Cassie and Kelly

It is difficult for me to get pictures of our critters when they are awake.  But once in a while, they are obliging.

This is Kelly, our sweet 10-year old Black Lab/Chow Chow mix.  We are so curious about her parents.  Labs are sweet dogs, very obedient, smart, and friendly.  Chows, on the other hand, are aggressive, mean, and rather stupid.  We have been told several times while at the vet clinic that they dread seeing a Chow come through the door!  Kelly inherited the sweetness and gentleness of a Lab, but the stupidity of a Chow.  Obedience is optional in her mind.  And if you have a treat, she'll go through all her tricks, probably hoping that one of them will be the one you asked her to do!  Poor Kelly has severe allergies, and spends a lot of time on Prednisone every summer when they become so bad that all she can do is lick her paws and other body parts.  We have to watch her carefully year round for skin and ear infections. 

Cassie has been venturing down to the first floor of the house a lot more since our other kitty died.  She still will not stand up to the dog, but if Kelly chases her out of a room, Cassie will now come back to where we are.  She still loves to be wherever I am.

Out in the Garden

This cute piece is from the Summer 2010 booklet by The Sampler Girl.  I stitched it using DMC thread on a piece of 11 count Aida fabric.  (The pattern called for 9 count!)  I think it would make a cute pillow, backed with a flowery fabric. 

Herb Garden

Another completed UFO.  This one took a long time because of the constant color changes.

The Herb Garden

Shepherd's Bush

I stitched this one on my favorite Antique White 28 count Monaco evenweave, using DMC threads.  Unfortunately, I didn't cut the fabric very large, and I only have a 1-1/4" border all the way around, so I am not sure how I will finish this. 

I have the chart for another similar piece called The Arbour.  I think it will be a while before I tackle that one since it will probably be just as tedious for me!

Summer Iris

Here is another one of those UFOs that I can now cross off my list.

This one is Summer Iris by Blackbird Designs.  I stitched it on 28 count Antique White Monaco evenweave using Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts threads.  I did change the date to 2012, but I left the "A" since I couldn't figure out how to stitch my own initial (laziness?).

The "Crowsline"

Some of the cross stitchers in blogland have set stitching goals for the two weeks of the Olympics.  I, on the other hand, am not doing too much stitching these days (and the small amount I am doing goes very slowly) because I am trying to heal my shoulder.  I  got a cortisone injection back at the beginning of June and did have some reduction in pain, but then I hurt my back and spent about six hours one day sitting on the couch with an ice pack on my back and passing the time by stitching.  That undid all the good of the injection.  When I returned to the doctor on July 17, she said it is still possible the cortisone will do some good, and to try not to raise my arm too high.  She still thinks it's just tendinitis.  I have discovered that some things aggravate it, including stitching and using the computer mouse.  So back o the Olympics.  Despite the fact that using the mouse bothers me, my goal is to blog about all the pictures I have taken and edited.

This is The "Crowsline" by Cedar Hill.  I have no idea how many years ago I started this project, but at that time, I found stitching on the linen fabric too frustrating, and set it aside.  I finally decided it was time to finish up some UFOs.  Once I started working on it again, it took only a few evenings to complete it.  Unfortunately, I don't have any information about the fabric, but I can say that I used the recommended DMC threads.  I still have to figure out how to complete it - a pillow, perhaps.

Wedding Card

This is the card I made for the lovely couple I mentioned in my last post.

I thought you might be interested in the process I used to create this card.

To begin, I reviewed the cards I pinned to my Pinterest board, and chose the first one on this page as my inspiration.   Next, I started pulling out embossing folders, Spellbinders dies, rubber stamps, ribbon and lace, bling, and an ink pad - anything I thought I might use.

Did you notice the most important element for making this card?  Yup - M & Ms, peanut variety!

I had only eight different embossing folders that were approximately 2" x 2": Cuttlebug's Fancy Corners and Formal Squares.  In the picture below, you can see how I taped four folders at a time onto the B plate for my Cuttlebug before running it through the machine. 

Next, I created the center medallion.  The stamp I chose was one long line, so using my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I was able to split it into two and properly position it on the center of a Spelbinders Fancy Tags Two.  (The ink is Cranberry ColorBox.)  I put the tag on top of an element from Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags and Accents.

 After I embossed all my pieces, I needed to figure out how to position them on the card.

I played around with them quite a bit before I was satisfied and felt the design was balanced.  I'm strange like that - I have to have some things "just right", especially my cards.  The other challenge I had with this card was getting eight pieces secured to the card front with an equal amount of space between them.  There was a lot of measuring involved!  In the picture below, you can see that I started by taping down the four corner pieces.

From there, it was a simple matter of putting the other pieces on.  Before I used pop dots to attach the center medallion, I had to choose which ribbon or lace to use; I ended up choosing a beautiful tone on tone white ribbon.  It went around the card front, and was secured to the back using my tape runner. 

You can see how difficult it was to position enough pop dots on the back of the medallion.  I ended up cutting some in half, no easy task because they are so small!

I attached the red card front to my card base, which I pieced together using Bekka's excellent instructions at the bottom of her post here.  I finished off my card by placing a couple of pearls on the medallion.

Because of the size of my card - which, of course, I neglected to write down - I made my own envelope using my Martha Stewart Scoring Board.

This was a fun card to make.  I loved working with red (the couple's favorite color) and white, as well as finally using my small embossing folders to create this elegant card.

Wedding Gifts

Once again, I have been MIA.   Does anyone else find that their weeks just fly by?  I was turning the blocks on my husband's perpetual calendar earlier tonight and realized that it is July 14.  How did that happen?  Wasn't it just July 4th?  (Big sigh.)

Back on June 23, we attended the wedding of the daughter of long-time friends and our church's music administrator (who is the worship leader for the band I sing with).  It was such a beautiful wedding!  The bride made sure her dress was modest with the addition of a short jacket, and the entire service was centered on Jesus Christ.  There were even two trumpeters, which took Phil and I back to our own wedding 28 years ago.

Do any of you remember the mystery project I was working on at the beginning of the year?  It was Nathan and Diana's wedding gift.  I am hoping that by now they have opened their gifts and will not have the surprise spoiled by seeing this post on Facebook.

I decided to stitch My Beloved by Country Cottage Needleworks, but I personalized it by using their favorite color - red - for the lettering.  I also changed some of the other colors by choosing different shades of those that were charted so that they coordinated with the red.

I also brought out the red in the frame, which wasn't easy to find.  (A huge thank you to the framing employee at Michaels!)

I also stitched a Christmas ornament.  This was the third time (I think) that I've stitched this.

I will do my best to be back soon to share some cards I've made recently.