***Freebie Alert***:Halloween Tea

O.k. So I probably won't do this on a regular basis because I can't promise to always get something posted, but I am deep into holiday mode now that I am stitching Jamie's Christmas stocking.

I came across this Haunted Tea Party cross stitch pattern at Brooke Books Publishing and just HAD to share! I mean as a teacup collector all things "tea" intrique me, but this was just so darn cute!

I don't think I'll get it stitched in time for this year, but if you decide to stitch it, drop me a note and I'll post a link to your blog.

Happy Halloween fellow "witches with stitches",

Christmas Stocking Update ... Week 5

O.k. So here is another week's worth of work. It's coming along slowly, though I haven't started to freak about it not being done in time for the holidays. Hubby will complete the class he's been taking three nights a week this Saturday, so I'm hoping that he will be willing to watch Jamie a little more so I can work on the stocking.

Five weeks isn't bad for the progress I've made ... or at least looking at everything I'm juggling, I don't think so. I'm actually further now in 5 weeks on this one than I was in the nearly 3 monthsI spent on the first attempt, but then again I didn't have the looming holiday!

Week 5 (Oct. 3, 2010)

I actually haven't done ANYTHING on it this week, so this is exactly what it looks like right now. I am about to head up to bed and stitch a little while hubby does some homework.

Until our next cup of tea ...

Christmas Stocking Update ... Week 4

Here is the update on Jamie's Christmas stocking as of Saturday night. I take photos every Sunday morning, before starting to stitch.

Week 4 (Sept.26, 2010)

I'm really enjoying stitching this and watching it come together as long as I don't think of how much time I have left before Christmas (84 days if you're wondering!)George is pretty excited about Jamie's first Christmas as well, even though Halloween is his favorite holiday.

Today, I loaded Jamie up and after running some errands, headed over to Jo-Ann's Fabrics. I really love craft shopping. It so exhilerating starting a new project ... and I am a perpetual starter. I have to force myslef to finish, especially the larger projects, because something new is always catching my eye and I get excited.

Anyway, today I went looking specifically for fabric to decorate a tote for Jamie for Halloween and tricker-or-treating. While I was there I picked up two more fat quarters for a "vintage" quilt that I was making for me and some fabric for the stocking. This is the Christmas fabric I picked.



It was by sheer chance that I found this. The green matches almost exactly the Santa's suit on the stocking (you'll see part of that in the next update photo.) I was worries that everything would be "Chistmas" reds and greens, and that finding something that more of olives and burgandies would be something that I had to search for. I really like not only the colors, but the pattern as well.

Well, I'm off to get some stitching done before bed, I'll post more follow up photos as well as some updates on other projects.

Until our next cup of tea ...

Creating Christmas Memories!

Anyone who knows me, would not be surprised to hear that Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Growing up with my dad and step-mother who had 12 children between the two of them, left little time or energy to put much effort into Chistmas and as a little girl, even into my teen years, I vowed that when I had chicldren that Christmas would be what it was meant to be ... a magical time of year.

Well, during my whole pregnancy I searched through my cross stitch magazine and book collection, looking for the perfect stocking for our little angel. I finally had it picked out and when he was 3-months-old I started stitching. I spent any free time I had on it, which wasn't much with a newborn. 3 months into it, I realized that despite my hard work, I had managed to miscount when crossing from one page of the pattern to another, leaving a 12-stitch gap. UGH! I had to start over! I was nearly halfway done and the mistake was right in the middle of the whole thing. Rather than cry over it, I started collected what I needed and decided that I would stitch it on 14-count Aida, instead of 28-count, over 2. I prefer the softer look of the smaller count, but it definately harder when working on a larger project and I only had from Septemeber until Novemeber to stitch it and sew it, so we could take his Christmas photos with it.

Well, I'm making progress. I work on it for a few hours each day and am only ehind about a week from where I'd planned to be. So far here is the weekly progress pictures.

Week 1 (Sept. 5, 2010)

Week 2 (Sept. 12, 2010)

Week 3 (Sept. 19, 2010)

I feel like I'm making progress this week, despite Jamie's teething issues. I'll post updates as I go along.



The stocking I chose was "Opening His Pack" by Nancy Rossiin the book, "The Stockings Were Hung." (Sorry for the glare!)

Well, off to get a little stitching done before bedtime!

Until our next cup of tea ...

Monkey's Favorite Spot

So this past summer we went home (Texas) for a month while my husband was out of the country on an assignment. Many of the family members had yet to meet this little guy since the Army deemed it vital to move us to the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE U.S. when I was 8-months pregnant, but that's Army life!

While we were there, our little Monkey, as we like to call this happy and active little gift of our, spent a lot of time being spoiled. As the first grandchild/great grandchild on both sides, he was quite a commodity, though my brother quickly followed up with the second grandchild, first grand-daughter, 3 months after Monkey was born.

So went a day on Pa Frank and Ma Joyce's ranch (my grandparents). While we were there lil man recieved his first "made with love" quilt ... his response was to promptly fall alseep on it ... in nothing but a diaper! (How's that for breaking it in!?!)




Over the past few months he has become quite attached to it ... to the point I have to make sure he doesn't fall out of the recliner in his room when I pull it out. Let me explain ...

Monkey is very good at sitting in the recliner with a toy while I fold his laundry or change his sheets, however, every day after his lunchtime nap, I lay the quilt on the floor, throw some toys on it and we practice sitting, crawling, and other age appropriate activities. Now he's got a small room and with the quilt on the floor nearly the whole room is covered in furniture or something, so as soon as I pull it off the toy box (beside the recliner) and open it up, he flips over on his tummy and pushes off the back of the chair and slides down the front to get to the quilt. Luckily I am there to catch him as his feet hit the floor ... much to his amusement. It is a fun game for him, but mommy still gets nervous. Maybe this game is why he was standing on his own, long before the crawl or sitting were attempted (on his part.)

He is content to play on the quilt for quite a while, unless the puppy walks by and he tries to follow. He's just happy as can be, playing on his quilt ... and mommy is happy becasue she gets to sit doen and relax for a minute!







Until our next cup of tea ...

Emerging from Chaos, Still Sleep Deprived, But Stitching!

So lately I've been juggling a lot of things, life with a baby, job search, home maintainence, weight loss (attempt), unit families, leading Baby/Toddler Music group and well, my sanity. My sanity seems to be on the loosing end.

In an attempt to not end up curled up in a corner, crying for my mommy (or chocolate!) I have to spend some time, though not nearly as much as I'd like, on craft projects. My main priority is the baby's Christmas stocking, but I also have two quilts that the tops are about halfway completed (one a little more, the other a little less).

When my mom and step-father came to visit in early August I had the chance to get a little more time in on projects while they took care of the baby. Granted they kept pushing me to relax more than I was, but its hard not to constantly feel like I needed to clean the house while they were here. For years I suffered under a "clean your room, clear your dished or suffer the consequences" regime, so relaxing is hard if there is even one dish in the sink or dirty sock lurking nearby.

I did take some time though and wanting to be a little more organized, decided to make a quick-stitch tote (no liner or anything fancy) so that I could keep whatever project (the baby's stocking) all together and be able to "Grab and Go" if needed (like if Geo has to go to the base to check in or something before we do dinner.)

So my mom and I made a quick trip to JoAnn's while my step-father watched the baby (EEK!) and an hour after starting this is what I had:



My mom really liked it and rather than risk finding it missing after she returned home, I offered to make one for her too. She picked some fabric from my small collection and this is what she got a little over an hour later!



Now the stocking is another story, and I'll post progress pictures and details soon (hopefully!) Life here is crazy and I am sorry to say my blog may be suffering, but I will try to be better ... (It took me 3 days to finish this one!)

Until our next cup of tea ...

Baby Jamie's 1st Quilt ... (by Mommy that is)

O.k. so where was I? Oh, yes, I was sharing the creations of a newly revived need for crafts! I've been busy working on finishing a stitching project for Baby Jamie, but have been having some difficulty posting because at 38-weeks pregnant there is NO position, sitting, lying down or standing that is comfortable and my laptop no longer fits on my lap, so typing is hard. My poor arms barely reach around the baby belly so sitting at the desk is hard and my back aches a lot.

However, while I have the energy and limited back aches, I wanted to post pictures of a quilt I'd put together for Jamie. As I'd written in the Christmas post on my military life blog, Cup of Tea with Friends, I got a sewing and embroidery machine for Christmas and was so excited, I had it out of the box within an hour (I had to clean up all the mess we'd made first.)

As hubby sat down to play one of his new XBox games, the pup and I headed upstairs to the guest room to see what fabric I had in the craft bins. Most of it was pinks and other "girly" fabrics and I really wanted to do something for the baby. After a bit of searching (and nearly destrying the almost completely organized closet) I found some 6-inch squares of muslin fabric and blue with tan stars fabric. I'd forgotten that at one time I was going to make George a quilt (even though I had no sewing machine!)

Since it matched Jamie's Vintage Mickey bedding set, I brought it downstairs and got started. The next day we went to Jo Ann's after visiting a Soldier in the hospital and I picked up some burgandy striped material (among other things). By the start of the new year, this is where I'd gotten ...


As you can see it sort of matches his Vintage Mickey-themed bedding set. (I wanted something that would grow with him!)



My mom arrives tomorrow and I will have her go with me to get material for the border and backing so we can finish it.

Well, I'm off to rest!

Until our next cup of tea ...

Making the Furbaby Comfy and Safe

So as I'll post in a day or so on A Cup of Tea with Friends, my military life blog, the new king bed we got for Christmas was delivered on Thursday. It made the mattress higher than usual (about 2.5-feet to the top of the mattress) and now the puppy's steps are too short for him to get on and off easily. Well, last night, the poor guy was trying to climb down using the steps and lost his footing and completely fell off the bed, nearly hitting his head on the crib we'd set up in there recently. It woke me up (since I haven't been sleeping well anyway) and he just lay there dazed and confused.

I checked him to make sure he was o.k. since it was a complete face plant into the carpet (his short legs have problems catching him). About 15-minutes later he climbed back in bed with the steps and got stuck at the top so I got up to help him up the nearly 12-inch gap. He was just shaking at the top step scared to try to hop. It kind of woke my hubby up and I told him Sgt. Major had fallen and was now too scared to climb in bed by himself. Well, that set the agenda for today.

Despite the (upper) 30 degree weather and freezing rain, hubby and I donned our college sweat shirts and warm(-ish) pants and headed to Lowes to get supplied to make a ramp for the puppy. We spent the morning designing it so that it was sturdy, but wide enough for him to turn and fell comfortable going down on. Supply list in hand we headed to Lowes.

After 4-hours of bitter cold and (much) irritation as to how to go about making it (we have DIFFERENT ways of doing things, I am more planning and design and he likes to "wing it"), we finally got the frame done.



As you can see (below), Sgt. Major liked it so much he was willing to walk up the ramp going nowhere and we couldn't get him off of it, even as we tried to wrap it in carpet ...



We did get it fiished though and it turned out great. (The notch is so it fits over the footbaord and snuggle up again the mattress so there is no gap.)

I think in the (distant) future we'll wrap a piece of plywood in the leather like our headboard or stain it a chocolate brown to match the bed, so it looks better, but for now, the pup can safely snuggle in bed with me when he wants.



Until our next cup of tea ...

Bitten by the bug again!

OMG! I can't believe it has been 4 months since I last posted! In all honesty though, it has been about that long since I've been able to do any significant crafts. A lot has been going on. In October the Army moved us again ... not that I'm complaining, we're in Miami now, but I was more than 7-months pregnant! After a week here at the new house, we headed to Houston for almost 3 weeks for the baby shower and to visit family. After returning we learned that my grandfather had been in a serious car crash and a week later despite all of the doctors efforts he passed away and we drove to Louisiana to attend the funeral. Then we arrived back in Miami at the beginning of December and George started his new command position and I attempted to unpack as much of the house as possible.

So now it's January and things are settling down, which is good because I'm about 6-weeks away from my due date and it's time to start concentrating on baby preparations.

When we went to Louisiana for the funeral my grandmother gave me the baby blanket she had finished a month or so earlier. Since she has so many grandchildren (16) much less the great-grandchildren (4) she is making one blanket for each grandchild's family. She had started making blankets for each of the grandkids in the last year and that was enough to keep her crocheting into the late hours, but then both my (biological) brother and I found out we were expecting at the same time! Boy is her plate full now! (She says God did that to help her keep busy now that my grandfather has passed.) So she asked if making one with blue, pink and yellow was o.k. so that if we have a girl later on we can use if for her too! I think it turned out beautiful!!!




It's bittersweet to have such a beautiful blanket that she worked on while caring for my grandfather even before the accident and G'Pa will certainly be missed.

It will be the first two (biological) great-grandchild for our paternal family and first great-grandchildren for out maternal.

My mother is also crocheting him a blanket and I have some things on my list as well. For a baby in South Florida, he's sure going to have a lot of blankets!

I've got more posts coming soon, so please stop back by. I've got some projects that I am h=finishing now that I am suppose to be resting more.

Until our next cup of tea ...

A Promise of better things to come ...

O.k. This is my promise to be a better blogger friend! With the move, finishing my masters and then getting pregnant, I admit that I have not had as much time as I'd like to read other blogs or blog myself, but I promise to be better.

Now that I am in "mommy" mode I think I have come up with a system to accomplish this. Each time I post on one of my blogs (this one or A Cup of Tea with Friends (Military Life Blog) I will put a colored star on my calendar (a different color for each blog.) My goal is also to visit the blogs on my sidebar weekly. Each week I visit each blog I'll put a different colored start on my calendar. (If I missed you, please let me know. As I get comments I will check to make sure you are on the list.)

I think this way I will be able to see at a glance how I'm doing. Isn't it a bit sad though that I have to revert to the system parents use to get their kids to do chores? I promise it's not a chore, my days seems to run together now that we prepare for ANOTHER move and the baby. I've already done two posts in two day on this blog, so the system must be working!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Until our next cup of tea ...