Pictures and a Winner ...

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was really good ... I spend Saturday with Lisa, Cheryl and Pat playing with beads. Cheryl taught us how to make earrings. Wrapping the wires was the hardest part, but after a few pairs of earrings I think I'm ready to try making some on my own. Today we watched a lot of tv and had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Chris and Monica came over for the day and we watched the Seahawks, they lost *sad pouty face* and then we watched the last Nascar race of the season ... Jimmie Johnson won the Championship, another *sad pouty face* ... but we had a great day together ... Chris and Monica are going to her parents house for Thanksgiving this year, so it was nice to fix a holiday meal and spend it with them. And since we are going out to dinner with my father in law this year, it'll be nice to have some turkey leftovers this week!

Last week I received 2 ornaments from 2 dear friends that are in a private exchange with me. The first is from Karen. She knows I love reindeer .. look at this adorable ornament! I love all the beads :) and the other goodies she sent were great ...

The next ornament is from Nicole. I've always loved this design from LHN and I love way it's finished too :) Nicole also sent along some goodies ... They both spoiled me really good!

Next up is the winner of my 3rd Blogiversary ... Kathy A ...

Kathy A. said...

Happy Blogaversary girl! It has been a real pleasure reading your blog these past few years. Keep it up!

Please toss my name in the hat.

A big Thank You to everyone who left comments for me ... it was really nice hearing from all of you :)

I'm really looking forward to short work week this week .. but can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving!

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

I'm grateful for my stitching blogging friends ...

Happy Blogiversary to me ...

3 years of blogging! I never expected to be celebrating my 3rd year of blogging. I never thought I'd really want to keep this up and even though I don't blog everyday, I really enjoy blogging and the comments that you leave for me. I find that my week isn't complete until I've checked in on all your blogs to find out what you are stitching and sometimes little looks into your families and your adventures.

I'd like to offer up a little giveaway to celebrate my 3rd Blogiversary. There's some charts from Little House Needleworks, Lizzie*Kate, Trail Farm Creek and Blackbird Design and a scissor fob made by me and a couple of surprises too. All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post, along with your email address. I'll do the drawing in a week, on November 22rd. This drawing is open to everyone, you don't have to have a blog to enter.

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

I'm grateful for my stitching blogging friends ...

Happy November

The weather around here is really getting me in the holiday spirit. I love this time of year. We've had some incredible thunderstorms and lots of rain and wind ... perfect for lighting a few candle and curling up with a good book or some stitching and a good movie.

Keeping with the lovely fall feeling in the air, look at these sweet squares I received from Melissa P. (no blog) for the latest Fair and Square round. She stitched for me Harvest by Lizzie Kate. I just love them!

I've been doing a a lot of stitching but only a couple of things I can show you ... the rest are for exchanges and a few Christmas presents. The first is Thankful freebie by primitivebetty ... fun stitch ...

I liked the turkey so much I stitched him up all by himself ... I think he'll make an adorable pinkeep :)

Nina at Between Crosses is having a lovely giveway on her blog ... you have until November 30th to sign up ...

Now I need to go make some decisions ... see my 3rd Blogiversary is coming up on the 15th ... wonder what I'll come up with to celebrate my blogiversary ... stay tuned :)

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

I'm grateful for thunderstorms ...

Michele

Lots of Stuff to Share ...

I had a fun mail day on Friday ... don't you love mail days that don't bring bills *smile* The first package was from Scotland and a very big surprise. Last year I won Cheryl's blogiversary. Yes, last year ... but Cheryl was busy being pregnant and then delivering a sweet son, Caleb. I honestly had forgotten all about it, but Cheryl hadn't. Look at all the goodies she sent ... there are buttons and fabric and a wonderful Christmas recipe book and a sweet reindeer pattern. All of this would have been enough, but she also stitched for me a very lovely pin pillow. She knows I love red!

Here's a close up of the pin pillow ...

and the back ...

I just love it! Now I have to share a little story about the pin pillow that Cheryl shared in her card to me ... I got such a chuckle out of the story I have to share it ... hope you don't mind Cheryl :) She wrote that she had started stitching the design when she was in the hospital waiting for Caleb to be born. After the delivery she said she couldn't look at it let alone stitch on it because it reminded her of her awlful labor lol ... I'm so glad you did finish it Cheryl, because it's wonderful. I bet every one of us has a story like that about some stitched piece that may still not be finished.

I have an updated pictures of Autumn Song, an SAL with Natasha. It's coming along slowly. I'm only stitching on it once a week (Tuesday). Seems like I can't get more than one leaf done every Tuesday ... but love how it looks so far ...

I showed you these two pieces that I finished a couple of weeks ago ... well I sent them to Karen for finishing ... look at these lovelies ...

Here's my final piece for Halloween ... Trilogy's Halloween Tree ... not sure if I'll get it finished before Halloween, but it'll be ready for next year ...

and here's another finish from last week, this one's for Thanksgiving ... This is Bent Creek's Happy Thanksgiving Snapper. It's a fun quick stitch and pretty cute too ...

Now I need to concentrate on some Christmas stitching I'd like to do for presents and a few I'd like to do for me ... I never seem to have enough time to do all the stitching I want ... maybe someday when I can retire :)

Thank you all for you fun comments from my last post. I really enjoy reading them all :) I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

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

I'm grateful for leaves ...

Did you know ...

that I love reindeer?? This design is by The Sisterhood. I stitched it with Belle Soie's Chocolate ... mmmmm, chocolate reindeer! lol ... sorry about the wrinkles ... I need to find some really fun bellpull hardware for it now ... any suggestions? When I started stitching this last week, I got Dasher and Dancer done and was getting ready to stitch Prancer but but but the design had the reindeer out of order?! What do you mean out of order?? Well she had them listed as Dasher, Dancer, Donder, Blizen, Comet, Cupid, Prancer, Vixen ... hmmmmm was I wrong all these years with the order of their names? Does it really matter? Hell yea it mattered to the "reindeer woman" lol ... so after talking to Terry and Robert and googling up a storm, I couldn't find the order any different that I knew ... so I felt a bit better stitching them in the order I have always known ... sorry The Sisterhood.

Did you know ... that you can actually find cheap frames that work perfect for a design? I was thrilled when I went to Joann's a couple of weeks ago and found this ready made frame that works perfectly with Kindred Spirits ... I am sooo happy with the result ...

a close up ...


Did you know ... that I took a beading class with Lisa back in September ... my very first class and omgosh I am soooo hooked on beading! What fun! Lisa came over last Saturday and look what we made ... 3 lovely bracelets. The blue one I made and the other two Lisa made while I was busy making ...

these scissor fobs! I had so much fun making these and can't wait to make more ... it's funny, the hardest part of beading is coming up with what beads you want to do and the pattern of them ... the beading is the easy part ...

Did you know ... that my mantle is now complete with Kindred Spirits gracing my wall ... I do love the look ...

Did you know ... Jolene is having another wonderful drawing at her blog ... pop over and say hi ... and she has an adorable freebie for us on her blog too.

Did you know ... that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern moving on. Sign up on Sara's blog and see if the Sisterhood will be visiting you soon.

and last but not least Did you know ... how much I enjoy all your comments. Thank you so much for visiting :)

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

I'm grateful for being home ...

Ahhhh Monday ...

Fall is definately in the air around here. Our days have been sunny but only about 65 and when the sun goes down, well you know it's not summer anymore ... I love this time of year. I really don't know why, but I always seem to have more energy in the Fall.

I had a really nice weekend. Met up with Lisa for a trip to our favoriate craft store (Ben Franklin) and then to dinner and visit. I've started a bit of beading lately ... took a class so I could learn how to attach the start of a bracelet or scissor fob and how to end one ... that really was the only thing I couldn't figure out ... damm but it's easy when you know how! lol ... anyway, I wanted/needed some beads so I could start playing ... this is one addictive hobby! I thought stitching was, but wow, all the beads and colors ... it's much like walking into a cross stitch shop and heading over to the threads ... I could get lost for hours! lol ... I haven't taken any pictures yet of the things I've made ... soon I promise.

Saturday I spent the day with my Dad ... I soooo don't do that enough! We had a great day working on pictures. He takes a lot of pictures at family events, downloads them this computer and there they sit ... so we spent much of the day downloading them on cd's ... trying to get us a little organized. We had homemade chicken rice soup that he had made the day before and some yummy french bread. Nice way to spend a Saturday. Sunday was the usual football and nascar, stitching and laundry lol

I finished a couple of small designs last week ... I really need to start stitching something other than Halloween designs! lol ... this is Wicked by primitivebettys ... it's one of her freebies and a very fun quick quick stitch ... I used some of mine (or Karen's) coffee dyed fabric and Belle Soie's Noir ...


here's a design by La-d-Da from the JCS Halloween issue ... stitched on some very funky 30ct green R&R, I just love it!


I've been playing with beads and finishing too ... here's my Black Cat from BBD's Trix or Treat book all finished into a Halloween pinkeep ...

and here's the back ... very fun finish :)

Oh and on Sunday I even got my house decorated for Halloween ... I like to enjoy my decorations all month long ... here's a picture of our mantel ...


Thanks everyone for all your wonderful comments about my cube finish. And even if you don't leave a comment, thanks for visiting my blog :)

Off to watch Monday night tv and I think I'll stitch on Peppermint Twist tonight ...

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

I'm grateful for sunny fall days...

Trick or Treat ...

I finished something ... all by myself. This is the first cube I've ever attempted ... and I'm really really pleased with the result ... I might have to make more cubes ...

and there's the back .. I love the hats and shoes!

I had another wonderful mail day. Karen did some more finishing for me and they arrived today ... Veronica stitched these for me last year in a fair and square exchange. I just love how Karen finished them ... so sweet :)

the back ...

I stitched this Flamingo earlier this year for some friends .. I just love how Karen finished this one! Love the bead pins around the sides ... I know my friends will love him :)

the back ...

the side ...

I've been a bad SAL partner ... I keep forgetting to post my progress. Natasha and are doing this SAL together ... I'm really enjoying this design ... yummy fall colors ...

I have posted my progress on Peppermint Twist in a while ... this is another design I really enjoy stitching ... the fabric and the silks are wonderful to stitch with ...

Last picture of the night is Merry Winter by Homespun Elegance ... I finished this over the weekend. I think I'm going to find a frame for this and turn it into a Christmas present for someone ... pretty cute isn't it *smile*

Hope everyone had a great weekend ... Monday started and ended good, although no stitching got done ... I'm hoping the rest of the week is just as good, but with some stitching lol

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

I'm grateful for quite evenings ...

Kindred Spirits

I finished Kindred Spirits by The Primitive Needle last night. I love love love this design ... although the border got really boring, but was perfect to stitch during all the sports we watched last weekend. I hope to get this framed before Halloween.

Sharon had a much better picture on her blog of the Halloween ornament she made for me ... I just love the green fabric!

Well dinner's almost done and there's great TV starting tonight, so off I go ... only big decision is what to stitch tonight ... maybe I'll work on Lizzie Kate's Christmas double flipit that came out a year or so ago ... I started it a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get very far. Of course I could work on Peppermint Twist or Earth Laughs or a Christmas ornament or a Halloween design or ... gotta love decisions! lol

Hope you all have a great week! And thanks for the lovely comments :)

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

I'm grateful for new tv ...

Fun Mail Week ...

Yep sometimes mail can be fun! Doesn't happen very often around here ... it's usually bills in the mail, but this week there was more fun than bills. The thank you emails have been sent so now I can show off what I received. The first to arrive a package from Donna. I won a drawing on her blog a couple of weeks ago. Don't you just love this paper!

everything was so nicely tucked away in the box ... I almost didn't want to disturb any of it ... but of course I HAD to see everything ...

Donna was so generous with her giveaway. There's ribbon and fabric and a cute Halloween pencil, a really cute orange pedicure kit, a Stacy Nash pattern that I can't wait to start, and a really fun looking Halloween kit with felt and fabric applicas ... and tucked at the very bottom is a copy of the new JCS Halloween issue ... Donna, thank you so much for everything :)

Another happy mail day brought a little package from Sharon. She had my name for the Lizzie*Kate Exchange Round 2. Look what Sharon stitched and finished for me ... an adorable Halloween cat ornament ... my camera washed out the fabric, it's really a pretty green. Maybe Sharon got a better picture of it before she mailed it ... I'll have to check out her blog, cause the green fabric really is wonderful. I can't wait to decorate for Halloween, he'll be a great addition. Thanks Sharon, I just love him and your finishing is wonderful!

In between packages I received some needed Belle Soie's Noir so I can finish Kindered Spirits. All in all ... it definately was a great mail week!

Tuesday was SAL day with Natasha ... I got a little more done on the bird, he has a tail now and the starting of an autumn leaf hanging off his tail feathers. I didn't get as much done as I wanted ... hopefully I get more time next Tuesday ...

I'm really glad tomorrow's Friday ... I have a busy weekend but hopefully a productive one too ... those two don't always go together do they!

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

I'm grateful for fun mail days ...