Saturday, February 18, 2012

My Newest Start


I finally dug out the cross-stitch kit I want to complete for my mother-in-law's christmas present this coming holiday season.  Holy Cow!  It's a 12 x 16 project, which is a little larger than I usually pick out.  I am feeling a little scared of the thing at the onset.  I looked at the chart and it's a solid 12 x 16.  That means that every bit of it has a stitch on it.  Not one single square of it is blank!  If I calculated it correctly, it's got 49,152 stitches to it.  I am already feeling pressure!  I figured it will take me approximately 6 months to complete.  I sat and stitched for a little less than an hour and this is where I got to...
Image
As you can tell, it's like a drop in the ocean!  Let's hope I can complete this before christmas!

Updates from a neglectful blogger!

Well, its been a month since my last post.  I have no excuse other than that life keeps getting in my way of pursuing what I enjoy.  Ah well, I suppose that is simply how it works.

I recently went to a seminar for a direct selling company that I am part of.  I have been feeling rather down on this sales approach - I don't like to be sold to and so I find that I have difficulty trying to sell to others.  However, I do love the product and I really do believe in what I'm selling.  I went to the seminar hoping to find a refreshed sense of enjoyment.  I attended last year and found that I was inspired, but this year all I kept thinking was "Wow!  This is all sounding so sales-y!"  I did arrive home with lots of goodies and information on a new addition to the product line that will debut in March.  So, I am still up in the air about selling.

I drove 85 miles to and from this seminar.  I brought along an audiobook to listen to while I drove to and fro.  The best thing is that I snapped a picture of my ride home.

It was such a pretty sunset.  I encountered a TON of rain (not a nice mist, but a full-on torrential rain) both on the way there and on the way home, but by the time I had driven almost home I got to enjoy this view.  I know, I shouldn't have grabbed my phone and snapped a picture while driving, but I didn't want to miss it!

On the stitching front, I've set aside my Hydrangea Wreath project.  I did 2 little projects in the past couple of weeks.  I started and finished this little one with my desk at work in mind.
However, while I was stitching this at lunch one day, a co-worker saw it and said "Oh, You have to stitch me one, too!"  So, I've decided that I'll frame this one and present it to her to post in her cubicle.

I also finished this one...
 And it's all mine!  I loved this one and it went so quickly.  I started it on SuperBowl Sunday (I have no interest in football, so I always do other things while my husband watches games) and I finished it about two weeks later.  I'm still looking for the perfect frame for it, but I'll post a finished picture when I find it.  I really liked the wavy frame surrounded the picture and my favorite thing to stitch was the little butterflies and bee "motions".  The back-stitching on these elements give it such a feeling of movement and I'd like to stitch more projects that include this element.

Valentine's day just past by, and while I received the prettiest bunch of flowers (I don't like the traditional roses), the best gift of flowers I received arrived at the beginning of February.  My husband arrived at my work with a small packet of flowers for me - just because.  It was such a nice moment!  I came home and put them in the vase I have.  The next morning I came into the kitchen to find my cat, Princess, sitting on the kitchen counter admiring them.
In my house, cats are NOT welcome to sit on the kitchen counters, let alone on my cutting board, but I had to take a picture to share.  These flowers were so pretty, smelled really nice and lasted until Valentine's day.  I was amazed at their staying power.  I've never had any flowers that lasted almost two weeks.

So that's what I've been up to in between working every day.  I find that I am dreaming of vacation.  We have a mini-vacaton planned for July, but I want to schedule another vacation before then.  I am torn between going to Seattle, to visit my husband's mom, and going somewhere a little more tropical.  I've never been to Hawaii and after a conversation with my husband's boss, I got a commitment from husband that he'd agree to get on a plane and go there.  I don't know if we could afford to go without digging into our savings account to finance it, but it's definitely on my mind!