Are you tired of my posts yet? Because I'm having fun with this exchange!! I am being totally spoiled by my partner, Marcy! I wonder how she knew I liked these little ornament frames? I will have to find the perfect picture to put in it!! Thank you so much, Marcy!
And now that we are halfway through, I will show you pictures of what I have sent Lynne over in Scotland. Since I didn't take pictures myself, I'm relying on those she has posted on the group. So...here is the box I sent with the goodies all packed inside. I numbered them in the order I wanted her to open them, and wrote a little clue for her to guess before she opened them!
Day one
She didn't post pictures of Day two which was a package of butter mints...
so on to Day three
Day four
Day five
Day six
Nothing else new to report, yesterday I was out all day from 8:30 AM until 10:30 PM so no new stitching to report but I hope to rectify that as soon as I get off this silly machine! Happy Stitching everyone!
Here it is, Day 5 and I can tell my partner was paying attention to my list of favorite things. I was thinking while working on something last night and pulled out my purple pen, my ipad with it's purple cover and opened my purple notebook and looked at the purple cover on my phone that gee....I sure like purple! Haha...it's kind of self preservation because if I didn't use purple for everything, my son would take everything I have and claim it as his. He has an aversion to purple...good thing it's my favorite color! Today I received these....two purple sharpies! How AWESOME is that???
Yesterday I went on a finishing rampage...I finished all of these in one day. The mice I found in a Stoney Creek Magazine.
The flatfold is a gift for a friend's Birthday. This is the Patriotic Scissor Pocket from The Scarlet House. It is stitched over one on 32 count mocha I think.
The little snowman is from this year's Just Cross Stitch Christmas magazine. I love how these all turned out, good thing I love my friends so much, or I'd be keeping them for myself! haha
I had them stitched, just needed to finish them off. They are all gifts and will be headed to their owners shortly...I hope they like them!!
Off to work on a church project with some folks from church. I hope you have a lovely day!
On the fourth day of Stitchmas my partner gave to me...6 skeins of Gentle Arts thread!! Oh my goodness I was truly spoiled this morning!! Look at the lovely colors I was given today! Thank you so much Marcy!!
I hope my partner is enjoying her gifts as much as I am! Happy Stitching everyone!
Day three! And my stitch friend gave to me...
Snowflake Felt Coasters!! Aren't they cool! I use coasters a lot, they will really dress up my table this year! Thank you, Marcy!
I finally got my tree up yesterday, here are the home made ornaments I've received or made over the years...
I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday!
I am having so much fun and feeling so spoiled by my partner in this exchange. I noticed as I was unwrapping today's gift that there was a picture on the back of the numbers...each one is different. I've decided these are as special as the gifts themselves, so I'm going to find a way to display them as well. It's like a whole set of homemade ornaments in themselves!
Today my gift was Christmas socks. And if you look closely, the characters spell Joy. I love snow people...so these are just perfect for me!
The past week has been a little different for me, I haven't got as much stitching done as I would like. I was gone all day yesterday including a Baltimore Blast game last night. We didn't get home until almost midnight *yawn*. While the game was fast paced and exciting (don't tell the guys, but it was actually FUN to watch!!) I'm hoping they don't ask me to go to many more of these games. It takes over an hour to drive there and an hour back....through the city...on a Friday night rush hour...I'm surprised I have any mental faculties left!! Hopefully I'll have something to show you on the stitching side of life!
I hope you all are enjoying your countdown to Christmas! And ALWAYS make time for a few stitches in life!
It's the first of December! Are you getting ready? Our tree is in the upright position, the lights and garland are in place, but I haven't yet had the chance to decorate. However, I need to do that soon, as the First Day of Christmas exchange is upon us!!
I'm taking part in a 12 Days of Christmas exchange. I decided...why not? So I sent off my packages, all 12 of them, to my partner in Scotland...and I've had my package sitting here waiting for the first of December to arrive. This was the first day....now I don't know how my partner knew I liked boxes, but isn't this just adorable?? I love the little spool huggers! No more spools unwinding, and boy can I use them!! Thank you so much, Marcy! The little ornament was inside the package without a number so I'm assuming it was to open today too. She told me she made this beaded ornament herself...and I love it!!
I also got an ornament from another lady, Sharon, in the group as an exchange piece. It's so sweet and I can't wait to set up my tree that I put my handmade ornaments on. I might have to get a bigger tree soon!! Thank you for the lovely ornament, so nicely stitched...and full of Joy!
Hopefully I'll remember and be back tomorrow with day 2.
Here are the ornaments I sent Mouse over in England...
And here is the ornament I sent my partner with Stitcher's Circle...
And finally the ornament I sent my partner with Friendly Stitchers.
I will show you later what I sent my 12 Days of Christmas partner...well some of it anyway, I forgot to get pictures of everything. LOL
I would like to wish everyone celebrating a very Happy Thanksgiving! Last year was a very different feeling to the holiday. Ben was engaged and we were finally meeting her family for the first time. While it was a little nerve wracking trying to get our house in order, we really enjoyed getting to know them and welcome them into our family. So while this holiday feels a little sad, I still can't help feeling thankful for all the blessings we do have. We participate in a church activity once a month called Be More Caring where we take food and clothing to the homeless living in Baltimore. Tuesday night was our night, and it's very humbling to be wearing warm clothing while feeling full from a good meal to go and pass out food to hungry people. It's getting cold here in Maryland, sometimes dipping below freezing. There were so many looking for warm clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, even soap and toothpaste. It's heartbreaking to know there are folks living outside in this weather. I wish I could do more, but all I can do is donate my tine and feel grateful and thankful that I have a warm place to live and warm clothes and food daily. It's a bitter sweet Thanksgiving, but I can honestly say, I'm thankful for all I've been graced with in my life.
Finally...I feel like I can breathe a little!! I've been stitching and finishing like a whirling dervish! I guess I bit off a little more than I could chew...and with everything going a little sideways in my life, I wasn't sure I could get it all done...but...well most things are coming together like they should finally. I stitched a few angels earlier in the year, and while contemplating how to finish them, I hit a road block mentally. I finally decided I needed to get these done and in the mail, so I took a few days, took my time, took a deep breath and went for it. Here is the fruit of my labors.
All of these angels are free on the internet. You can find them here. I asked a couple house guests who visited this year to pick one they would like me to stitch and Teresa chose this one...
I was fretting from the time she picked it, how on earth I would finish it. So...I took the finished piece, laid it on the printer, and printed the piece onto a piece of paper. I then measured and drew lines around the area where I wanted to finish it. Cut it out, cut the backing and the foam core....padded the foam core and laced the stitched piece and the backing fabric to the prospective pieces and sewed them together, along with the rickrack. I am surprised (and pleased) how nicely it came out. You can't see in the picture but the rickrack and the stitched piece are kind of sparkly. She's lucky I love her so much or I would have kept this for myself! hahaha
Donna chose these two. I have loved these patterns for a long time and it was fun stitching them for her. Now that I see how nicely they finish, I really need to stitch them for myself. I have to say, I love how they are finished, and now that I know I can do it, I'll have to make some for myself. I used a combination of tutorials for these. But mostly they came from Vonna over at the Twisted Stitcher and you can find her tutorials here. With a wonderful suggesting by the lovely Ms. Mouse, I added bells to the bows in the corners because when you hear a bell ring, an angel gets it's wings.
Our church had a craft night last weekend, so I went and got my "craft" on. I was pretty tired from a busy week....and a busy day helping someone decorate their home after a move, so my brain was a little fried. I did the best I could and would like to try this again, because it was pretty fun! Here is a snowman, and a candle holder we made. Can you believe it only too two hours to make both of these?
So...I finally got caught up on my Linen & Threads SAL. I didn't stitch a bit on it during the month of October, so I had two months to stitch when I finally got the chance. I'm happy I have a little breathing room before the final part comes out next week! You can find the free patterns here.
I also got caught up on the three Tempting Tangles SALs I'm participating in. These are little snippets that are published every other week it seems, but only take a short time to stitch. They can be found on Tempting Tangles Etsy page for only $5.00 while the SAL in going on. There are only two pieces left for This Corner of Earth, and I really love how this one is coming out. You can find them here.
Here is This Corner of Earth
Here is Wildflower Woodland Quaker, I just love that little owl!!! Yes they are of the same pattern, it's just a difference of the light that makes the fabric look like a different color. It's been so dreary here, it's hard to get good pictures!
Here is Springtime Easter Delight and believe it or not the fabric is a bright white. Dreary days are the pits for taking pictures!!
And last here is a little something I started as a Birthday gift for a friend. She doesn't know about it, and I'm going to be really late getting it to her, but I hope she will forgive me anyway...I hope she thinks it will be worth it! LOL
And that is all I have for now. I have some gifts on the way to some folks and will have to wait to show what I sent them. I'm hoping I find a little more time to stitch now that things have calmed down. I feel pretty good about what I've been accomplishing lately though! I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving, those who are celebrating! Happy Stitching! And I hope your Thanksgiving is full of good food, good fun, and the love of family and friends!
