Lady of the Thread Cross Stitch

Lady of the Thread is overdue for an update. I haven't taken a picture of her in nearly a year! This morning I finally finished the large green part of her skirt. It doesn't look very big in the photo, but when you're doing it one stitch at a time, it's gigantic!

The Pattern: "Lady of the Thread" by Lavender and Lace.
The Fabric: 28 ct black linen from my LNS
The Thread: DMC Floss
Date Started: 3-10-09

Goals for 2012

Did you make any resolutions regarding your crafts last year? What about this year? I was just looking at my list of craft resolutions for last year:

1. Finish at least 1/2 of the projects on my current WIP list.
2. Take pictures of completed projects.
3. Start Christmas gifts ASAP, and finish them by the end of August.
4. Empty &/or downsize sewing basket.
5. Frame completed cross stitch projects.
6. Update Etsy shop on a regular basis.

How did I do?
1) I should have finished 7 projects from my WIP list. I finished two.
2)I did well with taking pictures until April. Now I have a pile of things on my desk that I need to blog about, but can't because I haven't taken pictures yet.
3) Yeah...I'm lazy. 'nuff said.
4) Accomplished! I purchased a plastic container, so that when enough projects get done I can put the lid on and stack stuff on top. (Anything for more storage space!)
5) 2 out of 6. Maybe that should be 2 out of 4 - one I have decided to make into a pillow cover, and another will be attached to the top of a box. If I can ever find a box the right size.
6) I did fairly well with renewing items when the listing expired...

Although my resolutions didn't go very well, I did manage to complete a lot of projects, including some that should have been on my WIP list.

Here are my crafting goals for this year:

• Blog regularly
• Scrapbook regularly
• Keep Ravelry and Stitcher's Showcase projects updated
• Get ideas for Etsy shop out of my head and into the Etsy shop
• Keep working on finishing things in my WIP list
• Get better at photography (I got some awesome gifts for Christmas that should help me with that.)
• Have Christmas cards and gifts finished by November 1
• Reduce my yarn stash to one basket (that's my stash, before sorting it into two baskets) 

Upcoming posts: Projects that were finished last year, pictures and details about WIP's, some cooking and baking, and a Stitches in Life post.

My Memories Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was contacted by My Memories, and asked if I would like to host a giveaway of their software. Ironically my Mom had just been telling me about them the week before. I said yes, and have been playing around with it. My Memories is a digital scrapbooking software but don't let the name fool you - you can do a lot more than scrapbooking with this software! So far my favorite project has been this calendar page:

I challenged myself to see what I could make without using any photos - I'm delighted with the results. The picture does look a little grainy - all of the pictures that I have exported as JPEGS are not as sharp as the originals. All of my projects (so far) have begun as scrapbook pages. Some stayed that way, and others have evolved into something different. The next picture would make the perfect Christmas card.The picture is from one of our annual visits to a local Christmas Tree Farm.

The following link will take you to a slideshow of the six pages I've created. http://img38.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=salbumgiveaway004.jpg 

Now for the Giveaway! There are two ways to enter:

1. Go to the My Memories website and find a paper pack, theme, or kit that you like, and leave me a comment about how you see yourself using it. Be sure that I can contact you through your comment.
2. For an extra entry, go to the My Memories Facebook page, and "like" it. Leave a second comment telling me you've liked their page, or if you already like their page, mention it in a second comment.

The drawing will be open for two weeks from Saturday, November 5, thru Saturday, November 19. Look for the winner to be posted on Monday the 21'st.
If you don't win the giveaway, or can't wait to try the software, My Memories has given me a discount code to share. This code is only valid for purchases of My Memories Suite v.2.
The code is: STMMMS47620  When you are checking out, simply copy and paste the code into the "coupon/promo code" box.