Choices, Choices and More Choices make me CRAZY

Remember when I wrote about signing up for the Me, Myself and I Neighborhood R & R? Well, I signed up today and have been going through magazines ever since. Nope, not the New Stitches or the Quick and Easy Cross Stitch mags, I went to one of the mother lodes. It is the Rubbermaid 20 gallon tote that is in one of the corners of one of my closets. In it are my some of my Baby Camilla, Stoney Creek and other international magazines along with Disney magazine freebies.

What can I say, I can't say no to a good cross stitch magazine. There was no way I could get through the two tall stacks, but I was able to pick out a couple of great items from the one stack I perused. The best things about going through stash are the OOH's and AHH's that invariably leave one's lips when looking and fondling.

Some of the wonderful items that I found were:

• A-Hunting We Will Go ~ Stoney Creek Collection ~ c. 1993
• Stoney Creek Collection Magazine ~ Jan/Feb 1994
• Walt Disney Characters in Counted Cross Stitch ~ Paragon Needlecraft ~ c. 1980
• Disney Classics ~ Designer Stitches ~ c. Disney (no copyright date)
• Toy Story and Beyond ~ Leisure Arts ~ c. 2004
• Cinderella Castle Kit ~ The Art of Disney ~ c. Disney
• The Happiest Celebration on Eart Kit ~ The Art of Disney ~ c. Disney
• Past, Present and Forever Kit ~ The Art of Disney ~ c.Disney

Okay, you guessed it, I am a Disney freak! I do have lots of Disney cross stitch and have to stitch some or most of it. Let's face it, I would have to live till 1000 years of age to stitch 1/2 of the things I have. Don't worry, there are people that have much more cross stitch than I do.

So, after all this "research" of cross stitch patterns, I decided to have a Disney themed Neighborhood R & R. I could also have a Toon-Town themed R & R since I have lots of Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera, Snoopy, DC and Marvel character cross stitch patterns too.

You see all of these choices are making me CRAZY!!!!! Must decide on something because my "contractors" and "blue prints" must be in place by December 31, 2008. I can't wait to decide on a theme. I want it to be special and very "me". Let's see what I can come up with.

Thinking about x's......................

Stashing and Stitching pics

Spent most of the morning looking though my cross stitch magazine stash. Let me share a bit of it with you. These are first run pics, none of the mags are duplicates and I have not posted these pics before. There are LOTS more, but for now, these are all my arms could carry. They are very heavy.

New Stitches Magazine, UK

Quick and Easy Cross Stitch Magazine, UK

If you are thinking that going through my stash is almost like going shopping, you are right! There is a lot of it and sometimes, although rarely, I duplicate stash unknowingly. Usually, if I have a duplicate of something it is because I planned it that way. There are times that I will buy two magazines, one to stitch from, one to save. When I finish with the duplicate mag I will trade it for another because it is still in awesome condition. Of course, I have purchased duplicate mags with the purpose of trading them with stitchers from other countries that may not be able to find them where they live.

Living in NYC has its benefit of being able to find lots of the foreign magazines in bookshops. Here in the US, we purchase the magazines in both bookshops and local cross stitch shops. Well, there aren't any local cross stitch shops in NYC, we need to go to Long Island, but you get the idea. I find that to be a great plus of living here. The most popular are the UK mags. I have not been able to find any French magazines. Lately my favorites are the French mags because they have wonderful finishing ideas in them. I love seeing what the French stitchers are creating because they have unique insights for smalls.

As you know, I have been stitching and blogging. Happily, I share 2 progress pictures of my patriotic UFO. The major reason it's a UFO is because I am stitching it on Cashel linen. I really thought I would like stitching on linen, but I don't. My preference is evenweave, preferrably Jobelan.

The Salute
Color Charts

Because I have been a good stitcher and worked on my UFO, I have allowed myself to start on a small Disney project. I am so thrilled about Disney stitching. The characters come to life so well. Yes, they are a bit advance with all the 1/4 and 3/4 stitching, but they are well worth the time.

Keep on stitching..........

My first award!!!!! Oh my.... Thank you!!!!!

Someone reads my blog other than me! I am soooooooo happy and energized!!!!

A huge THANK YOU and shout out to Quirky from Craft-The Final Frontier for awarding me the Kreativ Blogger award. It has energized me so that I am ready to blog and stitch like never before. Quirky, you are a very talented and witty person, I am honored that you chose to award my blog.

Without further ado, I present......



The rules are:
1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees

Now for the really hard part, the narrowing down of 5 blogs. First, I must say that I would definitely award every blog I read this award because every single one inspires me everyday. Unfortunately only five can be chosen...... here they are.

1. Lucy from Enhebrando la aguja
2. Becky from Becky Bee's Stitching Hive
3. Gazette94
4. Vonna from The Twisted Stitcher
5. Su from Contemplating my Needle and Thread

Those are the blogs that I visit everyday. Each one of these stitchers has inspired me with not only their crafting but with their generosity of spirit that they share with every stitcher.

Congratulations all and thank you for all you do for our stitching and crafting community.

Wishing all a stitchy day.......

Something has come over me......

......and it is great!!!!!!!!

As I surfed the internet today I read more blogs which inspired me to go to some of my magazine stash and start pulling projects that I would like to do. One of the long-term projects I have in mind is a Me, Myself and I RR which is explained in the following blog. I think it is one of the best new ideas I have seen and may join.

Today I learned how to post a link in my posts. It makes me feel very good to know that I am learning more about blogging. Something I wanted to do since the inception of my blog.

Yesterday I stitched a bit on my UFO and I will post a pic later on today. I plan to stash and stitch today. I am working on really putting aside stitching time everyday whenever I can so I may see the fruits of my labour. Right now there are so many magazines around me that are screaming to be looked at.

I'll be back soon...........

Re-read some of my own blog

For the last few months I have been reading other people's blogs and loving it. Today, I re-read my own older posts and I must say that I liked them. They made me remember why I started this blog and why I should blog more often. I am inspired to jazz up my blog by reading other blogs, but so far, I think I have done a good job.
There is much more to do, most importantly to stitch. To that end, I have posted a WIP.

My WIP, The Salute, is an OOP design by Color Charts. It was a UFO this morning. Today I worked a bit on it which made me realize that I still like it even though I purchased the chart over 15 years ago. I think longer, but then I would date myself.

My tastes have not changed much, I still love patriotic pieces and the more difficult cross stitch pieces. As always, Disney patterns are still my favorites. So much so that I am thinking about opening some of my Art of Disney kits and starting to stitch them.

On another blog I saw a stitcher starting a Disney Round Robin. It is soooooo cute. I really enjoyed her "Doc". That started a whole slew of ideas in my mind and I have to start putting them in motion.

I was able to finish the USA hat that I posted a few weeks ago as a WIP. It is very nice. I enjoyed stitching it and will probably stitch it again.

In my fabric stash I have lots of patriotic cotton fabrics and am thinking of using them to back my patriotic smalls.

There is a biscornu orange variegated top that I have stitched and hope show next time as well. I need to start stitching the bottom still.

As you can see I have lots of hope to stitch more and more. I will turn on that "stitching battery" and come up with great finishes... I promise you and I promise myself to relax and stitch.

Wishing you lots of stitching time .....

A few pictures

It's been a while, I know. So much has happened including a bit of stitching.

Here are some pictures of my first biscornu and a USA WIP. They are a bit blurry but you get the idea.


The USA WIP has been finished and I am very happy with how it turned out. I also stitched another biscornu top of the same pattern in DMC Orange Variegated Floss. It is so pretty. I will take a picture and share it with you next time.

During my absence I have gone stash shopping. My latest purchases have been 4 Heaven and Earth Designs. They are HUGE. I have started making an enlarged working copy of the first page of UP ON THE ROOF and am pretty scared about starting it. Let's see how far I get on that kitting.

Of course in my new stash pile are many cross stitch magazines. One of my favorites this month is the Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue. I love Halloween and this issue is a must have for Halloween lovers.

I know that I don't speak of my personal life much on this blog, but I have to say that there is a new and handsome male in my life. He takes much of my spare time lately. I think I am in love!! He is so handsome and cute to boot! Without further ado, here he is:


He is much bigger now. I will post more pictures of him soon.

Lately I have been searching for French Cross Stitch Magazines. Those are a passion of mine. Hopefully I will be able to find a few.

I hope that you have liked viewing some of my pics. I will be back soon.

Going to cross those stitches.......