Out with the old, in with the new...

Hello blogging buddies!  I guess this is my last post for 2012.  So let's raise a glass (of tea of course!) to the New Year, shaking off the things of the past and making way for the things of the future!

As I type, there are fireworks going off in the neighborhood and it's not even 9:00 yet!  I guess there are others as anxious for the New Year to start as I am!

I had one last finish a few days ago for 2012.  I started 31 new projects in January of this year, hoping to finish them all before today.  I am pleased to report that I have finished 16 of the 31, though I am disappointed I wasn't able to finish them all.  So my hope is that I'll be able to finish the other 15 along with three others that I have started or plan to start next year.   Wish me luck!  I also finished a few smaller pieces that were not listed on the sidebar.  They were for friends or family and are probably pictured somewhere on my blog this past year.

I've received a few gifts from my fellow stitchers!  First off is from my pal Sonya.  We were able to get together for  a stitch day  a couple of weeks back and exchanged our gifts.  She knows how much I love Nativities and gave me a blown glass set of ornaments for the tree and a book with Nativity stories.  I love them, thank you so much!!

And here is the ornament I gave Sonya.

Next is from my pal Astrid.  She gave me a few stitched mitten ornaments for the tree and a very special angel pin (sorry no picture at this time but hopefully on the next post).  I hadn't finished my gift for her and will share a picture after I've given her her gift.  I love the little mittens that she made and they will find a special place on our tree from now on along with Sonya's Nativity!

And here is my gift from Mouse!  She is an amazing stitcher as well as seamstress and I love the bourse she made for me.   She sent along some hand dyed fabric from Sparklies called Purpleberry Spludge and some hand overdyed floss from Threadworx.   What an awesome gift!  I can't wait to find something to stitch on the purple fabric.  Now how did she know that purple was my favorite color?

My family and I took a special trip with a couple that we've just gotten to know over the past two years.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer a month or two before me and she and her husband have become dear friends.  We decided to do something special this year and traveled into Baltimore to visit 34th street.  It has been a tradition to decorate the houses on a certain block every year for the past 65 years.  They even have a website!   Afterwards we visited the Hon Cafe for a bite to eat.  It was a very pleasant evening and a very special memory for my family.

 My favorite gift this year was a complete surprise from my husband.  I'm still a little shocked that he even paid attention to what I was saying one day while shopping at a bead store.  Astrid had given me a bracelet that I can add beads to, and as I was looking one day with DH I mentioned that I wanted to choose the charms carefully as I wanted them to represent meaningful events in our lives.  I had forgotten the conversation until I opened this gift on Christmas day.  I don't know if you can read what is written on the paper, but he bought several charms and explained what each one meant on the paper.  In every marriage there will be ups and downs and we've had our share of both.  He chose charms that represented moments in our lives that have special meaning to both of us.  I'm still tearing up as I write this thinking of how much thought he put into this gift.  It may seem like silly charms, but it means the world to me as it shows me that those events meant as much to him as they did to me.  I am SO in love with that man!!

And what did I give him?  A Moo Mixer...LOL  It seems like such a silly thing in comparison.  He liked it though!  

On Christmas day I started a big project I hope to finish in 2013.  This is called Winter's Majesty and is a kit from Maia.  I have admired this piece for many years, hesitating to buy it because it was so expensive.  I found a fabulous price on it and DH gifted it to me for my birthday.  I am having a hard time putting it down.  Here is a little corner that I have started.

Today I started Friendship Blooms by Blue Ribbon Designs and is a SAL with Mouse.  We have decided to stitch this piece on Tuesdays during next year.  Mouse sent this to me for my Birthday and we agreed then we would make it a SAL this year.  I'm stitching it on 40 ct. Exemplar linen over two threads using the recommended WDW threads.  I love how it's coming out so far!  I'm so excited to be working on this with Mouse!

The third project I hope to start this year is London by Thea Gouverneur.  I've been waiting to start this because I need a floor frame because of the size of it.  If/when I start, I'll post a picture.  I still have to find a floor frame...any suggestions?  It's a rather large piece.

It's been a year of ups and downs for my family, mostly ups for which I am so very thankful!  I hope all our stitching wishes come to fruition this year and my prayer for you and your families is for peace, prosperity, and good health in the coming New Year!