thyme
Panada at Arsty-fartsy. A little bit gutsy...
Karen at By Grace and by Gumption
Claire at Cross stitching crazy lady
LesleyAnne at My Frozen Sunshine
Christine at Oklahoma Stitches
Kinley at A Place to Stitch
Sharine at Charbella Stitching
Lulu at Crafting Across Continents
Sara at Just Another Flamingo on the Lawn
Cindy at A Crafter's Corner

These are all wonderful blogs and I encourage everyone to go read them.

Blog Party, IHSW, and More

First of all, welcome to all my new readers and followers.  The Grow Your Blog party last weekend was an amazing success.  I found some awesome new blogs to read and gained some new followers.  I promise to respond to all the wonderful comments I've gotten.  Unfortunately, I woke up with the flu on Monday and am just recovering now.

This past weekend was also the first International Hermit & Stitch Weekend of 2013 (and my first one ever).  For those who don't know, IHSW occurs on the third weekend of every month.  It gives us stitchers an excuse to hole up with our needlework for the whole weekend and just stitch away.  If you want more information you can just click on the picture above and it will take you to Joysze's Random Ramblings for more information.

I didn't get a chance to hermit much this weekend.  Saturday was the first hockey game of the season so I had to watch that (Go Leafs Go!), but I did manage to get quite a bit of stitching in on Sunday.  Here's the progress I made on Literate Dragon:

 

I love working on my first HAED, but the small stitches are taking some getting used to.  As of now I have finished 1,222 stitches out of the  7,840 on this page.  As much fun as I'm having with it, I'm going to be putting it away this week to work on Nursery Rhyme Sampler.  I get to pull it out again week after next though so I can't wait to show you more progress.