January Stitch from Stash

Another thing that Shared Crosses is doing is a Stitch from Stash Challenge where you promise not to buy any new charts (with a few exceptions stated at the beginning).  You can however purchase fabric, floss and accessories needed for a project already in your stash.  The only thing I purchased was a package of light blue Aida to stitch a free Olaf chart for Kyleigh's birthday.  I also purchased a pillow form and fabric for it as well.

I'm sort of following the Stitch from Stash Challenge on Mel's blog http://epicstitching.blogspot.com/ because it was closed when I first found out about it.

So here's my report:
I started with $25.00

I spent $4.99 for the package of light blue Aida.

I completed this giraffe on the first so I'm not counting it even though I've had the magazine long enough.

I also started and finished two other projects in my stash, but one was purchased in August and the other was in a November magazine so neither have been around long enough to count.

I also stitched on one more project for almost two weeks, but it's a large project and I won't count that until it's finished.

So my ending carry forward balance for January is $25.00 - 4.99 = $20.01..

January Turtle Trot

I belong to a group called Shared Crosses, a Christian Cross Stitch group.  One of the things we've been doing is a modified Turtle Trot.  During the third week in January (17-23, posting on the 24th), we each pick a WIP that we want/need to finish in the foreseeable future and stitch exclusively on it.

However, I'm not very good at stitching something on a certain date so I didn't start until the 19th and didn't stop until today.  I probably would have kept at it, except I have a couple of projects for WOCs that are due at the end of the month.

My project is Tinkerbell Spring Blossoms by Stoney Creek for Disney.  Before I started stitching on the 19th:

This is only the bottom half of the picture.  The top half is completed.  Also, the fabric is a really pretty mint green, but it doesn't photograph well.  After, on the 31st:

Retired

 

As of 5:00 today, I am officially retired from my job at Chapman University in Orange, CA.  The cake is from the retirement party given me by my coworkers.  There were a lot of people in attendance and most of them were happy for me, but sad for themselves because I provided a major support function.  In fact, I've had several offers to come back on a temporary basis either in my office or another department on campus.

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time

Kyleigh is a Daisy Girl Scout this year and is selling Girl Scout Cookies for the first time and is doing very well. So far she's sold almost 100 boxes and it's only the first few days.

I took her to my office this afternoon with a cart full of cookies and she sold over half of what we took in. The price has gone up to $5.00 a box so the math was easy and she did really good figuring out how much the person owed and making change.

Busy Day

Today was a busy day.

Immediately after breakfast, we went to pick up 84 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for Kyleigh to sell.

After we took them back to the condo, we decided to go look at some new houses. We did find a couple we liked, but at $895,000 and up, they were kind of out of Janice's price range. Kyleigh was amazed by the bathtubs and claimed that they were big enough to sleep in.

After this, we took her to a friend's birthday party at a local skating rink. Kyleigh had only been skating once before and still wasn't really comfortable on skates. By the end of the party though, she was letting go of the wall and seemed to have gotten the hang of it--now she wants to take lessons.

Devin's the one who took this picture and he also sent me a second one at the same time. I'm not sure when it was taken, but I don't think she needed the stool :).

Happy Dance - Post Office

This is the completed Post Office from the Mill Hill Christmas Village.

It is stitched on 14-count pewter Aida with two strands of floss for both the cross stitch and beads and is the third design in this collection.

I started it on January 2nd and completed on January 19th.

WIWO - 1/12/15

This week I continued working on the Post Office.

It's done up to the second level except for the beads which I'll add last.  I predict a happy dance in the near future.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my 65th birthday which makes me able to retire at the end of the month which I'm really looking forward to.

While we were at dinner last night, Janice and Kyleigh gave me their presents.  Janice and Devin's gift was a selection of flavored oils and vinegars and Kyleigh's gift was the Disney Classic Cross Stitch Collection.

There are charts for Bambi, Sneezy, Steamboat Willie,Pluto, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Mickey and Minnie His and Hers heads,Winnie the Pooh, Donald and Daisy, Cinderella's Coach, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty Castle and Sorcerer Mickey.  It also includes the fabric and floss to make two projects.  Kyleigh has already requested Cinderella's Coach.

Birthday Dinner

Tomorrow is my birthday and Saturday was Devin's birthday so we decided to celebrate them both at Claim Jumper tonight. We had a really good dinner and the restaurant gave both of us a red velvet cupcake with a candle in it. Kyleigh "shared" my cupcake and my clam chowder.

The kids in Kyleigh's class receive tickets for making good choices and there is a drawing at the end of each day. Today, Kyleigh won the raffle, a set of wires covered with a sticky material that you can make into things. She made several items, but spent most of the time working on a pair of glasses. With a little help from grandma, this is what she came up with.

WIWO - 1/5/15

This is my first WIWO of 2015.  In addition to finishing both the giraffe and Boofle, I started the next design in the Mill Hill Christmas Village series.  This time it's the Post Office.

Again, I'm using pewter Aida with two strands of floss for the cross stitch.

Happy Dance & Model Practice

First up is my second happy dance of the year.  This is Boofle, the free chart from Cross Stitch Card Shop #99.

He's stitched on 28-count white Jobelan with the threads included in the kit.  

I'm not going to finish finish him right away because I haven't decided whether to make him into a card like in the kit or an ornament.

I started him on January 1st and completed the stitching on January 2nd.

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Kyleigh received a refurbished Nook Color Tablet for Christmas that didn't come with a cover, so Janice ordered her one online and it arrived today.

She's pretending to be a prize model.

Happy Dance - Giraffe

This is The Wild Ones - Giraffe from Cross Stitch Card Shop #86. 

It's stitched on 28-count white Jobelan, 2 over 2 with DMC floss.  It was not the easiest chart to stitch and it took longer than I thought it would, but it is cute.

This will be made into a Christmas ornament for Kyleigh.  She asked Santa for a stuffed giraffe for Christmas so I thought this was appropriate (she did get the stuffed giraffe also).

It was started on 12/26/2014 and finished on 1/1/2015.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Ours has been fairly quiet, but I did do a couple of loads of laundry. I also did quite a bit of stitching and have my first finish and first start of the new year. Mostly we watched old TV shows and/or movies.

Janice called and said they were having a really quiet day as well and that Kyleigh was still in her pajamas because she just wanted to chill and not do anything today. She had a really busy day yesterday though--celebrating Happy Noon Year at noon and then going to the park for some ice blocking. I think she wore herself out.

At 5:56 this evening, I received the following picture. The cat wasn't too happy at first, but he soon decided to take a nap also.

Then at 7:53, I received this picture of my mother. She's 91 years young and lives in Michigan so I rarely get to see her, but my sister will occasionally send pictures.