Kay's Corner

Some quick Christmas finishes!

2012-01-31T21:09:00.000-08:00

I was able to get some stitching in the last few weeks. I decided to break into my stash of amazing magazines and patterns that I got from the library book sale about a month ago. My 2 finishes are from the 2007 JCS Christmas ornament issue.My first finish is by Little by Little Design Co. it is called Merry and bright. I love how this came out because the color scheme I think is colorful and bright! The reason I have the floss in the picture is because I had gotten this for Christmas in a floss swap I did and I wanted to show off how lovely the white floss looks that I used. It was by Ozark Sampler and it is called Goat's Milk. The cute little reindeer was a quick stitch. This is by Glory Bee it is called Rudy. As always thanks for stopping by and for your kind words! Off to do more stitching!

Some winter stitching..

2012-01-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

This time I seem to have kept my hands busy. With it being winter it is cold and snowy out so needless to say more days are spent at home inside where it is warm so I have been stitching my time away. I managed to get a few finishes from from the JCS Christmas ornament issue from this year. The first finish is by Brittercup designs. This one I had to stitch because the kitty reminds me of my cats and how they love to sleep under the tree every year. The next finish is by Lizzie Kate. I know the year is a bit dated, but I had wanted to stitch this for some time and it is such a quick and simple finish. When I look back at the years it does not seem like it has been 16 years since I have been with my husband, but if I have a son that is going on 15 in August then it really has been that long. Time just seems to move on too fast! The last finish is also from the JCS issue. It is by Country Cottage Needleworks. I have seen a few stitch this and the original colors are pink and blue that are used, but that just really does not go too well with everything that is in my tree so I decided to be a rebel and stitch the colors that would blend in better with my tree. As always thanks for stopping by and for your kind words!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

I have a few small finishes to share. The pictures I took do not do my work any justice though. I made 2 Victorian looking snowflakes from a cross stitch book that I checked out of the library by the Needlecraft Shop. I also have gotten another small finish done from the JCS Christmas magazine. This one is by Niki's creations. I am loving the Christmas edition of this magazine, so many designs I want to stitch so little time! I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Ours was a lovely holiday and a quiet one as well. Could not ask for more than that. Last year in our household brought a lot of bad times and sadness, so even though I was slightly panicking over the end of a year and the start of a new one on New Years Eve, I also am ready to get this year under way and work on leaving last year far behind. The other day I went to my local library because every January and August they have a book sale. I always go on the last day because the last day of the sale it is 1.00 a bag, so needless to say I walked out with 2 bags and 1 huge box for 3.00! My biggest find of the day at the library sale I was so thrilled about! The box I got was filled with nothing but many cross stitch magazines from Stoney Creek, to Just Cross Stitch, Cross Country Stitching and so much more!!! I am so thrilled with myself and cannot wait to start rummaging through my magazines!! As always thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone's holiday season was a good one!

Finally some finishes!

2011-12-18T02:54:00.000-08:00

I realized it has been a little over a month since I have shared anything with any one. I have been keeping busy, maybe not busy enough. The holidays have been keeping me busy like I am sure everyone else is as well. Our Thanksgiving went well. I had everyone over at my house this year to celebrate. Christmas day is ours though to spend at home just the 3 of us. I look forward to that! I have 3 finishes to share. One is by Little House Needleworks, the next one is a prairie schooler design as you can tell it is winter themed. The last one is by the Sampler girl. I am hoping soon to get back into my stitching again actively, more so than I have been. Thanks for stopping by and for taking a peek! I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope your holiday season is blessed. Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas finish!

2011-11-15T00:37:00.000-08:00

Not too much going on in my neck of the woods. I would have loved to get this latest finish done sooner but just could not push myself to pick it up on a daily basis like I wanted to, but I have to say I am happy with the results as well! My newest finish is by Lizzie Kate and it is called Christmas is forever. With Thanksgiving being a week away already, I am hoping to fit in some stitching time as well here and there, but we will see. I am having both sides of the family over next week so I need to get my house ready for company. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

A few small finishes

2011-10-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

First off I wanted to share a few personal pictures. October 25 I celebrated 14 years of marriage with my husband. I met him when I was 18 and I have been with him ever since. Together we have a smart alec but good 14 year old son that has turned into a fine young man and has grown before our eyes. While my second child was not meant to happen for us, we hope that the future holds a lot for us including another child. As you can see I had my son before we got married so he was at our wedding that day. Despite all the ups and downs though I would not change much about the good times and bad times we have had over the years.
I have a few more small finishes to share, these were so very quick to stitch and fun as well. I have started to do some wintery / Christmas stitching. The first design is a LHN pattern called Pine Tree Inn and the second one is by Cherry Wood Designs and it is called Wild Snowman.

I hope everyone has a good week and as always thanks for stopping by and for your kind words.

Been a while...

2011-10-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since my last post. A lot has been going on that I am not ready to talk about yet. I have been stitching here and there though. When I look at what I did with my stitching I know I have been keeping busy but it does not seem like I have been. I have a Halloween and a Christmas finish to share. The first one is of Halloween of course! It is by Bent Creek and it is called Spooky Row and the next one is by Lizzie Kate of course! On a personal note my teenage son and his girlfriend went to Homecoming earlier in the month. We were so thrilled to see him go. They both looked wonderful and had an awesome time. My baby is not so much a baby anymore, lol. Thanks for stopping by and for all your kind words!

Some more Fall and Halloween finishes with a bit of Christmas

2011-09-21T23:35:00.001-07:00

I have been keeping busy since my last post with my stitching. Not much else to do at the moment so may as well keep my hands busy! The first finish is From Prairie Schooler called Autumn. My second finish I have wanted to do this for a while so I finally grabbed it out of my to do pile and tackled it. It is a Lizzie Kate called Hats off to Halloween. My last finish is a Christmas finish that was so quick and simple to make I was done with this one in 2 days. It is by JBW Designs. It is called Holly Noel. Not much going on in my house to speak of as of late. it is starting to look like fall though in Ohio. Friday is the first day of fall and already when I walk around I can see the leaves changing colors and the weather is cooler, which I love! I love Autumn and Winter. They are my favorite seasons. My son is still adjusting to high school. Seeing as he is a freshman this year he is quickly discovering that there is a lot expected of one with all the work he has to do on a daily basis. He seems to be holding strong though! In a few weeks mid term reports go home so hopefully it all looks good! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave comments, they are always appreciated!

Some Halloween finishes

2011-09-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Been a little while since my last post, but as you can see my hands have been busy with my stitching. My first finish is by La De Da. I have seen other ladies who made this in the past and just knew that someday I would have to stitch this for myself. Now I did! The other 2 finishes are Prairie Schooler finishes of course! Not too much going on in my neck of the woods. It is Labor Day weekend here, so really not much to speak of as far as plans. My husband has to work all weekend so just me and my mopey teenage son, lol. He starts school on Tuesday morning and is not looking forward to the fact that summer will be done for him. For all my friends out there, I hope you have a good and safe and fun holiday weekend! As always thanks for stopping by!

Some LHN finishes!

2011-08-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

Not too much has been going on in my neck of the woods as of late, just been staying at home where it is cool and stitching a lot. I already have my next project lined up that I want to do and wouldn't you know it, it is another LHN design! There just are too many cute designs to choose from. I am feeling much better now, just waiting for this baby to say he is ready to come out because I know I am ready, lol. School will be starting soon for my son he is not looking forward to it, summer always goes by in a flash it seems. At least the weather has been great here in Ohio as of late not too hot if anything it has been cooler, I like that! Hope everyone has a great week and thanks for stopping by!

A few finishes

2011-08-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since my last post, been busy and productive for me. I managed to get a few finishes done as well in between taking it easy. I had dental surgery last week. I was supposed to get 2 teeth removed but only got one tooth removed that day. The doctor wanted to wait if possible after the baby is born so he is not putting unneeded stress on me and the baby. I was making myself nuts over nothing though, The surgery went well and within a day I felt better than I had in almost a month. I am pushing into my eighth month of pregnancy and the best word to describe how I feel is uncomfortable! Mix in the heat of the summer and it makes it even better, lol. On a lighter note, today is also my son's birthday. He turned 14. In less than a month he goes back to school, he will be a high schooler this year, all of a sudden everything is moving so fast.

My 2 finishes were simple but cute, the first one is by LHN and the other one is from a old magazine in my collection. It came from the magazine cross country stitching. As always thanks for stopping by and for your kind words.

Finally a finish....

2011-07-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get more accomplished this month than I have but at times life has a way of getting in the way and putting things on halt. I have not been feeling too well. Had a lot of dental issues related to the pregnancy, it all started with a chipped tooth and when I got to the dentist he said that I have 2 teeth that are bad off that they need to just come out, so next week I will be having those removed. Not looking forward to it though, in the last month I have been "freaking out" a lot and having panic attacks. So I am scared of having a few teeth pulled and worried that I will have a attack while there. My husband Mike will be there and will be taking the day off of work so he and my son can take care of the house that day. At some routine blood work related to the pregnancy I also found out I have gestational diabetes, it is common to get this while pregnant and goes away after the baby is born, so I have to really watch my diet right now and do not over do it. The last time I was pregnant I was 19, I am 34 this time and am finding out that this time around this one is taking so much out of me, because I am always tired and not feeling well.

My birthday was Friday the 22th. It was great!!! My son James got me a gift certificate to 123stitch.com which I already spent, lol. Mike got tickets for me and him to see the musical Chicago. We seen that a few days after my birthday. I loved the show. Was not sure I would like it but was nicely surprised when I got there. My guys helped to make sure it was a great day.

I do have a finish to share this one took me longer than usual because of the fact that I have had massive pain from the dental issues that I have it is hard to want to sit and focus on sewing or reading because the pain is bothersome. This is by Glory Bee, it is called Cabin Sweet Cabin.

Like most of us the heat has been something else in Ohio so I have been hiding inside a lot! Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words!

Finishing June with a few finishes

2011-06-30T03:48:00.001-07:00

I have been keeping busy with stitching although not as much as I would have liked to do. I was hoping to make the birthday gift for my sister whose birthday was last week but I could not find the mojo to make anything that I liked for my sister so I caved in and got her a present at the store instead. I have however managed to get a few finishes done. The first one is by LHN and the other one is by Willow Ridge Designs. It is called Patchwork Christmas. As you can see from my finishes my mind frame is holiday oriented all of sudden. When summer gets here I like to do my holiday stitching between both Halloween and Christmas. I also was the lucky winner last week of the giveaway on my friend's blog. Mary T had a giveaway of the following design Sea to Shining Sea by Cross eyed Cricket. I don't have a picture of the design to show though. I am hoping to start working on this soon. My birthday is in less than a month and I have 4 designs that I want to tackle this summer if possible but I need to buy the threads needed to get started. Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind words as always!

Finally... Ps finishes and more with a thank you to my friend

2011-06-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

I know I had not posted in almost a month here, but I have been stitching, more like at a turtle's pace though because of my Fall/ Halloween finish. I love how it looks now but I was dragging my feet a bit as well with this. Of course no matter how many pictures I have taken of this it does not do it any justice at all as to how nice it looks. I had gotten this pattern from my Friend Mary T from our Christmas exchange, I have actually stitched 3 of the designs she sent me this year, because they just were too beautiful not too. This first one is by Cross Eyed Cricket it is called Gentle Harvest. I also have finally finished the PS Christmas alphabet! I am so pleased that this is done and plan on proudly displaying them better at Christmastime. With summer coming fast a lot of my stitching will be Halloween/fall and Christmas/ winter related. I want to say thank you so much to my friend Mary T for all the lovely designs she sent me, like I said I have stitched 3 of them that she sent, the first one was back in the winter by Hinzeit, the 12 days of Christmas, then LHN's red house in winter as the picture will show of the PS alphabet on display in the trees and then the cross eyed cricket design. I have some quick finishes to do right now for Father's day so it will not take me long. Most of the finishes this month that I will be showing off will be for gifts since Fathers day and my sisters birthday is all coming up in a matter of weeks now. As always thanks for stopping by and for all your kind words.

Too much time on my hands..

2011-05-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have a few more finishes to share, since I have been a homebody anymore and I no longer work because I decided to quit a while ago since I had been missing so much time with my pregnancy, I had to make a choice because I knew that if I did not I would eventually lose my job anyway from all the time missed, so anymore I spend my days at home mostly and have been doing a lot of sewing and reading. For the longest time, I always had a to do pile on my coffee table and since the new year I have been slowly weeding through it all and I am happy to say that my to do pile has been getting smaller little by little, however a lot of my to do pile is cross stitch patterns that I just keep grabing from, if I have to stay home and not do much I might as well keep busy so I have been keeping my hands busy and then some! My first finish is from Bent Creek it is the May Blooms design. The second one is from my prairie schooler book that I got almost 2 years ago, the book is called Santa and friends, I made the second design from this book, last year I made another one of the designs from the book, all together there is 4 designs in the book, so I only have half way to go, my goal is to get the last 2 done in the coming months because I love how the first 2 have come out already!

Mothers day here was good, it was quiet and that is more than fine with me, a quiet day at home with everyone here is all I need and want and that is what I got, as well as breakfast in bed and dinner being made for me and a small online certificate to go shopping at 123stitch.com! I hope everyone had a good mother's day, and as always thanks for stopping by and for all your kind words.

More stitchy finishes!

2011-05-02T01:56:00.001-07:00

I have nothing but time on my hands at the moment, I have been having issues with my pregnancy since late March that have kept me home and in bed a lot. I had to go back to the doctor last week on an emergency basis because I thought I was having a miscarriage, I did not but have what is called a tear on the placenta, that happens when you do something to put strain on the baby which causes the tear, that is usually caused by too much heavy lifting or physical activity, I have had my moments in April where I was doing way more than I should so maybe that caught up with me. So since I am home all the time anymore I have been doing nothing but a lot of reading and sewing. I have gotten 3 more small finishes done in the last week. Two of the finishes are cards that I made, the piglet one is for my friend Shelli, whose birthday is today the 2th. She already got the card in the mail before her bday so I was happy about that! The other card I made is for a monthly swap I take part in with my friends yahoo group, the third finish is for my inlaws for their anniversary, it is by Lizzie Kate, I am including pics of the finished and framed piece, I think it turned out pretty good! Last week weather wise in Ohio we had 3 days of heavy winds that reached up to 60mph, luckily no damage occurred from all that, just had a lot of branches down in the yard that was easily cleaned up, the one day I decided to leave the front door open because it was 70 outside and my cats love it when the front door and windows are open, I had to sneak a picture of these kids because they were all huddled in front of the door watching the wind blow stuff around in the yard, it was too cute and funny to see! From the left the gray cat is Tamzien, by her is her brother Gisborne, then Bela and Tigger. My kids are always good for a laugh and a smile on a daily basis, I do not know what I would do without them!

Busy stitching week...

2011-04-27T00:04:00.001-07:00

I have some more finishes to share, I am almost all done with the PS alphabet! I finished 5 more letters in the last week and still had time for a very small finish by LHN, called snowy pines. I hope everyone had a good Easter, it was a quiet one here, me and my son James tackled making Easter dinner and that was about it, I have been home most of the time anymore because I have not been feeling good. So hence that is why I have been sewing a lot lately, because there is not much else for me to do, lol. Thanks for stopping by and for all your kind words.

A few small finishes

2011-04-16T00:29:00.001-07:00

This week has been pretty quiet at home, my cold has left which is good, I am getting to the point where my pregnancy at the moment is not kicking me in the butt with how it makes me feel everyday with being run down and feeling sick almost daily, so I have been taking advantage of that and finally doing things I want to do, which is get back to my stitching among other things. I have a small finish from Bent creek and then the other 2 finishes are my Prairie Schooler alphabet. I am getting close to finishing these, I look forward to that! The last picture is of my son James, I had to take this picture earlier this week, it was one of those rare mornings where he had breakfast quickly and then got ready and still had enough time to sack on the couch for about 20 minutes before it was time to go, so he ended up falling asleep and Lana decided to take advantage of that, I was joking with James that Lana was telling you to stay home. She has always been more of James cat if anything. She loves to cuddle with him at bedtime as well. Thanks for stopping by and I hope every one that has taken the time to read this has a good week ahead.

Finally some finishes!

2011-04-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have been away for a while because things have been so busy here and then I have not been feeling well which knocked me off of my feet for a while. First off Mike's parents are both doing great. If anything everyone was amazed at how fast they both were recovering after surgery. Much to every one's relief. It will be a long road for Mike's dad permanently now and with it comes rescrictions that he has to abide by for the rest of his life but it is worth it as well to see that everyone is doing good. Spring has sprung in Ohio for a brief minute, lol. The last few days here it was 80 and sunny so my cats were loving that! Back to being cold now for a short bit before spring decides to stay.

In between everything here when I felt up to it I have been stitching. I finished 6 more of the PS alphabet which only leaves me with 11 more to finish before I can say I have completed them all! My bedroom trees are looking pretty sharp with all my new PS ornies I have been making. I will have to try to remember to take pictures of my trees when they are all done so you can see how they look on display. I also have started a new project in between it is a Lizzie Kate snippet, it is called winter sampler.

In closing I thought I would enclose a picture of my kittens that I got last summer. They are 1 now. These little stinkers make me smile all the time they are so darn cute together and it is so fun to watch them, they are super close, I honestly do think they would be lost without each other with the way they act like they are joined at the hip. Thanks for stopping by!

Some more PS finishes and goings on....

2011-03-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

I have finally managed to get my blog updated with some of my Christmas alphabets by Prairie Schooler that I got done, I got letters D,E,F,G,H and I done as well as a Little House Needleworks design that I got from Mary T. I believe it is called red house in winter. I took a picture of what it looks like on my trees. In my bedroom it is called my Christmas room. All year round, I keep my trees up in there and since these fit into my themes for the bedroom they will be on display at all times for me to see, lol. It is nice to look around my room since I seem to be spending a lot of time in there, so it is nice to see all the things I have done over time. I have been quiet for some time about all of my goings on because I have always tended to be that way mostly because I hate to burden others with my problems for the most part so that is why I keep to myself. So this will be one of those rare times that I am letting it all out so to speak. First off tomorrow, the 22th. I will be spending the day at the hospital with Mike. His parents are having surgery. Mike's dad found a kidney donar in his wife so they both will be going under in the morning and will be in the hospital for a while before coming home. After that many will be helping them out because they will not be able to do a lot for themselves for a little while. So things may be a bit busy. The other thing I wanted to share is that for some time me and Mike have been having issues and since May I have taken to sleeping on the couch and we decided to separate again back in October. We still are apart but have been talking and trying to work on things as well since January in between all that something happened that has floored me in so many ways and has at times been leaving me depressed and so many things in between. I found out at the end of January that I am pregnant. I am about 3 months along now, dealing with being tired and sick and blue at times has made me quiet a lot all around. So hopefully my friends who are reading this will understand why I have become so quiet anymore. So much is going on this year and all the things I had planned are on hold now so everything is going to take a bit of time for me to get used to since this was not planned at all. Mike had a vasectomy years ago but I have heard from so many that it has reversed itself for some men after so long. I have to admit I have my good days and then my days where I am scared of starting over and then blue about starting over since I thought all that was behind me. My son will be 14 in August and later that month be a 9th grader in high school. So it really has been a heck of a winter and spring to say the least. Now on with the pictures! If you have stayed this long to read I appreciate you doing so and for all your kind words about my finishes over time. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Some wintery finishes...

2011-03-12T23:53:00.000-08:00

I have a few small finishes to share, I have been not feeling so well so in between resting I have been stitching when I feel up to it. My first finish is by LHN, it is called pine tree hill. I have decided to take up tackling doing the Prairie Schooler Christmas Alphabet. I have done A, B and C. It may take me a while to do these, but seeing as how small they are it will not take too much time to stitch. I know the finishing job leaves soemthign to be desired on the alphabets but seeing as they are just ornaments for my tree they will blend in just fine with everything else on my tree I think. Thanks for all that stops by and take the time to leave a comment, have a wonderful week.

March already..

2011-03-01T07:33:00.001-08:00

I was hoping to have an update sooner, but I have been sick with a bad cold that is still around a little bit so I spent most of last week in bed because I just felt awful and achy all over. On top of that on Friday last week Ohio got hammered with snow, we had over a foot of snow within a day so I had to go out a few times to shovel the snow, winter is almost over though and soon we will be upon my least favorite part of spring. The beginning of spring it is nothing but cold and wet and muddy all over, by May it looks nice out but first I have to get through the first part of spring. My first finish I had done before I got sick and the picture shows it, lol if you look at the ornament above it will show that this was done last month. This is signs of winter by Bent Creek, I have not worked with perforated paper in some time so I decided to stitch this on that, the picture does not do the finished result justice, my camera is ancient so at times the pictures are not as good as they can be. My other finish is March blows by Bent Creek. I am hoping to have more stitchy finishes soon, I went on a small shopping trip online on Friday at 123stitch.com and already got everything in the mail on Monday. I bought myself the Prairie Schooler book Woodland Santas and lots of floss for my future projects that I want to work on soon! As always thanks for stopping by and for your kind words.

Been away for a while

2011-02-13T06:21:00.001-08:00

I know it has been a little while since my last post. A lot has been going on for some time it just all has come to a breaking point for me a little while ago so for a bit after Christmas I seemed to have lost my stitching mojo. I do have a few finishes to share finally! The first is from Bent Creek. The second finish I got from my friend Mary T from our advent exchange, this design was my day 25 gift. It is from Hinzeit it is called charmed 12 days of Christmas. It probably is hard to make out all the little charms sewn on for each day but if you are familiar with the song 12 days of Christmas then you know what each charm is! I was hoping to be finished with it by now, but I am almost done with another finish as well. It is called signs of winter by Bent Creek. So I should have this one done very soon. Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind words.

New Year, new finishes!

2011-01-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

I have been quiet for a wee bit and my stitching has also been limited. After Christmas I was burned out from everything I was doing and then got a cold so I was not doing too much. Once I got better, I felt ready to tackle some stitching. I made the fall and winter bird, I however do not know the designers name I seem to have misplaced the patterns. I also made the January snows design from Bent Creek. I have so much that I want to do in my to do pile that I have to decide what to do next! Thanks for stopping by!

one last gift.....

2010-12-23T06:39:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday night I exchanged gifts with my dad's girlfriend, I made her this little ornament by Lizzie Kate, I have made this one many times over the years but it is very cute and I so love how this came out, she loved it as well! Me and Mary T have participated in a advent exchange this year and in the coming days that will be over but it has been nice as well, I do not have a pic of everything to show that I have gotten past day 13 because I have been using the stuff that I have gotten, Mary has so generously given me lots of fabric to use which I have been putting to use already! As well as some bookmark kits that I am working on as well and some supplies and silk floss that I look forward to using, I cannot afford to always buy silk floss so I look forward to getting to use this sometime soon! I also got some awesome patterns that I intend on stitching sometime soon! I also got a nice gift from my friend Kay out in England, she too sent me many cross stitch cards for me to use so needless to say all of my friends have given me so many stitchy goodies this year that have been and will be put to good use! I hope all of my friends have a blessed holiday season! Thank you all for your kind words through the year and for stopping by.

many little ornamnets....

2010-12-17T04:48:00.001-08:00

Today is my sons Christmas party at school so all this week I have been pulling all nighters for the last 4 nights to get all 13 of these ornies done! This was a freebie that I got from the Lizzie Kate website, they turned out pretty great I think, I look forward to getting home today so I can finally crash and get some much needed sleep!

Some wonderful gifts!

2010-12-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

Me and my friend Mary took part in our advent exchange this year. Her package arrived today which means I got to open up 13 gifts and oh my was I ever spoiled! I know the picture does not show it all but I got some white chocolate covered pretzels, some gourmet cocoa mix, perforated paper to stitch on, a Christmas card kit, some floss and fabric, floss bobbins,socks, a candy cane pattern, snowman paper, hot plates, some more sewing needles, a little frame and a very pretty star ornament that says welcome! Thank you so very much Mary I love everything. My husband had some hot cocoa already and says he loves it. I dipped into the pretzels already as well, I could not help myself. We also have been hit hard by snow, my son had his first snow day of the school year today, my kittens Tamzien and Gisborne just love the snow and have so much fun watching it fall as you can see!

My December snowman

2010-12-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Since I finished my angels from the Curtis Boehringer barefoot angel of the month club I decided to jump right in and start the next series which is the snowman of the month. This was not as detailed as the angels were so I tended to move a bit faster with this. I decided to share a few more pics of some of my other trees in our house, the first 2 pics are of our trees in the bathroom. The little set of trees is in the living room, these are my husband's trees that he decorates with his ornaments that I do not like to go on our other tree in the living room, some of the ornies are from his past and sports themed. The last picture is of my kitchen trees. Less than 2 weeks away now until Christmas, I am worried about not getting it all done, but am working on it little by little. I so love the holidays but it will be nice to breath a sigh of relief when it is done as well! Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words.

a few small finishes to share.....

2010-12-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

I have a few small ornaments that I made this week, each one only took a day to stitch up, I like those the best, cute but simple! The first one is by Lizzie Kate and the second one I got from a Leisure Arts book that I checked out of the library called 100 cross stitch ornaments. I also wanted to share a few small nice and wonderful surprises I got from a few of my friends that really made my day. I have been blue for the last few months but have been keeping it to myself and with the holidays here I have been getting increasingly blue especially since something happened that has affected me and my husband on Sunday, I have noticed that I have been stitching an awful lot I suppose this is me keeping busy or else I would lose my sanity! lol. On Monday I got this beautiful card with these beautifully made handmade ornies by my friend Liz, on Monday I also got a secret Santa package from my friend Juli with so many goodies! Last but not least my little girl Tamzien who always makes me smile posing by some snowmen while having visions of cat treats and toys running through her head! Thanks as always for stopping by and for your kind words.

Happy December!

2010-12-06T05:36:00.000-08:00

I finished my last angel in the series of barefoot angel of the month club by Curtis Boehringer. I really love how she came out! I also did December swirls by Bent Creek. I am also sharing a small cat ornament that I made for my friend Savannah, she is a fellow cat lover like me! I figured since I finished the last angel, I will share all the angels that I made for each month from the last year. This was one of my few goals for the new year that I was able to do and master throughout the year without steering a different direction. Since I finished all the angels I figured I would start on the next series by Curtis Boehringer which is the snowman of the month club. I will have more finishes to share later in the week with more pics of my house decked out for the holidays. Thanks for stopping by and for all your kind words.

End of November already and some finishes

2010-11-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

I hope that all my fellow stitching friends and fellow bloggers that celebrated Thanksgiving had a great holiday. My holiday was good, it was busy and fun and just went by way too fast, but then holidays do tend to do that. I never got around this month to posting my November angel that I finished, I am currently working on my December angel of the month from Curtis Boehringer and then I will be done with the monthly series! I will have to post pics when I finish the December angel of all the angels that I did for each month this year. I also had a few small finishes of things that I made for friends and such. The bookmark and small ornament I made for my friend Debi, the ornament came from a book called patchwork Christmas by Willow Ridge designs, the second ornament I made 2 of these one for me and 1 for my sister, it is called all mine by bittercup designs and then of course my November angel by Curtis Boehringer. With each post I am going to try to remember to post pics of my house decorated for Christmas, I always talk about my trees in each room of my house and been asked a lot to share pics of what they all look like, so today I am sharing pics of the trees in my room, a lot of homemade ornies by me and friends on all the trees. As always thank you for stopping by and for your kind words.

More small Christmas finishes

2010-11-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

I have been doing nothing but stitching with all my free time I have had this month as you can tell. I finished some more ornaments to send out to friends in the coming weeks. Seeing as they do not follow my blog it is safe to keep showing off what I have been working on this month! My first finish is by Prairie Schooler of course! I so love how this came out, I want to keep it for myself! This one goes to my friend Liz, I think she will love this! The set of 4 ornaments are just a basic snowflake that I had gotten from a Leisure arts book, these are going to my sister, Lianne, Debbie and then I made one for myself. This next one I so love, I wish I could have gotten a better picture. My camera is 10 years old so it tends to want to give me issues. This lovely ornament is by Midnight stitching and it is called Quaker snowman. The last set of 2 ornaments are a quick stitch design by Lizzie Kate, my friends Juli and Carol are getting one of these. I am at the half way point of ornaments but to still have some more things to make as well but I am getting there too! Thanks as always for all the kind words and for stopping by!

Christmas finishes....

2010-11-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

Throughout this month and next month I will be posting a lot of updates because I am working on finishing up my gifts for friends and family. The first 2 finishes are for me and my Christmas trees. They both are leisure arts patterns that I got from a few books that my local library had. I really love the cardinal, this one is on my tree in the bedroom because I have a somewhat theme going on in there. I have angels and cardinals on the tree in the bedroom. The reindeer finish is in my living room on the tree out there. I have some Prairie Schooler finishes that I made into ornaments that have been on my tree as well from last year. My third finish is for my friend Kay as you can tell it is a PS Santa. The last one is a snowman design that I made for my friend Michelle. I have made the finishing on these simple and easy because in the next few weeks I have to start sending out all these gifts to friends and family that I have made and since I have to send out to 20 different people that are scattered all over the world I have to make sure that the shipping for everyone's packages are not that bad on my budget. I currently am working on some ornaments for friends and am almost finished with another PS design for my friend Liz. I hope to update next week with all my finishes! I had brought out some of my Christmas stuff already and I thought I would share a pic of my little girl Tamzien chilling by the Christmas stuff, what you don't see is how naughty she can get at times with the some of the Christmas decorations. Thanks for stopping by and for all your kind comments. Have a good week!

Happy November!

2010-11-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well it is officially November and another Halloween is in the bag in our household. Halloween anymore in our home is not as hustle and bustle as it used to be when my son was younger, the last few years he has been helping me pass out candy at home because he no longer wants to go out and trick or treat which is fine with me but sad in a way too because I have many moments where I realize my teenage son is growing up and things are always changing, I find myself thinking back to the good old days when he was a baby and toddler, time stop moving on so fast! I have a few finishes to share I have made for the third time in a few months now this little number by Prairie Schooler and a little Christmas ornament called patchwork Christmas and last but not least I finished November twirls by Bent Creek. Throughout the month my hands are going to be busy I have a lot I want to get done and need to get done so I am hoping to be able to share with all of you what I do throughout this month! I hope everyone who celebrates Halloween had a great Halloween weekend. Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.

Small finish

2010-10-14T12:23:00.001-07:00

I just finished my October angel of the month by Curtis Boehringer, I think it turned out alright. I also wanted to share that last week I won the blog anniversary contest that was held by Donna. She awarded a 20.00 gift certificate to go shopping online at 123stitch.com which I will be using on Thursday after payday! Thank you so much Donna! I thought I would share a pic of my kittens who are growing up too fast. Tamzien is the grey one, she is laying by her brother Gisborne. They came from the same litter of kittens, we had a third one but little Eli passed away last month which was sad because these kids are like peas in a pod the way they do everything together. Thanks for stopping by and for all your kind comments.

Happy October

2010-10-02T12:22:00.001-07:00

I have a few finishes to share, the first one of course is by Lizzie Kate called gather a harvest of love. The second one is by Bent Creek for the month of October. I should have gotten more stitched but I have been moving at a turtle's pace it seems! I also wanted to share a pic of what I got in the mail from my non stitchy friend, Liz. She knows I love to stitch so I was more than thrilled to get this nice surprise in the mail and will be used! Not much else to share but to say thanks for stopping by and have a great week everyone!

Some fall and Christmas stitching

2010-09-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

I have a few small finishes to share. I finished my September angel from the Curtis Boehringer angel of the month club over the weekend. I also wanted to share what I stitched for my friend in the Halloween and Christmas swap I took part in. Since she lives in the UK, I wanted to make sure the ornies were not too much so shipping would not be too harsh on me. The fall ornie I made for myself last month also it is by Prairie Schooler. The Christmas ornie was a freebie by Lizzie Kate. Since my last post last week not too much has been going on, my son's first week of school was good, he is slowly getting into the back to school mode. I took in one of my kittens last week to get fixed, the other one gets fixed in early October. She is slowly getting back to her naughty self which is good to see. I decided over the weekend to decorate for Halloween as well, I am enclosing a pic of my little girl Tamzien in the pumpkin patch, she was the kitten that got fixed last week, she is my little cutie! Thanks for stopping by and for your comments!

Happy September

2010-09-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

I have a few small finishes to share with everyone. The first piece is a little something called Full Moon. The second piece is somewhat my creation. I usually every month do the monthly design from the Curtis Boehringer 3 for 2 club. I did not like so much how the design for September looked so I pieced something together from a fall pattern that I had hence the leaves falling around the word September. I hope to in the next week to have my barefoot angel of the month done for September. I had some personal setbacks which have been hindering my progress, but after this I need to finish the Mary Englebreit piece I have been working on for a friend after that I will figure it out! Tuesday was my sons first day back at school, the first day went well. He started the 8th grade this year so this year things are going to start to get complicated for him because this year the teachers are starting to prepare the kids for when they go to high school next year so there are certain things expected of him throughout the year so here's hoping this new school year is a good one. Thanks for stopping by and for your comments, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend that just ended.

Some Halloween stitching......

2010-08-24T04:10:00.000-07:00

This week that has passed was a quiet one at home for me which I always love! I have spent a lot of the summer running around so things settling down are nice. I was able to get 4 small finishes done this week! The first one is a Prairie Schooler design from the book cardinal birds. I love this ornament a lot and made this for my bedroom Christmas tree. The other designs are fall and Halloween related... I made another Schooler design as well from the October book, the picture I have does not do it justice at all. The other 2 finishes are Lizzie Kate's as you can tell. On the welcome fall one I went a bit over board I think with the finishing. Last Halloween I had gotten these pearlized pins and they have been sitting in storage forever waiting to be used. The pictures I took for some of these I think my camera just does not do my work any justice because anymore I have a bear of a time getting my camera to take a good picture. So bear with me on the quality of the pictures! This week is starting to pick up for me though, I have some back to school meetings to go to and finishing shopping before school starts in less than 2 weeks. Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind words!

Small finish and a new start

2010-08-16T01:38:00.000-07:00

I finished last week my August angel from the barefoot angel of the month club from Curtis Boehringer. I know the finishing is simple on this one just did not have it in me to go all out and finish it off more than I did. I also have started working on a new start this week, the design comes from a cross stitch book of patterns designed by Mary Englebreit. This is a bday gift I am working on for a friend. When I seen this pattern it was calling to me! This one is a bit different for me because the entire block will be stitched so I really need to make sure I am careful. It is supposed to be a picture of a cottage in the country side when it is done. A lot of back stitching and detail work and beads needing to be sewed in when this is done but I think it will look great! Things here are back to normal. The 9th my son turnbed 13 so my dad was here in town to visit so I am now finally getting my house in order after having people coming and going this week. Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words!

Happy August!

2010-08-01T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well we are upon August now, next month it will be fall, yea!!!!!! I know there are many out there that love the summer but I have never really been fond of it to begin with, me and heat do not do well! The weekend that ended was a wee bit busy. My son turns 13 on Monday the 9th so this weekend we had a bday party and sleepover for the kids that attended, it was great fun for all of the kids, I was amazed at how they never ran out of things to talk about! Had a few issues in the evening hours but all in all it was good. Soon school starts here for my son as well, the summer is rolling along quickly! I have a few small finishes to share the first one is by Curtis Boehringer from the 3 for 2 club for August, the other finish is by Bent Creek and it is called August rings. I like how this came out a lot, I just wish I could get a better picture! Thanks for stopping by and for your comments! Have a great week!

A small update and gift received

2010-07-28T02:43:00.000-07:00

Here we are with only 4 more days left to July, August will be here before we know it and with it many changes as the fall season is looming around the corner. I am looking forward to August getting here because it means before long the long hot summer that we have been having will be over with! Since my last update I have been stitching away and have a finish to share! My sons 13th birthday is coming up in less than 2 weeks, with that I have finished my yearly tradition. For the last 2 years I have been stitching James a ornament for his tree. It is not just any ornament though. He loves penguins so every ornament I have made for him is of a penguin. This design I got from a Donna Kooler book that I checked out of the library. I am having a bear of a time taking the picture to show it more clearly. I sewed in white beads in the back round to make it look like he was skating in the snow. The other day I also got a belated birthday gift in the mail from my friend Mylene! I love Lizzy Kate and this is so cute! Thanks so much Mylene! I have been busy around the house this week getting all the little things taken care of here before James bday party and sleepover on Saturday. There will be some of our friends over that day as well so I have been knocking myself out taking care of everything here. I hope to have a finish or 2 to share sometime next week, until then thanks for popping in and for your kind comments!

This n that and birthdays

2010-07-22T01:07:00.000-07:00

I have 3 finishes to share they are all swap gifts for exchanges I signed up for in my friends crafting group. The first one is a bookmark simple as it is I am proud of myself because this was my first stab at it, the other 2 are a swap gift and gift in general for my friend, the first is a ornament of poppies, I got this pattern from a book that I checked out of the library by Joan Elliot. When I seen this pattern I instantly thought of her because the theme for her kitchen is red and it is filled with poppy decor! I am not sure if the beads I sewed in show up hopefully they do, I think the picture does not do it justice! The other thing is a little hanging ornament that is scented, this was for a bathroom swap, I think she will be thrilled with everything, I am even happy with what I did for once! Usually I tend to be my toughest critic on what I do. I am also sharing what I had gotten in the mail for a butterfly and seeds swap. I got these beautifully scented butterfly soaps and a crocheted girl in a butterfly costume! Summer is moving along for us all. I am not sure if I had mentioned it but my husband Mike turned 40 on July 6. Today is my birthday I turn 33! Not sure what is going on today yet, but I am sure the guys will do something nice! In 2 weeks time my son will officially be a teenager because he will be turning 13! Next weekend I am having a birthday party and sleepover for him so next weekend my house will not be my own again til Sunday sometime when everyone leaves. Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind words!

Happy July

2010-07-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

I meant to post earlier in the week my finishes but we got a new computer a few weeks ago and it took until now for Mike to get everything up and running on the computer. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend that passed. Mike had to work all weekend so we did not do much at all. Ohio just got done with a 5 day stint of going through record heat, we had days where it was over 90 degrees each day, I am glad that is done! I have many finishes to share this time around. I have 4 that I cannot share yet because they are still waiting to get to their rightful owners! The first 2 finishes are both Lizzie Kate's and the third one is the barefoot angel of the month for July. I am enclosing pics of the wonderful Christmas swap package I got from the Christmas in summer craft swap that I took part in, I love them all! Last but not least I had to sneak in a picture of my babies Tamzien she is the gray cat and Gisborne! Those 2 are a pair they are always together they even use the litter box at the same time for some reason they cannot bear to be apart from one another! Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas in Summer?

2010-06-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

I have taken part in a Christmas in July swap in one of my crafting groups I am in. The theme was Christmas in July. I had fun stitching both of these Lizzie Kate pieces! I made them off simple because I did not want to get too fancy with the beads and such since the ladies they are going to has young ones in the house I get worried about all the what ifs so I did not embellish it too much. Not too much going on here it has been hotter than Hades in Ohio. Some days in the 90's or near 90 and when you have no working ac and can't afford one then you really are sweating through the summer! All in all so far it has been a good summer. I am back now to working part time since my extra summer work I completed early so now I have time to do what I want. For a while I did not I was to wiped out at the end of the day to have the ambition to do what I wanted to do. The heat did not help either. My son James is having fun he spends a lot of days away from the house having fun which is good for him. He will be an 8th grader in the fall. 1 more year and he will be in high school. This year ahead though I worry about because things are only getting harder and this year they are preparing the kids for high school so that means learning things that are even too much for me to understand! Our newest baby Gisborne is doing good too. He is a good boy all around and a cutie in my opinion. Other than that not too much else to share. So until next time I hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Happy June!

2010-06-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have updated my blog. I have been a busy bee here. May turned out to be a busy month with all the extra cleaning jobs I have picked up for the season. James also had a lot going on at school. He earned his green belt in karate a few weeks ago. James is finally on summer break now and he does not go back until September 7, quite a long break for him. We do not have any major plans for the summer just taking it week by week and see what comes up but he will be busy with helping out family and camping trips and other fun activities. Over the holiday weekend James was camping so I pretty much had the house to myself almost all weekend long. Got a lot of stitching in and reading. Less than a week after Mother's day I got a new addition to our already chaotic family. I have a new kitten! His name is Lucius Gisborne, he is a hyper little guy but a cutie as well. He wandered into our yard after being weened from his mom and he was a loud little guy with all the meowing he was doing that night on our front porch. It took a while that night for him to loosen up but he did and at first I fed him and watched him eat before trying to pet him and then eventually bring him in. All the other cats at first were not so fond of him but they got over it. My other 2 younger cats took an instant liking to him, maybe because they are all in the same age range but those 3 pal around like best pals. In between everything I have managed to get some stitching in as well. I have finished the June angel from the barefoot angel of the month club by Curtis Boehringer and the June design from Curtis Boehringer again from the 3 for 2 club and Sunflower Santa by Prairie Schooler. I hope everyone has a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

Happy mother's day!

2010-05-09T01:27:00.000-07:00

I want to wish all the mothers out there that follow my blog and that stop by a happy mother's day, for all the mothers out there I hope everyone has a wonderful day! Not sure what I am doing today myself. My guys will be surprising me later. I do have another stitchy update. I have 2 small finishes this week, these I stitched in no time flat. The first one is called my first gray hare by 4 my boys. I did not stitch in the saying my first gray hare though. I decided I would leave that out and figured this would be a lovely Easter decoration for next year, so it is tucked away in storage for next Easter. The next finish was a little saying about Mother's that came from the book words of wit and wisdom by Joan Elliot. I had checked this book out at my library last week and thought this was so cute! Thanks for stopping by!

Finally a stitchy update!

2010-05-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

I was able to pick up my stitching again a week and a half ago. The first 2 finishes I did I was able to get each one done in a day because they were so simple. The first one is an Easter ornie by Lizzie Kate, and then the May design from Curtis Boehringer from the 3 for 2 club, I love how this turned out the daisies are such a nice touch I think! Then my last finish was the May barefoot angel from Curtis Boehringer as well. I took a stab at tea staining the fabric for the May angel I have stained more fabric since that looks wonderful I look forward to stitching with that fabric soon.I am feeling much better. I still have the odd moments where I am stiff and wake up pretty darn stiff as well but it works itself out as the day wears on. In between all of my down time of not being able to stitch I have been doing a lot of reading. I finished the book for the book club I am in for April and read 3 other books as well. So far this year with some of my resolutions I am doing good at staying on task! Reading was one of my goals and I have been able to at least read one book a month if nothing else. I have been sticking to my stitching goals also, yea! I have been keeping a few other resolutions as well but still need to improve on others. Now that is is May it is starting to look and feel like it. A lot of warm days here anymore. I think all the changes in the temps though are messing with my youngest cat Bela she has got a nasty cold. I feel like a mom chasing after a toddler with a tissue in my hand so I can wipe her face for her. The antibiotics the vet gave are working good. She still tends to whistle while breathing and sneezes a lot. Poor thing. She wins the sympathy vote with me when she looks at me because of how she sounds. School will be coming to a close soon. June 1 is the last day of school. I found out this week that James is advancing onto the 8th grade. 1 more school year to go before it is those dreaded high school years! As always I want to thank everyone for stopping by and for taking the time to read and leave a comment.

Stopping by

2010-04-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I hope everyone is having a good week. I am popping in for a bit. I am feeling more better this week, still a little stiff and have to watch what I do but my arm is more better this week. Hopefully it goes away soon and stays away! My dad arrived in town the other day he will be here until Sunday so I have been busy. I won't see him now until Thursday these next few days he has some other relatives that he wants to see while he is here in town, that will give me time to catch up on some things here. I have been not in the mood for a while to do a lot here. On Sunday morning my cat Tom passed away. He had been sick for over a month and during that time had a few strokes but recovered from them not completely but he did. For a brief moment I was hopeful because 2 weeks ago we took Tommy to the vet and at that time he was almost on death's door. I had called and told them that I think he is dying I was wondering if maybe the vet could look at him to see if there is anything he can do for Tom or what he thinks we should do. I honestly thought that day he was going to tell me it is for the best to put Tommy to sleep. But he gave him a shot of cortisone so he can get around easily and a shot of Vitamin B to help stimulate his appetite and it did work for a short while but he still was slow to get around and tired out easily. I knew on Saturday night though that he was dying I looked at him and noticed he was starting to walk like he was drunk and had no balance which meant he had another stroke. His breathing was more rapid and was out of breath easily. So at bedtime I made a bed for him on our bed because he liked to sleep between us in bed every night. He slept through the night but when I got up in the morning to take the dog out he woke up a few moments later and was able to get off of the bed but then he dropped to the ground. He got up a moment later to get to the bathroom and he dropped to the ground there and was gone within minutes. I knew at that point he was going quick so I woke up Mike so he could say goodbye to him and we pet him and talked to him and told him we loved him until he was gone. After my Annie girl passed away in October Tommy kinda seemed to be depressed because I think he missed his pal. He stopped playing and running around like he used to do and just kept to himself. I use to call them the Grandma and Grandpa of the house because they were so close in age. Annie was 16 and Tom 17. They use to do everything together. I am so happy that I had 11 wonderful years with my Tommy. I used to always call him my rag doll because he reminded me of one so much. When we got him he was an abused cat. He was blind in the one eye, had little pieces of his ear missing and his tail had been broken at one point but never healed the right way so it was always crooked. It always use to feel so funny to accidentally touch his tail. Tommy knew we loved him and that he was in a house full of love. I am happy that I was able to give him a loving home all these years after having such a rough start. Having to say goodbye is always hard to do. I have been around animals all my life and have been able to witness the miracle of birth to watching them die and care for them in their final hours. Watching them go is always the hardest part and I wish I did not have to do so. I like to think old man Tom is with his pal Annie now and they are happy and paling around like they use to do all the time.

Before I close I wanted to mention, that from now on I will be moderating my blog. A few of my friends have been having issues with someone leaving nasty comments on their blog but whoever is doing it is anonymous so no one knows who is doing it. Since then I decided to moderate so that way if it happens I can filter what comes through. I hate to do this but think it is for the best. I hope I saved the setting right on my blog I will find out soon enough.

Forced to take a break

2010-04-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I am updating my blog this month to let everyone know that follows it may be a little while before I can get back on here. I have been having issues with my arm off and on since the winter but in the winter when it first started after the holidays I did not think anything of it too much because it was not such a bother to me and when it flared up it went away quickly as well so I left it at that. The last few weeks though my arm has been very bothersome and is only getting worse where I can't even get to sleep comfortably because the pain is a little much. Doing darn near anything from stitching to holding a cup or book or even opening a bottle of soda for James is becoming a little difficult. Well since the pain is getting more intense everyday I decided to get to the doctor and it turns out I have tendinitis. It started back in the winter from what the doctor had said but he told me I should have not ignored it either because that is why I have it so bad now because I have been stubborn and did not do anything til it got bad. He told me I have to stop doing a lot of the things I do like my stitching or typing on the computer and other things that will put strain on my arm and aggravate it. Seeing as I have had an issue with this for a while I was told I need to take care of myself now or else I will cause long term damage and it will not heal properly or I could put myself at risk of getting chronic tendinitis. So sadly for a bit I will not get to do what I want if I want my arm to get better quickly so I am hoping to be back sometime in May! Now lets see how good I am at listening! Doing not much for a while is going to drive me batty! Thanks for all the comments on my last post it is always nice when I have so many that pop in. See you in May! Happy stitching!

Some finishes finally!

2010-04-10T03:30:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I have been here but I have been keeping busy as well. First off the last time I blogged I mentioned we were going away for a few days. That was a wonderful time and everything went great. We did not do as we planned to but it still was a fun time just the 2 of us and nothing else! Ohio has been having a heck of a spring here lately. Since March the weather here has been decent. It has been in the 70's a lot of days and the last few weeks a lot of days in the 80's. Of course this would be the year that we have a big warm up in spring like that when I still do not have a working air conditioner for the living room. We will by June though. I just have to finish saving up for it. We ended up having a spot of good luck this week which put some extra money in the bank and left us with some money to get some things here that were broken and needed to be repaired like a new Lawnmower since we did not have one, a flat screen tv for the living room since the other one died last week and some money to work on the car. We could have gotten the ac this week as well but I wanted to use some of the extra money for bills and not all on shopping. Mike has been pulling in some crazy hours here as well. This time of year business is booming where he is at so he has been offered a lot of overtime and he has been taking it. There have been days where he pulled a 14 hour day in or like on Sunday he leaves at 1pm and I will not see him until 6am Monday morning. The extra money will be great but I will be glad when all of this is done too because he has been home very little and he already has a lot on his plate now as it is.

I have 2 finishes to share. Both are from Curtis Boehringer. The first is from the 3 for 2 club and it is the April design this is so simple to stitch in a matter of hours this is done. I also finished up my April angel from the barefoot angels of the month club. I like the way the stitching turned out but I always have an issue with deciding on what to do with them when it comes time to finishing them off and then at times I am not happy with my finishing either. Thanks for stopping by and of course all of your comments. They are always appreciated!

Some Easter stitching!

2010-03-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

I have a few Easter stitching updates to share. I was hoping to have more to share but like many fellow stitchers I fell into a rut and just was not motivated to want to do any stitching. After I got off of that then I picked up my needle and started some holiday stitching. The First one is a pattern that I got from one of my Cross Country Stitching magazines. The other one is from Waxing Moon it is called Spring bunny. Last week I got a very nice surprise in the mail from my friend Mylene she sent me a postcard and this adorable scissor fob that she made for me. I love it a lot! It is rare for me to get any stitchy mail from my friends so this was a very nice surprise to get! Thanks so much Mylene! Not much going on here except the same ole same ole of being busy most days. On Tuesday me and Mike are going away until Friday on a small getaway. Mike came into some extra money at work so we decided it would be perfect to do something nice just the 2 of us. I have not been away since my honeymoon nearly 13 years ago so I do think it is time to do so! The timing is perfect here. James' last day of school is tomorrow and then he starts spring break right after school he is going to a party/sleepover at his friends house and after that we will be spending the rest of his time at his grandparents house til we get back. My FIL has a lot planned for James like taking him to the Museum and the zoo so I think he will enjoy that. The bed n breakfast we plan on staying at is called Fitzgerald's Irish Bed & Breakfast. This is about 15 minutes away from where we live so I will be able to pop in at home and check on things if needs be. We plan on doing a few days trips as well. I have a few stitching projects to bring with me to pass some time. Have a wonderful week and thanks for stopping by!

A few small St. Patricks Day finishes to share

2010-03-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Well with next week being St. Patrick's day already I stitched up a few small designs. I am going to work on some Easter stuff starting today! My 2 finishes are both Lizzie Kate's of course. I started stitching on Wednesday and by Sunday night I was done with the both of them! I really do love the designs that are so quick and easy to stitch! You may think I am nuts but I do have my tree up still and fully intend on keeping it up. I usually decorate according to holidays and seasons. Since moving into our home a few years ago we gave up space and I have next to none closet space so I have no where to stick my tree. Since moving here I have had to get rid of a lot of stuff in all honesty because I had no where to put everything. I am hoping in a couple of years we can move into a bigger place and I will have space again! But anymore I tend to live by the saying do what makes you happy. Me and Mike have spent many years being unhappy with everything that was thrown our way and in the past I had many dark days because of it but now the last few years have been slowly coming together and we are having happier times all around so I could not ask for anything more!

The last week here has been good but busy. Been spending a lot of time at my inlaws. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday my FIL goes to his dialysis treatments so we end up visiting those days days as well. It still is an adjustment period for him he is very tired after wards but doing good. He has had to change his diet drastically which he is not happy about. He is starting to get use to the fact that at times others have to work their schedule around him. That was hard for him to accept because he is always an active person but with his health issues sidelining him anymore there is not so much he can do so that gets the best of him. Learned many interesting facts last week concerning the dialysis and what to expect as well. All in all though he is doing good and that is what counts!

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments in my last post and this post! Have a great week!

Happy March!

2010-03-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

Well a new month is upon us and I have some more updates to share! I have been busy lately with my stitching but that is not new for me. My stitching is my stress reliever so I am always turning to it. The new year has been stressful at times but I have not said much to anyone. I have been extremely stressed and worried for many reasons. My brother is driving me nuts. He will be 38 in June and he still cannot get it together no matter what. He has been homeless many times and is barely sober and always getting into trouble with the law. Me and Mike have opened our home to him many times over the years and have helped in any way we could but it just is frustrating that he won't help himself, I know you can't make anyone get help unless they are ready for it. The reason I am so everything concerning him is because yet again he managed to get into trouble with the law and this one will land him in jail for a while. I feel so angry and sad for him because I wish he would just grow up.

Me and Mike have also been very worried because for some time Mike's father has been very ill and after Christmas we knew things were going to change but it is so hard to see the wheels in motion. Tomorrow he begins dialysis because his kidneys are shot. He will be going 3 days a week every week. Since the dialysis will be starting he is also going to be put on a kidney donor list. My FIL has had no choice but to be forced into early retirement for the time being, doctor's orders. So since Christmas my MIL has been working 2 jobs to help make up for the lost income. I am hoping that things will come together for my inlaws because I love my FIL like my own father so it is very upsetting to see things like this now. The one bright spot is the place that my FIL will be getting his dialysis at is less than 10 minutes from where we live. He has mentioned on some of the days he would love someone to keep him company so I think this will be doable for us at times.

I have been so stressed that my mood anymore is not so good poor Mike I just don't have it in me for the most part to be chipper when I have to deal with the day to day stuff and all the family issues going on. This month sometime me and Mike are planning to get away just the 2 of us for a few days. I am so looking forward to this we really do need it!

Ok, enough rambling and on to my stitching! I have 2 finishes to share they are both from Curtis Boehringer. The first one is from the 3 for 2 club it is called March and the last one is my March angel from the barefoot angel of the month club. In my last post I had someone ask me about my finishing what it looks like so I am showing my backside this time so you can see what it looks like. I did not have any green fabric to use for the backsides so I used some black fabric I have had in storage for some time. I know the picture for the angel once again is not so great I need a new camera so bear with me with the pics. I also am showing my little bit of progress with my stocking that I am working on in my SAL. I am going to move at a turtles pace on this one because it is so simple to do I would be done with it in less than 2 weeks if this was all I was working on and since I have til Christmas I can move as slow as I like! So now I am going to get started on my swap gift real quick so I can get it sent out in the next few weeks and try to get a few small St. Patrick's Day things stitched before the day gets here. Thanks for stopping by and your comments and have a great week.

More finishes!

2010-02-12T04:25:00.000-08:00

I have been quite busy since my last update. I have 6 finishes to share! The first 4 things are what I made to send out to others. They all are Lizzie Kate patterns. I really love Lizzie Kate because those are so cute and simple to stitch. The first one I made 3 of the same one to send out to others. The one I made into a scented sachet and the other 2 I made into door hangers. The saying says it all in its simplicity! Live simply laugh often and love deeply. I want to make this for myself sometime. The next one I kept it very simple and made it into a bookmark. I picked this one for my friend because I know she likes flowers and the say Gather friends like flowers I knew she would get a kick out of it! The last 2 things I stitched are for me. They are both by Curtis Boehringer. The first one is the February block from the 3 for 2 club and then the last one is my February angel from the barefoot angel of the month club. For the life of me no matter how many times I took this pic I was so unsuccessful in getting a decent one which is frustrating!

Valentine's day is around the corner. Me and Mike celebrated a few days early and it was such a lovely day! This is the first year in about 5 years that we have been in a better place financially to actually to be able to afford to go out and get something for one another. I got Mike an MP3 player. He has been wanting one for some time and now he finally got one. Even though my son James has one as well he threw a stink because Mike's is black and like his mom he likes the color black as well so he was trying to get Mike to trade with him. Mike got me a beautiful necklace of a black heart than has little diamonds all around it. We went out to eat at our favorite restaurant and we went window shopping before heading home to enjoy the rest of our evening in quiet and enjoy each others company. Today we are celebrating as a family and going to a movie the 3 of us and going out to eat and then our Valentine's day celebrations will be over and done with! It was a good day the other day with me and Mike and I look forward to more times like this after many years of not being able to. Happy Valentines day everyone and thanks so much for stopping by!

Some stitching finishes!

2010-01-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have been busy with my stitching and I am still going! I have 3 finishes to share this week! I finally finished Gingerbread Trio by LHN, and a small pattern by Curtis Boehringer from the 3 for 2 club it is called January. I actually stitched February today but will not post that til the new month gets here. These were so quick and simple to stitch it took a few hours to stitch these up. I like that! The third finish is the first of 4 patterns from the Prairie Schooler book Santa and Friends. For the life of me no matter how hard I tried I could not get a decent picture of it I still feel the picture I got does not do it justice! I currently am working on my February angel from Curtis Boehringer and a few small gifts for friends that I am hoping to be able to show off in a few weeks! As always thanks for stopping by and the comments that you leave! Have a great week!

The last few weeks

2010-01-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well I have been busy with my stitching in between being busy. The fall was a bit rocky with my son but in the new year it got resolved so I am happy about that. My husband went back to school he took a leave of absence back in October because he was getting burned out so that kinda sucks that he is back in school because his time will be limited again since he also works full time. One of the many reasons why I decided to only work part time so I could always be here to take care of the house and my son and when Mike is home to spend that time with him. Last week we did our taxes as well and it went good. I have spent this week paying off old debt so we can work on cleaning up our credit. I cannot tell you how good this makes me feel! After paying the bills off we decided to treat ourselves a bit as well because after a year of doing without and barely getting by I think we earned it a little. I bought a few things for the cats and dog as well. I bought a new cat tower because the other one was barely hanging on and a jungle gym of sorts for the cats. I have been having so much fun watching my herd playing in this! Today was kinda a lazy day here as you can tell by the picture of my teddy bear of a husband with the cats by his side! Hope everyone has a great week!

Some stitching updates

2010-01-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

I have not finished a lot this time around with my stitching. I know the last time I posted I had many finishes but I have been moving at a snail's pace lately. My mind has been else where but now that things have been resolved I should be able to get back on track! I have one finish that I can share it is a Prairie Schooler piece. The other 2 projects in my rotation is Gingerbread Trio by LHN (Little House Needleworks) I have taken a fond liking of these patterns lately. They are cute! The other one in my rotation is one of the 4 patterns in the Santa and Friends book that I got for Christmas. My dad's girlfriend surprised me this weekend with a little something she knew I would like. She gave me 2 stitched Lizzie Kate pieces I love them so much! I can't wait to show them off next year!

Week in general

2010-01-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

Last week I got baby Bela fixed as you can see from the picture she has been a sore and tired girl! Last week we got hit good by a few snow storms that kept my husband and son home a lot last week so this week I have been getting back on track with everything here since everyone is gone again.

Some finishes to ring in the new year!

2010-01-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

Like many I have taken a small break from posting and such because the holidays were a busy time and with James being home from school I was spending a lot of time with him. It was nice to have everyone together like they were. It makes me sad a little that everything is back to normal and my days are spent being by myself again. While I was away from my blog I was stitching my time away! I have 4 finishes to show off! The first one is from Lizzie Kate called my favorite time of the year, the second one is my personal favorite it is called Holly and Berries by LHN. I had seen this on Sadies blog last month and had to have it for myself and now I do! The third one is called Cherish each new day by the Gentle Art. I made this for a crafting group I am in every month we have to send out a handmade gift to our assigned partner so I made this into something she can hang on her door. The last one is from the series Barefoot angels of the month club by Curtis Boehringer. I have had this pattern for over 5 years now and have finally picked it up. This angel is for January. I will be stitching a new one each month. I currently have 2 projects in my rotation that I will be going back and forth with. The 2 I am working on now is Season's Greetings by Bent Creek and 1 of the 4 patterns from the Prairie Schooler book Santa and friends. Next week I am going to start stitching here and there on a stocking that I am doing with a group of ladies. It is from the Better Home and Garden series. I will be stitching the Stitcher's Studio stocking. I have to wait until we get paid on the weekend at that time I will be purchasing my fabric to get started. Winter has hit hard in Ohio so I have been spending a lot of time inside and stitching my days away and getting a lot done as well!

My Prairie Schooler Christmas and new beginnings!

2009-12-31T10:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year I got a lot of what I wanted without even asking for it! How about that! Mike gave me 5 Prairie Schooler patterns for Christmas and I had gotten a 30.00 gift certificate from my advent exchange partner at 123stitch.com so I stocked up a little on thread and got 3 Schooler patterns as well and then last but not least my good friend Mary Loiuse sent me a belated Christmas gift that had the Schooler chart Santas and Snowmen and the chart for the stocking SAL I am taking part in in the new year! The charts I got are as follows November, December, Santa and Friends, When Witches go Riding, Birdsong ll, Daffodils, Stars and Stripes and the 12 days of Christmas the book I got was days 9 through 12 so at a later time I will have to get days 1 through 8. I also got Seasonigs Greetings from Bent Creek. I am so thrilled at all I got that I do not have to worry about not having anything to do now!

I set up some stitching goals for the new year. I have signed up to take part of a stocking SAL for the new year. It is a pattern from the better homes and gardens collection. I am doing the stocking Stitchers studio and if I feel really inspired I might do seamstress' cuff as well. When I am done with these I plan on giving them away as Christmas gifts next year. I have a few in mind that would love these. My main goal is to try to have a finish a month if possible in between working on other things. So hopefully that goes well!

The last few weeks...

2009-12-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well I have been busy and trying to catch up on things. My Christmas was good. It was a meager one here at home but it was still great because I was with Mike and James my 2 favorite men in the world to be with! Later that day we went to in mylaws for brunch it was great as well but I was glad to get home. I did take pics of some of the gifts I made to give away to family but James deleted them before I could download the pics so I have nothing to show! Mostly for the adults this year I kept it simple and made all the gifts. For my inlaws I made them a chocolate chip cookie mixture in a jar and made a few ornaments that I attached to the jar with some chocolate dipped spoons for when they drink hot chocolate. I gave the chocolate dipped spoons with hot cocoa packets to everyone on my list with the pointsetta ornament I made. It is in one of my posts here from earlier in the month. The children on my list they got 10.00 a piece seeing as I have 8 kids to shop for on top of mine that was even too much for my budget. I have been finally stitching away and got one finish done by LHN and am alomost done with another I hope to post those finishes some time this weekend! In closing I want to say thank you to all who follows my blog. I hope everyone has a great new year ahead!

Some finishes

2009-12-21T03:56:00.000-08:00

This week is Christmas and things are slowly starting to wind down here, thank heavens! I have been a busy bee this month with making things to give as gifts to friends and family. Last week I spent my Thursday evening making up 15 goodie bags for my son to give to his teachers, principal, bus driver and such at school. I decided to make for all of them chocolate dipped spoons and a few packets of hot chocolate to go with it. I figure this is what I am going to do for Mike's cousins and uncle for Christmas as well. For the most part I have made ornaments for most of the family. On Thursday me and James will get his grandparents gift made up. I decided to give them a chocolate chip cookie mix in a mason jar and dress it up with ornaments I made for them. To have to buy gifts for everyone in the family I simply cannot do because we have fallen on hard times over the years and are working back up to where we used to be so making the gifts this year has been a lot of work on me but at the same time a huge money saver and I fully intend to do this again next year! There are a few finishes I want to share as well. The first one is something I made for my husband Mike a little sappy but oh well, it describes what I feel about him. The summer will be 14 years we have been together and we have been through our share of hardships but seem to have walked away from it even stronger. This pattern is by the Sunflower Seed and the second one is an ornament I made for my son James to put on his tree. I know he will like this because he had seen this pattern a few months ago when he was helping me to decide what ornaments to make for family and he mentioned how much he liked it. He loves penguins and I think it turned out cute. This pattern came from the book called The Big Book of Christmas Quickies by Leisure Arts. This is all I can share for now but will have more updates in the days to follow. Thanks for stopping by.

Finish for myself!

2009-12-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

I spent the week off and on stitching a pattern I came across for a tissue box. I put the finishing touches on it this evening and have it in my room now! I love cross stitch that is my first passion as many as you ladies can agree, but once in a blue moon I will do something that is plastic canvas and that is what I did. I am showing what it looks like from the front and side. Now back to finishing holiday stitching and making more gifts. The more I think about this week the more I panic because I still have too much to do! Have a great week!

Holiday gifts

2009-12-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

Well I have been busy even though I have not been posting. I sent out my sisters package on Monday and she already got it so I can show that off. I made her a ornament and gave her some hang tags that she can use to dress up a gift or put them on her tree if she likes. I also have made some simple little ornaments that I am going to dress up a gift bag with for some of my friends. I made 11 of these little things! I have more stitched but can't show off yet because they have not been given so I look forward to showing that off later this month! I have been putting finishing touches on ornaments to give to family for Christmas and made a door hanger for my father but can't show that yet either! So far December has been good. I have been getting Christmas cards in the mail from my stitching friends and some have had little surprises in them! I am also taking part of an advent exchange in the cross stitching group I am in. I am thankful that my partner came through and I got my package in a timely manner. Some of the ladies in the group are still waiting for theirs to arrive so I am hoping their packages arrive quickly so they can take part of it as well and have fun. I have been a little disappointed with the exchange I don't know what to say so I won't. The gifts have been wrapped very pretty though and I love the paper the gifts have been wrapped in. As you can see Lana is having fun laying in my stash and in the next picture my baby Bela is hanging with her sister Lana. Bela is growing up fast! On January 4 she gets fixed finally. I can't afford to get her declawed but getting her fixed is the most important as all of my other cats and dog are. The last picture I could not resist because it is rare to have all my babies in one picture. Here they are at feeding time! Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Finally I can start posting!~Ornament exchange

2009-12-04T00:03:00.000-08:00

Me and Sadie decided to do a ornament exchange this year between the 2 of us and last week we both got our ornaments! I made Sadie a Santa ornament called Pere Noel. I got the pattern from a leisure arts book I checked out of the library. Sadie made me a Prairie Schooler Santa! I love it!

Some belated Halloween stitching to show off

2009-11-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have been here to post. Our Halloween was good James had a lot of fun that weekend between the school dance and then a party that weekend with friends and sleepover and such. I barely seen him Halloween eve and the day of Halloween because he was busy with all this. All the good times caught up with him though because he woke up the day after Halloween really sick. He had gotten the flu and by that evening his germs had rubbed off on me. So needless to say I was feeling too poopy for most of the week to do anything. I finally picked up my stitching on Saturday and got a lot accomplished! After this post I won't be able to update too much with stitchy updates because I am in the process of making ornaments for family and friends and since a lot of them take a peek at my blog I can't really show any pics of what I am doing until everyone has gotten what I made.

The first piece I finished is called Candy Corn by the Sunflower Seed and the second is a freebie pattern that I have from the Primitive Needle. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T00:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Friday night my husband carved pumpkins. We were not going to but Mike decided to at the last minute. He has been doing the patterns from the book called Pumpkin Masters for years now. These are the 3 he decided to do. Mike had a little helper of sorts last night as well. Our newest baby Bela that we got back in the summer for some reason was very interested in what Mike was doing so she kept getting in his way and sat on the coffee table and watched him carve away! I hope everyone has a great and safe Halloween today!

A few finishes

2009-10-25T00:47:00.000-07:00

I got a few finishes in this week. The first one is a Halloween themed one it is called Happy Hauntings. I got this pattern from a book I checked out of my local library. The book is called Happy Holidays in cross stitch. The second piece is a saying that I heard a while ago and I loved the saying so much that I kept meaning to stitch it. I finally got around to it after 3 years! With Halloween being less than a week away now there is a small piece that I want to stitch before starting Christmas stitching. I am hoping to be done with my last Halloween piece in time for the weekend! Thanks for looking!

My Anniversary

2009-10-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

Well today is the 25th and that means one thing for me, it is my 12th wedding anniversary! Twelve years ago I married the man that managed to sweep me off of my feet! Just like with any marriage we have had our ups and downs but in between that we have had many happy times as well that has given me many fond memories. When I met Mike I fell head over heels for him and was a goner after that! Throughout the years he has been a good provider, and loving husband and father and I could not ask for anything more. He is everything I want and need and I am thankful for the good life we live together each day and thank the lord everyday for bringing this wonderful man into my life and for giving me my son who is too much like his father!

The face of a class president!

2009-10-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

There has been so much going on that I forgot to mention that last week my son was elected class president! He was thrilled he came home that day from school grinning ear to ear! We are happy for him! His first act as president was to see about having a school dance which he was able to work out with the principal for October 30. He has a special girl in mind but is being bashful about asking her. I tell him though if he waits too long someone else will ask her and then it will be too late! It is a Halloween party the kids will get to dress up if they like.

A start, and a finish, etc.

2009-10-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post on my blog of my latest finish and such but so much has been going on that has kept me from doing what I need to do and want to do and instead I put many things on the back burner this week but am slowly climbing back up and getting everything done. On Monday I had finished a piece for my dad for his Birthday called "Thank You For Serving" by The Sunflower Seed. I have way too many birthdays in the summer and they trickle down to November and then in between that I have Christmas shopping to do so this year I put on my thinking cap and decided that for the adults for Christmas I am making everyone something and I decided to make my dad's birthday gift as well. That was where I ran into a few snags at first only because he is very hard to shop for and he has a hard time with manners at times and instead of biting his tongue when he gets something he does not like and lie he will be blunt and tell you he does not like it. So I was shopping online for quite some time looking at possible patterns that I may like that pertain to him and FINALLY I found this pattern that best describes my father. He dropped out of school to join the army and served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1969. Through the years even though he was not overseas he still remained active with the United States Army and was gone a lot. I hate to say this but I am not sure what it was he did all those years in the Army forgive me if this sounds bad! He more than liked it when I gave this to him on Monday evening. When he looked at this he actually cried and told me this means a lot coming from me and this is better than any gift I could have bought. All that caught me by surprise but I am thrilled he loved it so much now my only problem is how do I top this for Christmas? I hope I find a winner of a pattern like I did for his birthday! I also have been working off and on on another Halloween piece that is called Happy Hauntings. This is a pattern I got from a book that I checked out at my local library the book is called Happy Holidays in cross stitch. Last but not least I am also putting the finishing touches on another Lizzy Kate piece that I am mailing out to friend. It is called If the Broom Fits I had done this one for myself earlier in the month so it was an easy stitch. I want to finish Happy Hauntings because I need to start on another piece that I want to have done for next weekend. It is my 12th wedding anniversary on the 25th so I found a little something I want to make and give to my husband as well as a gift card to gamestop of course. Then there are a few small Halloween pieces I want to do before it is time to start Christmas stitching! Can you believe it?

Not a stitchy update this time around~ next one will be though

2009-10-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

For some of my friends that know me I am an avid animal lover and have pets of my own. Yesterday my cat Annie died. She was 16. I had gotten her as a gift for my 16th birthday. She was a peach fuzzed little cutie. Over the years we grew up and changed together with all the changes that life threw our way. When I was single she used to be a big old grump and hated my boyfriends she would growl and hiss at them and not let them come anywhere near her. That all changed when I met Mike my husband. she turned into a big sweetheart after meeting him and turned into an even bigger softie after my son was born. When James was a baby she would sleep under his crib every night and then when he was old enough to sleep in a real bed then she would climb into bed with him every night and occasionally sneak under the covers with him as well. She was s good girl and a part of our family. It was hard to see her suffer and even harder to see her pass away because towards the end she was in so much pain. I like to think that she is at peace now and no longer in pain. This week has been hard and stressful for me because I have so much going on here as well that today was one of those days that I just wanted to be left alone and I stayed in bed most of the day after I got James on the bus this morning. The following pictures are of my Annie girl when she was a baby and when I was a teenager and her with my husband and son over the years.

In the next day or so I will post a update on what I am working on. I finished a very special piece for my father and I think many will like this one! Thanks for stopping by.

Finally some finishes!

2009-10-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything and I wanted to try to post once a week with a finish of some sorts if possible but the last few weeks have been very chaotic here and stressful as well. I am not sure if I will be able to post too much with the coming weeks because I have a lot of things going on so that will also throw a wrench into my stitching as well so I will have to see what kind of progress I make with my time being limited. I have four small finishes to share 2 of them are Lizzy Kate patterns called Don't Bug Me and If the Broom Fits. The next one I am not sure of the designers name or what the pattern is called this is one where I misplaced the pattern after finishing this and the last one is a small little fall scene that I got from a pattern book called Thru the Seasons by Sandi Gore Evans. I am also showing a picture of what little progress I have made on a new project that I will be putting to the side for a bit. It is called Patchwork Christmas by Willow Ridge Designs. Thanks for looking!

My Lizzie Kate week

2009-09-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well last week was a busy but productive week for me. I had the week off of work last week so after I got my husband off to work and my son to school I had the place to myself so in between I caught up on house work and did a ton of stitching. I stitched 5 ornies last week and just put the finishing touches on them today. I made 5 altogether. Four of them were Lizzy Kate's and the other one was a pattern that I had grabbed from a Donna Kooler book. The first 4 ornies are Lizzy Kate's of course. They are as follow: Welcome Fall, Spooky time(my husband loves this one the most), the next is a new pattern from Lizzy Kate that is called a Quick it. I love how this came out so I am going to do the Quick it that was just released for Christmas for myself and then the last one is a Halloween one. Lucky for me these patterns I got a hold of for free! Turns out my dads girlfriend is a big Lizzy Kate fan and has her bedroom decked out in Finished Lizzy Kate pieces. So since she already stitched these out she gave me the patterns as well as many others! The last ornie was a pattern from a Donna Kooler book called Cat Lovers Welcome Here. As always thanks for stopping by and all the comments that I have been getting it always makes me feel good about my stitching! Happy Fall everyone!

Stopping by for a moment

2009-09-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well this week was a busy but relaxing one for me. I had the week off of work so I spent most of my time this week stitching and I got a lot done! Mike's hours are always funky and his work schedule is not the same every week. One day he can work at 5am to 2pm and then the next day be back at 3pm til midnight. Working in retail his hours are always jumbled on top of his classes starting back up his free time is very limited and it has him gone a lot instead of being home. James being back in school and then after school activities it is like a ghost town around here so that is why I got a lot done this week. If I did not keep myself busy like I do I think I would go nuts! This week I got 5 ornaments stitched I don't have any pics to post today because I want to put the finishing touches on them first before I post pics of them completed. I will probably do that on Tuesday. I have to go to work tomorrow and grocery shop and then head to my inlaws for dinner so I doubt I will have a lot of time tomorrow to get anything accomplished.

The ornaments I have done this week have a theme. They are all Halloween themed except for one. The one is a ornament for my son of three cats side by side saying cat lovers welcome here and the other 4 are Lizzy Kate ornaments that are Halloween themed. I am hoping to post pics on Tuesday after I got them finished off. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

New finish~ Shaker Hearts

2009-09-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

Another quick finish, this is called Shaker Hearts. This pattern caught my eye because it is done in various shades of red which I really love! My bedroom is decorated in red so this was just perfect for me. I have to admit that at first as I kept stitching I was not really liking it and was considering dumping this one but I kept stitching on to see if I would take a better liking to it. I have to admit after it is all fixed up I really do like it! I want to eventually make some more pillows that are decorative for my bed but I have plenty of time to do that. I already started stitching a new piece on Saturday night so I am hoping to be done with that by the weekend. Thanks for looking!

Lana in my crafting mess again

2009-09-12T11:14:00.001-07:00

As always Lana loves to lay down in my crafting mess while I am busy working.

Today was my day of putting finishing touches on completed works

2009-09-12T11:01:00.001-07:00

Today I put the finishing touches on some pieces that I completed. I hate to finish up anything I do because it is time consuming and at times I am afraid that my work does not fare up as well as others. I framed Matilda by Moonlight, the camera kept giving off a glare so don't mind that. I also finished up my moose and bear wall hanging. The next piece Cherish each new day is a gift for my dad's girlfriend. I turned this into a little sachet that she can hang on a door knob and last but not least I made 2 Christmas ornaments for my tree the finishing is not that great but seeing as it is for me I don't need to knock myself out with details. The first ornament is called Cardinal Christmas and the other is Pere Noel. Hope you like. Sometimes I feel so inferior to the other ladies because they seem to do such bang up jobs on their work.

Back to school!

2009-09-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was back to school finally for James. He normally would start at the end of August but this summer his school had to have a lot of needed renovations done which delayed school starting. He had a good first day a lot of new kids this year but some returning faces as well. This year his school added a few things and are doing some things differently as well. We went to orientation on Thursday afternoon and after the principal got done speaking we were allowed to look around the school and find our child's homeroom. The classrooms are very roomy more so than they have ever had in the past. The kids have their own lockers and for each class they have they switch back to different rooms instead of everything being in one classroom. I really like the layout this year it is just like junior high. For anyone that is confused by what I am saying I know these are things that occur in regular schools but seeing as this is a special needs school things are different. For years they worked in a small building that accommodated the staff and children but they could have used more space as well. The classrooms were so tiny and cramped and to have 3 teachers in there as well it was a challenge at times. So that is why I was thrilled that the school is more like a regular school for the kids this year. They even are thinking of holding a dance for the children. I think that would be neat as well.

As you can see behind James all my crafting clutter. My living room is a big mess right now and will probably be for a while!

A few finishes & halfway through with another

2009-09-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! My son had a really fun time camping, he was bummed out about coming home. I spent my weekend for the most part just like I wanted to all by myself watching my favorite dvds while stitching the weekend away and boy did it go by fast! Both finishes are plastic canvas finishes. It has been about a year since I have done any plastic canvas I have been cross stitching mainly through the year. The first finish like I mentioned earlier was supposed to be a set of placemats but I didn't want to do that for a few reasons. My husband has such funky hours with work and school most days it is just me and James. We use our coffee table as our table at dinner time. So I just turned this into a hanging that could be displayed anywhere. I attached some homespun fabric to it and have it hanging over my tv trays as the one picture shows. The other finish is coasters. Like I said I love the rustic/lodge look so I love my 2 finishes a lot. The last piece I worked on this weekend as well is a cross stitch piece called Shaker Hearts. This is a pattern I came across from a book I checked out at the library. It is more than halfway done. There are 3 squares left to stitch. 2 of them will have a quilt design and the last square will have some more flowers in it. It is a little different but easy and I think it will look good once done. I was thinking of finishing this off by making it a pillow to display on my bed and maybe in time make a few more cross stitch pieces and turn them into pillows as well for the bed. I should bring this to a close it is 3:30 and I need to head to bed for a bit because I need to be back up at 6 to cook breakfast. First day of school today finally! Yea!

My productive weekend so far

2009-09-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Well it is Sunday. James comes home tomorrow afternoon and Mike will be home in a few hours. We are having a quiet steak dinner tonight just the 2 of us and probably walk our dog Strider to work off dinner. We have been on a diet for a while but it is slow progress because I don't exercise as much as I did like when I was in my 20's. After 30 I lost a lot of initiative in that respect.

Got a lot done this weekend as far as getting some serious crafting done, I surprised myself this weekend as well. I finished the coasters last night and yesterday as well I also finished the rustic type picture both of them are in plastic canvas. I put my tissue box holder on hold for a week because the pattern Shaker Hearts is a pattern I found in a book that I got from the library. I tried to renew the book today but was not able to so I picked that back up today so I can get that done and return the book to the library. Made decent progress on Shaker hearts. I am really liking it. This will go in my bedroom when done because I have our bedroom decorated in red anyway so I think this will go nicely in my room.

I finally got around to hanging up the curtains in James' room that I made. I love homespun fabric so that is what I used for his curtains the colors of the fabric are navy blue and tan very country looking. It is the same fabric that I used to make the curtains in the living room and kitchen and the bathroom. As you may tell I am partial to the color blue. I have a lot of blue in my living room.

If I get around to it tomorrow I want to hurry and put new fabric on our stools for the kitchen. I had gotten the stools for free to begin with so that is why the fabric on the seats right now is ripping. It should be a quick project.

I will finally post pics of my progress either tomorrow or Tuesday sometime of my very active weekend. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

What a day so far!

2009-09-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was nice and quiet. Got a lot done. I wanted to finish up a small section on my cross stitch before I put it to the side for the weekend so I can work on some plastic canvas stuff which I started on last night. I put the finishing touches on an old plastic canvas project that had been sitting around for a while. I love the rustic/lodge look this is how I have our living room done. Also am a big wolf/ moose lover. The project I finished up yesterday was supposed to be a placemat but I decided to just turn it into a wall hanging. I am not sure what it is called because I no longer have the pattern I just had to finish up stitching in the white in the background, but it is a rustic type looking project. It came out lovely. I am working on making some moose coasters for the living room I am hoping to be done with those by tomorrow so I can finish up the last plastic canvas project that I want to do before putting my supplies away and that would be a tissue box holder.

This morning turned out to be long. I spent a good few hours today between making phone calls and going down to my bank. I check my checking account every morning and when I looked today it was overdrawn by 254.00 so I spent a lot of time on the phone and the bank getting it fixed. I decided I am just going to take my business elsewhere because this bank I have been going to for the last 3 years it has been one thing after another. They always say how safe it is to bank with them and so on but if that was the case then why does my checking account always get comprimsed and has fradulant charges put on it?

So now I am ready to enjoy the rest of the day a little frazzled but I want to enjoy the day instead of keep stressing.

I have a question maybe a little rant why is it if someone follows your blog but then decides to block you so you can't look at their blog but still follows your blog is that right? I guess I will just do the same in return and block them. Not trying to be mean in any way just saying.

Baby Bella's lazy day with me yesterday

2009-09-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was so nice I had a great day of getting some crafting accomplished. Seeing as the house was so quiet our pets slept most of the day. Usually when James is here he is always playing with them and waking them up so they are pretty active during the day for the most part so maybe they were enjoying the weekend themselves just like me. I snapped a few pics of our baby Bella she is 4 months old now I have to talk to the vet next week about when I can get her fixed. All of our pets including our dog is fixed. The problem I have with my vet is he is always overbooked. The last time I had to get one of our cats fixed 3 years ago I had to go elsewhere because his calender was so overbooked that he could not squeeze me in. I am hoping Bella can go to the vet we go to all the time because he is a friend of Mike's parents and over the years he has given us discounts and freebies and willing to work on payment plans for us if needed be. Anyway yesterday Bella spent most of her day lounging around and in between messing with my sewing stuff.

It's the weekend!

2009-09-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

It is another holiday weekend. While many will be with friends and family I will be home alone. James left this afternoon to go camping with his grandparents he will be back on Monday afternoon. Mike has to work all weekend. I have gotten used to his hours because he has always worked in retail and especially now that he is a department head he is needed there more as well. That is alright though I have my weekend planned out. This week I purposely did every thing I needed to do so that this weekend I can hole myself up in the house and be left alone and do nothing but sew. Today was definitely a busy day though. Woke up at 7 got ready to go to work for a bit then I did my grocery shopping for the week ahead got home put the groceries away made lunch for Mike and James while they were doing that I packed James' bags for the weekend and then washed the dog and then when all that was done they were getting ready to leave. So I took a relaxing shower and locked the doors and turned on the ac and now I am ready to sit back and do nothing except for what I want to do this weekend!

James finally goes back to school on Tuesday, he is actually excited about going back I was happy to hear him say that. I will have to take a pic of him in his uniform Tuesday morning. I send James to a special needs school. I love this school because it is more James' pace and the classrooms are smaller. I love Summit Academy all around. This is his fourth year of going there. It does not come cheap though. We have to pay a monthly tuition fee til it is paid off but it is so worth it. James has ADHD and Asperger's when I sent him to public school he could not keep up the teacher was giving him a hard time as well as the kids it was bad all around. The breaking point for me was when I walked into his room and found him trying to hang himself in his room because he could not deal with everyone treating him the way they did. Now things are nothing but good! He loves his school, teachers and of course friends and there is even a girl there that he wants to start dating but I told him no dating til the end of the school year. Boy that will be interesting!

I have a few projects I am working on. I started a new cross stitch project called Shaker hearts. I like this pattern because the pattern is done in various shades of red. I have taken a liking to the color red lately. I also have a few plastic canvas projects I am working on this weekend. At the end of the holiday weekend I will post pics of what I got accomplished this weekend. Have a great weekend everyone!

Lazy day

2009-09-04T11:35:00.001-07:00

My babies being lazy. Thank heavens I have a king size bed! The white cat is Arnold, not too fond of that name but that is what my son wanted to name him. The cat next to Arnie is Tigger my quiet man. Then there is Tracy in the back she is the black and white kitty then of course Smoky the grey blob that is looking on. I call him big baby because that is what he is a chubby mama's boy and then there is Percy sleeping next to Smoky. Usually at bedtime Smoky likes to sleep next to me and then Tracy even in the summer will climb under the covers and sleep in between me and Mike and the Arnie likes to sleep at my feet the rest usually sleep around the place at times a cat or 2 will sleep with my son James. Usually there is never a dull moment here always something going on!

Finished Christmas ornies for my sister

2009-09-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

I have started on making my gifts for Christmas to give to family this year. I have tons of supplies that has been sitting here for some time so I actually have everything I need to make all my crafts all I have to do is make them so I won't be breaking my wallet at all this year that much. I usually keep the gifts for my sister simple because she is on disability and does not work so we tend to keep it simple. I made these 2 ornaments in a hurry I started on Saturday and finished on Wednesday not bad. The first pattern is a Lizzy Kate pattern called Cozy Christmas Wishes and the other one is a pattern that I found from a Leisure Arts book I have had for some time. My son James picked out the kitty cat pattern he figured she would like that because she is a cat lover as well. I tried to cutesy these up for my sister I think she will like it.

I will start on making some more Christmas gifts sometime next week I want to be a little selfish and do a few quick things for my house! Hope you like and thanks for stopping by.

Lana in my crafting mess

2009-09-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today I was putting the finishing touches on the ornaments that I made in hurry for my sister because I have so much more to make before Christmas gets here as far as making gifts. My living room despite best efforts is now one big cluttered pile of crafting things in the corner of the living room. I had a lot of stuff piled around today while finishing up a few things and true to form someone found my crafting stuff to have fun with.

Small Christmas ornies for my sister

2009-09-02T00:51:00.000-07:00

I finished up my sisters Christmas present all I have to do is in the next day finish them off by turning them into ornaments for her tree. The one pattern Cozy Christmas Wishes is a Lizzy Kate pattern and the other one with the cats is a pattern that I have from a Christmas book where it has over 100 simple Christmas things to stitch and turn into gifts. This year I am making all the gifts for the adults that I have to give gifts to. I have a long haul ahead of me still, but in the long run by doing this I will be saving lots of money. I am keeping it simple for my sister because she is on disability so her budget is very tight. So we tend to keep a 10.00 minimum when it comes to our gift exchanges.

I also want to finish up 2 ornies I made for myself back in early August. I stitched them then shoved them off to the side when done.

Matilda by Moonlight

2009-08-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

I finished Matilda by Moonlight I started on her last Thursday and just finished her up a short bit ago. I think she turned out wickedly cute! I got this pattern from the same magazine as Ghostie's Garden. Seeing as I have finished this it is time for me to start on some holiday stitching now for family and then after I finish one I will switch to something I want to do for me. I have gotten a lot done this month as far as cross stitching goes. This is my fifth finish this month alone. Hope you enjoy because I had fun making her and can't wait to display her in my home when I decorate for Halloween!

My little helper

2009-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

I was stitching in bed last night and Tigger decided to keep me company, he loves to sleep on my sewing stuff from time to time

Our babies

2009-08-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

Just some random pics of my babies being silly

What's for dinner?

2009-08-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

My baby Bella being a stinker after getting to lick the plate after dinner!

Another week in the bag!

2009-08-28T17:49:00.001-07:00

Well the weekend is here again! One more week of freedom for my son before he goes back to school! He goes back on the 8th. It has been a busy week here. Went to the lawyer's on Monday and that went well. Fingers crossed on that one. My mother in law has not been at work this week. She will go back on Monday I am not sure about her job. I think it is not my place to ask her about her job security when it is a sensitive time for her anyway right now. Next weekend James goes on his last camping trip of the summer so I will have the place to myself. Plenty of time to do what I want since I will be home a lone a lot! Yea! Mike went back to school as well. His new quarter started on Wednesday. After this class is done he is taking a leave of absence til mid January. When he goes back he only has 4 more classes to complete I believe before he has his Bachelor' s degree. Hopefully that will mean bigger and better things here in time. After so man years of being broke and just getting by I look forward to that changing eventually.

I started on Matilda by Moonlight last Thursday and I am very close to being done with this one by the end of the weekend if not sooner.

So I guess that is it for now, back to my stitching!

Sad news

2009-08-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

My father in law called a bit ago and told me that my mother in laws boss had passed away this evening. He had been sick for a while and had his share of hardships in the last few years. He lost his wife a few years ago and then in the winter his daughter had passed away from ovarian cancer. He was not just my mother in laws boss he was a friend of the family. I feel terrible and am doing as my father in law asked and that is to keep his family in our prayers this evening.

I also feel bad because my father in law has been sick for a while as well. He had surgery last week to prepare him for dialysis because over the years his kidneys have been rapidly shutting down on him. His doctor says when he starts dialysis he will have to be put on a kidney donor list as well. Because of this my father in law has been off of work a lot this year and is considering only working part time when he starts dialysis. Because my mother in laws boss passed away no one knows at the moment what that means for her as far as having a job. I feel awful because they have both had a rough year as well and seeing as they are both 60 right now it would be hard for my mother in law to find a job in this market as well as possibly making what she has been over the years. Speaking from experience it is no fun to find yourself without a job. I will be speaking to her tomorrow after we get done at the lawyers office concerning James and go from there.

Spider cat!

2009-08-23T15:20:00.001-07:00

Bella is all baby that is for sure! She is hyper and very playful for her own good some days. I have a few fake plants in the house and yesterday she discovered them. She leaps into the tree and starts climbing her way up all the way to the top.I thought this was too cute and funny so I had to get a picture of this.

A quiet Sunday

2009-08-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have been home today doing odds n ends. It has been a busy week and stressful at the same time. I am enjoying today's quiet before tomorrow gets busy again. I finally was able to sit and look through my Cross Country Stitching magazine that I got earlier in the week. I love this magazine because the patterns all have a country/rustic look to them which is what I love and is the gest of the patterns I stitch. I was kinda disappointed though because even though the patterns are lovely they did not catch my eye. Maybe next issue will have something that catches my eye. I finished off some finished projects. I framed Ghostie's Garden and have my herb and spice sampler hanging in the kitchen as well. All that is left right now is to make the Cherish each new day finish into a pillow for my dad's girlfriend and then I will be set. I have been stitching up a storm since Thursday. I usually have a hard time sleeping but this week sleep is the last thing on my mind. So I have been sitting up all night and sewing the night away and sneak into bed when the sun comes out for a while.

I have been working on Matilda by Moonlight. I have to copy this pattern to my computer tonight because this is a pattern in a magazine which Ghostie's Garden came from as well. A fellow cross stitcher from the cross stitch group loved the finished piece so much she asked for a copy of the pattern and I told her I would just mail it to her. I need to get rid of some of my clutter anyway. I keep meaning to list all the cross stitch patterns and leaflets I have but I have not had much time to sit at my computer for a while so I am hoping to do this during the week.

I wanted to frame my herb and spice sampler but my kitchen is only so big and I have only so much wall space so I turned the samplers into something else hope you like.

It's love

2009-08-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Our dog Strider and Lana. These 2 are always paling around. Lana likes to sleep next to Strider and at times I will catch Strider licking her and Lana head rubbing against the dog. They may not want to admit it but I see it from time to time they love one another.

The shoe is on the other foot

2009-08-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Since Wednesday afternoon me and my husband have been a mess emotionally. James my son came home from his friends house and told me that his friend's house had been broken into and that the police were called out already and he spoke to witness' the officer told my son to go home and wait for him he would be back to talk to him. Some time had passed and I thought it would be alright for him to go because the officer never came here. Sure enough a few minutes after James left then he showed up on my doorstep. He explained to me what had happened, said there were 6 witness that seen the kid that went inside the house. As it turns out the house was unlocked, pretty darn stupid on the homeowners part. 3 kids had went inside and trashed the place, poured honey almost everywhere. The officer said there was very little destroyed or broken property, most of the things that had occurred could be cleaned up and was. He explained to me that he needed to talk to James because as I could imagine as he was saying that he was getting so many stories from these kids that he can't make heads or tails. So I told him I would get James and he came back a short bit later. That is when things went bad. All of a sudden he says that now all the kids are changing their stories and saying that James did this. I know some of what he was saying he was saying to scare him but in the process all he did was make a very frantic mother who was on the verge of tears. The kid that did this was saying that James did this is well known by the police because they are always called out because of something he has done. This summer alone the police were called on him because he roughs up his mother, bullies the other children and even was caught trying to start little fires in the playground. I ended up having to call my mother in law because she works as a legal secretary and she came out asap and told me what to say which I did so that I can protect my son's rights. Monday morning we have an appointment to see our attorney and see what we have to do next.

The officer had mentioned to me many things and I found most of them unbelievable as well as his attitude towards me. Most of the time when I talked he dismissed what I was saying and by his comments he made to me he was judging my son and being a big jerk to put it nicely. What made me angry about all this as well is when my husband talked to him he was all sugar and spice both times but when he talked to me I got treated like dirt with very little respect by this blubber butt and that made me even more angry that he would not show me respect at all.

So now I am playing the waiting game. Next week the officer said he will turn in his report to the prosecutor and he will review the report and make his decision. I am hoping that since there was no evidence everything was all hearsay and even most of the witness cannot keep their stories straight that there will be no choice but to throw this out based on lack of evidence. If not then the child or children involved will have to go to juvenile court and stand in front of the judge and she will decide punishment. I was told that the charges would be trespassing and criminal mischief I believe which are misdemeanors. Meaning the judgment by the judge should not be too harsh but at the same time me and my husband are upset and worried about James and what will happen. I believe James he would not do this, this was his best friends house to begin with. The kid that I believe did this as others was saying they witnessed has had a grudge against James and his friend because they were the ones that reported him about the fire incident which resulted in the cops being called out. He has been bulling James ever since July because of that. Even when I said this to that jerk of a cop he was dismissing what I was saying. All of a sudden he was bent on it being James and no one else.

I am not going to sit here and let blubber butt push me around. We will fight and do what we have to do to get James cleared of this because this is ridiculous! I find it sickening that after witness' put this kid at the scene of the crime and not to mention he already has a record with juvenile court that they would take his word over ours. It makes no sense! All this waiting and thinking and worrying is driving me crazy.

Having fun in small places

2009-08-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

My new baby having fun with an old tissue box!