Books Books Books

Due to some FANTASTIC help from Emily, in the form of extension shelves to go on top of our bookshelves, I was finally able to get all of my books unpacked today.



Once we find the right chair, and lamp, this is going to be a nice little reading corner - we'll only have to move the chair a couple of feet when we have people over for comfortable conversation.



And this shelf is the book/game/TV-season shelf. The rest of the dvds are going onto... something from Ikea that I'll be getting soon, but it probably won't have space for TV seasons, so they're going here.

Latest Craft Obsession

Someone pointed me toward Sublime Stitching, and I've been embroidery-obsessed ever since. This isn't actually one of their patterns - it's a "Bonnie Bonnet" pattern I picked up at the store. I'm using it for practice while I wait for my books from Sublime Stitching to come so I can learn some fancier stitches and start some bigger projects. In the meantime, I'll finally master the french knot and end up with some new kitchen towels.

Chilly boy

The puppies got haircuts this weekend, and Miles woke up cold this morning. I put him in a sweater (pretty much the ugliest sweater ever, but the other option was a jacket, and it's itchy), but apparently that wasn't sufficient... I came back from the kitchen to find him like this.

2

We got some new monos - it's starting to shape up into a really nice tank! They seem to be getting along well with the puffers - no fights yet.

36...3 in 365

Getting a late, silly start in joining Emily for Project 365:



Yes, it's a teeny-tiny, one-egg-sized pan. And it makes the best egg sandwich EVER.

And as compensation for the horrible photography, my lone handmade Christmas card this year:

ATCs

As promised forever ago, I'm back with ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). The theme for this exchange was Time, and I think this wise little reader sort of looks like an amalgam of Father Time and Baby New Year. I stamped the book on some shiny textured cardstock I'd salvaged from a book of invitation samples, and cut it out to give the image some dimension.



This is my new toy - I love it! I've been participating in some ATC exchanges recently, and since they're small, they can be easy to lose track of. This little display holder from 7 Gypsies is so cute and retro, and looks fantastic on my desk. The card showing in the front is a gorgeous one I got recently - the image is printed on stiffened silk, then the center of the flower is stitched through with thread to give it texture. So gorgeous!

The Payoff

So, this is what I've been working on for the last 9 months - a cross-stitch afghan. I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it, and then I ended up rewrapping it at work in cuter paper, so a coworker was sweet enough to take a picture while I had it out. I didn't realize how wrinkly it was! It's been in a little pile on my lap all this time - Miles's favorite kind of craft. I'm so happy with how it turned out, though!