Happy Thursday!

Well it looks like I'm pretty close to getting 200 followers! Who'd a thunk?! Not to mention it's my birthday in just a couple of weeks on February 16!!! So I thought I'd do a mash-up brithday/200 followers GIVEAWAY!

As I've said before, I never intended for this blog to be anything more than a journal of my stitching life but it has grown to be so much more to me. Getting to know the people whose blogs I follow and those who follow my blog has been a priceless and rewarding experience. So thank you for making this one of the best things I could have ever done!!!

Now down to the details!

These are some of the goodies that I'll be giving away:

(1) a $15(US) gift certificate for 123stitch.com

(2) a Gently used (practically brand-new) copy of Blackbird Designs Mary Ann Blackburn leaflet!

I also have a couple of other little surprises up my sleeve - but I won't reveal this until later ;)

RULES:

1.) You must be a follower of my blog (new or old - all are welcome!!!).

2.) Leave a comment saying you wish to be part of the giveaway in the comments section below. If you are a 'noreply' blogger be sure to email me your contact info (mine is k73mmf@mun.ca)

3.) Spread the word about my giveaway on your blog by posting about it!

This giveaway ends February 16, 2013 . The winner will be drawn on February 17, 2013.

Good Luck!

Melissa 

A quicky post today folks!

I can't believe January has come and gone already - UNBELIEVABLE! This means the time has come to announce my first RAK out of my 'Year of RAKs'.

The lucky 'winner' is.....

FIONA! 

You'll have to wait to see what I sent until later ;) However, thanks to my gimp hand it may not have something stitched BUT I'll be sure to send LOTS of stitching goodies.

Have a great week everyone!!!

Melissa

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope you're all ready for the week ahead - lord knows I wish I was a little more ready, a longer weekend would be a start... but Monday will wait for no one!

First off, I want to give a shout out to all my new followers. Welcome Welcome! So Happy to have you here :)

Secondly, I've still been stitching despite my tendinitis. When I say stitching... I mean stitching VERY slowly. BUT stitching none-the-less. In fact it doesn't hurt all that much when I stitch, which backs up the reasoning that it wasn't the stitching that gave me the tendinitis in the first place but something else. However, stitching with a wrist/hand brace is somewhat cumbersome to say the least, especially when it's on the needle-holding hand! I don't think I'll be able to stop stitching completely for the time being (just love it way too much) but instead will take my time with frequent breaks to ensure that I don't make it flare up. 

In any case, I have a small finish to show you all:

"Santa's House"
By Country Cottage Needleworks
Stitched on 32ct mystery fabric

Such a fun little stitch and with 12 in the series I'll have a nice little display for my future house, which, cross my fingers, we will start building in April-May time frame! 

Safe to say my life right now is all about house plans :) This blog may well turn into "the building of my house saga" haha.

Have a great week everyone!!! 

I have some news for later on the week so be sure to watch this space!!! ;) 

Melissa

Happy Thursday Folks!

Well a little less happy for me. 

I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. Routine. Nothing major - just need to refill a prescription.  But I figure while I'm there I might as well ask about some pain I've been getting in my thumb. I've been having this nagging pain grow and grow since maybe September. Last week I tried to lift a bed mattress with my Dad and couldn't do it! "HUH????" I think to myself. But then I start to think about it... I can't twist door handles that are either bit hard to turn... can't open jars of preserves... It's like all strength has left my hand. I was beginning to think "OMG I HAVE ARTHRITIS!!!" But I'm 26 - on WHAT planet does someone who is 26 get arthritis. So I ask....

Turns out I have "de quervain’s tenosynovitis". Basically the tendon down the inside of my forearm to my thumb is inflamed/injured. Except I have no idea how I managed to get it. The Doc said usually it affects plumbers or mothers with babies because it usually happens after repetitive use and pressure on the hand, like the twisting motions of a plumber or the picking-up of a child motion. The only thing I can even think I use my hand for repetitively is Cross Stitch so I tell the Doc this... "Nope - highly unlikely as it doesn't really require a lot of pressure". Can't say I'm not revealed at this because I'd hate to stop Cross Stitching... actually I think it would be my nightmare haha. 

Any-who, I have strict orders to rest my hand and not do anything that would aggravate it and to buy a wrist brace asap. If it doesn't go away soon then I'll need to get cortisone shots into my tendon... SOOOO not looking forward to this but considering I've had this pain since the Fall I think my future is looking a little bleak in this respect. Luckily my best friend is a massage therapist - don't get the wrong idea this is not a happy "I'll feel great" massage... Therapy is the name of the game and she fricken HURTS. Either way, she's kindly offered to help me out with some massaging techniques. And personally I'd do just about anything to not have to get cortisone shots. 

Still I'm pretty peeved at my body for crapping out on me! I've got circulation problems in my legs and now a gimp hand... MY RIGHT HAND - the one I use for EVERYTHING. 

Come on Body! I'm nice to you!!! I feed you, take you out for walks, pamper you with creams and beautiful haircuts, etc etc etc. 

OH MY!!!!

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the next couple of weeks holds for me.

As for the stitching... it's progressing but I'm taking it slllllooooowwww. 

Ciao for now!

Melissa

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I've rediscovered my stitching mojo, which must have been hidden behind all the tissues that have accumulated over the last few weeks. I feel more and more like my usual self everyday which is great! So this weekend I finally managed to put needle to thread and began stitching away. 

I've been asked why I love cross stitch so much and I think it's because I find it therapeutic. I like being able to sit down in a comfy chair, flick on a movie, put up my feet for a couple of hours and forget the world. Creatively and physically it energizes me. I get to produce a thing of beauty all while giving my brain a rest. 

Now with a fully rested brain, I have a new start:

"Santa's House" by Country Cottage Needleworks
32ct Mystery Linen
Pt.1 of Santa's Village Series

I've had Santa's House in my stash for some time, but again Christmas and flu's got in the way of me actually starting it. I love how cute this little stitch is so far. I'm participating in a SAL on Facebook so I'll eventually have the whole series done. I've got number two (Poinsettia Place) in my stash waiting to be stitched up and number 3 (North Pole Post Office) ordered and on the way!!! So exciting :) I think I'll be turning these into ornaments but I've also been having dangerous thoughts of incorporating them into a quilt. Problem... I have no idea how to quilt! So I'll put finishing them on the back burner for a while... after all I do have a whole year before the last chart comes out so I have a bit of time to figure out what to do with them all in the mean time.

Although I'm sure I'm not the only person with this problem, I have so many OTHER cross stitches I want to do too! So I can only hope to stitch these up as fast as possible to allow me some time to spend on my ever growing pile of stash. However, I like to think I'm fairly disciplined in this area as I usually finish what I start before starting another WIP. In fact, I only have one on-going WIP in my pile. I pick it up and put it down as I fall in and out of love with it. I'm sure I'll finish it some day but that day won't be here for quite sometime I suspect. 

On another note, Winter is in full swing here in St. John's. While I am no stranger to the white fluffy stuff that is called Snow, it doesn't usually accumulate so fast nor suddenly as it has this Winter. Believe me St. John's is used to snow, no doubt, but due to our proximity to ocean and with the gulf stream so close to our shores we generally get a 'Mixed Bag' of percipitation - mean snow for a couple of days and then rain. This then cuts down our snow significantly. But not this year... last week we had 2ft of snow.... yes you read that correctly.  And the drifts were INSANE! Seriously, I'm talking at least as tall as me ( = 5'2"... I'm a shorty)!!!! Since then it's been snowing on and off.... slowly accumulating. 5cm's here 10cm's there. It certainly adds up after a while. Now we're expecting another 20cms today and another possible 40cms over this coming weekend (praying this will change seeing as the weekend is so far off). That said, to me there is nothing more beautiful than a fresh snow fall. I love seeing the evergreen trees droopy with snow. So now, besides the salt on my windsheild, my drive's to work look like this:

Now who wouldn't love that????

Until next time!

Melissa

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I hope every one had a good Christmas!

Well I've finally returned! I was out of town for most of Christmas so blogging just wasn't in the cards ... came home last Thursday and BOOM - I was hit with the WORST FLU EVER. I would actually say this is just about as sick I've ever been as an adult. To say I was bed ridden would be an understatement. In fact this is my first full week back to work since Christmas/New Years! Yet still I try to stay away from physical activity as much as possible because I find it just drains me completely. I even find myself huffing-and-puffing as I reach the top of the stairs in my house @_@. Not fun... but on the bight side, I'm on the mend and I can feel it - always a good sign.

I'm dying to get back to my stitching as nothing has been done since the last time I blogged back on Dec 19!!!! Christmas + Sickness = No Stitching.

In the mean time I'll satisfy myself by posting a few picks of a couple of exchanges I did for Christmas.

First off my exchange with McKenna from Chic Crafting.

A little while before Christmas both McKenna and I decided it would be great to send each other a little something as an exchange and this is was sent!

From me to McKenna:

"Sleigh Bells Ring" by LHN

"Peace" from Christmas Ornaments JCS 2012 edition

From McKenna:

I think this little ornament is sooooooo sweet :) I loved the Christmas-y floss I got along with it! Of course I forgot to take a picture of that however. Very cute and much appreciated McKenna!!! Thanks so much!!!!

Next up is my Christmas exchange with the STITCHED WITH LOVE EXCHANGES group. 

This is what I sent to my partner Debbie.

"Peace" from Christmas Ornaments JCS 2012

"Ding Dong Merrily on High"
by LHN

And this is what I received from Mindi! 

First Christmas wrapping I got to tear open haha :)

Gorgeous hand dyed floss from the Victorian Motto Shoppe, hand painted and decorated wooden container and beautiful Angel scissors!

An Advent Calendar!!! I never got one of these before this year. So naturally I opened it right away...

But then I had to catch up to the day I was suppose to be on of course!

Lovely trims and finishing materials!!!

Two HUGE christmas ornaments. Just the style I love too. I think my boyfriend admired them longer than me too haha - saying "They would look GREAT on our Victorian Style Tree next year!" Of course I couldn't help but agree! They are beautiful :)

Awesome Santa themed cross stitching charts! So MANY!!! WOW.

The Santa's in action on the tree :)

Love love love it allllllll!

Believe it or not I'm not done my Christmas Stitching! So I'm off now to spend the night in my stitching chair and will try and catch up on everything! Soooooo much to do!

Until next time!

Melissa