Welcome home, Casandra!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!! Everyone please extend a warm welcome to Casandra, the latest collection in LoriRay's Gingherland! *drool drool* Okay, okay, so these will be the last Ginghers to add to my collection for quite a while now. The only scissors left that I wish to add to my collection are rarely found and sell for way more than I am willing to pay anyway. Besides, I think I have plenty now so there's no harm in stopping, right? Right?!?!?! *feeling Gingher withdrawal pains already*

Tonight I finished my second ornament in the Mill Hill Winter Greetings Charmed Ornaments series, #MH16-8305 titled "Noel". Here it is, hanging on our tree:

It's much prettier in person. The background isn't really reddish like that...it's more of a rich, deep burgundy...but that's the best picture I could get. So now I have a whopping grand total of three, yes THREE, ornaments for my Christmas tree in 2009. LOL -- but it's a start!

Now I think I'll go back to working on "O Beautiful" again. I'm sooooooo close to having the cross-stitched mid-section completed and will get to work on nothing but specialty stitches again, which I really look forward to. :-))) I think I have a spot picked out for this piece so I'm getting even more excited about finishing it.

Before I forget, I still plan on having a giveaway of some sort on my blog soon. I've got to sit down and go through my stash and figure out what to give away. Would y'all prefer fabric? A kit? Floss? Heyyyyyyyyy, how about a surprise grab-bag based somewhat on your likes/dislikes? What a great way to ring in 2009, right? *hint hint*

Quick stitching note -- I removed the Neighborhood piece from my WIP list (at the very bottom of my blog) already even though I barely got started. That's a very time-consuming piece and I have too many other things I want/need to stitch up this year. Maybe next year or later in the year but not right now.

*drum roll, please* Okay, I'm going on the wagon for an unspecified amount of time now. It's not necessarily the 10/25/50 challenge, but I have got to quit buying so much stash! I'm running out of room -- and I've got a huge stash closet! Time to stitch more and buy less. I will allow myself to spend gift certificates, replenish floss supplies as I use them, and buy items that are relevent to either something I am working on or kitting up. The only other exception is I can buy something that is normally hard to find (like another pair of old Ginghers -- mwah hahahaha) or an unbelievable sale. Oh yeah -- I can also buy the new Ginghers as they are released. Of course! Did I even need to spell that out? LOL!!!

Can you believe this year is almost over? 2008 was not a bad year but I have a plan on making 2009 even better. We discussed a theory during my church's adult Bible study group last Sunday, and that theory was that if a person focuses mainly on his or own self then he or she is likely miserable by the end of the day. But if that person chooses to focus on others -- like encouraging others and/or doing nice things for others -- then he or she usually ends up having a wonderful day! Also, if a person must confront another person, then it must be done as lovingly as possible -- no raising of voices, no name-calling, no insults, etc. The leader of our Bible study group has been battling breast cancer for several years now and she says the encouragement theory works for her. She is so inspiring - I wish you all could meet her! (But still, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she is going in about a week to see how this round of chemo is working as the previous chemos have not done the trick.)

Hope everyone is getting some great frog-free stitching time. The frog has been staying away from my house lately. *knocking on wood* Meanwhile, take this challenge -- send a card, make a phone call, or send an e-mail to someone you've been thinking about. Let them know you care. It's amazing how good it'll make you (and especially the recipient!) feel. :-) Take care!

Finished two books!

Last Saturday night, I finished reading "Being Christian" by Stephen Arterburn and John Shore. It was an excellent book and answered tons of questions for me. I highly recommend this book!

Next on my reading list was a book called "Fireproof", based on the movie. The movie didn't come to our small-town theatre so we have to wait for its release January 27th. I figured I'd read the book before seeing the movie 'cause the book is always better than the movie, right? Well, I sat down after church yesterday and started reading "Fireproof" around 2 PM. Next thing I know, it's about 6 PM and I finished the book! LOL! It was such a great book! It was packed with action, romance, drama, and so much more.

Brad and the boys decided that I should have the night off so Brad cooked dinner and he and the boys cleaned the kitchen. (Gotta love it when that happens! *happy dancing*) I called my Mee-maw on the phone to tell her we received her Christmas package and to just have a nice visit with her. She started telling me about this movie she and a friend went to see for only a dollar each because the movie had been out for a while. She was trying to remember the name of the movie and kept saying it started with the word "Fire"...I was like, "No way!" Yep, my grandmother had went and seen the movie that afternoon for the exact same book I had spent the day reading! LOL! What a cool coincidence!

I did stitch a little bit on "O Beautiful" this weekend but didn't even give any thought to having a giveaway. BAD Lori! :( I think I'll get through Christmas first and then decide what to do. You couldn't pay me to go to a post office right now! I need to have a couple of giveaways -- at least one here and at least one at a the 123 Stitch message board. I have been the recipient of a couple of giveaways and I'm just so blessed to have my on-line stitching friends that I need to show how very grateful I am.

With this being the week of Christmas, hopefully the frog is on vacation (or frozen!) and will let everyone have some relaxing stitching time. :-)

"O Beautiful" by Shepherd's Bush

And there it is, a little over halfway finished. :-) I have loved every stitch, too. The colors are a bit more muted than I prefer but I still love it.

I'm going to go work on that a bit...I'll update more this weekend and figure out what to do for a giveaway. Woo hoo!

Happy stitching and hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Bye for now!

My first Stitchalong, woo hoo!

There is a stitching blog/group called "2009 Christmas Challenge" that is going to try and stitch one Christmas ornament per month in 2009. After checking it out, I decided to join. I was their 100th (and last!) member. Talk about timing! Sooooooooo, one of my stitching goals for 2009 is, obviously, to stitch one ornament per month. Hey, it's a start! :-))) Here's the link in case you want to follow our progress: http://2009christmaschallenge.blogspot.com/

I have finally updated my Photobucket album with some recent pictures of my home with some Christmas decorating done. It's nothing fancy but it gives my mother (and anyone else who wants to) a peek inside my home.

Here is one of my favorite photos. I love it because you can see our white and silver Christmas tree's reflection in the mirror:

Also, before I forget...this is my 100th post! Woo hoo! Am I supposed to have a celebration or giveaway? I think I've seen stuff like that on other people's blogs...y'all think I should have a giveaway? Just leave a comment and let me know if there's any interest. :-)

Yesterday evening allowed me some great stitching time and I worked on my Shepherd's Bush "O Beautiful" WIP. I didn't realize how much I had missed that piece. Wow, it's gorgeous and I'm making great progress. Expect a WIP picture in a couple of days. :-)))

And finally, a bit of Gingher news...I won the 4" Cassandra Ginghers on eBay today! *thud* Wowee! That's the last pair I can (reasonably) add to my collection so that should be it for my Gingher-buying for a while. (I can hear y'all laughing! Stop it! LOL) From now on, I will most likely only buy the new releases. I have, however, toyed with the thought of selling some of my stash that I know I will never get to *gasp!!!* and building up my PayPal balance so that when/if Gabriella or some other major-high-dollar Ginghers that I don't have come along then I can buy them and be totally guilt-free. *hee hee*

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please do leave me a comment. Not only do I love seeing what everyone has to say but it also leads me to more blogs that I can add to my list, visit, and leave comments at. Happy stitching!

A few blog changes...

I've been piddling around with my blog today. (Can you tell we were stuck at home today due to some freezing rain?) I've moved my WIPs list and reading list to the bottom of the blog page. Another change is that I have updated the list of blogs I read. Now you can see more blogs than before and when they have been updated with most recently updated blogs at the top of the list.

Now that I've got a roast in the oven, I think I'll go stitch. Shame on me -- I still haven't uploaded the most recent pictures of my home. Oh well, there's always tomorrow... ;-)

New project, new scissors, and COLD!

The picture above is my latest new project. If I don't quit starting projects, I will have a gazillion WIPs. LOL! Anyway, what you see is a barbed wire border that will surround my "neighborhood" project. If you don't know what a cross-stitched neighborhood is then you are missing out! Over on the right side of my blog, if you scroll down you will see a list of links to other blogs. Check out the two "Me, Myself, and I" blogs for more information, instructions, more links to other neighborhoods, and some pictures. Google also turns up quite a few hits if you type "neighborhood round robin". Mine won't be a round robin but those round robin links will show you some awesome pictures! One of my stitching goals for 2009 will be to work on my neighborhood at least once a week, even if just for a bit.

See the scissors above? If you guessed that those scissors are the latest to be added to my collection, then you guessed right! *mwah hahaha* Welcome home, Lanell! *drool drool* Lanell should feel right at home with the rest of the 4" designer Ginghers that live happily in my home. There aren't many left that I would love to add to my collection and then I can quit buying scissors with the exception of adding the new ones as they are released. No, really -- stop laughing. ;-)

The arctic air made it here to SW Oklahoma. BRRRRRRRRRR! We made it to 78 degrees yesterday and today we never made it past 24. Daaaaaaaaaaang! And we wonder why we're all sickly. Sheesh! Tonight we will be a whopping 15 degrees and our wind chill will be ZERO but we should "warm up" tomorrow to 33. One would think that with these cold temps that we could enjoy the snow or perhaps a freebie day at home due to ice or something but nooooooooooo, all we have received so far is just the bitter cold. :( However, there is hope! Our long-term forecast shows that we might -- just might -- get a white Christmas. *happy dancing*

The dreaded rooster is finished!

And there he is! I am so glad he is done. Stoney Creek's attention to detail could make a pile of dog poop look beautiful but man oh man, their designs can sure be a pain to stitch! It's especially hard to stitck with something you don't care for and I do not care for roosters.

Now that I've got all my "have to" stitching done for the year, I worked on my Stoney Creek "Break Time" tractor WIP this evening. (One would think I've had enough Stoney Creek to last me for a while but noooooooo, I'm a glutton!) I only got about an hour's worth of stitching done on that WIP so I figured it wasn't worth the trouble of pulling it out of the Q-snaps, taking a picture, blah blah blah. Gimme a few days.

I still haven't uploaded my home pictures to the Photobucket album yet. *bad LoriRay* Maybe this weekend or next week. We're due to get some nasty winter weather between Monday and Thursday - perhaps all four days! - so I might be iced in next week. Not a huge deal if that's the case because I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow and Brad is going to cut us more firewood on Saturday. If we have no electricity it'll be no biggie -- we have two generators that can power our TV for Brad, TV/games for the boys, my stitching light for me, and our refrigerator. The fireplace will keep us warm and give us somewhere to heat soup since our stove is electric. Anyway, I'd rather have snow so I'm putting my vote in now to Mother Nature -- make it SNOW, not ICE!

Hope everyone has had a great week so far. I really like the feedback/comments and visiting your blogs, too. It's amazing how so many of us have never met, yet we seem to have to so much in common. :)

Happy stitching!

Procrastinating but still stitching

Okay, so I finished cross-stitching the Stoney Creek huck towel rooster's tail and backstiched one thread's length before I got tired of it. *sigh* I set the project aside and picked up my Heart in Hand "Words of Wisdom" work-in-progress (WIP). I've now completed five of ten little patterns and am stitching them over one on 32 count fabric. Here's the WIP picture, hot off the Q-snaps:

So even though I procrastinated with Mr. Rooster, I still made some stitching progress on a different project. Once I get done with the backstitching on Mr. Rooster's tail then it oughta be smooth sailin' after that. I figure I've got about a week or so to get it done so it'll be finished in plenty of time even with my procrastination figured in.


Well, look at me go -- two posts and almost back-to-back, too! LOL! While that and my WIP are progress, I didn't sit down and upload pics from our home into my Photobucket album. Oops. Okay, so that'll be a goal for this week. Tuesday's high is supposed to be 41 with sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and we have a chance for some snow showers. (Can you say "WOO HOO"?!?!?! I LOVE the snow!) Anyway, what it boils down to is that it looks like Tuesday will be the perfect day for me to stay home, work on Mr. Rooster, and get those pics uploaded.

I'll close with something for you all to ponder...I heard a phrase in church recently. It has been going through my mind off and on ever since. Here's the phrase: "You can either be part of the problem or part of the solution." Many of us have heard that phrase before now but it really hit home with me this time. As that phrase has been tossed around in my head, I came to the realization that, more often than not, I have been part of the problem. It was always my nature to gripe, moan, and complain -- or sit back and do nothing, thus allowing the "problem" to keep occurring -- instead of finding ways to help solve the issue(s) at hand. I'm trying to be a part of the solution now. More than ever I feel some "tests" are happening in my life but I'm trying to handle them the right way. And I'm trying my best. One can only hope and pray that that's enough to let others around me see the "new" me emerging and what a difference Christ is making in my life. :-)


So, on that note...are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Let's all work on being part of the solution. Goodbye for now and like a friend of mine says, "Be a friend." *hugs*

Christmas ornament finish, a WIP, Gingher scissors, etc.

There's the dreaded Stoney Creek rooster I've been stitching on a huck towel for my grandmother as part of her Christmas from me. It is a "dreaded" rooster because I detest roosters! Hope I don't offend the rooster lovers out there but sorry...roosters just ain't my thang! ;-)

Once I get that rooster towel finished, that's all of the stitching I have to get done by Christmas. Woo hoo! Then I can go back to stitching for me and being able to plan some projects for next year's gifts for people.



Next is a picture of an ornament I stitched for a fellow stitcher/internet friend who lost all of her stitched ornaments during a recent move. It is from the Prairie Schooler booklet titled "Santas and Snowmen". It will go in the mail Monday and has to go from the southern US to Canada. Have a safe little journey, Santa!



Most of you know how I have this, um, slight Gingher scissor addiction. Well, there are more scissors in my happy little obsession...er, I mean, "collection". *hee hee* Here are some updated pictures...first, we have the whole group standing on display in scissor blocks my wonderful husband made for me:



Now here's a closer shot of the right side of the group. They are:
--In the very back, the pair with the scissor fob are plain ol' 4" silver Ginghers
--The other silver pair in the back are 4" curved blade Ginghers
--Front block, back row, left to right are: Glory, Katelynn, Jamie, and Ashley
--Front block, front row, left to right are: Penelope, Gloriana, and Lindsay

The last picture is a close shot of the Ginghers on the left side of the group. They are:
--Block in the back has a pair of black scissors with heart-shaped handles. These are not Ginghers, rather they are by Kelmscott. They are most uncomfortable to use but I love hearts and scissors, plus they are just adorable in my scissor collection. LOL
--Front block, back row, left to right: Freedom, Emma, Bianca, and Olivia
--Front block, front row, left to right: Roberta, Julia, Sarah, and Sophia


Ahhhhhhhhh, I do love my Ginghers. *drool drool*

I have a ton of pictures to upload to my Photobucket album in the album called "Home". Feel free to visit there to see a couple of updated pictures of our home. I might upload the pictures later this evening or tomorrow, so gimme a day or two. :)

Hopefully everyone has been having a great December so far. I know the holidays are rough and depressing sometimes for people but as for me, I think I'm enjoying this year's holidays more than ever so far. We had Thanksgiving at my house for the extended family for the first time ever and we all loved it, I'm less than a month away from being a non-smoker for a whole year (WOO HOO!!!), my Christmas shopping is already about halfway done (if not more), and last but not least...the two most important things...I am thoroughly enjoying my discoveries while doing my Bible readings (not to mention I was baptized two weeks ago tomorrow) and I have a wonderful little family that I am most thankful for every day. May they always know how much I love them. :)

Take care of yourselves and give someone a hug and a smile. Meanwhile, happy stitching and bye for now!

Another quick finish

I stitched this card today for a person that I don't want to leave out this Christmas. I hope she likes it. :-)

It's a bit late tonight, so I'll probably wait until tomorrow to get started on a huck towel for my grandmother. It's a rooster and I'm dreading it! I apologize to you rooster lovers out there but man oh man, I do detest roosters. *gag* LOL ;-)

Bookmark finish

And there it is! This is for my Uncle Ronnie for Christmas this year. Every year, I try to make a little something for him. He is one who appreciates every stitch and the efforts put into handmade items. :-)

The design is called "Authors" and is from a Cross My Heart booklet titled "Page By Page". I stitched it with plain ol' DMC on a prefinished Charles Craft 18 count white aida bookmark. To finish it off, I applied blue sticky-back felt to the back side of the bookmark.

Why do I wait until it's almost too late before I start my Christmas stitching??? *slapping self in forehead* I saw once where a woman was going to try stitching her gifts during the first six months of the year, then spend the rest of the year stitching for herself. I need to ask her how that turned out. Maybe I should try it in 2009? That and I neeeeeeeeeed to go on the wagon and quit buying more stitching stuff! *slapping self in forehead again*

Thanks for your comments on my posts. I really enjoy reading what others have to say. Meanwhile, TGIF and have a great weekend!

Two finishes fresh from the framer!

Hahaha, I like the tongue-twister title. Oops, I did it again! LOL!

Here are two of my recent finishes back from the framer's today:

My Brother

Lizzie Kate's Flip-Its

I am so excited to have them! I will give the "My Brother" picture to my brother (like that's news to anyone, LOL) for Christmas and the other is for me. :-)

Also, here's my clock that I stuffed with orts and other leftover stitchy things:

I showed my husband the clock and explained how I had saved thread orts, floss wrappers and tags, pieces of perforated paper, etc. to fill it with. He looked at it for a bit then turned to me and said, "So...it's filled with stitching trash." I tried not to laugh at his comment but couldn't help myself. ;-)

It's been a great day (for a Monday - LOL). Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Hopefully I'll be able to post a bookmark finish in a day or two. Stay away from me, you dreaded frog!

Top secret project revealed! (4 pics)

My mother received the top secret project today so I can tell you guys about it now. Woo hoo!

I stitched Lynne Nicoletti's "Wedding Envelope" in honor of my parents' 46th wedding anniversary. I made the postmark their actual wedding date and I made the price of the stamp 4 cents, just like it was in November of 1962. The really cool thing I did with this envelope is that I used a very special Thread Gatherer silk floss for their names...the same floss used in a project for my late, great Aunt Linda -- a project my mother now owns and cherishes. :)

Here's the front of the envelope:

And here's the back:

Here is the back of the envelope with the flap open so you can see the lining fabric:

Here's one of the sides: (which I did stitch by hand, thankyouverymuch! LOL)

I, um, have a confession to make. There have been several new additions to my 4" Gingher family. *hee hee* Sarah has joined us and Roberta is (finally!) on her way. Today, Gloriana was welcomed to the family, too. Hiiiiiiiiii, Gloriana! Woo hoo! I will post pictures soon because I would rather let Roberta arrive first and get a picture of the whole happy family. I loooooooooove my Ginghers! I do use them, too. It's a ton of fun and gives me great pleasure to switch out Ginghers to use on various projects. I like to try and make the scissors match whatever project I am working on. Plus, matching scissors to projects helps feed my borderline OCD. HAHAHAHA!

Hope everyone is going to have a great Friday and that the weekend will allow us all some frog-free stitching time. Speaking of frogs...has anyone seen my frog fob? I can't find it. *scratching head*

Mail Art received...my first ever! :-)

Even though I have already updated my blog once today -- see the post below this one -- I have to add this post all by itself so that it gets the recognition it deserves. My stitching/board friend, Winifred in Canada, sent me the first mail art I have ever received. It's even more wonderful than how mail art looks in pictures!


Included in the mail art envelope was a card, a Canadian breast cancer quarter, and a hank of Dark Mauve silk floss by Vikki Clayton. Wow, what a great package! Thank you, Winifred. *hugs*


Here is the front of the envelope: (note that I have strategically placed the floss over my last name and address...LOL)

And now for the back of the envelope, again with floss strategically placed to hide Winifred's address (LOL):

Thank you again, Winifred, for being so thoughtful, creative, and talented. I love my mail art and now you've made me want to make some, too. :-)

I'm baaaaaaack! This will be picture-intensive!

Hello to my fellow stitching addicts! *big, huge, cheesy grin* Sorry I've been gone so long but I'm back and ready to blog now.


I've been a busy little stitcher at times during my absence. Ready for some pictures? Here we go!


Here is a cute little Halloween box that was from a Mill Hill kit sent to me by a friend. I stitched and finished it sometime during the last two weeks:




I also stitched and finished Shepherd's Bush "House Haunting":

Major happy dance here -- I finished the Lizzie Kate Flip-Its project and took it to my framer just this past Thursday. They said it should be framed within two weeks and I am so excited! Meanwhile, until I get a picture of it framed, here is the finished piece:

During the past month or so, I finished up a few smaller projects, too. One is this Holy Bible bookmark:

I had stitched the bookmark for myself but then ended up giving it to my grandmother. Funny how things like that happen, huh? ;-) Don't make me talk about my mother and grandmother coming to visit last week. Remember my frog fob by Stitchy Kitty that I put on a pair of green scissors? Well, my mother stole it. Yep, she stole it. (Okay, so I gave it to her but it's more fun to make up stories. LOL)

Anyway...I managed to stitch and finish my first perforated paper Christmas ornament. It was an adorable little kit by Mill Hill called "Frosty":

For now, the ornament is hanging out with one of my snowmen I have on display year-'round.

Whew, I think that's it for stitching updates. Now I have added a WIP that is top secret until I give it to my mother. *hee hee* Tell ya' what...I'll tell everyone but my mother what that top secret project is. Here we go...time for my mother to quit reading...for everyone else, just scroll down....



...keep going...




...and keep on scrolling down... (Mom, quit reading!)




...the top secret project I am working on is....



...HAH, I am not stupid! I know my mother is still reading this! LOL LOL LOL

On that note, I will end this post with a promise to try to update my blog weekly and check everyone else's blogs on a regular basis, too. Happy stitching! :-)

Goodbye, Sparky...

Today, my husband and I took Sparky, my 21-year-old cat, to have him put to sleep by our vet. Sparky was the best cat a person could ever hope for. All those years of loving companionship...and now he's gone. Sparky and I had a very special relationship. He will never be forgotten.

To those who say "it's just a pet", let me tell you...Sparky was more pure, innocent, and loving than most human beings I have ever met. His love was unconditional, his faithfulness never wavered, and he was always my little fuzzy buddy. He was so much more than "just a pet".

I will probably write more about him as time goes by, but for now...my heart aches too badly to come up with the words to adequately describe what a wonderful cat he was, what a huge hole his absence has caused, and how he will forever live in my heart.

Okay, all joking aside...

This will be a serious post from me. No pictures, no talk of stitching addictions, etc. I just want to clarify a few things.

Due to some recent events, I have decided to temporarily back off from the message boards. This is not one of those horrid farewells where other members beg the person leaving to stay. *gag* Rather, it's just a way of backing up and regrouping for me. There have been several people e-mail me with concerns so I just thought I'd go public with my thoughts and feelings.

I am finding that the older I get, the thinner my skin is getting. No, not like some bizarre medical condition, but I'm speaking in terms of the internet. Ya' gotta have a pretty thick skin to weather things on-line with message boards and such. Well, my skin isn't so thick anymore. For some reason, I am not as able as I used to be to allow things to roll off of me and just move along. I don't like that but it is what it is. So, that just means I have to take a break from time to time.

To my on-line friends and buddies: I don't wish to end any relationships with any of you. I don't mean to make it look like or make anyone feel like I have abandoned friends or boards. Just please understand that -- no matter how silly it is -- I sometimes have difficulty not letting things in the e-world get to me. That's when it's time to walk away. I will eventually come back around full-swing with a thicker skin and carry on from there. It might take me two weeks...it might take me two months...I don't know.

I hope this post is clear and that it explains why I am semi-absent from the boards. I cannot stay away from all boards 100% of the time, but I can choose to open stitching-related threads only and drool with the rest of you. You will most likely see me from time to time at the 123 Stitch message board, especially on Fridays when the weekly finish and weekly WIP posts are active. I love those pictures and posts!

Anyway, I have no clue if my e-mail address is anywhere in this blog, but in case anyone wants or needs to contact me, my e-mail is loriray2003 AT yahoo DOT com.

Bye for now and happy stitching! :-)

My needle is sssssssssmokin'!

What a productive stitching month August has been so far! Last night, I finished the "September" Stamp in the Lizzie Kate series I have been working on. Here it is so far:

Yay, just three more to go and that piece will be off to the framer! :-)))

On a different note...I am learning to tell people "NO". Too many people are pulling me in too many directions. I cannot be everything to everyone. *sigh* So why do I still feel guilty? I have to work on that or else I am going to explode.

Meanwhile, at least I'm getting some therapeutic stitching time in. Without that, I would have surely gone postal by now. ;-)

4 of 10 HIH patterns are done! :-)

And there it is! The quarter is in the picture as a size reference...teeny tiny! One more pattern and I'll be halfway done with this piece.

What a great stitching month I am having so far! Woo hoo! Hopefully, I can keep up this progress, especially after July was such an awful stitching month.

Well, Brad and I are off to get a late-night snack and then maybe, just maybe, I won't be too tired and I can get more stitching in. *crossing fingers*

Hi, Olivia! Welcome home!

Today, the Gingher 4" embroidery scissors in the Olivia pattern arrived. Welcome home, Olivia! LOL! I'm too lazy to take a picture right now but I promise to post a picture of my scissor addiction...er, I mean...scissor collection soon.

The real reason I'm posting right now is because I just finished my very first scissor fob. It is "No Frogging Allowed" by Stitchy Kitty. I even made the cording. It's less than perfect (as are 99.8% of my finishes) but I love it!

Here is the front:

And here is the back:

Ironically, I had to frog a few stitches on the back of the fob. LOL!

Thanks for looking! I'm off to see if I can get some stitches in on a WIP before my eyes get too heavy. Bye for now! :-)

I'm baaaaaaaaaack!

Sorry I've been absent for several weeks...life just gets in the way sometimes. Don't ya' just hate that? ;-) There hasn't been much time for stitching lately but I have been working on the top-secret gift for a friend and a Pine Mountain pillow. I finished the pillow just minutes ago:

That is Pine Mountain Designs' "Winter Foursome" pillow that now resides...yep, you guessed it -- on my year-'round snowman shelves. *big, cheesy grin*

While I was away, I managed to do some major stash enchancement. Here's a picture:

Meanwhile, back to my stitching on the top-secret project. It has been a goal of mine for three months to get this done and in the mail. I am determined to be done with it so I'd better get busy. I promise to catch up on reading your blogs and updating mine soon. Bye for now, happy stitching, and keep the frog away! :-)

Tractor magnet

Let's try this again...Blogger already ate my first post. *grrrrrrrr*

That's a little tractor magnet I started and finished this afternoon. It's on the refrigerator in our kitchen which has a John Deere theme. Guess I felt like a quick little finish, so there it is. :-)

Now, back to stitching that gift for a friend...

"Noah's Sub"

It's been well over a year since I worked on "Noah's Sub". I managed to pull it out within the last week and have spent some quality time with Noah. Here's my latest WIP (work in progress) picture:

Summer baseball is over -- woo hoo! Even the boys are glad to have a break. We will spend next week getting all our duckies in a row because we hope to take a vacation the following week. :-)

Meanwhile, I am trying really hard to not start new projects. I'm weak...WEAK, I tell you!

Lisa/Texan - I plead the Fifth about the number of remaining Pine Mountain pillow kits in my stash. I also refuse to admit how many I have on my wishlist that will probably get ordered soon. Hah! ;-)

Thanks to everyone for all the comments. Have a wonderful Fourth of July...and be safe! Happy stitching!

A patriotic finish, courtesy of Pine Mountain

It's dangerous to go through your stash when you already have too many WIPs. Trust me on this.

Last night, I started and finished my first ornament-type thingamajig. Tonight, I brought out another Pine Mountain pillow kit from my stash and got it done. When I saw the pillow's patriotic fabric, the firecracker button, and the saying "God Bless America", I figured it was just too perfect since the Fourth of July is just days away.

Tomorrow I have promised myself that I will work on that gift for a friend. I might not stick with it all day and all evening, but I will make some killer progress.

Many, many thanks to everyone for their comments! I LOVE seeing what y'all have to say. It truly tickles me to find comments, compliments, questions...whatever is on the reader's mind. It also gives me great pleasure to surf everyone else's blogs, too. It is at other stitcher's blogs that I find some laughter, tons of motivation, inspiration, and living proof that cross-stitch is NOT dying.

To Lisa/Texan (but everyone can read this...if it was private, I would have e-mailed her...LOL) -- To answer your question, I got my Mill Hill "On the Range" kit at Cross Stitch Haven in Oklahoma City. I didn't buy the extra kit (the little turquoise boot). Also, I had it custom-framed instead of using the recommended frame. If you can't find the kit, lemme know and I'll be glad to enable. Er, I mean...help you find it. *angelic smile* And about those Redbird Designs...ohhhhhhh man, aren't they great? We have good taste. *hee hee* I also have their alphabet quilt patterns and the Texas Montly Minis, as well as a few other single, small designs.

To Julie (again, everyone can read this...LOL) -- I will gladly post an updated picture of my year-'round snowman/winter display as soon as I get my shelves dusted. Hahahahaha! That might happen tomorrow...it might happen in a week. Who knows? ;-) Meanwhile, there is a fairly recent picture in my Photobucket album. Scroll down and look on the right side of your screen while at my blog and you'll see a link to "LoriRay's Photobucket Albums". After clicking that link, you will see a list of sub-albums. Click on "Home" and somewhere in there are a few pics of my snowman shelves. :-) I promise to post pics on my blog soon, just because you asked. Don't go gettin' a big head now. *snort* ;-)

Once again, I've stayed up almost an hour past my self-promised deadline. It was worth it -- stitching, watching Forensic Files, and getting a little quiet "me" time. *deep breath* Yeah, that was nice. *big grin*

Meanwhile, wish us luck for my oldest son's baseball tournament this week. The tournament will end Wednesday or Thursday, depending on if we win or lose our scheduled games. The first game is Tuesday evening at 6 PM. Win or lose, we'll play Wednesday evening. At least these are single games and not double-headers like in the regular season. This is really it this time -- after the tournament this week, there is no more baseball for the rest of July. Coach will start calling practice sometime in August before school starts.

We all need a break and are trying to schedule a vacation around mid-July. That was before one of our employees got himself a DUI last Saturday night and was also charged with an open container. Sheesh. How utterly stupid!!! I think his girlfriend wanted us to bail him out. As if! Let him sit and rot until his sentencing July 29th. See if I care. He shouldn't have been drinking and driving. When it comes to drinking and driving, I have ZERO tolerance and ZERO patience. (Betcha already had that figured out.) My point is that I am hoping we can still schedule a vacation. If not, then we MUST take one in August before school starts, even if it's not as long or as far as we had originally planned.

ANYway, my gosh, I have rambled forever. If you've made it this far, come back another time and re-read this entire post if you need help falling asleep. I won't even bill you for the assistance. If you didn't make it this far, well, thanks for lookin' at the pictures. ;-) Nite nite to everyone. *doing my Miss America wave which Carolyn knows all-too-well*

Stash in the mail...ahhhhhhh. :-)

Today was a good stash day. I got all 6 "Winter Greetings" Mill Hill kits, all four patterns "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Redbird Designs, the three Mill Hill kits I like best from the "Treasured Diamond" series, and the 7 1/2" Gingher pinking shears. (Yep, I tried to slip another pair of Ginghers in there. *hee hee*)

I plan on stitching a lot this evening. We ate dinner out (yippee!) so I'm free with the exception of the boys' baseball practice. Look out frog, here I come!

Teeny ornament finish

I spent the better part of today stitching on a gift for a friend. It's about 1/3 done so I decided to take a break from that project.

In my stash, I found the cutest little stuffed ornament design by Stone & Thread called "Snowflake". (Does it really come as any surprise that I had a snowflake pattern in my stash?) I decided to stitch it up, attach the button, and finish it into an ornament before I went to bed. It's done! I didn't follow any directions or use any instructions...I just went with it. It measures about 4" square. I added a blue and tan checked fabric for the backing and then added a blue cord to hang it with. It's not perfect but I'm very happy with my first ornament finish, especially since I didn't follow any instructions or anything. Here it is:

It won't really hang on the wall like in the photo. I will find a spot for him near my year-'round snowman display. (That was another lil' tidbit of info that shouldn't surprise you.)

For the next ornament, I will follow some instructions because I do want the next one(s) to turn out better...but I'm happy for now.

Meanwhile, I'm quite sleepy as it's 1:05 AM, Central time now. I just had to finish that lil' guy and get it posted before I went to bed.

Nite nite to everyone and happy stitching! :-)

Stitching ramblings...

Well, I took "Solitude" by Mystic Stitch off of my WIP list for now. It has been retired as a WIP and sent back to the "To Do" pile. I barely had any of it done anyway (like maybe a 1" x 2" area) and couldn't bring myself to work on it. It was eating at me that I started it on aida - which I rarely use anymore, and I have been really worried that my fabric would end up too small. Soooooo, I decided to quit while I was ahead. I will still stitch that piece...someday. Meanwhile, there are other projects I need to finish and want to start moreso than "Solitude". You know how fickle I am, though, so gimme time -- things may change. hahahahaha

Today I finally made some working copies of patterns for projects I am working on and projects that I want to start. Why do I put that off like it's some miserable chore? *scratching head*

The top-secret project for a friend is finally going again. This is the THIRD freakin' time I have started it. Third time's a charm, right? *eye roll* If I were to mess it up again this time, I would stitch her something else and I'd probably set fire to the chart, threads, and ruined WIP. Hah! I'd have to do this before the men in the white coats put the straight-jacket on me and carried me away for a looooooong time.

Oh, by the way, I finally started working on "Noah's Sub" again last night. I got part of a sea critter done and a little bit of a wave...probably about an hour's-worth of work...but nevertheless, it's still progress. :)

Ahhhhhhhhh, it's Friday night...the baseball game was cancelled (yes, that was me you heard screaming with joy when they announced that earlier) and I plan on doing nothing but stitching. Hope everyone's weekend is starting as good and lazy as mine. I can't be that lazy all weekend, but I'll enjoy it tonight, that's for sure.

Lizzie Kate "August" Stamp is finished

With my stitching time being basically nil due to the boys' baseball games, I am lucky and glad to have been able to finish another block on this WIP. :-))) Just four more blocks/months to go -- yippee!

I have got to make myself work on that gift for a friend now. It's one of my June goals to get it finished and mailed this month. I'd better hurry -- the clock is ticking!

Blocks for scissors and cross-stitch gadgets/tools

My husband is the best! I have been loving those wooden blocks to put scissors in. Brad went and bought some oak and made three for me! Woo hoo!

The first is a block with seven holes that I am now storing my most favorite Ginghers in:

The second is a block I had him customize. There are four larger holes for scissors, a boo-boo stick, star de-tailer, and whatever else. There are also four smaller holes for my thread picker, stitch counters, etc. I added a needle magnet on the front side. (The beautiful scissor fob, thread picker, and stitch counter you see were made by My Big Toe Designs. Thanks, Debbie!)

The third block has ten holes and is being sanded as I type. It will house the following Ginghers: Bianca, Freedom, and Emma. Roberta will be in my home ASAP. Uh oh, looks like I've got some holes to fill! *mwah hahahaha*

I love my husband. Thanks for looking.

Progress on two more WIPs this week...

Between regular life, work, baseball games for both of the boys, and storms, I didn't get much stitching time. Come to think of it, I didn't get much time for anything, including sleep or communications with anyone outside of my home/work. I am so tired and about to drop but I just posted my WIP pictures at 123 so I had to come post them here, too. (The title of my blog should have spelled it out that I am an addict. Don't act all surprised.) *hee hee*

I got some progress done on My Big Toe Designs' "I Corinthians". As this project progresses, not only am I falling more and more in love with it, but also with other MBT stuff. Talk about some pretty patterns...but to make matters even worse (or better?), the designer, Debbie, seems like an awesome and wonderful person. That makes buying and stitching her designs even more exciting. Anyway, even though there's not that much to it yet, you can see it beginning to take shape:

The second WIP that I made a wee bit of progress on this week is "O Beautiful" by Shepherd's Bush. At this point, I am basically halfway done:

This has been a rough week emotionally and physically. Some reasons are obvious, others you would never guess...but I won't go into details. Let's just say I am ready for a nice, relaxing weekend with my little family. Hopefully we will remain storm-free, stress-free, and frog-free.

Now THAT'S what I call progress!

I posted a work-in-progress (WIP) picture of "Break Time" less than 24 hours ago. Here it is with the windmill finished:

I also got another little pattern done from the "Mother's Wisdom" series by Heart in Hand. I started pattern #3 ("Drive Safely") and finished it, all in less than a few hours:

So, kiddies, that's what happens when you drink too much Dr. Pepper and get a stubborn urge to finish a pattern before heading off to bed. No one should have sympathy for me if I gripe about this later. ;-)

Now I'm off to get some much-needed sleep. Goodnight! Er...good morning!

Uh oh, we have a new pair of scissors!

The latest addition to my Gingher family has arrived! Would everyone please welcome Jamie to the family?

"Hiiiiiiiiii, Jamie!"

Sorry about the glare but my camera batteries are in desperate need of recharging, so I didn't want to chance snapping another shot and watching my camera die. Lord forbid if I couldn't post these pictures on my blog right away instead of waiting a few hours for the batteries to recharge! *snicker*

Here's my latest finish --

That's a Tie On pillow kit by Pine Mountain called "Winter". Of course it now sits on my year 'round snowman/Winter shelves. I hope to add at least one pillow or small picture to that display each month.

I did get some work done on a WIP last night. This is the latest picture of "Break Time" by Stoney Creek:

It's hard to see but I have done some stitching on the windmill blades but it just doesn't show up very well because the floss color is almost the same as the fabric. Maybe I can get the windmill finished up tonight.

Tornado aftermath update: We finally got our power restored at the shop yesterday. Whew! It took a week but hey, we're glad to have to it back and our time without power certainly wasn't due to lack of effort on anyone's part. The head of our Emergency Operations Center keeps insisting we didn't have a tornado. He says it was a downburst. Uhhhhh, okay. Citizens have written letters to the editor of our newspaper with their eyewitness accounts including photos they took of the tornado, yet the powers-that-be still insist there was not a tornado. Whatever. Why can't they just admit that someone dropped the ball and didn't sound the sirens or at least admit that Mother Nature isn't quite as predictable as we'd like to think she is? Because they're men, that's why. HAHAHAHA!

Hope everyone is getting some great frog-free stitching time in and not worrying about this being Friday the 13th. It's just another day. :)