Weekend fun and great mail ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (for those who celebrate). We lucked out and had a very sunny day on Saturday ... of course most of my day was spent cooking and putting together our Easter baskets, but hey, going to the store in the morning and not having to wear a jacket was almost heaven! lol

We headed to my dad's about 4 ... my brother and his family joined us for dinner and and Easter egg hunt ... yep we still do egg hunts for the kids, plastic eggs stuffed with candy and coins ... the youngest child is my niece Jessica, who will be 16 in November ... the oldest is my son Chris who will be 29 in May ... are you ever too old for a good old fashion Easter egg hunt?

Get ready, Get set ... GO!

Would they really put an egg in there???

hmmmm, should be one here ...
I just love my niece's smile in this picture ... wonder what her mom was saying *smile*

And here's a picture of all the kids ... minus my nephew Nick, he had to work ... aren't they cute!
Here's a picture of our Easter baskets this year. The makings for mimosas was a hit ...
I received my Easter/Spring exchange from Fiona on Saturday. Fiona stitched and finished a very cute Easter egg. I just love it. The bunnies, the flowers, the little pouch that I could put scissors in and look at the sweet pins stuck in ... just adorable! She also made me the cutest ort bag ... yep that's a frog holding the ort bag ... it is too cute and will be well used and hopefully it will keep the frogs away! She also included a coffee pattern and coffee themed fabric. I've never seen this coffee design before and I'm itching to start it ... think I'll stitch it in red :) Thank you Fiona for doing this personal exchange with me. I had a blast! and I love everything.

Here's a close up picture of the egg .. love the ruched ribbon!

Doesn't it look great in my Easter/Spring basket? It will be hard to put all these lovelies away until next year ... not that I'm in any hurry ... I think the basket will stay around until Summer time.

I gave into the enabling of Faye and Karen and a few other bloggers and ordered some finishing stash and some floss from Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shop. I'm really looking forward to some finishing with red buttons and this yummy chenille trim ...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and saying hi ... love your comments! Hope you all have a lovely week.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for quiet Monday evenings ...

Easter Egg Dyeing ...

Saturday night the kids and I decorated Easter eggs. I had found a silk tie dyeing process Monica and I wanted to try. Here's the link if you are interested in trying it ... http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/silk-dyed-eggs-aka-tie-dyed. The eggs are aren't edible so we did a few hard boiled then we blew out about a dozen so we could keep them "forever". Below are come pictures of our process ... we had a blast and the eggs turned out so interesting looking. We are definitely going to be making more next year.

First step ... take apart the silk tie. We went to Goodwill for the ties. then you wrap them ...
our little bundles of color ...
then you cover them with old white pillow cases cut up and tie them again ...
into the pot with water and a little vinegar and boil for 20 miutes ...
let cool, untie them and here's what you get ...

Here's the empty eggs getting ready to be dyed ...

Robert wanted to dye eggs in the traditional way ...

I love the colorful bowl of eggs!

I'm so glad that my kids all in their 20's still enjoy "kid" stuff.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for dyeing eggs ...

Busy Bunny ...

I've just been having the best time stitching and finishing for Easter this year. Every year we put together Easter baskets for friends and family and deliver them Saturday night so when they get their paper in the morning, there's a sunny surprise on their doorsteps. This year I'm hoping that every basket has something stitched in them too. And of course there's a few new ones for me too :)

I stitched this design a few years ago. Never got around to finishing it ... I never could find the right fabric for it. Well this year I really just wanted to get it done so I could enjoy it in my Spring/Easter basket. I love the rick rack I found ... the fabric isn't horrible and now I can enjoy it!

Egghunt by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on a misc. piece of fabric with the
recommended threads

I stitched this sweet freebie from Carol of iStitch for my dear friend Elaine. I've know Elaine since I was in high school. We lost track of each other over that last 10 years, but that's to Facebook, she found me and I'm sooo glad she did! She lives about 60 miles south of me. I've been going to visit her about every couple of months and it's like we've never been apart. And one of the best things is that she's a stitcher too! She also knits and scrapbooks. We have lots of fun crafting together. I'll have to get her to start a blog someday *smile* I loved stitching this design and have it kitted up to do again for me.

Easter freebie by iStitch

Stitched on a scrap of white linen with

CC Candied Yams

When I saw this design I knew I had to stitch it, at least once! ... thought it would be great in the baskets ... since we are the Easter Bunny's helpers lol I've only got one stitched so far but it a really quick stitch so one or two more should be no problem ... nothing like leaving it to the last minute!

Here bunny bunny by Angel Stitching

Stitched on coffee-dyed 28 ct. linen

with Belle Soie Chocolate, Fern Frond and Carrot Cake

Lastly, I stitched two more Easter freebie by primitivebettys. I stitched this for Beth in our personal Spring/Easter exchange and just loved it when it was done ... so I stitched another one for me and one for one of our Easter baskets ...

Yep, I having way too much fun stitching for Easter! Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments ... love love love them!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for bunnies and chicks ...

My Exchange arrived ...

My last two personal exchanges arrived at their new homes. First up is the exchange I sent to Nataly. I stitched a little pincushion for her from Raise the Roof's Pins and Needles leaflet. She loves birds and the color blue so I though this was perfect for her ... and she loved it *smile* I made pins for the pincushion and included a scissor fob that I made too .... along with a few other goodies. Nataly has better pictures on her blog ... go over and visit :)

My last exchanged head to Fiona in Scotland. It didn't as long as I thought to find it's way to Fiona. For Fiona I stitched the other pincushion from Raise the Roof's Pins and Needle leaflet.. I'm really glad she likes pink! I also made her some pins and a scissor fob too.Here's close ups of the pincushions ... the fabric they are laying on are the fabrics I used to back them with. I stuffed them with crushed walnuts to keep their needles nice and sharp.

I really enjoyed spoiling all three of my exchange partners and enjoyed being spoiled by each of them too.

Thanks for all your fun comments from my last post. My fuzzy chicks were a hit! lol ... I've had them for about 5 years and have always enjoyed seeing them again every Easter time ... but now with Chicks Rule all finished up, those chicks are more fun!

I've been doing more Easter stitching and hope to have a few finishes to share with you in the next couple of days.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for bunnies and chicks ...

Bunnies and Chicks

Easter stitching/finishing is in full swing here and I'm having a really fun time with it all ... I've stitched up 2 Chicks Rule. One for me and one for Lisa for her Easter basket. I've stitched this fun design 3 times now. Once last year when the chart was released (Lizzie*Kate design). That one I gave to my DIL Monica. I knew I wanted to stitch one for me and well, I was having so much fun I stitched it again! lol I used the same fabric on the back that I used on Peep. I wish I'd bought yards of this fabric ...

I had a big chuckle setting up to take this picture ... I forgot I had these three silly chicks ... now they go with my silly pillow ...

Chicks Rule by Lizzie*Kate

one stitched on a misc piece of 32 ct light yellow linen

and one on a light purple 32 ct linen

stitched with recommended WDW threads

Last month Carol (iStitch Designs) released Sew a Brown Bunny. What an adorable design! So cute that I had to pass it around for Easter stitching. I RAK'd Karen, Michelle and Staci with this sweet design and then I stitched it up for myself. The fabric it's laying on is what I used to back it ...

Sew a Brown Bunny by iStitch

Stitched on a misc piece of 28 ct fabric

with GAST Shutter Green and Belle Soie's Chocolat

One of my personal exchanges arrived over the weekend. I really enjoyed putting this exchange together for Beth. I stitched and finished this Easter freebie by primitivebettys. I really loved how this pillow turned out ... I was tickled when I found a little purple Easter egg in my stash ... I thought it was a fun addition to the pillow. I sent along some fabric, a little Easter towel, some threads, a scissor fob made by me :) and of course some chocolate. I'm so glad you loved everything Beth ...

Easter Freebie by primitivebettys

Stitched on coffee dyed 28ct fabric

with WDW Purple Majesty, Lilac and Belle Soie's Chocolat

I'll leave you with a picture of my kitchen table and my basket of Spring pillows all stitched by stitching friends ... I just love my stitching friends!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for bunnies and chicks ...

Finishing and Exchanges ...

I've spent last week and the weekend doing some finishing and I'm pretty pleased with how everything came out. Three of my finishes I can't show you until the arrived at their new homes. But here are a few finishes I did for me ... first is Peep ... this silly design makes me smile every time I look at it. The fabric he's laying on is the backing fabric. I found it at Joann's and thought it was perfect!

I don't know if you can see very well, but I used this sweet daisy ribbon for the trim around Peep ... I just love the whimsy of this piece ...

Next up for finishing was my March ornament ...

Windows of Faith, Hope and Peace by Primrose Needleworks

Stitched on 32 ct. Amber linen

with GAST Cranberry and Roasted Marshmellow

I was more happy with stitching this design than I was with how the finishing turned out ... I think I'm burning out on finishing like this. Next month I need to try and new finishing technique. I am excited though that I have 6 ornaments all ready for my tree this coming Christmas, and a few presents too :)

In keeping with an idea I stole from Staci , I finished another ornament that was sitting around in my drawer. These sweet squares were stitched for me by Jill through the Fair and Square Exchange Blog. I was excited to get them finished ... can't believe they've been waiting to be finished for almost 2 years!

had to show you a picture of the back square ... I love how Jill personalized it :)

In February I asked if anyone wanted to do a private Spring/Easter exchange with me. Three of my blogging friends spoke up that yes they'd like to do an exchange. My three exchanges went in the mail on Monday. This week I've received two of the three exchanges! Color me surprised they arrived that quickly! My third one is coming from Scotland, so there will be a bit of a delay in showing you that one.

I was so excited when Beth emailed to say she'd like to do the exchange with me. I've know Beth for over 5 years. I met her at a PALS Fall Fling in Myrtle Beach and we've been great friends every since. Beth is a doll and has the biggest kindest heart you will ever meet. This was also Beth's first exchange! I don't know why she's waited so long but I'm pleased as punch to have been her first cause look at the goodies she sent me ...

The stuff bunny is adorable, the blue bunny's are stuffed with chocolate and the pink large egg has sunflower buttons and Beth's new favorite took, a needle threader. Everything is sitting on a wonderful piece of PTP fabric called Monster Mash. The best thing of all was packaged in the purple egg ... here's a close up of the pillow Beth stitched and finished for me ... The design is by Lizzie Kate. I love how she finished the pillow ... look at the sweet bunny buttons along the bottom ... way cute! Thanks for everything Beth ... I just love doing this exchange with you!

The next exchange to arrive was from Nataly. Nataly emailed me and said she'd like to participate in an exchange with me too ... I was thrilled to meet a new to me stitcher/blogger. Go check out her blog if you haven't visited before. I've really enjoyed getting to know Nataly through this exchange and hope we continue to stay in touch. Nataly delighted me with an Easter pail full of JellyBelly's, chocolate eggs, Springy colored socks and a sweet little note pad and a Spring pillow! The design is a freebie by The Stitcherhood. I just love the colors in the pillow and the fabric is perfect! See the trim around the pillow, it's a felt like trim that look like little eggs ... just adorable! Thank you Nataly for doing this exchange with me. I had lots of fun and it was so nice to meet you.

Looks like I'm all ready for some Spring decorating this weekend. Thanks for hanging in reading this post ... kinda long wasn't it :)

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for Spring Exchanges...