2013 in 60 seconds

I'm still alive!

My friend Shawn came for a visit from Chicago, one of the things we did was go on a bike tour of Coronado Island.  Total blast, and a bit of a cheat since we had electric bikes (but I swear I barely used the battery).

I got serious about losing weight and participated in a medical study through the VA.  Part of it involved having genetic testing done to link my genes to an "ideal" diet.  I can officially say I have the fat gene.  Despite what a lot of people would like, its actually fairly rare.  By the way, my ideal diet is low carb (30% fat, 30% protein, 40% carb).  Lean meat, veggies and Greek yogurt are my friends now.  Oh, and I'm down 25 pounds (it was almost 30 before the holiday season struck).

I went to my first ever pro football game, 2 actually (pre-season) and had a blast.

Managed to hook up with my college roommate that lives less than a mile from the house.  How's that for coincidence?  We've been having fun and I get to spoil her kids like an Auntie.

She hosted a Halloween party and I sort of dressed up.

I took up a new sport/hobby - paddle boarding!  Totally love it.  Even better I love the San Diego weather that allows me to go paddle boarding on Boxing Day (December 26 for the non-Anglophiles).

There was a single stitching exchange with Parsley.  She sent me a gorgeous gold box and tons of extra goodies.  She knows I love to cook, so included some cookbooks.

I chose to stitch a covered shadow box, borrowing design inspiration from Blackbird Designs, and using pattern elements from Blue Ribbon Designs.

I had some other stitching finishes as well

The last two are part of a larger project - a collage.  I borrowed inspiration from Gigi's large sheets she stitches.  I was getting tired of having a bunch of small pieces.  You can only  have so many pillows and framing gets expensive, not to mention running out of wall space.

Christmas snuck up faster than usual, and then was gone in a blink of an eye.  Jim, Mary Lou and the goldens came out as usual.  Buddy (on the left) is their newest rescue, and he's a mix, there's definitely some hound in him.  Holly (on the right) is a playful as usual, despite getting up there in years.

I found out Annie is a total ham when it comes to taking pictures.  I was trying to get the settings right on my DSLR and she had fun posing for me. No, the settings weren't correct for this shot, its over exposed!

Mom even got me to eat turkey this year.  I enjoyed the duck I cooked for Christmas Eve much better, but never got a snap of it.

And probably the highlight of the season for me was getting my picture taken with Santa.  I was bundled up in a ton of layers, we were at a members-only event on the Midway to watch the Parade of Lights (various boats decorated for the holiday cruise the bay in an aquatic parade).

Uncle Greg and his daughter Delaney came down for a visit after Christmas.  Delaney is severely handicapped and has the most wonderful companion dog, Breona.  Unfortunately she's getting up there in years.

Hoping everyone has a joyful and blessed 2014!

Winter Exchange

I participated in the Winter exchange over on Stitched with Love.

Lynda very obviously read and paid attention to my"likes."  The package was filled with gorgeous red things, and she stitched me a Blackbird Designs pin pillow in my favorite color.  I absolutely love the combination of red with the grey fabric, and the silvery grey ribbon trim.

Gorgeous pillow, so elegant with the colors an finishing touches

Look at all that red stash!

Just what the wooden pedestal bowl needed,
some red to break up all the pink.

Living in southern California can make it a bit hard to get into the "winter" spirit.  To make things even more difficult, I was mailing out to another Californian - Teresa.  Instead of going with an obvious winter theme, I chose to stitch with icy colors - overdyed Caron Waterlilies silk in Polar Ice and frosted beads that reminded me of icicles.  The design was one of Jeannette Douglas's Quaker Pincushions, which I finished as a box topper.

Box with matching fob

Navy blue paint and a coat of liming wax.  No, this isn't that disgusting 80's pickled oak look.  Hard to tell in the picture due to glare, but it turned out gorgeous and was hard to part with.

You can just barely see the magnetic needle minder I made to match the scissor fob and box.

Last finishes of 2012

Dad's birthday was on Dec 20.  Since I'm still unemployed, gifts this year were primarily handmade.  I took a $6 box from Hobby Lobby and transformed it with some paint, sandpaper, wax and fabric into something special for Dad.  From the first time I saw this Shakespeare's Peddler chart, I knew I wanted to stitch it for him.  I couldn't afford the gorgeous pencil box it was designed for, so I adapted the chart to fit on top of this larger box.  I thought it was perfect for his Navy heritage.  Another case of me adding alphabets to charts.

That mess in the background of the photo is Dad's desk, and I was happy to see he's already using the box.  I lined it with some padding and fabric.  He's always throwing his watches face down, and scratching up the crystal.  The watch you're seeing  is a very fancy Citizen watch they picked up on the last cruise and was his Christmas present.  We really don't want it getting scratched up.

Mom's Christmas present was an embellished wool applique piece, which isn't quite finished.  I still need to trim it and blanket stitch the backing on.  It was hard to find time to work on it without her seeing what I was doing.  My embellishments lean heavily toward beads, since I have so many of them, and they're easy.  I did do some bullion stitches (around the holly leaves on the right) and some challenged myself with learning drizzle stitches (the centers of the poinsettias).  Drizzle stitches are fun and easy, I'll be doing more of them.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I was using my phone and a new to me app called PicsArt.  I figured some pictures and a post are better than nothing, and I really didn't feel like taking the time to use the big camera or messing around for hours on the phone trying to edit and correct the pics like I normally would.  I haven't come down with the crud as bad as Mom and Dad did, but I'm still not feeling great.

The final exchange I did in 2012 was a Christmas exchange with Stitched With Love Exchanges.  I received the most adorable Rudolph ornament from Debbie, along with lots of other goodies.  She packed everything in a decorated plastic jar.  It was a great idea for protecting everything in transit, and was used to store Chex mix nibbles during the holiday season.

I chose to stitch 2 Santa ornaments for Melissa, finishing them with beaded edges and hangers, as well as stitching a decorative border for their backs.  The Santas were freebies from Gazette 94.  I'd really like to stitch them again for myself, doing the whole series, and maybe passing on the beaded edging.

One of the extras I sent was a chocolate advent calendar.  I have some very fond memories of these from when I lived in Germany as a young child.  Pretty crappy chocolate in them, but I still loved opening up the little squares each evening to get my treat.

I had mentioned in my last post I needed to find the picture I took of Delaney.  Just like I thought, it was on Mom's fancy new smartphone.  Delaney is 15, and has had a tough life.  Don't ask me what she's officially diagnosed as having, I just know she's my special cousin, suffering from both physical and mental disabilities. Its very frustrating for her trying to communicate.  She understands more than what people give her credit for, but she can't talk.  She definitely remembers Mom from the last time they were together, and greeted her with lots of hugs.  It took a few hours for her to warm up to me, but I got my fair share of hugs too.

While watching the Rose Parade this morning, I worked on some Ann Smith flowers.  I really felt the urge to start something new last night, for New Year's, but held off, instead just moving to a new section of Miss Ann.  Here's just a small snap of the top border flowers.

I'm still loving her vibrant colors.  I actually stitched that blue flower twice.  The first time was with some duller blues (I had originally adjusted some of the colors).  I decided to rip it out and go back to the brighter turquoise blue originally called for.  Its definitely mellower stitched and surrounded with the other blues than in the full skein.

Catching up on exchanges

I've done several exchanges the last few months, and have been absolutely rotten about posting pictures.  Please don't think my brevity of words means I'm not impressed or love everything I received, I'm just sneaking in this post between quarters of my Supply Chain simulation.

Animal Antics exchange, received from June.  She did a fantastic job stitching me some cute squirrels.

I sent some Plum Street hares to Lisa V.  Other goodies were sent as well.

For the Stitched With Love Halloween exchanged, I received a totally amazing witch's hat ornament from Sarah.  The linen she sent me was just perfect for some Christmas stitching and mom nabbed a piece of the quilting fabric right away for one of the projects she was working on.

I sent out 2 ornaments to April.

Terri (Dixie Sampler) also hosted a Haunted Halloween exchange, and I received an adorable L*K pin pillow and a fantastic tin topper from Parsley.  She finished the inside with some magnetic tape, so needles stick to the lid. Its also the perfect size to put the adorable scissors she sent me, covered with bats.

I chose to stitch a Notforgotten Farms piece for Jonette (no blog).

There was also a Christmas exchange hosted by Stitched with Love, but I'm not quite sure what the status of it is.  The blog over there is shut down but I haven't received word about being allowed to post pictures yet. No clue if my package arrived.  I had fun wrapping, so I'll leave you with a pic of wrapped items.  That's not giving anything away.

Yes, the cutting table also serves as the wrapping station up in the craft room (also known as the bonus room and the room where I have my computer set up).

Super Ninja-Quick post

September has been a crazy month for me, and its not over yet.  It started out with a trip up to the LA area, to meet up with a group of Southern California stitchers.  It was my first time meeting them, and it was a very enjoyable day of stitching and chatting.

I combined that trip with a short RV-camping trip with my parents.  They were on their way up to Oregon for my dad's 50th high school reunion, but they started out by staying for a few nights at Seal Beach.  While we were there, we visited the Getty Center, the Getty Villa in Malibu, the Queen Mary, and the Aquarium of the Pacific.  I then got to drive back down to San Diego where Princess Annie and I got the house too ourselves for a few days.

A friend came out from Chicago to stay for a long weekend and of course I jam-packed the time with fun things to do.  A tour of the Midway, a wine-tasting walking tour in Temecula, an evening of dining at the La Mesa food truck gathering, and of course a trip to the zoo.

Another few days alone, then the parents get back from their trip and I immediately leave for a drive up to Ogden and Park City, UT.  Yep, the Shepherd's Bush Retreat.  I've been looking forward to this for ages, and had budgeted my pennies for it.

Anyway, I'm slowly getting the hundreds of pictures I've taken the last few weeks organized, and needed to post about an exchange I participated in earlier this summer.  It was my first exchange with Stitched With Love Exchanges, and I really enjoyed it.

I received a lovely pillow from Loretta, who obviously paid very close attention to my profile sent out with the exchange information.  She stitched my a Blackbird Designs pattern (one of my favorite designers) in red (my favorite color).  Lots of other goodies were included, and I can't wait to try the Carrie's Creation's silk she put in the package.

I stitched Summer Splendor by LHN for Cherise, since that was one of her favorite designers, but I brightened up the colors a bit since one of her dislikes was "dull" colors.  I finished it into a small stitchers tray, and also included a coordinating crushed walnut pin cushion and fob, using motifs from the design.

LHN Summer Splendor, stitched on 36 ct linen with assorted overdyed floss;
 finished as a stitchers tray with coordinating accessories

Hopefully soon I'll get some pictures posted from the various outings, or at least uploaded to a public album.  The jaguar babies at the zoo are so adorable, and one of them was being very adventurous while we were there.

Somewhere in all this madness I've been doing stitching for an Animal Antics exchange, 2 Halloween exchanges, and working on the 3 packages for my blogoversary winners.  Oh, and of course school too.  I'll probably spend all of October posting pics and catching up from what I did in September.

Delinquent Easter Swap

As I'm sure just about everyone out in stitching blogland already knows, Terri over at Dixie Samplar host an Easter/Spring exchange.  Poor Bea, first she and I both had to worry about her package, lost in the international mail system, then when it arrived, I was caught up in dealing with "stuff" so never got a chance to get pictures posted.  It actually arrived on Monday, the day after Easter, and was great timing to give me a smile that afternoon.  I really needed it.

Bea totally went over the top with what she sent me.  The box was filled with all sorts of surprises, and it seemed like I'd open one thing, just to see more surprises inside that one.

There's a fabulous stitcher's box, with the cutest Ewe, Eye and Friends design stitched and mounted on the top.  All of the finishing details are immaculate, with very sweet details, featuring my favorite color - red.  Matching the box is an absolutely adorable wooden thread keep personalized with my name, and some some skeins of Nina's hand-dyed threads!  I've seen these around the internet, but have never had a chance to try them.

But wait, we're not done yet!  Bea also included not 1, but 2 of the most adorable handmade wallets.  One is a stitchers wallet with scissors and marking pins inside and the other is a cute little notebook, with pockets to store special little things.  Both of these are amazing, sewn with beautiful fabrics, leather, and some unique buttons used as closures.

Bea didn't stop there.  She also sent some really adorable wooden charms, with hand-carved/burned details on them.  She also sent me a true treasure trove of vintage mother of pearl buttons, from the 1930's.  Those are definitely getting saved for something very special.  They just don't make buttons like that anymore.  These are so silky smooth and cool to the touch, with some great heft, and just enough aged patina on them to make them gorgeous.  Bea respected my dieting wishes and kept the sweets to a minimum, only sending some absolutely delicious chocolate.

This exchange was very special to me, not only because I got the chance to meet 2 new stitchers, but the timing of receiving my package, and also it challenged me to try a new finish.  I stitched a Blackbird Designs project for Kathy (no blog), and used the same finishing technique suggested.

BBD Birds and Berries, stitched on 40 ct lined
with overdyed floss.

The design itself isn't very Easter-y, and sort of more a summer theme than spring, but Kathy said Blackbird Designs was one of her favored designers, so I went with it.  The finishing was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, and something I'll probably do again.  It would be so easy to adapt the tri-fold design of this to a simple fold in half thing.

Since I didn't stitch an Easter design, I made up for it by including LOTS of Easter goodies.  Some of them were old favorites I always associate with the holiday (Cadbury Creme Eggs) but most was just me having fun in Trader Joe's.  So easy to go overboard in that store!  I also included a few stitching related goodies, and some travel size Burt's Bees products.

While we're on the topic of stitching for other people and Trader Joe's, I'll mention the small RAK I sent to Becky.  This is so out of date, since she posted about it right away, but this blog is also sort of a personal journal for myself.  Months ago she'd mentioned she and her family enjoy pepper jelly with cream cheese and crackers, and I had some homemade pepper jelly I wanted to send her.  I use it as a condiment on grilled meats.  Of course I had no idea where it was hidden away, so while I was trying to find it, I stitched up something small to into the package.  Remember this?  It was the BBD I stitched in 2 different colorways.

Of course since it was also so close to Easter, Becky got some Trader Joe's goodies as well.  I figure you can't ever go wrong with chocolate and candy.

Okay, I'm off to figure out what's for dinner, figure out what's making Annie act like a crazy dog, and hopefully finish my paper on corporate code of ethics and get it submitted.  Thank you everyone for all your kind words and thoughts, and putting up with me and my lack of blogging and commenting!