A Million Stitches - Or So It Seems

"Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler" - Shakespeare's Peddler
Fibers - Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler Pack - The Gentle Art

Forgive the tacky photo, I'm lazy and I was using Creepella's laptop so I just draped the in-progress sampler over the monitor and took the photo before it slunk down (again).....

Are you saying, "Hey, hey, hey............this isn't stamping, this isn't a card or a little goodie treat holder made from gorgeous decorative papers, punches with ribbons and gemstones and glittery goodness or other STAMPING items....what's going on here - have you lost your mind??? I came here to see a card!!!" Well here's the dealie - my blog, my photos and aside from Bob, nobody is the boss of me (said in sing-song style).

It's been my experience that most stampers have been dabblers in the whole arts & crafts genre and depending upon their age, may have had ample opportunity to dabble in a whole heck of a LOT of crafty-type arts. Me?? I picked up a crochet hook and was making a mean chain stitch by the time I was 6......I sold my first embroidered item in the 6th grade, sold ceramic creations and did wedding invitations in high school and have been on the paper path for, well, it seems for almost all of my life (calligraphy, quilling, paper-making, painting, origami and card-making.....still completely terrified of scrapbooking.....but that IS one mountain I WILL conquer......someday). I crochet, embroider (including crewel and needlepoint), work counted cross-stitch, fabric paint, fake-sew (I only utilize the pattern to cut the material and look at the "finished" design for assistance). I have not ventured into quilting (again, a bit terrifying) and I only make earrings as far as jewelry-making is concerned.

So bottom line is I'm a crafter, seems as if I always have been and most likely always will be. I love stamping but I really do love a few other artsy-fartsy things too.......mainly, crochet and cross-stitch. Many cross-stitch designs are absolutely gorgeous and there are some that are of heirloom quality (design-wise) just wating to be stitched. But oh stitching is soooooo, sooooooooooooo very slooooooow. Sometimes I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere fast so then I switch over to crochet because that's nearly instant gratification.....and extremely portable. At this moment in time, I have several stitching projects going.....Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler (above) is one that is nearly done. And yesssss, I happen to have quite a lot of "Halloweeny" types of designs/patterns/charts - but hey, how cool is it to stitch with threads with names like "Nightmare, Dried Blood, Witch's Wart, Coffin Lid and Zombie Flesh"??? Some of my OTHER current projects include "Skeleton Crew", "Witchy-Washy", "Black Cat Teapot", "Cookie Dragon" and "Love Potion #9".

Stitching is something that requires little to no effort and can be done while I'm with my family listening to a movie or a t.v. show....it gives us just enough "togetherness" versus when I'm stamping and I'm in a completely different area of the house (usually trying to run away from yet ANOTHER episode of "That '70's Show".....Kelso is just too stupid for me most of the time.....).

So in 2010, I'd really like to COMPLETE some of these stitching projects.....so Fair Warning - every once in a while, because I'm such a well-rounded crafter (and noooo, I'm not making any references to my nether-regions...) I'll be posting something that is completely NON-stamping-related.......just 'cause I can!!