Completed Cross Stitch - Luli's "Stella"

 

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First, I just wanted to take the time to thank you.  You, yes you, sitting there right now reading this--you are awesome!  Thank you for all of your kind words, support, encouragement and whether we have exchanged any words or not, I appreciate your precious time that you take to look at the completed cross stitch pictures and WIPs on this blog.
Thank you for being here.
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We all need something to look up to don't we?

For some it is hope, for some it is a special person or even someone looking up to their own reflection in the mirror and being either his or her own best inspiration.

I could not tell you the last time I just literally looked up and kept my head up to look up and around.  Maybe my last vacation sightseeing??  But day-to-day?  Not sure about if you do the same as me but I think I'm either looking straight ahead or down....a lot.  A few examples would be like when I'm reading, watching TV, cross stitching, and I was going to say driving but I guess you have to look up at the signals but I was thinking more along the lines of looking up towards the sky.

Some people who come to mind that look up a lot are astronomers (hopefully not at the sun), rock climbers, bird watchers or hey even UFO enthusiasts right?  There really isn't too much that I can think of that makes most people look up very much really (I could insert a Godzilla or Superman joke here but I won't..haha).

But getting back to hope I guess for every positive there is a negative right?  The song by the band The Trews called "Hope and Ruin" comes to mind reminding listeners of this (pretty good song but I'm not a fan of the music video despite part of it being filmed here in Toronto though).

Is hope a disease that keeps us perpetually ill with want or desire that may or may not come to fruition? or is hope that inner drive which gives each day new meaning that feeds a perpetual and renewable interest in life?

One thing that I believe may be true (from my communication studies):  // if you hold your head up your mind and spirit will perk and follow the same trajectory \\  Please try it sometime soon? :-)

This completed stitched piece was made just after spending almost a week at the hospital with one of my dogs (he is doing great now and is back home) and it gave me pause to reflect on just how precious the things that we love in each of our lives just really are.  It inspired the choice of this cross stitch subject.

Details regarding this piece are as follows:  finished size = 5" x 7", stitched over 2 threads on a 32 count linen with DMC B5200 and DMC 816.

Completed Cross Stitch - Charles Craft's "Citrus, ivy and checkers"

Free pattern on the Internet! Woo hoo! I found this one on Charles Craft. The ivy really drew me into this design.

I believe this pattern is meant for the kitchen on at least a kitchen towel and although I didn't have the heart to put it on a towel and actually USE the towel, I put it in a small simple little black frame and it is sitting on a shelf over my stove instead.

I made this while I was studying for a final (insurance) exam.

Yes, I was literally stitching, then looking into my book memorizing and reviewing what I had to, then go back to stitching, then repeat.

And yes, I passed the exam!

Completed Cross Stitch - Lizzie Kate's "Friendship Grows"

I found a free Lizzie Kate pattern online and was grateful since I quit my job to go back to school to contemplate a career change so funds were quite low....

I got the frame at Michael's for less than $2.00, painted it (the paint origially cost more but not with my 40% off coupon) and I found "Dress It Up" buttons, cut off the loops and glued them onto the frame.

ps. I left school and went back to my old career but was glad I took a risk instead of living with regrets and what ifs... :-)