Much Needed Break

I  am headed off to Colorado/Utah for our yearly trip ...a little rest and relaxation and time with friends...well, actually, a little Jeepin', hiking and mountain air...yep, I'll be off the grid for the next week...so this is my short public service/housekeeping announcement....

While I am out of my office/studio, I will have very limited access to correspondence, so please be patient if you send me a message/comment/inquiry that requires a response. All shippable items will be deactivated in my Etsy Shop. Shippable items (paper patterns/charts, project bags, Stitch Starter Rulers, etc.) will return on Monday, September 19th. All digital items will continue to be available. I will respond to all messages, comments and emails in the order received on September 19th. Thank you for your patience!

I'm sure I'll be back to blog soon, when (I'm guessing) I will have TONS of fun and creative things to share with you! Have a wonderful weekend/week/weekend....

A Grand Adventure

Hello friends! I have been a bit remiss about posting photos from our recent trip. Every time we take a vacation, I find it hard to catch-up with everything upon my return. This time it was made even more difficult from a bout of whooping cough...yep, remember when I mentioned I was feeling a bit under the weather? - well, sure enough, I somehow contracted whooping cough - go figure. I am starting to feel much better, but that dreaded cough lingers. Anyway, back to our trip. We went a few weeks later in the year than usual...and boy did that make a difference. We always drive to Denver and meet up with our friends...then drive to Ouray, CO, where we spend a few days in the mountains. We all have heavily modified Jeeps and explore the toughest off-road trails. This year, the mountain summits were covered with snow and ice, which made for some interesting off-roading - the boys definitely got to utilize their skills and specialty equipment. The day after we left Colorado, there was a big snow storm that closed all the trails we had been driving on for the season. After a few days in Colorado, we headed to Moab, Utah where we had sleet and snow on the trails the very first day. The rest of the week the weather cooperated, but it was crazy to be in a desert setting with snow-covered mountains in the near distance. We were able to complete all our favorite trails in Moab...and spent the last day rescuing a side-by-side that rolled over directly in front of us at the top of a scenic trail (we were able to get the passengers and their vehicle down the mountain safely - it took over five hours). I am going to post some of my favorite photos from the trip (side bar: the girl who was trying to clean up the photos on her iPhone, just downloaded almost 2,000 photos from this trip alone - sigh). I take a lot of photos/videos of the Jeeps in action for the boys, but I also like to take a lot of nature and scenery shots just for me...so here are a few. All in all, it was a grand adventure...

Better Late Than Never

Greetings friends! I apologize for the break in my posts...it's been a little hectic here. After our vacation in September, my husband had a major back surgery...needless to say, my schedule has been a bit tight. He is healing quite well and things are starting to get back to normal around the household...now I get to start playing catch-up with work. I had a big deadline moved up a month, so that has been my focus for the last week. It has been tough to find balance the last few weeks and I have been struggling with small increments of work time - which, for me, is super stressful this time of year! I have piles of holiday finishing calling my name, so that will be my focus as I try to "dig out of the hole." 

I have quite a bit of creative goodness to share with you, but today I thought I would catch-up with some photos from our vacation (or what I call a "trip" - in my opinion, driving all day - every day - and cooking your own meals, is not a vacation...although I do love the outdoor aspect and the mountains). We headed out to Colorado and Utah in September to meet up with friends and get the Jeeps (and one Toyota) out on the trails. We got to spend time in the snowy mountains of Colorado and the hot red rocks of Utah. Fresh mountain air was just what I needed to help with stay-at-home-itis. We spent a few days in Colorado (Ouray and Telluride) and then headed to Moab, UT for a week. We were able to drive a handful of new trails this year, along with a plethora of favorites...and we added a new couple to the group this year, as well. We stayed in two lovely homes - both booked on VRBO - with plenty of space for our group and room for the guys to work on their vehicles each night. A highlight of the trip was watching the couple we Jeep with each year get engaged on "Top of the World" (a moderate Jeep trail just outside of Moab, UT with a spectacular overlook of Fisher Valley, Onion Creek, and the La Sal Mountains). Another favorite moment was in Colorado (Animas Forks) watching herds of sheep (hundreds and hundreds of them) moving down the mountain (video below or on my YouTube channel)....it was an incredible sight - sheep as far as the eye could see on both sides of the trail! It was a great trip and the time outdoors did me well...

Our Jeep on "Top of the World"...

She said YES!

I hope you enjoyed these snapshots and video from our trip. I'll be back in the near future with photos of my latest needlework finishing and custom sewing projects...plus photos of my latest quilting designs and another fabulous piece I just finished for the Poppie Cotton Blog Tour featuring the Woodland Songbirds collection (my post will be on October 28th!). Wishing you a wonderful week...

On Top of the World

Hello friends - I am finally back with a long overdue blog post from our recent trip to Colorado and Utah...I'm sure you know how it is...take a vacation, then spend weeks playing catch-up with work obligations. We had a another great off-road trip - fresh mountain air - nature - time with friends....beauty in the journey. It was a TON of driving (ten days in all), but I enjoyed the quality time with my husband...and I came home refreshed and a little lighter - spending time outdoors always gives me a feeling of calm and helps me see "the bigger picture." We spent time on the trails in Ouray, CO (and the surrounding area) and Moab, UT....and I took a million and one photos (what's new??) and gained some perspective, while finding inspiration for new creative projects! The seasonal autumn colors were just starting to appear...and the mountaintops were snow-capped.  I will let the images do the talking (I'm just posting a few favorites) - and then I'll post a short general update at the end....

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the scenery we encountered during our trip!

For now, it is back to work with all sorts of holiday orders on the horizon. I have somewhere around one hundred pieces of needlework finishing to complete for clients (my holiday deadline was September 30th) and I have been working on all sorts of project bags...the Christmas rush is on! I will be posting a few updates soon with images I can actually share. I have been working on new cross stitch designs and model stitching...plus working behind the scenes on my website and upcoming newsletter...along with creating/listing items in my Etsy shop - things are humming along and it is a joy to be creative/artistic every single day. Oh...and I just finished a new Halloween model for the 2020 Halloween issue of Just CrossStitch magazine. Yep - it's crazy busy here!

Thanks for visiting with me today - I'm so happy you stopped by...and I hope you'll be back soon...