April 2015 Smalls SAL Check-In

I must be really off my groove this week.  Despite having the date marked on my calendar and everything, I somehow totally forgot to post my April update for Stitching Lotus' 2015 Smalls SAL yesterday.  So I'm off to remedy that. 

These pictures will be repetitive for anyone who follows the blog regularly.  Sorry about that!

Of course my smallest small finish this month was my block for the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin.  This month I tackled the November block of the Dessert of the Month Club. 

I also had one "small-ish" finish.  Not super small, but small enough to count?  It was Hoppy Spring, which I sent off for a spring themed exchange:

This was my first finish of April, and also my first time "finish finishing" anything.  Which was good, since I've also signed up for a summer exchange through the same forum, and now an initial exchange on Facebook too, so I'll need some practice. 

This is what my exchange partner sent to me for said spring exchange:

I love little bunnies, so cute.  Sadly, the scissor keeper chart didn't include the pattern, so I need to figure out what to do with the kit.  Anyone have that copy of CrossStitcher and want the kit to go with it? 
 
Well, I guess I managed to sneak one new picture in.  :)

A to Z Challenge: Z is for Zoo

Today is the last and final day of the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  It's been a fun experience, but I am definitely read to think about more things to blog about than alphabet letters (haha).

Z is for Zoo

Although my normal Free Pattern Friday post isn't until tomorrow, I thought it might be fun to wrap up this challenge with some free patterns, and they even fit into my Z letter post too.

This is a zoo themed alphabet by Lucie Heaton.  She does a lot of alphabets for the British cross stitch magazines, but if you're not familiar with those, you may have not seen her work before.  She's definitely a cute and whimsical designer for most of her projects (although she does artistic well too). 

These cute little letters would be great for monogramming projects, or you could string them together to make a room sign or personalized tote bag.  They are free to download in three different formats from the Cyberstitchers site.  You do have to download them in sections though, so that's a bit of a bother, but not too much trouble.  Here's the links for A-F, G-L, M-R, S-V, and finally W-Z.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip through the alphabet with me this April.  It's been a lot of work, but a lot of fun too.  I do plan on doing it again next year, although I'm not sure exactly what format it will take.  Guess I have a year left to decide those specifics.

Here's a link to all my past A to Z posts in case you missed any you would like to visit. 

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
U is for Ursula Michael
V is for Vermillion Stitchery 
W is for Wreath 
X is for X's and Oh's 
Y is for Year

April Finishes

So as promised, here's a round up of the finishes I mentioned in my Stitch From Stash check in yesterday. 

First off, Friends for Life which is from an old issue of CrossStitcher magazine. This is the one I posted about at the end of last week, frantic because I needed to finish it no later than Monday.  I spent Thursday and Friday nights furiously stitching, got up super early Saturday to work on it some more, and then had a brainstorm.  The pattern originally called for some grass and sky detailing around the cat and dog, but by eliminating that it was still big enough for what I needed it for, and I was able to get it done much quicker.

This is definitely a pattern that benefitted greatly from the backstitch.  Here's where it was on Sunday night after all the main stitching and just a little backstitch was done:

 And here's where it ended up Monday after being completed:

Stitching details are 61 x 41 stitches (modified size) with charted DMC colors, done on 14 count aida, 3 over 1.  Stitched for a Love Quilts project (and I really hope it arrives in time, because it was down to the wire).   I started this on April 17th and finished in record time on April 27th. 

This was definitely one of those most challenging pieces I've done in a long time.  So. Many. Color. Changes.   So many fractionals (which are challenging at best on Aida).   Several french knots (which I'm terrible at).  And I made a TON of mistakes.  Hopefully despite all that it turned out okay.  I think if I had known starting at the beginning I was going to leave off the background, I would have stitched it with 2 strands instead of 3.  The pattern calls for 3 because some of the sky/grass are stitched with 1 strand to give it a varying thickness/shading effect, but it was a moot point since I didn't stitch those parts in the end. 

Anyway, I also finished up my latest WOCS piece last weekend, the one I'm calling Egg Topiary:

The green egg has pink dots in it, although the photo on my phone was a little funky and didn't pick them up very well.  This was stitched on 14 count white aida as a project for a spring quilt for World of Charity Stitching.  It was stitched with the recommended DMC threads, and is a free pattern from Stickeule.  I can't find the link at the moment, but I will post it later if I come across it. 

So now those are over, I need to work on my latest round of the Frosted Pumpkin Round Robin I'm participating in through Facebook, as this will be due at the end of next week.  Here's my latest start:

This is Woodland Sampler again, but I'm working on the October block this time (and owl).  Working with linen again, yikes...

A to Z Challenge: Y is for Year

Today is Day 25 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge, the penultimate challenge posting day.  If you are just now coming to the blog for the first time and haven't heard of this challenge before, the basic idea is to blog (almost) every day in April, taking one day for each letter of the alphabet. Since I have a cross stitch blog, I am blogging about cross stitch patterns in my stash and on my wish list for this month of April.

Y is for Year of Chalk

Have you noticed how popular chalkboards are getting lately?  I remember when our elementary school got whiteboards installed.  It was a big deal because they were the next best thing, and no longer would teachers have to deal with dirty, dusty, squeaky chalkboards.  But the humble chalkboard is certainly making a comeback, and that has filtered into cross stitch too.

Hands On Design has come out with a monthly pattern series they're calling A Year in Chalk.  There's new small pattern released for each month (they're up to June at the moment).  The idea is to stitch the light colored motifs on black or dark gray fabric, and then end up looking like little stitched chalkboards.

With my love of all things involving monthly patterns, I wasn't sure about these at first.  Frankly, I found them a little boring.  But I've been watching one of the blogs I read work her way through the designs and I've started liking them a lot more.  I like how some months add subtle touches of color, giving the design new life, but still making it look like it was created with pastel colored chalk. It will be interesting to see the rest of the series revealed as the series goes on.

One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day.  So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
U is for Ursula Michael
V is for Vermillion Stitchery 
W is for Wreath 
X is for X's and Oh's


And see you tomorrow for the final day!

Stitch from Stash April 2015

It's time for another 2015-A Stitch From Stash Check In!  Now that we're in April, I think we only have like two months left in the "A" period, don't we?  So if you didn't manage to join at the beginning of the year and want to maybe join up for the second half, be thinking about that. 

Month: April
Spent: $31.44
Earned: $12.00

So here's a breakdown of what I bought for that large "spent" number. Luckily, I have 3 earning pieces this month, so I know I won't go over budget even though I did buy a few things.

Purchase #1: Kawaii Winter Sampler by Frosted Pumpkin - $16.95 (no longer available)

So technically I bought this in March, but since I purchased it after I had written my check in post, I added it on to this month.  I've had this on my wish list for awhile; for some reason I like this winter one much better than the other seasonal samplers they've done in the same vein.  Anyway, this pattern was being discontinued, so it was definitely an impulse buy because I wanted to get it before I no longer had the opportunity to do so.  It is very cute and I'm not sorry that I purchased it at all, but I wish FP patterns were a little less expensive and fit into my budget plans a little bit better.  I have to wait until they go on sale to grab them normally, and I just couldn't swing the purchase 5 pattern requirement to get a discount this time.

Purchase #2: Don't Wanna by Labor of Love Designs - $8.50

Yet another impulse buy.  Have you heard of the online Needlework show?  It's great for those of us who don't get to go to great needlepoint shows like Nashville (although geographically I'm finally in a spot where I might be able to go someday, financially it's another story).  Anyway, the idea is the about the same, although vendors post picture of their new products online for stitchers to view, which they can then place orders through their favorite local needlework stores.  Sadly, I think it's closed now, but it's a bi-annual thing, so it will be back sometime in the Fall.

Anyway, Labor of Love Designs was a new designer for me, and I just fell in love with this curmudgeonly cat.  Since I don't have local LNS near me that carries these patterns I was able to order it directly for a PDF, which was nice.

Purchase #3: I Know I'm Right by Ursula Michael - $5.99

I think I mentioned over the last few weeks how much I love owl patterns?  Like, a lot.  And I also mentioned how much I enjoy Ursula Michael's designs.  So when Ursula released this as a download from crosstitch.com about a week ago, I had to get it.  It's perfect pattern for me.  And as my Mom asked last week, "don't you ever stitch anything for yourself?" Well no, I haven't really been stitching anything I plan on keeping lately, so this was a good chance to get something for me, but that could be rationalizing spending (oops).  Between the colors and the saying it was a no brainer.  Mom has always called me Little Miss Know-It-All, so this will fit right in in my room.  

Since this post is getting really long already, I'll do a separate one tomorrow to show off my finishes for the month.   I had three finishes, each earning me $4 each.

1. Hoppy Spring by Tiny Modernist (41 x 57 stitches)
2. Friends for Life from CrossStitcher Magazine (61 x 41 stitches)
3. Egg Topiary by Stickule (48 x 59 stitches)

Like I said, full pictures and report coming tomorrow on those last two since I haven't posted my last update for either yet.

So with all that, here's a complete record of where I am now:

Starting balance from March: $11.55
April budget: $25
Finish bonuses: $12   
Total:  $48.55 to spend in April
- Total stash purchases: $31.44

Ending balance: $17.11

Well, at least my ending balance number keeps going up.  Anyway, that's it for me this month.  And although I've stayed under budget, I need to remind myself to be better about NO SPENDING period.  Sigh.  But at least if I'm spending I'm keeping it low.  And it is nice to reward oneself sometimes, isn't it?

A to Z Challenge: X is for X's and Oh's

Today is Day 24 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Only 3 days left.  Are you sad?  If you are just now coming to the blog for the first time and haven't heard of this challenge before, the basic idea is to blog (almost) every day in April, taking one day for each letter of the alphabet. Since I have a cross stitch blog, I am blogging about cross stitch patterns in my stash and on my wish list for this month of April.

X is for X's and Oh's

So actually it wasn't hard to find something to cover for X.  Surprising, huh?

X's and Oh's is a designer that is fairly new to me, and I haven't had the pleasure of stitching any of their designs yet. I first discovered them through the Dragon Dreams Facebook Fan Group, where Dragon Dreams Designer Jennifer shared this Hoppy Dragon design.  Although she isn't actively putting out designs anymore, she had teamed up with X's and Oh's to create a series of holiday patterns featuring dragons.  I think this Easter one is my favorite, but I also like the Halloween one called "Boo".  So far there's 5 in this series total: Hoppy, Boo, Noel, Love, and Party.

So after discovering them I of course had to explore their website a little bit (of course).  They have a wide range of other designs, but one that caught my eye is this series of flower teacups they're releasing for each month.  Kind of reminds me of the Vermillion Stitchery teacups I posted about on Saturday.  Although I feel like there's more continuity between each month in this series, since the teacups are almost all the same (I think, the whole series isn't out quite yet). You know I had to share the daffodil one since it's for March, didn't you?  I love the extra detailing on the stripe on the teacup and on the head of the spoon, and I really love the font they used at the bottom too. 

X's and Oh's also has quite a few patterns along the humorous side.  Being the fanatical cross stitcher I have been lately, this particular one really tickled my funny bone.   My family probably wishes I did something other than cross stitch in the evenings lately, haha.

So that wraps up this (somewhat shorter) post on a new-to-me designer. One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day.  So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
U is for Ursula Michael
V is for Vermillion Stitchery 
W is for Wreath

A to Z Challenge: W is for Wreath

Welcome to the last week of the A to Z Challenge.  As I mentioned last week, I'm starting to get a little burned out, so I'm glad to see this challenge wrapping up, but proud of myself for sticking to it too.

Today is Day 23 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. If you are new to the blog and haven't heard of this challenge before, the basic idea is to blog (almost) every day in April, taking one day for each letter of the alphabet. Since I have a cross stitch blog, I am blogging about cross stitch patterns in my stash and on my wish list for this month of April.

W is for Wreath For All Seasons

Today's post will be a short one, as I'm only featuring one pattern today. This is called Wreath For All Seasons, and is a Dimensions Gold kit.  I bought this when I was feeling particularly ambitious as I got my stitching mojo back last year.  Well, I opened the kit, took a look at it, and promptly lost my nerve.  Number one reason why?  Blended stitches.  Yup, small thing, I know.  Anyway, it's still in my stash and I still plan on starting it someday soon, although for now it's been pushed aside by less intimidating projects.

I'm sure this one will look so spectacular when it's done though.  I think I've mentioned before how much I like seasonal pieces, and I was really drawn to the fact that this one represents all four seasons in one picture.  My mom collected wreaths when I was little, so apparently I just collect cross stitch pictures of them. 

One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day.  So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
U is for Ursula Michael
V is for Vermillion Stitchery

A to Z Challenge: V is for Vermillion Stitchery

Today is Day 22 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. This also means it is the last Saturday post for the challenge, and also tomorrow will be the last break in posting for Sundays during the challenge. If you are new to the blog and haven't heard of this challenge before, the basic idea is to blog (almost) every day in April, taking one day for each letter of the alphabet. Since I have a cross stitch blog, I am blogging about cross stitch patterns in my stash and on my wish list for this month of April.

V is for Vermillion Stitchery

Now, V is a letter I thought I was going to struggle with.  And I actually had originally had a different topic in mind for today's letter.  But at the last minute I had a brainstorm, which has brought us to this topic.

I first came into contact with Vermillion Stitchery when I saw a blog post about a Violet Tea Cup pattern the blogger (can't remember who it was, sorry!) was stitching for her grandmother (I think).  After a quick search, I found that the pattern was actually a series of Teacup Posies freebie charts, one for each month.  This led me to explore the other designs Vermillion had.

I immediately fell in love with this series called International Bears.  Although I've never been a huge teddy bear pattern fan (they're okay, I just don't love them or anything) I do love "world costume" type patterns.  And these were just screaming at me.  Apparently they were offered as a series of patterns many years ago, but now are still being sold on the website.  It just figures that the US bears are a pair of cowboys.  Is that the only unique fashion style the US has contributed to the world?

There's another companion set called International Bears II, which I also adore, especially the Elizabethan style bears (appropriately named Henry and Elizabeth) that are down for England.  I also had a friend in high school who did Irish Dancing, so I love that the Irish bears are dancers as well.  The only thing I don't really like about the Vermillion patterns is that they do have a LOT of quarter/three quarter stitches.  I will definitely be waiting to stitch these until I get more comfortable working on linen and evenweave.

Sadly, the site doesn't appear to have been updated since February 2014, so although the above patterns were available for purchase as a digital download, it made me a little nervous.  Luckily, I was able to get a print copy from someone on Facebook.  In addition to the International Bears, she also had the set of Fantasy Bears, so I added that pattern to my stash as well.  Some of these bears I really like, and some are just weird (the centaur for one) so I don't think I'll be stitching all 12 of these someday.

If you'd like to get the Teacup Posies freebie charts I mentioned above, they're still available to download from the website.  But I would hurry and grab them if you haven't already since there's no telling when they will disappear. 

One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day.  So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
U is for Ursula Michael

A to Z Challenge: U is for Ursula Michael

Today is Day 21 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. If you are new to the blog and haven't heard of this challenge before, the basic idea is to blog (almost) every day in April, taking one day for each letter of the alphabet. Since I have a cross stitch blog, I am blogging about cross stitch patterns in my stash and on my wish list for this month of April.

U is for Ursula Michael

I know I've talked about Ursula Michael and her designs during the challenge before, so I'm going to try to keep this one shorter today.

Ursula is a designer with a huge array of designs.  She does everything from seasonal and inspirational to quilt patterns, to the excellent typography designs.  I have a few of these ones, a Christmas tree, and a spring one.  If you'd like to see some excellent progress on the seasonal ones, I suggest checking out Jeremiah's Mom's blog, since she's been working on them (and finished one so far).  I have several of these shaped word designs on my wish list, but I'm most excited about someday stitching this one that's shaped like an ice cream sundae called Let's Eat Dessert.  Yum.

And speaking of yum, this design called Dessert Makes Me Happy was what brought me to Ursula's designs in the first place.  I saw someone stitching this on one of the cross stitch forums I read and it was just so cute I had to find out more about the pattern.  That lead me to Imaginating, which is a company that distributes many of Ursula's designs (although not exclusively).  If you're a digital pattern person, you should visit Ursula's pages on Crosstitch.com, since many of her designs there are only available as download.  And she's fast!  She has been adding new designs every few weeks or so, it's crazy!

In additional the word designs, I love the shaped words she's done for several of the holidays.  Right now there's a Trick or Treat, Give Thanks, Happy Holidays, and this is the newest one, Happy Easter.  I've always loved art that has normal items shaped into letters (I blame this Disney logo from my childhood), and that combined with my love of holiday and seasonal patterns, makes these perfect.

And speaking of my love of seasonal patterns, Ursula also has a beautiful series of stained glass window patterns, one for each season.  I don't have room to show all 4 in this one post, but this is the spring one, which is one of my favorites.  Daffodils again.  

And now this post is starting to get longer, so I will wrap it up rather than risk waxing long. 

One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day.  So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
 

Free Pattern Friday: Honeysuckle Seeds

Today's free cross stitch pattern is a little different than the usual patterns I post because you only have a limited period of time to pick this one up.  I normally don't like posting about limited time patterns for my Friday posts, simply because I want to share patterns that you'll be able to find for more than a small amount of time. 

But this one was so cute I had to share.  This is a vintage style Honeysuckle seed packet design by Maria Diaz.  I really love seed packet designs, and this one is so bright and colorful, it's amazing. 

This is Maria's April free pattern offering, so you can download the free cross stitch pattern on her website, but only until April 30th.  Starting May 1st there will be a new pattern there, so get this while you can.

Happy stitching!





If you ever come across one of my posts that contains a chart that breaks copyright law, please email me and let me know right away. In picking and posting my free cross stitch pattern posts, I make every effort to ensure the designs I share are legitimately free charts.

Watching for Catterflies (and updates)

I haven't done a stitching update in a while since the A to Z Blogging Challenge has been taking up most of my attention this month.  So I figure it was an update. 

I hope all of you are enjoying the spring weather.  Here in Mississippi it's been almost perfect the past few days.  I'm just sad when the nice weather will end and it will start getting humid again.  Because if there's one thing I've learned since moving here from California last June is that the humidity in the summer NEVER ENDS. 

But right now everything is green and pretty, and we've even been able to keep the windows open and the air off the past week or so.  And of course, with spring you need to be on the lookout for Catterflies...

For those of you who've started following recently, this is Brownie, my mascot and namesake of Brownie's Chair.  This is a pic of him in his Catterfly outfit (it's really just a headband around his middle) that I took during a past spring.  He actually stood still long enough for me to snap this picture before tossing it off.  Little darling. 

But now for the stitching updates.  Egg Topiary is sadly still not done.  I just have to finish up the green egg (the purple pot has been finished since this pic was taken).  As you can see, I didn't get nearly as much done on this last weekend as I wanted to. 

Friends for Life is also coming along.  The dog has several colors on him now, and you can even start to see the outline of his head and nose (sort of).  This is definitely a piece that will greatly benefit from the backstitching.  I am starting to worry quite a bit though, since I need to mail this off Monday and obviously the stitching is going much, much slower than I originally hoped for!  INITIATE PANIC MODE NOW!!!!!!

I feel a cold coming on today too.  Sore throat and wheezing in my chest, with a little bit of a rattling chest cough.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it will turn out to just be allergies.  Either way, I just need to get through the week...

A to Z Challenge: T is for Travel

Today is Day 20 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge, which means we're down to the last seven posts. If you are new to the blog and haven't heard of this challenge before, the basic idea is to blog (almost) every day in April, taking one day for each letter of the alphabet. Since I have a cross stitch blog, I am blogging about cross stitch patterns in my stash and on my wish list for this month of April.

T is for Travel

T is also for "trying to keep up" apparently.  I hope you all are enjoying these posts, as I'm getting a little burned out to tell the truth.  But with only 7 posts left to go, I am totally determined to finish.  I think next year I might try stitching things instead, a la the Crazy January Challenge, just for a bit of change!

Anyway, back to Travel.  I totally love Satsuma Street's Pretty Little Cities patterns, as I mentioned in my Garden Cat post (back on day G).  Unfortunately, they're a little out of my budget right now.  But I did manage to pick up some similar designs from Dailycrossstitch.com that I thought I'd share with you today.

First up, New York city.  Out of all the ones, this is the one I've actually visited.  I went there my senior year of college with our school for an internship expedition.  Luckily, my major (English) didn't require an internship to graduate, although they encouraged us to do one anyway (I didn't).  But it was fun visiting all the different businesses anyway.  We got to go to Random House's headquarters which was by far my favorite.  It was a book lover's paradise, and I would love to work there (though not live in Manhattan so much).  I would love to go back to NYC someday since we didn't have a lot of time to do the touristy things, even though I did get to do some. The one thing I don't want to repeat is falling down a whole flight of subway stairs.  My knee (and pride) wasn't the same for a week. 

Next up on travel around the world is London.  Most people are always surprised when I say this is the foreign city I want to see most.  Most think of Paris I guess.  But I would love to visit England, and Ireland, and Scotland all for probably like a month.  I have a slight obsession with all things British; I blame my BBC TV show addiction (I'm looking at you, PBS). Sadly, I'm not on the right side of the currency conversion for a trip to London anytime soon. 

Of course, Paris is on my travel list.  But not for the reasons you would think.  While seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and all that would be interesting, I really, really, really want to visit Paris so I can go to Disneyland Paris.  They have some of the most unique Disney rides not found anywhere else in the world: Phantom Manor, Crush's Coaster, a Pirates of the Caribbean featuring real fencing animatronics, a beautiful Sleeping Beauty's castle with a dragon in the basement... I could gush for awhile.  As a total Disney nut, going to Disneyland Paris would be a dream come true.

Which kind of blends into the next city, Tokyo.  I would like to see Tokyo of it's own accord, mostly because I was obsessed with anime in middle school (Sailor Moon for the win!).  But really, I mostly want to visit Tokyo Disneyland.  And even more importantly, Tokyo DisneySea.  If you think Paris has unique rides, Tokyo DisneySea is in it's own league entirely.  I salivate over the thought of visiting.  *sigh*  Maybe someday...  I will have to make sure to bring someone who speaks Japanese though (or at least a few words) because I only know like 5 words of Japanese (yes, what, good afternoon, cat, and meow).

And my last travel pattern I just picked up is this one, Amsterdam.  Which I don't really have a desire to visit at all, although visiting the Van Gogh museum might be nice.  But this pattern was just so cute and colorful, I had to add it to my stash anyway.

So that's the end of what I expected to be a short post, but has now turned out to be huge!  And if any of these patterns interest you, you can find them on Dailycrossstitch.com. 

One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day.  So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:

A is for  Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats 
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott 
K is for Kokeshi 
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry 
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules 
S is Sue Hillis