Pennsylvania Dutch and a Small Ramble

I finished this one this past weekend!  I just ordered a little hanger for it and I will trim the edges and hang it on my office door!  I love it. It's a kit from Hobby Lobby, and I got it for cheap!  It was $5.49 and then 40% off so... come on.  How could I not??

So, let's clear the air about Hobby Lobby.  Yes, they are an crap corporation who donates to crap causes.  However, when they are all you have in the area, you sort of have to pick your battles.  I fight many others, and my philosophy is that you must protect your peace at all costs, and it's not peace-protecting to fight every battle with every shitty company.  It limits your choices, and it's stressful.  Approaching menopause, being in tears almost daily over the tiniest thing, and having an anxious personality that therapy and medication has not been able to control, I do not need unnecessary stress in my life.  So, yes, I do shop at Hobby Lobby, but only when it is absolutely necessary. 

I picked this one up when I was back home over the holidays and decided I needed a project to work on for the last day I was out there for the holidays, because heavens forbid I don't have a project I'm working on (I am my father's daughter, afterall).   I think this took me about a week and a half to finish, because I was doing other things in between working on this.  I don't have an ideal set-up for diamond painting, and it hurts my back after a while, so I have to take breaks, because I am a middle-aged woman.  It's a 12"x16" canvas, I think. 

Someone on one of the diamond painting groups on Facebook suggested this is a Pennsylvania Dutch style of art.  I can see that.  

Things in Pixels

 I may or may not have undiagnosed ADHD... maybe not but I am the poster child for hyperfocus.  

Right now I am hyperfocused on making perler bead sprites and on diamond painting.  When I am hyperfocused on stuff, I like to watch YouTube videos about what I'm doing, even if I know how to do it, but I haven't really been able to find one about perler beads that I like.  

Diamond Painting Action Shot

 I finished my diamond painting today!  So, it took me a little less than two weeks, not even working on it daily. 

Happy 2026!

 Happy New Year!  I am back at work today, getting caught up, but have found some time to make a post.  

I had two weeks off work and it was fantastic! 

We went to my parents' in Coldspring and spent the week from the 21st-27th.  I ate a bunch of good food and spent some time with my family.  I finished my first Bargello project.  I LOVE Bargello but have some challenges with it.  First off, a lot of the patterns I see online aren't really easy for me personally to follow because I can't tell how many squares to stitch over.  I tried a pattern I downloaded for free and just couldn't get it to work.  Hello Bargello has lovely kits with really clear instructions and patterns, but they are a bit expensive for my budget.  I did get this one on sale, though, and I love it.  It's a sunglasses kit.  

Perler Magnets!

 I sometimes just get in the mood to make perler bead things and last night was one of those nights.  I made the purple flower into a magnet for my mom, the Jaws poster is a magnet for my nephew, and Pennywise is... well, I don't know yet.  I copied this pattern from a pin I saw on Pinterest- like an actual pin  you would wear as well as a pinned picture on Pinterest.  HA!  No pun intended... anyway, the balloon has a little chain on it attached to Pennywise, and I would like to do that, but we'll see what supplies I have for that and what time I have.  Lastly, the Tardis is for my friend Anan who loves Doctor Who.  They're not like THE gifts, they're just getting stuck in as extras.  I love to put little extra things in my Christmas gift bags.  

I am sort of addicted to these right now so my cross stitch piece has gotten neglected but I'm gonna try like mad to finish it so I can make it my last post of the year!

Not Quite a Year-End Wrap-Up

Well, it's Wednesday and I only have a couple of more days left of work, which means I will probably only post a couple more times this year.  I don't post from my laptop because it's not the best, and I don't use it often.  

So far this year, I have completed 68 cross stitch pieces.  I am working on what may be my final one for the year but maybe not, depending if I decide to do a couple while I'm out at my parents'.  I completed 4 or 5 little diamond paintings and three embroidery pieces!  I did 30 little perler bead pieces!  As usual, cross stitch dominated my crafting this year.  

I finished the bows for my berets and here is an action shot!  I have a black one for my black beret.

And we all know I am a rabid fan of The Office- here is a perler bead sprite of Dwight Schrute that I completed last night.  I'm gonna make him into a magnet.

I'm working on a few other pieces I'm going to make into magnets, and then I may just do some for the heck of it to add to my box of "what am I gonna do with these?"  

I do have two more days, so I may be posting more perler bead pieces or maybe I'll actually finish my current cross stitch piece and post it.  You never know!

Perler Bead Fun

I did some more Perler bead pieces last night.  I am not sure what I'll do with the bigger ones but I will either do magnets, hair clips or pins from the smaller ones.  

The flower in the jar came out a little more melted than I had intended but I think it's still cute.  My favorites from this group are the bow on the upper left, the little Totoro and the cat.  I also love the tiny robot!

I think the next ones I'll do are larger bows to pin onto my hats.