Life With Jules, and other stuff

…and a Start! First the start. I found out that my best friend is getting married on March 11th. Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend the ceremony, so I decided to make something to commemorate the occasion (which I would have done anyway). I knew that I had a kitted chart in my stash just waiting for someone to get married so that I could stitch it up, et voila! The design is “Married this Day” from the Janlynn collection (no, those aren’t the names and date in the image shown – they will change to hers and her soon-to-be’s and the correct date). It’s something I picked up at Wal-Mart way back when they still believed in carrying different types of crafts and supplies. I plan to personalize it in her native language (francais). She won’t receive the finished item until later in the Spring, but I know she will like it! I do have a for now finish and a near finish to share with you. Cat in Chair is the for now finish: I changed out the color on the backstitch for the white part...

…nearing a finish! I just have to finish filling in the chair, stitch the lettering, and finish the backstitch/french knots. Yes, I am really gonna try to do the knots on this one. I don’t think the beads would look right for the cats eyes, lol! Anyway, here are some progress pics: I plan to have this one finished for sure tomorrow (Thursday) and I am hoping to finish The Siesta by the end of the month. Hope everyone is staying warm and safe, especially those of you up north dealing with all of the latest snowy weather! Until next time…

On a Wednesday! So I'm a day late, lol! Dad and I spent part of last Thursday at Silver Springs in Ocala, FL. I had not been there since 1983 when I was 11 and have been wanting to go for a while now. So, part of my tax refund went toward taking a day trip and that's where we went. Here are some of the critters we saw: I will share more next time! That's me on the left in blue! I was so skinny then. My brother is next to me. It was an enjoyable day, but I was somewhat disappointed. You see, back in the day 1983, the Glass Bottom boat cruise was a lot longer and there were monkeys all over the place along the banks: I really wanted to see the monkeys! There was also a space with Lloyd Bridges "Star" chair and Ivan Lors's Director Chair from the Tarzan set: Not there anymore. :( So, after spending over $60.00 on the entrance, $20.00 on lunch (a hot dog, water, reg drink, and a pulled bbq sandwich), $7.00 to park, and $45.00 in gas, I have decided to save my mone...

Check out my left side bar for opportunities to enter some fantastic giveaways. Some are ending soon so act fast!!

Well, I finally found some time to work on the last 3 pieces for the Crazy Challenge (this month’s round). Here are Woodrow Wilson’s Birthplace , Week-end a Paris , and Halloween : Monsieur Frog spent some time with me this past week as well! If you take a look at Halloween (this post and last ) you will see that I had to frog and restitch. The “H” was one row off and that alone was enough to throw off all of the other letters and the designs below the word. In Paris , if you’ll notice the darkest red portions, I had to actually restitch those using that darker color. I accidentally used a lighter shade that blended right in. OOPS! Not too annoyed with it personally, but could have gotten a bit more stitched otherwise, LOL. I decided that for the remainder of the month (the little over a week left) that I will finish a couple of the pieces that are nearing completion! I should be able to share with you a couple of finishes by the end of the weekend. Time permitting, I plan to wo...

…and give a little update on my Crazy Progress! So, without further ado, I give you The Siesta , Try to Relax , Washington’s Monument , Vibrant Vases , The Gardeners , and Medallions : I have decided to switch Medallions to a darker fabric and have placed an order for some through 123 Stitch . I think the lighter floss will show up better on the color I chose! I am starting to feel the same way about Washington’s Monument as the colors are really faint against the fabric so far. Time will tell! That’s it for now! I have been busy as a bee in a honeycomb the past few days at the shop. Valentine’s is one of our busiest holidays and this year proves to be no exception! I will be back in a few days with the last couple of Crazy Updates. Oh, I almost forgot! I made my sister a special Valentine! Can’t wait to give it to her!! I will post a picture of her receiving it in my next post. For now, here is what I made: Until next time…

Yup, I worked on Days 5 and 6 over the weekend and made a bit of progress on each. First up is Cream for Kitty : As you can see, I started working my way back to you babe up to the top and then over to the top of the hair. After all of that really light colored floss, I needed the colorful diversion, LOL! Today was spent on Mabry Mill : I have the wheel of the mill nearly complete and decided to add some other color to it as well. That’s all for now…until next time…

Ok, so it’s a stitcher’s prerogative to change her or his mind! I did just that when I decided to finish the Caroling Snowman into it's frame. Here is the final, FINAL picture of him: For the hanging bit, I used a piece of red and green twisted cording that I got from Cindy Mae Designs . I think it is cute! I spent quite a bit of time on Colonial Williamsburg yesterday as well. I almost have the bottom half finished, as you can see: That is a LOT of green stitching in there, LOL! I never thought I would see the end of that color. Next month, I will fill in the flowers, the house, and hopefully finish the alphabet portion at the top (there are two more sets). Whew!!! I am going to spend a little bit of time this evening working on Crazy Day 5 and see how far I can get. I will post my update on that tomorrow and then probably not again for a few days (may not be until the 16th). Don’t forget to order your sweetie a valentine’s arrangement! Here are a few to entice you t...

Well, as I predicted, I was able to get all of the stitching done on Cat in Chair, sans the colors I don’t have. Here are a couple of pictures: I also decided to do another small JBW Designs piece. It is half finished. Here is French Country – Amour: I posted a new poem in honor of my dear grandma here . She was an amazing woman who played a big role in my growing years. She still influences me today, at least in my photography. I have some slides of pictures she took of me when I modeled for her that I am planning to get developed into photos very soon! I will share when I do that. Until next time…

That is the date that she was born She would be 87 years young today But her life ended too soon And all I have left are the memories Barbara Anne VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL The days spent with her during my youth The nights cuddled in ...