4th Christmas ornament of 2009 finished!

And there it is! It's actually much larger than I wanted so I'll probably use it as a hanging decoration instead of an ornament. (Most likely it'll be displayed during the holidays on that exact same hook. LOL) The pattern is 2006 Santa Ornament "From the Heart" by Homespun Elegance. It is stitched over two on 28 count linen with DMC threads. The linen color is 18th Century Brown. I covered the back in a matching tan flannel fabric and the trim is just Lion Brand yarn that I found at Wal-Mart, braided, and sewed on per the instructions on the pattern.

This is the fourth ornament I have stitched in 2009. If I can keep up this pace then we might end up with a Christmas tree decorated with lots of Christmas ornaments for the first time ever!

The other day, I finished one of my mother's gifts that I plan to give her for Mother's Day. I can't reveal it here because she is known to loiter here. Er, I mean...read here. Good thing I live over seven hours away from her or she'd just come over and steal it like she did my frog fob. *snort* ;-)

I've had a great lazy Saturday today and trust me, it's much needed. It's tax time and guess who's doing our taxes? Lucky me!!! Oh well, just remember -- if you hear a distant scream next week, it's probably me.

Now I'm off to work on Mother's Day gift #2. *hee hee*

Stash haul alert!

Hello to my fellowing stitching addicts! :-) As most of you know, I've been on the wagon for about two months now which means I haven't been buying hardly any stash...virtually none! Sooooooo, this weekend found Brad and I were child-free -- which is rare -- and we went to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Do you know what that means??? I was at the Silver Needle! Woo hoo! *still happy dancing*

Not only did I get to shop at the Silver Needle, but I was also able to go to Stitchworks, Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Hobby Lobby! Here is one of two pictures of my stash haul:

Oooooooooh! Ahhhhhhhhh! I got several square frames from Michaels, some eyelets and a hoop from Hobby Lobby and Michaels (the eyelets are for floss tags/rings and the hoop is for a miniature knotted rug kit), and the rest of the items are from Silver Needle or Stitchworks. Mostly Silver Needle. LOL! I did purchase a few more things...

Liberty Hill stash additions! *more happy dancing* I looooooooooove Liberty Hill stuff and can't get enough of it. I got the needlework tool box, a thread keep/thread board, a hornbook kit by Hillside Samplings, and the Acorn Hill First Stitch Finders kit by Historic Stitches. Ohhhhhhhhhh, I am sooooooooo happy to have these! And you thought Gingher scissors were my main weakness. HAHAHA

Here's a picture of the Liberty Hill stuff I already had:

I had the Folk Art Sewing roll kit, Folk Art thread keep, and the Folk Art sewing box that has the scissor fob and pin cushion kit. Those kits are calling my name. I feel several new projects might be started soon. LOL

Now, about those eyelets...I decided that I am going to be making more floss tags/floss rings. The one I made so far was fun! I'll be making more and will give some as gifts but I might try to sell some, too. Who knows? So meanwhile, I've been accumulating what I need to make a ton of those things. Here is my Crop-A-Dile along with a case of eyelets, rings, etc.:

Do I have to confess that I have about a dozen other eyelet shapes on order? *hee hee*

Well, it's time to catch up from our weekend getaway. Yuck. I really want to stitch, fondle, and roam blogs instead. Until I check in again, know that I appreciate my stalkers (followers) and love the comments. Happy stitching!

Yay, another ornament finish!

Okay, so it's not like it was a tough one to do but hey, it's still a finish, right? :-) I sat down and completed the stitching and finishing in just a few hours but that was the plan. By this time in '09, I wanted to have three or four ornaments finished up. When I was searching for my next ornament, I picked this one because I adore snowmen and it was obviously very quick and easy to finish. Soooooo, this makes ornament number three! It is from the 1998 Ornament Issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine and is by Homespun Elegance Ltd. It is called "Starry Snowman". It measures about 3 inches across and I stitched it on some mystery linen from my stash, I believe it's 28 count and some sort of raw/natural linen.

Side note -- a while back, I purchased a good-sized lot of linens and evenweaves from eBay. (*drool drool* Ooooooooh, eBay!!!) The good majority of them were labeled but some were not. Even though I can figure out the count relatively easily, I'm not going to the trouble to identify manufacturer and exact color name, especially when the colors are all neutrals and earthtones, ya' know? I'm just glad to have the fabric! :-)))

Hope everyone's week is starting out on a good note. Mine started good as we've rented some movies and started watching them last night. Of course we had the fireplace going. My family was together, we had a good movie to watch, I had my stitching, and the fire felt great -- how much better can it get? Anyway...two of the movies we have are "Open Season", both the first and second ones, and we watched the first one last night. Too cute and funny! We started the second one but the news was fixing to come on, Brad was starting to doze off, my oldest son was tired, and my youngest had succumbed to his allergy meds and fallen asleep. Maybe tonight we'll watch the second one. Bring on the popcorn!

Another thing I did last night (after finishing my third Christmas ornament) was get back to work on "Break Time" by Stoney Creek. Good grief, they love their color changes, color blends, and backstitching, don't they??? Oooooooooh, but they are so worth it. Watch for an updated picture later in the week, probably Thursday night or Friday.

Take care, happy frog-free stitching, and bye for now!

My first floss tag / floss ring and a WIP picture

That is the first floss ring / floss tag I have ever made. But it won't be the last! The finishing took about an hour and a half but I don't think that's too bad considering I've never done one before and I was taking my own sweet time getting it done. This will be a surprise gift for a friend I have "known" through the cross-stitching message boards for years, and that's why I can't post the back of it because if she reads this blog (which I don't think she does) then she'd know it was for her. *hee hee*

Thanks to the Snippets and Stash blog, I was able to find easy-to-follow instructions accompanied by pictures on how to make the floss tag. Here is the link: http://snippetsandstash.blogspot.com/ The only difference is that I used my Crop-A-Dile tool instead of the one listed in the tutorial. Once you click on that link and arrive at her blog, just scroll down until you see a little section on the right called "Tutorials", then click on the link for the floss tags. Easy peasy! :-)

Next is a WIP (work-in-progress) picture of my "Valentino's Three" from the Holiday Sparrow Designs series of Tall Guys:

With tomorrow being Valentine's Day, I think I might just keep stitching on this piece. It's appropriate, don't you think? LOL

BTW, for those asking and wondering, we made it through the bad storms and tornadoes just fine the other night and hope y'all did, too. The storms fired up about 20 to 30 miles east of us, so we missed all the excitement...thank goodness!

My husband (Brad) and I don't "do" Valentine's Day, so he took the day off yesterday (woo hoo!) and even made arrangements with my ex to pick up the boys after school. He wanted us to have a whole day together...and we did! We didn't do anything spectacular but that's part of what made it so special...just being best friends and enjoying each other's company is part of what keeps our marriage alive and happy. His thoughtfulness and our day together yesterday beats any over-priced bouquet of flowers or heart-shaped box of candy.

May everyone have a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow and a relaxing weekend. :-)

What do you think?

I've finally gotten around to making some changes to my blog. The plain ol' black and white had gotten old, especially with Spring just around the corner. So...whatcha' think? Feel free to vote -- the poll is located right there ========================================>

My stitching yesterday and today so far has been on my Tall Guys, "Valentino's Three". Watch for an updated picture later in the week. Heck, maybe later tonight. You never know about me. LOL

Our weather forecaster said we might get severe weather tomorrow morning/afternoon, which might even include a tornado. *thud* This is FEBRUARY, for cryin' out loud!

Hope everyone had a great Monday. I'm going to go stitch and probably play some Wii games with Brad and the boys. Take care and bye for now!

The best pillow I've ever made!

Okay, so it's the first pillow I've ever made but that still means it's the best pillow, even if only by default. LOL! Here it is, hot off the sewing machine:

Actually, I'm pretty impressed with my first pillow. I opted out of mitering the corners or adding trim because it was my first sewn pillow effort but maybe next time. This pillow and the little pink book next to it will be given to my friend today or tomorrow.

If you're the praying type, please add Melissa to your prayers. She could really use them. If you're not the praying type, then we'd gladly accept any good thoughts/vibes you can muster. Thanks to everyone -- your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.

Now for more pillow information in case some readers are interested... I got the finishing techniques from a book titled "Needlework from Stitch to Finish" by Summer Louise Truswell. She has a way of making things so much easier! The pillow measures right at 12" x 12". It is framed and backed with a pink ribbon breast cancer fabric I purchased at Hancock Fabrics earlier this week. The pattern is from Gloria & Pat and is free! It can easily be found using Google...just do a search on "Gloria Pat free What Cancer Cannot Do" (or something similar) and it should be the first thing that pops up on the list.

Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments. *hugs*

Christmas needleroll finished

And there it is! The needleroll is a bit smaller than "normal" ones as it is only ornament-sized. It measures right under six inches tall and is less than two inches across at the widest point. I altered the design a bit and used a totally different button than what was called for in the pattern. Count this as one of my finishes that I'm proud of. :-) (Side note -- this is only the third needleroll I've ever made and is by far the smallest. It was a bugger to turn right-side out! LOL)

Well, that completes my ornament for February so I have go post it at the ornament SAL blog.
The stitching was finished on 1/25 but I "finished" it today. That makes my second ornament for the year, so I'm only one behind were I wanted to be. We'll see if February lets me catch up because I also want to make a floss tag for a friend. (Another side note -- I bought a Crop-A-Dile yesterday for those eyelets/grommets in the floss tags. I played with it last night and it's one handy-dandy tool! Okay, okay, enough free advertising. LOL)

Hope you're all getting some frog-free stitching time in. I plan on stitching this evening but don't know yet if I'll be working on "O Beautiful" (which is coming along VERY nicely!), or the floss tag, or maybe work on the finishing of the cancer piece I stitched for a friend. We'll see...but either way, I'm heating leftovers for dinner so you know what that means: more stitching time! Woo hoo! LOL ;-) Bye for now!