Feeling Fearless

Today I'm feeling fearless. I had the most beautiful weekend and I am feeling so uplifted today. As a result, I've gained the courage to do something I have been considering but have been intimidated to do: Start a Blog!

So here I am. I'm going to start this as a blog about my adventures in the wonderful world of cross-stitch. I'm a little nervous and very intimidated to share my work on the internet, but I'm being fearless! Not that I think anyone is actually going to read this (who knows), but I guess I'll start by introducing myself.

My name is Kim and I am as green as they come in terms of my experience cross-stitching. I took up the craft shortly after Christmas 2007, and I was hooked from the very first stitch I crossed! It's tedious, time consuming, good fun! As you can imagine though, it being only the end of February 2008 - I have completed very few projects. I'm still learning a great deal. I'm very slow and I do more than my fair share of frogging, but I enjoy the quiet time. As a full-time mom of a crazy toddler, I'll take any peaceful quiet time I can get. And cross-stitch is the perfect activity to fill those quiet hours during nap time or after Cuddle Bug has gone "nigh-night."

As of today, I have completed the following projects:

• Noah - Learn-a-Craft kit stitching completed Dec. 29, 2007
• Sister - Bucilla kit designed by Anne Keenan Higgins completed Jan 1, 2008 finished in a frame
• Peace of God - Dimensions Gold Collection kit completed Feb 1, 2008 finished in a frame - see picture below
  
• Biscornu Design - The Floss Box freebie completed Feb 7, 2008 and again Feb 15, 2008 first one finished as a biscornu ornament
• Quaker Hedgehog - The Workbasket freebie completed Feb 18, 2008
• Cat freebie - unknown completed Feb 21, 2008

So that's all the experience I actually have - not much and all of it was done on aida with either kitted cotton floss or DMC cotton floss. "Peace of God" is my favorite piece. It was actually a little too ambitious for only my third project and I intend to back away from such elaborate pieces for a while now. But I was proud of the finished piece considering my lack of experience.

I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to record my trials and tribulations as well as my achievements in this craft. "Stitchful Thinking" is the perfect name for this task since I spend a lot of time visiting blogs of more experienced cross-stitchers - admiring their work and wishing to someday be as skilled and talented as they are.

I have admired Michele and her blog X Marks My Spot. She calls herself a "novice" (and compared to many other stitching bloggers out there I guess she is) but she has provided me with a great deal of help and inspiration - teaching me terms and methods and pushing me to try linen instead of aida (which I will very soon). She wasn't too intimidated to start her blog. I figure I might as well get my feet wet too.