Stitch from Stash May 2015

It's time for the May Stitch from Stash 2015-A check in.  Here we are at the second to last month, and I totally messed up this month.  So here is my post of shame.

Month: May
Spent: $75.81
Earned: $2.00

Oh yes, you read those numbers right.  I hang my head in shame.  I will now go stand in the outcast corner where hopefully they have chocolate so at least I can enjoy my time there.

So perhaps an in-depth explanation is called for.  Here's an item by item breakdown of my spending. 

15 back issues of CrossStitcher from eBay - $42
A Cross-Stitch Christmas Handmade Memories- $3.89
Soda Stitch Alice in Wonderland (kitted up) - $6.03
Soda Stitch Owl Welcome (kitted up) - $7.79
Bothy Threads Exotic Birds - $6.84
Frosted Pumpkin Sale: Summer Sparkler and Pinata Party - $9.26

eBay was definitely my downfall this month.  I have to grab those back issues of the UK cross stitch magazines when I can, because they are hard to find out here in Mississippi.  Plus, these were from the early 2000s, and I find some of the CrossStitcher patterns I like best were from around that time, so I had to get them.  I'm not as big of a fan of most of the patterns they put out lately, but the older ones, I love.

The Cross Stitch Christmas book was purchased exclusively for the Ursula Michael pattern I knew was in there, since I won the book for less than the cost of just the pattern download.  I ended up being plesantly suprised when I got the book though, since there's a few other patterns in there that I think will end up as WIPs that I really liked.

The two Soda Stitch patterns and the Bothy Threads were great deals I got from someone else, and again, since I've been eyeing those lately (especially the BT, which are REALLY expensive to get here in the US) I had to take a chance and get them.  I'm super excited to get started on the Exotic Birds pattern.  It is even more cute in person than I ever dreamed it was.  And fairly easy too, with limited backstitch and not a lot of fractionals and only a few french knots for eyes.  I love the "Cut-Thru" Bothy patterns a lot, but they are definitely a lot more involved than this little cutey!

As an English major, I love all things to do with children's lit, so the Alice in Wonderland pattern was a giveaway, and I've been wanting to try Soda Stitch patterns thanks to Katy's posts about them at her blog Just a Little Stitchin' this month.  And if I was getting the Alice pattern, the owl pattern just kind of happened as well, because, well, as I've said before, I do love owls. 

And finally, Frosted Pumpkin is having a Summer Sale.  They brought back a limited edition pattern called Summer Sparkler that I LOVED and the Pinata pattern just kind of fell into my cart at the same time.  I love patriotic/4th of July patterns, but don't like many of the ones I find.  This one has all my favorites (fireworks, watermelon, flags, ice cream) and so it was a no brainer to get it.  Besides, it was new to me, since I didn't see it last year.  By the way, in the name of all enabling, if you want to get 15% off the coupon code SUMMER is good for another week I believe.  

So, that was the spending.  As far as earning goes, my only finishes for the month have been my square for the last round of my Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin group on Facebook (which I don't count for SFS since I didn't pay for any of the fabric/floss/patterns) and my small N I showed off yesterday.  At 30 x 30 stitches exactly, it earns me an extra $2 to spend this month.

I've been working super hard on Tinkerbell, but she's not done yet, so I can't count her yet.  Luckily she will count for SFS next month once I'm done, since I'm going to need all the help I can get.  Since I went over budget this month, I won't earn anything next month except for what I stitch.  Which in the end doesn't make a huge difference since things will reset in July with 2015-B starting.  But my personal goal is to make up for all the extra spending, so even if it doesn't make a difference in the long run, I will feel better about it at least.

Here's the detailed breakdown of where I am.  Luckily some of my finishes from earlier this year gave me a little bit more room so I'm not as deep in the hole as I could be. 

Starting balance from April: $17.11
April budget: $25
Finish bonuses: $2   
Total:  $44.11 to spend in May
- Total stash purchases: $75.81

Ending balance: -$31.70

Here's to a better spending month next time...