Mystic Garden SAL

Ok, an update, didn't think it had been this far behind. This is for the 2013 HAED cross stitch SAL.  This is Mystic Garden started, on 25ct antique rose, 1x1 full cross.  I'm kind of at a stopping point....again.  So I haven't gotten very far, and not sure I will.  I do this every SAL.....fantastic charts, so I end up joining, and I really don't have the time, or patience, for it.

Maybe I'll have better resolve and quit doing that.  These are intended for giveaways, so it's not totally frivolous, but based on what I am trying to get done,  it's more distraction than I can afford, I think. I have been physically feeling a little better, very small steps here and there.  It still takes me too long to do anything.(Bad enough that it already did before I got sick.)  I am feeling pressure to make the business venture more of a go, things that are finished, getting views, and a couple things generating money....before this time next year.

So I need to get my head on straight.  There are still plenty of things swirling in the personal background, as well as the road to recovery.  And I do have a few other things going to generate some immediate money.  I will need to change the balance of that some.  I also think I want to really concentrate more on the adult section of cross stitch.  The zodiac and birthstones are still important, too.  I need to cut back on allowing some willy nilly projects though.  And I still need stitchers that want to work at home with these kinds of charts.  Hopefully soon I will have more concrete info to post on a few things.

Pics and SALs

Yep, I'm quite sure I've been remiss and a bit absent.  Busy, busy, mostly in the personal sense..not so much in the stitching or business sense.   Probably will be still hustling a bit over the next couple months. Trying to get an organized routine down---as helpful as it is hurtful!!

Anyway, so a burst of the other last pics of 2012 that I didn't get out here.  Top is Fractal 76 from Cross Stitch Collectibles, 1x1 on 28ct white.  Then SK Blossoms, SPML, HAED, 2x1 on 18ct white.  Letter R, Selina Fenech, HAED, 2x1 18ct white(sparklies are Kreinik #4 braid 1/2 only 2 strands).  And Forgiveness, Galbreth, HAED, 1x1 on 28ct white.

Other than that, main progress has been starting the HAED SAL, Mystic Garden, 1x1 on rose 25ct.  And a FB SAL, with a Tilton Crafts one, Vermilion Paradise 1x1 on 28ct white.  I had thought I was moving right along on QS Pale Rose, too....but messed up on it pretty good I guess while I was sick, so I tossed that--we just won't talk about that one right now.  At least I do want to restart it.

Another WIP Pic

Hmm, poking around at my pics on the desktop, I found this other pic of SK Blossoms.  It's older, from last year, but I don't think I uploaded it here. Hmm, maybe I did...but it was a while ago.  I've done a nice bit finally, in the last few months, so it's farther along, but this should tide you over for a little while.  Amazing how difficult some of these confetti spots can be.

I am getting antsy.  I still have to break my day down into very small bits.  I do make a mental list, now that I can get away from having to write on paper there for a while......so at least I do have goals and errands in a clear light, of what needs to get done.  I just can't get it all done, by far.  I am the XMAS tree decorator, for example.........but even with the tree assembled and the ornaments out and unwrapped, it took me 3 days(one day off in the middle, too sore) to do lights, garland and a few ornaments, in between a few other errands out of the house.


I will be looking forward to some serious stitching pretty soon.  I got my first charts ordered from Tilton Crafts, too.  More of the same, unsual and interesting charts. You guys may have to help me figure out which one to start first!

At Least One Pic, New Website

 

I had wanted to take the latest update pics on everything, now that I am making some progress stitching.  But, my energy is not up to snuff yet, so a little at a time.  This is MS October Birthstone, small, on 18ct white. Mostly just the black outline.  I have tried to fill in with a few confetti stitches, but that's not as easy as I was thinking.  The confetti doesn't follow any pattern or simple lines to jump around nicely in a small area.

 

My initial website is up and running.  I've just started working on it, again, very small bits at a time. Nowhere near ready to really put out there for advertising, etc.  But you can peek, The Blushin Rose and check it out.  I'm hoping to chip away at some good progress on it at least by the end of the year, but, never know with the holidays. 

 

And my holiday plans are pretty quiet(ha, that's what I said last year---don't need a repeat of THAT). Hope you all are having a decent holiday season, with stitching time! Don't let the stress get you bonkers!

HAED, and just an update here

So, I've seen all the buzz lately about HAED having a tough time keeping their doors open, and Appreciation Week Sep 10-14.  Nice, but I don't know why it took so long for people to pick up on this/panic.  I know I've been hearing they've been having real trouble, for I dunno...the last year??  My timeline is screwy, don't ask me.....it's probably been even longer.  Just sayin'.  Nothing mean-spirited in that, kudos really for people stepping up(although I think that has probably become a headache to handle as well, in itself)....just wondering why it took so long for other folks to notice--and no, I'm not some secret insider.  I know it would be an absolute shame if they couldn't continue, same owners or not; this stitching and art brings such a joy to people.

Anyway, yep, I've been MIA for far toooooo long. I've been tied up with this medical stuff for the better part of this entire year so far, and nearly nothing else.  I'm a bit tired of it, but I'm trying not to think about it.  It's been life altering, in nearly every facet, some of which I am really not liking at the moment. And, generally speaking, it seems like I am starting over....at nearly everything.  Physically, I don't have a lot of strength either, so I am juggling multiple things, at a pace that is even making me pretty impatient, have to go really slow.

My stitching site? Still in the works.  With the medical issues, as I heal, that is one of the few things I should be able to do and would be good for me.  The continual slow track, I'll need something to keep me busy.  I just don't think it would be ready, or wise, to open anything before at least Jan 1....I'm not in shape for XMAS, etc.  I have only started stitching again in the last week or so. Bits and pieces on October Birthstone, the blue fractal, SK Blossoms, even Summer (Mucha) and such... Did I mention I was in on the 2012 SAL?  SK Blue Moon, gridded, but nary a stitch.....blah.

Frogpile Pic and latest update

This is still the fresh off the frame pic, but here is FrogPile. Finished, and off to family. 14ct aida, that I had started a while back. Click it to enlarge to see the detail.


And uh, I know I've been absent.......this medical stuff was quite a blow. I ended up with more surgeries, and am still recovering. I have only been able to pick up stitching in the last week, and boy that felt good! Working on just the solid black on White Rose.

The website plans have tentatively moved to June 1. That may still change, depending on my recovery, and all the things I am behind on!

Another Punch

Well, it's been a little while since I last posted. And nothing new really as far as stitching. I haven't been able to. I went in for a somewhat minor surgery before Christmas......and ended up in the ER Christmas Day, since it didn't hold. I'll spare the gory details, but I am only recently home, and have a long recovery ahead still. I'm lucky to hit 130lbs on a bad day, but have been graced with basically a gastric bypass type surgery, and repairing a collapsed lung, plus all the infectious stuff you can imagine that might go with that. I have daily meds to take for a while, some through an IV line that is still in my right arm. I haven't tried to stitch yet, but I have a feeling that it will only be in short bursts until that comes out(in a couple more weeks). Yuck.

My energy level is low, but as I get a chance, I will try to get to some pics. I had made a little progress before XMAS, and at this rate, it will be a bit before I have anything else significant to show.

I will still be working on my bigger stitching plans, although I think I need to move the opening date to something more like April 1. A few other thoughts....but that will have to wait a few days until I post again with a clearer head!

Hope everyone had better holidays than I did, and got in some good stitching!!!