Giveaway Winner

The winner of my Grow Your Blog giveaway is ...................................

Denise Bryant!

Denise - I will send you an email for your mailing address.

Here is what Denise will be receiving.

As it is February, I thought a Valentine's Day theme would be appropriate. It is a tin box that I topped with a piece I stitched. Inside is a pair of heart scissors, ribbon with hearts, a packet of Happy Hands lotion, and a turned needle holder. The needle holder is unique as my husband turned the piece. I hope Denise enjoys her treats.

Thank you to everyone who posted a comment and once again, welcome to all my new followers.

January WIPocalypse

The new year has started and it's time for the first posting for the 2013 WIPocalypse. I have a separate page showing the pieces I'm going to work on this year. Quite a few carry overs from last year, but you'll see that I do not work on a lot of small things. I have a lot of BAPS. So, here is what I worked on this month. I pulled out TW's Peacock Tapestry and worked on it.

Before

After

I also have a new start. My previous post shows my beginning. Here is where I stopped yesterday.

I'm going to try to focus on this for the next few weeks. There are some new stitches in this that I haven't done before. I'm looking forward to learning these stitches. I'm using Janice Love's books for reference. If you want to do hardanger I recommend these books.

All in all a pretty productive month. I hope I can keep the momentum up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jan

It Got Cold

We went from 50 F on Saturday to 23 F today. That's just no right. We might finally get snow on Friday, but I'm not holding my breath. The forecasters missed it last time. Told us we were getting 4 inches and we got nothing.

Next, let me say a great big ole Virginia welcome to all my new followers. I hope I reciprocated with everyone, but if I missed someone, please forgive me. The Grow Your Blog really worked and I'm still going through sites.

I worked on my hardanger this weekend and I have the first row of kloster blocks done the whole way around. I'm going to start on the inner row next. You know you're doing your stitching right when after you take the pictures and you're looking at them when you say to yourself "hey, that's the backside". I had to take a whole new set of pictures. Here are the piccies.

Finally, here is my best buddy. He strikes quite a pose doesn't he.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jan

Welcome!

 

Welcome to all the new blog readers coming for the Grow You Blog Party. Thanks to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for organizing it. I hope some of you will become new followers. I invite you to read through past posts to see samples of my stitching.

Also, I’m going to host a giveaway. Just leave a comment on this post and on February 1^st I will post the winner.

And on to the stitching! I’ve had a hankerin’ for hardanger. You know the feeling, right? It starts pulling at you. So at the Wednesday night Stitch Night at In Stitches I purchased 28 ct. Cashel cream linen and the 8 and 12 perle cottons to do one of the mats from the 2010 Award-Winning Designs. I got a good start that night and just a little more done last night. It's a little hard to see the cream on cream color.

As my regular readers know, I just took up knitting in October. Well, between the knitting, cross stitch, and the cold, my hands have become rough and has been snagging my floss. I’ve tried all sorts of different lotions. I googled (this will soon be a real word in the dictionary. Just like Xerox) knitter’s lotion and came upon an Etsy store – HappyHands. I ordered a small hand cream to try out. I love it! It has a wonderful fragrance and my hands feel very silky. I’m going to order some other fragrances to try out. Maggie also includes a free sample with every order. Good customer service.

So, put up your feet and have fun perusing the ole blog.

Time to Grow

I just heard about this. What a great idea. Vicki at 2 Bags Full is hosting this. She is accepting sign ups until January 15th. I've decided to host a giveaway to commemorate this. To be included you must come visit my blog on January 19th and leave a comment on that post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jan

January 2013 TUSAL

Time for a fresh start to the TUSAL for 2013. I've decided to use a different bowl this year. So, here is my offering.

The orts are mostly from Around the World in 80 Days and Blessed Be.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jan

Good stitching start for 2013

 

 

I finished stitching LHN's Around the World in 80 Days last night. This is such a cute little pattern to stitch. Right after I finished it, I started on my entry for the Halloween Ornament SAL. I finished it this morning.

This is a freebie from Plum Pudding Needleart. There is actually a large potted flower to the side that I left out because it was going to be too big for an ornament.

Stitching isn't the only place I've been productive this weekend. My DH really likes beef jerky, but it has gotten so expensive. One 3.4 oz bag cost $7.00. That is outrageous. So, we bought a roast and made our own using the oven. DH slice it into thin slices and I mixed the marinade. We stuck it in the fridge overnight. In the morning we put them on skewers and hung them from the top rack of the oven. Put it on the lowest setting and waiting several hours, then, voila, we had jerky.

My other kitchen adventure was homemade turkey sausage. DH bought me a Kitchenaid stand mixer a few years ago. I've been getting attachments little by little. Today I used them and this is what I ended up with.

So all in all, a very productive weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jan