Crazy January start #30

Day #30 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is The Boys are Back in Town from Just Another Button Company.  I used DMC variegated floss instead of the Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art, and Crescent Colours floss listed in the pattern.  I really need to practice stitching with variegated floss, since I'm not too excited with how this looks right now!  LOL.  This has 8 buttons from JABC for the mummy, vampire, and monster heads, a bat, owl, skull, spider, and pumpkin.  I'm stitching on dark gray 14 ct Aida and it will be about 7" x 5".

The Boys are Back in Town

I pulled out another Halloween design from my WIPocalypse list, Halloween Happiness, an Imaginating chart.  I haven't touched this one since the first day when I started it last January. Today I stitched part of the white moon.  This is on 18 ct brown Davos fabric.

Halloween Happiness update #1

I also finished the January ornament for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.  It's not finished-finished yet.  I just folded the fabric to see how it will look whenever I try to make it into an ornament some day.

Skeleton - FINISHED!

"Skeleton"
Sheena Rogers Designs
October 2012 newsletter
14 ct black Aida
Started 2/2/2014, Finished 2/2/2014

Crazy January start #29

Day #29 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is The Wave, a painting done by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1896.  The chart is from Cross Stitch Collectibles.  It has 28 pages and I would be happy to finish one page this year.  My goal was one 10x10 block today, but I am missing one floss color, DMC 157.  There were 10 different colors in this block of sky!  This will be about 20" x 15" on 18 ct off-white Aida.  I don't expect to finish this one any time soon!

The Wave

The confetti in this full-coverage design it just like the sky on Flaming June and Canyon Waterfall, but I didn't choose one of these as the companion WIP.  Instead, I thought the perfect match for this woman on the sand would be Beach Babe by Diane Arthurs!  I started her last January and never touched it again until today when I finished stitching the little blue pouch hanging from her neck with a goldfish on it.  She will be about 6" x 8" on 14 ct white Aida.

Beach Babe update #1

Crazy January start #28

Day #28 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Heaven and Nature Sampler from Cross Stitch Gold magazine, issue #18.  This design caught my eye because it has so many different animals in it, like a moose, porcupine, bobcat, meerkat, bat, raccoon, wolf, fox, etc.  Santa's sleigh and reindeer are at the bottom, too!  I started by stitching the two hanging pinecone weights under the cuckoo clock. I'm stitching over 2 on 28 ct white evenweave and it will be 12" x 16".

Heaven and Nature Sampler

Another WIP I started last January with forest animals is Picnic Area from The Prairie Schooler.  Today I stitched the letter A.  The fabric is a dark green 14 ct Aida, but it looks brighter in the photo.  This will be 9" x 7".

Picnic Area update #6

Crazy January start #27

Day #27 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Santa's Cuisine by StitchWorld.  I bought this kit at a thrift store for $2.50.  I started in the center with the lid of the pot and steam coming out.  I wonder what Santa is cooking!  This is on 14 ct oatmeal Aida and will be about 10" x 13"

Santa's Cuisine

I found another Santa on my WIPocalypse list that I started last January, Yo Ho Ho Ho by Sue Hillis Designs.  This pirate Santa has a candy cane hook for a hand, a candy-striped peg leg, and an eye patch!  There are 3 different shades of terra cotta in his coat.  I stitched more on his coat and beard today.  This is on 14 ct gold-dusted Stardust Aida and will be about 4" x 6".

Yo Ho Ho Ho update #2

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

Crazy January start #25

Day #25 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Easter Egg Towel, a free design from Favecrafts.  There will be 7 Easter eggs in the 9.5" x 2.5" Aida section of this yellow hand towel.

Easter Egg Towel

Last year I also started stitching the Hamburger & French Fries design on a kitchen towel.  This chart is in the StitchWorld X-Stitch Incredible Edibles booklet.  The Aida section is 4" x 5.5".  Today I finished the top of the hamburger bun.

Incredible Edibles (Hamburger & French Fries) update #1

This is my first time stitching on towels.  I think it's fun!  Have you ever cross stitched on a towel before?

Crazy January start #24

Day #24 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Best of Friends, a cross stitch kit from China.  It is called "accurate cross stitch" where each square of the Aida is printed with the symbol from the chart.  I stitched 3 strands of light brown starting in the lower left corner.  It is so easy to follow the symbols.  I love it!  This is based on a painting by Emile Vernon.

Best of Friends

Best of Friends

After you finish stitching the entire design, you soak the fabric in water and all the printed ink will disappear.

It comes with presorted floss and a color chart with DMC numbers also.  The entire kit was only $19 with free shipping.  This will be 25" x 20" on 11 ct Aida.

Another cute design with little girls from my WIPocalypse list is Ring Around the Rosie, a Hummel picture.  I started this last January and never touched it again after the first day.  Today I stitched the dark gray in the little girl's dress.  This will be 14" x 14" on 14 ct Aida.

Ring Around the Rosie update #1

I'm stitching both of these pictures for my mom.  She has a huge doll collection and these designs would fit right in at her house!  See a few photos HERE.

Smalls SAL and TUSAL - January

It's the last Wednesday of the month and time for the Smalls SAL!  This is my first finish of 2014, Life's a Stitch by Lizzie*Kate.  This is a traveling pattern and now I'll send the chart to Virpi in Finland.

Life's a Stitch - FINISHED!

"Life's a Stitch"
Lizzie*Kate
14 ct Desert Rose Rustico Aida
Started 1/3/2014, Finished 1/29/2014

It's also time for the Totally Useless Stitch-Along (TUSAL).  Here is a pic of my ORT jar this month.  I'll keep adding all those little bits of floss to it all year long!  Be sure to check in on Daffycat's blog with a link to your TUSAL blog post, too!

TUSAL 2014 #2

Here is a picture of all 3 of my cats, Billy, Blueberrie, and Bubbles (top to bottom). Blueberrie has been wearing a cone for two weeks because he was scratching his ear so much, he broke a blood vessel and got a hematoma and his ear swelled up. The vet had to do surgery on his ear.  We still don't know why he was so itchy in the first place.  No fleas, no ear mites, no infection.  She guessed it must be allergies, but we don't know what he's allergic to!

Crazy January start #23

Day #23 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Boo-gie Fever by Sue Hillis Designs.  I finished one skeleton.  I'm using glow-in-the-dark floss by DMC, which is so much nicer and softer and easier to stitch with than the glow-in-the-dark from Kreinik.  I highly recommend it!  I'm stitching on black 14 ct Aida and it will be about 7" x 9".

Boo-gie Fever

Boo-gie Fever

Since I'm stitching skeletons, I pulled out another skeleton from my WIPocalypse list, Skel on Bike. I bought this chart from Witch Stitch 'n' Bits but the designer has retired and the website is closed now.  I started this in 2012 and never touched it again after the first day.  Today I stitched more of the bike frame.  This will be 12.25" x 13" on 22 ct evenweave that I dyed black (but not very dark).

Skel on Bike update #1

Crazy January start #22

Day #22 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Believe by Mary Engelbreit.  This chart is in the book, Mary Engelbreit Christmas Ideas, Make Good Cheer!  I'm stitching on 28 ct black Cashel linen and it will be about 11" x 16".  I started in the middle on Santa's coat, which has 4 different shades of red.  Most of the colors in the design are tweeded, or blended, 2 strands of one color and 1 strand of another color.  I really enjoyed stitching on this linen!

Believe

Believe

I also stitched on another Christmas design from my WIPocalypse list, Candy Cane Christmas by Ursula Michael.  I started this for the Crazy January Challenge last year but never stitched on it again after the first day.  Today I stitched on the letter "M" in Merry.  I'm using very sparkly Charles Craft Stardust silver-dusted 14 ct Aida and it will be 11" x 8".

Candy Cane Christmas update #1

It's always time for Christmas stitching!

Stitch From Stash January

Mel from Epic Stitching started a Stitch From Stash group to encourage us to stay on a budget of less than $25 per month for cross stitching.  Click the link to see the list of blogs that are participating.  This challenge has already saved me money, since I thought twice about buying some new kits "for the future" that I didn't really need. Here is my check-in for January:

Amount Spent:  $0.00, ZERO! ZILCH! NADA!

New Starts from Stash: Wicked Witch, Count Your Blessings, Life's a Stitch, Happy Easter, Hungarian Peacock Sampler, Snow Bear and Sleigh, Collection, Nesting Season, Wolf, The Wizard of Oz, Alice from Resident Evil, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Boos Brothers, Spring Sampler, Cats in Hats - Samantha, Jacks are Wild, October Witch Snowlady, Trick or Treat Greeting, Disney Princesses Pixel People, Woodland Splendor, Penguins at Play.

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Universal Unity, I'll Get You My Pretty, Basket of Fruit, Very Scary, Easter Hang-Up, Merci, Out for a Ride, The IT Crowd, Bird Nest (No 2), Bear, Star Wars, Pac-Man, Eeyore and Butterfly, Boo! Club (Fright), La Pensée Positive, Gatitos, Triple Jack-O-Lanterns, Shiver Me Timbers, Holiday Cheer, Disney Princess Birth Announcement, Autumn Heart, Gallinas, Candy Cane Christmas.

I'm still a few days behind in my Crazy January starts, or my list would have been longer!  No finishes this month yet.  I'll include the end of January info in my February post next month.

I loved Tricia's idea (The Stamper's Stitches) of showing what she didn't buy this month.  Here is what I was tempted to get "just because" but I resisted and didn't spend a penny!

Set of all 12 Beach Kits for $12

Crazy January start #21

Day #21 of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge is Penguins At Play by Witchykitt Designs.  There are actually 3 different penguins charts that I am stitching all together.  This is part 3.  I am stitching on 14 ct white Aida and it will be 12" x 4".

Penguins At Play

I found a similar UFO in my WIPocalypse list to stitch on today also.  What else to match up with funny penguins than funny chickens?  I found this free chart, Gallinas (Spanish for chickens) on a Spanish website, nacaranta.com.  I started this one in the Crazy January Challenge 2012.  Today I started stitching the white on the chicken and her head.  There is a lot of white in this design so I chose to use 14 ct ivory Aida and this will be 14" x 8.5".

Gallinas update #2

Now it's time to get back to stitching!