This is Live Simply by Stone and Thread. I just love these little patterns. It was stitched on 30 count WDW gold. This actually was a little kit that came with Valdani threads but I hated the thread. I could never get the thread to lay right and it just generally looked yucky, so I restarted this piece using GAST and WDW thread and was more pleased with the result! This and Live Humbly will be framed. Life otherwise is pretty boring, which I guess is a good thing. I and the kids are more than ready for school to be over with. No more early days and no more homework.

Currently, I am stitching on a Heart in Hand pattern called XOXO. I will soon be finished as it's a small pattern. It is for my Valentine ornament tree of which I am laboring under the delusion that I will be able to have next year! Ha! I guess I can dream! As always, thanks for you continued visits. Have a great weekend.

Bent Creek's Rowmance Finish

Finished up Bent Creek's Rowmance today. It was stitched on 30 count Old Mill Java with GAST and WDW threads. I changed the flowers from blue to a pink and used a different red than the pattern called for. I also placed a bee button instead of stitching the bee on the pattern. Thanks for that suggestion Jinger! It was very easy and fun to stitch.



I received a couple of awards. The first is Sunshine Blogger Award from Jinger and Jackie . Thanks so much ladies!



I also received an award from Bette . The Beautiful Blogger award. Thank you Bette!

Now here are the following things to do to accept this award.
1. Thank the person who gave it to you.
2. Paste the award on your blog.
3. Link to the person who gave you the award.
4. List 10 interesting things about yourself. (I am not that interesting!)
5. Pass the award on to 10 blogs and link to them.

1. I love NCIS, I watch it any chance I get! I also love The Closer, Criminal Minds, NCIS: LA, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Law and Order: CI, In Plain Sight
2. I am an avid TV watcher obviously as noted in #1
3. I love reading
4. I will celebrate 20 years of nursing this year
5. I love antiques and wish I owned more!
6. I collect old teacups and coffee cups of any kind
7. I am a girly girl, I love makeup, purses, perfume and all girl things. I carried a purse in first grade!
8. I am a very casual person
9. I was a debutante and was presented to society when I was 17.
10.Did I say, I love Mark Harmon?

Now ten blogs to share this with! I am inspired by all blogs-but I can only list ten!

Mainely Stitching

Notes from Blue Hen Hollow

Deep Fried Cupcake

Stitch by Stitch

Lovely in Chocolate

Pretty Little Corners

Carolina Stitcher

Pumpkin Patch and Co.

Stitchful Thinking

Kajsaa's Stitching and More

Live Humbly Finish

This is Live Humbly by Stone and Thread. It was stitched on Week's Dye Gold fabric which is a really lovely golden color and is more gold in real life. Stitched with the recommended WDW threads. It was a sweet little stitch! Now to try and finish Rowmance by Bent Creek and perhaps a new start!

Thanks for the compliments on Quaker Garden! I appreciate them very much as well as your comments regarding the kids. I hope you all have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Quaker Garden Finish

I finally finished Quaker Garden by Blackbird Designs. I originally started this as you can see in 2006 since I so optimistically stitched the date on it. This started as SAL along with Karen of My Favorite Things and several others. I am probably the last to finish-but better late than never I guess. This will be number two for the sampler wall-which so far is turning into a Blackbird sampler wall. I have two more Blackbird designs kitted up-Beneath the Sunlit Sky and Winter's Delivery. I am also considering starting of Female Arts by The Primitive Needle-but we will see. I haven't quite decided on the threads for that yet. I did start a new one by Bent Creek called Rowmance and I will show a progress picture on that soon.


The kids at Christmas: Caleb, Alexis and Brandon

In other news, it is just work, work! I am a little burned out-but grateful to have a job. So I pulled back a little there. I had been working a lot of extra for Christmas. The kids are doing pretty good-I am still in homework hell occasionally but thankfully not to often! Anyway, off to run errands. I hope you have a great weekend!

Ornament for a friend......

This ornament was received on Christmas Eve by Loralee so I can now post it. It is one of the Old World Santa's by The Prairie Schooler stitched on a piece of scrap fabric and finished as a pin keep ornament. The backing fabric is my favorite Christmas holly. I met Loralee on Etsy this past year (I am a big fan of the site and I am sure it has caused my debit card to just about self implode!) Anyway, she has a shop there called The Beaded Path where she sells hand made earrings, necklaces and zipper/necklace charms. I am particularly fond of her zipper charms and use them on all of my project bags. She has been generous enough to gift me with a few along with the ones I have bought. In the course of all of that we have connected, become friends and now keep in touch via facebook. She has been a sweet and generous friend and I hope that it will continue for many years to come!

You should stop by and visit her sometimes-you can look through her previous sales history and see earlier creations and she is open to custom requests too! Loralee, I am glad that you really like this ornament~I know Santa is in a good place;) This ornament will probably be my last finish for 2009~but I am looking forward to new stitching challenges next year. More about that later! I want to really wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May all your Christmas dreams, desires or needs come true!


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A Little Ornament Finishing

Finally got around to finishing up these ornaments which believe it or not have been laying around for close to three years. Yes, you are reading that right! This year I finally got a smaller Christmas tree just for my cross stitched ornaments-something I had been wanting to do for a long time. First up is Noel Birdhouse by Brittercup Designs, second is Snow Joe by Heart in Hand and third is Folk Art Topiary by Brown House Studio. The second picture is of course the backing material. Folk Art was hard to match with those peachy colors so I gave it a little bit of ethnic flair.

Snow Joe is somewhat off center as I wasn't paying attention when I picked up the scrap fabric to stitch him on-so I didn't have enough fabric to center him but as always he is uniquely mine-LOL I am pleased with the way they turned out. I have maybe two or three more to completely finish and then I will work on trying to add more for next year. I did finish Santa's Buddies from this year's issue for an ornament exchange but forgot to take a picture and I am currently working on Prairie Schooler ornament for a gift. Hope to have that completed tomorrow! It's a dreary rainy day here in Florida~perfect to stay in and stitch. As always thank you for stopping by to visit me! Have a great week!

What a Hoot finish.....

This is What a Hoot by Pine Mountain Designs. It was a quick easy stitch-though for some reason it has been hanging around my project bag with only a few stitches left to go. A couple of the words are in the incorrect color (my color key reading skills fail me yet again!) But I decided I liked it as it is now~so I left it. So sweet to just slip that pillow form in and tie the ends and wonder of wonders it's ready to display!

Thanks for all the compliments on The Simple Things! I appreciate them very much. Now I am trying to get ready for Christmas and trying to finish finish some ornaments. Have a great week!

The Simple Things

Well thanks to all your good vibes and encouragement I have completed The Simple Things by Blackbird designs. I love this design-however Le Frog really liked it too and I made many an error. Some corrected and some not so much. It is uniquely mine! I opted not to do the chain stitch and ended up back stitching which took me forever. One of those sweet little stars you see there took me three times to get right only because I didn't read the color code correctly.

I have been admiring many sampler walls-I thought this one would start me out. Of course, at the rate I am stitching perhaps I should put it up now and enjoy it now~LOL. I stitched Simple Things on the recommended fabric 30 count Marva's Blend by R & R Reproductions, using Week's and GAST threads. Now on to some ornament stitching. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week.

Hocus Pocus Pin Keep

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Halloween night. Both my older kids were out and the youngest and I were in Jo-Ann's and Books a Million. It was a pleasant night. So, while we were lazing around the house I finished this little pin keep. I have been wanting to start a basket of Halloween pin keeps and this will qualify as the first. I guess better late than never! This is hocus pocus by Lizzie Kate. The name of the linen escapes me and I used the recommended WDW threads. I used an orange batik fabric for the backing as I couldn't find a Halloween fabric that I liked. I really like the little beads.

As for Simple Things I am about ready to make frog fricassee! I keep having errors and so I have a little ripping to do and then hopefully I will be on the right track and finished soon. Thanks for all the stitchy vibes and I appreciate all your comments on my framed work. Tonight we fall back on the clock and though I love the fall time of the year, I hate when it gets dark so early. Meh! Anyway, I hope the rest of your night is a great one!

Some Framed Finishes

Here are a couple of finishes recently framed. First up is African Beauties by Bleu de Soie. They were stitched on 30 count WDW straw linen with dmc variations thread. I narrowly escaped disaster on this piece because I wanted to make it a hardanger piece by cutting a thread! But I managed to save it!

Below is Daydream by My Mark Designs . It was stitched on a piece of Silkweaver solo fabric that I just loved. I used the recommended threads except for one. It is hanging in my boys room. I actually have had this one framed for awhile. I just have been lazy about photographing it.



Otherwise there is not much going on here. I am trying to finish Simple Things by Blackbird. It is taking me way too long to complete that one and I want to finish it as I am afraid it will turn into a UFO! I am very close to finishing, so send me good stitchy vibes. Thanks for your comments on Moon Witch-she is one of my favorite little finishes! Have a great week!