Cross Stitch Sundays: A plan, a Bunny and a Geisha

I finished my Bunny stamped cross stitch. I purchased him back in June at a thrift store. He was nearly finished. One stitch was even left unfinished.

I decided to finish him.

 Now that he's done, all I have left to do is frame him and hang him.

Now that I have my Bunny done, I can focus all of my attention on my Geisha again. So far so good. She's going to take me a while.

I have my next project in mind. Its another Geisha. I'm not kidding when I say I like Asian cross stitches.

What can I say? I'm just not a fan of lighthouses.

Thrifted Thursdays: Big Hit

I love going to thrift stores. There's something about the hunting thing that I love. I have my favorites out here in Las Vegas. Sometimes it's hit or miss.

This time was definitely a hit.

My sister was out here in Las Vegas this Summer. Back in June we went out to one of my favorite thrift stores. While walking through the holiday/craft section I spotted this guy.

It's a Bucilla felt kit. Santa's Vintage Car. It was still sealed. I turned it over and spotted the price tag.

 Yeap. 3.00.

Online they retail for 40.

So I snatched it up. Did I mention that it's never even been opened?

I also spotted this kit at the same time.

The price tag on this one was 6.00. The lady at the cash register took a look at that and said "that seems like too much."

She ended up selling it to me for three dollars. It's a half finished stamped cross stitch kit. It's also my most recent finished cross stitch project.

Sometimes thrift stores are hits.

In fact, the fabric in the background I also picked up at that thrift store. It didn't have a price tag. It's over 12 yards. She gave us a price of 2.00.

Cross Stitch Sundays: Lazy day

Today has been one of those lazy relaxing days.

I went out to another estate sale yesterday. I made a very awesome purchase...but I've decided to wait to post about it til Thursday. I really want to post about it now, but I will wait.

I have my reasons.

Yesterday, I also went out rock climbing with some girls from my knit night. I ended up making it to the top of two courses. Granted they are training courses, but still. Not bad for someone who's afraid of anything higher than a step ladder.

I will make the rock climbing a steady, at least once a week, thing. 

So with all that excitement yesterday, I decided that today would be a lazy day.

First thing I did after getting out of bed today, was to crawl right back into bed. I picked up A Game of Thrones  by George R. R. Martin, and read a bit. I've decided to catch up to the series, before it comes back on the air. I'm nearly done with the first book.

I did the laundry.

I opened up all the windows. The summer was pretty mild out here in Las Vegas, but this is still the first day it's been cool enough to turn off the AC and open all the windows.

 I did some yoga.

I worked on my Geisha cross stitch a bit.

I'm starting to get the feeling that it's going to take forever to finish. 

The last couple of days I've been also working on my bunny. I don't know why I've never done a stamped cross stitch before. I love how quick it is.

I think I need to pick up some more.

I guess that my lazy day hasn't really been that lazy.

Thrifted Thursdays: Awesome Weekend

I had a very awesome weekend.

I went out to a yard sale and estate sale. I also went rock climbing for the first time, with two girls from my knit night. We ended up grabbing lunch together.

This is my yard sale haul.

This is a finished and framed crewel embroidery kit. Copyright 1979. 

It was $7.00. Not bad.

I love the way its framed. Some of the stitches are starting to come undone, but with the framing job I'll be able to fix it if it gets worse.

At the same yard sale I picked up this moose. Or is it an elk? Either way, I love it.

This one was only $1.00. Yeap. Definitely not bad.

Its a cross stitch. She even 'signed' it. I can't make it out though.

I picked up a couple of other pieces, including this really awesome sweater. It's double knit. The motifs are duplicate stitched on. It feels like acrylic. The sleeves are long kimono shaped. I love this sweater, and I can't wait til it gets cold. It was $1.50.

 I also picked up a little gift for my sister. It was her birthday last week. I plan on mailing out a box to San Angelo in the next couple of days.

I also picked up a highly practical coffee mug. I love using random vintage coffee mugs, and this one sent me back $0.25.

All in all a very awesome weekend.

Cross Stitch Sundays: Geisha and a Bunny

I had a great weekend. I've been productive. I went out to an estate sale and a yard sale. I picked up a crewel embroidery and a cross stitch. Yay! I then went out rock climbing with two girls from my knit night. I almost made it to the top of the kiddie course. Yay! I've also had a crewel embroidery sitting around, waiting to be re-framed since June. I finally got around to framing it (more on that later). Yay!

I've been able to get some work done on my Geisha cross stitch. It's still pretty slow going. I'm not so crazy about gold metallic threads. I do enjoy the look though. 

I have my next cross stitch in mind. Well, I've had it in mind for a while now. My sister came out here for a visit this Summer. While she was out here, we hit up a couple of thrift stores and estate sales.

I picked this up at a thrift store out here in Las Vegas. I paid 3 dollars (more on that later).

The threads came in a big lumpy tangled mess. The actual fabric is very wrinkly. 

It's actually a half finished stamped cross stitch. Copyright 1987. So it's technically older than I am. I've never done a stamped cross stitch before. I do mostly counted cross stitches.

It really is half finished. This one stitch wasn't completed. I've decided to keep it like that.

I view it as a kinda homage to the person who last worked on it. 

I love giving things that have been lovingly handcrafted a new home. 

WIP Wednesdays: 2 Shawls and a Sweater

So, we had a pretty good sized storm out here in Las Vegas a couple of days ago. It ended up knocking out our internet.  So, I'm a day late for Wednesday.

One nice thing about not having the internet, is that I didn't have any distractions. I was actually able to get some work done.

I got started on my September shawl.

I picked up the sweater I'm making for mom for Christmas. 

I got a little bit more done on my BONUS shawl. 

I also worked on my cross stitch some more (I'll post that on Sunday).

Last night I made a yummy dinner (but I didn't think about taking a photo.) Swedish Spareribs.

And last week I finished my August shawl.

Last Saturday the Boyfriend and I went out and bought a new bed. We decided to get a king sized memory foam bed from Costco.

The bed is awesome. Really comfy. But as usual, the cat prefers the box it came in. 

Cross Stitch Sundays: Geisha

I know its not Sunday. I'm a day late.

I've decided to start another recurring post. I plan on taking a photo of my current cross stitch project, and posting every Sunday. I figure it will force me to actually work on my projects.

We'll see.

This is my current cross stitch project. Its Jewels of the Orient by Dimensions.

I love Asian art and aesthetics.

Cross stitching for me is mostly about decorating my house. I plan out where all my projects are going to hang in my house.

I love cross stitching. There's something really zen and relaxing about it.

Here's a detailed photo. 

I do most of my own framing. I use store bought frames and have the mats cut down.

I'm debating having this one custom framed.