Beauty

I had been wanting to try some anti-aging products for a while now.  I am only 37, but sometimes when I look in the mirror I look 100 years old.  Lack of sleep and stress will do that to you, I suppose.  But on the way home from the retreat Sunday morning I decided to stop at Rite Aid and see what I could find.  I am not expecting miracles here, but these three products below work pretty good in giving my skin a better appearance, at least I think so.

The cleanser is Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti-Aging cream cleanser.  It has some scrubbies in it to help get rid of dry skin.  Next is Loreal's Collagen moisturizer.  Hands-down this is the best moisturizer I have ever used.  Very thick and creamy, and smells great!  And the last one is Loreal Eye Defense.  I haven't seen much improvement under my eyes yet with this, but I am sure it is not going to happen overnight.  All of these products cost $35 together.  And they will last a while.  I am keeping my eye out in the weekly paper for some coupons for these products for the future.

Moving on, I did receive a scrapbook order in the mail yesterday.  My original thought was to use plain colored scrapbook paper and then jazz it up with stickers and whatnot.  Well, after perusing Michaels and ACMoore last week, I did not see much I liked.  I came home and went to Scrapbook.com.  This is the most awesome scrapbooking website that I have come across.  They have much, much more than any big box chain craft store has, and they have products that match, like the paper and journaling cards, which totally feeds the inner OCD and matchy-matchy tendencies I have with some things.

Bo Bunny is my favorite scrapbook supply designer.  I have found some very nice items I have bookmarked for future projects I have in the works.  But what I did receive yesterday was for Quaker Moon and Autumn Pinkeep. 

 As soon as I saw the owl in the tree, and I had wanted a black-based paper anyway, I was sold.  And these coordinating journal cutouts go right with it.  My plan is to attach the stitching to the paper and then attach a journal card with the stitching info:  designer, name of chart, threads and fabric used, and time it took to stitch. 

And I thought this was outstandingly perfect for Autumn Pinkeep.  The papers are so much more vibrant and gorgeous in real life.  Picking which journal card to use is going to be a tough decision.  And I bought a special black pen to write all of the details.  Now just to find the time to actually do the scrapbooking.  I am thinking maybe this weekend.  So, stay tuned for pics of finished pages!

I am only putting one piece on each page.  I was originally going to do multiple pieces on one page, but I think it would wind up looking too busy.  Trust me when I say I have spent quite a bit of time just picking out one paper and journaling card for one piece at a time.

I did receive some stash in the mail yesterday, With Thy Needle's December Word Play.  I saw a snippet of January's Word Play on her blog a few days ago and can't wait to see it!

And finally I have done a tiny bit of stitching on Morning Brew since the retreat.  Work has been crazy busy and I spent all of Sunday after getting home cleaning and unpacking.

  
You will see I have this project in a wooden embroidery hoop and not a Q-snap.  I have gone back and forth about trying this method.  I find my hand and arm tire easily when I am holding a Q-snap.  This embroidery hoop is very, very lightweight.  YES, I know that you should not leave your stitching in the hoop because of marks/creases that will not come out.  I take the piece out each time I am finished stitching.  YES, I know that putting the hoop over already-stitched parts can distort the stitches.  All I can say to that is I do my best to be the utmost careful when I am tightening the hoop in those areas.  And I read a tip online that if you are right-handed you should put the tightening part at 10:00, and if you are left-handed you should put it at 2:00 so your threads will not catch on it as you are stitching.  I actually find myself holding that part of the hoop while stitching.  It gives a nice place for your hand to rest.

I have actually liked stitching with the hoop so far.  So, for now I'm going with it. 

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

A Major Want!!!

Um, if any of you read Ruth Schmuff's blog, It's Not Your Grandmother's Needlepoint, I SO want one of these snap trays with my name embroidered!!!! Oh, Santa, this just went to the top of my Christmas list!!!  Of course in the hot pink like the one shown, and with the black and white filagree type design.  Ohhhhh.......

Stitching Station Redux

Now, you all know I have been awaiting the arrival of my new stitching chair for my office.  It arrived TODAY!!!  Here is how my stitching corner looked before:

And here it is after:

I have put the StitchMate and the daylight floor lamp in the closet for now.  And the old chair and foot stool is now in our bedroom.  I am going for simplicity here, folks, and space is WAY limited in my office.  When I say I have been obsessed with perfecting how everything goes on that side table, it is an understatement.  The table is low, hence the books.  Every time I looked over at the table lamp or stood up from my office chair and looked in that direction, I looked directly into the light bulb.  Um, no.  And reaching for threads or scissors or anything, and it was like I was bending down every time.  Again, no. 
 

Luckily I inherited BF's mom's entire collection of hardback Stephen King novels when she passed in 2009, and they make perfect stacks.  But of course, I had to put Jane Greenoff's The New Cross Stitcher's Bible on top.  How could I not?!??!???!

But I am OCD in that everything has to be just so.  And I wanted a different kind of stitching area.  The floor lamp bugged me, so I went to Office Depot and purchased this clip on Ott lamp, which so far is wonderful, and I can take this lamp on retreats with me.  And the basket on the floor now holds my WIP's, as the table space is limited.  I know it is hard to tell, but I literally have like 12 inches from when I sit at my computer desk to the edge of that side table where my stitching supplies are, so compacting everything is way necessary.  Not to mention that I can just pick up a Qsnap and start stitching.  The StitchMate, while wonderful, took up a lot of space in that area, not to mention every time someone walked in the room, or the dogs came in, someone would inevitably bump into it, and cue me having a heart attack. 

So, here's to hoping my brain can rest about my stitching area now and I can actually do some stitching. 

P.S. If you look to the far left of my "after" pic you will see our smallest dog, Layla, in her bed that resides in my office.  She stays in here most of the day sleeping.  Oh, the life of a dog!  LOL.