Bit by bit, tiny steps

I wish I could stitch faster! I'm pretty slow at stitching, so my projects tend to take forever. (Well, that and the fact that I get bored with them, so I switch to another one for a while)

Here is the tiny bit of progress I have gotten done on my Candy Cane Christmas.
Before:

Now:

I am getting so far along on this one! This one is the most completed of all of my projects, so I think that is part of what keeps me motivated to work on it. I just want to finish it!

 For this holiday weekend, I will be stuck working (I'm actually at work right now typing this up). It should be pretty slow, though, so I'm hoping to be able to get some stitching in, while I'm at it. It won't be this project, though. My work project is Kyoto (pic is on the left).
I haven't been posting pictures of it, since the fabric has the design printed on it, and it can be difficult to determine the actual progress. I just don't like the look of it in progress pictures. If you guys want a progress picture of it, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just keep sneakily updating the progress counter on the left without any posts about it.

Color SAL - Red

I joined a one day SAL for Tuesday, and the goal was to only stitch one color. This time, the color chosen was red.

Since there is plenty of red in my Candy Cane Christmas, I stitched on it some. I did have to put it aside for a little bit so I could stitch up the beer bottle for my 99 bottles project, but I did get a lot done. I didn't get to finish the words, as I was hoping, but here are the before and after pics.

(Forgive the lighting, I took this one in a hurry before bedtime)

99 Bottles - Beer #2

I find myself in the same situation as the last update for this project. I have 2 project updates, but I want to keep the beers separate.

I went out with the husband and friends again, and decided to continue the beer tasting. I already knew which beer was in the 1B spot, and it is common enough to find, so I decided to try this one.

The beer I went with this time is Heineken. I have heard of and seen this beer many different places, but I had never actually tried it before, so this was a first for me.


What I liked: Uhhm... the green color of the bottle...? (OK, I didn't even drink it from a bottle)

What I didn't like: The taste was just off, for me. It seemed quite bitter.

Honestly, I didn't really like this beer at all. When I first received it, I took a smell from the top, and I would have to describe the odor as almost skunk-like, just not as strong. Luckily, the taste wasn't quite so bad, so I could actually drink it. Once I got to drinking it, the skunk odor wasn't as noticeable, but I had a hard time drinking this beer. I didn't even finish it, which is rare for me.

Here are some pictures of the new bottle, keeping the first one company:

Successful craft fair

I had my craft fair over the weekend, and it was a success!
I don't do fairs as a living, so I am usually just happy to at least make enough to cover my booth fees. I would love to eventually do this as a living, but in the mean time, I am starting out small and building up to it.
Here is a picture of my booth:

Now, for those of you thinking, "Wow, it's a little dark", you are correct! I had an awesome spot right in the front where everyone was coming in and going out. However, the light right above my booth was burned out, and maintenance wasn't able to get it replaced. I was really bummed about getting stuck in the dark for the fair, since most of what I sell is jewelry, and you need good lighting for it.
Shortly after this picture was taken, though, I was able to move just across the hall (from about the spot where I stood to take this picture), since there was an empty spot. It was perfect. I was still in the front, and I had light, too!

Now that the fair is over, I'm wanting to get back to stitching, since I'm not planning on another fair until October.
I have signed up for a color SAL that takes place on Tuesday, 5/24. I have that day off from work since it is the hubby's birthday, so I hope to get some stitching in. I will be stitching only red that day. It should be interesting. I have plenty of red left in my Candy Cane Christmas. 
If I do get all the red done in my Candy Cane Christmas, then I think I'll pick up Qingming again, as requested by a buddy of mine. True, there really is no red in it (at least not in the section where I am), but I want to get more progress done on page 3.

More keychains!

A few posts back, I told everyone about the new keychains that I was making. They were so much fun and so easy to make, that I ordered even more supplies. They finally came in, so I went over to my mom's and we made keychains all afternoon. We had a blast!
Mom had some ribbon scraps leftover from some things she made, so we used some of those, as well. There were a lot of extra supplies, so she will be making more throughout the week for me, too!

Here is a picture of the keychains that we made, just in time for my craft fair booth this weekend!

IHCW, or International Hermit and Craft Weekend!

So, this weekend was IHSW again. Since I have another craft fair coming up next weekend, I didn't get any stitching done at all, though. Instead, I did some other crafts for my booth. Let me show you what I did make!

I had ordered supplies to make some cabochon necklaces, and they all finally came in last week. I like to use old Game Informer magazines to create glass marble magnets, and thanks to a co-worker giving me a bunch, I have a lot to go through. I picked out a few of my favorites from the images I had, and made them into the necklaces as a test.

Unfortunately, my first test batch didn't do so well. Out of 5, only one was salvageable, and the rest have to be tossed or given away. I didn't account for the black backing of the pendant tray showing through the lighter colors, so it just looks bad. Here are my failures:

So, I adjusted my process a little bit, and the results are much better than before. Here are some of the necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that I made.

P.S. My last color of thread came in, so I can start on the Paisley Peacock soon!

Cross stitch stand

In the wake of my disappointing news a few weeks ago that I can't have Lasik, I decided to splurge on myself and use some of the money I saved up for surgery to buy a cross stitch stand.
Now, I had already done some research into some stands and had already ordered a small one from a company in China. I decided to wait for it to arrive before buying anything large or expensive. I wanted to see how I like using a stand, and the price on this one was great.
Here is a picture of it:

The stand finally arrived, but right away, I could tell something was wrong. The packaging had gotten damaged in transit, and the end of it had a hole on one side. I opened it up and took quick stock of all the parts. It looks like all the wood pieces are present, but the small bag that held the screws had gotten torn open, so I only had 2 screws left.
I have contacted the seller and let them know about the damage. I asked for a list of the screw sizes so I could just go to the hardware store to pick up replacements, since screws don't cost much, but they are sending me a whole screw kit replacement. I hope I don't have to wait another month for it to arrive.

For those who have or use a cross stitch stand, what kind do you have or recommend and why? Do you love yours? I'm wanting some info on stands for when I decide to purchase a bigger, expensive one.

New supplies, yay!

I fell in love with a design that was in a recent issue of The World of Cross Stitch, and I knew I just had to make it for myself.
The design is called Paisley Peacock.

I haven't ever made a project that has beads, so this will be a first for me, but I can't wait to start!
I ordered all the supplies, and they came in just this week, yippee!

There are a couple items in this pic that are for other projects, so for those who may be working on this project, too, don't worry! You didn't miss anything.
There was one mistake in my supplies, though. I received 2 gold thread, rather than getting one gold and one pearl colored. I have let the company I ordered from know, so hopefully we will be able to get that taken care of. I can't wait to get started!

EDIT: The awesome folks at 123stitch.com are sending me my missing color, and are letting me keep the extra one! Woohoo!

New keychains

I haven't gotten much stitching done this week. I think I only did about one thread-length's worth, so I didn't bother even taking a picture of my progress. Instead, I'll post about what I actually did make this week.
Keychains!

While with my niece (for those who don't know, she is my craft booth helper), we came across a cute idea to make some wristlet keychains. I bought the supplies online, and very impatiently awaited their arrival. Most had come in, but we were still waiting on the ribbon to be delivered. I couldn't stand it, so I ran to Hancock (so sad that they are going out of business) and got a spool to try it out and see if we like it.

I went over to my mom's house (my niece lives with her), and we made them up. I must say, they are much easier to make than I expected, and they went much quicker than expected, too.
They are so cute, though! I can't wait for the rest of my ribbon to arrive to have more designs!

The very next day after making these, I went online again and ordered even more supplies. I only ordered a small amount initially to see how easy they are to make and see if we like it. We really did enjoy making them, so much so that my mom wants to help making the next batch, too. 

I have another craft fair coming up in a few weeks, and I can't wait to put these out for sale!