Thursday, June 26, 2014

June IHSW, Stitch From Stash and TUSAL

I could have crammed WIPocalypse in the title but it isn't time for that yet which is too bad because I'm going to discuss the current "situation" regardless, which includes WIP's and stuff.

IHSW Saturday Hangout with the girls was AWESOME as per usual.  Magical stopped in which was a thrill for us since she's been off line for awhile.  It was wonderful to see her lovely face!  Nancy, Krystal and I worked on the next contest for the Stitching Pirates.  (If you aren't a member of that group, please do so immediately if you are a cross stitcher!)  The majority of stitchers really don't realize how much time actually goes into the planning of a contest.  Even something so simple as ours.  Now that we have the initial stuff out of the way, the rest of it should be fairly LESS time consuming.  Our current contest will end on June 30th with the next one starting on July 1st, so again, if you aren't a member, please join us!  

During and after the thrill of working on the contest stuff, Krystal was actually stitching.  The thing is, she was stitching like a mad woman!  Nancy and I....uhm....we were online window shopping. Towards the end of the day I did pick up a card kit from Little Travel Case and began stitching that up.  I will show that later.

Last week Krystal was at Hobby Lobby having a hoarders stroke because Thomas Kinkade was on sale! Mass messaging to all of us and we made our choices and she happily purchased, packaged and mailed everyone their picks.  This moment when your friend is shopping for you and it still feels a little naughty and thrilling because you know that you will soon have more stuff for your stash that you really didn't need (except for the fabric) but just wanted because 1) Thomas Kinkade, 2) On sale and 3) Krystal was shopping....(do I really need that many reasons to justify my hoarding?) really got me thinking about my desperate need to have every pattern on the planet.  Before I go into that, let me show you my portion of the booty from Krystal's score!
All together it was $52.64.  Without the shipping my Stitch from Stash comes to $40.29.  I actually have a carryover of spending money in the SFS budget, so we add that with this months plus the $50 addition for June and I had $100.06 that I can spend without going over. At this time I have four days left of this month and $59.77 left to spend.  I'm pretty sure I won't because, as I said earlier I was thinking.

For me it's not about spending the money.  I will admit freely that I have overspent in the past but have been working on toning that down a bit this year thanks to SFS.

So here is my "thing":  From right now until I get my "to do" list down, I will not purchase another kit or pattern.  I can hear you gasping in horror and I can honestly say even I would gasp that way, but this crazy state of mind about buying everything has to stop.  I've thought about it all week and really feel it is what I need to do.  The only large expenses that will happen during this time will be for fabric.  I'm just hoping I don't transfer my "need" for patterns into a "need" for fabric.  I have quite a bit of fabric already which should get quite a few projects on that list done and the fabric you see in the picture above is for my first HAED.  It is a gigantic piece of fabric which should actually work for the two patterns I have now which are "Curiosity" and "Sea Unicorns".  Both are considered "mini" but I disagree a little bit.  I wanted to start kitting up the patterns on that list so I can grab the next bag and start (Krystal does this "bag idea" for her projects and it's awesome).


The main point here is to just not get anymore patterns, do what I have and THEN start seeking out the next truck load of good stuff.  Wish me luck on this endeavor, as you know every addict has a few setbacks before they get straight.


Next up is June's TUSAL!  My ORT jar is a little more full of stuff than usual due to making Chickie Bags, finding the threads for Vinnie Stretch all mangled up in a wad of unusable floss and the extra stuff I had left over from my latest little stitch.  I wanted to empty it out now so that I have an empty jar for when I truly begin working on Celtic Goddess.


Yes, I know I was supposed to work on that and only that but it didn't work out that way (as per usual) but I do have another finish crossed off that list!  Now that the urge to do that is over with maybe NOW I can get back to it.  We shall see.


I had the butterfly done on Saturday evening right after we were finished for the day in the Hangout and didn't get back to it until last night while watching Under the Dome on Amazon Prime.  That show is a bit melodramatic, but I feel a little like watching the rest of season one right this very moment!

One great thing about the "getting ready" to stitch Celtic Goddess is that I now have the first 6 Hamish Macbeth Mysteries on Audible.  There are more, but I can only do one at a time, except this first batch I was able to get because the first two were two books in one situation and the rest I had credits for.  Who knew that I would have so many credits saved up?  If you have read my blog before, you KNOW I love Hamish.  Now if he would just stop being so incredibly in love with Priscilla Halburton-Smythe....dang, it's just a story and not real...it's not real....it's not reallllllll..............

Now, after such a lengthy blog, I shall go empty my ORT jar, clean up my card kit mess and try to remember to put gallon zip lock bags on my grocery list for kitting up things.

I hope everyone is having beautiful weather and still finding the time to stitch!

Until next time.....





12 comments:

  1. I got my lovely package from Krystal today, isn't the Lion King gorgeous!!!!!!

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    1. I LOVE IT!! Like I said on your blog we should start them at the same time and have a race tee hee

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    2. The race is on, scheduled start day September 23 2018. And by all means lets hang out a week early, don't know my sched. yet, but I'm sure I'll be able to pop in.

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    3. Oooh, can I get in on that race? :D

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    4. Absolutely, lets have fun!!!

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    5. YES!! All three of us working on it at the same time would be AWESOME!! Did Krystal get this one or is it just us? Anyone know?

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  2. That card you made is really pretty - sometimes a quick finish is all you need, right?

    I'm still a little sad I couldn't join you for the hangout, but I'm glad to hear that Magical seems to feeling a little better. Also I'm curious about that next upcoming contest, probably it will distract me again from my plans, won't it? :D

    I like your plan of not getting anymore patterns. I know I'm one to talk, buying stuff all the time, but than, I think my todo-list is about the same size as yours, only that I don't actually own most of the stuff on there and work on changing that, if maybe that counts as an excuse? Anyway, I vow to support you in your effort, and I guess I'll start doing that by yelling 'Celtic Godess' to your face everytime I see you, how does that sound? :D

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    1. haha!! Yes, yell it in my face! I seriously need the constant reminding and "support" :D

      Well, sadly I won't be doing the July Hangout and am hoping that you, Nancy and Krystal will take care of that. My first son will be here visiting during that time and as he says I have to get all my hugs and kisses in! This will be the first time I haven't been to a Hangout on the Saturday of IHSW weekend. Maybe we can schedule it for the weekend before? Check your calendar for the weekend of July 12th and see what you are doing please :D

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    2. Celtic Goddess!!!1

      Ah, I don't know about that weekend, it's Felix' birthday on the 13th :/ But that might mean that I need to get some serious last minute stitching done on secret project #2 the night before, who knows...

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    3. Darn that Felix!! Time for whips and chains!!! And Happy Birthday to Felix :D

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  3. Ohhh... love the card. And I can't take credit for the bag kit idea, I got that from the people at Needlewerks when I bought stuff from them. Sad that I no longer have that store to go to and get supplies from. If I did I would have picked you up some of the red grid floss stuff that Nancy and I have since that's where I got it from. I'll be on the look out for you though.

    And I agree with Leonore, you need to work on Celtic Goddess again. I shall join her in reminding you about her. :)

    Also, I'm all for doing IHSW a weekend early. It wouldn't be the same without you :)

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    1. *clapping hands* GOODY!! And you will be proud, I did some work on Celtic Goddess, had to use my blue pen to grid and hope that works....NEVER draw on your fabric while watching Pacific Rim, got my count off and stuff...will post blog later to show you my nonsense ha ha!

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