Summer is almost over

Hi Everyone, hope you all have had a wonderful summer!  By the looks of Facebook, lots and lots of kids have gone back to school.  The kids around here don't go back until after Labor Day ... one last long weekend.  I remember back when my boys were getting ready to go back to school ... the shopping for clothes and supplies ... new backpacks and lunch boxes ... even after all these years I miss the first day of school ... not because they "needed" to go back, but the start of a new school year met new adventures for them ... good memories *smile*

I've missed everyone in blog land and I'm enjoying catching up with all of you.  Looks like your summer has been great and your stitching even better!

In July, I went to Tulsa, OK and spent 4 wonderful days at the Silver Needle retreat.  It was sooooo hot!!! but we had a great time ... my roomie was Chris ... we spent most of our time with Yvonne and Polly ... it was so nice to reconnect with Yvonne and to meet Polly.

We took finishing classes from Mona ... here is a picture of my homework ...

and here's pictures of my lovely finishes ... was fun learning new techniques *smile*

Just Another Button Company and Cross-Eyed Cricket were the real reason we went to the retreat ... we got to spend an entire day making buttons ... oh my gosh that was a lot of work!!!

Here's Polly making one of the flower canes ... she soooo proud of herself!

and here's Yvonne helping to put the cut canes into a flower shape ... the buttons really start our big!

Here's a picture of the canes ...

and here are our flower canes ready for baking and cutting ...

and finally here's a picture of the finished buttons ... the black button is a cricket the JABC designed in honor of Cross-Eyed Cricket ... we also got the pin on the far right .. we didn't make the buttons for the pin, but we did put the pin together ...

Cross-Eyed Cricket design a Halloween design for the retreat ...

This is what it will look like .... cute cute cute!

Chris, Yvonne, Polly and I decided to do a SAL after falling in love with this design in the new JCS Halloween magazine ... if you love Halloween and don't have this issue yet you really need need need to get it ... it's filled with lots of great designs!

Here's my progress so far ... I'm loving it!

 and since I'm in the Halloween frame of mind ... I finished LA D DA's Wicked Witch ... and yes I sang that stupid song in my head every time I was stitching it! lol

Monica and I are still doing Tuesday night craft night ... here's my Halloween wreath.  It was lots of fun to make ... I'm thinking I need to do one for Christmas too!

 We've had an incredible summer this year.  It's been 75-85 since May ... and very little rain.  This is the kind of summers I love, sunshine all the time, but not so hot that you can't do anything outside.  So yeah, I'm sad to see summer go ... but fall is one of my very favorite times of year so bring on the hot cider and the cooler evenings ... I'm ready for it *smile*

Thanks for checking in and letting me share a bit of my life with you.

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

I'm grateful for sun filled summer ...