Updates and Scorpion Suckers

Hello friends !!

Has it really been over a month since I last posted???  Time seems to go by so fast.  I have been stitching, but nothing new, really.  I've tried to focus on my SAL for I Sigh Not For Beauty as well as the Spanish Mystery Sampler.  Mind you, I have been acquiring new charts and fabrics for my stash non stop (you can see pictures below), but only stitching the two mentioned.  Oh, and also working on a Shepherd's Bush Christmas stocking for a special little girl in my life.

So nothing new happening, other than the fact that I'll be going to Hawaii for a week in July.  But that is not the best part, the best part is that my niece Marina is flying all the way from Spain to spend some time with us and she'll go to Hawaii too !!!!!  I am so excited to have somebody from home come and visit.  Marina likes to stitch too, so I can see us having some cold drink by some nice corner of the resort we are staying in just stitching and talking.  And it even gets better, because my long time dream of swimming with dolphins is becoming true on Friday July 22nd !!!!!!!  I am so excited I can hardly wait.  I have always loved dolphins and since I was a little girl have wanted to jump in the water with them.  What incredible animals they are..  It will be a great experience.

Well, enough of my dreams because you come over here to see some stitching, right?  So you scroll down to see pictures and enjoy !!!  If you don't think my work is that interesting, please jump over to Katrina and Siobhan's blogs to see the beautiful AotH all finished !!!!  They both did such a beautiful job.

Hola a todas !!!


Parece mentira que haya pasado mas de un mes desde la ultima vez que escribí algo en mi blog.  He estado haciendo punto de cruz, pero nada nuevo.  Me he dedicado al Sampler I Sigh Not for Beauty y también al Spanish Mystery Sampler.  Por supuesto, he estado comprando nuevas telas y diseños (abajo podéis ver algunas fotos) y también estoy bordando una de las medias de Shepherd's Bush para una niñita muy especial en mi vida.


Otra cosa que os quería contar es que me voy de vacaciones a Hawaii en Julio, pero esa no es la mejor parte, la mejor parte es que mi sobrina Marina se va a venir con nosotros.  Estoy muy ilusionada y feliz de que alguien de casa venga a visitarme finalmente !!!  Ya nos veo a las dos en algún rincón de Hawaii bebiendonos algo fresco y haciendo punto de cruz.  Y hay algo aun mejor.... mi sueño de nadar con los delfines se va a hacer realidad finalmente el 22 de julio !!!!!  Me encantan los delfines y desde hace muchos años he querido nadar con ellos, y al fin lo voy a conseguir.  Me hace muchísima ilusión. 


Bueno ya basta, que al fin y al cabo, me visitais para ver el punto de cruz, verdad?  Abajo hay unas cuantas fotos de mi trabajo.  

Below is my Spanish Mystery Sampler.  I really LOVE IT !!!  The more I stitch it the more I love it.  Such a beautiful design.

And this is my progress on I Sigh Not For Beauty.  It is a nice stitch too, but I am still not loving the fabric at all and I wish I had chosen a different one.  I used the one the chart calls for, but I really think the picture on the cover of the chart uses a different one because it is a much warmer color.  I wonder why the chart asks for this one.  

Y este es mi I Sign Not For Beauty.  Es facil de bordar, pero no estoy muy enamorada de la tela y me arrepiento de no haber elegido otro color.  

This is the first of the Shepherd's Bush Christmas Stockings I am stitching.  This one and another one will go to two very special little girls in my life.  They are easy to stitch, but kind of big stitches.  I am used to stitch on 40 ct a lot, so it feels a bit weird to stitch on this big count. 

Esta es la primera de las dos medias de Navidad (¿como las llamamos en español? ¿medias de Navidad?) de Shepherd's Bush que estoy bordando.  Son faciles de bordar, pero los puntos son tan grandes que me resulta un poco incomodo.  Estoy acostumbrada a bordar en lino pequeño y estos puntos tan grandotes no me gustan mucho, pero el diseño es precioso y muy divertido. 

Here are some sampler charts that I bought !!!  I love them all and I know it will be hard to decide which one I start first.  They are: Helen Vertue, Jane Atkinson, Country Life Sampler (I love this one), Ann Tarbox, Jenny Bean and Garden Fair (I love this one too !!!)

Abajo podeis ver algunos de los diseños que he comprado y que estoy impaciente por empezar.  Algunos van a llevarme mucho tiempo !!!  Son: Helen Vertue, Jane Atkinson, Country Life Sampler (este me encanta), Ann Tarbox, Jenny Bean y Garden Fair (este tambien me encanta).  Todos son reproducciones de samplers históricos.  

My husband went to Texas and below is the gift he brought me.  Girls, whatever happened to diamonds !!!!   He brought me a Scorpion Sucker........ literally.  You can see the sucker scorpion inside the candy !!!  Is that gross or what???  No way I am eating this baby...   Honey, I love you, but.....get a clue !!!

Mi marido fue a Texas en viaje de negocios y este es el regalo que me trajo.  Chicas, ¿¿donde están los diamantes???.  Me trajo un chupachup con un autentico escorpión incluido !!!!  Dentro del chupachup podeis ver el escorpión.  Que cosa mas asquerosa.  Y la gente se come esto !!!!

Well, I do thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my post.  Keep checking in as I am planning on a nice give away soon.  Also, make sure you check my wallets here: www.stitching-4-joyshoppe.blogspot.com.  There are some new ones and there will be many  more soon !!! 

Os agradezco que hayáis pasado por aquí una vez mas.  Espero que lo hayáis pasado bien.  Os deseo una buena semana a todas !!

Enjoy your week and stitch !!!

XOXO    Natalia 

Little By Little

Hello friends !!

It is good to be here again !! Even though I haven't posted much, I have been faithfully reading blogger and I really have enjoyed seeing all the WIP you guys have going, all the beautiful samplers, all the "up for a challenge" pieces.... You guys inspire me to stitch and stitch more and more and I have added some wonderful charts to my wish list. I thought I would do a short post and share with you my WIP.

I have been mostly working on two projects since the beginning of the year. One of them is I Sigh Not for Beauty SAL. I had to frog most of it and stitch it again !!! That was not fun, but by now I am caught up on it. I was not sure about this sampler when I first started, but the more I stitch it, the more I like it. Below you can see a couple of pictures.

Hola amigas !!

Me alegro de estar aqui otra vez. Aunque no he publicado nada recientemente, si que he estado siguiendo vuestros blogs y admirando las cosas tan bonitas que hacéis. Muchas de vosotras hacéis cosas preciosas de patchwork. También me encantan vuestros proyectos de punto de cruz. Aquí tenéis un par de cosas en las que he estado trabajando desde principios de año.

El primero es un Sampler que se llama I Sigh Not For Beauty SAL. Lo he tenido que deshacer varias veces casi por completo y volverlo a hacer !!! Agggg que cabreo !! Pero bueno, ya estoy donde estaba y cada vez me gusta mas. Abajo podéis ver un par de fotos.

I Sigh Not For Beauty by C Street Sampler

Stitched on 40ct Belfast Dirty Linen with my own conversion to NPS

My other WIP is the Spanish Mystery Sampler. I absolutely love this sampler and I am truly enjoying stitching it even though I had to frog too !!!! But the colors are beautiful, don't you think? It is hard to take a picture of the whole sampler because it is so big. Not the greatest quality photo, but at least you get an idea :-)

Mi otro proyecto es el Spanish Mystery Sampler. Me encanta y estoy disfrutando mucho de el, aunque también he tenido que deshacer una parte !!! Los colores son preciosos. Es difícil hacer una foto del sampler completo porque es muy grande. Abajo podéis verlo.

Spanish Mystery Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler

Stitched on 40ct Vintage Examplar by Lakeside

Using the Sampler Threads it calls for.

My stitch wallets have been selling nicely too !! Thanks to all of you that have made that possible. I am working on a separate blog dedicated exclusively to them. I have added a couple of new ones to the collection and I have many more that I am making, so check in periodically.

I hope you have a great rest of the week. Thank you for stopping by and for your comments, they mean the world to me.

Mis carteras se van vendiendo muy bien. Gracias a todas las que habéis comprado alguna. Estoy creando un blog exclusivamente para ellas. He añadido un par de carteras nuevas y sigo haciendo muchas mas, así que pasaos por aquí de vez en cuando.

Espero que la semana os trate bien. Muchas gracias por pasaros por aquí y por vuestros comentarios.

A wonderful Saturday

Hello blogger friends !!

I hope you are having a wonderful three day weekend !! I love three day weekends... I feel I have so much time to stitch, but of course time flies by anyway and I never accomplish as much as I would like.

Hola amigas !!!

Espero que hayais pasado un buen fin de semana. Aqui en EEUU, tenemos fiesta mañana, asi que es un fin de semana largo. Me encantan los fines de semana largos, siempre pienso que tengo tanto tiempo para hacer punto de cruz, pero el tiempo siempre pasa demasiado rapido y nunca hago todo lo que tenia planeado :-)

Yesterday I had my stitch group at my house for quite a few hours. I have come to love these women and I really enjoy our time together. There is always plenty of conversation and laughter. Last week was a hard one for me, so they decided to cheer me up with a most wonderful gift. You can see the pictures below. I got a Vera Bradley shopping bag....

Ayer tuve en mi casa el grupo de punto de cruz del que formo parte. Pasamos el dia juntas y lo pasamos muy bien. Somos unas seis mujeres de cuarenta a sesenta y pico años y la verdad es que las quiero a todas muchísimo. Siempre tenemos algo de que hablar y reirnos. La semana pasada fue un poco dura para mi, así que mis amigas decidieron animarme y para eso, me compraron un regalo precioso: Una bolsa de compra de Vera Bradley:

...and this little..... what should I call it? box??? The name is All Wrapped Up. It is so great and can be used for make up, stitching supplies, jewelry.... so many different things. It is really versatile and I love the fabric on it. I am so touched by my friend's generosity and thoughtfulness. I love you guys !!

.... y este otro "artefacto" que se puede utilizar como joyero, bolsa de maquillaje, para botones, agujas, etc. Es muy versátil y me encanta la tela.

I also go this beautiful kit of the Eliza Seaman Sampler as a gift from my sweet friend Sherry. This chart is out of print by now and it is from the Textile Collection of the Detroit Historical Museum. Eliza was the daughter of a physician and was inoculated with smallpox serum, the first vaccination in America !!! Isn't it interesting? I love it and will be stitching it soon. Thank you Sherry !!

Mi amiga Sherry me regalo este Sampler. Es un Sampler de la colección del Museo De Textiles de Detroit. Eliza Seaman era hija de un medico y fue vacunada contra la viruela. La primera vacuna en America fue la suya !!! Interesante, ¿verdad? Gracias Sherry !!

Below is a picture of Chessie and Me Birth Sampler that I stitched for two very special little girls in my life: Madelyn and Isabela. I sent it to have it framed by Jill Rensel (first time) and I just love what she did with it. If you have never had anything framed by Jill you have to. She is the nicest person and worked with me to get this framed very quickly so I could give it as a gift.

Esta es una foto del Birth Sampler the Chessie and Me que borde para dos niñas muy especiales en mi vida: Madelyn y Isabela. Lo mande a enmarcar a una tienda bastante famosa aqui en EEUU y me encanta el producto final.

Stitched on 40ct Sand Dune by Lakeside

with the over dyed floss it calls for

Do you remember how I showed you my progress on I Sigh Not For Beauty? It looked something like this:

Os acordais de que en mi ultimo post os enseñe lo avanzada que iba con mi I Sigh Not For Beauty? Este era el aspecto que tenia:

Well, now it looks something like this !!!!!! Yeah, The Frog Man came to visit and I had to undo pretty much all I had stitched. I made the tiniest mistake on the border and that totally ruined it. Oh how I hated having to do that.... Up until now, I'd only had to frog very little parts of my work, but now I certainly belong to the Frog Club. LOL !!!

Pues ahora esta asi !!!!!! Si, cometi un error en el borde justo al empezar y me toco desacerlo practicamente todo. Que cabreo !!! Un error tan pequeñito lo estropeo todo.

You must also remember how I told you that my Angel Band Sampler was the first sampler I had stitched, but actually that was not correct. Below is a picture of my very first sampler. It comes from some stitching magazine (I don't remember which one) and it is so badly stitched, really. I can see all the threads that I crossed in the back and it was stretched so crooked. Someday I will take it apart and stretch it myself. I do love the frame though. It has a special place in my heart too !!

También os acordareis de que os dije que mi Angel Band Sampler fue mi primer sampler, pero de hecho eso es incorrecto. Abajo podéis ver una foto de mi primer Sampler. Lo borde tan mal que podéis ver todos los hilos en la parte de atras. Que desastre.... ademas la tienda que lo enmarco, lo hizo todo torcido :-( Algún día lo tengo que deshacer y enmarcarlo todo de nuevo.

Here is another of my earlier stitched pieces. It is stitched in good old Aida fabric !!! I love the colors though.

Esta es otra de mis primeras piezas. Bordada en tela de Aida !!! Me encantan los colores.

I finished "Take Joy" from Shepherd's Bush and put it in this great little box. Isn't it cute?

Tambien termine "Take Joy" de Shepherd's Bush y lo he puesto en esta cajita. A que ha quedado bonito?

I am part of the Stacy Nash Club that Country Sampler offers. Stacy designs something exclusively for the Club and it is mailed to us every quarter. I love Stacy Nash's designs and this is the one for the first quarter. I only have it stitched, not antiqued or finished yet, so I'll show it again soon.

Soy miembro del Club de Stacy Nash que ofrece Country Sampler. Stacy diseña algo exclusivo para el club cada tres meses y la tienda nos lo manda todo por correo. Este es el primero de todos. Solo lo tengo bordado, me queda envejecerlo y coserlo como un cojin chiquito.

My stitch wallets have been selling nicely and I wanted to thank you all that bought them from me. I have gotten great feedback from all of you and I am so grateful and happy that you like them. I thank you, thank you, thank you for your business. It means the world to me. Keep checking, there are wallets being added every week !!

This is all for today !!! I am always so happy when you stop by. For once I am caught up with my blogger reader and I have enjoyed seeing all your work. There are some works of art out there.... Many of you are such talented stitchers and I forever admire what you do.

Esto es todo por hoy !!! Me encanta que os paseis por mi blog y os agradezco vuestros comentarios. Me encanta ver vuestro trabajo tambien. Hay verdaderas obras de arte por el mundo de los blogs....y muchas de vosotras tenéis verdadero talento y mi admiración.

Till next time

Hasta la próxima.

A bit of this and a bit of that

Hello blogging friends !!

I hope you are having a restful and enjoyable Sunday. I am showing a couple of my finishes and some things I am in the middle of.

I don't know if you remember my post a few months ago where I showed you some progress I had made on my Angel Band Sampler. Well, I have finally finished and it is framed and hanging on my wall !!! I love it and I have to tell you that it is my very first sampler, so it will always have a place of honor among my samplers :-) I decided to frame it very simply because I didn't want anything taking away from it. Here is it:

Hola amigas !!!

Espero que estéis pasando un maravilloso Domingo, descansando y disfrutando de vuestro tiempo libre. Os voy a enseñar un par de cosas que he terminado y otras en la que estoy trabajando.

No se si os acordais que hace unos meses os mostré mi Angel Band Sampler a medias. Pues ya esta terminado, enmarcado y colgado en la pared. Me encanta !!! Este es mi primer Sampler y siempre va a tener un sitio de honor entre todos mis Samplers. Lo he enmarcado de forma muy sencilla porque no queria que el marco le quitara atención al bordado. Aqui esta:

Below you can see a detail of the frame.

Abajo podeis ver un detalle del marco.

This is the top section of the sampler up close.

Esta es la parte de arriba del Sampler.

This is the middle section of it up close. I realized, once I had it all framed that I had not stitched the hand from the angel on the left !!!! So that is my accidental way of making it a bit different and personal, because I was certainly not going to undo everything to fix it, so the poor angel is handless !!

Esta es la parte central. Si os fijais bien vereis que se me olvido bordar la mano del angel de la izquierda !!! Esta es mi manera accidental de hacer este Sampler distinto y personal, porque de ninguna manera lo voy a deshacer todo para corregirlo, asi que el pobre angel esta manco.

Below is the bottom part of the sampler and my favorite of all. It is stitched over three threads and I just love the richness of it with all the satin stitches. Love the acorns at the bottom too.

Esta es la parte de abajo y mi favorita. Se bordo sobre tres hilos y me encanta la riqueza del satinado. Las bellotas abajo del todo me encantan !!

I am also participating in a couple of SALs.... Below is the one from With My Needle. It is I Sigh Not For Beauty from C Street Samplers... So far it is an easy stitch and I am all caught up... I am not sure yet about it: the fabric, the colors.... I am going to have to see more of it to decide if I love it or just like it.

Estoy participando en un par de SALs... Abajo podeis ver el primero de With My Needle. Se llama I Sigh Not For Beauty y la diseñadora es de C Street Samplers. De momento ha sido facil de bordar. No estoy segura todavia de si me gusta, voy a tener que bordar un poquito mas para decidir si me encanta.

My other SAL is the Spanish Mystery Sampler from Shakespeare's Peddler that The Attic is doing. This is a huge baby and I am not caught up at all. But I started it a bit late in the month. I am very excited about it, and can't wait to have more stitched. I've got to tell you that the little flowers in the border are tedious, tedious, tedious.. See below.

Mi otro SAL es el Spanish Mystery Sampler de Shakespeare's Peddler. Este proyecto es enorme, pero precioso. Tengo que deciros que las flores del borde son muy pesadas de bordar.

Here are the little tedious flowers. Yikes !! I can't wait to get more color in the sampler... It looks kind of sad right now.

Aqui están las florecitas. También tengo que añadir un poco de color porque de momento tiene un aspecto bastante triste.

I had the chance to take a finishing class at my LNS last Saturday and here is the final product. I had this little guy stitched for years and I am glad I finally put it to good use. I finished it into a box with a bow and all. Take a look.

El sábado pasado tuve ocasión de ir a una clase para aprender a hacer una caja a la que se le añade un bordado de punto. Aquí lo podéis ver con el lazo y todo.

Here you can see the bow. I left it on it, but I am not sure about it. I am not much of a bow person. What do you think?

Aqui esta el lazo. Lo he dejado como esta, pero no estoy segura de si me gusta o no. Yo no soy muy de lazo. ¿Que os parece?

Below is an acorn I found at Anthropologie. Do you guys know this store? It is quite great and they have a mixture of clothing, kitchen ware, bedroom stuff.... Just different. Beautiful fabrics.. So I walked in one day and there was this little guy staring me in the face and I thought, oh I have to have it, but what can I do with it??

Abajo podeis ver una bellota (es una bellota, ¿verdad?) que encontré en una tienda aquí en Colorado. La tienda se llama Anthropologie y tiene cosas muy divertidas, desde ropa a utensilios de cocina, ropa de cama... Pues fui a la tienda hace unas semanas y esta bellota me llamaba y me llamaba, asi que la compre pensando que podría hacer con ella.

And this is what I did. I made it into the tiniest pin cushion. Isn't it the cutest thing? I love it !!

Y esto es lo que hice. Un pin cushion chiquito. ¿A que es adorable? Me encanta !!

And finally, if you read my last post, you know that I have been making some Stitch Wallets and that they are for sale. Go check them out here and let me know if you are interested in any of them. They are perfect to keep your projects or as gifts. I think the size is perfect, as it allows you to carry them by themselves or in your bags. I keep adding new ones very regularly and below are some of the new ones.

Y finalmente, si leísteis mi ultimo blog post, sabréis que he estado haciendo carteras de tela para guardar los proyectos de punto de cruz y que las estoy vendiendo. Las podéis ver aquí. Son perfectas para guardar proyectos o como regalos. El tamaño es perfecto porque permite llevarlas solas o meterlas en una bolsa. Son muy divertidas..

To all of you that have bought one from me, I do thank you kindly. I have gotten great feedback from all of you and really I appreciate that. I hope you will love them and enjoy them.

Well my friends... this is it for today. This was a long post for me !! Thanks so much for stopping by... I appreciate your time and wish you a wonderful rest of your Sunday.

Pues esto es todo queridas amigas. Muchas gracias por pasaros por aquí. Espero que paséis un Domingo maravilloso y una buena semana entrante.