Monday, December 20, 2010

Exchanges & gifts have been received so I can now post my pics! Here's my ornament for the Buckeye Stitcher ornament exchange.
I gave Mom her stocking for her birthday. I made some changes to what was called for & I really like how it came out.

A head's up for any one interested. Enchanted Fabrics http://enchantedfabrics.yuku.com/
is having a New Year, New Start contest. If anyone is interested or would like more information just check the site out.

Scissor Fobs

I made some scissor fobs the other day. The are really adorable. I have some more beads I bought that I am going to use but not make them yet so if any one buys some I can personalize it with an initial charm.
This one (pink butterfly) I'm selling for $8.00 plus shipping.

This one (black & white hearts) is $10 + shipping & can be personalized for free.

These (black & blue hearts) are $10 as well. Personalized Charm can be added as well.

These turtles I thought were adorable!!! They are $12.00.

The green butterfly is $15.

If you would like to buy any of these just e-mail me at mgrutz at gmail dot com.

Friday December 3, 2010

I have my ornament done but I can't post it yet as it's a surprise! I've been working on Mom's stocking which I hope to have finished at the beginning of next week. Just need to stitch the top of the hat & then attach the beads.It's Joan Elliot: Stardust Christmas.
Besides stitching on the stocking I've been working on some Christmas presents. Need to make some pillows & paint some pants.

Wednesday Nov 10, 2010

She's finished!!! I got her finished before the deadline for the contest.

She is stitched on SMF Peach-Berry Cobbler 28ct linen. I subbed out the krenik for RG PTB. I stitched the skin over 1 (first attempt) & the moon with 2 strands of PTB.

Now onto my ornament for the Buckeye Stitcher ornament Exchange.

Tuesday November 2, 2010

I have been working on ToT Fairy. I've been trying to finish her up by the 6th for a contest. I did her skin over 1 which is the first time I've attempted over 1. I am having a blast stitching her & hope to be done soon.

Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010

Hi everyone. I hadn't realized it had been so long since my last post. A lot has happened since then. First of all Hubby & I finally bought our first house!!! We are almost all moved in, just a few more boxes to unpack. I'll post pictures next week.

Hubby's car didn't pass e-check last week, so instead of fooling around with it we bought a new one. Pictures will also be posted next week.

The kids both like their schools. Junior is still at STEM & likes it. He joined Boy Scouts last week. He has had 1 meeting & really enjoyed it. They learned an into to archery. Maria started Miller South & is just loving it! I have never seen her this excited for school.

On to cross stitch. I've got more done on Stargazer. Just one more section till I finish the bottom of her dress.

I put Stargazer up to work on Trick or Treat Fairy. I put her into the Mira contest. My goal is to have her finished before Halloween.
After I finish ToT Fairy I have to make a Christmas ornament for the Buckeye Stitcher exchange.

Tuesday July 27, 2010

Very busy week last week. I got the beading done on the last section I finished stitching.
On Wednesday Hubby got a new bike to replace the old one. I love the new one! It's very comfortable to sit on & very pretty!

On Saturday we took friends out on the pontoon boat. It was a blast. We cruised around the lake for a little bit. Anchored & let the kids swim for a little bit. Grilled some hot dogs for lunch while the kids were swimming. Then we went on a couple of laps around the speed lane.


On Sunday we went to my older sister's house for (ready for it?) Ang & Dad's going away party; Ang, Paul, Dad & Guy's birthday party. We had a corn hole tournament & Hubby & I took second place!


Over the weekend was the PR sal. I worked some more on Winter Fairy Spirit for the sal. With how busy we were this weekend I didn't get as much stitching done as I was hoping but I did get a few good hours in on Monday.

Monday July 19, 2010

It was a nice week & weekend. (Some high & low spots) Didn't really do much during the week. Just the usual cleaning. I did get some nice stitching time in. On Friday we went to the Aeros game with grandpa. Both kids brought a friend with them. We all had a lot of fun. They had a fireworks display afterwards that was fantastic!

I finished the top part of the dress. The section is now ready for me to start beading.

Monday July 12, 2010

It has been a long time since I posted last. Recovery is going well, but a bit longer then I was expecting. Since the last time I posted Maria got her 5 year trophy for dance. Both kids finished the school year with Honor Roll. We had 2 of our 3 summer camping trips. 2 weeks ago Hubby got re-ended by a pick-up truck while he was on his bike. He has just left work to meet us at Little Paul's baseball game. Luckily he only had a bruise on his knee but the bike is totaled. Just found out today that my Dad is going to have to move to IN by Aug 2nd. The local Chrysler plant that he has been working at for over 20 years is closing. He'll work at a plant in Indiana for at least 3 years until he reaches the retirement that he wants.

Now, onto stitching. Finally got some really good stitching in this last weekend. I finished one color done on the page I'm working on for Stargazer. I'm hoping to finish the whole page by the end of the month.
Before:


After:


I also started PR's Mermaid Freebie while we were camping at Salt Fork. Because of the heat we spent a lot more time out on the boat & I didn't stitch as much as I was hoping too. However I wanted to share my start. I choose to start her on SW Mystic Meadow 28ct linen. I'm using Weeks Dye "Peacock" as the floss.

Wednesday May 12, 2010

What a week! I ended up having a complication in the recovery room after the surgery last Monday. I started bleeding & they couldn't get it to stop. Ended up in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon. Very scary time. However everything is much better now. Still a little sore but I can already notice a difference in how much air I can breathe in & my hands & feet feel a lot warmer than they were before.
On the cross stitch side of things I received this wonderful bag HDF from Cerys for a exchange on EF. I am really thankful to Cerys as this was the boost I needed to pick up my cross stitch again.

Friday April 30, 2010

Not sure when I'll be able to stitch again so I decided to post my weekly update today. I got the ribbons all finished on Stargazer. I am back to working on her dress.


I have gotten some good progress done on my traveling project. I stitch on Undine while I'm waiting for Maria to get out of school, during dance class & at baseball practice.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Big day today. I had my follow up for my ct scan today. I have some inflamed tissue & a deviated septum. My doctor recommended surgery as the best option. So after Hubby & I discussed it on the phone we decided to go ahead with surgery which will include thin the tissue, enlarging my sinus cavities & probably straightening the septum.
After the doctor's I went to the salon & got my hair cut. I got it layered as well.
When I got home with the kids the doctor's office called back. They had already gotten the pre-approval for the insurance. So we went ahead and scheduled the surgery. So now I'm going in on this Monday (the 3rd). It's a lot sooner than I was expecting.

Monday April 26, 2010

Last week was super busy. Didn't get much stitching in so no update pics to post. However I do have lots of other pictures to post. Last week was spent updating the front yard. When we moved in last year there were areas of the front yard that had been sectioned off with stone, however their placement hadn't made a lot of sense so we rearranged the stones & laid some mulch down. I bought red mulch so it would make the bricks pop a little more. (Of course now the bricks look dirty to me.)

Back to cross stitch. Have you seen Laura's new line? The first one is unbelievable! I can't wait until I can order it. Stunning!

I am working on Stargazer this week. Hoping to make my 15 hour goal on her before the end of the month.

Part 2 Holland Finished!!!!

Just finished Part 2 on Chat's Holland! Part 2 took 23.50 hours to finish. I have put in a total of 73.00 hours into Holland now. I am stitching it on EF's Tropical Sunset 32 ct linen. Here is the pic of how it looks so far:

and a close up of a section of Part 2:

Thursday I got 2 more charts from Martina! Her Fairy Flower Garden and Love.

My New Helemt

I just ordered a helmet for the motorcycle. (Early Mother's Day present to me.) I'm hoping it will fit (fingers crossed) as I'm right between as x-small & a small. The design has been discontinued & all I've been able to find is extra small. So I ordered one before they were all gone. I figured the worse that could happen is that it's too small & I have to send it back. But it is really cool. I saved a pic of it:

Monday April 12, 2010

Spring Break is finally over with! Didn't get much stitching done while the kids were home. However I did get to spend a lot of time with friends & family.
My Mom came over on Monday & Tuesday. My FIL took the kids to the movies on Wednesday. On Thursday Maria auditioned for a commercial for the IX Indoor Amusement Park. That night Maria's friend Kayla spent the night & on Friday she stayed at Kayla's. Little Paul went to the Cavs game with Grandpa. The kids stayed with my Mom Saturday. Hubby & I took the bike to visit some friends who live a couple of hours away. It was a very nice way to end the week.
I worked on Holland last week. I finished the flowers & am working on the windmills. All I have left is the back stitching for the windmills. After I finish that I have to put in the star stitches & the beads. Here it is so far:


and a close up of the flowers & windmills:

Monday April 5, 2010

It was a pretty long week here. On Monday I woke up sick. I was so bad that Hubby stayed home with me on Monday. (He is such a sweetie!) He picked up the kids from school & made dinner. Wednesday evening I started feeling a little better. I went to my lcs & got the rest of the floss I needed for Part 2 of Holland. Thursday I was feeling more energetic & even did some cross stitching. I took Maria to her dance class & stitched while I was waiting. Neither the kids nor Hubby had work Friday so we all slept in. Friday afternoon we started replacing the wire for our invisible fence. It had a lot of spots were junctures had been put in & different wires ran. So we pulled it all out & ran one wire all the way around the yard. We also ran the wire for the landscaping lights under ground. (We would catch the wire when we did yard work before as it was sitting on top of the ground.) This was our on going weekend project. On Saturday evening Hubby & I went to our VFW for a reverse raffle. On Easter the family all meet at me sister's house. We had a wonderful dinner & then had an egg hunt for the kids. In the evening I did some more stitching.
I'm a little shy of being half way down. With the kids on Spring Break this week I'm hoping to finish Part 2 by the end of this week.

Saturday March 20, 2010

Hubby wasn't feeling well yesterday morning & decided to stay home from work. By the afternoon he was feeling a lot better so we decided to go driving as he didn't want to stay home. Long story short we ended up at the local Liberty Harley shop & Hubby got a new bike. He has been like a little kid with a new toy! It's nice to see him so happy!

Flaming Heart

I just got word that Andie received her long lost stitching sister package today so I can post my latest finish.I stitched Flaming Heart (a freebie I got at my lns) on 16 ct aida that I dyed over at Sue's house. The thread was Baby Blanket by Crescent. I made it into a needle book with a white cording border. I am so thrilled that Andie liked it! (oops. I was going to post a picture but I can't find it.)

Wednesday March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. I've been working on Chatelaine's Holland Landscape. I finished part 1 on Monday. It took 39.5 hours, most of that was stitched at Hospice. I am stitching it on EF's Tropical Sunset 32ct linen.

I wish I could get a better picture to show how sparkly this piece is so far! Oh well. Now it's back to Stargazer!

Tuesday February 23, 2010

Stitching went pretty well last week. I did the beading on Stargazer to finish the section I was working on. Now to decide if I'm going to go to the left & finish the top section on her dress or if I'm going to work down on the rest of the front section.

Last weekend was the PR sal. My goal was to get 5 hours done on her & I got 6 done. I filled in the tree limb that she was sitting on. Next month I go back to the dress.

Monday was EF's ToT Fairy sal. I finished all the beading on the bottom half of the chart! Next week I start on page1.

On a personal note, I'm asking everyone for your prayers. My great aunt has come down with pneumonia. Today she was moved from the hospital to the local Hospice. Thanks everyone.

Wednesday February 10, 2010

Sorry for being late with my post this week. I have been dealing with some SAD. Hopefully things will get back on track here soon. I didn't stitch much on Stargazer last week because of everything going on. I only got 4 hours completed so far. A long way to go still to finish 20 hours on her this month.
Just need to finish the light part of her dress then I can do the beading. After that I can move onto another section of the chart.

On Monday I did all the red beading on the bottom of ToT Fairy. I did get the rest of the beads ordered from a different shop & I'm hoping they'll be here by Monday so I can finish the bottom section of the chart. If they're not I'll skip this Mondays sal (& give the other ladies a change to catch up). I want to finish the bottom section before I roll it up & start on the top half.

That's about all for now. Tomorrow I'm helping Maria's class with their Valentine's Party. The kids don't have school Friday so I might be able to get some more stitching in then usual. Saturday is going to be very busy as Paul has his first basketball game. Maria is spending the night at her friends house (for her friends bday) & the rest of us are going to my sister's house for my nephew's birthday & my BIL graduation party. Hubby & I are hoping that Paul can stay the night with them (MY nephew & them get along really well) & that we could go out later that night. Kids don't go back to school until Tuesday so we have a nice long 4 day weekend coming up.

Tuesday, Fdebruary 2, 2010

I didn't get much stitching in last week. I strained my bicep muscle & could only stitch about an hour a day. I missed my goal on Stargazer by 2 hours. I think I did a good job & came pretty close to the 20 hours, especially since I took time to finish 2 Hearts. I'm going to stick to the 20 hour goal for February. Here she is:

Yesterday was the Trick or Treat Fairy sal on EF. I worked on the spider webs. My goal for the day was to start & finish the spider webs. I finished all of them but it was a huge pain in the a** to do. I had a really hard time reading the chart for it & ended up just winging the last ones. Next week I want to do the beading so I can roll it up to the top half.
On the personal side Hubby to the kids & my nephew to Peek N Peak on Sunday. Everybody had a blast. My nephew was a natural. Of course Hubby is really sore right now. Maria finished her Valentine's Box & I think it looks awesome! She did such a great job on it! ((I hot glued the flower ribbon on but she did the rest.)
Top:

Side:

Tuesday January 26, 2010

Last week was a long week with not much stitching time. Hubby had to go out of town & had an awful experience while he was out & ended up coming home early. I didn't really get back into my usually stitching groove until Sunday. I did get some progress done on my weekend & Monday projects but Stargazer didn't get much attention. I have to get 7 more hours into her this week to meet my monthly goals.
Here is Stargazer:
I got more done on here ribbons but not much.
Winter Fairy Spirit:

I got a good 4 hours in on her Sunday, a lot more than I thought. I know have 16 hours done so far.

Trick or Treat Fairy:

All that is left on the bottom is the spiderwebs & the back stitching on the legs. Then hopefully I'll have the beads to finish the bottom of the chart. I ordered them through my lns 2 months ago. They are on back order from Mill Hill so I'll have to check some ons(s) & hope one of them still has them.

Laura at PR just released a pic of her newest chart that's going to be released next week. She is gorgeous!

Our tax return is supposed to be deposited here in the next 2 weeks. As soon as it comes in I'm going to order her & Sabrina! It can't get here soon enough.
I think I'm going to dye my own fabric for her. Like this piece I dyed:

Once the piece dried completely it was much softer than it looks here. I just need to figure out where I can go to order a piece of white 28ct linen that's big enough for her.

Hope everyone has a good week this week.