A small update and gift received

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

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

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?

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!

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!

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!

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.