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!