And the winner is…………….

Thanks to Random.org for their assistance this morning!  (I’m afraid sister-in-laws don’t get special consideration – sorry Em!  Hope you enjoy my blog anyway!)

 

I think I set a personal record for the most comments on a post!  Thanks to everyone for entering.  I’m really sorry I haven’t got a prize for everyone – I really wish I did!

 

And without further ado, the winner is:

 

Jessica @ Before The Dawn

 

I’ve just started reading Jessica’s blog thanks to the TUSAL.  She’s a very talented and crafty lady.

 

As for just what she’ll be receiving from me, I’m *still* not telling!  You’ll just have to wait and see….

 

Jessica, congratulations!  And please e-mail me your mailing address – e k i l l i n s at r o g e r s dot c o m (remove all the extraneous spaces and replace at and dot with the right things!).

 

We had a super busy weekend!  I’ll post more about it another time though….  I’m still trying to catch up on some Scientist work and I’m working for the next two days as well, so I’ve got to get my things ready.  I’m going to have to deal with the hamster today too – the poor little thing passed away yesterday.  Hamsters don’t have a long life-expectancy and her time was up.  But I’ve got to figure out how to bury her, considering the ground is frozen solid.  And we’re not going to talk about the mountain of laundry I’m facing nor the groceries that need to be purchased……

 

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!  I hope you spend it with someone you love and who loves you!

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Just because….

 

Just because I’m grateful to everyone who reads and comments on my little blog.  Especially in the last couple of months which have been so challenging for my family.

 

Just because I’m glad to know you.

 

Just because I feel like it…..

 

I’m having a little Valentine Giveaway!

 

Yes, that’s right.  A giveaway.

 

What will be in the giveaway?  Well, that’s going to be a surprise.  I will say that it will involve the fabric in the picture just up there.  But that’s all I’ll say.

 

What do you have to do?  Easy.  Just leave a comment on this post.  Doesn’t matter where you live, as long as it’s on Earth and you have a mailing address.  You don’t have to promote this on your blog or post about it on Facebook – just leave a comment here and you’re in.  Everyone gets an equal chance, as long as you put your name in the comments.

 

When will I draw a name?  On *the* day for love and happiness – February 14th.

 

When is the entry deadline?  Midnight EST, February 13th, 2011

 

So, what are you waiting for?  Enter!  Just because….

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February TUSAL

A glance at the calendar today caused me to realize that it’s the New Moon, which means that it’s time for my TUSAL update for this month.

 

I was surprised when I gathered all my orts up and dropped them into the jar.  I have a little pouch thing (yes, that’s the technical term) that sits on the arm of the couch for collecting my orts as I’m stitching but it’s not clear, so I have to haul my orts out of the pouch and drop them into my glass jar.  I managed to keep my DH out of them this month, so there were no rescue missions from garbage cans….  (And before anyone wonders, he really is a wonderful man and I wouldn’t trade him for anything!)

 

So here’s my jar:

 

I have stitched a lot this past month – mostly because I’ve had the entire month off work and there’s been loads of extra time around for stitching.  I’ve discovered that when I stop volunteering for everything under the sun and when the number of commitments to other things gets reduced for me (not by my choice, but it is what it is) then there’s suddenly days at a time where I don’t need to leave the house and I can curl up under a warm cat and stitch!

 

Unfortunately the next couple of months won’t afford me so much free time (I find Feb. through Apr. to be the busy season for the Scientist!).  I doubt the jar will take as large of a jump next month!

 

Speaking of warm cats, there’s one here looking for her lap.  I guess I’d better provide it.

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Well, nothing bad happened for *almost* a month….

But things just couldn’t last, could they?

 

My sister-in-law called this morning to tell me that my nephew and his wife had a little baby boy yesterday.  Normally, this is a cause for much rejoicing.  But my newest great-nephew was born at only 25 weeks.  He’s in the NICU at a great hospital and we’re all crossing our fingers and hoping he’ll be okay.  So, if you’ve got a minute or two, spare a good wish for my little great nephew, ‘K?  Thanks.

 

Today was called as a snow day, although there wasn’t a ton of snow.  I was quite happy to stay home though – I was supposed to be working today and I wasn’t looking forward to the drive.  I was really happy when the school I was supposed to go to e-mailed me at 6:20 this morning to say they were closed.  So happy, in fact, that I put my jammies back on and climbed back into bed for another couple of hours.

 

I did manage to finish a couple of things…..

 

First up:

 

Moire by Pelin Tezer

Freebie can be found here.

Stitched on random bit of white linen (28-count, I think) with recommended DMC

 

This piece really needs a bath and some ironing…  I’m not really a pink person, but I really like how this piece turned out.  I have *no* idea what I’ll do with it just yet, but I’m sure something will pop into my head.

 

I mentioned a while ago that I joined a monthly needlepoint ornament club.  I finally pulled fibres for it and got down to business.  It wasn’t as easy as I thought it might be to pull a monochromatic colour scheme and I was determined to work with what I had in my stash (since my stash isn’t exactly small, I knew I’d have a good selection)….  Unsurprisingly, my choices led me to purples:

 

Believe it or not, all these colours are from the same colour family – or at least my DMC colour card says so.  I used that as a reference when I was pulling fibres.  I’ve stitched this in a mix of Kreinik, Rainbow Gallery fibres and plain old DMC.    I had lots of fun with this and I stitched it in an evening or two.  I plan on keeping all of these ‘ornaments’ in a binder with the instructions for that month.  I don’t intend to make these pieces into Christmas ornaments – they’re exercises in colour and threads, so I’m collecting them all up in a binder along with the really well written instructions from Janet Perry.

 

After finishing the above pieces, I felt a case of startitis coming on and I was sorely tempted to start one of the (many) kitted pieces from my stash.  I tried to resist.  Really, I did.  I finally talked myself off the ledge from starting another BAP.  But I did have to start another ornament to console myself:

 

This  is the beginning of Season of Love by CCN from the 2010 JCS ornie preview issue.  This isn’t my February ornament for my self-imposed ornament-of-the-month club – it’s just something I had kitted up to stitch ‘someday’.  I’m hopeful it’ll cure my startitis.  It’s not looking promising, but keep your fingers crossed for me.  There’s no shortage of things already in progress around here.  But there’s at least 3 pieces (all kitted and ready to go, no less) that are calling my name.  Picture me sticking my fingers in my ears and saying ‘la-la-la-la-la’ *really* loudly!

 

Time to figure out dinner!

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