Since I totally suck at blogging I've started a facebook page.  I still plan to do updates here once in a while but for now it'll be easier doing quick updates on FB.  So please like my page and see what I've been up to lately.

Pikaboo Crafts

#100!!

Just noticed this is my 100th update!!  Woohoo!!  Except then I realized that I started this blog almost 7 years ago.  Where has the time gone??  My blogoversary is coming up, maybe I will do some kind of giveaway!  Anybody interested?

Anyway, before I got distracted I was just planning on popping in real quick to show what I've been up to.

I'm now caught up on my summer stitching!  It's been so much fun making these stitchy hexagons.  I am now a hexie addict.  Still four more weeks to go but I've already been thinking about how I want to do the quilting and what color thread to use.

I'm still way behind on the Girls Own Stitching Club, even more so now that she has posted this months pattern.  She also posted a sneak peak which makes me pretty excited to see next months block.  I just gotta pull myself away from those hexies for a bit!

Speaking of...   This will eventually be a table runner.  That's the plan anyways.  But, shhh, it's going to be a Christmas present.

 I can't believe that when I started this blog, this little girl was a tiny baby!

So behind

I've been wanting to update for about two weeks now but my 2 year old always has other plans for me.  I haven't been able to do much stitching for the same reason.  Oh well, she'll only be 2 once, right?

I just wanted to take a quick minute to say hello to my new visiters and to show where I'm at with my summer stitching.  Almost 3 weeks behind on it, Yikes!  Can somebody please loan me some stitching time?!?

^ Speaking of 2 year olds, those are her grubby little fingers up there! ^

To be honest getting behind isn't completely her fault (love ya baby girl!).  Imaginesque has been posting some pretty cool quilt block templates so I wanted to try out my new EPP skillz.  I even got brave and attempted some fussy cutting for the middle pieces.  I don't think the feather print looks that great but I'm real happy with how the center came out.  DH has claimed it for himself so I think I'll make it a big mug rug.  He'll have to be patient til I learn how to do binding.

And this is how I'll get myself to get 'r done.  No playing with the new pretties until I get caught up!!  How's that for incentive?

I have a new love, possibly two

Last month I decided it was time to give up my craft room so the 2 year old could finally have her own space.  She's been sharing with mommy and daddy since she was born.  We originally planned to have her share big sister's room but that would have been a tight squeeze.  So all my crafty things are now crammed into my room which has made me realize I need to do some major cleaning out.  I have a lot of odds and ends of random projects and crafts that I've tried over the years but never really got into.  Things that never got finished or even started.  Stuff I don't even remember why I bought!  I don't have the time/space/money for all these half hobbies and all the clutter makes it hard for me to concentrate.
Yesterday I finally found the ambition to start sorting.  I've been wanting to get my stuff more organized for years so maybe it'll finally happen!

Aaaanyways, on to my new loves.  I never thought it would happen but cross stitch has been replaced with a couple new favorites.  I've joined Wild Olive's Summer Stitching Club and have been really enjoying the embroidery and English paper piecing.

Everything is cuter with a smiley face!  Every Monday Mollie emails a new embroidery pattern, there will be 12 all together.  Included are great instructions on how to make the hexagons.  This will eventually be a summer themed wall hanging.  Today we got #5 so I need to take an updated picture.

I've also joined Red Brolly's Girls Own Stitching Club.  About once a month Bronwyn posts a new garden themed block.  There will be 9 blocks to make a quilt.  Each one features a different type of stitch so they're great for practicing or learning new stitches.

The third one was just posted a couple days ago so I need to get started on that!

Happy dance and a half

I had originally planned to finish the Twilight book covers before starting January's Snowdrop but after several frog attacks I had to switch before I started throwing things.

I managed to stitch January's Snowdrop surprisingly quickly considering my limited stitching time.  I wasn't a big fan of doing the letters in two different colors but I better get used to it since it looks like the rest in the series will be the same.  Maybe I'll start using multiple needles instead of rethreading the same one constantly.  At least the border was fun.  Now I'm on the look out for some kind of chipboard album or journal to put these in.

 

After that I was determined to finish Twilight.  After searching my entire stash to find the perfect shade of gray I needed for the chess board and shadows I was finally on the home stretch.  And then I ran out of that perfect shade of gray.  I was SO CLOSE to finally finishing and now I have to wait til I can go buy more floss this weekend.

Still to do

Well the only thing I got done on that to-do list was to join the My Garden Journal SAL.  I lost my crafty mojo for a little while ut it's finally coming back.  Don't you hate it when that happens? 

Anyway, I got the cover chart for My Garden Journal done.  I used some floss I had that looked the closest to what it was supposed to be. 

I'll be starting the January chart soon and plan to put them together something like this as I get each month done.

But first I'm trying to finish something I started almost 3 years ago.  The Twilight book covers.  It's not that big or difficult but between two moves, a baby and many other projects it has been set aside and buried more often than stitched on.  I'm not a huge Twilight fan but I really liked the charts and thought they'd make a great gift.

To-do List

1.  Update blog!
2.  Join My Garden Journal SAL
3.  Make WIP list
4.  Make To-stitch List
5.  Catch up on pen-pal letters
6.  Add stationery to blog
7.  Make FB group?
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549.  Housework

Shhh it's a secret!

I just wanted to check in and let y'all know I have been stitching but don't have any pics cause I don't want to ruin any Christmas surprises.  My birthday is in a couple days so maybe I'll get some crafty gifts to show!

In other news my ankle is still healing.  It seems to be taking forever but I guess that's normal and I've been told I'm healing really well.  I finally started physical therapy so hopefully the crutches will soon be gone!  I wonder if I can come up with a crafty use for them.

Just a quick update on Merry & Bright.  Although I'm really enjoying stitching this I've been fighting the urge to start something new.  I swear I have crafty ADD,  but I'm determined to get 'r done!

I hope everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Must stitch faster!!

Erynn over at Stitcheree! has posted another great freebie.  I really need to figure out how to stitch faster!  I told DH that I want an OTT light, or something like it, for Christmas.  Being able to see what I'm doing would help a lot.

Despite the bad lighting, Merry & Bright is coming along nicely.  Stitching on 32 ct linen has been a bit of a challenge and I've had to do some frogging several times (I blame the lighting!)  But I'm still enjoying it and hoping to get it done well before Christmas. 

I'm taking a short break from stitching today to catch up on some overdue penpal letters.  My mailbox has been very sad lately and you gotta send mail to get mail!

Tis the season

I haven't gotten much further on ABC Christmas.  I took a break from it to finish a UFO from over the summer than whipped out a couple small pieces which I can't show because they may end up being gifts.

 Speaking of frogs, I had to frog that bit of pink I was working on in this pic cause it was over one square too far and would have been touching the u.  I'm glad I noticed before I got too far!  I'm actually surprised with how far I've gotten on this one already.  I guess that's an advantage of having a broken ankle.

Last month I discovered Sticheree and her Merry & Bright SAL.  I wish I had the skillz for designing stuff like this.  I wanted to start it right then and there but, of course, all the fabric I had was just a little too small.  So I had to wait til I could get to the store to get some.  I wasn't able to order the threads listed like I wanted so I had to wait again til I could get the suggested DMC threads at the crafty store.  A disadvantadge to having a broken ankle!  
Anyway I finally got to get it started last night and the first thing I did was switch out the DMC aqua for some Gentle Art Sampler Threads in Tutti Frutti that I happened to already have.  And then today I changed the green to a darker green.  This pic isn't the greatest, the fabric and aqua are actually darker than they look here.  I'll try to get a better pic next time.

Ribbit

Yes there are frogs in this post but not the type that most stitchers fear.  About a year ago a friend, who we shall call Pirate Pete, asked me if I could stitch something for his wife.  He said her two favorite things were tree frogs and coca cola.  Over the summer I finally got around to drawing up a design and decided to try my hand at embroidery again.  Thankfully Pirate Pete is an extremely patient man because it took me another couple months to get around to framing it!  I enjoyed the whole process and learned a couple new skillz along the way.  I may be putting those skillz to use again soon as he has recently issued me a new challenge.

 

My favorite part

Good luck keeping those frogs away fellow stitchers!

Watch your step!

As usual plans do not always go as planned.  On Sept 18th I fell and managed to break my ankle in 3 places.  I had to have surgery the next day and am now the not so proud owner of one plate and nine screws.

  I'm not allowed to put any weight on it for at least another 4 weeks so I've had a lot of free time lately.  That means lots of Star Trek and stitching!  I'm so grateful I have this hobby otherwise I'd go totally insane with boredom!  Last year a stitching friend let me look through her huge stack of charts she no longer wanted and told me to take whatever I wanted.  I was in heaven!  Most of these charts included the fabric for them that she had bought at the same time, a couple of them even had floss.  Thanks to her I've been able to stay at least partially sane.

First I stitched Santa's Fill, a small kit from Shepherd's Bush.  It was a pretty quick stitch and came with a mat that was hand painted by Jill at Rensel Studio.  Pretty cool since I'll probably never be able to afford a custom one from her.

I am now working on ABC Christmas by Lizzy Kate.  It originally had some 40ct linen with it but I wasn't feeling up to that so switched it with some 28ct linen that I coffee dyed.  It might actually be 32ct, I don't have a ruler handy to check.  Please excuse the crappy ipod pic, I'll get a better one next time.

Happy Stitching and please watch your step!

Challenge Accepted

I told DH that I needed a new purse for fall/winter and he jokingly told me to just make one.  So with the help of this pattern I did!

I'm really happy with how it turned out although I'd like to make it again eventually with a few small changes.

I'm a mom so I'm sure this bad boy with be overflowing in no time.

Pockets are a must!

Still alive!

Yup, I'm still alive and still stitching, a little.  I can't believe it's been nearly a year!  Life really got in the way of my craftiness last year but I think (hope) it's safe to say things are back to normal.  We had to move in with the in-laws for a bit last year and after a couple months of searching we finally found the perfect house to buy.  I have a craft room!!!  No pics of that right now because it's still a huge mess but soon 2 out of 3 kids will be in school and I'll have much more time for all that. 

I shall return soon with pics and updates.  I'll try not to wait a year between updates this time.

Happy Dance!

I blinked

Has it really been six months already?!? With taking care of 3 kidlets, moving in temporarily with the in-laws, house hunting and getting ready for kindergarten I've been a wee bit busy. Most of my crafty supplies are packed away in storage but I kept out all the cross stitch stuff and the crochet hooks. I've managed to stay sane by doing as much stitching as I can when I can which is, of course, no where near as much as I'd like!!

This is the Oak Haven SAL, not sure if I showed this one here before.


I'm a bit behind, I think I had the April square started the last time I worked on it.

This one is actually part of a bigger pattern but I just wanted to do the tiny sampler. The pattern is an old one found at a rummage sale and looks like it might have been taken out of a book or magazine.
Better late than never! I finally found a pattern I liked for my son's birth sampler. Peapod Baby Sampler by Bent Creek. As usual I used my own colors instead of the recommended threads.



My current WIP - Rules For Life by Kincavel Krosses. I only have a little bit more to go on this one. I've really enjoyed stitching all the different fonts and the sparkly fabric is perfect for this design.

No post is complete without one of my 3 greatest creations! Emily at 5 months old.

Love!

Emily Elizabeth

Born on Feb 18th and perfect in every way!

Welcome to the world baby girl, we're so happy you're finally here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everybody had a wonderful day and hello to my new followers! I'm so glad to know somebody is actually reading!!

I just wanted to pop in to show off my Valentine's gift to the hubby. This cute little freebie is from Plum Street Samplers and I chose it because we're about to have our third child and hubby is such a great daddy.

This is me trying to be fancy with the camera skillz. I really need to remember to turn the date stamp off once in a while.

I spent half the day, with many kid interruptions, trying to get this finished before DH got home from work. I did it with two minutes to spare! For once I figured out the finishing myself without a tutorial and am very very happy with how it turned out. I originally planned to use ric rac on the border but didn't have any, luckily I found some leftover piping which worked out great.

And, in case you were wondering, he loved it!

Hoo are you? plus a few

1. Are you married/in a relationship/single? For how long? I've been happily married for almost 6 years now
2. What do you do for a living? Do you enjoy it? I'm a stay at home mom and love every moment!....ok maybe not every moment, kids will be kids after all.
3. In what state do you live? Where were you born and raised? I live in upstate New York. I was born in this area but my dad was in the army so we moved a lot so I spent a several years of my childhood in Germany and Japan too.
4. Do you have children? If so, how many? If not, do you want them? I have 2 children with a 3rd due in two weeks!
5. Who is your favorite blogger to follow and why? I have quite a few that I really like but I guess one of my faves would have to be Plum Street Samplers. I originally started following her blog because of her stitching but she also has a beautiful family and I love the stories she shares about them.

I finished the heart/baby sampler last week. I still gotta chart baby's name and birth info (after she's born obviously) I really need figure out how to take better pics of cross stitch.

Yesterday I finally got around to sewing the car seat tent that I've been planning to make for the past 6 months. I bought the fabric way back before I knew I was having a girl so I went with one of my favorite color combos, turquoise and brown. Now baby girl with be protected from the cold and nosy strangers!