Life With Jules, and other stuff

I purchased the frame for Zanesville last evening and got it framed. Now I only have to wrap it and wait for the party, which is on Nov 7th. Woo Hoo!! I have turned my attention to HalloSAL and Christmas. I decided to make a few of my own cards this year. So far I have one stitched piece done and about half of a second one. I will post pics when I have made them into actual cards (and before I send them out).

I finished stitching Zanesville last night (with the exception of my initials and the year). Now I have a week to frame it. Yippee!! The image on the top is in a "normal" setting on my camera while the one on the bottom is in a "pop art" setting. The right image pics up the color much better! I also took a couple of pics of Sandy. She gained almost a pound while I was away! She's gonna be a big cat when she's fully grown (she's only 6 months now and weighs a whopping 8.2 lbs!). The image on the top was taken in August. The image on the bottom was taken yesterday. She's getting so big that she has outgrown the large size litter box. I have to go to PetSmart later to get a jumbo! LOL

I finally made it back to central Florida late Tuesday afternoon. I made my way south from Front Royal to Waynesboro, VA via the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park and from Waynesboro to Roanoke, VA via the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a gorgeous experience!! Here are a few pics from the long, long drive: I also managed to pick up 3 more kits along the way: The Manse (Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace), Civil War (from Manassas Battlefield), and Mabry Mill (from Shenandoah National Park). Now it's back to the grind of my Master's thesis. Hopefully I will be able to get a little stitching done in between writing.

Ok, so I am on this whirlwind trip in Virginia this week. It started out to be a horrible trip because I was having car issues. I resolved that by renting a 2010 Pontiac G6 and can I just say sweeeeeeeeeeeet! I spent my first night on the road in Suffolk, VA (my original destination was Virginia Beach, but the stopped traffic on HWY 58 just west of Franklin for an hour changed that plan). I spent all of Wednesday in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach visiting family and friends. What good times!! This morning, I woke up in Virginia Beach, in a hotel room on the beach, to watch the most glorious show ever! The sunrise was an experience everyone should have at least once in their life. Here is a pic of it: Normal setting on camera "Pop Art" setting on camera I left around 10am heading north toward Arlington for a conference I a

Thought I would post an update on Zanesville now since I may not have it finished before I head to VA in the morning. I just have a little bit of the border to do. Yippee! Over the next week, I plan to work on little things to make into Christmas cards. I don't want to drag anything big along with me on the trip. I will post pics when I get them done!

I recently joined a TUSAL where the participants take a new container and collect their orts for the entire year. Well, this started back in January 2009 and I only just joined, so this is my first post. The "jar" that I am using is actually a vase that I found recently at a flower show in Bradenton, FL. I thought the scratchy look to it and the curved neck were cool.

I just want to pass along the link to a new challenge that I will be participating in beginning November 1st. As with the previous challenge (in April), I will also post my poems on this blog. Keep your eyes open for new writing!! 2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge If any of you who read this blog are poets and want to participate, just click on the link and sign up. It's free and inspiring!

I got a new camera last week (an early Christmas present to myself) and thought I would take a few pics of the two projects I am working on. Here are some of one section of Zanesville : Here are some of Astral Lions . These were taken using the "Pop Art" settings on my Olympus E620: And these are in the normal settings:

I was well on my way to getting quite a bit done yesterday until I ran out of one color of floss. I thought I had enough. It turns out that what I thought was one color was really another color. Don't you hate when that happens? Anyway, here is some progress on Zanesville : I also took a little time to create a Christmas design. I probably won't get to stitching it until December, but here is a pic: The candy canes and sayings are mine. The alphabet and the mistletoe are from PCStitch libraries.

Beautiful fall colors and an interesting giveaway on Dip Diddly Designs .

Nope, it's not finished yet. I just wanted to give you all a preview of what it will look like. I did have this much done before supper (5pm) but wound up with not enough fabric to finish. I cut a new piece of fabric around 6pm and started over. Here's what I have so far:

Well, it's been a fun year posting my cross stitching as I go! I didn't really think I would enjoy this environment as much as I have. I am grateful to those who have decided to follow my blog and look forward to having more followers during the upcoming year. What have I completed this year? Hmmm...I started and completed a few things. Gettysburg is by far the largest cross stitch to date (well, until Astral Lions is complete). I took out an old WIP - Nautical Sampler - and completed it, FINALLY!!! :) There is Frederick and the Lucky pillow wrap, Polska and Nautical Light and the many others I forgot to name here. And of course I can't forget those bibs I made for my baby cousin, Zane! Speaking of Zane, his 1st birthday is coming up in November and I created something special for him. I only have until Nov 6th to complete it (which includes framing) and I will be gone the third week of October, so I really only have 4 weeks. Between Astral Lions and school, I think