Recieved Goodies Today.

Today I got my threads and what not that I ordered from Everything Cross Stitch. Looking at the fabric I am kinda intimidated because I have never worked with anything this small before. Most of my kits are 14-18 count and these Faeries are done on 28 count so that is really small and kinda intimidating.
My husband has suggested to get something that magnifies so I guess we will see what happens. Sorry that my message is short today but I am exhausted today and can't think straight. Hopefully the next one will be better.
Hugs and Bb
Tracey

Saddness

I was so looking forward to participating in this months Stitch a Long, that I got to work and ordered my stuff early. I had about half the color's already but no fabric and I needed the beads as well so I went ahead and ordered it all at once. I ordered it all from Everything Cross Stitch and it came back to bite me on the bottom. The didn't have the fabric or the beads and had to get them from suppliers so I won't get them till next month. So the sal will be over by then and we will be moving on to something else. Sigh, I guess this comes of not having a stash myself. I have a very small stash, but no where enough color's to do a whole project out of one of the many books that I have.
Oh well I guess I will work on UFO's this month too and see if I can get some of them done. I'm hoping too but we will see. I'm kinda depressed though so I think I will go back to bed for a time and see if I can't turn this day around with a short nap.
Hugs and Bb
Tracey

Exausted today.

I really don't think I got enough sleep, I'm so tired today. I worked out hard yesterday and I think that's set me down on my ear. I know I got to keep it up but its very hard to do when your this tired. I have been doing a bit if stitching and I got a new project and started it 3 nights ago because its hard to do Fredrick in the dark. My craft light died and I wanted to stitch but couldn't see the fabric because I had mediocer lighting and black fabric so I started curiosity. Its a lovely piece and all the color's are straight forward so no mixing and matching and (thank the gods) no metalic' I don't like metalic thread. Its so hard to work with.

I need to get some photo's up on Stitchers Heaven and on here but I haven't gotten off my sore butt and taken any lately. I guess I'm really slacking. I think I need a new audio book, if I had a new book then I could listen to it and do some major stitching and that would get me motivated to put pictures up. I just feel so blah today though and so tired. I may go back to bed here in a bit and get up later, sigh.

I got the colors and fabric for my fall piece for Stitchers Heaven. I'm going to stitch the Autumn Faerie, from Teresa Wentzler's 'Four Seasons Faeries.' She is lovely and as soon as I get off my butt and take some pictures I will get them up here. I think I'm going to stitch all four and hang them throughout the house. That would be lovely. I chose her for the Fall Season Sal in the group and I am rather excited to be stitching her. Usually I do kits because in a one bedroom apartment they are more convenient, but I couldn't find any kits that I really wanted to do. It should be fun anyway.

I was rather annoyed that I started a series of audio books by Nora Roberts called the Sign of Seven, and low and behold the third book comes out the end of November, sigh. They were really good with magic and demons' in them, very exciting and just enough steamy romance to keep me hooked. I don't usually go into the romance books but sometimes she has some really good ones. Her newest release called Tribute was actually very good and had quite a bit of mystery undertones for her so I was hooked on that one too. But I hate waiting for author's to release books, it makes it very hard to sit on ones hands and wait. I was the same with a lot of my fantasy authors' until I got swamped and then I never got caught up. I guess I will have to fix that.

The library here is awesome and it has an audio books section that you can access online. and download to your mp3 player so I have been having a blast. I started another series at the second to last book without realizing it. Now I have downloaded the book and am not sure I want to finish the series since I haven't read the first 4, sigh. I also downloaded a fantasy book that I have never heard of or the author before and am wanting to check them out. It sounded rather good but who knows.

I need to figure out how to put music on my blog like Jean does hehe, her site rocks. Oh well I guess I will play with it when I post next time. I'm having a hard time getting up enough energy for anything today. I think I may end here and go back to bed for a while and then I will see how I feel when I wake up again.

Thanks for the ear to pour my chatter into. Until next time.

Hugs and Brightest Blessings

Tracey

After a day out!

I meant to get some pictures posted yesterday but ofter my eye doctor's appointment I was very tired and ended up sleeping till about 7pm. So here is the new post for today and yesterday. I am now wearing contact lenses which are nice to have, but I had gotten so use to the frames that its hard to shift back. Also I am going to get a pair of glasses with the astigmatism correction in them so that I can see nice and clear when I drive. I also want them because I think it will make my stitching nice and clear.

Mom weighed in yesterday and she had only lost one pound this week. She was a tad disappointed because she usually looses real good the first week on a new program. Next week will be better though because she is going to walk on the treadmill she says. I wish I had a treadmill in my home, that would be nice. I don't like working out in public it makes me feel like everyone is watching me.

Mike and I are working on cleaning out the house and taking things we don't use to storage. It will give us more space to move and if we need something from storage we can just go get it, this apartment is so stuffed I can't move most of the time. Its depressing.

We are going to go rent some movies for the weekend that we have been wanting to see so that will be nice. Mike has one more day off and then he goes back to work so Saturday is gunna be spend organizing and taking breaks to watch a film or two lol.

Well here are the pictures that I promised to post yesterday so that you all may see them. I was working on it I swear LOL. I'm just so tired from hurting all the time that all I want to do day and night is sleep. I need to go to the doctor but can't bring myself to trust any of them around here. Maybe I will make some phone calls and see what I can find.

Its hard for me to stitch when mike is home, as he takes up a lot of my time and I a lot of his so I don't expect that I will get a lot done over the next few days but here is to hoping. I really love the colors in this though its a pain that there are so much color and I'm constantly switching colors around. Its coming a lot nicely though.

Well I best get up and moving because I have a few errands to run and it looks like its going to storm tonight. I will post more soon.

Hugs and Brightest Blessings

Tracey

Fun and suprizes!

My husband surprised me today with some roses today to cheer me up. I have been upset lately with the state of things in my life and he tries to cheer me up as much as he can. He is such a sweety pie. I know he can't be here a lot because he works and is taking 5 classes but he tries to make it up to me anyway he can. I asked him go outside and take pictures of my roses and my current WIP so that I can put them here. Aren't they lovely? The vase he bought me on our first valentine's day. It is a heart shaped crystal vase. I just love it. My kitty Bast decided that she liked it too and wanted to knock it over this morning. Dh got a tad upset and gave her a spanking. She has since left them alone, poor baby. She loves smells and loves to smell anything new in the house. She is so curious. I think I should of named her snoop hehe. She is one of the loveliest kitties I have ever seen. This is her in the top of my closet with my teddy bear that she has clamed for her own. She has very green eyes, almost the color of jade. I got her when she was 4 weeks old. My husband was going to go shopping and asked if I wanted anything and I told him to surprise me. it was a couple weeks before our anniversary and he brought me Bast and put her on my chest. She curled up and went right to sleep. Stole my heart in the first five minutes, and she has been trying our patience ever since :-).

Smoky Jo has been with me for 9 years the end of September. I got him when he was six weeks old. My fathers kitty snuck out and got pregnant and had 3 kitties, two of them were gray calico's most of their fur was gray though they had many markings like what Bast has. Then we got Jo, who was also gray but solid gray with a white bib, tummy and socks. His eyes just as green as Basts though. He is a big kitty which is kinda funny since he was the runt of the litter. When he was 8 weeks old he was the since of a 4 week old kitten. He sure is a cutey pie though hehe. I love my furbabies. While Dh is away most of the time the keep me company and make me smile. I spent most of the day yesterday cross stitching and I did make some progress on Fredrick which was nice. I plan on stitching some more today and maybe watching a movie or two while I am at it. Its been hard stitching on black fabric and I know that it takes some getting use to but my eyes aren't as good as they use to be. It really takes focus and patience for me. I am almost done with my 'Hang in there' Wip. It was a small kit that my husband bought for me and it was very easy to do since it was on sky blue fabric. It was very easy to see hehe and it was small so it went fast. I love doing kitties even though their fur can get annoying sometimes with all the color swapping that I have to do, but the are lovely when I am done with them. I posted a picture of Fredrick a couple of posts a go, or maybe it was last post, or rather what he will look like when I am done with him, but here is what he looks like now hehe. I am also going to put a picture of my "Hang in there" kitty. All I need to do is finish off the clouds and put the hang in there on there and he is done. I need to start framing these but I have no where to hang them as we are not allowed to put holes in the walls of our apartment to hang pictures or anything like that up. I dream of someday having a home of my own. Where I can do what I want and no one can get mad at me if I want to paint or put up pictures or even knockout a wall if I want to. Hmm, for some reason it won't let me put up more pictures, that is weird. Maybe my net is acting up. Oh well I will put them up on tomorrow's post.

Hugs and Bb

Tracey

Getting Started!

Day one on the new diet program is going well. Though I feel like I am starving some of the time. I am hungry right now and I just had lunch so I am going to go hunting for some more food to fill my tummy and still stick on my program. I am use to eating more, well I guess that is my issue isn't it.
As far as I can tell from my mothers blog she is doing well on the program too but her messages have been a tad short lately. I hope things are going well with her. I will have to get some more info on this tonight when I talk to her.
I am finally stitching again after the last few days off. I have been a tad preoccupied with Dh being home that its hard to stitch when he is here. I do love my time with him though since we are not going to get much in the future. He is working and going to school too so it keeps him rather busy. I plan on getting a lot done today though since Dh just got home and has gone to bed because he has to work tonight. I don't have any plans but to work on my UFO and to take my walk when it gets cooler and the sun isn't so bright.
I got an email from Martha today and she made my day. She wanted my snail mail address so she could send me some cat patterns that she knows she has in her stash. I am so excited about that. Other then my mom no one has ever given me any stitching stuff. My mom has given me all her stitching stuff when she quit stitching and started quilting. I still have a lot of it too but it is kinda frustrating when I have half the colors for a project and still need the other half lol. As soon as the loans are in I plan on getting some more floss so that I can do some of the charts. I want to graduate from kits to charts again, I have been doing a lot of kits lately because they are convenient and easy to work with when one doesn't have a craft room. I got my living room and that is about it.
Well back to my stitching world for a while.
Hugs and Brightest Blessings
Tracey

Fredrick the Literate!

Here is a picture of what I am working on right now. I am glad that I am not bound when it comes to working on my Sal, cause I have lost so much thread on the other projects from the move that I can't finish them till I order some new thread. I have to wait for a student loan to get the thread and knowing my luck the Sal would be over by the time I get them, sigh. Is nothing ever easy?

Anyway this one will be a lot of fun. I love kitty cross stitch, just as much as I love wolves stitches. I have had this one as a UFO for about 3 years now and it is about time I finish it. I am looking to learn some new techniques from the lovely ladies at Stitchers Heaven for working on cross stitch. From viewing their pictures it seems that the section their work and work in squares or work from the bottom up. My mother taught me to work from the middle out. That is how she has always done it and that is how I learned. I am thinking of reading all the stitching directions on my projects and maybe that will also give me some hints and techniques. I have some magazines that I am reading technique tips from the magazines that my mother gave me and see what I can find.

I have been in a lot of pain the last few days. My knee's and hips hurt real bad and my back is bugging me Not to mention my stomach. It hurts a lot, but I don't want to go to the doctor because I still don't have one and they will give me whatever doc is available at the clinic. I don't trust any of them. Mike has been real frustrated with me because I am in pain a lot but I refuse to go to the doc or the hospital. I don't want to deal with them right now. I wish I could find a natural pain killer that worked. That would be awesome. Well I guess that is enough for one day.

Hugs and Brightest Blessings

Tracey

Busy day.

I had an Eye appointment today that I had to put off last month because I wasn't feeling well. I wasn't feeling well today either, I woke up with my stomach hurting really bad, but I made myself go. I am so glad that I did. I learned some interesting things today. I learned that all the eye doctor's that I have seen in my past years have all been cracked.
The last one two years ago I think wanted something out of me, maybe he got a percentage for referrals or something. I was told by my eye doc that lasic isn't for me. He said that muscle surgery may be a good options since I have a hard time focusing with both eyes. I either use one or the other but not both at the same time. He said Muscle surgery may correct that, but if my eyes are going to gradually get worse then there is no point in lasic because I will be back in the same boat in 10 years. He also told me that I will not go blind eventually which is something that I have been told since I was 15. He gave me my options and I chose contacts this time because they were cheaper and I wanted them. Also he told me not to worry about them not being able to make contacts for my eyes because they go all the way up to a -20 now and I am about a -10 so that was good news.
It was a day of experiences and new information. My brain was as overwhelmed as my body and I came home and crashed out. I slept till 7pm and I layed down at about 3pm. I was tired.
After the eye doc Dh and I went to walmart to get some new sunglasses since I can't wear my old ones as they clip onto my glasses. I also got a new movie. I am Legend. with Will Smith. I have been wanting that one. It is really good. Mike got Hell boy. They were both pretty cheep and we had a bit extra from the money that my mother loaned me to get my eye exam done. I am glad that it is over and that I can relax now. I do have to go back and have my contact's checked next Thursday but that will be an in and out apt so I'm not worried about it.
I didn't get any stitching done today but no biggy. I have been searching for my husband's Christmas present though and I think I found a winner. It is a Samurai, very nicely done too. But I know he loves dragons so I may get him two. One for this year and one for his birthday hehe. Its so funny. I planned on getting one for him and one for me but I would rather make 2 for him. Love makes a person do funny things.
Hugs and Bb
Tracey

Interesting few days.

Well I have to say that I hate gravity. Especially when it hurts me. I fell 3 days ago. My computer chair decided to break right out from under me and dump me onto the floor. It hurt a lot and I have some rather nasty bruises on my back, hip, knee and left hand where the middle, first and ring fingers are bruised badly from the inside where I fell. It hurts to much to hold my hoop so I haven't been doing a lot of stitching right now. I did get quite a bit done on my kitten before I fell and it is coming along very nicely. I can't wait to finish it.

Mike and I had a great weekend. We spent a lot of time together, and even though I hurt so much from the fall we still found some fun things to do together. We went shopping and I got some new hair ties so I can braid my hair easier. I have been thinking about getting it cut off, but I do really like it long. When I was young my hair was down to my waist and I got a wild hair and cut it all off. I cried for a long time because my hair was gone and I have since never cut it short again. It is almost to my waist now but it does get to be a bit much to work with. So if I can braid it and have good ties(I also got some air clips). It will be easier to manage. I am hoping anyway.

I am excited about the new Stitch a Long from Stitchers Heaven. It is a UFO stitch. UFO=Unfinished Object. I have many. I am thinking though that I am going to have to order new threads for the stocking that I want to do first, because I am running out of a lot of the color's that came with the kit. I know I can order some more because it gives me the option on the website so that is nice. I am going to check my Santa ornaments and see if I can get another thread kit for them too if I need it. And my Cat's and Kittens piece is going to need the same. This one with the horse and Santa is for my husband, he wanted a stocking and chose this one. I would of loved to do a stocking for him with Dragon's on it but he loves horses too so this one is real good.

Well I guess that is enough for one post. I am going to try to stitch a bit now if my hand will be nice to me. I will write more soon.

Hugs and BB

Tracey

Fun Day of Stitching.

I have gotten only a little stitching done today. My stomach is hurting alot today but I don't want to go to the hospital again because they want to cut me open again. I have already had 2 surgeries in my life and I don't really want another one.

I had fun on the Internet today. I bought two new cross stitch kits. One is of two dolphins in the moonlight. I am going to do that one for my sister for Christmas. She has always loved dolphins. It is going to be lovely when I am done with it. It has been a while since I have made something for her and she has kinda been out of my life for the last two Christmas's or so. I miss her very much. I have a couple ideas for her kids for the holidays also. I got this cute bear pair. One is morning and one is night. They are very cute and will be easy to stitch. I believe I want these to be for my niece. She will be 3 next year. I'm not sure what I am going to do for the boys. Maybe make them Afghan's or teddy bears for their room. I will have to talk to my sister and see what they have and what they need. As for her new husband I don't even know what he likes seeing as I have never met the guy yet. He seems nice enough and is good to her and the kids but I'm not sure what he lies and dislikes.

This is the other kit that I bought today. This one is for me. I love the kitties, they are going to be so cute. I can't wait to work on it but it will have to wait till after Christmas to create. I realized that I only have about 4 months till Christmas and I need to get things rolling for my holiday gifts. Maybe in January I will start everyone's gifts so that I have plenty of time to get everyone's gifts done since it takes time and I have a large family now. I just got all the birthdays from my sister in law yesterday. Finally I have Michael's side of the family all written down so that maybe I an at least send them birthday cards. I have a good idea of what I am going to do for my mother and I am going to draw my father another picture this year for Christmas.

I love to draw too and lately I am feeling all of my creative blocks falling away which is very nice. I use to do crafts and write and draw all the time and since my miss carriage in April of last year I have been very depressed and creatively blocked. It was very hard compared to the other three miss carriages I have had since I was three months along this time before I lost the baby. The others I was right around 2-3 weeks, so I didn't know I was pregnant until I lost it. This one I knew for two months before I lost the baby. Its so disheartening that I have had 4 so far but the last one was the hardest.

Michael and I want to have children and we hope to after I get my health under control. I am working hard at it to I have been up and around a lot in the last few days. Cleaning and working around the house has been really nice. I am trying to be consistent and do something every few hours. Its been rough fighting threw the pain but I am determined.

I have an updated photo of my 'Hang in There.' Kitty. It is so cute now and I can see the whole kitty body. I can't wait to get the rest of it done. It is very cute and will make a nice addition to the ones that I have done already. I love kitties and cross stitching them is so much fun. I need to get some of the bigger hoops and frames. I don't know how much they will cost but Michael says that the loans are coming in real soon so I will be able to spend a tiny bit and see if I can get a cheep wooden one, when Walmart use to carry them they were pretty cheep, maybe $15.00 or there abouts. I guess we will just have to see. The ladies in Stitchers Heaven have posted a lot of lovely pictures in their albums' and I have seen some lovely looms and some of their techniques' are pretty neat. I am learning a lot.

Well I guess this is enough rambling for one post. I will see if I can post more tomorrow.

Tracey

Let the stitching begin.

I decided that I wanted to start a stitching blog to write and keep track of my fun stitching stuff along with other crafts that I make. It sounds like a really fun idea. I have just joined a great yahoo group called Stitchers Heaven and they have really been great to me. With life being crazy and things moving out of control it is nice to have so many wonderful people to talk to.

I am currently working on two projects but I do have several that I have not finished yet. I hope to go back to them and get them done sometime soon. I am working on Creative Accents. Hang in there. The one with the gray kitten hanging on a branch. I know there is also a brown striped kitten that I would love to get. This is as far as I have gotten so far. Cute little kitten feet. I am also working on a calender that I made up myself. The corner accents that I am putting on it are from D & C's Cross Stitch Fairies. They are really lovely. The idea of this work is to have a calender that I can change the dates on and keep track of birthdays, anniversaries and what not. I am currently working on how I will keep track of them and when I am done and got the months numbers on I will take a picture and post it here. I was thinking about finding a way to clip them on and we will see if that works.

It is going to be lovely when I get it done though. I am kinda taking a break from it and working on the kitten though because that one is so easy hehe and I love the colors'. Its going to be lovely when I am finally done with it.

I made some blankets for my family and what not for Christmas last year but I didn't have money to send them so when I start working on this years Christmas presents I will post last years and this years. I will have enough to send them this year because I have been saving for this year and they will get double presents. It should be fun. I have no idea what I am going to make everyone but I have been giving it a fair bit of thought lately. I only have a few months before the holidays are upon me.

The Stitchers Heaven group that I joined is so much fun. I am just having a blast here. There are a lot of competitions and stuff that are going on right now. Also there is a stitch a long that I didn't get to do this time because I know nothing about Black work. It is something that I am going to research and see if I can do one later on. There is also daily trivia that I play everyday and there is a daily project and a bingo game. This is my first bingo game and I have chosen my first set of words hehe. Valerie is our host for the bingo game this time and she gave us 40 words to choose from and we had to choose 20 out of the 40. It is going to be fun. I am still learning all the stuff I need to know for the Stitchers Heaven site and all the goodies that they have going on everyday of the month. I will write more as I learn more.

Well I guess that is enough for post #1. I am going to end here and to take a shower and get something to eat before I pick up my stitching again. I also have dishes and cleaning to do also. Not to mention a ton of laundry. I want to take my comforter to the laundry mat and get it all cleaned up before the winter months come in.

Have a great day and see ya round

Tracey