Happy Friday ...

Remember this pile of stitching that needed to be finished but I couldn't show you two of the finishes because they were for exchanges? Well both exchanges arrived at their new homes last week ...
First up is my Seasonal Exchange for Michelle. The design is by Homespun Elegance. I used some ThreadworX variegated thread ... I thought it looked real Springy ...

My Lizzie*Kate exchange was for Kathy. I had so much fun stitching this design ... it was a quick stitch and I loved the colors.

I was in mood for Valentine stitching and Carol of iStitch had just the perfect freebie for my mood ... someday it will be a sweet little pinkeep. I'll back it with the fabric it's laying on ...
and Carol had another Valentine design that I just had to stitch ... not a freebie, but well worth the buying ... I just LOVE it! I'll be finishing this as a pillow using the fabric it's laying on ...
I'm so excited that after my last post I have Spring/Easter exchanges set up with three wonderful stitchers ... Fiona, Beth and Nataly. Thanks ladies!

Love all your comments ... keep them coming :)

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

I'm grateful for cold snowy days ...

Goodies ...

Faye and I did a personal exchange and both have been received. I stitched for Faye a Blackbird Design that was a teaching piece from the retreat I took last July at the Silver Needle. I finished it into a pincushion.

Here's a side view ... I really had fun stitching and finishing this for Faye ... so glad she likes it :)Faye has a Red basket so I wanted to stitch a little something for her basket ... this little pillow is over one and it is tiny ...
I think it turned out really sweet ...

Faye stitched this sweet bird for me. The design is a freebie from Gazette 94. I'm going to start my own Red basket ... this will be my first piece ... I just love him.

Christina was my partner for the Seasonal Exchange. She stitched for me Holly House by Elizabeth's Designs taken from the 2008 JCS Christmas Ornament issue. I just love this ornament ... stitched and finished so nice. Can't wait to have this hanging on my tree ...

I love the backing fabric she used ...

I just love exchanges! I think it's time to put together a couple of personal Spring exchanges. Would you like to exchange with me? Leave me a comment and if you would be interested in a Spring exchange or even Summer or Fall.

I've been stitching a bit of Valentine's Day. I can't remember where I found this freebie heart, but when I found it I knew I had to stitch it and love how it turned out. Don't know if I'll frame it or finish it into a pillow ...

Letter Heart

stitched on pink molted 32 ct fabric

using Belle Soie's Fresh Raspberries

I started this design early last week. The design is by iStitch ... called Sew Be My Valentine. It's stitch up really fast and I have the perfect black and red heart fabric for it.

It's a very blustery day here in Seattle. Dinner's in the crock pot and my chores are done for the day. I think it's time for some stitching and watching the first Nascar race of the season. Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

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

I'm grateful for Valentine's Day stitching ...

Spring has arrived ...

I received this sweet pillow from Bonnie. She was my partner Round A on the Lizzie*Kate Exchange Blog. Hello Spring is a L*K freebie. I just love this little pillow ... hope it makes Spring hurry up!

There's rick rack all around the pillow with little beads ... I'll have to try that finish sometime, I love the look ... Thanks Bonnie, I just love the pillow!

Another pretty arrived in my mailbox last week ... a PIF from Sonda. She stitch this lovely Joy tree for me. It's so pretty and over one too ... I love how it looks :) She also made me a red Joy scissor fob which will soon adorn one of my red scissors. Thanks Sonda, I love everything!

Friday was Monica's birthday. We took her to Susumu Japanese Steakhouse. It's one of our favorite local restaurants. Smiley group ...
Here's Rudy ... he cooked a wonderful meal for us ... and was pretty funny too! I love watching them cook ...

Everything looks sooo good ... and it was!

After dinner we came back to our house to play some games ... We ended up playing Monopoly Here and Now, it's the one with no money, but as had an electronic calculator thingy that keeps track for your money using a credit card ... it was so much fun! We played until 2am! lol .. but we really finished the game. It was down to Chris and I ... but I was victorious!

the game counts in thousands and millions ... sure wish it was real money!

Well time for the Super Bowl ... we'll be rooting for Green Bay ... don't like either team, but we like GB more than those other guys! lol

Thanks for all your lovely comments ... I really enjoy reading them all!

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

I'm grateful for my kids ...

A finishing weekend ...

I had 3 exchanges all due tomorrow so I spent my weekend doing laundry and finishing.

There what I started with ...
and here's what I ended up with ... I can't show you the front of two of the pinkeeps since they are for two of the exchanges, but here are the backs, plus one Christmas ornament for me . I was really please how everything came out. Oh and my other exchange I can't show you a picture of because the finishing would give it away. Be sure I'll be back to show you all the pieces when they arrive at their new homes.

I'm going to try and stitch at least one ornament a month this year. Here's my January ornament ... I had so much fun finishing this one!

I've been reading Staci's blog and she's stitching an ornament a month too, but she's also finishing an older ornament from her finish stitching pile ... I loved this idea so here's my 2nd ornament finished ... this was so much fun to finish. I had this great reindeer ribbon and I just love how it turned out ... I received these two stitched squares from Leena in a Fair and Square exchange ... here's the front ...

and here's the back ... fun fun fun

and here's an ornament I finished in December but forgot to show you pictures of this cute little guy ...

Heart in Hand - Monthly Markings December

stitched on an unknown piece of fabric

with the recommended floss

Sure hope my February ornament finishing goes as well as January did!

The last things I have to share with you are gifts I received last week. First is from Lynn (no blog) ... she made me a travelling ort collector/pin cushion. Last October at PALS Fall Fling in Myrtle Beach Lynn and her two buddies had these adorable ort collectors and I fell in love with them, the girls and the ort collectors! lol ... Lynn made a bunch for Christmas and remembered how much I loved them, so she made me one! I just love it and can't wait to use it at my next retreat :) She also sent along these really cute little scissors too. Thanks bunches Lynn!

Carolyn was having a birthday giveaway and I was the lucky winner! Look what arrived on Saturday ... two charts and a lovely pair of Gingher scissors ... they are the new Sonia scissors ... RED and I love them! Thanks so much Carolyn for the giveaway!

I had a great stitching January hope you did to! I'm really excited to see what February brings. I have a few wips that I would like to get done and of course there's lots of new stuff I want to start ... decisions decisions decisions.

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

I'm grateful for my kids ...

First Finish of 2011

There sure is a lot of stitching going on out there in blog land. I've had fun watching all the new projects being started and seeing some lovely old WIPS being pulled out brought back to life. I can't wait to see all the finishes over the next year.

I've been doing some stitching too ... between working on a few exchanges due in a couple of weeks, I finished Winter Row. I started this design on New Year's Day. I was a very quick stitch and I loved the fabric ... thanks to Mary Kathryn who changed the fabric and threads when she was stitching it ... love the changes!

Winter Row by Bent Creek

finished January 2011

Stitched on Blue Dynasty Cashel

Stitched with CC threads ... Bean Sprout, Caterpillar,

Cocoa Bean, Roasted Chestnut and Snowball

I've been looking at the cup cozies that Staci has been knitting and selling on her blog. I ordered some that I'll be using in our Easter baskets this year ... I just love how colorful they are and how functional ... of course I had to order myself a red one :) see the "m' tag on it? sooo cute!

Last week I celebrated my 57th birthday at the Outback with my family ... we all ate too much but had a great time. Terry and my son Robert gave me this awesome RED mug ...

I fell in love with it immediately ... and there was a Starbucks gift card inside it ... they do know me well! lol

Chris and Monica gave me a couple of Zac Brown Band CD's and these two Wizard of Oz books. I can't wait to start reading them. As much as I love The Wizard of Oz, I've never read any of the books ... well other than Wicked. Has anyone read these books?? I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have read them.

As you all know by now we love our Seattle Seahawks ... we went to my Dad's this morning for breakfast and watched the game against the Chicago Bears ... it was a tough game to watch. They really didn't have a great season we were all surprised when they made it to the playoffs ... well it was a fun ride while it lasted ... now on to next season!

off to work on my exchanges ... February 1st will be here before we know it ... I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for time with my first finish of the year ...

Sweet Friends ...

Happy Friday! Was this your first week back to work after the holiday? It was for me ... and it was a long one after being off work for 17 days, such did spoil me! This week I received two lovely surprises from a couple of online friends. First package is was from Jennifer. She stitched this lovely stocking for me. The design is from Blackbird Designs stockings, quaker fragments from the March leaflet. I just love it! She also included some pretty floss and a little memo pad for my purse with my initial on it. Thanks Jenn. Every year I hang it on my tree I'll think of you *smile*
The 2nd package that arrived a RAK was from Faye. She stitched for me a cute coffee cup design that is hanging in my kitchen. She also included some coffee ... can't wait to try it!
Oh and look at the back ... I love how she personalized it for me ... cute cute cute! Thanks Faye for the darling RAK!
I was remiss in posting about another Christmas present I received from Natasha. Back in October Tasha offer to let me borrow a PS leaflet (which I still need to stitch from and return!). Well she didn't just send me the leaflet, she also sent me a box full of Christmas goodies. I thought I had taken pictures of everything she sent, but unfortunately I forgot :( But I did take pictures of the very special Christmas ornament she sent ... she said when she saw the egg at a craft fair she immediately thought of me *smile* ... take a look at this egg ... the picture doesn't do it justice ... it's incredible!
and here's the other side of the egg ... sooo special! Tasha, having this hang on my tree this year made me smile every time I looked at it ... thanks so much!
Thanks for all your lovely comments about my Christmas and New Year ... yep, we do have fun!

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

I'm grateful for time with my family ...

Welcome 2011

We had the best time bring in the new year. I hope you and your families had a great time to. Today is a slow day for me and Terry ... yes we were up late this morning playing Xbox Kinect with Robert and his friends, hot tubbing (it was like 20 degrees outside, but a toasty 103 in the water) and playing Star Trek Scene It ... we all sucked, but it was fun! Here's a few pictures of our craziness ...

What's a party with desserts ... yummy chocolate cups, 2 filled with mocha mousse and two filled with chocolate mousse ... I loved how they were decorated!
Trying to take pictures of these 3 was certainly a challenge! They are worse than kids! lolFinally got one good one!

Getting ready for midnight ... have to have your hats and noise makers!

yep it was cold outside at midnight!

First pictures of 2011 ... love ya Lisa :)

Here's to a wonderful 2011!!!!

Well I'm off to do some stitching ... the Christmas decorations can wait until later to be put away. I'm going to start a new design today ... Bent Creek's Winter Row. Last year Mary Kathryn was stitching Winter Row and I loved her changes ... the fabric was lovely! So of course I ordered it all kitted up, but never started it ... so off to stitch a bit of winter.

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

I'm grateful for time with my family ...