Equifest - 12/29/2015

Today we went to the Equifest which took place at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center near the Disney Studios in Burbank.  In addition to a show in the arena, there were a lot of other things to see and do.

The first thing we did was have our picture taken in a stage coach near the arena.  There was a lady helping people into the stage coach and then taking pictures with their camera/phone.  She took two of us, one closeup and one of the full stage coach.  BTW, that's a Medieval Times crown that Kyleigh is wearing.

 After that, Kyleigh got a chance to play with a lasso.  She was a natural twirler.

 Of course, David also had to get into the act.

I didn't take any pictures of the show itself, but I think David did.  If so, I'll put those in a separate post once I download the pictures from his camera/phone.

David was amazed that this was an annual event that only occurred one day a year.  He thought it was a several day event.

Happy Dance - Forest Tree

Started: 12/20/2015

Finished: 12/23/2015

Mill Hill Forest Tree

This was stitched with the materials provided in the kit, but I used two strands or the cross stitching instead of the three called for.  I also misplaced the star charm, so I added another stitched star in it's place.

I added the called for hanger and it's now hanging on my Christmas tree.

Happy Dance - Star Santa

Started: 12/18/2015

Finished: 12/19/2015

Mill Hill Star Santa

This was stitched with the materials provided in the kit, but I used two strands or the cross stitching instead of the three called for.  I also couldn't understand the instructions for making the mustache overlap, so I added two white beads where there were supposed to be flesh colored cross stitches.

Although it was meant to be a magnet, I added a hanger made of leftover beads and it's now hanging on my Christmas tree.

Friday Fun Day and a Happy Dance

Kyleigh had a half day at school today since it was the last day before Christmas vacation followed by a Brownie meeting.  Since Janice had to work, I picked her up from Brownies and we stopped at the ABC 7 Stuff the Bus event on the way home.

Kyleigh had a good time talking to Santa, eating Italian Ice and playing games on the Video Game Bus--she especially likes Just Dance for the Wii.  There were also displays of Star Wars cakes, a fire truck and other food vendors--it was all free.

A few days ago, I went through my stash and found quite a few Mill Hill kits that could be used for Christmas ornaments that I had completely forgotten I had.  I pulled out one to work on and finished it today.

Started: 12/11/2015

Finished: 12/18/2015

Mill Hill For Santa

This was stitched with the materials provided in the kit, but I used two strands or the cross stitching instead of the three called for.

Although it was meant to be a magnet, I added a hanger made of leftover beads and it's now hanging on my Christmas tree.

Princess in Black

Kyleigh's class does periodic book reports using visual aids that the students make according to the teacher's specifications.  This time she had to make a poster with a cut out for her face and hold it up while giving the report.

The book Kyleigh chose was "The Princess in Black" about a princess that turns into a super hero to help save the goats from trolls. 

Saying Good-bye to Big Thunder Ranch

One of our favorite restaurants is Big Thunder Ranch in Disneyland.  Unfortunately, it's closing in early January to make way for the new Star Wars land so we decided to go one last time.  They're no longer taking walk-ups so you have to have a reservation and they're pretty well booked through the closing date.  Janice made the reservations a couple of weeks ago and the earliest she could get was tonight at 6:50.

David and I got there early enough to ride the train and check out the line for the Star Tours ride since they were showing clips from the new film, but Fast Pass was close and there was over an hour wait so we decided to pass on that.

Dinner was delicious as usual, but it was really cold.  We also enjoyed the Christmas decorations all around the park.  The following pictures were taken at Big Thunder Ranch after we finished eating.

Happy Dance - Golden Tannenbaum

Started: 9/21/2015

Finished: 9/25/2015

Mill Hill Christmas Jewels Charmed Ornaments

The theme for September for the Christmas Ornie Sal (link in my sidebar) was Christmas Tree or Presents, so I went looking in my stash and came up with this one.  (It's actually brighter than the picture shows.)  The hanger is made of leftover gold beads as suggested in the chart and which I thought was a brilliant idea.

Happy Dance - Cupcake and WIWO - 9/21/2015

Started: 9/16/2015

Finished: 9/21/2015

Cross Stitcher #295 Cover Kit

Designed by Maria Diaz

I stitched this with the included materials.  The fabric is either evenweave or linen which was a bit of a challenge.  This is going into my Save for Unknown Purpose drawer until needed.

WIWO - 9/21/2015

I don't have a WIWO post this week, because I didn't stitch on the Ballerina Bear at all this week.  Unfortunately, I've misplaced the booklet (Cherished Teddies Sports and Occupations, Vol.1) and I'm very afraid that it may have ended up in the trash.  You see, I've been going through all of my old UK magazines and saving the items I might stitch someday and I'm afraid it might have gotten mixed up with the discards.  I still have my working copy of the chart; I just need to figure out what the symbols mean.

Happy Dance - Floral Heart

Started: 9/13/2015

Finished: 9/16/2015

Cross Stitch Crazy Free Gift

I stitched this with the materials included in the kit.  There were two charts to choose from, but my husband thought the bee in the other one looked like a spider so that's why I did this one.

The Aida is actually white, but the frame is so bright white that it was impossible to get the contrast right.  This is going in my Save for Unknown Purpose drawer until needed.

WIWO - 9/14/2015

Other than stitching on a couple of free cover kits, I spent a little (very little) time on my Ballerina Bear.

Before:

After:

Unfortunately, I'm losing interest in this quite rapidly, which is why I've started stitching the cover kits.

Happy Dance - Monty the Bear

Started: 9/12/2015

Finished: 9/13/2015

Cross Stitch Card Shop Free Kit

This was stitched with the provided fabric and threads.  The interesting thing is that the kit is from Cross Stitch Card Shop, but it was attached to the most recent World of Cross Stitching magazine.

It's going in my Save for Unknown Purpose drawer until needed.

WIWO - 9/7/2015

I did very little stitching this past week.  Instead, I've spent most of my time going through old UK cross stitch magazines and pulling out the charts I might want to stitch someday.  I've also been doing a lot of reading and playing Inside Out Thought Bubbles on both my phone and my iPad.  In general, trying to stay cool (but not succeeding).

When I did stitch, I continued working on the CT Ballerina.
8/31/2015:

9/7/2015:

I've really got to get busy and finish her since I've got other projects that need my attention.

WIWO - 8/31/2015

I did quite a bit of stitching this past week on two projects.  The first is the CT Ballerina that I'm doing for Quilts for Older Children and Adults.

Last Monday:

Today:

I set it aside on Thursday to start working on my project for the Americana SAL.  I'm working on an old UFO titled Let the Freedom Ring.
Before:

 Today:

In both cases the second picture has the truer colors.

First day of 2nd Grade

Today was the first day of school for Kyleigh and she's in second grade this year.  Every year I ask Janice to take a "1st Day of School" picture so here you go.

Kindergarten:

1st Grade:

 2nd Grade:

Happy Birthday, Janice!

Janice was born thirty-four years ago today. She was a fun, curious, very active baby and toddler.

Today she is a mother with a good job, a loving boyfriend and a child who's a lot like her.

Happy Birthday, Janice.  We love you very much and wish you many more happy birthdays to come.

A Day with Kyleigh

Kyleigh had both a dentist appointment and an appointment to get her hair cut this morning and she wanted me to go along.

She goes to a pediatric dentist who she really likes and got a good report--no cavities.  After the dentist, we went around the corner to a kids' haircut place where the kids get to watch movies or cartoons or play video games while getting their hair cut.  The girls also get their nails painted and a special hairdo when done.  Kyleigh had her hair done in an Elsa braid.

Front View:

 Side View:

Afterwards, we went to Soup Plantation for lunch and then to Hobby Lobby where Janice picked out her birthday present--she's decided to start playing with Fimo again.

WIWO - 8/24/2015

I didn't do much stitching this past week, but I did make some progress on the CT Ballerina I'm doing for Q4OC.

8/17/2015:

8/24/2015:

There's a lot of back stitching in this piece, but it really adds to the design.  I won't make my goal of finishing this in August, but I should manage to finish it early in September.

Jingles

Janice took the week off since Kyleigh's day care center is closed this week.  We all have Disneyland Annual Passes so we went to Disneyland.  We waited until 4:00 so that we could stay late enough to watch the parade and fireworks.  I also rented a wheelchair so that grandma wouldn't tire out before everyone was ready to leave.

It's the first time we went to Disneyland without spending any money (other than for the wheelchair).  Janice had made sack lunches so we didn't need to buy food.

We went on Peter Pan, the Storybook Land Canal Boats, Small World, Matterhorn, and Alice in Wonderland.  Kyleigh also went on the carousel and she and Devin went on the Rockets ride.

We also saw both parades and the fireworks, although we weren't in the best spot to see the castle during the fireworks.

The title of this post is Jingles because that is the name of the horse Kyleigh rode on the carousel.  She had seen a documentary about hidden Mickeys recently and knew there was one on that horse.  It's also the only one with a bell.

WIWO - 8/17/2015

This was a productive week as I had three finishes as well as a start.  First, the finishes:

You can find the details about these finishes in their individual Happy Dance posts.

 The start doesn't look like much yet, but there's only about an hour or two done on it (with some frogging involved).

It's Ballerina - Mindy from Cherished Teddies Sports & Occupations, Vol. 1.  This is what it should look like when it's finished.

And this is what it looks like now.

Joined another SAL

This time I joined the Americana SAL, also hosted by Kaye.  For this SAL you stitch on patriotic or Americana themed projects and report on your progress once a month.  The link is on my sidebar.

I have several UFOs that qualify as well as a few in my stash waiting to be stitched so I decided this would be a good SAL to join.  My first project is Let Freedom Ring, a very old kit from Sunset.  It was designed by Nancy Rossi from the Kooler Design Studio.

 

 This is where I am now, but it's been several years since I've worked on it.  I had pulled it out to stitch some this year though so this gives me a good excuse..  I've only stitched the top half of the project, but I hope to come close to a finish of this half by the end of August. 

Although the kit included 14-count white Aida, I switched it out for 28-count white Jobelan and I'm stitching it 2 over 2.

Happy Dance - Bell for Card

Started: 8/5/2015

Finished: 8/15/2015

World of Cross Stitching #144

This is stitched on 14-count white Aida with DMC floss.  I used the colors called for, but I eliminated the shading stitches so the bell, the leaves and the berries are stitched in one color instead of two.

This will go to WOCS to be made into a Christmas card for an elderly resident in a nursing home back east.

Happy Dance - Horse

Started: 7/21/2015

Finished: 8/14/2015

Alessandra Adelaide 

It's stitched on 14-count white Aida with DMC Variations 4135 (Terra Cotta).  

All stitchers submitting a square by the deadline will be placed in a drawing for a Q4OC 10th Anniversary tote bag and the submitted squares will go to Love Quilts Brazil.

Happy Dance - Santa Noel

Started: 8/6/2015

Finished: 8/10/2015

Mill Hill Charmed Santa Faces - Series II

I stitched this for the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 where the theme for August is Santa Claus / Mrs. Santa Claus. 

I used the perforated paper, floss and charm included in the kit.  The hanger was made using the Kumihimo technique with the three colors of floss from the band on Santa's hat.  It's the first time I've used this technique for a hanger, but it won't be the last.

The kit is dated 2002 and has probably been in my stash since for at least 10 years.  I guess it's about time it got stitched up.  I have a couple more of these in my stash so they'll probably come out to play sometime in the next couple of months.

WIWO - 8/10/2015

I felt like I had "Stitchers ADD" this week since I wasn't really able to stick with any one project after finishing the finger puppets.

First, I started a bell outlined in black as a card for WOCS, but only got part of the outline done when I temporarily lost interest.

I don't have a picture of what it's supposed it's supposed to look like because the only picture in the magazine is the chart and I didn't want to use that, but what you see is a leaf and part of the bell.

Next, I've joined the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 organized by Kaye and the theme for August is Santa Claus or Mrs. Santa.  I spent quite a bit of time looking through magazines and then decided to look through my stash instead.  I finally chose this one.  It's a very old kit that has been in my stash for years.

 I finished the face and beard and now just need to complete his hat and attach it to his face.

Finally, I wanted something to stitch at the Angels game and the bell still wasn't doing it for me, so I looked at the freebies that came with some of my UK magazines and decided on this little guy.

 It will be sent to Q4OC to be made into an ornament to be sold as a fundraiser.  The only progress I made was during the game, but I finished the black and started the white.

I hope to finish all three of these projects this week, but unfortunately, there are other things calling my name as well.