Today is a Wonderful Day It's Small Sals Sharing Day

This is my Finished Small for April 2016.  This design appeared in a Cross-Stitch and Needlework Magazine.

These are DMC threads, I switched out the overdyes.  The colors look brighter, and I really am trying to bring some Sunshine into the Dark Days of April

 
Take a hop over to Heather's Stitching Lotus to see all the wonderful April Finishes happening in the Small Sal 2016.

April 2016 Small

 Here is an update on Silent Night Cardinals. I did not get all the green finished this week, but was happy with my progress

 Here is My Red Nutcracker.  He is Nutcracker #3 for my 2016 Yearly Goal of 12 Nutcrackers. .  Looking pretty good now and he will have his head soon .

Work is killing me this week,  My co-worker is on vacation and I am so behind in my blog reading.  I read all my favorite blogs during my breaks and lunch at work.  Hope to get caught up soon.

Happy Place

The world of Blogging  is my "Happy Place".  In the writing of my blog, and more important in the Reading of blogs.  Blogs from all over the world.  How much to learn about culture, food, customs.  Yes this is my Happy Place.

I am reminding myself of this especially today, because of all of the nonsense that is happening in my wonderful country.(the not so United States of America)  That was built on Freedoms (and we brag about it) and these basic freedoms with a guarantee to all of us,  - and since we with glass houses often times throw stones it is good to remember if you are free to be you, than I am free to be me.

I am very excited to share my latest finish.  Stoney Creek Welcome - Plop Your Flops. This I started just about a year ago and finishing it was a 2016 Goal..  It's Done.  I had so much fun doing these Flip Flops -  They are a true a sign of Summer in CNY and everyone wears them.  I think I am going to do a bunch more as Smalls in many different designs.  I know that will be too much fun.

This Is Nutcracker #3 -  this 1s a 2016 yearly goal to have completed 12 Nutcrackers by 12/25  - This little guy will look just like Mr. Green and Mr. Blue, but you guessed it dressed in Red.

I was so excited on my Plop Flops Finish, I pulled out another WIP.  I started this for Debbie's Ultimate challenge of 15 New Starts back in 2013. (I thought 15 new starts was crazy, so for all of you who start each year with these Challenges I am too impressed.) I have only worked on it once.  This is too a Stoney Creek Design. So here are Silent Night Cardinals  - Fingers crossed they are not as much Trouble as Cardinal with Candy Cane - We will see.When I do these designs the changing of colors are so crazy.  I have pulled out all the greens, and threaded needles for all the colors - it seems to go faster as there are all these little bits of stitches all over the place. I have to stitch next to each other as much as possible - If you look up above to Mr. Red, it took me about 10 minutes of counting and recounting to jump over to put that other column of green stitches in.  I was a mess.  And that is an easy fabric to work on.  SO.  I am on a mission to see how much green I can get done over the next few days.

  I will always have a Stoney Creek design in the mix - these were one of my first Cross Stitching passions and I still get a Feeling of Peace whenever I am stitching one of them - and I still subscribe to the Magazine.

All but the Eyes

When I pick a new project from my ever growing pile of TODO's, I have a heart to heart discussion with the dog (Cali).  Ask a few questions - Does this meet any of our current goals?  How long do you think this will take?  Do you remember what was going through your mind when you moved this from the Someday Pile to the TODO Pile?   Was a specific reason why this chart was purchased to begin with? Do we have the required threads, or will we have to substitute?

All the answers we came up with made great sense and I began with high hopes and great expectations.

Here he is finished - A Cardinal with a Candy Cane - just need to get the beads for his eyes.  

HOWEVER!!!!!.  I can't tell you how difficult this was for me to finish.  There was a lot of Ripping out and Restitching.  The fabric bothered me - it really is a pine green - but somehow I could never get the count right and was constantly off one line.  That was the easy part --- But the Snowflakes were a mess.  These 12 Snowflakes took me THREE HOURS.  And I think the one at the top right is a little off, and to that I say, Oh Well.  I am so NOT a Perfectionist.  And he is a 2016 Christmas Finish, a Small Finish, with a huge introduction.   

The snow is finally melted here.  Fingers crossed it is gone now until October.  A Floss Organization Project is set for the Weekend - I hate to do it, but I know in the long run, it will save me so much time later.  If anyone would like to share some great ideas on how your organize your floss, I would love some.

No more Whining about the Rain in April

Sunday Morning I woke up to this wonderful backyard

This was about three inches of new snow.  And we received 3 more for a total of 6.6 inches of snow yesterday.  And Wait, we are not done.  More snow predicted for the rest of the week.


One amazing thing about a day of cold and snow, I was able to complete the next month of HandsOnDesigns year in Chalk -- April.  Smiling with every stitch, as I watched the snow fall.

I also have two small updates, Cardinal and Candy Cane and Tender Heart (Retreat Piece).

Enjoy the day.