New year...new ideas...

 ~ Greetings and Warm Welcome to my Blog ~

Here we are burgeoning on the edge of a new beginning....

every year this time I try very hard to evaluate my life. As I get older I make evaluations harder in some ways, but perhaps more developed and aged - like a fine wine. I don't do "resolutions" go to a health club/gym atmosphere for one month in January and you'll understand why those don't happen here. (LOL! and have no doubt about it I would be, have been one of those here's my resolution and two week later...yeah not so much.)

Probably around the time I turned 40....

I realized that perhaps evaluations of a kind to change my inner workings, my head thinking, my heart, my direction in life were ones of a more lasting, solid kind. I evolve, like we all do. So what am I going to focus on in 2023? Read on to find out...you know me, I'm like a scandal sheet - I tell it all!

Stitching:

I am doing a personal stitching challenge over the 12 Days of Christmas. Traditionally the 12 days begin on December 25 and ends on 12th Night or January 5. Keith and I are truly enjoying a 2 week "Staycation" he has been off work since, well really since he was sick (Dec 16) but it wasn't supposed to start until Dec. 21 and he will be off until January 3. I am not finishing, I am not doing one thing (other than essential daily tasks: cooking, light cleaning and going to mass) but boy buddy am I stitching! I chose to do a personal 12 Days of Christmas stitching challenge. What does that mean? That means, I dive/dove into my extensive stash and choose a project I have long admired and never stitched and start it. I have created a Stitching Scrap/Bullet Journal and I keep notes on what I've started and when I stitch on it - all the essentials of where, what, when and how. My plan is to focus on these 12 starts and ALL my other Works in Progress that has languished through the years and focus on the bounty I have rather than the bounty I have not. I am all about supporting designers, dye houses, linen companies, notions companies, etc. But sometimes one needs to know when to stop, rest and know that what they have is fantastic. 

I feel that in the last 10 years, particularly with the evolution of YouTube "flosstube" videos that it has become a "one-up-manship" on what you can buy, who you follow to be in the "cool kids crowd", what color you stitch with, what microscopic linen and needle you can stitch on/with, what venue you can go to, what club you are in, what exclusive design you can purchase. I understand people need to make a living, but I can't be the only person out here thinking that the over-commercialization, hawking and materialism of things leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sort of tired of it honestly. 

So to stay true to me and my own value of what I loved and purchased - spending hard earned money on - I must of loved it, so why am I hording it? I have put things into rotation during my 12 days of Christmas personal stitching challenge. Here's what I've done in the first 4 days:

DAY 1:

 "Santa Knows" by Teresa Kogut. Found in the 2018 Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine (or she also has it in her ETSY shop for PDF download) 

I have a dream....of a mantle and hearth (maybe a hutch and a few tables) filled with stand-up Santas. I love Santa Claus - I am sure you could tell that from my previous post where I share my trees and home). Santa to me encompasses everything I want to be in life: kind, compassionate, giving, caring, sharing, jolly.... A "slew of stuffed santas" would be just the thing for my home and would bring me great joy! 

I am stitching my first "santa slew" on 25 ct. Vintage Country Mocha 3/2 using called for colors which is a mix of Weeks Dye Works and DMC. Stitching on this large of count will make him around 10.5 inches tall. 

*I am not stitching the entire piece, just santa the sheep and some holly sprigs tossed around edges. I have (in my mind) and idea that - of course he will be a shaped stand up (meaning unusual shape not sewn in an arch) and I will create a tiny wool bag that will be a dimensional piece for added interest to tack to the bottom next to Santa's feet. 

DAY 2:

Have always ADORED Country Cottage Needleworks' Glitter Village. I have created a border to surround the entire village, I started smack dab in the middle because I'm deleting some design elements and adding other things I want. I also am stitching a bit differently in that I've added Kreinik for the snow and snowflakes, going to add some beading, also using silver DMC Diamant to give lots of glitter. Here is my start on 32 count natural/silver linen from Fabric Flair using called for colors in Classic Colorworks

DAY 3:

Started another Santa for my "slew" this sweet, design found in  the 2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue, by Heartstrings/Artist Colony. Again he will be a stuffed stand up so I am stitching him on a larger count so I can get a nice size: 25 ct. Steel Blue 3/2 DMC. He will be about 6.5 inches tall when complete.

DAY 4:

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH in 2002 when it came out. When right out and bought it and promptly - never stitched it. Bringing 4 My Boys back! LOL! 
"A Savior is Born" on 32 ct. Steel Blue 2/2 Gentle Arts and DMC

So there we are....My first 4 days of my personal 12 Days of Stitching. What's next? Oh, I've got plenty planned! Tune in again to see what comes out of the dark!

What else is going on for me? WELL....

I've got my new Prayer/Praise/Thankful journal for 2023 all set up and ready to go. I started doing these journals quite some time ago to help my prayer life. Can I just say that it helped me then and continues to help me. Praying for others always ultimately helps me as much or more than the people I pray for. In the last couple of years, I have added Thankfulness to my journal. I have found it very helpful to remember ALL that I have to be thankful for. I write 1-3 things down in my journal every evening of something I'm thankful for from that day. On days when you feel "woe is me" -  everything has gone wrong...it's good to reflect and realize there are so many hidden blessings in life. It's good for my head. 

As I do every year....I always leave the floor open for all of my friends here...

if you would like prayers, are in need of prayers, email me: thetwistedstitcher@gmail.com

I am happy to put your name, a loved one's name in my journal and pray for them. I don't need specifics - for God knows those - all I need is names - if you would like a specific intention and you'd like to share it with me, rest assured I never think about or share it with anyone else. 

Finally I'd like to end this post with something that I am trying for the very first time this year....

I am Catholic - I am sure you all picked up on that 😂 As a Catholic, we like to ask saints for their intercessory prayers - that doesn't mean we are "praying" to the saints, rather it is like this: 

A Friend talking: "Hey Vonna will you pray for me? I am having problems focusing on my life issues." 

Vonna talking: "it would be my pleasure to pray for you about these issues."

Yes, I go straight to God for my prayers, but it sure never hurts to have others praying for me. As a saint, that means these passed HUMANS have walked the earth, had the same human issues as I have, knows the struggle life can be and they are up there in heaven wanting to help me, wanting to pray for me...praising God through eternity. 

Anyway...

I was reading that there is a practice of getting your "saint of the year" so for example I know many people who have a "word" of the year...this is the same sort of idea. 

Aletia is a website I frequent often and when I saw they had this Saint of the Year generator I took advantage of it. What could it hurt? I learn about a possibly "new to me" saint.

HERE is the Aletia 2023 Saint for the New Year Page

Would you like to know who I got?!

St. Damien of Molokai

I had never heard of him before. See...fruit already! 

He was beatified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II and raised to Sainthood in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.

St. Damien was born in Belgium in 1840. He longed to be a priest and missionary. He became a priest and was sent to Hawaii in 1864. For 9 years he worked as a parish priest there. In 1866, Hawaii established a lepers colony in Molokai on the Kalaupapa Peninsula. These colony was isolated, and basically was rife with all sorts of vice. In 1873, St. Damien decided to travel to Molokai to be a missionary there, serving the people for their spiritual and medical needs. Long story short, St. Damien was to serve there only for a short time, he ended up living there 16 years. He too became a leper and died there in 1889. He loved his people there, made many improvements to their living conditions and most especially their spiritual conditions. He embodies faith, hope and love. St. Damien is the patron saint of lepers and outcasts.  

Outcasts. Have we not all felt like one of these at one point in our lives? 

ST. DAMIEN pray for us!

St. Damien's photo is pasted in the front of my 2023 Prayer/Praise/Thanksgiving Journal and I am ready to go!

If I am not back by the New Year, please know, your presence in my life, makes a huge difference. 

Thank you for being a part of it!

Happy New Year!

Love in stitches, 

Vonna xxxx