Strawberry Blonde and Some Critter Cuteness

Can't believe it's already January 31, 2007. Where has this month gone? Time has flown by and I don't have a lot to show for it. Below you can see my progress on CHS Strawberry Blonde. This piece is being stitched on the unknown unevenweave fabric I picked up at JoAnn's. I feel a need to stress that as the large strawberry is looking a bit tomato like. Is it just me or does the unevenweave of the fabric give this a definite tomato shape? I want to stress, this is the fabric not Kathy Barrick's design. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when I get more of this strawberry completed and the dark green around the bottom stitched the shape will be a little more strawberry-esque as Kathy intended. Pop over to CHS and check out the way it's supposed to look and you'll see what I'm talking about. I tried to post a pic of the model but Blogger gave me fits, so I counted my blessings I got the pictures posted that I did. I believe this is in her New Designs section.

One of the problems with being cheap innovative is that you don't always know what you're going to get in the way of a finished design. Using weird fabric can cause the design to take on a life and shape of it's own. It does make the whole act of cross stitching a bit more of an adventure than really "knowing" what it's going to look like. Sometimes that's good and sometimes that bad. In my stitching life I'm not usually a risk taker because the few times I've attempted to change something in a design it's been a disaster. I don't have a lot of confidence in my color choices and definitely not in my fabric choices. Once again the shape of the above strawberry is all the fault of the stitcher not the designer. Kathy Barrick is fabulous. I love her stuff and check out her News page when you pop over there and see her Market preview. She rocks!

Sue has been bitten by the CHS bug too. Sue is a wonderful crocheter who has recently been drawn into the cross stitch web. Let's keep encouraging her.

Life is Hard Out There for a Pimp Black Lab

Here is a glimpse into the daily life of our black lab Heidi. Here she's trying to rest, chew on her bone and what does she have to deal with? Miss Polly PrissyPants.

How cute is that face? What you don't see in these pictures? The shredded napkins, paper towels, toilet paper roll, and notebook paper all over the living room floor. The living room looked like Times Square on New Year's Eve after the ball dropped.

Just when Heidi thinks she can grab a quiet moment because Polly has been distracted by chasing her own tail, this happens:

Her couchmate would be Riley. He used to be part of the trio of kittens we called Charles, Nelson and Reilly(really showing my age here, huh?) but we found Charles a home and Nelson, it appears, is a Nelly. So we have Riley. Riley believes that Heidi is his best friend and he loves to cuddle with her. Like Polly he never gives her a moment's peace when she's trying to lay around and take a nap.

Do they blend or what? Where does the dog end and the cat begin?