My Lizzie Kate week

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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.