Hello ...

I've been such a bad blogger lately ... bad at blogging and bad at blog reading ... and I've missed you all! I love the connection that blogging give to all of us and find myself thinking of you and wondering what you are up to ... I'll be catching up with you soon.

I have been stitching and will share pictures later ... right now I have a lovely exchange I'd like to share. I'm participating in this years exchange on Friends Stitching Through The Seasons exchange blog. The stitcher sending to me this year is Michelle from AZ (no blog unfortunately). This pretty box arrived on my doorstep this week ... I was sooo excited to open it ...
Don't you love opening a box and seeing this ...
when everything was unwrapped ... here's what I received ... such fun stuff!
but the best is the scissor pocket she stitched for me ... her stitching is just lovely. This was stitched over one! And look at my new friend, just love this bunny!
here's the back of the scissor pocket ... those scissors are tiny! I love being spoiled :)
The stitcher I'm sending to this year is Darlene, no blog either :( I really enjoyed stitching this design and had Karen from Finely Finished do the finishing for me. She choose to finish it into a scissor pocket too :)

and here's the back ... love the polka dots!
here's the rest of the things I send to Darlene ... I'm looking forward to spoiling Darlene all year long ...
Thanks for stopping by ... hope March is treating you all with wonderful Spring weather.

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

I'm grateful for my Spring time ...

Goodies from Friends ...

Before Christmas I received some wonderful exchanges and Christmas presents from stitching friends ... grab a cup of coffee, tea or your favoriate Christmasy drink and enjoy the pictures ...

Lenna and I were partners in the Fair and Square Christmas round. Lenna stitched T

he Huddle by Ink Circles for me. She also included a great pillow, with reindeer all over it :) Can't wait to finish this one and hang it on my tree next year ...

Amy of Cross Stitch Pals hosted a Secret Santa exchange. Ellen (no blog) had my name. She spoiled me with all kinds of goodies ... like a yummy smelling candle, reindeer pez and reindeer lollipop, a memo pad and older design by Waxing Moon Designs that I have wanted forever. She included some lovely 35 ct Aztec Red fabric and a skein of WDW's Whitewash. The design is going into my pile of 2011 stitching. Thanks Ellen for a fun secret santa exchange :)
I received a fun box of goodies from Diane ... I got some socks and some Christmas earrings/necklace, cute Christmas fabric, a Just Nan needle holder, some yummy lotion, some Christmas buttons and a very cute Christmas ornament.
Here's a closed up of the ornament ... how adorable is that tree :) Thanks Santa Juan *smile*

Staci was sweet and sent me one of her felted hearts, along with some yummy tea and Christmas candies. Thank you Staci for thinking of me this Christmas season ... I think this heart will hang in my stitching room all year long ...

Christmas Eve day brought a box from Karen. Karen has been stitching for me all year long through Friends Stitching Through the Seasons blog. I always look forward to seeing what she's stitched ...

inside all that white tissue paper ... a very fun M that Karen decorated with scrapbooking paper, ribbons, buttons and a flower. Love the red and brown combination! Also included was this adorable pillow. The design she stitched is called Merry Christmas by Carriage House Sampling. I just love love love it!

Here's a close up of the M ... this will look cute in my stitching room ...

and a close up of the pillow ... cute isn't it *smile*

Karen also included one of her homemade cards asking the question Naughty or Nice? Well she decided I'd been Nice this year and gifted me with a gift certificate to Down Sunshine Lane. How cool is that! This was the last exchange for the year. I was very lucky to have Karen as my exchange partner and I hope she and I can exchange again in 2011.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! We did and I'll share some family pictures later in the week. I also have stitching to share with you that were gifts, but I was so excited to get my exchanges/presents in the mail before Christmas that I forgot to take pictures! So I have to wait until the recipients take some pictures for me.

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

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