Blogging along...

Been a while since I've posted here.  I just recently won my battle of TWO MONTHS with a pesky and painful kidney stone!! Ugh!! Last week was sheer torture - ingested lots of Advil (on top of my already heavy prescribed arsenal for my back pain!) and I'm happy to report this thing is finally out of me! 'Nuff said about THAT !

Moving onto some NICER and more socially acceptable conversation -- I wanted to continue my newly proposed tradition of telling you about some blogs I follow.

First up is one that I just visited for the first time today! Marie has a wonderful blog called Creative Thread that I highly recommend you check out this weekend. I really enjoyed reading several posts this morning, and will certainly venture back over this weekend to check out and read some more.

Another blog I enjoy is by Teresa -- Quiet and Relaxation.    Now, who doesn't like either of those two things?! I know I sure enjoy them, and I promise you'll enjoy taking a peek at her blog.  I LOVE her Quaker Virtues WIP, and have bugged her about those threads she's using because I love the colors she's chosen (Silk n Colors Acorn Woods and Rusty Amber!!).  I'm noting this here for two reasons - one, to help you out in case you'd like to use that color scheme in your own project.  And secondly, so I REMEMBER what she told me and hopefully prevent me from bugging her again! Lol!  Of course, as I told Teresa, I'll order these today and promptly forget what they are for when they arrive in the mail!  Ha ha ha!!

Last, but certainly not least, is a blog that many of you may already follow out in Blogland as it's quite a popular one.  Edgar's Blacksheep's bit of the web is by a fellow male stitcher, and I certainly aspire to create as many wonderfully beautiful stitched pieces as he has created.  He does beautiful work, I'm sure you'll agree.  Plus, he posts lots of links to recipes that look amazing.  I'm already planning to try making Baklava after seeing his pics and getting a tip from him about pistachios!  Who woulda thunk? Not a huge fan of walnuts here, but I do love pistachios!! So, I'm going to have to take Edgar's word that it's not as hard to make as it would appear and doctor up the recipe a bit by exchanging finely chopped pistachios for those walnuts!!

Two new charts I've ordered that I'm excited about (you know I'm ALWAYS excited about new STASH!!)  First up is a new reproduction sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler called Sarah Chapple.  You can buy it at one of my favorite online shops, Stitch and Frog, and it's on sale right now!

The second is a new MERMAID design by Mirabilia!  Gypsy Mermaid is also on sale 15% off - as well as the embellishment pack! Check it out!  Have a great weekend, and Happy Stitching! 

The invisible thread...

I have to admit, I have quite a long list of blogs I'm following now, and I just don't get the chance to visit all of them as much as I'd like to!  I know - there are only so many hours in a day, right?  And we want to spend any free time we have STITCHING, not hunting the Internet.  But, I am really happy that I've reached over 100 followers now, and thought I should take a day each week to mention one or two of the blogs I follow - pay it forward, so to speak!

First off, by chance this morning I happened upon Karen's blog, My Stitchy Ramblings.  How kind of Karen to mention me and my blog in her last post!  If you haven't yet had a chance, check out Karen's blog.  She even has some "eye candy" of a non-stitching variety posted recently.  You'll just have to go on over and check for yourself, but take my word for it when I tell you HE learned all his body sculpting techniques from ME!  (LOL! Yeah, don't I wish!)

As so often happens, one blog leads to another, and from Karen's blog I visited A Stitch of This...A Stitch of That.  Since she is shooting for 100 followers, I felt I had to spread the love and direct you over in her direction. Go check it out!

And last, but certainly not least, I ended up on Rebekah's blog, The Stitching Frog. I'm not even sure now how I ended up finding Rebekah's blog this morning, but I'm glad I did!  She has some beautiful progress pics posted of a project called "Around the World in 80 Stitches."  Now, I'm not familiar with this project, but it sure sounds interesting.  Of course, Rebekah is already up to part TEN, so looks like it's too late for me to weasel my way into that project -- but I do love the pics she has posted, so I'll try to remember to check in now and then to follow her progress!

Finally, before coming here to jot a quick post, I somehow or other made it full circle back to a blog writing about KAREN (remember ... Where I started off this morning!?)  Andie, at stitchitandie, was posting to help out Karen with growing her number of followers!

Just goes to show that although our stitching community is large and worldwide, we are all somehow connected by a thread. Kind of like "Six Degrees of Separation" or that Bent Creek design about the red thread that connects us all. Right?  Well, I thought it was kinda neat anyway!

And speaking of thread -- my stash is calling to me to get inside and stop neglecting it a minute longer.  So, until next time, have a great day and enjoy your blog surfing and stitching.  Progress pics will be posted next time.  Sorry I've been loading up on text heavy posts lately!  Kevin

And the winners are....

Congratulations! 

The winners for my first ever blog giveaway are:

Marie -- Cottage Garden Fairy by Mirabilia

Julie (from Boston) -- Light House Summer Garden

Please email me with your addresses, ladies, and I'll get your prizes in the mail to you.

Thanks to everybody who entered, and thanks for following my blog!

Kevin.xstitch@gmail.com

Springtime Giveaway!

Well, I now have 101 followers, and I promised I'd have a giveaway

once I reached 100! Thanks for checking out my blog, friends! 

I'm offering two projects as giveaways.  Hopefully, they'll be something of interest to

my faithful, and new-found, followers! 

To enter the giveaway, write a comment on this post.  It's as simple as that, really! 

You can tell me 

 a little about yourself - how you got started stitching and/or what you love about our craft.

I will number the comments in the order in which they're made.

On Monday morning, I'll use the nifty random number generator I installed last night, 

and I'll edit the range of numbers to match the comments (if 20 people enter, I'll make the computer

select a random number from 1-20, in other words.)

Since I have two gifts I'm giving away, I'll do that process twice 

and the two lucky comments which match the two random numbers will be the winners. 

PLEASE leave your name with your comment, so I can announce who the winners are! 

The first giveaway is a completely kitted Mirabilia project:

"Cottage Garden Fairy"

This includes: the chart, all DMC needed, Solo Silkweaver 32 count linen,

and all the Kreiniks, beads and treasures listed on the chart.

 

The second giveaway is another kitted up project called

Lighthouse Summer Garden by Liz Diehl

The kit contains: Madeira cotton flosses, metallic and blending fibers

by GlissenGloss, two ColorWash Japanese silks, and all beads and treasures needed.

IT DOES NOT INCLUDE FABRIC - IT REQUIRES

A 12" BY 15" PIECE OF 28 COUNT "NATURAL" LINEN

(or you can use something from your stash!)

 

I hope that these giveaways are something that interest you!

(And if not, you can always give them away as a gift to a stitching friend!!)

 

Best of luck to you all -- and thanks again for visiting my blog!!

Have a great weekend!   Kevin

 

TNNA survey

ATTENTION Needle Artists ... if you are a cross stitcher or counted thread stitcher .. if you are a needlepointer or knitter .. if you crochet, weave or spin .. TNNA NEEDS your INPUT!!!

 The 10-minute survey asks about your experiences with the needlearts you enjoy: crocheting, cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting, needlepoint, spinning, or weaving. Let us know which types of projects you prefer, how you like to learn, and what you’d like to see needlearts shops do better. The needlearts community needs your advice and opinions, whether you are a beginner or an expert! This survey is conducted every few years by The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA). Your input is very important and will be included in a published national report.

Your answers are anonymous. No one will use your survey responses to market to you.

In return for your participation, you will receive valuable benefits:

· Gain a chance to win one of five $100 needlearts gift certificates.

· Ensure stores, manufacturers, and other suppliers provide what you want.

· Explore your needlearts interests.

Your valuable input will also help the needlearts community:

· Give guilds, associations, community groups, and others guidance to grow the world of needlearts.

· Help independent retailers and family-owned suppliers succeed by giving them the customer feedback they need.

The survey is sponsored by TNNA, an organization of businesses dedicated to supporting the needlearts community. Hart Business Research is conducting this survey for TNNA and compiling the results into a major national report, The State of Specialty Needlearts 2013.

Please complete the survey right away at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TNNAfiber.

The survey closes April 30, 2013.

Also PLEASE pass along this survey link to your stitching friends .. it's that important!!

Quick post about another GIVEAWAY!

Just a quick post to tell my followers about another giveaway taking place on a blog I just discovered.
You can win a set of her beautiful garden themed charts simply by visiting her blog, writing a comment, and telling a friend about her giveaway contest! Easy peasy!  Enjoy!

Check out Summer House Stitche Workes to enter her giveaway contest! Ends April 7th. 

While I'm on the subject of giveaways -- I entered "The Room" today and started sorting through my own goodies to use in my upcoming giveaway! Only nine followers short of more info about what I'll be offering to some of my lucky 100 followers.  ;-)

Happy stitching! It's almost Friday! Enjoy the weekend. 

Ten away from a GIVEAWAY!

Wow!  I just noticed that my followers have grown in number and today I've reached 90 followers. :-)

I decided just now, on a whim, to offer a giveaway or two (maybe three?) when I hit the 100 followers mark.  What I'll be offering up for grabs is a mystery just yet -- but this will compel me to enter The Room of Stash and dig through my hoard (ie, organize) tomorrow.

I have PLENTY of stash-y (not trashy!) items in my Pile o'Stash that I'm sure other Stitchers would be interested in.  Besides, it's FREE! Who doesn't like free stuff? I mean, even if it's a chart you don't care for or maybe something you already own, it's not going to hurt you to win another one for free, right?  You can always pay it forward and gift it to a stitching friend or donate it to an upcoming retreat as a door prize or even have a giveaway of your own on YOUR blog and kind of discreetly slip the "goody" you got (but don't want) into the freebies you're giving away! :-)

Keep your eyes posted here for the next week or so, and I'll provide more concrete details once I've worked them all out. (In other words, once I've safely returned from the Pile o'Stash with my gifties.   If you don't hear from me for a long stretch, you might want to alert the authorities that a blog poster you know may be buried in an avalanche of charts, kits, linens and Lord knows what else is waiting for me in "The Room!"