Day 319 - A little more done

Worked some today on the counted cross stitch-doing some outlining!

Monday December 27,2010

Tough to be back at work today with so many negative vibes... No crafting tonight but did take photos of the 2 new jigsaw puzzles we did over Christmas Eve day and Christmas day.  The Yellowstone one was 1000 pieces and the Gingerbread one was 500.  Fun to do.

Day 318 - Slow going

What I did on the 23rd after work....

Day 317 - Back on Track?

Managed a little time between

 some Christmas shopping and work today.

And-how can 30 degrees feel like a spring day?

Only in Minnesota.

Winter Solstice - December 21st

I know I have been missing a bunch of crafting days.  I am spending time in the studio but I have been writing cards and now wrapping gifts.  It is a colorful and exciting time of the year and so beautiful with all of our wonderful snow!  I looked around at the huge mess here and decided to take a couple of quick shots of things that are Christmasy in the studio.

Sunday

Got to church, then finished the tree and house decorating.  Some shopping, wash and last Christmas cards.  Got a couple of gifts ready for this week.  No crafting at all or thinking about it. :-(

Day 316 - Little progress

Did a bit of cross stitch- not much.

Did get a good start on the decorating for Christmas.

This is my miniature beaded Christmas tree!

This is our full size Christmas tree!

Falling behind...

No crafting today.  Work- then some shopping then wrapping the last gifts to be mailed.  Will head to the post office tomorrow morning.  Still have the tree to decorate.  Wish me luck.  Just too much going on right now to be thinking creative.  Ahh, but that is not quite accurate.  I did stop by Mill End Fabrics on my way home to use a coupon for 60% off that expires tomorrow.  I got fabric for the back of one of the quilt tops waiting to be assembled.  So the creativity doesn't "stop".  It is just put on "hold" for  a bit!

Day 315 - more stitching

Tired tonight and will stop early.

Found these snowflake buttons on 50% off clearance at Michaels...

too cool to let go.

Day 314 - Cross stitch and packages

A little more done this morning-

Also got some packages mailed for Christmas.

Idaho, Montana, Florida and Nevada

Watched a bit of Holiday Inn.

"When you are worried and can't fall asleep

Count your blessings instead of sheep."

Day 313 - Cross Stitch

Only spent about an hour today on this- can you see the progress?

Micaela has stayed overnight and has been baking up

a Christmas storm!!

Day 312 - Each Day a New Adventure

Well, we have a snowstorm!  Here I am attempting to clear the driveway!

I think that we got about 15 inches of snow from last night to about 5:00 pm.

The snow has stopped but the wind continues and the temps are beginning to drop.

A little cross stitch and trying to keep warm.

Day 311 - Again with the cross stitch....

you said it....

Day 310 - Cross Stitch

More of the same....

This morning my backyard bunny was out.  You can see the bush behind her

that she has been eating on a regular basis.

Day 309 - Archivers

Well, I had my camera with this evening and forgot to take a photo!  So it is a rare occasion but no picture today.  I spent a couple of hours with my daughter at Archivers, using the die cutting machines, gluing and cutting out designs.  It was productive.  Best thing about it was that I got to spend time with Micaela!

Day 308 - Cross Stitch

Well, more of the same.  It is surprizing how calming this cross stitch is for me.  Today was a hard day at work with some pretty bad news and this cross stitching has mellowed me out.  Sure is good to have some interests outside of work...

Day 307 - Cross stitching

Guess this little cross stitch piece has really drawn me in...photo is blurry but did some more on it tonight.

The other "event" of the evening was my

first 3 way skype call!  My daughter Micaela, my husband Michael

(who was upstairs at the time) and myself- some good laughs...

Day 306 - Cross Stitching

A little bit more done on the project today....

After church today we went to a Church of Latter Day Saints and walked through a beautiful display of 460 different nativity sets.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

Day 305 - Counted Cross Stitch

Did a bit more on the new counted cross stitch piece.

Look what my Dad made for me for the studio!

It is a wonderful place to store/display my quilts-in-progress

and completed quilt tops!

Michael installed it today in the studio.

At this point in time I have 4 quilt tops ready to go and the last rung

is the strips for the 2 church quilts ready to be sewn together.

Day 304 - Counted Cross Stitch & MOA

This evening I worked a bit on the new counted cross stitch.

Michael and I did our traditional day trip

 (we both took a day off work)

to go to the Mall of America for

our annual Christmas shopping day.

Here are a couple of things that we saw today.

They are refurbishing Legoland! 

The official grand re-opening of the store

is tomorrow!

There were these new, beautiful crystal "mobils"

 hung from the light fixtures

that were 2 stories long- shining and sparkling- breathtaking!

A display window outside of the Appple Store.

Nickelodeon theme park.

A chandelier made out of pastel, colored plastic spoons.

This is where we had our dinner.

And finally, interesting colored Christmas trees.

The ornaments are those hollow,

 plastic balls that are at kids playgrounds

where you can jump into a sea of those plastic balls

 and bury yourself...

It was a fun and productive day!

Day 303 - Quilt layout

Had a chance this morning to lay out the strips for the church scrap quilt.  As I was laying them out I realized how big it had gotten!  Decided that I would make 2 smaller quilts out of the one.  Here they are laid out and numbered.

Guess who that is walking across the far quilt??