Giveaway Time!

I'm hosting a giveaway over on my Instagram feed!  If you are interested in winning, please head over to https://instagram.com/p/8WAwcfy3mj/?taken-by=ambitiousstitches to read all about it!

I'm giving away:

• A one-of-a-kind 4" hand embroidered, Halloween-themed hoop completed by me
• Three skeins of DMC floss in Halloween colors
• A roll of ribbon with a lock and key design
• A roll of fashion burlap duct tape with orange polka dots
• 2 Halloween stampers

Open to anyone in the world and you can enter as many times as you'd like between now and 9pm EST on Monday, October 5th.

To enter, you need to share the post on Instagram, tag me in the photo (@AmbitiousStitches) and use the hashtag #Eek200Giveaway .

September 2015 Look Back

Hey everyone and Happy October!!

I hope everyone has been doing well.  I've actually been getting quite a bit of stitching done.  I have found that Instagram is the easiest format for me to post progress pictures since it runs better on my phone than the Blogger app does!  I'm going to hopefully update this blog at the end or beginning of each new month with progress pictures!

For this month, I'm going to start with a completion.  I stitched up a portion of the lyrics from "Need to Be" by Memphis May Fire.  It stitched up really quickly, so it was nice to actually finish something!  I chose to do the lyrics in an overly-calm, flowery font to contrast with the "harder" sound that the band has.  I really love their music, but many people are turned off simply because of the style and are missing out on some really great lyrics.  It's about the message, not the style of music!  This one is totally finished and I have a frame purchased.  It will be entered into the county fair competition in 2 weeks time.

I also started my first real embroidery project this month.  My youngest daughter became obsessed with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and I think we watched it for 2 weeks straight.  I was very familiar with the film but I hadn't seen it for a long time and when we started watching it again I was struck by just how evil Judge Claude Frollo is!  Seriously, this guy is probably the scariest Disney villain of all time.  If you've never seen the movie, just go look up the song "Hellfire" and give that a watch.  Yeesh.... he's creepy!  I chose to embroider him on a pretty fabric that reminded me of the Feast of Fools from the film.  So far, I'm really enjoying embroidery!  Satin stitching can get a bit frustrating but I think it's totally worth it.  I am hoping to have him completely done by the time the fair rolls around, but I'm not sure I'm going to have enough time.  I'm about 1/3 done with him and still have the words at the bottom to finish.

Finally, I did get about 2 weeks worth of stitching done on Cinderella Wishes Upon a Dream.  I trudged through a big green section at the bottom and knocked it out.  I'm approximately 2/3 done with page 2 of 4.  As much as I want this one finished now now now, I have to stagger it with other projects to avoid burnout. Now that I'm past that green section I have to move on to a huge section of grey which sounds lovely LOL











And since this is a "Look Back" post, here are the backs!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  If you are on Instagram, please follow me @AmbitiousStitches , I would love to follow you back!  That is where a majority of my updates will be going.  Instagram has an amazing community of crafters!  I'm also on Twitter @AmbitiousStitch .

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Slacker Update 7/29/15

I'm a slacker.  I miss being a part of this community.  I miss posting stitchy updates on a regular basis.  Let's be honest, I miss getting an opportunity to stitch.

Wife.  Mom of 3 kids under age ten.  New puppy.  Church.  Small group.  Social media and website manager for the church.  There are so many things that take my attention away from cross stitching these days.  And there just seem to be seasons when I really desire to stitch and ones where it never even crosses my mind.

It's really frustrating because I do enjoy stitching and watching a kit come together.  I constantly find myself browsing for new kits or ideas, liking and favoriting other people's work online, and scrolling through the crafty blogs.  I seem to be in the infamous stitchy slump with no end in sight.

That being said, I figured I may as well post a minor update to Cinderella.  Considering that my last update was 17 months ago, I should have finished much more of this by now.

I'm determined not to let this kit defeat me!!  ;)  Four years is too long to slack on one project.

So I'm going to continue working on it.  I'm also going to work on some smaller projects in between to avoid burning out.  I'm going to try and update this blog semi-regularly.

If you want to more closely follow my progress, you can find me in the following places:

• Twitter --  @AmbitiousStitch
• Periscope -- @AmbitiousStitch
• Instagram -- @ambitiousstitches

I would love to follow you as well if you are on any of those platforms (or if you have a blog I don't currently follow here!) .  Please leave a comment or find me on Twitter or IG so we can connect!  I do so love seeing all of your lovely work.  

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and, as always, Happy Stitching!!

Cinderella Update 2/11/14

Hey everyone!  I finally had some time to work on this, so I thought I'd do a quick update.  Here's a pic from a few days ago:

The village is coming together nicely.  I've done a bit more since this picture was taken but I haven't had the opportunity to take another picture.

As far as the house selling goes, it is still on the market.  We've had quite a few showings but so far we are still waiting on an offer which is really frustrating.  It's difficult keeping a house show ready with 3 children so to put so much work in and seemingly get no results is really trying.  But, I'm remaining optimistic for now.  At least the house is clean!  =)

Happy stitching everyone!

Happy New Year!!

What a busy year 2013 was!  It left me with so many fond memories... my oldest is a 2nd grader now, my son started pre-k, and my youngest baby turned one just before Christmas. On top of everything, we decided to put our house up for sale so we spent a good chunk of time (and money) prepping the house.  It officially went on the market in December and we've already had some showings. 

Now that the holidays are over and the house is decluttered, I'm looking forward  to having some stitching time very soon!  My goal is to finish Cinderella by the end of 2014.

Contest Alert!

There is a super cute giveaway going on over at I'll Cross That Leg When I Get To It.  Julie made an adorably cute, fall-inspired ORT container that she is giving away to one lucky follower!

Click >>here<< to find her blog and the contest page.

Good luck and happy stitching!  =)

New project start 10/4/13

My husband is a sports fanatic.  October seems to be a particularly busy month for him sports-wise, so most of our evenings are spent putting the children to bed and then being bored to death by watching a sportscast of some kind.  I, as you have probably guessed, am not one who enjoys playing or watching sports.

I am a cross-stitcher for a reason.

Regardless, I try to be as supportive of his teams as possible.  Right now his favorite baseball team is making a run for the World Series.  They are actually playing as I type this, but since my hubby isn't home from work yet I don't have to listen to it!  I'm watching the Dead Poets Society instead.

I've spent most of the morning charting out a new piece to work on.  It only has around 800 stitches so hopefully it won't take too long.  If it turns out nicely then I'm going to make one for my brother as well.  He is currently serving in the USAF and is stationed all the way out in Utah, so I know he misses being able to watch the games with his favorite team.

Here's a quick peek at what I'm starting tonight.  And hey!  I may even have enough time to finish and frame it before the fair in 2 weeks.

I charted this one up using graph paper at first just to figure out dimension and then used KG Chart to finish the rest of it.  It's my first time using that program so I guess I'll see how it goes.

In case you haven't figured out which sports team happens to be my husband's favorite, I thought I'd share this little tidbit with you.  For those of you with Siri on your Apple devices, why not run and ask her who her favorite NFL team is.

It's hilarious.

Happy stitching!  =)