Crazy January Challenge 2014 Comes To An End

Its January 15th the final day in the 2014 Crazy January Challenge!  For the first fifteen days of the month I have started a NEW project every day!  I even finished a couple on the same day I started it.

Here are my starts from days 13, 14, and 15 more Prarie Schooler ornaments!  Top is a Santa, middle a cute little house in the snow, and the bottom will be an adorable snowman.  I'm looking forward to now finishing then finishing all of these ornaments.

On the other hand its going to be nice to get back to some regular progress on my WIPS.

Hope you enjoyed my Crazy January Challenge!

Crazy January Challenge Days 11 & 12

Being the weekend I was hoping to make some great stitching progress.  I did today, but Saturday not so much.

Saturday I had lots to do, like laundry in a washing machine that's not working properly (repair guy is coming on Tuesday)... that took forever and was an exercise in frustration!  I also had a cake to bake and decorate, was we were getting together as a family later that day to celebrate what would of been my Mum's 63rd birthday.  I'm glad we did that.

I thought I would be able to get in some good stitching time on Saturday so I started a small but ambitious project.  As you can see, I didn't get very far.  This piece was a class I took by Teresa Wentzler in 2008 called Camelot Miniature - its all over one!  I know I'm going to enjoy this piece when I really get going with it!

Today I definitely got in the stitching time I thought was going to on Saturday.  Today's start wasn't a planned one I was doing some work organizing my stash and this cute, chart just jumped out at me!  Today's start that I made great progress on is called Three Little Maids based on a Valerie Pfeiffer painting.

Just three more days of the Crazy Challenge to go!  Its a busy week ahead again so I'm sure there will be more small starts over the next few days.

Crazy January Challenge - Days 9 & 10

I was quite exhausted by Thursday that I started to fall asleep in my chair with stitching in hand.  So I knew it was best to give it up!  Keeping things simple I started yet another ornament from the Prairie Schooler Booklet I've been working form all week.  I believe this one is a poinsettia.

Tonight I figured, why break the trend and started the angel ornament.

I'm glad with the way this week has been, that I was smart enough to pull this chart up, a nice big piece of linen and pull all of the thread.  Its really made this week's starts easy!

January Crazy Challenge - Day 8

This week is proving to be a busy one!  After work started with a trip to Costco, a quick nap on the couch, my Weight Watchers meeting that was quite long tonight (introduction to Simple Start), and a trip to Wal-Mart.  Needless to say I wasn't even eating my dinner until after 8PM.

So I needed another quick start and since its all kitted up and all the colours were pulled I started another Prarie Schooler ornament from the chart I've been working from for the last few days.  Today's start is a pinecone.

Crazy January Challenge - Day 7

Alright, seven days in - seven new starts and eight more to go!

Like yesterday I've kept today's new start small.  Another busy night for me, since my Mum passed this past summer my sister and I started having dinner with my Dad once a week if we can.  I always take a little stitching with me so I was able to start today's project at my Dad's and I kept it small because I knew I wouldn't have a lot of stitching time once I got home

Today's start is from the same Prarie Schooler booklet as yesterday.  This time I started the reindeer.

Crazy January Challenge Day 6

Well many, many, many children in my area today got a belated Chrsitmas gift, a snow day for the first day back to school!  Sunday started out with snow, then later that night I could hear freezing rain hitting our windows, by morning it was rain... then by 11am it was all going to freeze over again.  Thus making the roads treacherous!  So it was a Snow Day and a lovely way to ease into going back to work, I was able to safely get out of the driveway and to the highway so it was off to work for me!

Despite there being a handful of kids at work I was still pretty tired and headachy by the time the afternoon rolled around.  I had my date at the gym for my small group session with the personal trainer (5 of us and a trainer, much more affordable than one on one with a personal trainer... which if money were no object I would so have one!).  I discovered I managed to loose 0.2lbs over the Christmas holidays despite being busy/lazy/sleepy/eating out/eating junk/etc...etc...etc.  So that made my day!

After a shower and dinner I settled in for about two hours of stitching, its now after 10PM and I'm sleepy so its time to share today's small, new start (small, because of first day back to work, gym, being tired).  This soon-to-be Santa is from Prarie Schooler's Book No. 172 Christmas Favorites.  I picked it up for a steal when I stopped in at Because You Count in Moncton, N.B. on my trip home from Cape Breton (where I was also lucky enough to be invited for dinner and a bed for the night to break up my trip home with Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams and her family!  I used to be one of her model stitchers.).

When I have time to get back to him, he'll be quick to finish.

Crazy January Challenge - Day 5

Today's start is a little chart/fabric kit I bought last fall.  The colours caught my eye and I thought, boy am I going to enjoy stitching this!  I'm glad it was a one day start/finish!

A Little Christmas

c2012 Lizzie*Kate

Stitched on provided fabric with DMC, WDW and GAST

Sadly that wasn't the case, I really didn't enjoy this stitch at all.  I'm pretty sure its the floss colours, the picture on the cover was much more vibrant.  I know that the recommended flosses were overdyed, I used the colours I had on hand and substituted for DMC when I didn't.  I'm not sure if that's what made the difference, why I didn't like it.  I think at some point I'll finish this as a little pillow and gift it to someone.

Alas, my holidays are over and I'm up early back to work, and back to the gym tomorrow!

January Crazy Challenge Day 4

Not as productive day on Day 4 of the challenge.  I took advantage of the warming temperatures (from almost -40c with the windchill up to -5c) and got out for a few hours, did a little shopping... got some groceries in the house since I'm back to work on Monday.  Then a nap was in order, it appears that bout of insomnia has caught up with me.

So today's new start, another Bent Creek design, small and I should of been able to finish it up in a day but I honestly didn't start it until the dinner hour, then there was that two hour nap...  Anyhow, here's Tall Snowman today's start.

I did also manage to do the finishing on one more ornament.  I couldn't tell you what this design is or where I got it.  It has been sitting in my finishing bin for quite awhile!  But I do love how it turned out.

January Crazy Challenge Day 3

I must say I've had very good third day of the January Crazy Challenge.  Actually I had a very productive day!

 Cardinal Tweet

c2013 Just Nan

I had a bad case of insomnia so I had my first finish of 2014, not only a finish but a finished finish! If I had realized I had so little left to do, I would of finished this cutie sooner!

Wear a Smile

Lizzie*Kate

Stitched on 28ct African Daisy Joblean

Stitched with: Carrie's Creation Wildberry Breeze and Sassy & GAST Mediterranean Sea

Today's start also turned into my second finish of 2014!  Though I actually stitched this on the recommended fabric, I totally changed the floss 100% and added some beads from my Mum's stash that I inherited.  The colours in this picture are not quite true due to the light I took it under.

Somehow today my finishative mojo kicked in and I did the finishing on quite a few ornamehts I had waiting to be ornamentified.

Bent Creek's Glad Tidings

Daffycat's Reindeer

Rudolph Cross Stitcher Magazine Feebie

Crazy Challenge Day Two

January 2nd and day two of the Crazy Challenge (15 new projects in 15 days!).  I was undecided on what I wanted to start when I got out of bed this morning.  So I had a sit, had a think with a cup of tea and decided what to start today.

I had a few projects lined up in my head before the Christmas Break started and decided to work on Michael Powell's Mini River Cottage.  My reasoning was that River Cottage was one of the bigger projects I had lined up so I could make significant progress since I wasn't working or going anywhere today.  Also was the simple reason that its a kit and was all ready to go... I didn't have to pull anything, think of fabrics or fibers.  It easy to just pick up and go.

I also want to share with you a new start from the days between Christmas and New Year's.  I wasn't really able to focus on stitching those few days so I decided I needed to start something small and colourful.  I pulled out Just Nan's Cardinal Tweet... I love how the reds pop on the Natural 32ct Linen I'm using.

First Stitches of 2014, Special Gifts, TUSAL and Stitching Goals

As I mentioned a few days ago I was looking forward to my first stitches of 2014.  My annual tradition of a new start as soon as the clock hits 12:01 on New Year's Day!

We spent New Year's Eve and most of the day at my friend Rebecca's with her family.  This year Beatrice joined us as well which was lovely!

Here's my first stitch of 2014 on Bent Creek's Stitching Row!  Beatrice and I both started it after midnight.  I didn't get in too many more before we were heading to bed!

Also as I've done the last few years I'll be doing the Crazy January challenge where I start a new project a day for the first 15 days of the year!  I am not as planned or organized as I have been in past years so I won't give you a nice long list of new starts, but I'll surprise you each day with what I've started!

Since I'll be starting a new project tomorrow (today technically) here's where I got with Stitching Row today.  I would of liked to have gotten further, but I was tired, took a nap and we had a 2 hour drive home.  The suspension in the truck is a little stiff so the drive was too bumpy for stitching on the way home.

Beatrice surprised both me and Rebecca with a lovely gift!  She gave each of us one of her Mom's ornaments.  I am so touched to be given something that was stitched by Adriana!  Also that Beatrice was willing to part with some of her amazing Mom's work.

Today is the start of this year's TUSAL, the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long.  Really there's no point to this besides the fact that we show off our orts on the New Moon of the month.  Daffycat so graciously hosts this each year!

Here was my ort jar on December 31, 2013 a full year of orts and I've finally come across an ort jar I didn't have to stuff down to get more orts in!

As is my annual tradition, my ort jar was emptied today!  I always start fresh on New Year's Day!

Also I'm going to get back to goal setting!  So here are my stitching goals for the month of January.

January Stitching Goals
Start 15 new projects
Stitch one ornament
Work on the Accolade