Time 2 Xstitch

My Big Toe The Lord's Prayer WIP....

2012-02-18T09:56:00.000-08:00

I got quite a bit of stitching time in yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it even though I wasn't feeling the best health wise. However......the xstitching time was very relaxing to me so I just cross stitched the hours away last night.

This is My Big Toe The Lord's Prayer for Becky Bee's BOP competition this year for her blog. I'm really loving this project!

Again, I'm sorry for the wrinkles but I just don't want to keep ironing the threads over and over each time I take a picture for fear of damaging them.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog today.

Blogaversary Winner!!!!

2012-02-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all of you who entered to win a pincushion and iStitch chart from me! I wished I could give you each one but there can only be one winner. Keep watching as I might have other contests down the road. You never know.

And the winner is....................... MISSY!!! Congratulations hon! I'll be in contact with you and have Carol to send your chart to you as well.

1 year Anniversary of my blog!!!

2012-02-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

I just love Valentines Day. I think it is because it's all about love and I'm so in love with my husband and family that I just can't help share love with others too. I love chocolate, red hearts, pink hearts, and the celebration of the whole Valentine's Day! My husband and family always makes me feel soooo loved and special each and every day that I feel soooo very blessed! I could go on and on but I don't think you want to read all that and get on to what the prize will be. We all love a prize now don't we??!!

As I stated in my earlier posts, I would be having a Blogoversery prize! I am not sure if that is spelled correctly as I never learned about "blogs" when I was going to school. So I've been stitching up a small design that will be made into a pincushion but you will also receive a Valentine chart from iStitch Designs. The chart choices are Sew In Love, Sew Be My Valentine, or Sew I Love you chart.   You can see the designs HERE on Carol's blog. If by some chance you already have purchased any of these 3 charts, please let me know and we can find one that you may not have already bought.
The rules are as follows:

1. Tell why Valentines Day is special to you.
2. Tell me which iStitch Valentines Day chart you would like to receive.
2. Leave an email address so I can contact you about mailing your prize.

That's it.  Simple rules for my blog's first anniversary. I will use a random generator to pick at the end of the day and I will be in contact with you after that.

Now....for me to celebrate today also, I'm going to xstitch all day ..... until it's time to give my family their Valentines Day presents this evening!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY  EVERYONE AND GOOD LUCK!

WIP photos ......

2012-02-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

I have some WIP photos to share with you today. The sun was out bright today and we are supposed to be warm again here in AZ. First of all, let me apologize for ALL WRINKLES on my WIP photos. I will admit I was just too lazy to walk upstairs to iron them all this morning.

My Big Toe The Lord's Prayer

Shepherd's Bush Her World (from the Dyeing To Stitch retreat last October)

My newest start as of Friday Feb 10.

Shakespeare's Peddler Elizabeth Milner 1848

This project will be offered from Shakespeare's Peddler from Jan - June as a free chart given out in sections when you make a purchase. You can see more details of this on her website link here.

I do have another WIP but I can't show you yet because it is for an exchange and I don't want the person to see it ... yet! :-) When it is mailed to her I will show you then.

My latest purchase from the Attic the other night was my new LHN Blessed ornament as the Attic changed the thread colors to all Crescent Colors being stitched on 36ct Lakeside Linen fabric. Here is how I've got it all ready to go to get started stitching.

I just LOVE this ornament and can not wait to get started on it. This one will be for me though.

Now I'm off to xstitch the day away! I hope you get to do the same!

New Hand Dyed Fibers arrived!!!

2012-02-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

OOooo I got some new Hand Dyed Fiber silks in the mail. This was a combination that I did a twist for on the HDF board and we all voted for this Winterberry 1423/1425/1429 combination for a varigated thread. So while I was ordering, I was able to get a Points Shop order as well of 6 Magpie colors which are the blue colors on the mini spools as well. The Winterberry I got 3 mini's in single stranded premium silk and 3 mini's in single stranded regular silk. I will try to get a sample stitched up soon to show you but for now here a picture of the new threads.

I love to use the premium silk to stitch on linen counts of 28, 30, 32, 35, and 36 but with the regular silk I use on 40ct linen. I just LOVE to xstitch with just one strand of silk.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Upcoming Anniversary for me!

2012-02-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

It won't be too long til I will have my 1yr anniversary. I'm working on a couple of small give aways IF YOU ARE A READER of my blog. You can pass my link on to others if they want to follow my xstitching news and maybe have a chance of winning a prize. I will be working on some of them this weekend so until then....you'll just have to wait and wonder.

I got some new Hand Dyed Fibers in the mail today. A new combination of Winterberry 1423/25/29. When I get a sample stitched up, I'll be happy to share. I think this is a great color for when you don't really want to stitch with a red but not quite a pink either. A "berry" color....hence the name Winterberry.

Ok....enough chatting....I need to get stitching that sample for you to see.

YEAH my fob finish!!!!

2012-02-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

I am soooo excited to have actually made myself do the finishing work on my new SB 2012 scissor fob.....TODAY. As you know from my previous post that I had received some of the new SB releases just recently. One of which was their new shop exclusive scissor fob. I don't get them every year but this years was soooo cute so I had to order it and while I was ordering, I thought I better make my shipping well worth it so I also got the SB Poor Robin's pincushion and an older scissor fob kit called Scaredy Sheep fob. I only had one halloween fob so I thought I might need another one also. This was such a quick stitch. It took me 2 days but that was because "housework" and "errands" got in the way.

This is only the 2nd time I have put ribbon around a fob so I am not as experienced as I think I should be so I guess that means I need to make more! The ribbon was very "fiddly" with my nails and then trying to get it to lay correctly ....... well the A type personality in me came out where I think it has to look absolutely perfect. However, Tina does say in the instructions to just take it easy and let the ribbon lay as it will and it will be just fine. So with that thought, I did the best at finishing my fob as I could. Maybe I need to have shorter nails when doing the finishing work too.

Here are the pictures of my new SB 2012 scissor fob. The first picture is the front and the back is the 2nd picture shown here.

I will try to make sure to leave more room between my loops and not make them so puffy next time as I think I needed more loops toward the ending corner. But this fob is for me so I'll try to not criticize myself any longer and think of this fob as a "learning experience".

I have finished my 2nd ornament. It is a PS design that will be for my dad but I will post that picture of when I actually get it MADE into the ornament instead of just the stitched picture. I promise....I'm just going to have to have a "finishing day" and then I'll have more pictures to share.

I did get some new scissors in the mail today so I can share that photo with you. I love pink and so when I saw these Mundial Pink shears with a 5 1/2" embroidery scissors all packaged together, I could not resist. Mundial scissors were the very first type of scissors I used when I worked at Piece Goods Shop long time ago. I just hope these pink scissor cut just great. I am partial to Gingher scissors when cutting out dresses and outfits.....but it never hurts to have an extra pair in your sewing room.

That's all I have to show and share today. I hope to show my progress on my huge MBT The Lord's Prayer sampler here soon.

Happy Stitching!

New chart from iStitch......

2012-01-30T12:30:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Carol has designed up a new chart called Sew I Love You. You can buy the chart here. I've already sent mine and hope to get it soon. I just LOVE Valentines Day, any xstitch chart with hearts for the most part and this little one looks to stitch up quickly! Now.....to find the time to do that to have. And what a great price for a chart for $5 that you can pay via paypal and get it sent directly to your computer!

Cross stitching was minimal in my house this weekend. I had that formal on Friday to go to, and Sat was spent with my daughter as our mommy/daughter date. We went to see the movie "One For the Money" which was just hilarious and then to lunch at Freddy's Hamburgers. Then it was back home for her to do homework and I started stitching on the SB 2012 Scissor fob. I finished stitching the front of it and now am working on the backside.

So.....you know what that means???? I will have to make one day for complete finishing of several SB fobs. I promise to show you them.

Now.....I'm off to spend time with my son since I had to take him to the dr today for a bad cough. The dr said she had seen most her patients this a.m. with the same thing. So he is to rest for the remainder of the day and go back to school tomorrow.

Happy Stitching.......

New cross stitch kits stash.....

2012-01-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

Woohoo.....all xstitchers love NEW stash! That is what I got in the mail directly from Shepherd's Bush today. I saw on there website recently their newest kits and I just could NOT live without 2 of them. So I just called them up and ordered them. But while I was ordering, I needed to add their Scaredy Sheep Fob to my stash as well. Why not?? I was already paying postage so one more little kit wasn't going to matter anyway.

Here is what I ordered from Shepherd's Bush.

2012 Scissor Fob kit, Poor Robin's Pincushion, and Scaredy Sheep Fob kit

I hope to start the 2012 scissor fob tomorrow. I will try to hurry and stitch it up so I can be using it all year long!

Here is my first ornament for the year that I stitched on Jan 1 at the Attic's New Year's Stitch In. This chart is JBW French Country Hearts II oranment that I stitched in 1 1/2hrs. Who couldn't do that to make an ornament? I did this for my ornament exchange last yeat and also framed it in a minature frame from Michaels. See posts below for more details on that one. But I had this frame, also from Michael's, that I framed this one up in. Yes...I know it covers part of the words at the top but it is for me and I don't mind.

I have also finished LHN Baked Goods from Diane's 2011 ornament that was released last year but I never got around to it. This one will be for my mom but I'll show you the final product when I do the finishing work for it. Maybe this weekend will be a "finishing weekend".

That is all I have for now.

Happy Stitching

New start for me today....

2012-01-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

Yes I can't stand it anymore....I'm going to start my SB Peace and Plenty pincushion that I bought when I went to the Dyeing To Stitch retreat last October. I hope to finish today since it is just a pincushion and looks relatively simple.

I finished sewing my top and skirt for me to wear to a formal this Friday night with my husband. It is plum colored satin that thankfully I had in my fabric stash already. I only needed to buy lining fabric for the top, buttons, thread and a zipper for the skirt. I love the color as I had picked it out shopping online when we lived in Germany.

So my reward to myself today is starting this SB pincushion. I finish the SB scissor fob I blogged about before but sad to say....I've not done the finishing work on it of assembling it. I think I will take one day next week to finish up all these little smalls and then have some more pictures to show you.

My other big project MBT The Lord's Prayer is coming along nicely. This is the one I'm doing with the Becky Bees BOP contest. See the post below what I'm talking about. I'm enjoying it and I did pick up more silk on Sunday when I was at the Attic to have on hand.....just in case I run out with what I have now.

Until another time.......HAPPY STITCHING!

Best Friend's late xmas gift.....

2012-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

Yeah....I can post pictures of this now that Karen has received her box. This box was done from the iStitch Mystery SAL but this was the 2nd one I did. The first one I xstitched for myself but still need to assemble onto the box. Karen is my one of my best friends and this was to be her 2012 xmas present. We came up with the idea to xstitch something for the other person that was not xmas related for our xmas presents and then on our birthdays, we xstitch up an ornament or something xmasy to give to the other person. That way when Christmas comes around that year we already have the xmas ornament ready to hang on the tree and enjoy the entire holiday season.

I had this all xstitched up before xmas but did not get to the finishing work of assembling it on top of the box and the inside pincushions. I finally got it done and mailed out to her last week and she just called to say that she got it in the mail today. YEAH! She understood about me not getting it to her before xmas as she is finishing up mine as well. I'm so thankful she loved it though.

And here is the inside of the box:

You can still purchase the iStitch Sew a Mystery chart here. It stitches up soooo quickly and it does make a great gift to someone.

Happy Stitching.

Best friend Kimberly's b-day gift...

2012-01-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

Yeah I can post this picture now of BBD Waiting For the Harvest. I stitched this pincushion up for my best friend and sent it along with several other goodies for her to enjoy! Kimberly is the one who went with me to the Dyeing To Stitch Retreat in VA Beach and while at the Dyeing To Stitch store, I asked her about the chart. It sooooo looked like what she would like and so ..... I just casually asked her if she liked it. I went with the chart colors and fabric .... which were Kimberly's colors. She loves antique things and what a great opportunity it was for me to "inquire" what she thought about it. hehe Sneaky ...I know!

The back is WDW Herringbone wool felt. It is filled with the crushed walnut shells that BBD recommends. She loved it along with the other presents I sent.

Happy Stitching everyone. I'm still working on my mom's ornament so I hope to have that to share soon too!

More stitching....and a finish

2012-01-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

YEAHH! I finished my SB Harmony Scissor Fob that I started yesterday on my "day off". When I finished stitching both the front and back sides, I started on LHN Baked Goods ornament from her 2011 ornament series. No....I didn't finish it. I hope to get my scissor fob totally finished up this weekend but we'll see how it goes. We have some family activities planned so I'm not sure if I will get into my sewing room to do the finishing work on the fob. I do the finishing on the sewing machine and not by hand except for hand sewing the ribbon around the edges but I PROMISE to show a picture of it when I do. I just wanted to share that I had accomplished what I set out to yesterday. I meant to write all this yesterday but again...still trying to stay off the computer.

Ok....back to stitching now on "Baked Goods"!

A day off and a new start....

2012-01-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

Have you ever given yourself a day off? I try to occasionally but sometimes my "day off" ends up running an errand for my children, the house or I end up doing laundry anyway thus ending in not really a day of per say. Today I decided I am NOT doing any chores, running any errands, cleaning anything on the house. This is to be MY DAY to do whatever I choose to do.

I choose to START A NEW PROJECT! hehe This one is small and it is a Shepherd's Bush scissor fob from my retreat last Oct that I went to with Dyeing To Stitch in VA Beach with my best friend. We took the SB class and the Shakespeare's Peddler class track. I bought two small kits of SB that was "retreat exclusive". One kit was for a small scissor fob to attach to the new pink polka dot scissors that came out this summer. I received the pink polka dot scissors as a birthday gift from a dear friend so of course....I had to have the scissor fob for them. Who wants naked scissors? The other small kit was the matching pincushion. Both the pincushion and scissor fob coordinate with the SB retreat project. I promise to show the finished product here soon.

So now I'm going to try and stay OFF the computer as we all know how we can spend and waste too much time looking at this or that online. I don't play internet games so that is never my downfall. I just like to read other stitchers blogs and see what is all new out there in the cross stithing world.

Happy stitching to you and to myself today!

Pic of my new start.....

2012-01-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Ok....as I posted in my last post that I was going to start a new project for Becky Bee's contest and that was going to be My Big Toe The Lord's Prayer. I did start it on Sat afternoon and managed to get some serious stitching in that afternoon. Then I was able to xstitch some more on it yesterday (Sunday). This is the pic of the work from both day's. I've not had a chance to xstitch any at all today due to other circumstances but I hope to be able to squeeze a little bit of time in later on tonight.

I apologize for the wrinkles but I wanted to post a pic of what I've gotten accomplished for two 1/2 days worth of xstitching time. I wished it had been more but maybe that will happen this Thursday. I'll keep you posted though and I thank you for following my progress on this huge project! As my daughter gently reminded me, it is not as difficult as my Mystic Stitch Jesus Walking on Water or Examplars From the Heart Resurrection pieces. I just love her encouragement for me on this project and she is sooooo right! Both of those projects also went to my husband which this one will also go to my husband as well!

I will need to squeeze in a little time at night to work on my Ornament of the Month which I need to get a sign up for on my blog somewhere and soon! I have already done 1 ornament for this year already and have started another which will go to my mom for xmas this year. So please keep checking back and see what I come up with for my Ornament SAL.

Happy Stitching

A new project start......

2012-01-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to start on My Big Toe The Lord's Prayer. This is my project for Becky Bee's BAP contest she is having. See my post farther down on my blog for complete details of what the requirements are.

I am stitching it on 32ct Vintage Country Grain Belfast linen using Soie d'Alger silks in blue 1436 and a red in 946. I will be stitching one strand over 2 threads on this linen and I hope to have some progress pictures here sometime this next week.

I get sooooo excited about starting a new project and this one is a project I've wanted to do for a long time now. What better way to get it done than particpating in someone else's contest!

Happy Stitching!

Stitching......

2012-01-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

So what are you stitching on these days??? I'm working on my xmas ornaments for this coming year. Well at least I am when I'm feeling good. The past few days I haven't felt too good thanks to some fatigue from my MS. That's ok. I've spent quality time with my husband and children and reading Janet Evanovich Explosive Eighteen book at night.

During the day, when I am feeling like stitching, I am working on some ornaments for this coming Christmas. I did finish my first one on New Year's Day but need to put it into the actual ornament hanger I had bought from Michael's last year. I also started LHN Baked Goods. I'm thinking of giving that one to my mom. The other thing I'm thinking of stitching is for one of my best friends but I can't reveal what that is yet because she reads my blog. I also have another finish to share with you once I mail the "other" finish to my other best friend as part of her Christmas present.

Now....I'm back to stitching because I'm feeling really good today and I have to get as much done on those days as possible. Keep checking back as I hope to share some other pics.

Here are a few to tide you over til I get the other presents to their respective owners. These were Christmas ornaments to family this past year.

My dad's xmas ornament front pic:

My dad's ornament backside pic:

My mom's front side pic:

My mom's backside ornament pic:

My MIL PS ornament......which is a first as I have never stitched for her.

My MIL ornament backside:

I just love how I was able to find such great matching fabrics for the backside of the ornaments.

Here is another finish for a dear sweet stitching friend.
CCN Merry Christmas from the 2011 JCS ornament magazine. Pat and I are pink fanatics so I HAD to stitch this one for her this year. Now to get me one stitched as well.

And I forgot to take a pic of the great matching fabric for the backside so when I get mine finished, I'll be sure to take a pic of it to share with you.

For one of my best friend's Christmas present, I stitched her this PS ornament from The Gift of Stitching online magazine. No....I can't remember which issue it came from at this very moment. If you must know, please leave a comment to ask. This one is for Kimberly who loves PS designs!

Now for my other best friend's xmas gift, I will have to show you here soon. I just did the "finishing work" for it. I will tell you though it was the iStitch Mystery SAL made into a box in her colors to match her bedroom.
That's all for now. I'm off to xstitch some.

A new challenge.....

2012-01-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

Oooo I sometimes love a good challenge in my stitching. I was reading Becky Bee's Stitching Blog. You can find her link on the side link of my blog. Becky is having this BAP challenge for 2012 and I signed up for it!

Becky's requirements:
The Design size must be at least 10 x 12 (that will roughly be in the neighborhood of 175 x 200 stitch count. The design can be larger but must meet the minimum requirement of 10 x 12. (if size differs due to stitching it over 1 but still meets the stitch count requirement that is acceptable.

So my project is going to be My Big Toe The Lord's Prayer. I have the fabric already and the threads are on their way to me this week. The stitch count is 240w x 392h so it definitely meets the requirements. I've wanted to do this chart for the longest time and now I have the motivation to get it done. The prize for the winner will be a $100 gift certificate to the ONS of Becky's choice. Ooooo think of all the stash a stitcher could buy with that!

Now....if ONLY I had the threads I could go ahead and start on it right away. We have to publish our WIP photos to our blog or email them directly to her to show her we are stitching it. So look for the upcoming WIP photos and wish me luck!!!

Happy New Years Day......

2012-01-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Day today! We went to church this morning and then I came home to hurry and eat lunch because I was going to go to my cross stitch shop for a stitch-in! And I'm soooo glad because I had A LOT OF FUN!

I started on my 1st ornament of the year and COMPLETED the stitching there at the shop today. I started AND FINISHED the JBW French Country Hearts II Noel heart shaped ornament today. It normally takes me 1 1/2hrs to stitch the entire design but you know how it is when you are laughing and talking with other stitchers!

Next I started on LHN Baked Goods ornament from 2011 LHN Ornament series. I got some stitching done on it before I left to come home. I hope to have this one completed in the next day or so and then I will finish it into the ornament in hopes of showing the ladies at the shop during the Thursday night stitch time!

I hope you've had a wonderful day and started your New Year off right! I just hope the rest of my year is filled with many hours of stitching and completed projects.

New Year's Eve......

2011-12-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

Wow....where has this year gone to? I know many of you will be asking that very same question as I always ask myself that question every year too.

I got up VERY early this morning in hopes of ordering from The Silver Needle's New Year's Eve sale. Yes....you have to get up early when you are on a different time zone than CST. And once again...poor Lindy was having issues with her website because of such high traffic load from people ordering from all different parts of the world. Or....it could be like in years past, where someone spams her website making it very difficult for us stitchers who LOVE to order from a great sale. But for serious stitchers who love a great sale, I find it is WORTH the effort. I just hope Lindy's computer issues get fixed, sorted out for others to be able to order from this sale also!

Thankfully I got up at 4:20a.m. Yes....you too can call me a sick puppy as my husband does every year on this morning. I ever so quietly get up and thankfully I woke up BEFORE my alarm went off so as not to disturb him and left him soundly sleeping while I crept downstairs to place my order.

I got on The Silver Needles website and tried to click on the things I wanted to order but to no avail...it would not let me. I tried numerous times but could not get onto her website. So I sat here and prayed that if I could get back online, I would "Order The Old Fashioned Way" which meant I just had to input my mailing address info, credit card info, special instructions, and then type in my order of the things I wanted to order in the last box. I did that. I clicked "Submit" and what do I see.....an error has occured. It did not go through. So I tried it again....still could not get online. I kept trying and finally.....I got back online to where I could input my information....again....on the "Order The Old Fashioned Way" site link.

I had just typed in "Please call me if you have any questions" in the Comments Box and was just about to type in my order again in the Order Section box when something happened and MY ORDER WAS SENT!!! ACKKKKKK!!! The order was sent with NOTHING in the Order Box area. I checked my email and sure enough.....there was an email saying they had received it but it never lists what you order. I went back to the website again....still trying to get back online when out of the blue......the PHONE RINGS!!! It was Lindy from The Silver Needle calling to say they got my order but nothing was in the comments box and she would be happy take it over the phone!!!! Now talk about GREAT SERVICE.....I definitely would call that great service. I gave her my order which was for the SB Christian's charm pack, SB Anna Stocking complete supplies, SB Reed Stocking supplies but minus fabric for either of these. Then Lindy said she would still honor the 25% off sale so I asked her if she would also include the SB Sadie's stocking supplies minus the fabric. I was going to wait on the Sadie's Stocking but since she said she would still honor the 25% off sale price, I thought "why not?"! I'm sure I could have ordered more but I'm REALLY REALLY trying to be good and only order now what I think I will really get to stitching this year. Not to mention I want to be finishing up several large UFOs that only have a little bit left on them to do. I will try to post my WIPs and finishes this coming year.

Tomorrow starts a new year and I will be starting it off right by starting a new ornament. Hopefully this will be the start of many but I want to get a head's start on this next year's Christmas presents. Hmmmmm wonder which one I will start with? A Prairie Schooler one for my dad, LHN Baked Goods for my mom, or one from the 2010 as I only had 2 of them left to do before having to move back to the states.

My other goal for 2012 will be trying to get my UFOs stitched up as I mentioned earlier. I hope to get a lot of stitching time in this coming year and use my time wisely to accomplish this.

HAPPY STITCHING!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2011-12-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Jesus is the reason for the season. I pray everyone remembers this more than just on Christmas Day but every day of the year.

Merry Christmas!!!

Advent Day 25

2011-12-25T05:56:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of our Advent exchange from the Tranquil Stitches board. I was soooo excited to get up this a.m. to see what my partner had sent to me......just like the other 24 days! Jorja gave me 2 JBW charts, complete floss for each and fabric to complete each one but I received a bonus chart that wasn't on my wish list! I can't believe all the wonderful things Jorja has gifted me with this during this exchange!!!

As always, it has been a very fun Advent exchange and I have loved each and every gift Jorja has given me!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Advent Day 24....

2011-12-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

Today's gift is one that I've wanted to do for myself for many years but never bought the chart to do it or else I kept forgetting til the Christmas time frame. But now I don't have to as Jorja has stitched me this "Merry Stitches" and made it into a wonderful hanging pillow!!! I love her finishing work and her sewing projects! I love this soooo much that I may not pack it away with the Christmas decorations as it can just find a place to hang in my sewing room.......hopefully!

Ohhhh we're getting to the end of our Advent Exchange on the Tranquil Stitches message board. We have one more day and that is tomorrow.......Christmas Day!!! I hope you have enjoyed reading my daily thread of what my Advent partner has given me.

I will be starting Jan 1 working on my ornaments for next year. I've signed up for a LHN SAL with Vonna. You can find her link on my blog listing under The Twisted Stitcher. We are doing an ornament SAL on our Tranquil Stitches board but there is no set theme there. Most likely I will be doing both LHN, CCN, and PS ornaments at first but we'll see what else gets thrown into the pile!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

Advent Day 23.....

2011-12-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

Todays gift was a packet of cross charms that I may make into earrings.....or use on some future cross stitch project. The other gift that came with it was a photo holder that can be used as an ornament too. So we will put our family pic in there this year and start a new tradition and hang it on the tree and the following years too and add the pics each year.

And thankfully my Advent partner is loving her gifts as well. We all look forward to this exchange every year!!!

Have a great stitching day! I hope too!

Advent Day 22......

2011-12-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh I love notepads, stationery, cards to send, all that fun stuff. Today's Advent gift was 2 small notepads for me to use! I love it!!! I have never seen anything like these. The inside paper looks like the paper we all have used when we started elementary school with the rule lined paper. TOO CUTE!!!

But this just shows the outside covers.

I've already started using the one on the right this a.m.!!!!

Have a great day!

Advent Day 21

2011-12-21T07:51:00.001-08:00

Yipppeee......I got new Mary Engelbrit sticky notepads!!! I didn't have anymore and have had a hard time finding them lately so this is perfect!!!

Ohhhh I really needed these!!! Now I should do a small xstitch project of hers to enjoy all the time.

Advent Day 20....

2011-12-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Oooooo I was soooo excited when I started unwrapping the xmas paper as I could see the box with the Mary Engelbrit decorated box! I got a ME santa ornament for my tree! I looooovvvvvveeeeee the ME papers, notecards, and stationary but to get an ornament is sooooo wonderful!!!

Jorja has spoiled me rotten during this Advent exchange.....but so have the other ladies as well in the past!

Advent Day 19 ......

2011-12-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

Ooo how sweet and pretty a gift I got today!! It was a pink bookmark that had an angel charm at the bottom.

And the bag that it was wrapped up in is laying next to it!!! HOW FUN is that bag???!!!

Advent Day 18

2011-12-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

Oh my stars!! I got the coolest gift for today's present!!! I got a cup caddy which has 14 different little pockets to fill up and to hold stitching supplies. This is soooo wonderful. I'm definitely going to have to shop for sewing patterns where Jorja does!!!

Oh Thank you Jorja for taking the time to sew so many gifts for my Advent presents!!! Now....to fill it up today!

Advent Day 17

2011-12-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

Oooo today's present that Jorja gave to me was some pretty snowman napkins! I just love using special holiday napkins and these have snowmen on them!!!

Aren't they just wonderful!!!???

And I want to get around to posting my other Anniversary picture that our son took before leaving to go to that "mystery" dinner that Ted had planned. He was very secretive of where we were going for our anniversary dinnere as we have been trying out different restaurants locally. He took me to The Melting Pot where we had a wonderful 4 course meal that I must say was absolutely delicious. Here is the picture that Daniel took though before we left. I thought it turned out really nice!

Have a great stitching day! I hope to!

Advent Day 16

2011-12-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

Today's gift was a fun silly gift (according to Jorja)! But I simply adored it! We all need to have fun and be silly sometimes. It was a Solar Dancing Flower and Jorja said they have 2 sitting in their windowsills!!! I just LOVE IT!! This flower moves from side to side just holding it so I can't wait to put it in a window to see it dance.......esp living here where we have so much sun all the time.

Sorry for the messy table. I've been wrapping presents and just left this roll of paper out last night. Oops.....oh well. I'm sure there will be something else to wrap before too long.

A gift for a friend....

2011-12-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

I xstitched up Vee and Co design O Holy Night using Hand Dyed Fibers Motes of Night on 28ct White Opalescent lugana fabric. I made the ornament into a stand up cube and displayed it next to my German muscial nativity for picture purposes only. I really hope he likes it.

Now I need to make another one for myself to have for display too! But I think I will use 36ct white opalescent insteand to make it a little smaller. We'll see.

The instructions to make the stand up cube were found on The Twisted Stitcher's tutorials. I've printed them off to have on my sewing room work table to refer to when finishing projects.

I LOVE making Christmas gifts to give to special people!

Advent Day 15.....

2011-12-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

Today, I got a flipchart full of borders to cross stitch on towels or small projects. It's sooo cool as there are designs on the front and backside of each little slide with one main keycode at the end.

As my friend Rae from the Tranquil Stitches board, who was my Advent recipient this year, said she was happy ... yet sad too.... the other day because we were already halfway through the Advent Season. Time seems to be going so fast these days and everyone seems to be "filling" up each and every day instead of slowing down to enjoy the season.

I know I am one who is usually done and over with a lot of things before now but it seemed like I kept waiting for my husbands family to draw names. However, I did go ahead and buy other presents ahead of time and tried to get that all prepared up ahead of time as well and just waited for his family when they finally did draw names. I just got that package to them mailed off the other day. Hopefully they won't wait as long next year to draw names but we'll see.

Be sure to take the time this season to really enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of our Saviour and not get caught up in the holiday shopping, gift giving, and "retail" side of it. Take time for your family and for renewing your spirit and let's keep Christ in Christmas!

Advent Day 14.....

2011-12-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Today, Jorja gifted me with a chart from Glory Bee called "Welcome". It is very nice and will look nice when I can get around to stitching it and to hang it when you come in the door.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Advent Day 13

2011-12-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Today I got an Americana pillow which I've already set up for decoration in my Americana room. It looks sooo nice in there with all the other Americana decorations.

Thank you Jorja so much!

Happy Anniversary!!!

2011-12-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Today Ted and I celebrate 19years of marriage! He is my best friend and my one and only true love!!! Of course most of you may know that we did date for 4 1/2yrs before getting married and him coming onto active duty for the AF. It has been a great, fantastic, exciting 23 1/2yrs years filled with love.....yes, I count those years of dating also. There is never a dull moment in our lives but thankfully a God filled one!

Here is a picture taken of us just this past Friday night at his squadron's Christmas party. Nooooo...... that is not my tree but at the country club where the Christmas party was being held.

I LOVE YOU TED ..... forever and always!

Advent day 12....

2011-12-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

Oh today's gift came in this wonderful box. I love decorator boxes and tins as much as the gift. Today's gift was a star holding a little red candle! Very rustic and country looking and perfect to go in our Americana room somewhere.

Isn't it adorable!!!????

Advent Day 11.....

2011-12-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

Wow oh wow! I got Santa salt and Snowman Pepper shaker for today's Advent gift! I can't believe I've been decorating my house for xmas all these years and did not have any Christmas'y' salt and pepper shakers! They are soooo cute too!!!!

How cute they are!!! I just love to decorate for Christams!!!

Now I'm off to stitch on a Christmas ornament! What are you xstitching today?

Advent Day 10

2011-12-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

Today's present was a cookbook to make some yummy cookies, candies and bars! I can't WAIT to have more time to look and read this cookbook that Jorja gave me for today's present! And I can't wait to TRY making some of them!

I'll let you know what I end up making out of this cookbook!

New Christmas chart!!!!

2011-12-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Oh my stars! My friend Carol of iStitch Designs has done it again! She has designed up a new chart called Sew Gigi to stitch with the new Hand Dyed Fibers thread Gigi's Christmas silk. You can find her chart at this link here! I absolutely love this new design! You can find the thread at the Hand Dyed Fiber link here. However, it is not a regular stock thread at this time but there are ways you can buy this thread. Just start a thread in the mini forum and get people to sign up for it in whatever size thread you are wanting to buy......SSR (single strand regular), SSP (single strand premium), 6SR (6 strand regular), 6SP (6 strand premium).

So be sure to go and check out the Sew Gigi chart at iStitch.

Happy Stitching!

Advent Day 9

2011-12-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh Today's gift came from Jorja for me to use in my sewing room. She made me an ORT (other remaining threads) basket that will twist down when not in use. I place it beside my sewing machine and put those little snippets of threads that we all clip when sewing. I might even have to use this when I'm cross stitching. It is soooo professionally made and I think I'm going to have to get that pattern from her to make gifts of this for my stitching friends for next year!!!

Have a great day everyone!

Advent Day 8

2011-12-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

Today I opened something I was really needing! It is a card display holder!! I love it because it says FRIENDS, FAMILY, FAITH with stars in between. This is soooo wonderful! Of course, I'll have it filled up in no time!

What a wonderful Advent gift!!!

Advent Day 7.....

2011-12-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love giving and receiving FUN holiday gifts???!!! That's the whole point about our Advent gifts......to be fun, funny, useable, exciting, and sometimes pertaining to cross stitching.

Today's gift was something useful, practical and PAMPERING!!! I got some Bath Crystals, a Beauty Bar soap and and a pair of Spa Socks! Oh my....these spa socks are sooooo soft and cozy! I am seriously thinking of just sleeping in them tonight to keep my feet warm!!!

As you can see from the red tissue paper, I had to squeeze them before opening!! haha

Advent Day 6.....

2011-12-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

On the 6th Day of Advent, Jorja gave to me......this wonderful little notepad that has already been put into my purse! It is perfect with it's magnetic closure!

I'm always needing a piece of paper to make little notes to myself on.....so I don't forget when I'm out running errands.

Looking for a Winter chart to xstitch up????

2011-12-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a cool and quick wintery cross stitch chart to stitch up, then you need to check out my friend Carol's blog for her iStitch Design Sew Frost. You can find the link here! I have already bought it and what a GREAT DEAL for only $5. Just scroll down on the link I provided above and you can order it. When Carol receives payment for the chart, she will email you the chart! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!????

I love her designs and she LOVES it when you email her your finished project!!!

So head on over there and check out her website and see what other wonderful designs she has available!!!

Happy Stitching!!!

Advent Day 5

2011-12-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

OOOOOO I can't believe what Jorja keeps surprising me with for my Advent presents. Today was a pair of new PINK scissors! And you all know what a scissor fanatic I am. I blame Carol though for getting me hooked on collecting scissors! She would always find the best and unique scissors. I wonder if she has a pair like these or similar???!!!

Now I want to share a pic of a wreath I just made for our Wing Wives donation. The other wing wives knew I was crafty so I got to do the project! Here is my snowman themed wreath! I loved it so much when I originally bought the supplies that I had to go back and get more of them to make a snowman wreath for my house! The one I made is a donation though!

I know you probably can't see a couple fot he ornaments because the green just blended right in but when it's hanging up, I have to say it really does look pretty! Now....to go make the one for my house .... now that I've got all the supplies out!

Advent Day 4 gift.....

2011-12-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

Ohhhhh Jorja gave me "Quilt a New Christmas" quilting book for my Day 4 gift! It has soooo many Christmas Quilting ideas in there. I hope to get some made by next year's Christmas!

How FUN this looks to be! Now to get some made over the next year for next year's Christmas!

Advent Day 3

2011-12-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh how I wanted to open this package last night after midnight! It felt like fabric and I was right... when I opened it this a.m. Jorja made me not 1, not 2, now 3 but 4 GORGEOUS CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS!!! I have just displayed them on my couch to get the picture but you can believe I will be hanging them up to show off and help decorate my house for the season!!! These 4 stockings wer all hand made and they are sooooo professionally quilted that I am thinking I need to take lessons from her!!

You can see them here!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Advent Day 2

2011-12-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

OOoooo boy did I enjoy another wonderful present this a.m. from my Advent partner. Jorja gifted me with these beautiful Christmas tree earrings in this adorable snowflake tin.

I love them!!! In fact, I have already put them in to wear today!

Advent Day 1

2011-12-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

Now.....on to the fun part of today's post! I belong to a message board and every year, those of us who want to participate do an Advent Exchange. Wish Lists are filled out, names are drawn and given to all participating. For 24 days, it should be some fun little thing that you might like to have. Don't give something that you yourself wouldn't want to receive. It might be a box of hot chocolate, a package of xstitch needles, a few skeins of DMC, an overdyed floss for xstitching with, a box of jello with cookie cutters, Post It notes, writing pens, small charts from your list, etc. You get the idea. Then on Day 25, you get something from your Wish List up to $25 from the person who got your name.

My kids help me open my gifts too. One opens on the odd days and the other opens on the even days. Today, Daniel helped me open my first gift. We unwrapped an quilted Advent Calender that my Advent partner made me!!! OH MY STARS!!! IT'S ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! See the picture below.

I've seen Jorja give this as a gift in the past and have loved it! In fact, I was going to sew me an Advent Calender this year but for some reason I never found the time to do it. Good thing I didn't!!! I love how she quilted this one!!! She is such a great quilter!!! Thank you Jorja for my Advent Calender. This could have easily have been my Day 25 gift!!! I LOVE IT!

I hope to show you some other xstitched gifts that I'm giving family in the next few days. Which is fine because NONE of them have computers to see the stitched gift.

Happy Stitching and have a great day!

Updates

2011-12-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Ooooo I love this time of year! Where HAS this year gone to I'll never know???!!! Thanksgiving came and we spent it here together as a family and all had a great time. That evening the kids and I started a new tradition that Thanksgiving night. As always I look, and look and look some more at all the sale ads trying to map out what I am buying for the kids on Thanksgiving Day. Welllllll, the kids are much older now and I have a hard time remembering WHAT kind of toys/names that Daniel wants. So this year, we went to pick out some at Toys R Us for some Beyblades for him. Good thing as I would have NEVER remembered....and he changed his mind 3 or 4 times on some of them. Toys R Us opened at 9pm ON THANKSGIVING! Now...my degree is in retail....I love the WHOLE Black Friday shopping and in fact used to get some of my kids presents on that day.....or things we as a family wanted for Christmas on Black Friday due to such great sales. But it's not often that I've shopped on Thanksgiving Day. I have in the past but not usually. So this may be a new trend for the kids and I to go and do.

But this year the kids are getting older and just wanted money. Who doesn't want money for Christmas is a better statement but I told them they had to tell me some smaller things for them to open on Christmas. Now......do you see why I had to take Daniel with me??? I don't know all the names of these Beyblades but I told him he definitely couldn't have them til Christmas. After he picked them out, I wouldn't even let him read the back of the packaging. He has to wait. Grace found the other movie that goes with "How To Train A Dragon" ..... which I might add is an adorable movie!! But she's getting a little old for anything from Toys R Us. She did think about looking at the Nintendo games but the line to get INTO the electronic area was to the back of the store. I do have other things in mind for her gifts though.

Grace's comment on shopping on Thanksgiving was that she was in "training" on how to do it for Black Friday for the future when she is out living on her own. Ohhhhh my baby made me sooo proud of even wanting to go! Both thought it was quite fun. Neither child complained about how long the lines were. They were just astonished at how long the line was to GET INTO Toys R Us to begin with.

But I still have some things they don't even know about to unwrap for Christmas. Then....we all get to go shopping again with their Christmas money after Christmas. I love...LOVE....shopping with my kids! Saves Ted's sanity too so he doesn't have to do that.

We did stop at McD on the way home Thanksgiving night to have McFlurry ice cream and share a large French Fry!! Even at 11pm!!

Ok....enough rambling as I have other things to post about.....

Friends and gifts.....

2011-11-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

Here is my friend Beth who was my neighbor when I lived in VA. I gave her the JBW French Country Rooster pillow as a departing gift from me before I moved to Germany. Then I gave her the French Country Hen pillow when I came for an early visit before my retreat this year. It was a birthday gift to her. She loved it! I was hoping so because she also raises chickens.

But Beth now has the two pillows displayed nicely on her living room couch! They look so nicely displayed here!

Now seeing them all done up and displayed so nicely makes me want to stitch a set for myself!!!

But here is a picture of both of us before I leave for retreat:

I will try to get the rest of my retreat pictures uploaded, named and posted here in the next few days. The retreat was awesome but I'm soooo thankful that Beth and her family let me visit them for a few days before my retreat!

Time with friends ALWAYS seems to go soooooo fast!

My new YARN BOWL!!!!

2011-11-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my stars!!!! I've just been blessed by dear friends of mine!!! Sandy is an avid cross stitcher and knitter and Sandy's husband made her a bowl to hold her yarn in to keep it clean while knitting. Wellll, I had a fit over how wonderfully made the bowl was but what an EXCELLENT CONCEPT too!!! Her husband, Larry, handmakes these bowls and I've been the lucky recipient of one of his handcrafted bowls in the past among other wonderful wooden things as well. Sandy and I have exchanged mailart, ornaments and other stitching items but when she showed me the bowl that Larry made her, I was just speechless. One because of her fabulous knitting but also because of the bowl. So without me rambling on and on about this bowl, you can see it here:

You can see in the lower right area where the yarn feeds through the hole while the yarn sits neatly inside the bowl and off the floor or couch. Each piece of the bowl is handcut and shaped into making this bowl!!!

All I can say is......I'm sooo amazed at his craftmanship!!!!

THANK YOU SANDY AND LARRY!!!!

Happy Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Today I want to say a special Thank You to all those people who have served in our military and are serving now!!! Thank you for your service, sacrifice and let us not forget those who have gone before us and are not here today. I want you to know that you are not forgotten! Being a military wife, I understand!

iStitch Mystery SAL Completed!!!

2011-11-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah me!!!! I got the last of the chart and was able to complete my iStitch Mystery SAL, photographed and sent off to Carol to have. Now.....I have to sand down my box and stain it this week in hopes of doing the "finishing work" for this project. But here is my piece stitched as a whole:

I am thinking I will finish this one up and display it in my master bedroom somewhere but I'm thinking I might stitch this again in another color of Hand Dyed Fibers called Winterberry 1423 and display that one in my sewing room. And who knows.....I might even stitch this again as a gift to someone at some point in time. We'll see about that later on.

I've returned from my retreat last week but I will write about that this coming week and include pics to show. I had a blast though and it was great to get away from the things that I do every day. I'm already looking forward to my retreat get away next year!!!

I'm off to do some finishing work for some Christmas presents.

Have a great day everyone!

iStitch part 5

2011-09-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

I downloaded part 5 last Friday but was not able to xstitch it til later on that day because I had an eye appointment ..... and they dilated my eyes. I did manage to get it done before midnight that night but I didn't get it turned in to Carol til Sat morning. Oh well. Here it is though!!! I'm using Hand Dyed Fibers in regular silk Enchanter Rose 1325/27/29.

Happy Stitching!

iStitch Mystery SAL part 4....

2011-09-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here is my part 4 of the iStitch Mystery SAL! I hurriedly printed it off this a.m. to stitch up after a busy morning but was able to get it done and off to Carol to have. I'm having SOOOOO MUCH FUN doing this one that I may stitch it for a Christmas present for a friend.

I am using Hand Dyed Fibers Enchanter Rose 1325/27/29 combo and you can see my new Gingher Alicia Scissors laying there also.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am busy with the kids and their activities and filling my time in between with as much stitching as I can. I will be going to Sampler Sunday Stitching at the Attic this Sunday and that's ALWAYS a treat to be with other stitchers who share your same passion for xstitching!

Happy Stitching!

Remembering ..... September 11, 2001

2011-09-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post something here to honor those who lost their lives on Sept 11, 2001......a day American's will hopefully never forget. I am sure we each could say what we were doing that day and what time it was when we found out about this horrible and tragic news. I PRAY we never forget!

Part 3 of my SAL.....

2011-09-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for not posting more recently but once school started for my kids, I had to get myself on a new schedule to coincide with their schedules and life has been busy ever since. I have kept stitching through it all even if it is a few stitches here and there. I hope to post more information this coming week and some finishes I've done, some WIPs, some SALs and who knows what else. I will try not to bore you though.

Here is my part 3 of iStitch's Mystery SAL. You can see everyone's variations of this Mystery here.

I did win the contest from Needle Work Press for the Anne Wheatley 1828 contest that Vicki (the reproduction sampler designer) was hosting. She told me this information a couple of Saturdays ago when I went to the Attic for their Saturday Stitch In. That was a LOT of fun that day. You can see the prize I won on the Attic's newsletter here. It is down on page 4 I believe. I think I get to chose either the round or square tin. I'm not sure but I'm just THRILLED that I won! You can even see my WIP on page 14 of the Attic's newsletter.

I'm currently working on ornaments for Christmas, and I will soon start this week on my donation for the Attic's Breast Cancer Fundraiser Silent Auction event. I'm not sure what but if you have a great idea, please post what you think I could stitch for the auction.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Doing a SAL.....and joined another one....

2011-08-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on my NeedleWork Press Anne Wheatley 1829 which I bought from the Attic. I wanted to be farther along but somehow have gotten behind due to different things. We went away as a family on a couple of short vacations and I was fearful for taking it with me and losing my supplies or leaving them in the hotel room. So now I'm trying to play catch up with it so I can email the designer my WIP for her contest for this project.

Then I've joined another SAL from iStitch. This one is a Mystery and Carol has now closed it out but you can still read and possibly follow our progress on this Mystery. The link is here.

I am going to be stitching mine on 40ct Antique White Newcastle linen as well with a HDF from my stash. You can find HDF (Hand Dyed Fibers) from this link here.

I started SB Tiny Garden Scissor Fob on my birthday but didn't get very far as you know from reading below that my birthday started out with me having a bad migraine headache. So I'm trying to finish that little project up also.

That's about it for now. I've GOT to start stitching some more xmas ornaments as I feel SOOO FAR BEHIND because I'm usually DONE by now with all my xmas gift giving ornaments. Hmmm....may have to devote one week to doing NOTHING but xmas stitching! That sounds like a plan!

Happy Stitching!

My BIRTHDAY!!!!

2011-08-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Ohhhh how I absolutely LOVE my birthday!!! My family and friends totally spoil me to death and I love every bit of it!!!! But I love to do the same for their birthdays as well.

I've taken several pics of all my gifts from family and friends. I would post a pic of them IN their boxes but I can't figure out how to post the pic without you clicking on the picture itself and I don't like posting other people names/addresses online.
Here is a picture from my Tranquil Stitches message board group!!! We LOVE to exchange birthday presents with each other!!!

I've also received some VERY NICE gift certificate from a close friend also! Thank you Carol!!! I will tell when I spend it!!!! {{{{HUGS HON}}}}

Here is what I got from Ted and the kids! Four wonderful cards and a GORGEOUS necklace ..... IT'S PINK and has XOXO on it in the shape of a HEART!!!

Last but not least, cards and presents from family and close best friends. Of course....I did receive money for my birthday from my parents and my MIL but I don't photograph checks. The new Vera Bradley purse is from my sister!

I was worried that I would have a horrible birthday when I woke up with a migraine headache this morning but I took some Excedrine and a nice cold compress helped with the migraine for me to have a very BEAUTIFUL birthday being spoiled by family and dear friends of mine! Thank you to all my close friends and family for making my birthday very special!!!

Blog Award!!!

2011-08-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! I've been awarded my first Blog Award!!!! Thank you Carol of iStitch for giving me this! I feel so honored! You can find iStitch's blog in my blog list.

The rules of the award are :

1 Thank the person who has awarded you

2 List seven thing about yourself

3 Pass the award to 15 other stylish blogger

Seven Things about myself:

1. I am a blessed SAHM of 2 wonderful kids and a great husband.

2. I try to xstitch on SOMETHING every day for my sanity.

3. I do xstitch on multiple projects but I was a one project person LONG ago. Imagine that!

4. I do have some UFOs hiding in my closet but most are close to finishing.

5. I love to sew matching dresses for my daughter and myself and the occasional ties for hubby and my son.

6. My favorite xstitch fabric is 38ct Nacre linen and comes from Tissage Gander in France.

7. I love Bohin Needles.

Now to give the reward to 15 other stylish bloggers. These are in no particular order either:

1. Little House Needlework Blog

2. You Know What You Ought To Do

3. Samplings From a Blue Ribbon Girl

5. Seasons of My Mind

6. iStitch

7. Lizzie Kate Blog

8. Tempus Fugit

9. Anita's Stitching

10. GigiR Designs

11. Vee and Co and Design

12. Valie's Blog

13. Rensel Studio

14. Blackbird Designs

15. The Twisted Stitcher

That's it for now. I'm off to xstitch for the rest of the night since I had to go today to get the school supplies for my kids. I soooo wished teachers would send these out SOONER!

Happy Stitching!

A FINISH!!!!

2011-07-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

I'm soooo excited to have finally finished up Shepherd's Bush Sail Away. I had went to Dyeing To Stitch retreat in 2007 and this was the SB class I took. I had finished that majority of it back in 2007 but it was put away soon after that because we moved to Germany. I took it to Germany in hopes of finishing it but I never did. So now that I'm going to be going to Dyeing To Stitch Retreat this October, I felt like I HAD to get this one finished first before going to their retreat again.

I just unrolled it off the scroll bars to take the picture. I will send it to have Jill Rensel frame it for me here soon. I'm sorry for any wrinkles you may see. Unfortunately, some of the small motifs have gotten washed out as well.

I'm sooo happy to have this OUT of my UFO pile and now I can concentrate on other things.....like Indigo Rose Catherine Agnes that is another UFO needing to be completed.

I hope you have a great stitching day today!

Friday Finishing.....

2011-07-22T09:48:00.001-07:00

Today is Friday and I'm going to try and do some finishing work on one of my JN tins. They have been done but not the "finishing work". So sad. I will show you when I do though. Seems like I have great intentions of doing things like this and then something comes up. But I really hope to do it this time.

So until later......

Krispy Kreme doughnuts.......YUMMMM!!!!!

2011-07-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Krispy Kreme doughnuts tonight after leaving the mall. They had the HOT sign on so of course.....we had to stop!!!! We had to please everyone so of course, we got one dozen HOT glazed doughnuts and another dozen of Chocolate Iced Kreme filled....which is the white filling.

I promise I only ate 1 of the hot glazed. Not that I couldn't have ate another but I refrained to save it til Thurs a.m. breakfast. Yummmmm Yummmmmm

What a nice treat to end out a day.

Another prize received.....

2011-07-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

I received in the mail on Thursday another tuck from my Tranquil Stitches message board July 4 contest. This was from my good friend Karen and she made some counting pins which you can see laying inside the tuck. That was the additional surprise from her. Now....to stitch something new for the tuck.

I finished a couple of stitching projects yesterday but I can't share those yet because the ladies have not received them yet because the projects are for their birthdays coming up. When they receive them, I will share then.

Now.....on to other stitching things. I'm still working on my CCN Red, White and Bloom. I had to frog out the green I had stitched in on the middle section where WHITE is stitched in for a darker green. Not to worry.....the original green I bought will not go to waste.

I also need to get started on my dad's xmas ornament. It will be another Prairie Schooler ornament with a deer on it. I will post it here when I get it stitched and finished because he doesn't have a computer to see it ahead of time. I already have my mom's ornament picked out as well. She loved my friend's BBD mini stocking but a different design so I will stitch her that one for her xmas ornament this year. And yes....I'll share that finish when it gets done as well.

I have started another small piece for Ted's office. I showed you in a previous post of a couple of charts I bought to stitch up for his office. It is LK Work Pray Trust. You can see that chart again here.

I've been working on my NeedleWork Press Anne Wheatley SAL from the Attic. I will be going to Sampler Sunday Stitching there this coming Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope to get more stitched on her but I also need to finish up SB Sail Away so I may work more on that since I'm soooo close to being done on Sail Away.

That is all for now. I hope you have a very wonderful weekend and find some stitching time for yourself. My daughter comes home from Band Camp this Saturday so I'll be anxious to see her and spend some time with her on what they did and what she learned for marching techniques.

Happy Stitching......

New scissor fob!!!

2011-07-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

Oooohhhh I was soooo excited to open up a package from a friend. She had a contest on a message board that we belong to and I entered her contest to try and win a patriotic scissor fob. And I was a winner!!! Isn't is beautiful???!!!!

Hmmmm....you know what that means don't you???? I've got to find a pair of scissors to put this little cutie on. I think I have a pair of plain silver ones in my sewing room that it would look great on.

I've been stitching on my NeedleWork Press Anne Wheatley SAL with the Attic. I'm still on the first part as I had some days away with the family last weekend and I didn't want to take such a huge project with me on a trip.

I was really tired yesterday all day so I worked on my CCN Red White & Bloom project for the Facebook SAL which I feel I'm soooo far behind on as I know others have posted their finishes already. Hmmm......I'm wondering if I am needing an all night stitch-a-thon as I've not done one in a while. Maybe I'll do that tonight.

I'm off to my sewing room to finish up some birthday gifts so I can take to show and tell at the Attic this Sunday for Sampler Sunday Stitching. Of course, I'll take Anne Wheatley to share my progress on her.

Until another time......Happy Stitching!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

2011-07-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!! Celebrating our country's 235th birthday!!!

Here are a couple of cross stitching projects for you to see. I had to frog out the green on my CCN Red, White & Bloom as it was NOT showing up enough. You can see what I mean in this picture as I left some for you to see what I was talking about.

Here is a project I started when I went to my Prescott stitching retreat with friends back in May. This is just the kit cover as I didn't get my stitching linen ironed yet. I hope to finish this project this year to hang in our Americana room. Of course, I will show you when it gets finished.

Now to stay OUT of the pool, off the computer and more stitching might/will get done! haha

HAPPY 4th everyone and .......... HAPPY STITCHING!

New 4th of July finished project

2011-07-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is Twisted Threads July Tin Pin that I started on Friday to wear today to chapel. I finished in on Saturday just in time to wear to church this a.m. It was sooo nice to have a finish even if it was just a small project. A finished project is fine.....no matter what size it is.

Now to go work on my CCN Red, White and Bloom. I promise to take a pic of my WIP a little later today to share.

I hope everyone is staying cool today. We are 101 right now at the time of this post. Looks to be another day in the pool to stay cool......or rather to stay inside STITCHING where it's even cooler!

Happy Stitching!

Stitching day.....ALL DAY LONG!!

2011-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today....is going to be my stitching day all day long! I have to take Grace to work a band fundraiser but I hope to get some serious stitching in today and all weekend. With it being the 4th of July weekend, I think I should start something new that is patriotic and small that can hopefully be completed over the weekend. What do you think?

I'm thinking about these choices:

Twisted Threads Mini Gingham OOH AHH July card (to make a wearable tin pin)
LHN Liberty Belles
R&R Americana Necessaire (which has been a UFO for a while and needs to be finished)

We'll see what the mood strikes. I'll keep you posted!

Happy Stitching!

New projects for husband's office....

2011-06-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I even forgot to post that I got these 2 charts and 35ct fabric last Sat in the mail. They are new charts to stitch up for my husband's office.

They look very quick to stitch although on the MBT one he doesn't want it stitched in pink but red.

New Scissors......again!!!!

2011-06-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

OOOOOOoooooo I got new scissors in the mail today. My friend Carol of iStitch told me about them and enabled me. You can see Carol's link to her blog on the sidebar of my blog. The scissors were listed on eBay but I don't buy from eBay so I contacted the seller to see if he would just send a Paypal invoice and let me buy them that way. He did and here are my new beautiful scissors all the way from England!

They are called Fleur De Lys Dore Embroidery Scissors.

Here is another pair I bought the last time I went to the Attic on Sampler Sunday Stitching. I had been wanting these Woven Scissors and so I finally just bought them.

Here's a review of the other 2 I had bought from Anita's Little Stitches recently......rabbit scissors and cat scissors.

I must not forget the "Limited Edition Red Scissors" from Anita's Little Stitches website too. I'm such a sucker for things that are marked "limited edition".

One must have pretty scissors to use and to collect in their stash!

HAPPY STITCHING!

Recent Travels.....

2011-06-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

We went away for a family get away to Ft. Tuthill. On this trip we drove on up to the Grand Canyon. I wanted to see it but wasn't overly excited about going. However......I have to say I changed my mind about seeing it as it was more beautiful than I ever expected and I'm glad we went on our trip to see it.

Here we are as a family with the Grand Canyon behind us and then just one of Ted and me.

It was nice for Ted to get away from work for a while and for us all to spend time as a family.

New SAL start......

2011-06-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

WOOHOOO.......I got in the mail my new NeedleWork Press Anne Wheatley 1829 SAL project that I got from the Attic in Mesa, AZ. I wanted to get it Thursday night when I was planning on going to the Thursday stitching meeting but I wasn't feeling well thanks to my M.S. It's been the heat here that has been bothering me. So I just called the Attic to have them to send it which they did and it arrived Friday.

So OF COURSE.......I just had to start it last night!!! I really do love this project and it is my first NeedleWork Press chart that I've bought. Here is the link to the Attic's website for you to read up more about it. http://www.atticneedlework.com/ Be sure to click on "Latest Newsletter" and then scroll down to read about this Adam & Eve sampler.

I've been stitching as much as I can lately. I did finish a couple of birthday presents but I can't show pictures yet because I've not given them to the recipients. When I do, I will share pictures.

And with it being hot here, we've been taking advantage of using the pool in the afternoon/evening times. I'll try to take some pics of that soon.

I'm off to stitch on my new sampler. Orrrrrrrrrrr......I might stitch on my CCN Red, White and Bloom for the Facebook SAL there! Hmmmmm..........a new start sounds like fun especially since I have the project all kitted up and I'm needing a "no brainer" type stitching project at the moment! I'll post a picture of the WIP when I do.

Until next time........HAPPY STITCHING!

Father's Day present to hubby...

2011-06-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ok....I guess I can show you now that it is so close to Father's Day what I gave Ted. I had already cross stitched this piece when we lived in Germany and it was one of the ones that I had mailed off to Jill Rensel for framing. So I asked her if she could have it done in time for me to give to Ted for Father's Day. These are the pictures Jill took in her studio and put on her blog as well. Here is Lizzie Kate Time for God and it will hang in Ted's office. I just know he is going to love it.

Jill does such an amazing job on her framing and all the creativity she puts into it!

Here is another I had framed from her but it is not for Ted's Father's Day present. It is mine and I'll consider it still a part of my Mother's Day present from this year even though the framing on my Resurrection piece was considered my "main" Mother's Day present. I told my family I just wanted my xstitched pieces framed. This is Blackbird Designs Summer Basket Loose Feathers.

All I have to say it that pictures do not do these pieces justice of how beautiful they are. I sooo wished you could see them up close.

I have one more piece at Jill's framing studio still left from the batch I sent to her originally but I'm about to mail her one more piece that I have to have done ASAP. I can't tell you any more right now because it is a surprise for someone very special but hopefully I can show you and tell you what I am talking about next month.

Pretty Scissors.....

2011-06-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the new red limited edition scissors I bought from Anita's Little Stitches. Here is the link to her site if you haven't seen it before. http://www.anitalittlestitches.com/ She has a link to just all scissors.

I have looked at them and looked at them for a while now and thought.....why not? You don't have bright red scissors like that and they do look very Christmas"y" not to mention very elegant looking. I tried them out and they do cut very nice so that is a definite plus.

Now ..... to try them out some more when I xstitch today.

Stitching stash and new goodies.....

2011-06-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

On one of my message boards, we did a patriotic exchange where we were to stitch a patriotic piece and make it into a pincushion or pinkeep. My partner made me a pincushion and included a few goodies along with it.

Here is the one I stitched for my partner. The tin not included but just for photograph purposes.

Now.....here is what I came back home to from being away.....more HDF stash!!! The threads are for The Primitive Needle's A&E chart. The fabric is HDF 36ct Kodiak Bear 5121. I wanted to try Vikki's linen and see how nice it is as everyone keeps saying it is. I can't let yall try something without me trying it too!!! ;-) I also order the threads to stitch the Fancy Work Whitman collector tin with the blue lid. I will show pictures when they are done.

And lastly, I received this wonderful glass scissor frog from dear sweet Sylvia whom I had searching for me to buy one. She was already checking all the antique shops on her trip so she was able to find this one for me and was sweet enough to gift it to me!!! THANK YOU SYLVIA! Now my scissors without sheaths aren't naked anymore. I've got a LONNNNNGGGG WAYYYY to catch up to my friend Carol who I know has 3 of these filled! But here is the picture of my new one!

I'll take another picture once I've filled it. I should be receiving a new pair of scissors in the mail today....hopefully. I'll share a picture of them when I do.

Now......I have some new framing coming to me from Jill Rensel but I just can't share that yet as one piece is for my husbands Father's Day......just in case he is reading my blog I don't want him to find out just yet. He will get it on Sunday.

I'm off to stitch some now on a special project that I can't reveal just yet either. Yes....it's for him too but I hope to show you some other stitching I'm doing that is almost completed and other WIPs and maybe a few finishes too. Until then........

HAPPY STITCHING!!!!!!!

Sewing fabrics and xstitching update....

2011-06-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today my DD and I went shopping at JoAnn Fabrics for "western type" fabric so I can make matching vests for us to wear to chapel on Father's Day next Sunday. It is to be a "western" theme so we found this cool fabric with cowboys and horses on it and now I can't remember what else. We were going to get the cowboy hat buttons but they didn't have enough so we got a different looking kind of button. I will post pics when it gets finished this week.

I did go away to my stitching retreat up in Prescott! I had a FABULOUS TIME seeing my friend who had invited me and meeting all the other ladies. We laughed, ate wonderful food, stayed up late xstitching for me and beading and knitting for the other ladies. There was 4 of us who did make a road trip to the Attic for a day of shopping. I had a chart on hold there of Gigi's R designs called A&E. I can't WAIT to start on it. I will post some pics from my stitching retreat and all the wonderful works that these talented ladies were beading, knitting and stitching!

Then my mom came out to visit for a week. We took her to see the AZ Diamondbacks baseball game and showing her the AZ landscape. We also went shopping too! It was a great time having her here.

Now....we're back on a regular schedule of the normal day to day things. I've got some projects in mind to stitch. I just finished something for a "patriotic exchange" that I can't show you for now but will soon. Plus.....I've just kitted up Gigi's A&E chart that I hope to start stitching sometime this week. I also started knitting a scarf for my mom's xmas present this year. I had her pick out the color while she was here as sometimes she and I don't have the same taste in color. I will show that one to you when I get more done on it too.

Another chart I've just ordered the Hand Dyed Fiber threads for is The Primitive Needle A&E. I can't WAIT to start on it either. I finished a Blackbird Designs mini stocking that I hope to sew up this week and maybe do some other finishing work on my stash too.

I think that is all for now. I will try to do better about posting more. I hope everyone is having a great day!

HAPPY STITCHING!

Memorial Day weekend.....

2011-05-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Let us take time to pause this weekend of those who have gone before us.....fought for our freedom and those who have sacrificed their life for us to be able to live in a free land. As a military wife, I understand all too well of having my husband being deployed.

I leave you with pictures from the 65th Anniversary of the D-day invasion.

Stitching with friends.....

2011-05-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm soooo excited as I will be leaving today to go stitch with a friend who has invited me to her stitch group for the week. I know of only my friend and possibly 2 or 3 other people but that's fine. You know how stitchers make friends so easily as we all have something in common....xstitching!

I'm really looking forward to it and I will report back with all the fun we will hopefully had!!!

Now......to decide WHAT to take to xstitch on. Clothes.....no problem. Stitching project - I want to do something for myself this time.

Until I return......HAPPY STITCHING!

New Hand Dyed Fiber threads.....

2011-05-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ooooohhhh Look at my new threads I got in the mail today!!! These are for 2 new projects that will be for a birthday gift and a xmas ornament gift. They look soooo wonderful that it is making want to start those 2 new small projects now......but I won't at least for today.

The greens and burgandy's are for a JN project while the brighter colors are for a BRD project.

It has been very windy here today so I've got all the windows open to let the house air out. I have to do this while I can before it gets sooooo hot here in AZ later on. It's been the PERFECT DAY to stay home to xstitch all day.....which thankfully I have been able to do.

Sampler Sunday at the Attic, some WIPs, new goodies

2011-05-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

I went this past Sunday to the Attic for their Sampler Sunday Stitching. I took 2 projects but only stitched on one. I stitched on Gigi R Collection Privee Elizabeth Precious 1817 as I really wanted to get more done on it, and I knew it would be easier to stitch while listening to Vicky's wonderful talk about reproduction samplers.

I also took my Scarlet-Letter Jane Rees WIP as I haven't been able to stitch on her very much due to all the company I have been having recently but I did want to share with them my WIP of her. Here is where I am right now which I hope to get back to here soon after I complete this special project I'm stitching but I can't share pictures of it yet.....for fear that the person it is for will read my blog.

Here is another WIP that I'm almost....ALMOST....finished with. I hope to be by this time next week and then I can share the finish with you. It is SB Sail Away.

I also started a new project for myself this past Friday. I started my Gigi "B" Sampler and I'm stitching it on 32ct White Belfast with HDF Winterberry 1423 in premium silk floss. I'm sorry for the wrinkled fabric and low lighting. The sun WAS OUT when I started to take all the pics but for some reason it went in and out of clouds.

And last week, I did buy myself 2 new pairs of scissors. I got the rabbit ones for a Danybrod design that I want to stitch up and make a small rabbit fob for the end of my new scissors. I also got the cute pair of black cat scissors as well. I need to find a cat design (hopefully somewhere in my stash of charts or freebie charts) to make a fob out of for that pair. We can't have naked scissors! It just wouldn't be right!

And last but not least, I finally broke down and bought the Shakespeare's Peddler Jenny Bean's Creation Sampler to make for my husband's office. I will have to leave off the alphabet at the top as he is not a fan of samplers but that's ok. I did go ahead and buy the thread pack because Jean had it so conveniently attached to the chart so I wouldn't have to pull the threads for it. So oh darn.....it had to come home with me too. hehe I know the chart called for 40ct Vintage Pear Lakeside Linen but I am going to do a floss toss and see what wonderful linen I can find in my stash. THEN if I don't find any fabric, I will buy some then.

I am also doing an exchange for a message board I'm on so I will start that little project today. I will share a photo AFTER I know she's gotten it. This is all the news for now from me. I've just been really busy with the kid's activities lately and we have been doing some entertaining for friends also and then I had planned a Pampered Chef party last Friday night. So those are some reasons why I haven't been stitching more lately or posting more. Hopefully I will get a lot more stitching time as you can see I have some wonderful projects to work on. I hope you have a wonderful day.

HAPPY STITCHING!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

2011-05-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today is one of my most favorite days of the year.....besides my birthday, Easter and Christmas. Today is a day for Mother's to be honored. I sent my mom a beautiful card and a check for her Mother's Day and told her to spend it on her mini vacation with my dad. She said she wanted to find something special to buy with it and would tell me when she found it.

I started my day with my husband giving me an Otis Spunkmeyer Chocolate Chocolate Chip muffin for breakfast. At chapel, all the mothers were given 3 roses: a red, a pink and a white rose. They had a lunch fellowship after service but I had my heart set on going to Red Robin for my Mother's Day lunch and we did go there. My kids and husband all gave me beautiful cards after we got home and they got me a nice wall shelf to display our international knick knacks on. But my other Mother's Day present was the framing for my Examplars From the Heart Resurrection xstitched project that I stitched while my husband was deployed. I have sooooo wanted this to be framed but we were still in Germany at the time when it was finished and I just didn't trust the mail system to get it to Jill Rensel studio so I waited til we moved back to the USA and hand carried it on the plane til we got settled here in AZ. It was well worth the wait. You can see it here as Jill had taken a picture in her studio before mailing it back to me. Yes....I have taken a picture of Ted and I holding it but the pics aren't loaded up onto the computer yet. I will share those this week.

I am SOOOO PLEASED with it. Jill still has 3 other of my projects left to frame up but I sooooo wanted to have this project in time for some company that was visiting me this past week but also to have it here in time for me to enjoy for my Mother's Day. Jill did an absolute fantastic job and I can't wait to get the other 3 pieces either.

Today has also been a day of rest for me as I have had a very VERY busy week last week that I won't bore you with the details on. I even took a nap today to rest which I sooooo needed but still feel tired somewhat.

I hope everyone has had a beautiful BLESSED Mother's Day...... if you are a mother or a woman who is like a mother to someone else and mentoring her! I know I am BLESSED!!!!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

Oohhhhh the EXCITEMENT of the Royal Wedding today! Yes.....I was one of those people who LOVE all this and yes I did get up at 12:50a.m. Friday April 29 to make sure I had the TV on and ready to watch all the wedding festivities!!! I watched it all from beginning til the end and all the news coverage after that. I did fall asleep at one point I realized later on when William had kissed Catherine but I woke up in time to see the kiss. However, the kiss I saw was the 2nd kiss that he gave her on the balcony! Oh well. I did see both kisses on CNN Headline News later on so now I don't feel left out of really seeing it all.

I did start on my Kelmscott Designs Wedding Wishes pincushion. Here is a pic of the kit I got in the mail the other day and yes......I DID START IT THAT DAY!!!

I have the crown and "C" all stitched in and I'm xstitching in the "W" now. I hope to finish xstitching it today so I can do the actual finishing work on Sat.

I wish the happy couple a very LONG and happy life.

New linen and a new kit!!!!

2011-04-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

OOOOOOO what a great day today is!!! I got in the mail some 45ct Florence Italian linen given to me by KB who was sooooo gracious enough to send not one but 2 pieces of this linen for me to try. I was wanting to try the 45ct (which is tiny for those of you who don't xstitch) and I didn't want to order a huge piece in case I couldn't see to xstitch on it. It is soooo soft yet firm enough to the touch. Now to find a special project for each of these pieces of fabric. I've only taken a picture of one of the pieces though.

I also got from Shepherd's Bush today a kit they had on their blog. It was the new Kelmscott Designs William & Catherine Wedding Wishes. I got the chart, fabric, Elizabeth I Kelmscott scissors, and the royal crown Kelmscott needleminder!!! I just LOVE stitchy mail....even if I have to pay for it myself.

No....I'm not British but my best friend Karen is and I have a very dear designer friend Carol of iStitch that is British also! I wanted to do this pincushion to put in my pincushion basket. So oh darn.......I have to start this new wonderful project to hopefully have done by Friday when the Royal Wedding takes place. Even if I have to do the finishing work on Friday that will be fine with me. So I have a goal now.....to start this new project! haha Twist my arm to have to start something new! lol

I'm off to start this now!!!
Have a great day!

Easter.....

2011-04-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

"HE LIVES"

I serve a risen Saviour; He's in the world today.
I know that He is living, whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He's always near.

Chorus:
He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

Stanza 2:
In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And though my heart grows weary I never will despair.
I know that He is leading, thro' all the stormy blast;
The day of His appearing will come at last.

Chorus:

Stanza 3:
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian! Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King!
The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find,
None other is so loving, so good and kind.

Empty Tomb Rolls

2011-04-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another person's blog long ago. This is sooooo wonderful here at Easter time.

Baked some empty tomb rolls, an Easter tradition started by Amber (who is in Portland this weekend). Empty tomb rolls are made by wrapping a large marshmallow in Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough - I leave 2 ‘triangles’ of dough together to form a large rectangle for wrapping each marshmallow. Bake according to instructions on can. When they come out of the oven the marshmallow has melted away leaving an empty cavity. Lightly glaze if desired.

May you all have a very Blessed Easter!

Bunny Big Ears

2011-04-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is my all time favorite Easter candy.......a Bunny Big Ears!!!!

New Stash, New Starts, and some WIPs

2011-04-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Don't we all love to get stitching supplies in the mail?? I think it's just as great as shopping for them in the actual cross stitch stores. I had to shop online all the time in Germany except for those few wonderful times I could hunt them out in different countries that we may have been traveling to.
Here is some new Hand Dyed Fibers I got in the mail this past week. I know .... I know.... I meant to post them the day I got them but I'm busy with my kids and their activies after school which I don't mind because I still xstitch while waiting on them.

The colors are as follows L to R: 3 Bitterbloom 4451 mini spools, Embers, Grasses, Pastel Rainbow, Wisteria, Mountain Shadow, Lemon Creme, Plumage, Lavender & Roses, Russian Sage and Hibiscus all in premium thread.

Other new stash that I got this week was a new pair of scissors I had been eyeing at Anita's Little Stitches online shop. I also got the BBD Breath of Spring chart and some more Bohin needles. If you've never tried Bohen needles, they are definitely a worthy investment. I LOVE THEM! As for the scissors, they don't cut as well as I would have thought. That's the only bad thing about buying scissors online ..... you don't get to try them first. But they ARE pretty with the cross on them.

Now a new start that I would do while waiting at Daniel's baseball games. He would have to show up 30min before the games for them to practice so that gives me plenty of time to get a few stitches in here and there. The WIP is from iStitch called Sew a Brown Bunny. You can click on her blog on the side of my blog. I love this little chart soooo much it will most likely be stitched many times. I just grabbed a green and brown HDF from my stash and luckily I found this piece of 32ct natural Belfast linen already cut to the perfect size as I will make this little cutie into a pincushion.

I don't have much started on this one as it was very windy the night I was at the baseball game and trying to hold the chart in my lap and finding the right place to start was a bit challenging.

Next start was just last night. I have been DYING to start BBD Tulip House Stitching Companion from their new book A Stitcher's Journey! If you don't have this book by BBD, it is a worthy investment! SO MANY WONDERFUL PROJECTS included in this book and well worth the money spent on it. I didn't like the peach/orange looking colors that were called for the flower in this design so of course......I changed it! This is being stitched on 30ct Legacy Linen that was cream but I coffee dyed it to make it look a little more aged. As I said, I changed the flower to more of a pink color like is in the photo in the book. Plus you all know what a huge pink color fan I am.

And last.....I leave you with my WIP on The Scarlet Letter's Jane Rees. It is being stitched on 38ct White Gander linen and this project is HUGE!!! It will be THE LARGEST project I have ever done second only to my huge Resurrection project. But I am loving stitching on her. I am using a HDF single strand regular silk in Perfect Red 6215.

I believe that is all for now. We are going to have a family day this afternoon and go see that movie Rango. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Stitching!!!

Stitchy mail day!!!!

2011-04-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Ooooohhhh I just LOVE to get stitching supplies through the mail as much as I love going shopping for them at needlework stores. Today I got some very pretty Hand Dyed Fibers in premium. These will hopefully work for an upcoming project in mind.

Now it makes me want to start it .....today.... but I will be patient and wait. Now I need to get back to xstitching. I hope you have a great weekend!!!

A Birthday and Blog Candy.....

2011-04-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've seen this blog before and browse on it but saw on another blog that she was having a birthday and a Blog Candy giveaway. It is for The Primitive Hare blog which can be seen here at the The Primitive Hare blog:

http://theprimitivehare.blogspot.com/
Just read about it to see how to enter! You never know what you just might win! Plus she has a sale going on right now....don't forget about that!

Sewing Easter dresses.....

2011-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Yes....today would be that day. I really wanted to get started first thing this a.m. because I love to sew in the mornings before my sewing room gets hot on the second floor of my house.

Unfortunately I'm getting started a little late because I had to go run an errand this morning that took longer than planned. So here is what I had started to do last week.....take progress pics of my cutting process. Yes both dresses are all cut out. Today was to be only the sewing day which I could have one completed by dinner time tonight (if only I'd get off this computer). haha

Here was my preparation pic I took when getting ready to cut out the dresses. I forgot to take pictures WHILE I was cutting them out. I got so excited about just getting them all pinned down that I just went ahead and cut them w/o remembering to take pictures. I always make matching mom/daughter dresses and on occasion I have made ties for my husband and son. Although this a.m. Daniel tells me under his breath that he hates to wear a tie. LOL I think it's funny because I actually do have the say so in that matter but we'll see if I have any fabric left. I did not plan to make matching ties so we'll see.

I know I have some of that light green fabric left but I had bought extra because Grace wanted to make a dress herself and start learning to sew. We have the pattern for that also. It's just the T-I-M-E factor for her between school, band practice after school, and she also volunteers to tutor other students in math after school. So she's really busy right now too. I will keep you posted on how and when she does get started. That will be SO MUCH FUN teaching her how to sew!!! Yes....I do have patience in that area.

Now.....I'm off to work and maybe I'll take some sewing WIP pics to show. Have a great day!

A lunch date, shopping, and other wonderful things.....

2011-04-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

I went to Michael's first thing this morning to buy more of the Sugar & Cream yarn to make some more of those cotton washcloths and dishcloths. Now I want to try making a dishtowel and see how that comes out. You can see the pretty colors I got today! I couldn't decide on just one or two different colors this time so I thought I might get a variety....especially when they were only $1 a skein of yarn!

Daniel only went to school for a half day so I like to do fun things with them when they get out early on those days. I picked Daniel up from school and headed out to lunch at Burger King. Now mind you, we had already written down different food places to go to this morning before going to school and we drew out Burger King. You can see here Daniel was ready to eat when we got there.

After lunch, we went to Walmart to buy a hummingbird feeder and food because we've been having a hummingbird hang out at the front door a lot lately.

Now we know why she's been hanging out by the front porch area. She has built a nest in the hanging front porch light.

And here she is.....it was the best I could do to get this close. I LOVE my digital camera zoom!

So after our fun project with the hummingbird feeder, Daniel and I played Sorry Sliders! I won 1 out of 7 games.

Now here is Daniel BEATING mom .....again and again!

I finally said...ENOUGH! You win! I want to open my mail. So here is a picture of my new stitchy stash that came in the mail today! Down Sunshine Lane was having a 20% off sale on any chart or kit that did not have NEW on it so I got me a few things to add to my stash!

Granted the My Big Toe He Holds Tomorrow chart will be stitched up for Ted's office. He keeps saying he has all this empty space on his walls and needs me to xstitch new things to display there. I guess I could have picked something from my own stash without buying more but WHAT FUN WOULD THAT BE? Not to mention most of the charts and kits in my stash wouldn't really go in his office. Ok....at least that's what I keep telling myself ... and HIM!

Now time.....if ONLY we xstitchers would be able to buy that TIME IN A BOTTLE we might get all those charts and kits stitched up.

Speaking of xstitching, I'm off to make a quick dinner so I can spend the rest of the night xstitching!

A finish, a WIP, and some floss tosses.....

2011-03-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

I had the bright idea after hearing and reading about crocheted washcloths and dishcloths to make one. I can crochet, learned to knit SIMPLE...key word being simple...things while living in Germany but here I am going to show you my new mauve crocheted washcloth. I researched the web and found this simple washcloth pattern that can be used to make dishcloths. I mean....how hard can it be to do a single crochet and then edge it with a contrasting color. Here is my first one I've done but it won't be my last as it is soooo easy to make and wonderful to do while talking on the phone.

This was sooo much fun I think I will make some more but use them for dishcloths. Who knows.....I might make it even wider and make a dish towel to match!

The next picture is one of some HDF Cotton Candy premium mini spools I had purchased. I love pink so you can see why I bought these! No....I don't know what I will use them for but I'm sure I will find something to stitch them in.

Next is a FLOSS TOSS for my LK One Hundred Years chart. I will be using a 32ct Country French linen (can't remember the color) and HDF draped across the fabric. I won't be starting this now but hopefully soon.....when I'm needing a "new start fix"!

After going to the Lenten Luncheon at the chapel on base yesterday, I was inspired to come home and dig out a WIP that I had started back in Germany for my husbands office. This is MBT FAITH being stitched in HDF Gilded Cage on a 30ct Americana Red Tissage Gander fabric. He picked the colors out of my stash so now.....I just need to get it finished so he can have another xstitched piece on his wall at work. Sorry about the wrinkled fabric. I was in a hurry this a.m. to get the pics taken while I had good light outside.

And last but not least is my iStitch Sew le coeur de Paris to be stitched on Sassy's Fabrics 32ct Mocha Java belfast in the colors suggested on the chart with one exception that I want a red heart instead of pink but this won't be the last one I stitch. I might give this one away. Who knows?

That's it for today. I REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN in my sewing room cutting out those dresses which is where I will go now.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for reading my blog today!

Daniel's Hand Stitches....WARNING PIC included....

2011-03-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ok......this is for that best friend of mine who is a nurse and wanted to see Daniel's hand stitches when he was stabbed with that brown colored pencil. Warning....if you are squeemish.....just IGNORE THIS POST and I'll post some fun stitching things in the next one. My poor baby!!!

But all I've heard from other people is "That's a boy for you." Wellllllll......it's still horrible what that kid did and the school nurse went around to talk with ALL the 5grade kids to explain WHY they don't do things like this. Granted the child did say he was sorry to Daniel and Daniel forgave him but it doesn't change the fact that this had happened.

Now after examining his hand even more, I see that we are going to have to really start putting the lotion on his hand because it was looking so dry this morning. Another reason is that we live in AZ and it's dry and HOT here which it not good for the skin.

That's enough about this subject so let's get on to other fun things to post about.

Stitching goodies arrived!!!

2011-03-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

Oh what FUN it is to get a package in the mail. Am I the only one who really does stalk the mailbox??? No...not really if you are a xstitcher of any sort because we know that sometimes we have to order our supplies through the mail for our hobby.

On Monday, I received this wonderful little Floss Tag in the mail from a message board that I belong to. We were to xstitch a freebie chart and mail it to our partner. Shirl stitched me this wonderful Floss Tag over one thread. She also included a personal packet of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans with the floss tag and an adorable Frog Scissor Fob that I just now realized I had forgotten to take with the picture. I'll have to show that later on. I'm sorry Shirl for forgetting to show the fob and jelly beans with the floss tag.

Today was another exciting mail day!! From the same message board, I received my Easter Basket Exchange from Rae!!! She filled it with lots of stitching goodies and of course.....some chocolate!!! In my basket I got a package of floss bags (one can never have too many), some fabric, mother of pearl heart floss rings, a pink bead caddy (pink is my favorite color), a pair of ladybug scissors, a pink stitchers caddy to hold your counting pins, scisssors, and other goodies; a Whitman tin with a retractable pink tape measure, an egg sticky notepad, some xstitch charts and 2 skeins of threads. All this was in a PINK container that served it's purpose of being my "Easter Basket"! Which will be used later on for storage in my sewing room. Hopefully you can see these things in the picture.

I now have to start a NEW PROJECT to be able to use my new Mother of Pearl heart thread rings!!! Aren't they just the cutest thing? You can see them on the left hand side of the picture?? I have the perfect chart in mind. A With My Needle needlebook.

I feel soooo SPOILED!!! I love all my gifts I get in the mail. Now.....off to find that needlebook chart and see if I can get started on it.

Tomorrow I will be in my sewing room all day cutting out matching Easter dresses for my daughter and me! I've had the fabric and pattern for a while now but just motivated enough to get busy on them. Now I am and I want them done by at least this time next week. I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing on them.

Have a great day today!

A class at Attic Needlework

2011-03-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Guess what??? I was able to go last Saturday to Attic Needlework to take a silk gauze class. Yes, I knew how to stitch on silk gauze but I self taught myself. I just wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly. And I WAS!!!

I had sewn the silk gauze to a piece of muslin and then cut out the center for the design......LONG TIME AGO! But this time at the class at Attic Needlework, I bought a new chart, silk gauze mounted to mat board and three Belle Soie silks for Erica Michaels Random Threads chart. I also bought a Stitch Fixer because it was an wonderful tool to help remove threads! I soooooo much prefer stitcing on gauze when it is mounted to mat board so those 2 UFO silk gauze projects in my UFO bag will be now mounted to mat board in HOPES of them being finished.

I really enjoyed the class taught by Jean and she had a friend,Rhonda, who brought about 12-15 minature pieces that she had made. OH MY STARS!!! It was amazing. And wouldn't you know it.....I left my camera at home. Darn it! I am going to have to pack it in my purse when I know I'm going there and not thinking...."Oh I'll put it in my purse in the a.m." Well yes...I forgot it ...again.

But I loved the class and had a great time just browsing the shop afterwards. I bought the class supplies and that was it! I came on home and had great intentions of continuing on stitching but ended up taking a nap because I was really tired. I will try to show you pics of what I have done in the next couple of days from the class.

Until then.....KEEP STITCHING!

Monday? Again?

2011-03-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

WOW! Where has the time gone? This time last week we had to take my son to outpatient daysurgery because he had been stabbed in his left hand on March 10 with a brown colored pencil by another boy in this classroom that he had asked to STOP kicking his chair. Now this is while his dad is gone TDY (temporary duty) to SC. Do these things always happen while dads are gone and we moms have to take care of these things??? OF COURSE!!! It always does!

The other boy kicked the colored pencil which ended up stabbing into Daniel's hand. Daniel went to the nurse but she was not there so he went to the front office and all they had him do is wash his hand several times and put a bandaid on it and sent him back to class. NO PHONE CALL by the front office nor his teacher and I was NOT A HAPPY MAMA when I picked him up that day.

Needless to say, the front office said they didn't think the lead was in there. I tried to get it out as I thought it was but then again....I'm no doctor ..... just a very concerned mom. I wanted to take him to the ER but some people didn't think it was necessary. If this ever happens again, I'm listening to my "mom instict" and forget what other people think. By the following Wednesday, March 16, I took him to his pedatrician and she referred us to a hand surgeon because Xrays showed the lead to be deep in the palm of his hand. So we went on Thursday March 17 to the hand surgeon who scheduled day surgery to be done on it on March 21. So we went to have his colored pencil lead taken out on Mar 21 but they also removed a very loose tooth as anathesiologist didn't want it to go down his throat or into his lungs. Thankfully, Daniel came through the surgery with flying colors, woke up easily, had some pain of course and we filled his medicine which was Tylenol with Codeine. Do you know that that didn't even make him sleepy!!?? We were shocked. But he did have 5 stitches in the palm of his hand and we went back this past Thurs to see the hand surgeon again. The dr said it looked very good but to come back in 2 weeks and he would take the stitches out.

So poor Daniel's baseball practice and games have been put on hold for now so hopefully he can get back into the groove here soon. I would show you pictures of his stitches but it might gross some people out and others, like my best friend who is a nurse, LOVES those gross things. We'll see if he is willing to let me take a pic to show you.

I got some stitching done during that week of spring break when the kids were off but I also did a lot of resting too! That was nice. Now that the kids have gone back to school last week, I tried to get back into my regular routine but with a hand surgery on Monday I still kept him home on Tuesday to make sure he was going to do ok. Yes....very overprotective mom I am. Now I'm just trying to get back into the stitching routine so I can have some things to show.

I have more to write....in another post.

Picture Time.....

2011-03-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

I know you all have been waiting and waiting and I keep saying I'm going to post pics but life gets in the way sometimes. Sooooooo....here they are.

Our house because some of you keep asking for pics of it.

Now to share some pics of a gift from a friend to my daughter. Carol, of iStitch, http://istitchaholic.blogspot.com/, made this wonderful fob for Grace's scissors and made it in Grace's favorite color! As you can see, Grace was THRILLED with the fob! Poor thing had naked scissors for the longest time and we can't have naked scissors! haha

Here is an iStitch chart WIP that I'm working on when going to different appointments and having to wait. This is iStitch Sew French Blue chart being stitched in Hand Dyed Fibers Ocean Breeze which you can see in the following picture.

Now some new finishs and WIP. Here are 2 SB finishes from the Nashville Market that I just HAD to do immediately. In fact, the SB Keep Love was finished the night I got the little kit. I know it is in the black round box but I've ordered another white round box as I like it framed in it better. This black round box will go with the SB Take Joy WIP that you see in the first picture but I hope to finish it up today.

That is all for now. Today is the last day of my kids Spring Break so we will definitely be making the best of today. Then there is an airshow at Luke AFB here this weekend but we will only be going on Sunday for the show. It is open to the public so it will definitely be crowded but a lot of fun!

Thank you for taking the time to read and look at the fun things I've been able to do.

PAJAMA DAY!!!

2011-03-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Yep.....just like the title....Today has been pajama day. I was trying to be creative in what to do this week during our spring break. So I came up with PAJAMA DAY! No.....I won't share pics of all of us. It has been a very lazy day here none the less and I think everyone should take at LEAST one day off to just lay around and do nothing.

I have been stitching on a very special piece. I think I've mentioned it before on here but I definitely can't show you pics of it yet because I never know when that person may have a look on my blog and the surprise would be spoiled!

Tomorrow....I'm GOING to make myself post some pictures. I know I know. I've said that before but that is on my agenda of TO DO tomorrow. Do you do that? Make a TO DO list? I do most days so I will know what I need to get done.

I did finish the xstitching on SB Snow Fall needleroll but I still need to pull the threads for the ribbon row and the hemstitching roll. I need to do those 2 items on 3 other SB needlerolls so maybe I'll just have a SB finishing day! That would be great then I'd have 4 new needlerolls to display in my house!

Now.....back to my regular stitching time this evening....