February wrap up

Didn't quite get the bunny stitched... didn't finish the Disney scrapbook... didn't start the WDW scrapbook... didn't even get the pictures done for the Bub & Kiki project...

But, I did make a lot of progress on Hare -- finishing the leaves and flowers, and getting a lot of the rabbit stitched. My plan now is to stitch the rest of the rabbit and then put it aside until April.

Also, I made a lot of progress on the Disneyland scrapbook -- just a few pages on rides, etc., left to scrap. Also ordered enough refill pages to finish the book out. So something of a success. My plan is to scrap the rest of the rides pages, assemble the scrapbook, and call it good. Next scrapbook project is the 2010 WDW trip.

And I made up the fleur de lis stitchery into a very pretty cushion as a birthday present for Suz. Epic win. :)

Oh, and I made a very decent facsimile of a Flying Holiday for Valentine's Day for Wil. Yay me.

So... pretty decent result for the shortest month of the year. Here's the plan for March:

1. Finish stitching the bunny, then put it away until April.
2. Finish the Disneyland / "Year of Disney" scrapbook.
3. Cross stitch the "wise man in green".
4. Scrapbook the WDW races, and maybe WDW, too?
5. Stretch goal: scrapbook the entire 2010 Florida trip -- Kennedy Space Center and the Cruise.

Okay! Keeping this blog always makes me feel so excited about crafting.

Oh, and just so I capture this somewhere, I thought of another great project -- a "52 things I love about you" book based on a deck of cards. :)

craftless, runless

Pathetic. No running, no crafting.

I did do some work, at some point, on the Disney scrapbook. And I researched and ordered additional page protectors for the Disney book. I still have some rides pages to do, so I could get those done relatively quickly...

Haven't done any stitching at all. Need to try and get some work done -- especially if I'm thinking of putting Hare away for the month of March in order to focus on "Wise Man in Green". Wow, that's an awkward point -- do I get "mad as a March hare" or the "wearin' o'the green"...

Maybe this: I will stitch the rest of the hare's body, and then stop until Wise Man in Green is done.

seems like a good plan.

Still want to finish the Disney scrapbook a.s.a.p. -- would be good to get that over with, so I could turn my scrapping focus to the 2010 WDW trip... and then... to the 2009 Big Trek..

hare update

Did a little stitching this afternoon and got more work done on the bunny. Still much to do, but I feel as if I will have the bunny finished in a few more sessions. Maybe. Toying with the idea of putting it aside for March -- so that I can work on the next figure of the nativity set. We'll see.

The Disney scrapbook arrived yesterday; I have a lot of pages done but still have a lot of random ride and character pages to scrapbook. I'd like to get that book done before the end of February, so I guess I need to get moving on that! The weather is supposed to be lovely again tomorrow, so not sure if I'll do much crafting. I have a lot of cleaning to do, I think. We'll see.

Most important, to be completely honest, is that I run tomorrow. Then cleaning. And then some crafting.

(Am looking forward to scrapbooking the Haunted Mansion Holiday -- with a mix of Christmas and Halloween papers and trims. That would be great to get done tomorrow...)

leaves are done!

Okay, so they're not 100% done... because I ran out of one of the colors of green, which means I have a handful of leaves left to do once I get more wool. But I started doing some work on the bunny itself -- so things are going well!

Hare report...

Spent the day enjoying our beautiful city... so not so much stitching. I did, however, get to the point where all that's left to stitch in the leaves is the right half of the bright green leaves. Probably another longish evening will have them done. Hooray!

lazy Sunday

Wanted to rest my hands today... and ended up working on the "year of Disney" scrapbook most of the afternoon. Managed to get a lot of pages done -- the basic pages for all the trips. Next up: Haunted Mansion Holiday, and then the general rides and parades and characters pages. Feels very good to get so much done.

Feeling restless now -- haven't done much for days. Might need to leave the house for more than just a half hour tomorrow...

more stitching

Did a lot of stitching off and on today. Still working on filling in the leaves -- got a lot done, but it's just a reminder that needlepoint takes a very, very long time.

My hand feels a little sore, and I bet my forearm will be sore tomorrow. I feel I can definitely finish the rest of the leaves in the next couple of days -- and then I get to work on the bunny. While filling in one of the flowers I had to use a wool that also goes in the rabbit; I used the remainder of the strand to start a tiny bit of work on it. A lot of the colors in the hare are very subtle, so they'll require proper daylight. But it is getting lighter later...

Also, gave Suz her pillow on Friday. She didn't seem all that thrilled. Oh well. I enjoyed stitching the needlepoint, and I was able to use up some of my stash. And, perhaps most importantly, I COMPLETED something. :) Huge win.

Friday fun

So tomorrow Suz is coming over and we're going to have a craft day -- yay! Only problem being, I don't know what to craft! The obvious choice is to work on Hare, but when do I get almost a whole day to craft?!? So I feel as if I *should* do some scrapbooking... but what? Where to begin?

Just spent a few minutes sifting through my scrapbook stuff for inspiration. Noticed that I had tucked a couple of photos into the 2007-2009 running scrapbook, so decided to take 15 minutes and finish it up -- finishing the title page, adding that snowflake brad to the 12Ks of Christmas page... Really thrilled to have it done. It's silly, but it really makes me happy to page through it!

I feel paralyzed by how many books there are to do. :) I know the key is just to start, however, so perhaps I should take the 2009 WDW scrapbook as inspiration and scrap 2010? OR should I work on the 2009 Year of Disney book?

I know that EITHER project would be great... but what to do first?

I wonder if my hesitation is related to the fact that I don't like this year's vacation photos?

Or whether I just can't quite figure out the progression for the 2009 scrapbook?

Decisions, decisions.

fleur de lis cushion -- complete!

Got home after dinner tonight (nice little Thai place in Juanita Beach; lovely food, noisy clientele...) and got immediately to work. Trimmed the excess needlepoint canvas, cut the velvet to match, pinned everything together, and stitched. It's always so tragic how small things get -- you think, when you're stitching, that something is MASSIVE. Nope. It's really just a little throw pillow. But it came together beautifully and it looks really nice. (If I do say so myself!)

A perfect stashtacular project -- I used an old, completed needlepoint canvas, some spare black velvet, and some fiberfill that had probably been in my possession for over a decade. Fantastic! And just in time, too -- tomorrow I'm hanging out with the birthday girl and giving her a beautiful, hand stitched and hand finished cushion that will match her couch perfectly. Yay!

stashtacular!!!

Fantastic result tonight. Went downstairs to find the fleur de lis stitching and start rooting around for some velvet backing. Found the perfect size piece, in gorgeous black velvet, in what could only be described as a "scrap bag". Very excited to stitch it up tomorrow night!

stitching soreness

Did a little more stitching tonight, realizing that my left forearm is sore. Clearly gotta get my stitching arm back. Getting good work done on the foreground flowers -- finished up all the pinks and reds, now working on some of the dark veining in the leaves. Taking a break for the next couple of days -- I've got a dinner party tomorrow, and I've got to finish Suz's wee birthday present. Such fun! Speaking of which, must go downstairs and scout out the piece and some backing velvet...

Super Bowl stitching

Spent a lot of yesterday watching the game and stitching Hare. Working on completing all the foreground flowers and leaves first. I really wanted to just do the ones that cross over the hare's body, but I am going to be disciplined and complete all of the foreground before starting the hare. But I did good work yesterday!

Also, in the process of searching for kittypix, I chose images from our year of Disneyland and our most recent trip, including the races, the hotels and parks, Kennedy Space Center, and the cruise. 300+ prints! But I took advantage of a good discount and just got them done. So now, whenever I have a scrapbooky day, I can really get to work on the year of Disneyland and/or the most recent trip. Hooray!

Hare!

Yesterday I FINALLY put needle through canvas and started stitching Hare. I'm doing the few flowers and leaves that cross over the hare's body first, to give them the right shape, but I should actually finish them within the coming week. So exciting! The needlepoint is beautiful, and it's such a pleasure not to have to COUNT everything. The Designers Forum canvases are so gorgeous, too -- so clearly printed. Really a joy to stitch. Today is Super Bowl Sunday, so I'm going to try and stitch during most of the game. When I'm not eating nachos, that is. :)

holiday!

Came home tonight and worked on the wings for the flying holiday... and they came out okay! Not sure if/when I'll put the red tongue on, but the wings look pretty cool. I might need to reglue them, however, as it's not exactly a porous material...

Also spent hours going through our collective kittypix, and I don't think that I currently have anything suitable for the project. Must work on this more...

February off to a good start

Came home tonight after running some errands... but still managed to:

1. Finish the backstitching on Joseph
2. Mount the "Hare" canvas on the stretcher bars

So I feel good -- ready to take on the next craft projects. I need to do a somewhat quick turnaround on the "flying holiday", and I still need to get focused on get the kittypix chosen for that project. So those are top priority for March. I'd also like to get a good chunk of the Hare stitched -- was surprised to see how small the hare is, so that's good. And, of course, I'd love to get this year's trip to Florida scrapbooked. But maybe I should finish the 2009 "year of Disney" book -- more odds and ends, maybe?

I've also added "wise man in green" to my "next up" list... but realistically I won't even start him until March. Still, good to have a plan...