Birthday Card

This is a birthday card I made back in August for a friend of mine.

You can see the card I used as my inspiration here.

If you look carefully at the last photo, you can see that I used my Martha Stewart Scoring Board to create lines in the green portion of the card.  I believe the lines are 1/4" apart.  For the medallion, I cut two motifs from Spellbinders Moroccan Accents, which I offset and attached to each other.  I then cut a circle of the pink scrapbook paper to place on top.  The sentiment is an old stamp by Uptown Rubber Stamps (Holly Pond Hill line) which I stamped on a long rectangle.  After cutting the ends to look like a piece of ribbon, I used my sponge dauber to  add ink around the edges.  Some ribbon and pearls completed the card.

Singing the Blues

It was not my intention to be silent for so long.  We have been struggling to keep my husband's cancer under control, trying to figure out what his next treatment should be, researching, talking, praying, seeing doctors.  It has been difficult to do much else.

But once again, I have a pile of pictures to blog about, so while I can, I will try to blog about them.  First up is another UFO.   I think I unstitched the border on this one at least four times before I finally got it right!

Singing the Blues

Little House Needleworks

Oh, no!  I just realized that I missed stitching a red heart to the right of the bird's belly!  I guess I was so excited to have finally stitched the border correctly that I completely missed it on the chart.  No wonder the cat kept pawing at the bag the piece was in, she knew something was missing.

I stitched this on (what else) 28 count evenweave.  I think the color is Khaki.  I used the suggested Crescent Colors.  As for finish-finishing, I think I will look through my collection of boxes and see if I have one this will fit on.

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.