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!