Hand Embroidery

So, I'm really into making stuff. I like scrapbooking, sewing, and general crafts. Today, I'll be talking about sewing. I had a sewing machine of my own (Singer's Pixie Plus... don't ever get it!), but that plan didn't work as well as I thought it would. My parents graciously lent me theirs until I can get up enough money to afford one of my own. (I'm considering the Brother SE-400... any opinions on that machine?) I was kind of nervous about using their machine, since it was a wedding gift (almost 30 years ago), and I'm a pretty big klutz. Anyway, I used it, and now I think I may be addicted to sewing! Not just on a machine either, I also like hand sewing (I made a hand-sewn quiet book for my 3 year old son, and a hand stitched stuffed animal for a friend's newborn daughter).
So, I recently came to the notion that I'd like to try my hand at hand embroidery! I found this super awesome site that has tons of "how-to" videos and tips and advice for people who want to hand embroider! The site is http://www.needlenthread.com/ , check it out if you're interested in that sort of thing! I'm kind of nervous about the whole thing. I'm the type of person who always has tons of ideas and good intentions and then I end up with about a million unfinished projects! I think I've been keeping myself in check as far as finishing (or starting) projects. I have a few unfinished projects right now, including a stuffed animal (a squirrel that needs a tail, ears, & facial features) and a wooden box (that I glued eggshells to and started to paint).
I don't know how well it's going to work out, but I've opened up one of those online shops, kind of like Etsy. I joined a site called Artfire. I haven't sold anything yet, but I'm remaining hopeful!
There I go, going off on a tangent (as usual!). I'll put myself back on track to the main point of what I've been rambling about. :0) 
I went out yesterday and bought a bunch of stuff to start this hand embroidery endeavor of mine, I tried not to buy anything too expensive (just in case it's not as exciting as I'm picturing it to be). And if I really get into it, I'll slowly start upgrading my stuff. It was actually a treat to be able to go out and splurge for once. Our checks are usually pretty tight, and while we aren't exactly living "check to check" we're definitely walking the border.
On a side note, I gave my 5 month old son his first taste of jarred baby food last night! He had already eaten some cereal that day, but I was so excited to let him try a new food that I let him have "dessert" (before dinner). He absolutely loved it! I let him taste the sweet potatoes by beech nut. I'm actually more of a Gerber type of girl, but I really wanted the glass jars and gerber didn't have glass jars for stage 1's, I hope that doesn't seem like too much of a selfish/shallow reason to choose baby food! I was hesitant to let him try baby food, I tried to mash some carrots up the other day, but I don't think I mashed them up thin enough, because he seemed like he kind of liked it, but he was making faces like the consistency was bothering him. Anyway, I should get back to work now, I'm sure the updates are piling up in my email for me to add to this excel spreadsheet! Have a good day everyone.

Happy blogging!

Here are some sample pictures of what I'm working on. The pictures are bad lighting, and I need to make some fixes to the stitching...but let me know what you think!