First Finish of 2014

Only 12 days into the New Year and I have a stitching finish! A great start to my 2014 stitching resolutions.

January Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks:

Stitched on 28ct Lambswool Linen

Colors used as charted

Black Beads used for Snowman Eyes and Buttons (instead of French Knots)

Finish: A Flat Ornament.

I finished this as a flat ornament using the fabulous finishing instructions by Vonna at The Twisted Stitcher.

I tried something different for finishing the edges of the ornament.

I didn't have any cording in my stash that matched so I glued ribbon around the edge instead. Truth be told, I was given a few boxes of beaded trim and ribbons from my stepmom's friend. I thought it was silly to go buy more cording when I have so much ribbon and trim to use now. I used some of the beaded trim for the hanger as you can see. I added the pins to give it that extra finish. I love how it turned out. The other 11 months will be finished the same I think.

I'm sure many of you are tired of seeing snowflakes right now. Its been a warm January in Miami and I wish I could send you northerners some heat. We had one cold day. Then the following day it jumped back to 80 degrees. We are looking forward to a few more cool days of 40 and 50 degree weather next week.

I'm still sticking with my stitching plans although January is a busy work month for us accountants. Sunday is my only day in the week to truly relax since we have to work Saturdays this month. Today, dear boyfriend and I will be enjoying a nice afternoon lunch date. 

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.  

**Hugs from Sunny Miami**

Jen

A Start to my 2014 Stitching Challenge

I gave myself a personal stitching challenge for 2014. I did set a few goals for stitching smaller designs this year, but at the same time I didn't want my bigger projects to get neglected. After all they won't stitch themselves if I don't do it right?

Well I've decided that one of my big projects will get a little love everyday. My "Mini Bookworm Fairy" by Hannah Lynn (Heaven and Earth Designs).

 

My challenge is too stitch at least 100 stitches a day on this piece. On the weekends since I have more time, my target is 500 stitches. What's nice about HAED charts is that their charts are sectioned into 10 by 10 squares. So basically I committing to one square a day and 5 on the weekends. Not to bad right? I figure it is an easy way to make progress without getting overwhelmed because believe me, the confetti in HAED charts can be a little maddening at times. However, the results are so worth the work. Here is my progress before the start of my challenge today.

Lets see how well I stick with this challenge. I'll post updates of my progress on the first of each month so we can all see how it grows! 

I'm almost done with the January Cottage by Country Cottage Needleworks. I'm hoping to have it finished this weekend. This way I can enjoy it hanging on my wall for January.

Thanks so much for stopping by. It was a great New Years Day. I truly appreciated reading the sweet comments about the tote bag I made for my step mom in my last post. That project is a great project for using up fat quarters which I have too many of. I've decided to make a few more totes and will list them in my Etsy shop for whoever would like one. They would make a great project bag too. ;-)

Hugs and Happy New Years to all from Sunny Miami,

Jen