I stitched in my late teens-early twenties a little but then college, marriage, kids and an interest in knitting distracted me from it. I now have two nearly grown children, a daughter in college and a son in high school. 

In August 2015 I started cross stitching again with the pattern "Be Joyful"; a kit I purchased on Amazon.com. I started it during our vacation to Canada. I think that I finished it in December 2015.

It's a sweet pattern and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. I did not add all of the black beads the pattern called for because it was getting to be a bit much and a distraction from the loveliness of the piece. 

During this time I discovered several Facebook groups dedicated to cross stitch. Everyone generously shared images of their work and it's a great place for inspiration.

I have two finishes so far this year:

Kitchen Gadgets by Tiny Modernist; started November 25, 2015 and finished on April 14, 2015.

Mini Mandala Gardens 1A by Chatelaine; started December 29, 2015 for the Chatelaine Shenanigans SAL with Stitch Maynia on Facebook. Completed March 2, 2016.

This was so much fun to work on. I learned how to do Algerian Eye stitches! And beading, lot and lots of beading.