heartily stitching along . . .

I've had to work all four (10-hour) days this week.  It's been long!  LOL!

I made just a little progress on my Love Sampler project.  It's really so sweet to stitch on . . . 

But not as much progress as I had planned. Scrolling through Instagram on Sunday, I stumbled upon a Blackwork SAL hosted by Peppermint Purple, and I chased that squirrel down.  I have been fascinated by blackwork for some time, but hadn't ever tried it.  This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

At first I though starting six weeks behind might be a problem, but it stitches quickly and I'm caught up through week #7.  

Go me! (It was really easy to catch up.  Each block represents one week.)  I'm using Cosmos Seasonal floss (1 over 1) in 8056.  I really love the subtle movement of color!

In other stitching news, I got some happy mail . . .

Kathy Schmitz was running a special:  spend a certain amount and get the heart stitchery free.  So I got the birdie stitchery and the black floss.  

They're really cute.  Pre-printed ... you just outline stitch in black and frame!  Voila!  I thought it would be fun (and now I have two to play with)!

Been having fun getting Valentines together for the local grandgirls. They stopped by for a quick visit at work yesterday . . .

They're so fun!  And they all MATCH!  Even mama matches!  ♥  I found some really cute vintage cards to gift the girls . . .

And made some heart-themed baskets filled with goodies . . .

Just simple things.  But sweet!  And speaking of sweet, look what *my* Valentine sent me!

Aren't they beautiful!  Gives me lots of reasons to stop and smell the flowers!

Signing out ... have a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!

:)

all the hearts . . .

Finally got myself over to Hobby Lobby (I had a gift card) to pick out a frame for my Snow Sampler. Bonus -- all the frames were 50% off!  So this is the one I picked out . . .

Isn't it sweet?!  Joc has a silver and blue snowman that's so cute and would look perfect in this vignette.  But for now, I'm pleased with my jar of melted snowman, my snowman book, and the little blue and white heart, which help me feel like at least we're transitioning.  LOL!

I got a few more hearts free handed to stitch up:

Something to work on as I feel like it.  Which, given Friday's diagnosis of a sinus infection *and* strep, I haven't felt a whole lot of.  But that's okay ... I will again.  Some day.

I did finish up my entwined hearts . . .

It's rare that my back looks as neat as my front (although it's always optimal).

I mean I thought for a moment that the back was the front.  Of course the lighting wasn't good and I wasn't wearing my glasses, but still . . . ! I think part of that is because I used perle cotton and because I used a pierced backstitch, which gives it a very smooth look.  I have an idea of how I'll finish this one out.  Maybe next weekend?

I was SO pleased with how the Sulky Stick 'N Stitch worked for the entwined hearts project.  I wasn't real pleased with it after my holly snowflake, but I made some changes ... I didn't use metallic thread (I so dislike working with metallic thread) and I whip stitched the border of the stabilizer to the fabric.  What a difference!  So much so that I decided to go ahead and print my Love Sampler out and prep it for stitching . . . 

Yay! This will give me some happy stitching in between naps (because hard core antibiotics make me tired beyond all tired).

I also prepped my lazy daisy heart for stitching . . .

So I've got three projects all ready to go depending on what I want to work on, what color I want to be stitching, and what stitch I want to use.  Something for every mood.  :)

Todd's been working hard on getting our Camp TV cameras up and running and online.  He's done a great job . . . 

Two captures from the past week, both from the camera off the back of our RV.  A pair of foxes and a raccoon.  We've caught deer, possums, skunks, birds, squirrels, too.  There's quite a hubbub of activity out there after dark!  We put out corn and a mineral rock for the deer (the camp property is posted no hunting) and food scraps for the rest of the bunch. It's entertaining.  We watched one young button buck spend about three hours at the spot where we put out their food.  A fox came in at one point and he scurried away, but not so far that we couldn't still see his eyes glowing!  It was very entertaining!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts today.  Be sure and stop by to visit Kathy and see what all is being stitched out today!

Happy Sunday!

:)