Happy Day!

Oh Happy Day! Happy Happy Day! I have finally, FINALLY, finished the map of the world that I have been working on since last Spring.

This is a minor miracle in that it took me less than one year to finish it. I have had many projects-some bigger and some much, much smaller-that took 2,3 and I daresay, 10 times as long to complete but this was becoming a weight around my neck.

I just have this one terrible picture to show you since I have already sent it off to be framed. Here it is, in all its horrible lighting glory:

I am really happy with how this turned out; believe it or not, the back stitching (or outlining) was not as intricate as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, the sails on the boat heard a few curse words but it went really fast once I had finished the counted cross stitch. I'm also happy I had the foresight to back stitch as I went along. I hate back stitching and to do it in smaller chunks helped make it seem less tedious.

The best part of this project being finished, is I get to move onto SOMETHING ELSE! This has been a weight around my neck; not letting me start anything new and I have been lusting after several different projects to start. So I am hoping that my next project is one that is really awesome (and maybe not so huge!).

On an unrelated note, I get the Stoney Creek Friday Flash email sent me to each week. Sometimes I glance through it and other times it goes straight to the trash can but for whatever reason I looked through it last week. Oh man, bad idea. In their Overstock and Closeout section there were a few  items that I felt that I just couldn't live without. The good thing was I didn't spend more than $10 on any one item but they will just have to get in the lottery along with everything else! They did speak to me since they were all things I would make and probably keep for myself-which is nice since about 75% of the stuff I make doesn't stay with me.

I'm trying to think of anything else I have worked on lately and the only thing I did do was make a basic Christmas tree skirt out of muslin for my friend Taylor--check her out over at Red Vine Spirituality. She has a love affair with burlap that can not be denied and decorates her house at Christmas with burlap and red that is super gorgeous. Anyway, at the beginning of December (or late November, I've already forgotten) we got a little Pinterest goofy and figured we could reproduce this beauty!  All I did was take some scrap muslin and make a basic skirt for her and she did all the rest. It was fantastic. She was kind enough to send me a picture:

Isn't her tree gorgeous and fun? I love the polka dots on the tree skirt. I am amazed at how fast she was able to get it done.

Well, now that this monkey is off my back, I'm on to other things. The first choice from the lottery will be picked tomorrow!

And, yes, I am sorry I haven't posted anything in quite a while. This blogging stuff is HARD! I'm amazed at the people who are able to do it every day or multiple times a week! Amazing. I will work to be more diligent in my blogging efforts.

What projects are you working on? Anything that you just can't wait to finish?