Heart Stopping Moment!!!

I just logged into Blogger to catch up on all my reading and had a huge scare...my reading list was empty and said that I don't have any blogs that I follow! Yikes. Thank goodness that they were all there when I signed out and then back in.

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, is there a way to prevent this?

Thanks!

Halloween & Back Patting

Finally...I have some stitching to post about! This is Happy Halloween by La-D-Da from the 2009 JCS Halloween issue:

Here are all my finishing materials. Isn't the backing fabric just adorable! I love it. I'm going to edge it with ric rac and fill with crushed glass and it'll be one long pin cushion!

Below is where the back patting comes in! Right now my "stitching room" is masquerading as a guest room until such time as I completely turn it into my stitching room (lucky for me, we have another guest room!) for good. I always had a bunch of projects spread out over the bed. It was a pain finding anything and a pain when someone comes to stay. I thought there had to be a better way.

So Monday I went to the dollar store and I found these white baskets, which happen to fit a JCS magazine just perfectly I might add. I only got 3 because that's all they had in white. I hope they get more because so far it's working out perfectly for me. I hate disorder and hated the wasted time trying to find what I was working on, my scissors, etc. I have my Christmas by the Letter in one, my Harvest exchange piece in the middle and my Halloween exchange materials in the third.

Now I just need to figure out how to organize my DMC floss and I'll be a happy camper! I hate the bobbins, tried the Stitch Bow. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them! I don't have tons of every colour, maybe 2 skeins for the odd one so I don't need something that hold gobbs of the stuff. Does anyone out there use Floss-A-Way Bags?

Happy Stitching!

Cream Puffs and Stash

I haven't posted in over a week because I haven't stitched in about as long. My mom came to visit and we were too busy running around lunching and shopping! Now I'm ready to get back at it.

Today I took treats in to my son's class for his birthday, even though it was in August. I guess this will be the last time since next year he's off to High School which is Grade 8 here in BC. *sniff* What did I take in you ask??? Was it the ever crowd pleasing Confetti cupcakes out of a box with buttery sugary icing? Nooooo...it had to be cream puffs...filled with whipped cream...dipped in chocolate! Homemade of course. Good taste for a twelve year old. Here is a picture of the result:

As for the stash part of this post yesterday I bought an Epattern from the Sampler Girl called The Stitching Janeite's Pattern Book No. 1. I've been on a Jane Austen movie watching marathon lately so when I saw the charts I was hooked. I'm going to do Netherfield Park first I think.

Today I headed over to my LNS (such as it is) and was able to get some stash for upcoming projects. They don't carry a lot of the current threads and fabbies there but I was able to improvise pretty well and here is what I bought:

I also picked up a few skeins of thread just because I liked them. One of the cutest was WDW Trick or Treat thread from their Holiday collection. As soon as I saw it in there window I ran over and grabbed two. I don't even know what I'm going to use it for, I just had to have it.

Is that not just the perfect Halloween colour ever!?! Love it!

I've made a lot of headway on Christmas by the Letter and will post a pic this week. I've also almost finish an exchange piece for Stitching Exchanging in a Harvest theme. It's turning out really cute.

I have more stash coming in the mail this week, woo hoo, and hopefully I'll have some progress on something to show soon.

Happy Stitching!

Ta-Da

Here is my finish for my Challenge with Sandra Sews:). I made the September 7th deadline...barely! (Sorry for the horrible pic!)

I had the stitching done for this ornament and finished it too! This one is just gravy! Woo hoo.

I'll update my post tomorrow when I have more time. I'm trying to get my kids ready for bed. First day of school tomorrow!

Stitching and Pizza

Things are going along great for my challenge with Sandra Sews:). I'm almost done the stitching after two lovely evenings in my stitching room with Jane Austen movies playing in the background.

I chose "Christmas Tree" by Country Cottage Needleworks. It's part 3 of her Winter Wonderland Thread Pack series. I love the Crescent Colours silks included. They just glide through the linen. Tomorrow, if all goes well today and I finish the stitching, I'm going to pull out the sewing machine and do the finishing.


As for the pizza part of this post, today was my first foray into bread dough making without the breadmaker. I made pizza bread, a recipe I found on a wonderful blog I found called Cooking During Stolen Moments.

I recently started doing a weekly meal plan and grocery shopping once a week. Since two of the things I hate most in the world are figuring out what to make for dinner and grocery shopping (I should say loathe!) I figured meal planning was the way to go! After two weeks I have to say it's been quite liberating. All I have to do in the morning is check my plan and I'm good to go. I highly recommend it!

Here are the results of my bread baking (dough after rising for an hour):


I'm glad the dough turned out so well as my Jenn-Aire mixer started smoking as a result of it. I think that's a bad thing *GRIN*. Luckily my hubby, being in the appliance industry, has a contact at Kitchen Aid so he's going to get me a new mixer...I should have made dough a long time ago...

Here it is with all the fillings before being rolled up like a jelly roll:


And here is the delicious (if i do say so myself) final result:


My son was official taste tester and declared it "a keeper!"

Ornament Challenge!

While emailing back and forth about getting ornaments done for Christmas with Sandra:) of Sandra Sews :) she mentioned starting an ornament today (in between emails!!!) So I proposed a challenge for the both of us...finish one ornament by Sept 7th. Wish us luck!

Happy Stitching!