Cthulhu Comes to Cross-stitching

I am in the process of listening to the entirety of the Lovecraft library as part of the Geek Girl Book Club. I've read a couple of his stories, and I am enjoying hearing them again. I have a friend that is a huge fan of Lovecraft, he was part of a chain crafting meme on Facebook. You posted that you would make 5 hand made items for the first 5 people to comment, then they in turn are suppose to post the same on their wall, to infinity. So for him, I made the following bookmark in honor of his love for Lovecraft.

I think I may make several of them in honor of Lovecraft. Who better to hold your place in a book than an Elder God?

Two Christmas Stockings for 2011

I made two stockings this year, both for little boys. One is for a former co-worker and friend in Texas. I got the pattern from a book filled with Victorian style stockings. This is the third stocking I have made from this book, I will probably end up making them all at some point. They are all detailed and beautiful.  It turned out a bit smaller than I intended, wasn't having a good math day when I was figuring out the size. I wanted it smaller than the one I had made for his dad, and I succeeded in that.

The second is a surprise gift for friends we met through World of Warcraft and their delightful little son (though it's no longer a surprise as they got it in the mail yesterday). I took screenshots from the game World of Warcraft to get Grandfather Winter (aka Santa) and the tree from Orgrimmar. I then got pictures of my friends' characters off the Armory. I shopped the three images together, including some presents from under the tree. Next, I made a patter using PC Stitch Pro. I learned a lot while making this stocking, next time I'll reduce the number of colors for the program to use.

I'd really like to do more custom pieces, I think my next will be to create a Calvin & Hobbes stocking for my husband.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

6th Period Class Reward

A reward for 6th period. It was made with German chocolate cake mix. I know that this isn't an authentic German Chocolate cake, as my husband repeatedly told me. However, they also wanted Spiderman and I had to consider the possibility of nut allergies in the class.

Completed Kitten Stocking

Finished just in time! Now to deliver it.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Kitten Stocking, Part 5

Almost done, need to hurry though, time is running out.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Kitten Stocking, Part 4

Haven't been able to get as much done as I'd like. There has been grading and a Halloween costume to make. In November, I'll be participating in Nanowrimo which means I'll be writing a lot. I'll have to figure out how to balance the two. This week I have to put the costume first since it's under a week until the day it will be needed.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Kitten Stocking, Part 3

Making steady progress, but wish it was going a little quicker. Still have to detail my other stocking, back them both, and deliver them.




- Posted using BlogPress from my - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ready for Delivery

About to go visit the family, so I had to hurry up and put the back and hanger on this stocking for my nephew. Never know what is going to happen between now and Christmas, this way I know he'll get it. Glad to be done with my studies so I have time to do this sort of thing again. I can now find my meditation zone. I'll be starting two other stockings this summer, one on request and one as a surprise present. Shh...don't tell anyone.

Christmas Ornament 2009, Part 2

These are the other ornaments I made for my coworkers, minus one that I forgot to snap a picture of before it was taken home. There is also one I did for a friend's daughter. Some didn't get completed before Christmas due to supplies not coming in time. I guess I need to start in the summer this year.

This one was created for a team member who recently discovered he is diabetic. This is candy that he can have anytime.

This ornament was done for one of my partners in 6th grade social studies, I had made her a very girly ornament before and wanted to do something more fun. This is something that her boys can enjoy as well.

This was created for the science teacher on my team. I'm glad she didn't mind it being a little late.

This one was created for our choir teacher, she is a world traveler. She speaks several languages, including French. She will also be putting up with my kid in choir next year.

This was for our dyslexia specialist. She's another team member, and does a lot for our students.

This one was created for our first year teacher on the team. She put it up in her classroom right away. I'm glad she liked it.

Happy belated holidays to all, I hope you have a great 2010!

Christmas Ornaments 2009, Part 1

I love making presents for people. In fact, I usually plan way to many for my schedule, even though I started in early November I didn't get finished on time. So some will be delivered after the holidays. I took the pictures on my cell phone, so they are probably a bit fuzzy on the large scale.

This was for my planning partner in 6th grade, World Cultures.

This door hanger ornament was made for my 6th grade team leader.

I made this one for our team member that works with the afternoon tutoring program, and has the most adorable little baby girl.

This was made for one of my fellow social studies teachers, who is really into history and miniatures.

These were originally intended to be for my Secret Santa, but I didn't participate this year. I ended up giving them to my administrators and teachers that are very helpful to me in the classroom.

This one was made for our school librarian, to match her bubbling personality.

This one was created for our Technology Specialist, as she is the queen of our shiny stuff.

Workshop Stocking Update

I've gotten so much done on this stocking this summer. Surprisingly I haven't fallen behind on my homework, though I have fallen a bit behind on my reading for my book group. I'm SO close to being done with the main part of the stitching that I can't stop. Though I'll have to pause to get a skein of one color to finish the "x" stitches. Then it's nothing but detailing.

A Workshop Stocking

This is stage one, I've been working on this for about a week. It's amazing how much I've gotten done. I can accomplish so much when I don't have to work. Heehee. Working on this has reminded me that I need to work on a stocking for one of my nephews. So I guess that's my next summer project.

Two Completed Projects

This is the end result of the pillow for the wedding gift. It turned out pretty good. She was very surprised and I think she appreciated it.













The stocking design is all done, now I have to trim the edges and put the backing on. My next project will be another stocking.

Celtic Cross Design Completed

This is the finished design, minus the couples' initials and the wedding date. I thought that posting it in it's pure form would be a good idea. I'm kind of nervous that I may have thrown off the design with the initials. The next step is to wash it and let it dry. Then I will add the borders and backing for the pillow.

The Continent Cake

I did not utilize my usual care and patience with this cake, to my shame. This is my last cake to rewards my students for being excellent during the 8th grade testing.

Due to other commitments, I had to do this cake in one night. I was up until 12:30 am. Thank goodness it's Friday. I hope it is a semi-reasonable facsimile of Asia.

The Girl's 10th Birthday

It's official as of Monday, I now have a 10 year old, a child in the double digits, a pre-teen. Broke down and got her a cell phone, she was over the moon with excitement. I just couldn't stand not being able to find her the first circuit of the apartment complex while she was out playing.

We are having Luau themed swimming party today. She asked for a lemon cake decorated to look like Hawaiian flowers, aka hibiscus.

The Taj Mahal

My 5th period class rose to my challenge of staying quiet while the 8th graders tested, and it was a challenge for them. They also earned a cake. They chose triple chocolate cake and asked me to make the Taj Mahal, so with icing and my limited skills I did.

Celtic Cross Part 3

Getting very close to being done. Now I have to decide what font to make their initials in and the same for the date. I also need to pick out fabric for the sides and back of the pillow.

Two, Two Updates in One

I made another cake for the March and April birthdays at work. I experimented with butter cream fondant icing. People liked it, but seemed to prefer the old-fashion butter cream icing.








I've also continued working on that wedding gift, I hope that I am able to finish it on time with my studies keeping me so busy. Luckily, the professors have had to back off on the workload, as they were giving us at least 35 hours of coursework a week. If I was a full-time student it would be fine, but everyone in this program is a full-time teacher and most have families.

An Update

Sometimes is stinks to only have a camera phone. Hard to adjust to the natural lighting of a room. I'm finally able to work on the finishing touches such as the outlines and French Knots. I have to go get some more of color #3371, I ran out yesterday. Then I can match a fabric to make the back out of and use my machine to sew it up.

School is going well, both work and studying. I finished my GRE last week, now I don't have to worry about getting kicked out of grad school. I've almost successfully given up soda. They re-shingled our roof over the break as well, by the end of this week, there will be no more blue tarps on the top of the apartment complex.

Overall, the last couple of weeks have been good.