The little kitten has grown quite a bit over the last couple of weeks! She is definitely a feisty kitty. For some reason she loves to try to take my wedding band off of my hand all the time.

SBQ of the week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Zohrah and is:

Have you done any charity stitching, been in one, or would like to organize one?

I have never participated in charity stitching. I have thought about it before but that is as far as I have gotten.

Today got even better! When I got the mail today there was a package in it for me! Whoo-hoo! Yippie! Cathy's present for the birthday exchange finally arrived. I must say the wait was well worth it! First of all I was (and still am!) speechless with what Cathy made for me. She stitched the design Imagination Creation by Dragon Dreams and turned it into a flat fold. It is beautiful!!

That wasn't the only thing in my package either! She sent me the chart for Legends of the Dragons by Karen Weaver, Jennifer Aikman-Smith,and Teresa Wentzler. I am on stitching cloud number nine! Cathy also sent me a small square of hand dyed 32 count New Dawn Lugana from Kiwi Illusions. It is such a pretty color! I love all my goodies!!



Thank you a million times, Cathy, I love them all!!

For being a Monday I have gotten several things accomplished. I might add that it is a Monday with Mike and Krissy home sick. Ughh! I have managed (so far) to get the house cleaned up, a load of laundry done, mailed a couple of packages out, and made some cupcakes for the kids for a snack for after school. Watch out I am on a roll. LOL!

With all that done I can devote the rest of the day to stitching! Today I am going to work on ABC Bears. I took a quick picture of it this morning since I haven't worked on it since I got my new camera. :) I am thinking about turning it into a wall hanging when it is finished. I have no real plans for this one since I am mainly stitching this one to make myself learn to do french knots better. This pattern is covered in french knots so if I don't master it by the end of the pattern then I never will.



On Friday I bought a new pattern for my stash. It is Dragon Lake by Black Swan Designs. I can't wait to start this one but NO new big patterns until after the first of the year for me. I had a rotation schedule that I had planned out but the more that I think about it I am not sure if it is going to work for me. I was going to work on one piece each day but my problem with that is I don't feel like I have made enough progress to set it aside. I will figure something out that works for me...eventually.

Snowman Ready to Go

We didn't do anything today as Krissy had a "boyfriend" over at the house so I pretty much sat in the front room with them while they were watching a movie and I was able to get some things finished! I finished my mom's birthday present today! I sewed him up into a little tuck pillow. I really like how it turned out. I stitched him on 28 count evenweave that I dyed royal blue.

Here is the back.

Another Ornament Done

I finished this little dragon ornament for Mac late last night.

A Normal Day

Today was a pretty normal day for me, actually a little on the quiet side so far. I got off work, went and cashed my check and headed to the LNS. I have come to the conclusion that the postal service does not like me in any way! First of all, Cathy's package to me has been missing for about 5-6 weeks now and on top of that my order hasn't arrived at the LNS yet! ( Which was ordered about 2 months ago!) So instead of coming home with beads I came home with some fabric to dye, a new pattern, and some ribbon.

I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing these little ornaments. The Giant is for Mike and the Pegasus is for Krissy. Both are freebies from Dragon Dreams


Tonight I will be finishing the stitching on the Dragon for Mac. I have the Mermaid almost finished, however, that is one of the things on order! GRR!

Autumn Tree Finished

Today is starting off good for me. I finished Renee's fabric for the SBSRR. I picked Autumn because it is my favorite time of the year. I love the everything about fall from the changing colors of the trees to the crisp nights. Anyways, this little pattern was rather quick for me to stitch up. I started on it Monday evening and worked on it yesterday and then did the backstitching this morning. I think it turned out pretty cute! :)



Now, I am off to stitch on Fortunate Traveler for a bit! :)

Teaching Stitching

Last night my neighbor and her daughter were over visiting when Nan asked me if I would teach her how to cross stitch. She recently quit her job to stay at home full time with Dayza and decided she needs a hobby. We looked and found a very basic pattern for her to try and stitch. She picked out a little strawberry pattern that is only 20 by 20. When she left last night she had everything she needed to start working on it. That is the beauty of stash!

At lunchtime when I saw Nan she showed me that she had it finished and already went to Wal-Mart to buy some more Aida and floss! The strawberry looked really cute, too! I thought it was funny when Nan said that she made a small mistake and I didn't even notice it. In a little while she is coming over to look at my patterns for another one to stitch....Maybe I helped create another stitching addict. :)

I must be doing something right with my Christmas Cactus because it has some flowers on it! It only has about 10 flowers but that is doing great for me. It did have a few more but kitties attacked it one night when we were asleep. That is why he is on my craft table right now because the kitties know better than to get near the table.

November/December Goals

November Goals:

1. Mail my SBSRR fabric to Laurie.
**Sent and received.
2. Finish Lottery Exchange.
**It is finished and ready to mail.
3. Finish Unicorn and Fairy Magic.
**Finished all the stitching and most of the beads, waiting on a order of MH Crystal Treasures.
4. Work on ABC Bears.
**I finished up 2 and a half letters this month! Yeah!
5. Work on Collecting Shells.
**Worked on it for a couple of days and made some good progress.
6. Start on small gifts to family and friends for Christmas.
**Most of them are stitched up just waiting on some Kreinik VFB #4(again).
7. Have a great birthday
**Yep survived this birthday. :)
**I also finished Jo's Fabric for her RR

Yeah! I made all my goals this month and I even have a few days to spare.

December Goals:
1. Start and finish Renee's RR fabric.
2. Mail Jo's RR fabric to Renee.
3. Mail SB Lottery Exchange to the lucky winner.
4 Finish my Mom's birthday present and mail.
5. Finish Christmas presents to family and friends.
6. Finish Unicorn and Fairy Magic. (if the beads arrive in time)
7. Work on ABC Bears.
8. Work on Fortunate Traveler.
9 Start on Melissa's present for the SB Birthday Exchange.
10 Dye fabric for Woodland Faerie SAL in Jan.

I don't know if I will get all these goals accomplished or not but I am going to give it my best try. :)

Our Christmas Tree

We spent this afternoon putting up our Christmas tree. I thought we had a tree skirt but when we dug everything out of the closet I couldn't find it or the tinsel. Oh well, I am sure I will have to pick those up next time I go to the store. The kitties didn't even wait till we finished with the tree before trying to bat the ornaments down. My animals work together on destroying the tree every year. The cats are so nice to bat the balls down to the floor where the puppies are waiting for their turn at playing with them.

What To Do When The Power Goes Out

When I woke up this morning and went to put some water on the stove for my cup of hot cocoa (that is my coffee...lol) the power went out in the neighborhood. Needless to say it was a morning for the kids to play outside while I attempted to clean the house with the power out. The power was out for three hours this morning so when I realized that Mike and the kids had been outside for a long time I went to go see what they were doing. This is what my husband and my kids do when the power is out:

(from L to R: Mac, his best friend, and Allie)
They build a wagon!

( from L to R: Mac and his friend)

Happy Thanksgiving

I am glad that Thanksgiving only comes once a year! I was up at 5:00 am putting the turkey in the oven to cook and of course the rest of the time was spent getting the other stuff ready. Everything was finally ready around 11:30 am and believe me everyone was ready to eat. It was delicious! The best part is I don't have to cook anymore today.

Tomorrow afternoon will be spent rearranging the front room for the Christmas tree. I dread putting the tree up because the animals attack the tree whenever they can! Our tree looks good for maybe one day and then it slowly gets stripped of the ornaments. We have an artificial tree so they pretty much leave the tree itself alone. Sorry no real trees for us, we like to be able to breathe! All of us have severe allergies to pine trees and believe me it is not a pretty sight.

I haven't stitched much in the past few days since we have been getting ready for Thanksgiving and then on top of that I had to hem some suit pants for a friends dads' wedding on Saturday. That was a task in itself because whenever I am sewing something for someone I get extremely nervous that I am going to mess up so I end up taking twice as long as it would if I were doing it for someone in my family. On top of all that it was a white suit so I was worried about getting it dirty. I finished up around 9:30 last night with it all and was pleased with the results and so was my friend. Whew! Glad that is done.

I did work on FT yesterday at work I ran out of 420 for the border but I picked some up while I was doing some last minute shopping last night so I will be able to work on it later this afternoon.

SB Question of the Week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Kimberly and is:

Do you always sign your projects? If not, why? If so, do you use your first name, initials or what?

When I first started stitching I would sign everything with the month and year. However, for the last couple of years I haven't been dating them. I have never used my initials because the letters I think my initials aren't pretty to stitch. I have been trying out different ways to stitch my first name but I haven't found a style I would like to use.

Last week I started stitching The fortunate Traveler by TW. I had planned on working on it last weekend but with having to take Kitty to the vet on Saturday threw a big wrench in my stitching plans. I tried to post this pic yesterday but for some reason it wasn't letting me.


I want to thank everyone for their concern over Kitty. I have never ever had to make that choice and I hope I don't ever have to again. I know it was for the best but I still can't help how bad I feel. Allie is taking it the worst. Kitty was her cat and now Allie has problems sleeping all night. The two would sleep together every night.

I guess the man upstairs new what was going on because that had to be the reason I was meant to find the little kitten. She is still quite wild but she is starting to put weight on her body. She has started to play with the other kitties and sleep with them which is a big relief to me. Hopefully, she will get to the point where she doesn't run and hide at every noise in the house.

Rest Well Kitty

You found your way to us as a stray and you became one of the family. It broke my heart to have to make the decision to let you go play in kitty heaven. I hope you and Jazzy are having fun now that you two are together again. I hope you have fun chasing birds and mice across fields because you deserve it. You will be missed by all of us very much and I don't think I am going to know what to do for awhile without your demanding attitude underneath my feet. We love you and are going to miss you.

Rest in Piece my kitty

Kitty
1/2001-11/2005

Ocean Blue

Yesterday I went out to the craft store to see if my beads for Unicorn and Fairy Magic was in but I was a little depressed to find out that they were not here yet so I didn't purchase much of anything except for some DMC floss I needed and some Mill Hill seed beads. After that was the usually hair pulling trip to Wal-Mart. When I got home I found out that Krissy was spending the night at a friends' house and Mac had a friend coming over to spend the night. There went my evening of calmness. I had wanted to start working on Renee's RR but I had to scratch that idea with the boys here tonight.

Instead of stitching I decided to dye some more fabric. I am planning on stitching Deepest Love by Mirabilia in January and I wanted the fabric to look like the ocean. I used the color Royal Blue to dye the fabric. I am not sure if I just like it or if I really like yet. lol

This week I was trying to work on Collecting Shells. It didn't go so well. I made some progress on it but my heart just isn't in this particular piece anymore. So what did I do to make myself feel better? I started stitching on The fortunate Traveler by TW. I am stitching it on 28 count white evenweave fabric. I haven't made enough progress to post a picture of it yet. All that I have been working on is the border around the dragon scene. I will be working on this one tonight since I just found out that Mac's friend will be here again tonight.

Here is the fabby:

SB Question of the week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Kimberly and Lili and is:

How do you feel about staying totally true to a pattern? Do you feel that you have to rip out stitches to fix a mistake or do you feel it's acceptable to incorporate a mistake into the design?

I generally stitch according to the pattern, however, if it is a tiny mistake (a couple of stitches or so) I will adjust the pattern to make it like it isn't a mistake. Now if it is a big mistake, I will either rip it all out and start over or if it is way too big I will start the pattern all over from the beginning.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's official I am thirty-something! So far (knock on wood) I have been having a great day. I have been lazy all morning and plan to stay that way the rest of the day. We don't have anything big planned tonight since it is a school night for the kids. Mike is cooking dinner (he won't tell me what) and then of course cake and ice cream. I hope our fire extinguisher works! :) After that I am going to watch and torture Mike watching 9 to 5 with Dolly Parton.

Thank you everyone for your warm birthday wishes and now I am off to be even lazier!

Christmas Spider Web

This weekend I worked on finishing some small ornaments. I stitched this freebie from San-Man Originals. I stitched this for Dayza next door. I know she is gonna love it because Mac and her go looking for bugs together. I stitched it on 32 count Belfast linen that I had left over from SBSRR. I the DMC colors of black and 898. I used Kreinik Blending filaments for the gold and silver. For the green (008) I used Kreinik Very Fine Braid #4.

Here is the front:

Here's the back:

Unicorn Ornie

I also finished this one up last night. I am keeping this one for me. :)

Birthday Presents

Today, the mail lady brought me a package from Renee for the SBBE. What better time with my new camera! :D Renee sent me a birthday card with 3 postcards. I love the post cards! They are so pretty and will go nice along with the others I have in my little collection. She also sent me a small tin of German chocolate. Yummy..they won't last long!

This is what was in the wrapped present!


Isn't this so cute?! I love everything about it. Renee did an awesome job on this for me. It already has a special home in my curio cabinet.

Here is the back of the pillow. The colors are so pretty! Thank you Renee, you are the bestest! :D

An Early Birthday Surprise

Mike surprised me with my birthday present a little early. He got me a digital camera. All the hints must have worked. :D I love it!! He is such a sweet husband.

The first picture I took was of the new kitty. Isn't she adorable? She was playing with the pen when I was trying to take a picture of her. I love her black tipped tail. I think it looks like a raccoon. She definitely has learned where the safe room is in the house. Our room! LOL

As you can tell I am having fun playing with my new birthday present. I framed November's Cherub Angel a while back and now I can show a picture it turned out.

Small Ornies

I want to thank everyone for their comments on the kitty ordeal yesterday. She is doing fine but is still very nervous. I was getting a little concerned as she wasn't eating or drinking anything last night but this morning she did eat a little bit. Originally I had guessed she was about 8-12 weeks old but after her bath I realized I was wrong. She is about 6 weeks old. It is hard to describe her. When you look at her back her coloring reminds me of a porcupine but her tail looks like a raccoon's tail. She has long hair and is so fuzzy. Right now her eyes are a light blue/green color but I am sure that will change.

As for the owners of the pit bull, I actually have had run ins with this dog before and that is why I am so upset at the situation. In town we have a leash law, which I abide by, but they do not. I have seen this dog run loose all day long and when the animal control was called nothing was done. I can count of at least 5 times that this has happened.

Mike actually took the news without going thru the roof. He was furious when he found out. So much as I had to stop him from going over to their house and confronting them about it. Really, what good would it have done?

I spent most of the evening in my stitching chair with the kitten curled up next to me working on Jennifer Aikman-Smith's Christmyth Ornament series. I completed the Unicorn this morning and started on the Dragon. My plan is to stitch up 8 different ornies and then do the finishing all at the same time. I will have to order some Kreinik VFB #4 for them but if the postal service keeps up the way it has been I might end up using good old DMC.

Where's my sign?

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Dawn and is:

When comparing large projects versus small projects, which do you get more excited about finishing?

I get more excited about finishing large projects, hands down. After the amount of time I put into a large project I feel that I have earned the right to be excited and dancing all over the place. I still get really excited over small finishes but not as much as a large piece. The best feeling is while working on a large piece to be able to set it aside and finish a small piece and then return to the large piece to finish it.

I was able to start stitching on Jo's RR Monday afternoon. I managed to finish it up last night. I really enjoyed stitching this little bunny for her. This was my first experience with Rainbow Gallery's White Wisper thread. It made the little bunny fuzzy. I hope Jo likes it as much as I do! :)


OKay now for my rant session. First of all in order for this rant to make sense I have to explain my menagerie of animals. As a child I lived on a farm and had several pets growing up on the farm like cats, dogs, squirrels, and even a skunk! If you can't tell I have a soft spot for animals. I was always bringing home a stray and my mom was ready to kill me most of the time.

Since I married Mike we have only had one or two dogs that we actually set out to bring home with us. In the past 14 years we have had so many stray cats make their way to our home that I seriously think I have a sign attached somewhere that says "Any Feral Cats Come To My Home "!

Out of the fours cats we have all but one were strays or being abused. Kitty (the one with seizures) was abandoned by her owner and I couldn't let her starve. Madison(4 mo kitten) was left in an empty apartment with no food or water or even a way to get out for over 3 weeks. Sammis(4 mo kitten) was born to a wild cat and we managed to catch him and tame him somewhat. Elizabeth(the Queen) was given to me by my brother who couldn't take care of the mama and kittens, so in a way she was a stray too. Even my dog, Girly, was on her way to the pound because our friends didn't want her anymore.

I am telling you this in order for you to understand how much this situation I came across today makes me angry. I was sitting in the office stitching away when I heard the distinct sound of a dog chasing something. I jumped up and ran to the door to look outside to see a pitbull dog trying to eat a little kitten. The dog's owner ran down and got his dog but didn't even bother to check to see if the kitten was okay or not!! He just acted like it wasn't a big deal. I ran over to where the kitten was at and luckily I couldn't see any visible signs of injuries but the kitten was in shock. The kitten isn't more than 8-12 weeks old and is so cute! I took her in the house and got her all cleaned up and now she is sleeping on my sweatshirt on the bed. Thankfully there were no injuries on the kitty just the usual problems that a stray has like being underweight and needing to be brushed bad.

My whole issue with this is the dog's owner didn't have him on a leash. I am a dog lover and my dogs are always on a leash when outside. This dog is a danger to everyone near it but nobody thinks that it is a big deal. It will be a big deal when it is a human that is attacked and either hurt real bad or even killed. I am also mad that the owner's aren't even concerned on how the kitten is doing.

Thanks for letting me rant. :) My only other problem is how do I tell Mike that there is another kitty in the house right now? I can already see the hole in the roof where he is going to go straight thru when he finds out.

Weekend Stitching

I didn't get as much stitching done as I would have liked to but it was because Mac had a friend spend Saturday night. I had planned on starting Jo's RR but the boys were acting wild so I figured I had better work on something of mine. :) I worked on ABC Bears until I ran out of 3046. This past week I managed to finish the letters O, T, and most of X.

I had planned (again) on working on Jo's RR Sunday but earlier in the morning I decided to sew up an ornament but it was too late before I realized I had sewn the hanger/hook on upside down! I could see what kind of stitching day it was going to be so I figured I better not start on Jo's RR instead I worked on Collecting Shells.



I am hoping that tonight(or maybe this afternoon) I can start on Jo's RR.

It looks like it should be pretty lazy around here this weekend! Whoo-hoo! Actually it isn't so much by choice. There is a home football game here this afternoon which mean traffic will be horrible so instead of getting in a wreck we will just stay home this weekend. So hopefully I will get a lot of stuff done this weekend.

I plan to start on Jo's RR later today. I am stitching the freebie from Spring 2000 by Whispered by the Wind. When I first picked it out I didn't realize that it used Rainbow Gallery (white whisper) threads. After realizing that my craft store didn't carry it at all which means they couldn't order it in for me, Jo was kind enough to send me the thread. I have never worked with this thread so I am really excited about it. It is so soft and fuzzy! I can't wait to get started on it for her.

Since it is only ten days till my birthday I have been trying not to buy too much stash but last night I found a great sale on fabric. I found these three designs on clearance for 50 cents a yard!! I could not resist that sale.

SB Question of the Week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Dianne (http://diadsie.blogspot.com/) and is:

If you have stitched for a while, can you usually pick out the DMC colors you need from memory when you go to your LNS? (For example, you know that 610 is a brown.)

I am guilty of that one! I have been known to send Mike to the store for a few things and have him also pick a skein or two of floss up for me. It has become a game in between us because when I give him the list I need he asks me what are the colors so he doesn't get a wrong color. The funny part is Mike doesn't stitch and he knows a lot of the numbers and colors.

Scissor Pocket Finish

Okay so I changed my mind on finishing the Gingerbread Boy. I thought I/we were going to finish it as a cube but since I didn't have the wire ribbon so I started thinking about other ways to finish it. I came up with making a scissors pocket. I got the instructions from Becky's tutorial. I was amazed how smoothly it went together for me.

Small Finish

I have done all that I can do on Unicorn and Fairy Magic until the bugle beads arrive. I finished up all seed beads last night. I am pretty proud of how it came out. I started out by using black thread (what was recommended) but I didn't like how it looked on the white stars so I changed it up and used white. It also called to be attached with 2 threads. I ran into a small road block at this point. The beading needles that I was using were so small that there was no way I was getting two strands in the eye hole. I could barely get the one in the eye! So now I am waiting for my bugle beads to arrive and then it will be officially finished.


This morning at work I finished this little gingerbread boy. The only thing I can say is where is his mouth? Mac and I are going to finish this into a cube for his teacher for Christmas. He saw the one I did for the lottery exchange and decided that would be a neat thing for his teacher. Mac has already decided that he is going to put it all together himself. This will prove to be an interesting experience!

It looks like I will be working on ABC Bears tonight! I haven't looked at that one for at least two months. I have no plans on finishing this one. I am stitching it mainly because it has tons and tons of french knots and I need to learn on how to make a french knot better.

Stitching The Night Away..

That would have been a good name for my blog since it seems like that is time when I get my best stitching done. I got all the backstitching done last night! Yippie! All I have left to do is attach the seed beads and bugle beads and I will be finished. I was going to start working on the beading last night but I couldn't find my beading needles so I started working on a Christmas gifts. I already have one for my mom finished. Sorry, I can't post a picture until she gets it.

Tonight is the big night for the kids. In a way it is a little sad because I know this will be one of the last times Krissy dresses up and goes door to door. I remember the last time I dressed up and went trick or treating. I was in either 6th or 7 th grade and went as a punk rocker. The main thing was we didn't walk door to door instead we slid on the ice door to door. LOL...my butt was sore the next day!

Happy Halloween to Everyone!

Your Birthdate: November 15

With a birthday on the 15th of any month, you are apt to have really strong attachments to home, family and domestic scene. The 1 and 5 equaling 6, provide the sort of energy that makes you an excellent parent or teacher. You are very responsible and capable. This is an attractive and an attracting influence. You like harmony in your environment and strive to maintain it. You tend to learn by observation rather than study and research. You may like to cook, but you probably don't follow recipes. This number shows artistic leanings and would certainly support an talents that may be otherwise in your makeup. You're a very generous and giving person, but perhaps a bit stubborn in ways.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

October/November Goals

October Goals:

1. Finish and mail Vash's RR to Renee.
**Achieved!! I mailed it on 9/24 and yesterday it was received.
2. Start stitching on my RR for the SBRR-2
**I finished my square and it is ready to be mailed in the next week or two.
3. Start working on my gift for the Lottery Exchange.
**I started and finished it! I am waiting to mail it to the winner.
4. Work on Collecting Shells.
**I didn't even look at this one this month.
5. Work on ABC Bears.
**Again, I didn't look at this one.
6. Work on Unicorn and Fairy Magic. (hopefully finish by 10/16 if not finish it for X-mas)
**I worked on it but didn't get it finished by 10/16. I am working on the backstitching now and getting ready to do the beads soon.
7. Buy more stash!! :D
** I bought a pattern or two but this month I bought more finishing supplies than stitching supplies.


November Goals:

1. Mail my SBSRR fabric to Laurie.
2. Finish Lottery Exchange.
**It is finished and ready to mail.
3. Finish Unicorn and Fairy Magic.
4. Work on ABC Bears.
5. Work on Collecting Shells.
6. Start on small gifts to family and friends for Christmas.
7. Have a great birthday.




I have made it to the backstitching! I completed the Fairy's wings, arms, feet, and face but you can not see her face. I backstitched in DMC 3064 but I am thinking about doing it in black. I also finished the backstitching on the Unicorn's face. It won't be long now till a big happy dance for me.

I Have ONE Plant

I stitched on Unicorn and Fairy Magic last night. I finished the fairy's wings and I have most of the tail done. It felt really good to work on this one again. I still have to attach some petite beads and bugle beads which are on order at the craft store. I really like how it looks so far. I still haven't decided on how to finish it but that's not the hard part. Finding some fabric that compliments the design is where I have problems but that is due to living in a small town.

The weather here has started to get cool so it was time for me to bring my Christmas Cactus inside. This is my one and only plant that I have. I can kill just about anything but for some reason I can keep a Christmas Cactus alive. In about six weeks I should have close to a hundred blooms. That is how big my C.C is! Even though I can keep a C.C. alive that doesn't mean it will. My kitties love to attack it and rip the leave off of it. It is too big to be a hanging plant and to big to be put on a table so right now until all the blooms appear it is living in my closet!

SB Question of the Week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Outi (http://www.livejournal.com/users/snowprincipessa/ ) and is:

Have you ever stitched something as a gift and later realized that receiver doesn't respect your stitched gift a bit (for example it's never on show, or you have other reason to suspect that it may even be nonexistent or at least placed in some dark storage room corner)? If so, what have you done? If you've been lucky enough to avoid such people what would you do if it'd happen to you?

Um, I have had this happen to me before about ten years ago. We were living in Arkansas close to Mike's family. I should point out his sisters have never really liked me to from the beginning. Anyways one year I decided to stitch and finish something for all the adults. I spent a better part of 6 months working on these gifts. My MIL loved her throw pillows I made for her but I never saw the framed picture I did for SIL#2. I didn't think much about it since they were in the process of moving into a new house. The next year I decided to crochet EVERYONE an afghan including my nephews and nieces. When we arrived at SIL#2 for Christmas with the presents the boys were excited to see what the presents were and my SIL had the nerve to tell the boys IN FRONT of me that they didn't want to open those first because they wouldn't like them. We had bought each and outfit also and when they opened the gifts up they threw them on the ground and walked right over them to get more presents.

I will be honest. I hold grudges for a long time and since I was really upset at how rude they were being about it I informed them I would NEVER buy them a gift again or make one and I haven't. Since that horrible experience I do not give any of my creations to anyone that I even have a little doubt that they won't like it.

Autumn Dancing

Late last night(around midnight) I finished up my RR for the SBSRR. I didn't have any problems with this pattern other than things coming up and I didn't get it finished until last night. So it looks like I can work on Unicorn and Fairy Magic. I am really close to getting it finished. The only problem is I am going to have to hide it at the office until Christmas so that Krissy doesn't find it before then.

On Monday afternoon I mailed Vash's RR to Renee. I didn't have any problems this time but then I didn't have the mean man helping me either. I was talking with another lady in line and she has warned me that he is even meaner during the holidays. I didn't need to hear that one! I am definitely going to avoid his line.

This week is going to be a busy week. Last night there was a Halloween Egg Hunt at the park down the street last night for kids 7 and younger. We took Mac and he found one of the three silver eggs which meant he got a prize. His prize was a drink cup full of candy corn. He also found 18 other eggs that were filled with sweet tarts. He was so proud of his self. Tomorrow night is the Halloween carnival out at the college and we are taking the kids. I am also helping out Friday afternoon with Mac's Fall party and then that night Allie has a Halloween party to go to at a friends house. Of course we still have to go trick or treating on Monday night. All of this running around is gonna cost them each some chocolate candy...lol.

A New Year A New Rotation

I have been thinking about starting a new rotation at the beginning of the year. I had tried working on one project each week but that wasn't working out well for me. So I think I will try working on a different project each day. So far this is what I have come up with:

Sundays-Exchanges
Mondays-Woodland Faerie by Teresa Wentzler
Tuesdays-Deepest Love by Nora Corbett (Mirabilia)
Wednesdays-The Fortunate Traveler by Teresa Wentzler & Jennifer Aikman-Smith
Thursdays-A Time for Everything by Linda Spivey
Fridays-WIP's
Saturdays-Round Robins

If anyone would like to do a SAL with any of these with me just let me know. :D

My goal for the weekend was to be lazy, curl up with some hot chocolate, and stitch all weekend long. As normal, it didn't happen! I was able to do some stitching Friday night while Krissy was at her school dance but that was all I got done this weekend. Saturday morning I wanted to go to the craft store but I didn't want to drive out there so I asked Mike to go with me. We had to go to Wal-mart anyways so he didn't object too much. Anyways, we get to the craft store and Mike said that he was going to stay in the truck so Mac and I headed in to get my supplies I needed. I know that Mike doesn't like to wait so I hurried and got what I needed and Mac found a cute little turtle charm that he wants to make into a necklace. We go up to pay for the stuff and I had to put in an order for some Mill Hill Crystal Treasures I need for Unicorn and Fairy Magic and head out to the truck. To my surprise Mike is messing around with the stereo and asked me to go back in the store and look around for about 10 minutes. I looked him straight in the eye and told him if I go back in there it is going to cost him because I can't just look around I have to buy something. He still wanted me to go back in the store and me being the good wife I am I didn't argue with him...lol.

I found these cute little patterns (perfect for cubes!) and purchased it for $5.00.

After that we went and did some grocery shopping and headed back to the house. We hadn't been home for 10 minutes when the phone rang. It was one of Mac's friends' mom. She wanted to know if her son could come over and play for awhile. I told her that would be fine and her reply was "Good, we are at the gas station and we will be there in a few minutes." She arrived at the house in less than minute after I hung up the phone! I hadn't expected them to show up that quick! What was worse was they were also dropping off their oldest daughter (who is Krissy's friend) and all of a sudden the kids were spending the night with us. They are good kids but I have had them every weekend for the last month! Five kids is a lot to deal with when I am used to dealing with only three!

I thought I would get a little quiet time today. Wrong! I woke up to get the kids up for school today and Krissy was sick. Mac and Allie went to school but around 11:30 am I got a call from Allie's school saying she was sick. So instead of spending the afternoon stitching I have been running back and forth for chicken noodle soup and orange juice. A mom's job is never done.

Lottery Exchange Finished!!

This afternoon I had to go to Wal-Mart to get Krissy a costume for her first dance tonight and while I was there I had to stop by the craft department. :D I was in luck and found the perfect fabric for finishing a cube. I have had a pattern stitched for a while and I have been trying for a few weeks to find some fabric. So, tonight I sat down and printed out the instructions from the SBEBB and went to work. I had it finished in about an hour or so and I am really pleased with how it looks!

I used the freebie Joy Ornament and stitched it on 14 count aida. Since I started stitching on evenweave and linen I normally don't use aida but when I picked this pattern out I realized i already had the size I needed in my stash so I decided to go ahead and use it. I had fun putting this together. It was really quick and easy. I am already planning on my next cube I would like to make for myself.

This is the fabic I used for the covering of the cube.

Report Cards, Already?

I remember when I was younger time seemed take forever to arrive. Like Christmas even though it was a year it would seem like it took longer for the day to arrive. Now, that I am older time really flies. I used to not believe my elders when they would say "it seemed like yesterday when....." but now I am in their shoes. I say all this because this week was parent-teacher conferences with my children's teachers. Has is already been nine weeks since school started? I feels like yesterday was the first day, maybe that is because by the end of the summer break I am more than ready for them to go back so that I can have "me" time.

All of the kids' grades were great! Krissy is doing awesome. She has a lot of stuff going on with her schedule this year so I was a little concerned on how she would adjust. This is the first year she is switching from class to class, she has joined band and has to practice for at least 20-30 minutes everyday, and has a babysitting job. When I got her report card I was very delighted to find out that her lowest grade was a 92%. She got 5 A's and 2 B's. Whoo-hoo!! On the other hand it gets quite costly...lol.

Allie is doing great but she could be doing a little better. I found out from her teacher that she had not taken any AR test for reading which brought her grade down a whole letter grade but other than that she is doing great. She got 3 A's , 2 B's, and one C (which was the reading grade).

Mac is passing!! Mac has a harder time with school then the girls. I often wonder if it because he is a boy or because he was born premature. When he was born we were warned by the doctors that he "might" have some trouble with math and reading because that was the area of the brain where his brain bleed happened. Anyways, he doesn't have any disabilities and is right where he should be for his age but he struggles so hard to make that grade. So report card time for him is always scary for me because I am afraid to find out that he is failing because I would feel like it would be my fault. Anyways, Mac got one A, one B and 2 C's. The A blew me out of the water. He got it in spelling so maybe reading will start getting a little easier soon! :) The C's are in reading and math which I was very happy with those grades. I am really proud of all three kids. They did a great job!

I stitched on my square of 4 Chairs Seasons last evening and ran out of 3771 which I need for the basket so looks like I will be making a trip to the store soon. I have finished the porch and I am working on the chair/cushion and pumpkins now. Looks like I might have a happy dance sometime soon. :)

Here is 4 Chairs Seasons. I am stitching Autumn and then will be on its way to Laurie.

SB Question of the Week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Cathy and is:

Do you mark or hi-lite your patterns or can you follow them without any markings? Do you make copies to mark up, or do you mark originals?

The only markings I make are a little dot in the center of the design. I am one of those stitchers who HAS to start in the center otherwise it will be off center. I did read a while back (please forgive me but I forgot who's blog it was on) about using 2 magnets to help keep your place. I thought that was a great idea.

I have been stitching on my square for the SBSRR. I had hoped to get it finished over the weekend but things just didn't work out with Krissy's birthday sleep over. I am about half done with the stitching so I should finished this week sometime. I will post a picture when it is done. I only have my scanner for now and since I am working on white fabric so far the scans haven't looked good. Hopefully, I will have a new camera(HINT-MIKE) for my birthday.

Happy Birthday Krissy!

It is hard to believe that 12 years ago I had just had my first baby. In many aspects it seems like a lifetime ago and yet other times it seems like yesterday. I was one month away from my 19th birthday when I had Krissy. Mike and I had only been married for four months(we had been living together already for a year and a half) when the big day arrived.

I actually had been having labor pain the night before but I had just thought it was a backache. With all three kids I had labor pains in my back instead of my stomach. Since this was my first time I listened to the doctor when he said come to the hospital when the contractions get to be 5 minutes apart. That was at 3:00 am. I did fine until around 1:00pm when Dr. N decided that it was time to break my water. That is when they gave me some Demerol and I went to sleep until about 4:30. By this time the labor pains were so intense that I sat up and tried to walk out of the Labor/Delivery Room! I remember sitting up and saying " I don't want to do this anymore!".....LOL...like I could have stopped it.

At 5:01 pm Kristiana Michelle came into the world screaming loudly. I guess she was trying to give us a preview of what was in store for us. She weighed 5 pounds and 10 ounces and 21 inches long. I remember the first week she was home it seemed like she never slept. We had rented all the Star Trek movies (1-6) and that was all we watched the entire week!

Overall she was a good baby. The only problem we had was her spitting up all the time. You could feed her 6 ounces of formula and she would throw up 4 ounces of it within 10 minutes. I had long hair at the time (about waist length) and I got so tired of washing my hair from Krissy repeatedly spitting up in it that I had it cut all off! Krissy was about a year and half old before she stopped spitting up milk, however, my other 2 kids didn't have that problem. Now, she is a pre-teen who knows it all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISSY!!

An Evening of Quiet

Right now it is unusually quiet in the house and I am enjoying it oh so much! Allie is spending the night with her friend tonight and she should be full of stories when she gets home. Allie and her friend were going fishing today with her friend's father. Krissy decided to spend the night with her friend but they will be home around noon for the start of Krissy's birthday party/sleep-over. With them being gone it just leave Mike, Mac, and me here tonight. Mike is watching TV with Mac (The Quest for Camelot) and I am blogging.

Tomorrow on the other hand won't be as quiet! Krissy turns 12 and is having a sleep-over birthday party with 2 other girls and us. I generally keep our birthday parties small. Just us and a few of the kids friends. Mike is going to make Krissy's favorite dinner....Tacos! This year she wanted cup cakes instead of a cake so we are having chocolate cup cakes with chocolate icing with chocolate fudge ice cream. I love chocolate but that is even way too much chocolate for me at once!

On the stitching side, I haven't done any stitching today because I got frustrated with my SBSRR. It isn't anything major but it left me a lot of ripping stitches out. The borders of the squares are backstitched in the seasons name (spring, winter, etc) and I have to turn the chart and fabric and in the process I ended up stitching the Autumn square backwards! I wanted to kick myself because with the other 3 squares I managed to pay close attention and stitch those correctly.

I have had a few people ask if the fabrics I used in Boo and Happy Jack were fabrics that I dyed myself. Happy Jack I used 28 count Monaco evenweave and was dyed using deep purple fabric dye from Dylon. Boo was also a 28 count Monaco evenweave and was dyed with golden yellow from Ritz.

Boo

This was the back up piece that I stitched and finished in case the Kreinik floss didn't arrive in time. It was a freebie from by Jean Farish that I was able to stitch and finishes rather quickly. I made the mistake of showing it to the owner's wife and she immediately claimed it for herself. I was teasing her that it what she was getting as her house warming present for their new house they built. She loved it!

Well, it is off to work for me. I normally don't work in the afternoons but the boss decided to take off this afternoon. Oh well more stitching time for me :D

Halloween Exchange

This is what I stitched up for the Stitching Bloggers Halloween Exchange. I used the freebie Happy Jack. I had a wonderful time stitching this cute guy, 0kay all but the waiting for the Kreinik to arrive. I sent this to Joanie in New York. I finished it up by making a pillow tuck. I used Becky's instructions in the how to forum on the SBBB. Thank you Becky! :)Overall I had a blast with the exchange with the minor exception of the postal service and I am looking forward to my next exchange....The lottery!!

My Dragon RR

This morning when I checked my e-mail I was delighted to find that Renee had sent me a full picture of my RR. I love it!! Soon it will be on its way to Cathy in Pennsylvania. My RR won't make it back to me until May but I have been thinking of ways I would like to finish this piece. I really want to display this is my house but I don't want it to get ruined either. I am thinking about turning it into a wall hanging or having it framed. Oh well, I still have plenty of time to decide.

I have been working on my RR for the SBSRR. I have three of the four squares stitched before I ran out of DMC 840. I really thought I had an extra skein of it but when I checked in my box of extra floss I couldn't find it. It isn't a major hold up so I can work with another color until I get a chance to run to Wal-Mart.

As for the Lottery Exchange I have narrowed my choices down to either a scissors/needle case or a no-sew cube. I really want to try the needle case but I have to do some adjusting so I can use DMC floss so if it turns out looking icky at least I will have the no-sew cube as a back up plan ( I hope!) Either way it should be fun.

SB Question of the Week

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Outi and is:

How do you `non-hoopists' who use a rotation system handle it (as it seems to be lot easier if you are in good terms with hoop)? Do you have several scroll frames? Do you use Q-snaps or maybe something completely different? Or do you just have one or two big projects and others are small enough to be kept in hand while stitching?

This particular question does not really apply to me since I am an avid hoop user and love it. I generally have 2 hoops that I keep on hand that I use. The six inch hoop is for larger projects and the four inch hoop is for the smaller projects.

Today Renee finished her square on my dragons RR. She stitched the water dragon and if I do say so myself she did a great job on it! I can't wait to see it when it is all finished. :D

Happy Dancing

What a better way to start off the day than with a Happy Dance?! Officially I finished the stitching on Vash's RR last evening but it was to late to scan off a picture. I am pretty pleased with the overall look of the kitty. I just hope Vash's likes it as well. The toughest part of this particular pattern for me was the stitching of the flowers. The reds and pinks were sometimes hard to tell apart. Hmmm...Maybe I need to take myself to the eye doctor for a check up.

Now that I have finished the kitty cat I can start to work on the SBSRR. I am really looking forward to this RR. I had bought this a pattern a while ago for myself to stitch but when I signed up for this RR I knew immediately that this pattern would be perfect. This RR isn't due to be posted until November 15 and I will be mailing to Laurie, who lives in my home state of Iowa.

Things are Back to Normal

After my week long migraine things are getting back to normal around here. Today was the first day that I really picked anything up and stitched this week. I worked on Vash's RR and I managed to complete all the cross stitching! Whoo-hoo I am almost to the finish line! All I have left to do is the backstitching and depending on how my morning at work goes I might be able to finish it up tomorrow sometime but if not at least it will be finished this week.

Once Vash's RR is finished I can start on my RR for the SBSRR. I have to stitch out the blocks for all the stitchers (a total of 4 squares) and then I will stitch the Autumn chair in Four Seasons Chairs. I don't foresee any problems with this other than this will be the first time I have stitched on linen.

After that is done I have to finish something for the Stitching Bloggers Lottery Exchange. I have it narrowed down to two different patterns but how I finish it all depends on which pattern I choose to stitch. Oh well, I still have time to pick out a pattern. :)

I am getting worried about my Halloween Exchange gift. I mailed it out 9-26 with no problems. I mailed it Priority Mail. Do not believe them when they say it takes 2-3 days! I am still waiting to hear if my person has received it or not. Ugghh....Why can't dealing with the postal service be a nice experience for once? I can say that the mailing part of the exchanges is the part I hate the most! Hopefully, after the long wait my person will like what I stitched and finished for her.

SB Question of the Week

I am sorry I am posting this late this week but I developed a migraine earlier this week and the medicine the doctor prescribed me is knocking me out for hours at a time. Anyways here is the "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Bea and is:

When you have almost finished a pattern and start thinking about the next one to stitch, how do you select it? (a list, most recent purchase, etc.)

I keep my patterns in two different catergories. One is for patterns I have stitched and the other is for patterns that are new. I usually look at all the patterns I haven't stitched and see what is screaming at me to stitch it next.

Where's my little girl?

Krissy is growing up so fast that it is making my head spin! First of all this weekend we measured the kids and to my amazement Krissy is a whole inch taller than me. I am the first to admit that I am height challenged (I am not short!) and stand 5' 00" tall. As if that wasn't bad enough she came home from school yesterday to inform me that she has been invited to her first dance! It is a Halloween Dance sponsored for her band class and guess who has been asked to chaperone? Mike and I!! However Krissy has already said she doesn't want Mike to chaperone but she would be okay with me chaperoning. I haven't decided if I am going to chaperone or not.

On top of all that Krissy is having a sleep over for her birthday this year. So far she has 3 girls that she is inviting which should lead to an interesting evening. So far the plan is to go out for pizza and then go to the movies. I have already made the girls mad by telling them we(Mike and I) will be going to the same movie as they will but they don't have to sit with us. The girls weren't exactly pleased about that but I know one of the girls has a boyfriend and I think they were all planning to meet up at the movies. Krissy isn't allowed to date yet so I am not letting them pull a fast one on me. I mean I was 12 once not that long ago so I know some of the tricks that they are going to try and pull. What happened to my cute little baby girl??

I did not get a lot of stitching done this weekend because Mac had a friend spend the weekend with us. I did manage to go to the fabric store and buy some new fabric. Allie wants to make a poncho for herself. She wants it to go over her Halloween costume (which she hasn't decided on) and picked out some really pretty fabric. The fabric she picked isn't exactly poncho material but we are going to go ahead and give it a try.

This is the fabric Allie picked out for her poncho. It is a see thru material so I bought a deep purple for the lining to make it a little heavier.

I am thinking about trying to make a needlecase or scissors fob with these materials.

I am not for sure what I will use these fabrics on but for a dollar a yard I couldn't pass it by!

My Halloween Gift

Isn't this so beautiful? It came all the way from France from Sylvie. She also sent me a cute card and some soap...Good thing she told me it was soap or I might have had a very clean mouth...LOL.

I got tagged!

I was tagged by Christine D. so here are my answers:

7 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel to Germany
2. Travel to Egypt
3. Renew our wedding vows in a church
4. Go to college
5. Own an emerald from the Atocha wreck
6. Learn to cook better
7. Go on a cruise

7 Things I can do:
1. Crochet afghans
2. Sew clothes
3. Prepare taxes
4. Chaperone class field trips
5. Drive a manual shift car
6. Ride a horse
7. Teach my dog to catch a frisbee.

7 Things I can't do:
1. Stay in the sun for more than 20-30 min at a time
2. Knit
3. Quilt
4. Ballet dance
5. Play tennis
6. Get stung by a bee/wasp/hornet
7. Grow plants or flowers

7 Things that attract me to another person:
1. Sense of humor
2. Broad shoulders
3. Dark hair
4. Outlook on life
5. Smile
6. Independence
7. Family values

7 Celebrity crushes:
1. Troy Gentry
2. Kevin Sorbo
3. George Clooney
4. George Strait
5. Michael Vartan
6. Christien Anholt
7. Brad Paisley

7 Things I say the most:
1. Oh Hell No!
2. Kids get in here....Now!!
3. Is is Friday yet?
4. XXXX is not in the office today. May I take a message?
5. Because I said so
6. Two wrongs don't make a right.
7. I am running away and never coming back.

7 Bloggers I am tagging:
1. Leslie
2. Anne S
3. Harsha
4. Cathy
5. Shannon
6. Jenn
7. Leila

September/October Goals

September Goals:

1. Finish and mail the SBHE.
**I was able to finish my gift for the SBHE and even got it mailed out on 9/26 but still waiting to hear from the recipient.
2. Work on Collecting Shells.
**I didn't get any time on this one this month.
3. Work on ABC Bears.
**Again, I didn't get any stitching on this one either.
4. Work on Unicorn and Fairy Magic.
**I worked on this until I ran out of KBF 032 (on backorder at the store...ugghh!)
5. Purchase the 32 count linen for the seasons SBRR.
**Yep, got this one done and I bought a half a yard of 32 ct. Antique White Belfast Linen.
6. Start on the seasons SBRR.
**I managed to get the fabric cut to the size I needed and finished the edges of the fabric.
7. Start stitching on Vash's RR.
**I am about halfway done on this RR. I have the face and hat (almost) done.

**I did finish Checkers the pumpkin for Dayza and gave it to her.
**I also finished another Halloween gift and gave it to the owner's wife.

I did manage to complete 5 of 7 of my goals this month. Yeah!

October Goals:

1. Finish and mail Vash's RR to Renee.
2. Start stitching on my RR for the SBRR-2
3. Start working on my gift for the Lottery Exchange.
4. Work on Collecting Shells
5. Work on ABC Bears
6. Work on Unicorn and Fairy Magic (hopefully finish by 10/16 if not finish it for X-mas)
7. Buy more stash!! :D