Fun stitching projects ahead

As if I don't have plenty of things to keep me busy in my regular life, I've been planning some fun stitching projects for the winter. There's something about fall/winter that seems to lend itself to snuggling up on the couch in your pjs and watching Netflix while stitching your long evenings away. (I need to have the fella hook me up with a small light at his house, so I can multi-task a little while we're watching our shows together. It's not too soon for that, is it? I mean, we've been dating almost four years now...) Anyway, I'm excited to try some new things with hand embroidery and am planning on venturing out into that more where I've focused primarily on cross-stitch in the past. It's not like I'm going to stop cross-stitching or anything; I just like the option of a more free-form style with embroidery.

To that end, I've bought a collection of different sized hoops for these projects and am excited to start filling them up. I used a new (to me, at least) Etsy shop, CraftyWoolFelt, and was very pleased with their prices and quick shipping times. Doesn't the stack of hoops look just like a stack of possibility?

The lady at the Hobby Lobby fabric counter probably hates me because I also bought 1/4 of a yard of like 10 different fabric prints. Here are a few that I'm carrying around with me in my craft bag that I tote to and from school each day like I'm really going to have time to work on it there - haha! Aren't these prints just adorable? I'm picturing adding some fun embroidery and maybe even sequin/button accents to them for family/friend gifts or even to sell a few for the holidays here in my online store. Wouldn't that be a small, personalized, fun gift for someone? I'm still thinking about when I can get this done and who might be interested in this kind of thing. Either way, I'm excited about playing with these patterns and hoops for sure.

It's kind of exciting to have all of these fun projects planned; now, I just need to translate those plans into actions!