European Bistro, Crazy January Challenge and HAED Sale!

Thank you for the well wishes - I'm feeling better today! Not 100%, as the crazy Texas weather goes from 35 to 85 degrees in the course of the same day and that's just an invitation to sickness, but I am feeling better. Maybe the fact that tomorrow is the last day at my current job before a week off and starting my new job helps too!

I was able to get back to European Bistro tonight. The bottom half of the windows are outlined and here come the half stitches!

As of 11/29/12

If I'm lucky, maybe I can get both of these window portions filled before the rotation week ends. We'll see!

The fact that tomorrow is November 30th means I have one month left to finish up my preparations for the Crazy January Challenge! Look at the lovely goodies I've received!

Stash!

Yay for more fabric! I still have one outstanding order for the last of the fabrics I need from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie but I should have that by the end of December. I need to finish bobbinating my thread, make working copies of the patterns I'm doing from magazines, and make sure my kits are organized and ready to go, but I'm sure I'll be ready by the time January 1st rolls around!

Also, enabling alert...if you missed the Cyber Monday 45% off sale at Heaven and Earth Designs, you're in luck! Michele is running a Winter Stash Enhancement Sale from now through midnight 12/3 for 45% off and she's said this is her last "big" sale of the year. I purchased a few charts from the Cyber Monday sale, and may add another one or two in this sale too -it's hard to resist! Here are the patterns I picked up (and just keep forgetting to post) on Cyber Monday:

Mab by Selina Fenech

Cherubina by Selina Fenech

Moonstones by Linda Ravenscroft

I think anyone who has followed my blog and has seen my past purchases shouldn't be too surprised by these. Fenech and Ravenscroft are, by far, my favorite artists on HAED and I just love their work! We'll see if any other pieces join these in my growing stash collection!

Until next time!
~Katy

Who Can Resist A Sale?

Especially a 50% off sale at Heaven and Earth Designs?? I certainly can't...and my stash grew by five charts today!

Atlantis - Linda Ravenscroft

Lancelot and Guenevere - Selina Fenech

Pearl Birthstone Fairy - Rachel Anderson

Sistine Chapel Ceiling - Michelangelo

Christine - Aimee Stewart

All of these have special meanings to me or call to me for some reason.

I'm really loving the individual figures by Linda Ravenscroft, and Atlantis is not the first in this style from her I've gotten (as evidenced here, here and here and several selections on my HAED wishlist).

Lancelot and Guenevere was actually the first HAED pattern I ever saw on a blog that got me hooked up with the site in the first place and I am a huge fan of Arthurian legend.

Pearl is my daughter's birthstone - I already have Emerald for me and my son, just need to get Citrine for my husband to round out the collection!

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling is absolutely stunning in person. I've had the pleasure of seeing it twice in person and it's taken my breath away both times. I have a poster of this we got when my husband and I were last in Rome, but I would love to stitch it. I also want to get the sister piece, The Last Judgement, which is in the Sistine Chapel as well.

Christine is part of a Phantom of the Opera mask series from Aimee Stewart and Phantom of the Opera is tied with Les Miserables for my favorite musical of all time. I want to also get Think of Me to go along with it, even if that means I now have that song in my head...Think of me...Think of me fondly when we say goodbye....ahem, anyway...

Will I ever get all of these plus what I have in my stash plus what I still have on my wishlist ever done? Who knows...but part of the fun of this hobby is collecting beautiful things to have to choose from when the urge strikes, and I love all of my new pretty pieces! Now, I just need to stay off of the website until the sale passes to resist the urge to buy more! Ha ha!

Tonight's stitching was minimal...it was a long day (week) at work, and we had Girl Scouts tonight, which takes up most of my time and energy on meeting days. I did get a little bit done, though, and I plan on getting more done tomorrow before putting it down for a week.

As of 11/2/12

I do have a one hour phone "personality test" interview tomorrow for the job I'm applying for...and a four hour mega interview this coming Thursday with other directors, senior leadership and medical leadership...all good signs, but please keep the good thoughts coming!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time!
~Katy

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - September

So yesterday began this month's International Hermit and Stitch Weekend! This post will be short because I shouldn't be blogging - I should be hermiting (is that even a word?) and stitching!

Here is my progress on Beauty and the Beast last night:

As of 9/14/12

 Today is my last day of Beauty and the Beast in this rotation, so I'm going to try to make some good progress today before moving on to European Bistro!

I did make two more purchases yesterday from HAED to round out my contributions during HAED Appreciation Week:

Mask of Colours I by Linda Ravenscroft

Mask of Colours II by Linda Ravenscroft

Aren't they beautiful? I love the colors and the movement of the skirts each one of the figures is wearing. They're clearly a pair, so I couldn't buy just one!

Off to hermiting and stitching! Have a wonderful Saturday!
~Katy

Through A Mist, Through A Wood...

...Where within a haunted castle something's lurking that you don't see everyday!

More progress was made last night on the castle and some of the woods surrounding it:

As of 9/12/12

And look! I received this beautiful chart as a RAK yesterday from a fellow member of the HAED Addiction group on Facebook. It completely brightened my day!

Earth's Harvest by Linda Ravenscroft

Isn't this beautiful! I had it on my HAED wishlist, and I was so thrilled to find it in my mailbox yesterday! I plan on paying it forward and finding someone to send a RAK to before the week is over too!

Until next time!
~Katy

Be Our Guest!

Okay, so I have a strange feeling that my blog titles this week are going to all be references to songs from Beauty and the Beast....ha!

I made some more progress on Beauty and the Beast tonight!

As of 9/10/12

 Because I'm not one that likes to do just one or two stitches of a color before I put it away and would rather use an entire length of floss, I did do a bit of cross-country stitching tonight with a few colors, but I'm liking my progress so far! I'm really enjoying stitching this!

I also purchased two new charts from Heaven and Earth Designs tonight as part of HAED Appreciation Week. I am going to purchase a couple more at the end of the week too, but I haven't decided which ones yet. The ones tonight were easy, though!

Chakra Fae by Linda Ravenscroft

Chakra Fae  was a piece I had seen on someone else's blog that helped push me to explore HAED. The pattern is just beautiful and I absolutely love it!

Emerald Birthstone Fairy by Rachel Anderson

Emerald Birthstone Fairy is part of a stunning set of birthstone fairies by Rachel Anderson that I just love. Emerald is my birthstone as well as my son's. Eventually, I will get my husband and daughter's fairies, though truly, I love the whole set and would be thrilled to have them all!

Until next time!
~Katy