Hello Feb!

February is finally here! One of my favourite months. My Red Month! 

I know I have been off-line for quite awhile. I had these post-holiday blues. Never thought it actually existed but I have experienced it and it was awful. With that said, hubby and I decided to plan something different for 2012 end of the year holidays... hoping the blues won't visit me again.

I'm sorry for these late pictures of my recently concluded 2012 Cross Stitch Challenge. Here they are:

Day 9: Alphabet Heart Sampler. This is a freebie design from Better Homes and Gardens. Just click the link and you can get the sampler pattern. The group members were encouraged to include this sampler on our 15. I love it so I included it as well. 

Day 10: Coffee and Cuddles designed by Margaret Sherry. I find her designs cute and charming. I'm stitching this as a Christmas present for a family member. 

Day 11: First Snow designed by Pollyanna Pickering. This is a UFO (UnFinished Object). I have blogged about this last year. This is for a friend as a birthday present. 

Day 12: Butterfly Scroll. A kit from Dimensions. This is the first cross stitch kit I have received from Mr. D. Another UFO.

Day 13: Bound by Love designed by Paula Vaughan. I also adore her "emotional designs". I'm doing this for my Mama. 

 

Day 14: Damask Roses designed by Nora Corbett for Mirabilia Designs. This is the very first MD so I opted to make this as my very first Mira work. Nora just like her mother is a brilliant designer. Currently, I'm aiming to complete her 118 MDs. I still need few months to complete the collection. 

Day 15: The Quilting designed by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. Another Christmas present for a family member. That's it! I have started and re-started 15 projects for 2012. And I did it "by-rules". Guilt-free! 

The other challenge is to finish all these 15 works this year. Guess what?! It's already February and I haven't finished even one yet. Geez!

I wanted to show you the finished order #1 I stitched for my current client. 

Yay! I know the name is quite long and it actually took me weeks to finish it. Now I'm working on order #2. 

Another finished piece I would love to share to you dear readers is my very FIRST World Wide Round Robin finished piece. 

This 50x50 evenweave piece was started November 1, 2011 and came back Home in January 27, 2012. Yes, it was a quick challenge. I really love my finished piece. I plan to frame it myself and hang it in our masters' bathroom.

Sorry for the flood of  photos. Start this Love month with some smooch... :-) 

New Beginnings!

Officially, Christmas season has ended yesterday. Thank you Lord for all the blessings especially the gift of Love, Patience, Faith and Hope. 

Time for New Beginnings for all of us... not only from within but also physically and mentally. I remember my Mom and maternal grandmother would diligently clean the whole house (inside and out) and if we can afford it they will change old stuffs to new ones especially the ones from the kitchen or dining room. I was taught that new beginnings should start with cleanliness around you. And I'm glad I learned that from two important women and mentors of my womanhood. I believe on cleanliness not only from within you but also AROUND you. 

After the clean-up, I wanted to make some new beginnings on my crafts as well. How can I do such a thing? I still have 3 UFOs (unfinished objects) in my box. Well, I have a confession... I joined a Crazy Challenge 2012 on Facebook. We are a stitching group of crazy or obsessed cross stitchers/ needleworkers aiming to finish 15 projects on 2012. But one of the rules is to start 1 project at a time for 15 consecutive days. It means you will be starting 15 new projects for 15 days. Then on the 16th day onwards you are on your own to finish them. (I know it's INSANITY!) That's why it's called a challenge anyway. The good part is I'll be starting only 12 projects because I can include my 3 UFOs which I did. 

I wanted to show you my progress on these Part I of my new beginnings.

Day 1: Butterfly Fairy, a Joan Elliott design. You know I love butterflies... she is perfect as my first big project of JE.  

Day 2: Butterfly Fairies, a Lesley Teare design (another of my favourite fantasy designer). This will be a Christmas present for 2012. 

Day 3: Flower Fairies All Seasons, a Mary Cicely Barker design (who will forget a great earlier designer like her?).

 

Day 4: Fairy, a DMC design. You know her... I feel bad not having time on finishing her. 

Day 5: 99, an Ink Circles design. I need to finish this first because it will be Mr. D's birthday present. I know he will love this. 

Day 6: Angel of Cross Stitch, another Joan Elliott design (isn't it obvious I love her designs?).

Day 7: Angel of Spring, a Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum design (I consider her my best designer of all time). Why? Not only are her earlier designs beautiful but they are all unique, impeccably perfect, intricately made, and a challenge for us stitchers.  

Day 8: Futurecast, a Teresa Wentzler design. This will be the smallest project but the most challenging  because of the blending filaments and threads, specialty threads, and lots of beads. Good luck to me! 

Watch out for my remaining progress on these challenge. I am actually doing pretty good. *a pat on the back. 

Part 2 of my new beginnings...

I learned from other stitchers about "ort" jars. It is a jar where you fill it up with unusable threads or left-overs. When it's filled-up you can use it as an accessory for ornaments or you can leave it for the birds to build their nests. Wouldn't it be so cool and awesome to find colourful nests on your trees? I so love the ideas of having ort jars so I started filling up one. 

Part 3 of my new beginnings...

You see a familiar design. I started my year with new made to orders from my Etsy shop. I'll be making three customized pillows for a nice lady. Already paid in full so I started order #1 last night. *doing the happy dance

More new beginnings coming up.... Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all prosperity and happiness. Embrace new life, new beginnings.