Let's Get Lost Together Book Stack Cross Stitch Pattern FINISHED!

Books Cross Stitch Pattern

I am so excited today, I finally finished my books stack cross stitch pattern.  Such a quick an easy pattern that really took me much longer than expected as I just couldn't seem to find the time to actually sit down and stitch.  Now we will see how long it takes me to clean, press and frame in the embroidery hoop.









I did have a couple small finishes on the side.  A personalized soccer ball ornament for my boy and a custom initial done on linen.  I must say, I don't often stitch on linen, but I do love the end result.

Initial Cross Stitch

Soccer Ball Xstitch

Serenity Prayer Cross Stitch

Mini Dragon Cross Stitch

I am excited to get back to stitching my serenity prayer pattern, and I already picked out my next quickie project, my mini dragon.  So, no more writing, now more stitching :)

Why Love Counted Cross Stitch?

I love counted cross stitch for a lot of reasons, but the most important one of all is creating something from scratch.

There really isn't a better feeling that creating beautiful pictures.  Some like to do it with ink, markers, crayons, paint, you name it, I love to do it with DMC Floss and Aida Fabric. Here I started with small piece of fabric, floss and a pattern. 




And slowly but surely I brought one book cover to life.  Not that you can tell yet to look at this picture that it is a book cover, but still I know and part of the picture is there.







Then the next time I pick the project up, it comes to life even more, still not completely clear where I am going with it, but seeing the different colors come to life is so exciting!


 Then the progress really picks up and I  can really start to see the shapes and ideas of the pattern come to life.






























And now the project is so far along it is very clear that I am stitching a stack of books, I can even see the perspective of the books going in different directions. It is really starting to feel alive.  It is also really exciting to be this far on a project because I can already start planning for the next stitched project.  Only a few more days on this one.  Happy Stitching!

It's All About the Time...rs

2017 is going to be my year of productivity and time...rs.  I don't actually have a lot of time, three kids and their activities make time a fleeting memory of days past.  What I do have a lot of is hobbies, creative ideas and desire to make things and the desire to fit it all in.  So I am trying timers this year to help my productivity.  Each day, I create a list of everything I want to work on during the day.  

I set aside a certain amount of time per item and set a timer for myself. Because just like I enjoy getting lost in books, I also get lost in projects and several hours of my day later I will have not accomplished a quarter of what I wanted.

 I am finding that when I break my day into 45 minute blocks of project time I am more productive and stay on task better.  I am enjoying seeing great progress on my projects, while still having the opportunity to enjoy my hobbies such as riding, reading, soccer, doodling and of course pattern designing and working in my cross stitch etsy shop.

Of course, only time will tell if the timers of 2017 work for me.  But 5 days in and I am feeling pretty good about them.

Cross Stitch Work In Progress Wednesday - Oh Happy Day

Feeling very accomplished today as I have a finish from last week's WIP Wednesday.  Now to actually put a  hook in the wall and get it hanging.  That will likely take longer than it did to actually stitch this project up. 

A great deal of progress was made on my serenity prayer cross stitch project.  I know it is hard to see as it doesn't look much different but I was able to fill in all of the two light green sections and I outlined the next light green section.  Feeling very accomplished. (Tomorrow we will talk about why I am using timer's this year to keep me on track).

I was also excited to have gathered the supplies for my new cross stitch WIP.  The lovely book stack with quote.  I am an avid reader and love to get LOST in books so this cross stitch pattern has very special meaning to me.  I hope that means I will be able to stitch it up pretty quickly and get it hanging too.