I am neglectful....

It has been so long since I last posted. As you all know, I have been cleaning and organizing my craft room. As I have been going through and finding organizational methods that fit my life and my needs I have come across a digital method of organizing on my ipad. The app is called Bento.
You can read all about it here: Bento for ipad
I have entered libraries for my fabric, all seperate thread types, charts, mill hill beads and treasures, finished projects, etc. It's a huge undertaking but it is totally awesome and so so useful. I can not wait till I am finished entering what I have.

So because of all this work I am doing I have not stitched much. I did finish a square for Love Quilts.
This particular square is for a 15 year old girl that loves football. She requested her quilt to represent the Southeastern Conference Sports Teams. I dd the Vanderbilt Commodore Football team. Here is a photo (photo is a bad cell phone pic Sorry):

So now that this is finished I have another one that I will be started. I also have a few UFO's that  I need to work on but this has not stopped me from making some great purchases. I bought some sale items from
Stitches N Things
They had a 1 buck and 2 buck sale and you just can't go wrong with that!!!
I bought the Go Green Series from Lizzie Kate. Here is a sample of the charts made into cute banners from Stitch-a-gift.com

I also found some great deals this week.
At Restaurant.com I got $190 worth of Gift Certificates for $15. They are running a special till April 18th if you put STEAK in at checkout. Can't wait to use them!

Well off to organize!!! Thanks for looking.
Michele

It's been a while....

If you know anything about Michigan, you know that our weather can change on a dime. I have been busy enjoying the spring weather and haven't posted in quite a while. BUT....today we are in store for a snow storm. Yes! I said a SNOW storm. This does not thrill me at all. Matter of fact, I think it's a cruel cruel joke. Keep your fingers crossed that this is our last.

I have been stitching on "Joyful Summer" and I am almost done with that. I also have bought some stash. I found the best chart ever...."Wrong Side of the Track" by Raise the Roof Designs. It consists of 4 charts and here is the complete piece. It's a crack up!

I have also been thinking of redoing my laundry room. I am thinking this is the perfect place to go BOLD. So this is the color pallet that I am leaning towards. How fun!

Well off to do some work around the house. Check back next week, I will be having a giveaway.
Till Then,
Michele

Inspired....

Today it is raining....

And because it's making me feel dreary and blah I decided to start this:



"Joyful Summer"
Country Cottage Needleworks

I will be stitching this on a 28 count white jobelan over two. I think that the colors will just pop on the white and it screams Spring!!!!

While I was checking on all the blog updates that I follow (made super easy on my iPad) I saw this wall art that I just LOVE.





You can find directions for it here:
http://www.happyclippings.com/2011/03/diy-patchwork-wood-wall-art.html

What a great use for scrapbook paper! And boy, do I have plenty of that.

Off to be productive!

BlogPress from my iPad

Another bout of snow....

Well we were blessed with another 2" of snow this weekend. Plus ice and slush. This was after 2 days of rain. Just have to love Michigan weather. It was not fun.

In the meantime, my son was enjoying 80 degree weather on Spring Break in Florida. He had a run in with a bunch of Manatees while fishing. Actually petted one. Here's a quick clip he sent me.

Also this weekend I went with my Best Friend Kali and her family to do a little wedding work. Her daughter is getting married in June so we went to the hall and the dress shop. This is her grand-daughter posing one of the dresses she tried on.

Isn't she the cutest thing ever????

Her mom, Ashlee is a very contemporary bride and wanted a splash of black in her dress. Here is some of the detail. I think she is going to be stunning. Her wedding party will be in pink and black.

Between the weather, helping with the wedding, doing a quick photo shoot, meeting with a customer...I had little time to stitch. But I did start Lizzie Kate's "Live Simply" and I fell in love with the dark chocolate material. I think that I will be using it more often in the future. Here's my progress:

I am hoping to get this finished by Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed!


Michele

Stash Report

I received a part of my order from a so-so local cross stitch store today. Stitches N Things

Here's what came:

 Lizzie Kate "Kiss Slowly"

 From my Big Tow "Touch My Scissors and Die"

Bent Creek "Valentine Row"

Today....I am going to spend editing pics. I have a few proof books that need to get finished up. If you want to see some of my photography photos you can find some here:  Shamrock Photography Facebook

Or here: Shamrock Photography Flickr

I am still getting into my mess of a craft room. I found a few more inspirational items that keep me going.

So long from me and from Fiona too......
Michele

Ohh Wednesday....

Yesterday I dropped my son Alex and his friend Joe off at the airport. They are luckY enough to spend their 2 week spring break in Florida! They are teammates on their college soccer team and I hope they have a GREAT time!!!




So with that being said I didn't get much stitching done. I worked on my square for Love Quilts. The due date is June. But I want to be ahead of the game.

I am also going to keep plugging away at my craft room. Here is some inspiration photos that I am striving for! I may add a tad bit of coral in there also. It has such a calm feel to me.










The sun has been shining here in Michigan and yesterday it was almost 40 degrees. In Michigan that means open sun roofs and spring jackets. The sun is just great therapy! Even Fiona and Finnegan are loving the sun therapy!





Have a great day!!!!
Michele
-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Craft Room Organization

I keep telling myself that this will be so worth it in the end.......

I have spent the last few days starting to organize my craft room. I am an avid cross stitcher, scrapbooker, and I own my own photography business so to say I have a ton of "STUFF" is an understatement.

I really feel that finding an organizational method that works for you and that you can keep up with and ultilize is the hardest thing. Over the past 20 years I have organized and re-organized but this is really the first time I have done an entire room.

My stash is at the top of my list right now. I have a small room so I need to utilize space as much as possible. So this is what I have come up with for my charts....

When I get a new chart I make a sheet for it like this:

I put this sheet with the chart in a page protector and put it in a 3 ring binder (filed by designer alphabetically). When I get any items on these sheets I then take the sheet out of the binder and along with the items purchased I put them into a ziploc baggie and put them in a file that I have...... By doing this, I know what I need, what I have and what's ready to stitch. I also have built a searchable database.

This database also contains any material, threads, beads, buttons that I have purchased and have not put with any chart yet. Before I buy anything, I check the list to see if I have it.

My threads are kept on metal rings...each manufacturer is kept on a different ring and they are in alphabetical order.

It's a lot of work.....but I know that it's going to be great to be so organized.