January Parties

I've always felt like January was such a dull month.  All of the lights, colors, and glitter of the Christmas season is gone and all you are left with is cold, dark winter.  You go from all of the fun holiday festivities to being shut up in the house for days on end....but not this winter!  January has been much better this year because I've had two Pinterest Parties to host over the last two weekends.  

First up was a party given by my friend Maggie for her friend's birthday.  Isn't that a good idea?  Her friend loves penguins so we made a really cute penguin ornament in her honor.  This group of ladies was tons of fun!  There was lots of singing and laughter and great food.

My next party was my very first in something new and exciting for me.  I am cooperating with the city of Edwardsville to through Pinterest Parties sponsored by the city.  It was so much fun!  This was the biggest party I've ever done.  We had 27 ladies in attendance!  I'm really not used to talking to such large group and was pretty nervous, but everyone was so nice that they put me at ease.  

We made a really cute Valentine's Day plaque and I love how they all turned out!

There were some really creative ideas that some of the ladies came up with...

I just love these!

There will be another city Pinterest Party on February 21st at 7 o'clock on the second floor of the Wildey Theater.  I'll get some more details to you later in the week!

If you would like to book your own private party for the next month, please let me know by emailing me at apetalpusher@gmail.com

Christmas Review and New Year Preview

Where in the world did December go?  I feel like it went by so quickly that I haven't yet recovered.  I guess it is time to go ahead and show you what I made as a Christmas gift for my mom and fill you in on what else has been going on in my crafty life.

My mom gave me all of her cross stitch materials a few years ago when she realized that she really wasn't going to have the time to do it anymore.  Along with lots of floss and fabric, she gave me a pattern that she had started and never finished.  It was basically finished from the row of tulips on down.  If you look at the finished product below, you can probably tell it is a little dated looking in the colors and motifs.  I have no idea when in the world she started this, but the date that is on the pattern above the door of the house reads "1986."  That's right, this pattern is almost as old as me.

So, after having languishing in my stash for several years, I felt that the time had come to finish the poor thing and let it live its life as a sampler.  I think it turned out pretty good!  Please pardon the big fold down the middle...I did my best to iron it out, but if you've been folded in half for nearly 30 years, you'd have some wrinkles too!

One thing that was new to me on this project was doing french knots and lazy daisy stitches.  It is a little surprising that I've managed to dodge them in all of my stitching projects thus far.  The knots I didn't mind too much, but those daisies were a major pain!  My floss kept getting twisty and sometimes I would have a nice little stitch, and sometimes it would look a little anemic.  Oh, well.  At least it is finally a finished product and Mom loved it!

 I've managed to get another new chart up in my Etsy shop...say hello to my Black and Orange Butterfly.  I will be doing several butterflies and bugs so stayed tuned!  You can find the pattern here.

These next few weeks will be busy ones!  I have a birthday Pinterest Party this Friday that I"m really excited about. (What a great idea...crafting with your friends for one of their birthdays!)  I'm also super excited about my Pinterest Party with the city of Edwardsville.  Right now there are going to be nearly 30 people there!  I'll post pictures for both in the next week or two.

My current goals are to finish up my newest pattern (look for it within the next week) and get going on my idea for a Valentine's Day cross stitch.  After getting 13 inches of snow here on Sunday and then below zero temps for a couple of days...my main goal is to just get out of the house!  I haven't left my home in 4 1/2 days!!!

Oh, well...at least I've gotten a lot of stitching done.