Stash and starts ...

Hope everyone is having a great week! Mine has been fairly uneventful, which is nice for a change! lol .. we are surviving the kitchen mess and have confirmation dates for the installation of the countertops (4/22) and the refacing (4/23) .. I'm sooo excited, and a bit nervous about how it's all going to look. Chris and Monica (DS and DSIL) invited us over for dinner last night. Chris cooked Swedish meatballs with noodles and I brought a salad. It was very yummy .. he's actually a pretty good cook! lol .. and it was nice to visit with them.

I've been very very very bad in the stash buying department .. you'd think I actually had money to burn! lol .. but of course I couldn't resist a sale :) Down Sunshine Lane (Amy) had her 5 year anniversary last week .. here's a few things I got ...

I was thinking these houses would be cute stitched all together or would be fun to stitch for someone in the Fair and Square exchanges.


I'm becoming as addicted to Little House Needleworks' designs as a lot of you are! I love the fob :)


I was bored during lunch the other day and was surfing ebay. I found a lot of really fun pins for pinkeeps, yep I order a few .. especially when I saw these nifty tins .. and look, one tin has pearly finishes on the pins, but the other one has a matte finish .. I'm thinking they will give a real different look to a pinkeep.



Now for the starts ... being Spring, well at least that's what the calendar is telling us! omgosh we are supposed to get in the high 20's this weekend! lol .. anyway, I've been itching to start Earth Laughs by MDesign for a while now .. I just love the colors and the fabric for this one! Can't wait to start it this weekend :)


I'm going to start this one too this weekend, or tonight! lol .. This is from a retreat I took 2 years ago. The designer is Bent Creek (two sisters). They recently published this design for the public, so I figured it was time I get mine stitched! I'm participating in a SAL in the Bent Creek/Trilogy/Heart in Hand Yahoo group and thought this would be perfect. Look, I'm using a couple of the floss holder I purchased from Monique .. aren't they cute :)


Thanks everyone for their support and comments about my female issues. I have my hystocopy scheduled for next Tuesday .. oh goodie! lol

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm grateful for my adult kids ... they are my joy :)

Updates ..

Quick update on the kitchen .. the sink and stovetop left yesterday and the countertops were removed today. We put an old closet door on top of the island. So other than no water I think this will work out ok for a couple of weeks.




Now a health update on me. My dr. called with the ultrasound results today. Nothing earth scattering yet .. I do have a couple of fibroids that they want to get a better look at. In a couple of weeks I get to have Hysteroscopy .. aren't I lucky! lol Thank you all over your concerns and comments .. I really appreciate it :)

I've been stitching on the L*K double flipits this week and started stitching my first biscornu for an exchange on the Pals board.

Hope everyone has a great friday .. we are supposed to have awesome weather this weekend .. 65 on friday and 70 on saturday! woo hoo :)

I'm grateful for feeling better ...

Kitchen remodel - Part 2

I'm not really sure if this is really part 2 of the kitchen remodel .. it's more like year three of the house upgrade. We've lived here 22 years. We built the house back in the 80's .. even though my husband designed the house, it was built with builder grade stuff so after about 20 years everything started needing to be upgraded or replaced. So three years ago we painted the outside and redid most of the front yard. Last year we replaced the roof, replaced all the carpets, put in some hardwood in the entry way and replaced all the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms. We've also been replacing appliances when we can. So far the frig and oven/microwave are new. Thursday they come in to take out the countertops and the island countertop. They will be replaced with granite (got a good deal at Home Depot) but not for two weeks. They take the countertops off to make templates to cut the granite. Tomorrow my dad is helping DH remove the sink and the stovetop .. soooo for 2 weeks we'll be eating off paper plates or doing the dishes in the bathtub .. I'm voting for paper! lol I wish I'd taken more before pictures ... I'll have to go through some older, non-digital pictures to see if I can put together a before look .. but here's what it looks like right now ... the refacing of the cabinets will take place after the new countertops are in place ... I'm really getting excited to see the finished look :)






DH took this picture of the laziest cat in the world ... or at least the laziest in our house ... Beau guarding the tv remote! lol

Thanks for all your concerns. I'm feeling much better this week, finally! I'm taking some extra iron and had my pelvic ultrasound this afternoon. I should have the results back in a couple of days.

I did stitch a bit this weekend, but seemed to do more frogging than stitching ... owell .. I should have pictures to post towards the end of the week. I did find this awesome blog of freebies that I wanted to share with you .. I love these birds for each season .. too darn cute!
http://mausimomsfreebies.blogspot.com/

Hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm grateful for feeling better ...

TGIF Everyone ...

I have to say it's been a long time since I've looked soooo forward to a Friday. Not because we're doing anything special this weekend .. I'm just really glad this stupid week is over. Not to go into lots of gory details, let's just say I'm a 54 year old woman still going through the change .. working on day 10 of a pretty horrible cycle. Tuesday night I had a new experience that scared DH and I, had my dr on the phone off and on for a couple of hours and consumed lots of ibuprofen. Thank goodness for my dr ... I just love that woman :) I did go into her office Wednesday to get checked out further .. doesn't seem to be anything serious other than menopause, but I get to have a pelvic ultrasound next week just to rule out anything else. Ah the joys of being a woman! lol

Wednesday, after my dr. appt, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself so I stopped by our local Barnes and Noble .. needing a little pick me up, I was hoping I could find the Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs that Staci and Becky have been talking about on their blogs. Of course I was very interested in the cute red bird! B&N had the book and I must stay it's a lovely book .. filled with all kinds of wonderful designs .. here's a few examples ... lots of variety ...












Look at what else jumped out at me while I was wandering around B&N .. I just love the colors and I couldn't pass up this coffee cup ... it's perfect! and who doesn't need another little storage bag ... or 4 or 5 ...


lol ... I just couldn't resist .. they are red after all *smile*


I did get some stitching done this week. I finished LHN's Schoolgirl Lessons. What a lovely pattern this is. I stitched it with the recommended Rose Of Sharon Soie Belle Silk. Gosh I love this silk .. it feels sooo great stitching with it. I don't know what kind of fabric I used, it was just a piece that looked good with the silk. I'm not sure how I want this finished, but Vonna and I were talking about this design mounted on a blackboard .. she really does have some awesome ideas!


I'm participating in a SAL that the LHN Yahoo group is having. I'm stitching Sunflower Sampler. I love the fabric called for on this design ... it's 28 count Little Boy Blue Linen. What a delightful fabric to stitch on.


Not much going on this weekend for us ... which is just the kind of weekend I need. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I'm grateful for a supportive family ...

Sunday ...

Hope everyone had a great weekend .. mine was pretty quiet but nice. Friday night DH and I rented Beautiful Ohio .. has anyone seen it? It was on OnDemand .. a IFC movie with Rita Wilson William Hurt. Very good, but off the wall movie. And I learned something new about Ohio during the movie .. you have a very pretty state song :) While we watched the movie I put the finishing touches on Good Morning (needed the charms) and finished up Rosy too .. they both were very fun to stitch.






I joined a new blog a couple weeks ago ... Monthly Finishes Challenge. Making a pinkeep was the challenge for March. This is the 2nd pinkeep I've made. This one went together much better than the first, but I still have lots of practicing to do before I would ever give one away :) I stitched this last October .. I thought it was perfect for a pinkeep ... and I added the needle that I stitched it with in the heart. I thought it was a cute touch.

I had picked out a couple of different fabrics/ribbons for this piece ... I asked Robert what he thought ... this was the fabric and ribbon he liked the most ... I love the flowers and the dots on the ribbon .. busy, but I think it works with the simple stitched piece.


and dammmm I really did iron this! lol


Sunday I worked on the L*K double flip-its .. hopefully I'll have a picture to share soon.

Thanks for all the comments about my colorful red laptop and the Tree of Me box ... I really do enjoy hearing from all of you :) Barbara I do think you should cross stitch yourself a new cover *smile*

I'm grateful for nice weekends ...

Red ...

I have a new toy and I'm having lots of fun with it. Look, it's a RED Dell!! lol .. I'm just a little addicted to the color red *grin* A laptop won't take the place of my desktop PC but it is nice to have the portability of a laptop. I can sit in the family room, watch tv and surf around. It will also be nice to take on retreats with me. I've been spending time getting used to the Vista operating system .. I really like how pictures can be organized using Vista .. so far it's not a bad operating system.



yep it's a red mouse too! lol



I have been stitching when I'm not playing with my new toy ... I finished Bent Creek's Good Morning. I still need to put the charms on .. but I think it turned out really cute.


And here's Rosy ... not done yet, but she does have a head now! lol .. and funny legs on her back .. I'm going to work on her again tonight, heck with my rotation! lol ... I should be able to get her done while watching Lost and Celebrity Apprentice .. GOOOOOO TRACE!



Last year I finished a retreat piece from a class with Bent Creek called Tree of Me. The tree shows things that are all part of me, like coffee, red, animals, racing, reindeer, music, flowers and of course stitching. It's been sitting because I couldn't make up my mind how I wanted it finished .. did I want a pillow, or frame it, maybe sewed into a nice banner .. nothing was really jumping out at me so Tree of Me just sat in my finished stitching bag. That was until Vonna started her finishing service. I was so excited reading about Vonna's new venture and well it just jumped out at me that Tree of Me would be awesome on a box .. a couple of emails with Vonna and off to the mail went Tree of Me .. the box is home with me now and I have to tell you I am soooo happy with the finished project! The box is now in my stitching room being the home for my scissors. It's just perfect! I stole these pictures from Vonna ...






I hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm grateful for new toys ...

Happy First Day of Spring

Well, technically it happened around 10:24 last night .. how silly is that ... so happy first full day of Spring! Hope all your daffodils are blooming and making you smile.

Please say Hi to Rosy .. she's a design by Bent Creek and is a lot of fun to stitch .. hopefully she'll have a head soon! lol


Here's my progress on Good Morning .. I really love this design .. can't believe it took me sooo long to start it!

Here's a little Easter fun to share with you .. this has to be one of my all time favorite designs. The designer is Ewe, Eye and Friends and it's called Long Legged Chick. He made me smile when I first saw the chart, made me smile as I was stitching him, and keeps making me smile every year I display him. I stitched him in 2004.

Is everyone ready for Easter and the Easter Bunny? I remember growing up and going with mom to find that perfect Easter outfit .. all the frills and lace and springy colors. I still love going and getting something new for Easter, even though our holidays have gotten more informal every year .. it's still nice to have that perfect Easter blouse.

I'm grateful for spring colors

Happy St. Patrick's Day ..

Hope everyone has a very green day :) The kids are coming over for dinner tonight .. corned beef, little red potatoes, brussel sprouts and corn .. yep my family likes brussel sprouts instead of cabbage! lol Here's a picture of my mantel in the family room .. nope I'm not Irish, but I love this holiday! ok ok .. I love all the holidays *grin* But in all fairness, my FIL's mom was Irish, so we do have some reason to wear green today .. other than not getting pinched!


Hope everyone had a great weekend .. mine was pretty quiet. Friday night we watched August Rush. Has anyone seen it yet? Very cute movie .. I was lost in the music! Saturday DH and I cleaned house .. yea, he's pretty good at helping, especially with floors and bathrooms .. really! Saturday night I stitched on Good Morning and we watched Stand By Me. Robert (youngest DD) had never seen the movie .. and it was still great after all these years :) Sunday was more stitching on Good Morning and watching the nascar race. And there was grocery shopping and laundry to do after the race .. and I started Rosy Life .. I'll post pictures soon :)

Thanks for all the comments .. nice to see some new readers .. thanks for stopping by and saying hi *smile*

I'm grateful for quiet productive weekends ...

Fair and Square, Wips and general checking in ...

Kim in NY and I were paired up for Round 5 of the Fair and Square exchange. I received the squares a couple of days ago, but the stupid camera battery was dead .. here's a picture of what Kim sent .. she spoiled me! Besides the squares she stitched .. she also sent me a Christmas patter, some needles, a lovely fat quarter of fabric and a magnet from her home state of New York. She also sent me a post card that shows one of her favorite views of New York. Isn't this a nice exchange :)



Here's a picture of the actual squares .. sorry the picture is fuzzy .. didn't realize it until I got it loaded. The design is one of the new Baubles by SamSarah Design. I just love it! The hearts are so fun and she also sent me the buttons that go in the middle of each heart. Kim, your stitching is lovely! The signature square is really unique .. she stitched a heart and then in gold stitched her name and city .. it's really hard to see at first, but when you realize it .. it's just such a cute idea! Thanks again Kim for the lovely exchange.


Since I've been missing in action here on my blog I have gotten some stitching done .. this is Schoolgirl Lesson by Little House Needleworks .. but most of you already know who's it by .. I've seen quite a few bloggers who are working on this piece .. and even a couple that have finished it! It really is a relaxing piece to work on .. I could get really use to monochromatic designs :)


There's a SAL in one of my yahoo groups .. it's a Bent Creek/Heart in Hand/Trilogy group. This SAL was to stitch something BC or Trilogy .. I realized I haven't stitched anything by these two designers in ages so I thought cool, I'll do this SAL. It was really fun looking through my stash and re-discovering what I have *smile* .. I decided on this sweet design .. mostly because it's a kit and I didn't have to work at kitting it up! lol .. sometimes the last thing I want to do in the evening is look for fabric and floss. I'm really enjoying this stitch.


DH and I started the next phase of our remodeling. We're having the kitchen cabinets refaced and the formica and tile replaced. I really like my kitchen cabinet layout and they are still in great shape so we didn't want to do a total replacement. Refacing is cheaper and will still give us what we want .. a kitchen that isn't stuck in 1986 .. lol

Even though I haven't updated my blog in a while .. I have been enjoying reading all our blogs .. everyone is doing such lovely stitching :) And thanks for all your comments .. I enjoy reading them a lot.

I'm grateful for blogging friends ...