Update: February 2024

January just flew by, didn’t it? Then again, it didn’t. I mean, I was enjoying the last month of winter despite the freezing cold weather and now, it’s almost Spring! I like winter, I just don’t care for below-freezing weather and snow. On with what you came here for :

Work

Since October 2023, I have been employed by Apollo Retail Specialists as a Merchandiser. It’s considered a Supplemental Employment position as I only have to visit my local Office Depot once every three weeks for four hours. I take care of the office furniture area of the store, make sure it’s set to planogram, and all that. I really enjoy it.

I am now in the final stages of being hired by Michael’s Arts and Crafts as a Customer Service Representative. I believe that’s the title I’ll be given. They’re doing the background check and final paperwork before I start orientation. It’s a part-time job, but that works for me. They’re even willing to work around my schedule with Apollo so even better.

This means I now have two jobs I am going to enjoy! Working at an arts and crafts store has been a dream of mine – among other things – and now, I get to do it!! Yay me!

Business

Just because I’m working for someone else doesn’t mean I’ve given up on my business – The Gryphon’s Hoard. I haven’t. In fact, I have a shop on Shopify which is fully active now. I’ve been adding products to it, and that’s the only part I’m not fond of. It takes time. I’m glad they have a feature that helps you with the product descriptions because I’m horrible at those. I also still have the Facebook page and the YouTube channel for the shop, and I’ll be working on adding content to them both.

Stitching

I won’t be saying much here because of spoilers, but I will say January was a very productive month for me! Setting aside a full day to get as much stitching done as possible has greatly improved my stitch count. It’s easier to do than trying to set aside a few moments to stitch every night. I just have too much going on. I think you’ll be very pleased by my WIP progress as well as a few other things I’ve managed to get done!

Reading

I’ve been reading a bit this past month, trying to get back into reading a book or two a week. I read roughly 180 words a minute with a 98% retention rate so reading a book in a day or two is not unheard of for me. This said, it’s finding the time to sit down and read that’s the issue. I prefer physical books to ebooks as well so there’s that too. I’ll be reviewing the books I’ve read as soon as I can, and I’ll keep posting reviews as I finish a book. I plan to do other reviews too.

In General

It’s nearing the time I lost my Mimi last year, and I’m not looking forward to it. She was my everything, and I still miss her very much. My son’s cat, Butterscotch, spends a great deal of her time with me since Em, my DIL, got a bearded lizard who lives in the room she shares with my son. Cats aren’t fond of the smell of lizards or so I’m told. I can’t smell it as Em keeps its home very clean, but I’m not a cat so I don’t have their sense of smell. Otherwise, Butters ignores the lizard. I appreciate Butterscotch spending time with me, but it’s not the same as with Mimi. I don’t plan to replace Mimi with a cat of my own any time soon – if ever. We’ll see.

I’m still single, but I’m okay with that. I have to be. I’m not rushing to find anyone because it’s not necessary in my life to have someone right away. I’ve rushed in too many times before and been hurt each and every time. I’ll let things go the way they’re supposed to and if I find someone, I find someone. I am slowly beginning to like who I am, and that’s enough.

Not much else to say this month, maybe next month I’ll have more to share. I hope everyone has a great day!!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel!

Stitching Sunday: Land Baby Returns!

I wrote about Land Baby in my first post of 2024, but this is the first official Stitching Sunday of 2024 so I’m writing about it again. I just finished working on it today in fact.

The Land Baby, for those who have just tuned in, is a painting by John Collier(1899). It was charted and put on free-cross-stitch.com years ago. I started it in 2022, and I plan on completing it this year.

Here is what it’s supposed to look like:

Here is what it looked like on the 1st of the year:

I’m sad to say I do believe some of the colors I put in aren’t quite right despite my following the chart. Here’s what I’m talking about:

The legs have some light colors in it that aren’t in the painting as well as the right arm, There are bright spots in the painting so maybe this is how they were charted?? I don’t mind them so I guess it’s okay.

The section I’m on now has a lot of big sections of single colors so it’s going faster than before. I’m happy with that as it means I’ll be getting to the confetti heavy water before too much longer.

I’m still waiting on floss for the Modern Folk Embroidery piece so I have nothing else to show this week. I’ll be working on my embroidery project – a Bucilla table runner kit which I first talked about last year. I’m determined to get it done this year too.

That’s it for now. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves!!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel!!

Happy New Year and More!

First off, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had lots of fun, made lots of fantastic memories, and stayed safe this past holiday season. I’ve been pretty busy, but I’ve had time for some of the same. I did have a bit of a bad time the weekend of New Years, but I’m using it as a learning experience and moving on.

Speaking of moving on: I loved the posts I’ve been reading!! Lots of finishes, new starts and gorgeous progress! Anita(My (mis?)adventures with yarn) and Ginny(My Time Stitching) have some absolutely fabulous projects going, and folks, I highly recommend yall check them out!! I get excited and my Texas comes out lol.

So, let’s talk about me now. :-) In April 2023, my DIL, Em, and I began going to pop up markets and craft shows with mixed results. We’re going to continue to do so in 2024 and actually, we’re planning on doing a market some time this month – January 2024. Her business is called Emmy’s Crafts and mine is called The Gryphon’s Hoard.

I know, you guys are all rolling your eyes at this because you remember my Amazon shop and my Etsy shop. Both have closed, or the Etsy one is. I’m still working on getting the Amazon one shut down – they’re being annoying. I’m glad I didn’t have them doing the fulfillment on my orders. I learned a great deal from those two attempts at having an online shop, and I’m putting my learning to good use. I’ll talk more about it later this month.

YouTube – I have a channel for my blog Griffin’s Nest and for my business, Gryphon’s Hoard. Neither has a great many videos on them, but that’s going to change starting today. I have uploaded a video today for Nest, and it’s about my stitching. I’m calling the playlist Stitchin With the Griffin. If I ever have enough going on I feel I can provide enough content for its own channel, I’ll do it. For now, I don’t so I’m not going to waste time with it. Hoard will be getting new videos as I make stuff and show it off.

Facebook – I have a page for my business and a group hangout for my business as well. In less than a month, I had over 100 followers on my page so I know focusing on networking and using social media will help me grow my business. I just have to stay consistent and make time for it.

Instagram – I have a personal account and a business account. I’m learning to take better pictures and use hashtags, but it’s a process. It’s like with me taking videos, I have to be low tech due to my finances, but that doesn’t mean I don’t try.

Stitching – this is what most of you have been waiting on, and I can already hear you “Well, it’s about d**n time!” lol. I couldn’t wait until the new year to begin work on my projects – well the calendar new year. Winter Solstice signals nature’s new year, and I was able to wait until then at least.

The Land Baby – begun in 2022 and due to be finished in 2024. Here is what she looked like the last time I showed her off:

Here is where she is now:

I’m well on my way with the second third of the right side. 🙂

All Are Equal – this one was begun by Darcy aka Stitch Man Darcy on YouTube, and it’s being finished by me. Here is where it was when I showed it to you last:

I worked on it until I had just a small amount of the Roxy floss left and yes, I’ve ordered more so I can complete it. Here is where it is now:

This is a fantastically easy and quick stitch. I’m thinking of framing it when it’s done, but I haven’t fully decided yet. The others I’ve seen have all been framed. The floss was shipped out today, and it says it should be here within 2 to 6 days. They’re in Canada, and I’m in Texas so, I think 6 days is going to be my minimum wait time. If I get it sooner, I’ll be thrilled.

Those are my two main projects. I have a butterfly, a ring and, if there’s time, a map to work on too. I also have several smalls I want to work on as well. It’s all a matter of making time.

So, I have plenty to write about this new year, and I hope to be more consistent with my posts. We’ll see how things go.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully fulfilling, ecsastical, and majorly fulfilling year in 2024!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver. Truth be told, I might be losing my screwdriver due to all the crud happening to my fav BBC show, but that’s just me…

Stitching Sunday: SAL Progress, Plans for 2024 and Happy Mail!

It’s been a little over a month since my last confession, I mean post, so it’s time to show my progress! 🙂

This is the Peppermint Purple SAL for 2023 which I’m not so far behind on now, but I’m still not going to finish by the end of the year. Here is what it looked like last month:

I’ve gotten better at taking photos but not much lol. Here is what it looks like now at Week 37:

Because the entire thing is about a single stitch off (not caught until well underway) I’m having to make adjustments and do some finagling. I don’t think it looks all that bad, but we’ll see when it’s finished. I’m hoping, when you see this in the new year, it will be finished.

Plan for 2024

These are stitching plans of course.

Land Baby – my full coverage focus piece which I will finish in 2024
The Ring – this was a Facebook Messenger SAL featuring the One Ring from LOTR which I ended up not being able to do much on due to my health. I’ll be making it for my youngest son who is a LOTR fan like me.
Map of Middle Earth – this is not the name of the project – that eludes me right now. I’ll start it after I’m done with the other two.
My Happy Mail project – this isn’t a full coverage piece so I might just give it an hour or two on Sunday once Land Baby is done.
To Be Determined – I’d like to do some smalls during the year as well. I’ll work on them when I have the time.

Happy Mail

As you all know, I watch several talented stitchers on Flosstube. Several of these have grown into designers which I think is wonderful. One of these amazing people is The Stitchman Darcy. I’m not sure if I’ve shared one of his videos on here or not. He has begun dyeing his own fabric of late and seems to be doing well enough to want to sell some on his shop.

Anyway, he had a giveaway which I won. This project is called All Are Equal In Death, and it’s designed/charted by Jacob de Graaf from Modern Folk Embroidery. Darcy started it, did a full page and then, because he’d discovered linen, he decided not to finish it on the 16ct Oatmeal Aida he’d begun it on.

Here is what it looks like:

I look forward to finishing this as I’d not done one like this before except when I worked on Gwen, the knock off Nora Corbett. It’s going to be easy and shouldn’t take long. Darcy was good enough to send me the Roxy Floss Co. floss in Charcoal he was using himself. It might not be enough to complete the project, but it’s okay. I’ll get some more. I’ve never used overdyed cotton floss before so I’m looking forward to using it.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

Stitching Sunday : An FFO(Finally Finished Object) and Return of the FAL aka SAL

I’m not good at clever titles, can’t you tell? Still, I try so that should count for something.

I am finally finished The Girl With the Pearl Earring!!!

Here is what she looked like last month:

And here she is fully finished!!

Isn’t she just gorg!!! I stitched her on 14ct black Aida using only DMC floss 2 over 2. It’s 98 stitches wide and 154 stitches tall. Johannes Vermeer painted her, and an unknown person charted his painting into a cross stitch graph. If you’d like to get the graph, cut up into four images : https://www.free-cross-stitch-pattern.com/artistic4/thegirlwiththepearlearr.php

I had a lovely time working on this! Em has promised me she would let me take a picture of her to share once she has fully finished her so that’s something to look forward to.

Peppermint Purple’s FAL, I mean SAL, has returned!! I was done with Girl with enough time to add some stitches to this ongoing project. Here is what it looked like the last time you saw it:

Here is what it looks like now:

It’s coming along nicely, and I think I’ll be able to catch up before the SAL ends, but if I don’t, I’ll still work on it. Any suggestions for how to finish it?

That’s all for Stitching Sunday! I hope you all enjoyed it!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

Update – 18 October, 2023

I almost put 2024 as my mind is already on the new year with all the new things it will bring. For right now, I’ll do my best to update you on what’s been going on with me and my ventures.

Writing

This is in limbo right now. I have tried to write, anything, and nothing… I’ve tried writing down some of my story ideas, of which I have plenty, and I only get a few lines in. I just have a hard time sitting down and beginning. Once begun, I’m like a bullet train whose brakes aren’t reliable.

I’m not that worried about it since Crimson has barely sold any copies, and I doubt anyone really wants a sequel – or cares. I’ll write and publish for myself when I get back to it.

Gryphon’s Hoard

This is my online shop over at Michael’s Makerplace since Etsy shut my store there down without any word of explanation or assistance in getting in reopened as well as my pop up shop I go to market with. I’ll post the link when I post about it again on its own.

I am quite happy going to market, and the local venue I usually set up at has said they’d be offering spaces even after the holiday inside their building when it’s really cold and outside when it’s nice. I live in East Texas and the winters have usually been pretty mild until recently. Even so, I may not go out during the winter unless it’s a decent sized event. I’ll use the time to build up my online shop, my Facebook page and my Instagram account for Gryphon’s Hoard. I’ll also keep making things of course.

Crocheting

I’ve found that while I don’t mind making toys, I’d rather make more practical items such as bath/spa items, kitchen items such as hot pads and cup cozies as well as a few wearables. I don’t do jumpers/sweaters or anything that really requires sizing because that’s too time consuming and more of a custom thing. Toys make me money, yes, but I like stuff like doilies, tray liners and things of that nature too. I’m sure, eventually, I’ll find people willing to buy them.

Miniatures and Dolls Houses

I’m going to restart work on my big dolls house in the new year. The owner is a cranky old woman who really needs a home for herself and her family. She’s been threatening to curse me if I don’t get a move on with the house, and I believe she’ll do it too.

I’m also going to be making small vignettes and dioramas to sell. I might even revive my book ends idea, but I haven’t decided on that yet. I like making small things, and these would help me as I work on the house.

Work

I’ve found a job that the HR lady calls “Supplemental”. I have a primary job I attend to once a month at a local store and then, I can pick up small jobs at other stores as I get the training for them. Most of the jobs will be assembly or installs which is fine by me. It’s a way for me to make a bit of money while also working on my business.

Reading

I’ve been reading a bit more non fiction than I have before. I’ve read some that are business related teaching me how to build the business. Others have been showing me how to be a better boss so when the time comes for me to hire, I can take care of them properly and be a team rather than me vs them.

Stitching

As you’ve seen in my last post about Girl, she’s coming along beautifully!! I’m nearly to the top of her head and then, I move to the last page which is simply the rest of her head scarf. She’s going to be so lovely once I get her done and ironed. Em still isn’t sure how she’s going to finish her, but she still wants to do it herself so, we’ll all have to wait on that. 🙂

YouTube

I’m still making and posting videos from time to time, but I just don’t seem to know what to post really or have the time. I think, during my hiatus from going to market, I’ll do some short videos about town. I have ideas for them. I’m not all that worried as I’m just doing them for myself. I’m trying to build up my self confidence and my self esteem and improve how I feel about my body image, and this is proving to be a pretty good way.

In General

I’m taking an online course on the fundamentals of digital marketing to improve my marketing skills. I’m resumed my language classes, but I’m only working on them a little every day because I don’t want to overwhelm myself again.

I’ve found some new people on YouTube to watch, and I’ll start sharing them with you again because I’d like others to enjoy them as much as I do.

Not much else is going on. It’s cooled off considerably from the miserable summer heatwaves we had to endure. Fall is lovely, and I enjoy it immensely though I could do without all the wind at times. 🙂 No plans for traveling even with the holidays coming up because we just don’t have the money for it right now. We’ll see.

That’s it for this month my friends. It’s all in a nutshell and not as interesting as watching an eclipse, but it’s still something I think. I hope you will all continue with me on my journey from my nest and back again even as this year slowly draws to a close.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

Stitching Sunday – Girl With the Pearl Earring #2

I know I am posting this on Monday evening, 9 October instead of Sunday evening 8 October, but I have a good reason. I started work on Girl late Sunday morning and worked on her until late Sunday evening because I wanted to get the 600 stitch section I was working on done.

For those of you who are non stitchers, and for some of you who are, 600 stitches doesn’t sound like all that much but to me, it is. There were several large blocks of color, but there was a great deal more with lots of color changes in them. Those take time with lots of starts, stops and starts again.

Here is what she looked like last month:

Here is what she looks like now:

I apologize for the hoop marks. I keep her in a hoop just so I can pick her up and work on her without having to put the hoop on first. She’ll get ironed before she goes to Em when she’s done. Em wants to do the final finish herself so I’ll post a picture of her when Em get her done.

Meanwhile, I don’t have much left on this section of her. The original was split into 4 Jpegs. I did away with the first as it was all background. I completed the second which was her face and shoulder. This third image is on her back as well as the back of her head with all of the image being full from side to side. Let me show you what I mean:

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

As you can see, Image 3 has the most stitching to do on it, and I’m on the upper third now. 🙂 I’m confident I’ll have her completed by mid November. Then, I’ll be playing catch up with the Peppermint Purple SAL which is, for me, now a FAL – Follow A Long. 🙂

Well, that’s it for this month. I post again next month to show you either an update or an FO for her.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!

Market Day Recap: It Could’ve Been Worse…

We didn’t go last weekend because Em ended up having to work so, we went this weekend. We were one of only four vendors. We were outside, but the weather was nice up until noon when it started getting pretty hot – it was in the high 90s by that time.

I made enough to cover the entire table fee plus $3 for myself. Em, unfortunately, didn’t sell anything. Silver lining: she was able to put together two wind chimes she hadn’t had time for before and now, they’re ready for market next week.

Yes, we’re going again next week. The VFW hosts a pumpkin patch from the last weekend of Sept. to the end of Oct. with opening and closing weekends having lots of activities and whatnot going on. It’s a chance to get some traffic and hopefully, make some sales. Table fees for outside tables will be the same as always but fees for indoor tables will be going up a bit. We’ll see what the weather is like before we decide which one we’re going to do.

Here’s what the set up for me and Em looked like today. I didn’t bring a lot because we were rushed to get there in time.

I ended up selling one of my scrunchies and the pink cow. 🙂 I was given an idea for modifying the cow pattern to make it a pig 🙂 It’s an idea.

Despite everything, it could’ve been worse, and I’m just glad I was feeling up to going. Getting out of the house, even to come to market, is helping me a great deal.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, thanks for taking a minute to spend time with me.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!

Sunday Stitching : Girl With the Pearl Earring

This project began around the beginning of this year and about May, I became very ill so it didn’t get a great deal of attention for quite some time. In the last month or so, I’ve begun working on it whenever I have the energy and strength to sit at my desk and work from the pattern on my computer. I don’t have a laptop or a tablet or anything so I have to make due.

It seems like I’ve done a great deal when in reality I haven’t. This project is being worked on 14 count black Aida so the stitches are quite large. It helps work it up faster as well. 🙂 In fact, if things keep going the way they have, I should have it done in plenty of time to give it to Em for Christmas.

Here is what it looked like when I last wrote about it on my blog:

Doesn’t look like a great deal does it? Several weeks ago, I posted a picture on Instagram of it which some of you have already seen, but I want to share it on here as well:

She looks way better now. 🙂 I have just finished working on her for today. I’m only working on her on Sundays for as long as I can which wasn’t all that long today. Here is the small section I did today:

Working black thread onto a black background is time consuming and stressful because it can be really hard to see without good light. I’ll have more progress to show next month so please, be sure to return here to see what she’ll look like then.

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!

Changes to Stitching Schedule

I’ve been forgetting to post this, but I need to. I’m making several changes to my cross stitching schedule.

I will be focusing on one project at a time until I get the two full coverage pieces done. This said, Stitchonomy is doing a Halloween SAL again this year, and I might join in on it depending on what it looks like.
Taking a page from the Flosstubers over on YouTube, I will only be posting about my stitching once a month. This will lessen the pressure and stress of having to not only stitch but also take photos and write blog posts in the same week.
I will be changing the day I post from Saturday to Sunday. Sundays are when I do nothing but cross stitch.

These changes will begin with me posting tomorrow to get you all caught up on my progress on The Girl With the Pearl Earring. I posted a picture of her on Instagram a week or so ago, and I’ll be posting it tomorrow for you all to see as well as an updated photo. This will get you caught up and then, you won’t see her again until next month around October 7th. That’s the first Saturday of the month.

I know you all enjoy seeing my work, but if I want to get at least two of the three projects I have going currently done by the end of the year, I need to make these changes. I hope you will all continue to follow me because I have more than just cross stitching to write about as I get stronger!

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!!