Smalls SAL and TUSAL - May

The last Wednesday of the month is time for the May Smalls SAL post!  I just finished Peter Polar Bear, the second of 25 free Advent Animals from Brooke's Books.

Peter Polar Bear - FINISHED!

"Peter Polar Bear"
Designed by Brooke Nolan
Brooke's Books Advent Animals Collection
14 ct Green Starlite Aida
Started 5/22/2014, Finished 5/29/2014

There is a Facebook group for the Advent Animals Stitch-A-Long where you can see other finishes of Peter Polar Bear, too!

I also finished Frank-N-Stein for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  Each month is a different theme and May was Monsters.

Frank-N-Stein - FINISHED!

"Frank-N-Stein"
Raise the Roof Designs
32 ct tan linen
Started 5/27/2014, Finished 5/28/2014

Frank-N-Stein was a limited edition kit from 2008.  I'll have a drawing to give away this chart since I'm done with it, but it won't have the button.  Just mention in the comment if you're interested and I'll draw a name on Friday, June 6.  I'll mail it anywhere in the world.

It's also time for the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (TUSAL)!  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your ORT jar photo, too!

TUSAL 2014 #6

My cat Billy is posing with my ORTs this time!

Stitch from Stash May

Mel from Epic Stitching started a Stitch From Stash group to encourage us to stay on a budget of $25 or less per month for cross stitching.  Click the link to see the list of blogs that are participating.

My carry over from April was zero for a total budget of $25 this month.  Here is my check-in for May:

Amount Spent:  $25

$20 - 3 charts from The Cottage Needle

$5 - Fulton Mansion chart from the Buy & Sell Cross Stitch Supplies Facebook group

New Starts from Stash: "O" is for Owl, Winter Witch, Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6), Peter Polar Bear, Frank-N-Stein.

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Christmas Ark, Universal Unity, Fall Welcome, Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6), Cut Thru' North Pole House, Thankful Critters, Canyon Waterfall, Majestic Eagle, Stained Glass Nativity, "99", Orange Poppies, Harley-Davidson, Very Scary Mystery Sampler, Alice from Resident Evil, Bird Nest (No 2). 

Finishes: "O" is for Owl, Winter Witch, Frank-N-Stein, Peter Polar Bear.

What I was tempted to buy but didn't buy this month:

"The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt, kit by Riolis on eBay

"The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt

Aurora Cabin, kit by Dimensions Gold Collection on Amazon

Aurora Cabin, Dimensions Gold Collection kit

This kit was on sale on the Dimensions website with a coupon code, but ended up being cheaper on Amazon with free shipping.  Not yet but some day I really want to stitch these designs!

May WIPocalypse and SAL updates

The full moon was last week and the WIPocalypse topic this time is:  "What designs or themes do you really wish you could find?  What do you think is missing among stitching designs?"  I think it would be great if there were more designs based on movies, TV shows, actors, actresses, singers and bands; not just a computer generated chart that's a copy of a photo, but an actual design!

Be sure to see the list of other bloggers with WIPocalypse updates this month on Measi's blog, too!

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I have had three more finishes, but two of them were new starts so my WIPocalypse page isn't getting smaller yet.  I finished Happy Easter, "O" is for Owl, and Winter Witch, which were all small designs.

I started the 6th day of Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by stitching a goose!

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #1

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6) update #1

The scarecrow girl on Fall Welcome has a face now!  I really enjoy backstitching!

Fall Welcome update #11

Fall Welcome update #11

I started stitching the red and white pole and mailbox on the Cut Thru' North Pole House.  I want to get to the bottom of the design so I can start stitching the pretty water!

Cut Thru' North Pole House update #10

Since the last WIPocalypse update, I finished Alice's jacket, her hair, and started stitching the background on Alice from Resident Evil.

Alice from Resident Evil update #5

I also made some progress on the Very Scary Mystery Sampler by stitching the green vines and the blue row on the bottom.  After the acorns and rest of the border are stitched, part 1 will be finished!

Very Scary update #11

I'm really looking forward to a stay-cation next week so I can stay home and stitch! I'm not going to tell my friends and family that I'm on vacation, either!  HA!

Back from the framer!

I just picked these up from my framing friend!  This is Quaker Moon by Bent Creek.  I found the perfect black square frame at a thrift store for $1 and she only charged me for mounting it.

Quaker Moon - FRAMED!

This is Mary's Sampler II by Plum Street Samplers.  This is another thrift store frame for $1 that I thought matched the colors perfectly and I only had to pay for mounting and the gold mat!

Mary's Sampler II - FRAMED!

This is I'll Get You My Pretty by Sue Hillis Designs.  I did pay for this one to be custom framed because it was an unusual size, 7" x 12".

I'll Get You My Pretty - FRAMED!

Beth at Wilson's Frame-Up has framed 17 of my cross stitch finishes so far!

Turtle Trot SAL - May

Claudette of BAP Attack is hosting the Turtle Trot SAL, where we choose 10 WIPs and post before & after progress pics on the 10th of every month.  I only stitched on 7 of them.  Here is my progress since last time:

Stained Glass Nativity:  I did 222 stitches of blue window in the third panel.  My goal for next month will be to finish the blue windows.

Stained Glass Nativity (before)

Stained Glass Nativity update #7

Harley-Davidson:  I stitched more on the handlebars and windshield.  My goal for next month will be to finish the windshield and the headlight.

Harley-Davidson (before)

Harley-Davidson update #4

Thankful Critters:  I stitched the three pumpkins on the letter G.  My goal for next month will be to finish the letter V.

Thankful Critters (before)

Thankful Critters update #12

Majestic Eagle:  I started stitching the eagle's left leg.  My goal for next month will be to finish the other leg and tail feathers.

Majestic Eagle (before)

Majestic Eagle update #8

Orange Poppies:  I started stitching the green stem of the poppy.  My goal for next month will be to finish this poppy and stitch more green stems.

Orange Poppies (before)

Orange Poppies update #6

Canyon Waterfall:  I filled in the missing holes of confetti stitches in the trees and stitched more sky.  My goal for next month will be to finish the first page.

Canyon Waterfall (before)

Canyon Waterfall update #5

"99":  I stitched one more bottle.  My goal for next month will be to stitch two bottles and the shelf under the six bottles.

"99" (before)

"99" update #10

Bottle #15 is Purple Haze, Abita Brewery, Abita Springs, Louisiana.

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Stitching, everyone!

SAL updates and videos!

I've been so behind in my SALs with Linda and Kaye but I'll really try to keep up now! My Saturday SAL is Fall Welcome.  I finished her sunflower hat and her face will be next!

Fall Welcome update #10

Fall Welcome update #10

My Sunday SAL is Santa's 12 Days of Christmas by The Prairie Schooler.  I started the 6th day by backstitching the border.

Santa's 12 Days of Christmas (Day 6)

My Monday SAL is the Bothy Threads Cut Thru' Monday SAL with almost 50 other stitchers!  There are so many different Cut Thru' designs to choose from!  I stitched a blue blob on North Pole House.

Cut Thru' North Pole House update #9

I'm in several Facebook groups about cross stitching, and in one of the groups, we posted videos of our WIPs or stash to show each other.  I made these 2 videos of some of my WIPs.  Teddy started barking so I stopped the video and then made a part 2 instead of starting all over again.

"I like to bark during videos."

WIPs video #1

WIPs video #2

Great news about Teddy!  He started taking hypothyroidism medication and his weight has gone down from 132 pounds to 120 pounds!  

YOTA Update - May

Yesterday was the first Saturday of the month and time for the YOTA (Year of the Acronym) UFO SAL update hosted by Pull the Other Thread.  Universal Unity is a Dimensions Gold Collection kit that I started in 1998.

Here is the before pic from the April YOTA post:

Universal Unity (before)

I stitched more grass under the tiger.  There are many different symbols for the grass with 3 strands of floss, blending 2 of one color and 1 of another color. I love the effect!

Universal Unity update #16

Which animal should I stitch next, the zebra or the ram?

Theme-A-Licious April Showers

The theme for last month was April Showers, "What pieces can you find in your flood of WIPs that include water? Rivers, lakes, oceans, or rain (and anything that lies within)."  I was thrilled that Heather of It's Geek to Me used my theme suggestion and will send me a prize!

I had a lot of WIPs with water to choose from, but I only managed to stitch on one of them!  I finished the elephant and stitched a row of waves on Christmas Ark by The Prairie Schooler.

Christmas Ark update #3

I also started and finished this cute little Winter Witch freebie from The Snowflower Diaries for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL but she has "frozen water" snowflakes so this one can count, too!

Winter Witch - FINISHED!

"Winter Witch"
Designed by Maja Matyas Szilagyi
The Snowflower Diaries
18 ct green hand-dyed Aida
Started 4/30/2014, Finished 5/1/2014

The theme for this month is Menagerie May, "Is it a zoo in your stack of WIPs? How many projects can you find that include animals or birds?"

I have lots of those!  My WIPs with animals are Universal Unity, Bird Nest (No 2), Santa's 12 Days of Christmas, Gallinas, Gatitos, Thankful Critters, The 12 Days of Christmas, Boo! Club, Eeyore & Butterfly, Dance of the Geckos, Christmas Sampler, Feeding the Rabbits, Leo, Very Scary Mystery Sampler, Easter Hang-Up, Picnic Area, Fall Welcome, Halloween Happiness, Christmas Ark, Majestic Eagle, Shiver Me Timbers, All Hallows Eve, Circle of Songbirds, Black Cat Alphabet, Bear, We're Off to See the Wizard, Rudolph Wreath, Hungarian Peacock Sampler, Snow Bear and Sleigh, Nesting Season, Wolf, The Wizard of Oz, Cats in Hats - Samantha, October Witch Snowlady, Trick or Treat Greeting, Penguins at Play, and Heaven and Nature Sampler.

Hopefully I'll find time to stitch on some of these during May and post updates on June 1.  Happy Stitching, everyone!

TUSAL - April

Are you in the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL)?  Check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your blog post with your ORT jar photo, too!

TUSAL 2014 #5

I don't have any updates to show on my SALs, since I was trying to finish Alice from Resident Evil for my son's birthday.  Nope, I didn't make it in time but he'll get it eventually!

Alice from Resident Evil update #4

Does she look like Milla Jovovich to you?