Getting back to it...

Question is... where to start when you've taken some time off from your blog posts?  I guess just start in somewhere....

Well, went to Stampin' Up Convention and had an awesome time!  This year I drove up to SLC.  It is about a 14-hour drive, and only 10% of it is Interstate highways, so it was mostly state highways which slows me down.  If it was mostly interstate highways, I could make it in 9 hours.  It was awesome having my vehicle there, so we could just hop in it whenever we wanted and drive to Target or Michaels, or out to eat someplace farther than walking distance from the hotel.  And it allowed me to bring as much stuff with me as I could stuff into my RAV4, which is a lot.  No worrying about my luggage weighing more the 50 lbs this year.  My little RAV took quite a beating though, as there are a lot of hills between here and SLC and its little 14 year old 4 cylinder engine wasn't very happy about that.  I really hope by next year I have a decent enough job that I feel comfortable taking on a car payment and I can upgrade to something with a 6 cylinder engine.  More on the trip later.  I have pictures and so much to talk about.

I am officially retired from the Air Force now, my first day as a civilian was 1 Aug.  I am now looking for the perfect anti-Obama bumper sticker for my vehicle, since now I am allowed to speak my mind on the matter. 

Alex started 1st grade on 12 Aug.  He is doing well.  Having a few issues with learning proper behavior, and just having a lot of energy, but we are making progress.  We took him to the public library today, and he was so excited to check out 4 Fly Guy books.

Stitching has slowed down, but not stopped.  Tree Frog is making progress, but still working on the same shade of green as stated in the last update.  I've also gotten a couple other project's grid work done. 

Well, that's a start...  and no more just not posting anything because I feel overwhelmed that I have too much to catch up on.  I hope to just pick something to blog about every few days, allowing myself to be as random as I need to be.

My SU up-line posted something on FB recently that I thought was great, it is a little e-poster that says "When people ask me 'How did you get to be so creative?' I tell them it's because I ate paste as a child." 8)

Sunday Status and LCE

One more week... another status...

Tree Frog has some progress, still working on first color green:

And just for the record, I have abandoned using the railroad method to keep threads laying nicely.  I decided to go for speed over perfection, although given the nature of the piece it wasn't a tough decision.  Although now when I have a twisted stitch, I can't just ignore it, I have to try and get the threads to lay a little nicer by fiddling with it using my needle as a sort of laying tool.  By the way, I am liking the stretcher bars very much.  They are so light.  And there is no adjusting the tension or having to move the q-snap to a different spot.  Q-snaps are still my go to frame for travel projects though.  I have taken this one out of the house, but it is a bit awkward, and it just barely fits in the backpack I use to carry it.

Introducing the new small project... I've had this little kit in my stash for quite awhile.  It is called Sunny Thought by Dimensions.  Interestingly, it is on a small plastic mesh instead of fabric.

I've finished the first color so far.

As you can see, I didn't grid it as usual, since it is so small, but I did have to use a spare bit of thread to do a quick line on two sides to mark the gridline points to help with stitching the separate areas.  Should be cute when it is finished.

 Now for the LCE (life changing event)... I am active duty in the Air Force, and after 22 years it is time to retire from the AF.  Friday was my last duty day...yay!  Tomorrow is the start of my terminal leave (aka using up all my accrued vacation days).  After the terminal leave is done, I am officially a military retiree.  Then I really having to figure out what to do with myself next.  I have to look for a job, since even though military pension is nice, it just isn't enough to pay the bills and keep a family household going.  So, the job search begins.  And I am going to have to learn to dress myself to go to work, no more just throwing on the uniform everyday.  I am very happy and scared at the same time.  One good thing is, until I get hired somewhere, I have more time to stitch and stamp.  Stamping may have to be a priority while I am prepping for the Stampin' Up convention in July.  After that though, I can get back to stitching until my fingers go numb.  8)

'til next time... happy stitching (and stamping)!

 

 

Sunday Status

I finished the small Bloom, here she is:



completed small Bloom

 This is such a nice little take anywhere project.  I plan to do this again, with overdyed floss and linen fabric, maybe in a light blue background or a natural light beige color.  I might even try doing french knots in the center, or even beads.  Ooh, beads... wonder how this would like done completely in beads...hmmm.

Made a bit progress on Tree Frog:

 I finished the border, did the orange and red-orange parts of the frog's eyes, and started on the first color of green.  With this project, I have been trying out the railroad method of getting the threads to lay down nicely.  I am liking how it is looking, it does make a difference, but it does significantly slow down the rate of stitching.  We'll see if I can stick to it, or if I decide the slow down isn't worth the result.

I might have had a bit more progress, but I took some time this week to work on a special card.  We had the retirement ceremony for my First Sergeant this past week.  She helped me out of a really tough spot recently and I wanted to let her know how much I appreciated it.  I planned on cross-stitching a small flower motif to put on a card.  I found out her favorite flower is the tiger lily and her favorite color is green.  Tiger lilies don't exactly lend themselves to a simple cross-stitch motif, so I had to change direction.  I found a super cool pop-up pattern on-line, and this is what I did with it:

 

 

I'm happy it turned out so well.

And since I am on the subject.... I am also retiring from the Air Force.  I have only 5 duty days left!  Yay!