Happy Birthday to ME! :)

Friday was my birthday, and I got a fantastic box in the mail from Jen for our Friends in Threads Birthday Exchange!


The first thing I noticed is that the box weighed a TON! She had sent me a cake mix, icing (2 tubs!) and candles for a birthday cake! How cute is that? LOL

And she sent me some great stash from my wish list - Stash Nash Primitives Schoolgirl Sampler Pinkeep Drum, Chessie & Me Miss Chessie's Tuffet and Olde Colonial Designs Mimi's Pin Cube Kit as well as six skeins of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads.

She also sent a wonderful Ackworth Coaster from Kelmscott Designs (which is perfect for by my stitching chair!) and a pair of "Stitching Girl" socks, which are TOO CUTE!!!

And for my stitched gift, Jen stitched me the wonderful Prairie Schooler design K is for Kitty and made it into a beautiful pillow! I love it! Especially since I love the design and for some reason I hate stitching their charts!

Thanks again for all the wonderful goodies Jen!!



I've also got a couple of finished to show off :) On the 15th I finished Shepherd's Bush Dresser Drawer Hearts, just a tad late for Valentine's day, but it was fun actually stitching it "in season". This was one of the most fun pieces I've ever done! I loved every stitch of it!!



I also stitched Winter ABC, which was a really quick stitch - just one evening!

Now I just need to find frames for these (along with everything else!) - LOL









I have a major goal that I'm working on now, and I think I'll be able to reach it! On the 16th, I picked up Long Dog Samplers The Token again, which I had started in early 2007 (I had gotten just a bit farther than this picture when I put it down). I really, really want to finish it for our 20th Anniversary on April 16th! Think I can make it?

A Finish and A Winner!

I have another finish! Last Saturday, I finished Charmed Hearts by Shepherd's Bush. I started this one last year, in January if I remember correctly, and put it aside after Valentine's Day. I love all of SB's hearts!! I'd also love to get it framed like the model, but I looked up the price and it's just a titch out of my budget right now! LOL







Stamp Club was last Friday, and we made a couple of cute Valentine's Day projects - a card and a little pillow box filled with chocolate.










And last Saturday, I happily found myself at Shepherd's Bush! I bought their latest kit, Winter ABC. This will be my next new start. :)


And now, on to the drawing that I announced in my last post. Thanks for everyone's comments! I used Random.org to pick a winner from the 7 people who left a comment - and the winner is.... Debs!! Congratulations Debs - I'll be e-mailing you to find out what colors you'd like :)

Three Finishes in Three Days!!

I had a GREAT start to the new year!







On New Year's Day I finished my Papillon Creations 2008 Mystery Sampler How Does Your Garden Grow. I LOVED every stitch of it!! Now I just need to get it framed - and hopefully before the year is out! LOL








I've been going through my stash and trying to clean and organize things and one of the WIPs I came across was this one by Indigo Rose called Bee Charmer. It was about half finished, and I can't even remember when I started it. But I finished it on Friday, January 2nd! All I had to do on Saturday is make and attach the tassels.

I've decided for this year that I can't start anything new until I finish two WIPs (unless it's for a gift and I'm under a time crunch - LOL). So, since I finished these two pieces, I treated myself to a new start - and finish! That means only one more finish and I can start another new piece! LOL






On Saturday evening, I stitched Spring Greetings by Blackbird Designs - I didn't have two of the colors called for, so it's not exactly like the picture, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Now I just need to figure out how I want to finish it.




As part of my organizing, I FINALLY did something with all my self dyed thread. At the 2006 Shepherd's Bush Retreat, I dyed threads and fabric with my room mates, and then we did it again at our Friends in Thread get together in April 2007. They've been rolled up in paper towels ever since. The first batch is now wrapped on bobbins and the second batch is on these wonderful floss tags that Juli made!


Look at all that color!!

While I was untangling and wrapping, I decided that it would be fun to have a giveaway, so on January 15th, I'll draw a name from everyone who leaves a comment to this post and send that person an assortment of 5 of these hand-dyed flosses!

Good Luck!

Christmas Crafting!

I've been busy this month with crafting for Christmas - stamping, knitting, beading and even a little stitching!

Stamp Camp was at the beginning of the month - I LOVE Stamp Camp, we always make such cute things!

The first thing I made was this adorable snowman plate. First you stamp on mulberry paper, then you Modge Podge it to the back of a glass plate. So easy and so cute. I gave this to Dad and Lynn, but I might have to make another one for myself sometime!








Next I made two different boxes which are filled with candy - the triangle one was really clever!









And last, but certainly not least was a set of three cards. Aren't they cute?










Now, on to the knitting :)




I made Lynn this Light and Lovely Boucle Wrap from JoAnn.com in Black/Gray. It took just a LITTLE longer than the weekend the pattern said it would! LOL














I also made my girls special toys :)




I found the pattern for a cat nip mouse on Lion Brand's website, but I made a few changes. I used wool - and not very well washed handspun wool, so it smells nice and sheepy - LOL. And it took more than 20 rows to make it into a square, so I just kept going until it looked right - I think it was 32 rows. And I stuffed them with mostly fiber fill and only about 1/4 catnip - that's more than enough! ;)

And the girls loved them!



Here's Minnie just after she unwrapped her mousie.














And here's Odette hiding behind the love seat with hers.








Ellie had fun killing this poor little guy. She then proceeded to kill the rest of them over the next few days! LOL I've already had to sew back up the bottom of the gray one.











After a while, Akasha decided the catnip scented paper was just as much fun as the mouse - LOL








So, on the beading front, I made this bracelet, called Endless with matching earrings for Jodi. It's from the Design Collection II that was released this fall.







I also made Jodi this bookmark with the ribbon ends and sleigh charm, just adding crystals and ribbon from my stash.






For Leigh's birthday, I made her these pink shell and crystal earrings.





Sorry these pics didn't turn out that well - I was in a rush to get them in the mail - LOL.











And I don't think I ever showed what I made Jennifer for her birthday in November. This one is called Crab Bisque from the Sapphire Collection. I know how much Jen loves crabs and I knew I had to make this one for her as soon as I saw it!







I made a few other pairs of earrings as well, but I didn't get pics taken before they were given away.





Besides the ornaments I made for Dane which I showed in the last post, my only holiday stitching was Holiday House by Elizabeth Designs. And this one was a present for ME! LOL




I think that's about it for the last month or so! I'm looking forward to getting back to some serious stitching. I have a goal of getting my Papillion Creations Mystery Sampler finished before the new year - I only have part 12 left to go! Then I'll have to take a look at what my stitching goals will be for this year :)

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

Well, it's Christmas Eve day, and I'm ALMOST ready for tomorrow - LOL. The house is decorated, the presents are wrapped and I've started preping for tomorrow nights dinner. The only thing I really have left to do is finish up some kitty toys I'm making :)



I've got lots to share, but I'll start with the exchange package I sent to Dane. Her package included a scarf knit with Lion Brand Fun Fetti in Rainbow Black, some blue fat quarters, charms, buttons and a Bead Retreat bracelet I made called Blockbuster in Sky.









For her stitched gift, I made a set of ornament from three different issues of Just Cross Stitch magazine by Jeanette Douglas Designs. They were full of specialty stitches and were lots of fun to make. I was so lucky to find the perfect frames for them at Hobby Lobby!!






I've been busy with lots more Christmas Crafting, but since not all of it has been received yet, I'll save that for the next post.

I had fun with my decorating this year and got a good portion of my decorations up!







I started with my Department 56 Village, which I haven't had up since we moved in this house 4 1/2 years ago.









I also got out my Santa collection. I have two more in the kitchen, which I'll have to take a picture of later.











Here are some more decorations, some of which I made when we were first married almost 20 years ago. The picture hanging over the chest of drawers was drawn by DH and it's one of my favorite things!









Here is my stitching tree for this year!










And last, but certainly not least, my main tree :)


Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas is Coming!!

I figured I'd better get in a bit of a post before I had so much to talk about that it would feel overwhelming!

I'm almost finished Christmas decorating! I love Christmas decorations, and this year will be the first time in this house that I'm going to try to put most of my stuff out - and I have a LOT of stuff! LOL I have my village up and my stitching tree decorated. My main tree is almost finished, just need to add the poinsettias I always use to "tie" the tree together. I've got garland to hang and my Santa collection to put out and I think I'll be done.

I was joking with DH that I really need another tree - my main one is so full, I decided to not put the regular balls up. Maybe we'll get one in an after Christmas clearance sale and stick it in the kitchen :) I'd like to have a Santa tree - I have SO many Santa ornaments and I think that would be fun.

I wanted to post about the wonderful Christmas exchange package I got from Angela!!! She stitched me my very first Bourse!! It's Black Bird Designs Evergreen, but she changed the colors to match my favorite Christmas burgundy & dark green. She also sent some lovely burgundy cotton fabric that will be perfect for finishing and two charts off my wish list - Indigo Rose Beads, Buttons & Bows, and the one I was REALLY thrilled about, Just Nan's Holly Noel! That chart has been on my wish list since it came out in 2004 and I didn't even think it was still available any more. She also sent some German marzipan - I LOVE marzipan!!






Here's a closeup of the inside of the Bourse.











And the outside. Isn't it beautiful? The only problem is both sides are so pretty, I'm not sure how to display it - I'll probably alternate between the two - LOL.

Thanks again Angela for the beautiful Christmas package! I can't wait 'till all my presents are made and I can start on Holly Noel for myself!!!


My Christmas exchange package is winging it's way to it's recipient, and I hope she's just as happy with her package as I was was mine.

A Slightly Late "Happy Halloween"!!

Only two days late, so not TOO bad! LOL I've been down for almost a week with a bad case of food poisoning, or I would have gotten this posted sooner. The irony of the whole thing is that I recently started a new eating plan, and in the process switched from ground beef to ground turkey, and I think that's what ended up making me sick. I think I'll go back to beef!





Anyway, I never posted about the Halloween exchange I was in. I sent to Laura this year, which is great, because she LOVES Halloween!! I had a fun time finding stuff for her, including eyeball and finger candy - LOL








The piece I stitched her is from Autumn Minis by Waxing Moon Designs. I added leaves that I found in the Scrapbooking section to a plain black frame - quick and easy!!









And my Stamp Club made the cutest Halloween projects for October! The card is a pop-up card that folds down flat. You can find the directions for the technique here. And the bag was really fun - we stamped the image, colored it, and then sprayed it with water to make it run. I liked the projects so much, I made two sets - I knew I had to send them to Laura, but I wanted to keep them for myself too! LOL






And I got a fabulous package all the way from Germany from Gaby! I was just blown away by everything she made me!









She made this adorable pillow (I've GOT to try this finishing technique sometime!) . The chart is from German designer Gisela Suskind. It was originally charted as a monochrome design, and Gaby added the colors - I love it!






She also made this clever scissor holder - complete with a beautiful beaded scissor fob and these great Halloween colored scissors! This is a wonderful addition to my scissor/fob collection :)

Thanks again Gaby for the great Halloween package!!









And I finally got the light situation fixed on my holiday tree. It actually meant several hours of cutting off the original lights and replacing them with LED's, but I'm glad that I now have a fully lit tree, and these lights should last for years! So here is my 2008 Halloween Tree :)