a finish, and a new start

good morning and happy monday!

tonight is the alabama / lsu game so you can imagine how crazy it is today!  at the risk of getting caught in traffic, i took the streetcar to work.  we live right on the carrollton streetcar line so it was a nice and relaxing ride! my favorite part of riding the streetcar is eavesdropping on random tourists' conversations...heehee

i have some finishes to present, so let's get right down to it.  the first is the family sampler by the amazing diane williams of little house needleworks.  this was a christmas / 30th anniversary gift for my parents and depicts our nuclear family. it was a little bittersweet working on such a large (and beautiful) project only to give it away, but i know that it will be a cherished family heirloom that my mom will treasure. 

i made mental notes for the future, like what areas to do first, or how many skeins of thread i actually need.   next time i will do the border first!  i saved the border for last on my mom's, and i was miserable for about 3 weeks!  i was in strawberry vine inception.

started: may 14, 2011
completed: november 6, 2011

my new start is "beach cottage" by country cottage needleworks. i love nikki's soft colors and the shabby chic quality of all her pieces. this is a quick stitch (compared to my last cross-stitch piece!) and i am loving all the beautiful overdyed threads. i'm stitching this on the fabric and threads as called for, except i converted some of the dmc to crescent colours. excuse the crappy photo!

have a great week and happy stitching!

happy carnival!

why is it that short work weeks always seem to drag on and on and on?

it's good to be back home in n'awlins, the city is buzzing with excitement over the sugar bowl game and all the festivities along with it. today marks the beginning of the carnival season, and therefore the abundance of king cakes around every corner for the next few months. i for one am not a huge fan of king cakes, but i do love how the city lights up around mardi gras. can't wait to add to our bead collection!

ps. isn't this the cutest little puppy in the whole world???

cricket's first christmas!

this was taken at my parents' house in fort worth while we were there over the holidays. it was so fun to see friends and family, and have some down time from work. i was able to work a bit more on some stitching. i'll post pictures this weekend!

tgif and geaux saints!