So...long time, no post...

I think it's only been a week...but it feels like so much longer than that!

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend.  We here in Philly had our first heat wave of the season, and it's not officially summer yet.  It was 96 degrees yesterday.  I hate to say it folks, but I think we're in for another scorcher of a summer.  I am totally ok with this, since I will take the heat over snow and ice and cold ANY DAY of the week.  (Although....the unexpected snow day from work still makes me giddy like a school girl...haha!)  Today was MUCH cooler -- topping off at 76 degrees and breezy.  It was absolutely beautiful out!!

Enough of this boring, old lady talk about the weather.

In the spirit of Memorial Day, Paulette of Plum Street Samplers posted a lovely little freebie in remembrance of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  Visit her post to get your copy!  She always has such lovely graphs :-)

In my week-long absence, I've been working on a few things.  First, I finished the piece that I designed for my friend at work - she had her baby on Friday, and I can't wait to give her the announcement!  I'll post pictures at a later date -- I want her to see it first before I start spreading it all around :-)  I did post a little teeny tiny preview of it way back when -- it's the Irish blessing.  It turned out absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to share it.  I hope you can withstand the anticipation :-)

I showed you last week my finish of "Garden Fresh" by Little House Needleworks.  Well, I couldn't stop there, so I continued right on with the companion piece that comes with the kit -- "A Stitch in Thyme".

I plan on finishing this as a needlebook, just as Diane has the model finished, but mine will be a smidge smaller.  The model was stitched on 32 count linen; I chose 40 count.  My fabric is an overdye from Silkweaver which I absolutely LOVE.  Unfortunately, I cannot give the name of the color, since it was not labeled when I bought it.  I searched the Silkweaver website, but couldn't really find something that resembled it.  I may have missed it.  If any of you can match it, let me know!  It's a really great neutral color, with splotches all over the piece.  (I forgot just how big a fat half is...and of 40 count to boot.  I'll be stitching on this for a looonnnnggggg time.  Be prepared to see this fabric often in my work.  haha!)

I also finished "Pumpkins Three"...but totally forgot to take a picture of it.  It turned out fabulous, and I promise to post a picture of it before the weekend is over.

Just as I was leaving my craft room tonight, I stumbled upon this cute little summer ditty that I did last year --

This one is from Lizzie Kate, and is stitched on 32 count blue overdyed fabric.  Alas, as it's been a year since I finished it, I'm totally cluefree as to what the color name of this fabric is or who makes it.  I believe it's very similar to what I stitched Cricket Collection "Summer" on, but I can't be 100% positive.  I'll be putting some cording around the outer edge and attaching a magnet so I can hang it on my file cabinet at work.  (Yes, I know.  I keep saying I'm going to hang things at my desk at work.  You have NO idea how B-O-R-I-N-G my cube walls are...I have to spice it up with floods of color...and, at the moment, I do that with a myriad of Post-its.  Makes me look like a crazy stationery hoarder.  Wait...)

That's all I have for you today, ladies and gentlemen.  I hope to post again over the weekend -- I'm forcing myself to totally finish the other baby announcement I'm doing, along with maybe some scrapbooking.  Hopefully it'll stay cool enough so I can spend a longer period of time in my craft room than I could when the heat index was that of the surface of the sun.  Fingers crossed.

Do something creative today!

Rain, rain, do NOT go away!!!

I have never been so happy to see steady rain in my life!!  My allergies don't normally bother me until the fall with the leaves and mold, but this year, the spring allergies hit me like a brick wall.  I've been laid up all weekend fighting hideous allergies which have turned into a cold.  No infection (yet), so here's hoping I don't need to take a trip down Antibiotic Alley, which is usually where I end up.  I can never have "just" a cold.

Whilst being laid up on the couch, I haven't felt so bad that I can't multi-task while watching some of my favorite shows (The Golden Girls and Frasier reruns have kept me going.  Hello hilarity!!).  I decided to work on something for me, so this is what I was able to accomplish this weekend --

It's called "Coffin Buzz" and it's a freebie from Paulette Stewart, designer of Plum Street Samplers. I'm a coffee fiend (if you couldn't already tell...), so this is just perfect.  I stitched it on 40 count Antique Almond by Silkweaver.  I plan on finishing it in a rustic frame and hanging it at work to add a little character to those battleship grey walls that surround me for 9 hours a day.

My house is coming along, slow but steady.  Most of the painting is done on the first floor, with the exception of the woodwork in the den and dining room.  I started painting the trim in the living room this past week with the most important part -- the bookshelves.  I can finally put all of my books on the shelves, and I interspersed some pictures and fun knick knacks up there, too.  I haven't gotten to any of the molding yet, though, thanks to this hideous cold.

Now, before I bring you along to what is now my beautiful living room, I must remind you of what it was.

Remember this?

Horrifying.  That green is just...ugh.  Initially it didn't seem so bad, but once I got a really good look at it...bleh.  Also, what we realized (we meaning my family and I -- I had a lot of help with all the painting on the first floor) is that the paint above the chair rail all throughout the house isn't just a pale blue...it's a pale bluish-purple.  In addition, the former owners must've painted in the middle of the night with sunglasses on, since they made a MESS with the paint.  MESS.  Not to mention the fact that they painted over wallpaper, and the trim has never been painted white.  Ever.  UGGGGGHHHHH.  Anyway.

THIS is what my living room looks like NOW --

Isn't it SO much better and way more amazing?!?!!!  It took 3 coats of primer to get rid of that horrific green, but it's gone!  The handles on the cabinets under the bookshelves got thrown out, so I'll be on the hunt for something to replace them.  I did deviate from my original painting plan -- the color I ended up choosing for the living room is lighter and has a little more peach in it than the color I had originally wanted in there.  I think this is much better and lightens up the space more so than the other darker color I'd initially chosen. (And yes, that is my crazy black panther on the hearth.  Apparently she wanted in on this photo op, so she coyly entered from the bottom left, pretending she'd never sniffed this area of the living room before.  She's lucky she's cute.)

Here's a close-up of my bookshelves --

To die for, right?!?!  Especially after what they once were!!  OMG.  My vase (which is handmade from Spain - my professor got it for me while I studied abroad during the summer of 2001, since I celebrated my 21st while we were over there) looks so small on top of the mantle!  I guess I'll have to move it into the bookshelf so it doesn't get dwarfed by its surroundings.  

Anyhooter, that's all I have at the moment.  Time to take more cold & sinus medicine and make either tea or coffee...something hot to break up this gunk in my head.  Yuck.