Framed finish and giveaways!

Hurray!  I actually finished this birthday gift and got it framed on time!  I started The Sorcerer way back in 2011 for the first Crazy January Challenge, and I started The Sorceress for the UCJC this year.  My best friend, Colleen, has always liked castles and dragons and wizards.  Our dads have been friends since they were in kindergarten and our moms met in high school.  They got married around the same time and she is only 2 days older than me, so she is just like a sister!  Now she lives in Texas and I'm still in California.  I will see her tomorrow for a visit!  My son is coming to her house too, and we'll all go to my daughter's graduation from Army boot camp together!

Here is her handmade birthday present!  You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

The Sorcerer and The Sorceress - FRAMED!

This was framed by Beth at Wilson's Frame-Up in Riverside, California.  The purple mat is linen and the gold and red mats match the stitching colors perfectly!  It was Beth's idea to get a charm and I found this wizard pendant on eBay.  The frame is brushed silver metal.  It's bigger and heavier than I expected.  The full size of the frame is 16" x 25" so it's 1 inch too big for carry-on.  I will wrap it in bubble wrap and surround it with all the clothes in my luggage.  Hopefully it makes the trip in one piece!

Here is a picture from a few years ago of both of us:

Colleen and Debbie

I'm also waiting until the very last minute to finish Alice from Resident Evil for my son's belated birthday present, since I'll see him tomorrow too!  I have a frame ready to pop it into tonight, or maybe tomorrow after I get off the plane!  LOL

Alice from Resident Evil update #8

Parsley of Seasons of My Mind blog is having a giveaway of this beautiful project bag to celebrate becoming an EMT!  Enter HERE and drawing is on July 21.

Nancy from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a summer floss giveaway!  Enter HERE and tell Nancy that I sent you.  Drawing is on July 30.

Sadly, I have no YOTA update this month on Universal Unity, since I was stitching every day on the same thing (The Sorceress and Alice).  I'll get back to all my SALs after I come home from vacation.  

Happy Stitching, everyone!

Theme-A-Licious June Jolt

The theme for last month was June Jolt, "School's out for the summer! Let's work on things with sunshine in them or REALLY bright colors.  Summer is here!"

I finished part 8 of 12 on Boo! Club.  I like the bright Halloween colors in this design!

Boo! Club (Fright) - FINISHED!

"Fright"
Boo! Club series
Lizzie*Kate
28 ct Prairie Grain linen
Started 1/16/2014, Finished 6/28/2014

I also finally finished part 1 of Very Scary Mystery Sampler!  Hopefully, parts 2 and 3 won't take me quite as long to do!

Very Scary (Part 1) - FINISHED!

"Very Scary Mystery Sampler" (Part 1)
Lizzie*Kate
30 ct Tin Roof linen
Started 7/25/2012, Finished 7/1/2014

I also finished The Sorcerer and The Sorceress!  I'll pick them up from the framer tomorrow.  They will be framed together with gold, purple, and red mats.

The Sorcerer and The Sorceress - FINISHED!

The theme for this month will be Jubilee July, "It's time to celebrate! What are you celebrating this year? Stitch on your holiday-related projects, OR find some WIPs you know you'll never finish and set them free."

I have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas designs to stitch.  I might even stitch on some Easter designs, too!

Check in on Heather's blog, It's Geek to Me, to find more blog posts with the bright colors theme this month!

June WIPocalypse and a finish!

Happy Friday the 13th and it's a Full Moon so time for the WIPocalypse update!  The topic this time is:  "Have you ever been to a stitch gathering such as a retreat or a festival?"  No, I haven't but I would love to go!  Our Southern California Cross Stitchers Yahoo group is trying to plan one, but in the meantime, we are happy to meet at the food court in the mall or outside on the patio or at a restaurant or a member's house to sit and stitch together about once a month!

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I have had three more finishes, but two of them were new starts, so my WIPocalypse page is slowly shrinking down to only 93 WIPs now.  I finished Frank-N-Stein, Peter Polar Bear, and The Sorcerer!

The Sorcerer - FINISHED!

"The Sorcerer"
Dimensions #6689
14 ct Ivory Aida
Started 1/13/2011, Finished 6/12/2014

My plan is to get him framed together with The Sorceress before July!

The Sorceress update #1

I've also stitched more background on Alice from Resident Evil and hope to finish her by July, too!

Alice from Resident Evil update #6

I only work on this one during our stitching GTG (get-togethers).  I did the acorn tops on Very Scary Mystery Sampler, almost done with part 1.

Very Scary update #12

On Cut Thru' North Pole House, I stitched the mailbox and pole down to the water.

Cut Thru' North Pole House update #11

For my Sunday SAL with Linda and Kaye, I started stitching Santa's red sleeve and the green branches on Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by The Prairie Schooler.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #3

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #3

Be sure to check Measi's blog for a list of other bloggers with WIPocalypse updates this month!

April WIPocalypse update and a finish!

There's a full moon in the sky, a blood moon, an eclipse of the moon, and it's time for a WIPocalypse update!  I saw it last night from my front yard, but if you missed it, you can see the video here:
http://www.space.com/25507-moon-turns-red-lunar-eclipse-time-lapse-video.html

Since the last WIPocalypse post, I've had 3 more finishes; the Best Witches Halloween ornament, the first Advent Animals ornament, Katie Kitty, and another Santa!

On the 5th day of Christmas, Santa brought to me.... Five Golden Rings!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 5) FINISHED!

If we actually stitch on this every Sunday, Linda and I should be able to finish one Santa per month and have them all done before Christmas this year!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Days 1-5)

"Santa's 12 Days of Christmas" (Day 5)
Book No. 126
Designed by Pamela Byrd Smith
The Prairie Schooler
28 ct mushroom evenweave
Started 11/17/2013, Finished 4/13/2014

I made good progress on Fall Welcome, my Saturday SAL with Linda.

Fall Welcome update #9

I've also been stitching on Alice from Resident Evil.  Does she look like Milla Jovovich yet?

Alice from Resident Evil update #3

This is how she will look when she is done:

Alice from Resident Evil

I also stitched more on The Sorcerer's cloak.  When I finish him, I'll stitch The Sorceress next!  These are gifts for my best friend who loves wizards and castles and dragons!

The Sorcerer update #12

My idea is to get them framed together, and my framer friend suggested that I find some charms so she could include them in separate cut-out parts of the mat, so I bought these pewter pendants on eBay:

The topic for this month is, "How do you keep your stash organized?"  I don't use bobbins and keep the floss skeins in small 3"x4" ziploc baggies in these plastic photo cases:

I keep all my WIPs in gallon size Ziploc bags with the fabric, chart, and floss for each project.  I put all my Ultimate Crazy January Challenge starts for 2012 in this sewing basket, and I have another sewing basket full of starts from the UCJC 2013.  The new starts from UCJC 2014 are just in a pile on top of my Rubbermaid tote where I keep all my future kits and charts.  

Then I have about 6 fabric tote bags with several WIPs in each one on Q-Snaps, so I can easily grab a tote bag when I meet my friends to stitch or to take in the car if I leave home.  I always say, you never know if there will be an earthquake and the ground will crack open and I won't be able to get home for awhile, so at least I'll have something to stitch!

I bought a pink plastic drawer cart like this one to store my cross stitch fabric, but it's still empty and all the fabric is in 2 cardboard boxes instead.     

Be sure to visit Measi's Musings blog to find links to everyone's WIPocalypse blog posts with their stash organization photos, too! 

Theme-A-Licious March Madness (week 3)

The theme for this month is March Madness, "Work on something different every day... it's madness... of the funnest possible kind."  I used the Random Number Generator to pick a number from 1-95 for a WIP from my WIPocalypse list to stitch on each day.  I'll post an update every weekend with the choices for the prior week.

March 15 - #74, The Wizard of Oz: I started stitching the wicked witch. When I have big blocks of one color, I do the half stitches first when following the pattern, then it's easy to go back and cross the X's without looking at the chart.  Do you stitch this way or prefer one X or one row at a time?

The Wizard of Oz update #1

March 16 - #82, Trick or Treat Greeting:  I stitched the purple letter E and some backstitching.

Trick or Treat Greeting update #1

March 17 - #6, The Sorcerer:  I stitched more purple in his cloak.

The Sorcerer update #11

March 18 - #70, Snow Bear and Sleigh:  I stitched more blue half-stitches for the background.

Snow Bear and Sleigh update #1

March 19 - #50, Santa Hang-Up:  I did some backstitching and started his hat.

Santa Hang-Up update #8

March 20 - #86, Boo-gie Fever:  The skeleton has a hat now.

Boo-gie Fever update #1

March 21 - #11, Star Wars:  I finished stitching C3P0.

Star Wars update #3

I roll up the extra fabric and tuck it into the Q-Snap covers which I buy from Christine's Q-Snap Huggies.  Only 10 more days to go for March Madness!  Happy Stitching, everyone!

Crazy January start #26

Day #26 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is The Sorceress.  I always like to stitch the face first.  This will be about 5" x 7" on 14 ct ivory Aida.

The Sorceress

Of course, the companion piece is The Sorcerer!  I've been stitching on this one off and on since 2011.  Today I stitched more purple and navy on the left side of his cloak.  I'm making both of these for my best friend and I want to get them framed together.

The Sorcerer update #10

Turtle Trot SAL - November

For the Turtle Trot SAL, we choose 13 WIPs to work on and post progress pics on the 13th of every month.  Claudette of BAP Attack is hosting this SAL.  Next year, we'll choose 14 WIPs and post progress pics on the 14th of every month.

I finished two of them, so now I'm down to only 11.  This is my progress to show on some of them this month.  You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

Stained Glass Nativity:  I finished the green grass under the wise men.  This is a needlepoint kit that I started in 1980.

Stained Glass Nativity (before)

Stained Glass Nativity update #4

Thomas Kinkade's Lamplight Bridge:  I stitched lots of French knots for the pink flowers.

Lamplight Bridge (before)

Lamplight Bridge update #7

Lamplight Bridge update #7

 The Sorcerer:  I finished the right side of his cloak and some backstitching.

The Sorcerer (before)

The Sorcerer update #9

Flaming June:  I started stitching the water.  I'm still on page 1.

Flaming June (before)

Flaming June update #6

How cool!  The actress Jessica Chastain on the cover of Vogue is posing just like this picture that I'm stitching!

Flaming June by Sir Frederic Leighton

Jessica Chastain as Flaming June

Majestic Eagle:  I stitched more of his wing.

Majestic Eagle (before)

Majestic Eagle update #6