Don't faint....I am blogging two days in a row. You also probably should know this likely will never happen again. LOL Although I do promise to try to blog more often in the coming year.



Today I put my needle down and picked up my pencils and did a little sketching. I am not very good at drawing but I enjoy it. Here is what I sketched today.

Not so good at this blogging thing

I have had several finishes lately but have not gotten around to taking pics and posting until tonight. I am really going to try to do better at this. The first picture is one that I had shown in when it was a WIP. This is my Sun Bonnet Sue.

This is a pillow made for a very special little boy.

This is a set of pillows I made for myself.

The pattern was a freebie I found on the internet.

And a Mill Hill kit. A pin for a friend.

I just finished sewing up the pillows tonight so I have no WIPs right now. I am sure that will change very soon. I rarely go long without doing some sort of craft. Is everyone nearing completion on Christmas gifts and projects they are making?

I hope everyone is having a blessed and wonderful holiday season!

Wanted to post a lil brag. My son is getting ready to release his next CD. It is a Christmas CD and while I might be a bit biased I think it sounds beautiful. If you would like to take a listen you can hear sound clips by going to his website www.levimonk.com the clips will start playing automatically. Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

I needed a finish

Do you ever just need to take a brake from a larger product and actually finish something? I took a needed break from my Sunbonnet Sue project to work on a few other things. I made some beanies for charity, a blanket for charity and indulged in another favorite past-time, reading.

Sunday I started this cute little Mill Hill kit. I love these small and quickly finished projects. Now I will have another ornament to add to my "Noel" tree. What should I do next?

I made some progress on my piece this week. I really like the way this is looking but already I am dreading all the outlining that is ahead. I don't do a lot of pieces that require a lot of back-stitching. I love the way it looks but find it boring. Does anyone else out there share my love/hate relationship with backstitcing??

This week's progress

I didn't get a lot of stitching done on my Sunbonnet Sue picture this week. I pulled out my yarn and finished up a few more beanies for Covered With Love. Those are nice little projects to take on the road. Last weekend I visited my parents and spent the travel time knitting. By the time I had gotten there I had a hat completed. Then I was able to pull out my crochet hook and finish a couple while my mom and I chatted.

I am hoping to get some time to make some real progress on my Sunbonnet Sue project this week. What are all the other crafty bloggers working on this week??

Recent stitches....

Here is my latest WIP. This one is for my Patriotic wall. I am really enjoying stitching this one. It is from Sunbonnet Sue Yesterdays Sweetheart from Leisure Arts. I am enjoying it so much that I am pretty sure I will be stitching some of the other patterns in the booklet.

Now that everyone that I was giving one of these magnets to has received them in the mail I can go ahead and post a picture. The project was worked on black 28 count Monaco fabric over one. I have done over one before but never on black and...never again LOL Seeing the holes was next to impossible. Found I could see them best when using sunlight so much of this was done outside or in front of a window. First pic is of all six of them after I had finished them by making them into magnets.

This picture is an upclose view of one of the magnets.

While I was pleased with the finished product I don't think my eyes much care for stitching on black.

So now you know what I have been doing in my craft corner....so what projects are you working on currently?

LOL Somehow I know not how I have managed to add myself as a follower of my own blog. I am so not good at this stuff.

The Josh related surprises have been shipped to their recipients and I will soon post the finished products as well as a pic of a WIP. I first need to figure out how to load the pics on my new mini laptop.

I caved ...it's Josh Groban's fault

My kids have been telling me I need to get a Twitter account. I resisted...but....Josh Groban now has a Twitter account and I caved. Actually it is pretty fun. I find I have more little snippets of time to post a line or two than I do to sit down regularly and do a blog post.

I am still working on a "Josh" surprise for some of my friends. I won't post pics until they receive them as I am not sure if any of them pop in here now and then or not. This week I have been working on that as well as some beanies for Covered With Love. As a matter of fact crafting is how I am going to spend my afternoon.

It has been a gloomy week thus far and more gloom in the forecast so it has been a good week to just hang out here at home and work on projects. Yesterday I spent a good part of the day cleaning house. Since I enjoy cleaning that was an enjoyable way to start my week. Today I am not being quite as industrious. I am getting ready to go spend the remainder of the afternoon with a needle in hand.

Hope everyone is having a blessed and wonderful June.

Just updating

I have been working on some cross-stitched magnets for some friends of mine that share my love of Josh Groban music. I got a bit bored with the repetitiveness of project though so today I picked up Starry Night to work on....What a project. I started it quite awhile back but I can't seem to make myself focus on it for long. It is so overwhelming. So I worked a few hours on it and put it away before I got frustrated.

I am also working on a Sunbonnet Sue pattern that I think is going to be an enjoyable project. But I am trying to resolve to picking up that Starry Night piece and working on it more regularily. I rarely don't finish a piece but this one if any is in danger of finding its way in the garbage. LOL

I haven't take pics but will try to do that soon ...but they won't be "finishes" but rather WIPs.

Finished My Heart Tonight

I had some time to sit down and work on my heart today. While the cross-stitching is completed I am not sure how I am going to finish my project...frame it, make it into a pillow or something else. Any thoughts?

This was a freebie design that I found on the web thanks to fellow stitchers at http://www.123stitch.com/ That is the absolute best cross-stitch site on the internet. If you order from them they fill the order so quick. And the site has a wonderful message board.

I stitched this on 28 count (over two) Twilight Blue Jobelan. I began stitching this on April 8, 2009 and finished April 28, 2009. It is one of those pieces that looks like it took a lot of time but it was a quick stitch.

I was so eager to post my finish that I didn't iron it first so overlook the wrinkles and creases!

I was stitching yesterday on what has become one of my favorite all time projects. It was quiet in the house and I was thinking about how relaxing cross-stitching makes me. Now to some of you that is a bit of a mystery....

All those little x's?
Knots getting in the thread?
Counting wrong and having to frog it out?

How could that be relaxing? For those who cross-stitch they get it. To them even the knots are just a lil bump in doing something we really enjoy. But even when the project doesn't go well I usually don't get frustrated because as the pattern takes shape on my fabric I can see the beauty beginning to unfold. That focuses me on the end goal rather than the lil bumps aone the way.

Think about the things you enjoy....Aren't there frustrations with it as well? Aren't there times when it is more difficult and you have to stop and regroup?

Wonder if we are like that to God sometimes? Obviously He loves us. But when we get a knot in our path or we misstep and get on the wrong path and He has to "fix" us does He get a bit frustrated or out of His grace does He lovingly untangle the mess focusing on the beauty He sees unfolding as we learn and grow in Him?

My virgin post

I have had this blogger set up for awhile but have yet to make my virgin post so since I wasn't busy this evening I decided tonight is the night. It always earns me high praise from my children when I venture into the world of the internet and do something new. Thanks to them I have ventured onto Myspace and once I finally learned my way around there they said, "No Mom, that isn't the in thing now. You need to do Facebook" So I got a Facebook. Still trying to grasp the reason for that creature. I had barely come up from air from plunging into it when they said I needed to Twitter. That is where I draw the line....Twitter? I looked around and I seriously don't think anyone would be interested in knowing what I am doing every minute of the day.....Can you imagine...

Lori is waking up
Lori is going to the bathroom
Lori is having a cup of coffee
Lori is answering her email
Lori is having a second cup of coffee
Lori is doing laundry
Lori is going to the bathroom
Lori is dusting
Lori is going to the bathroom
Lori is sweeping
Lori is going to the bathroom
Lori is mopping the floors
Lori should not have had that second cup of coffee

So instead of being talked into Twitter I decided to do an online blog. And in thinking of what I could possibly write about I decided to use it as a place to share my cross-stitching and other crafts. While I know that is not very entertaining I decided it would probably be a heck of a lot more entertaining than knowing a second cup of coffee isn't a good idea.

Often one will find me crafting away to the beautful sounds of Levi and Beth singing or of course Josh Groban.

Here are a few of my recent finishes








This is a cross-stitch piece I finished not too long ago. It was from a magazine chart. Fun stitch...nothing too complicated. Noel (My wonderful hubby) is making a frame for it.








This is a design by Glitter Gulch Needleworks. I picked it up when my SIL and I went to a needlework show in Nashville,TN. You can't tell it from the picture but it has a lot of sparkle. I stitched it on hand dyed fabric from Enchanted Fabrics.






This is a blanket and some beanies I made for Covered with Love.

















I have a few more beanies completed and have one I am working on to be shipped to Covered with Love the end of this month. I am also working on a cross-stitched piece that I started not expecting to like as much as I do. It is turning out so delicate looking. I will post a picture when I am finished.

A lot of times when I cross-stitch I work in gifts for friends and relatives but after a year of pushing to get this gift and that gift done on time I realized it was starting to feel more like a chore to me than a craft that I enjoy. So this year I have only been stitching for the joy of it. If I complete a piece and want to use it as a gift fine...if not I keep it. Ironically I am finding that I am completing pieces faster without the threat of a must be done date.

Also this year I am really focusing on not buying more stash as I have more than enough now to keep me busy for a LONG time. With the economy being what it is and with living frugal being another "hobby" (although it has turned into more than a hobby in these times) I decided it was time to stop buying more and start enjoying what I already had.

So I hope you will stop in often and browse my crafts. Leave me a note and if you have a craft blog too let me know where to find it. I would love to see the work of your hands that brings you joy.