SBEBB Spring Garden House from Vonna!!!

I received a lovely exchange package in the mail yesterday from Vonna.... look at these!!! From the original model stitcher herself, she made these lovelies just for me! I feel so special! :-) Aren't they adorable? You can see even better pics on Vonna's blog. Thank you dear Vonna for such a wonderful exchange package. :-) :-) :-) I don't know what else to say... they're about as close to perfect as stitching can get! :-)

Now, read the next LONG blog entry to see what else I've beem up to for the past couple of days.......... ;-)

VERY Long post.... mail, exchange, friends, plants...

Hi there stitching friends! I got some goodies in the mail yesterday! The only problem was, both sets of camera batteries were dead. I had to wait on Ray to get them charged & then I took a couple of pics & he took the others. I'm not a very good photographer. I didn't get a pic of one of the items that came yesterday..... thanks to Malinda for the Hillside Samplings pattern & CHOCOLATE! ;-) Just at the right time too my dear. :-) Malinda stitched "My Stitching Chair Necessaire" & I loved it & she decided I needed it as well, so she sent me her pattern. Thank you so much... another "Must Do" to add to my pile. Here is a pic of from Malinda's Blog, isn't it lovely? :-)

Also, I recieved a wonderful package from Sandy, lots of goodies, a gift for my niece, a RR and a fibro magazine that she had two of. Thank you Sandy, it's all most appreciated. I wanted to share this pic of the extra special items though, aren't the cute as can be? I LOVE the card!! ;-) And isn't the floss holder really cute? What a great idea! :-) Thanks again my friend & hugs, I hope you are feeling better?

I have been stitching & I can finally post my F&S that went to Gaby in Germany. She wanted something "coffee" and she loves LHN, so I just whipped this right out for her. ;-) It's not the "traditional" coffee cup, but I hope she likes it. I think it turned out kinda cute.

I've gotten 2 other exchange pieces done (and one mailed) and another is about 1/2 stitched. I'm hoping to finish them both this weekend & get the packages out the first of the week. Wish me luck!!

Ray, my mom & I went to a plant sale this afternoon. Before that we ran by Wal-Mart as Ray needed something. My mom & I decided to just look at plants & I ended up coming up with 2 trays of red wave petunias, a bleeding heart, a blueberry bush and a few pots. At the plant sale, all I ended up with was a jade plant AND the winning ticket for a grand raffle (I told them I wanted the winning one, so I hope I have it!) lol The drawing is tomorrow afternoon, so cross those fingers for me. I could really use all the plants, bulbs, seeds, bird seed, fire ant killer, humminbird feeders, and a few gardening tools! I really want to win this one.... lol I'm getting as crazy over plants as I am cross stitch... which is scary, to say the least. Then I came home & ordered a beautiful Foxglove that I hope will live here. My mom has one that is gorgeous, but it's not yellow like this one. I do like yellow though, so we'll see. The only other thing I REALLY wanted that I didn't buy was a fuschia. They just won't live here, but oh my are they gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!

While we were out, I saw my friend Renee who just finished esthetician school. She is a stitching addict as well & I had a RR to drop off to her. She told me that she is scheduling me for a facial (her treat) soon! Isn't that nice of her? I've never had one, sounds interesting though! ;-) If you're reading this Renee, I'm glad you're back home. Missed you for 3 months! ;-)

Hope everyone has a great weekend & happy stitching!!!

SBEBB Spring House TO Vonna.... AND Happy Anniversary to Sandy & Randy!!

Vonna received her "Spring House" earlier this week. I made it especially for her with her fav colors, sheep (of course) and her name. I had this lovely Moda fabric that I used on the back of the pinkeep, only I didn't take a pic of it, but you can see it on her bog. I do hope you will enjoy it Vonna... it was stitched with love! :-)

I also want to wish my dear friend Sandy & her DH Randy a wonderful anniversary today. I can't believe it's been 5 years already! Time sure is flying by! Hope it's the best year yet for both of you!!!

The same day that I sent Vonna's exchange, I mailed a F&S exchagne to Gaby in Germany. Hopefully she will received it soon. This past week, I have finished a SBEBB exchange piece & started on yet another exchange piece. I HOPE to do the finishing tomorrow, we'll see. I'm almost caught up with exchanges, aren't you impressed? :-) Now Sandy tells me that she mailed a RR off to me yesterday, so maybe that will arrive on Monday. My "want to stitch" list is so long, if I could stitch 12 hours a day, I'll never get half of it done anyway! lol


BTW, if you haven't browsed the Online Needlework Show yet, be sure to shop by & check it out. There are some interesting items to be found. One design I think I'm going to order for myself is shown below. It's NOT my usual style or taste, but for some reason, I really like it. Now when/if I'll get around to stitching it, who knows, but as we all know, "need has nothing to do with it". ;-)

The Poem reads:

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.

Calligraphy reads:
Destined To Meet

It's by Cross-Stitch-Art
They have a lot of interesting designs on their website, which is where I found this.

Hope everyone has a great weekend & happy stitching!

It's Sunday.... (and update on Hannah!)

How do the days & weeks come & go so quickly? How is it already the middle of April? It seems like I blink & another month has gone by already. I haven't been stitching at all this past week. I've been having headaches & neck aches. :-( Hopefully it will be better soon & I can get back to stitching. Today I really need to get some finishing work accomplished. Cross your fingers for me! I also HOPE to stitch some later this evening.

I have a stitching problem... I want to start about 10 new pieces all at once. I need to start/finish three exchanges & then I'm done with exchanges for at least a few weeks! Why do I do this to myself? I LOVE the exchanges, but my "to do" is just growing by leaps & bounds. I keep telling myself I'm not going to sign up for more exchanges, and then I do. Someone STOP ME!!! ;-) (I'm not real sure if I'm serious or not to be honest). I think there just aren't enough hours in the day for everything I want & need to do. I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one who feels that way am I?


Oh, and it's also way past time for me to get things together for the Pals Fall Fling. It's exactly 6 months & 1 day and I haven't even gotten the details up on the website. For those that don't know, this is a stitching retreat that we've hosted for the past 10 years, this year is #11. It's in Myrtle Beach SC in Oct & it's LOTS of fun. We love to have new people join us, so if you're up for a great week/weekend of stitching & fun, check back soon for more details.

Thank you all for your prayers/good thoughts for my niece. She is doing pretty good. She came over for a few hours yesterday but didn't get to stay long as she wanted because it was time for more drops in her eyes. Even though she brought half of the house with her, we forgot those! ;-) Luckily they live one street over, so it's a short drive (or walk, but we needed something to haul all her "stuff" in). She takes her stuff to "Ray's room" (where he repairs instruments & plays guitar). Hannah calls it "her room" when she's here. I think it's cute! Ray managed to snap one quick pic of her while she was coloring in one of her new little books that she got after her surgery. It looks a little odd as she was just looking up at him from the book. We all spoil this child so rotten she has come to expect "gifts" while/or after being in the hospital. She has had 3 eye surgeries, been in the hospital for C-dif twice (and was EXTREMELY ill with that) and just bascailly has had a rough time in her short 8 years. Her eye is still hurting, though the doc said when the stitches dissolve, she should feel better. She is going back to school tomorrow but she isn't allowed to be outside and my sister is going to have to make an extra trip to the school each day to put drops in her eyes. Doesn't that sound like fun with gas so high?

If you're still reading, thanks for stopping by. I'm going to force myself to get up from this computer & actually accomplish something today. Hope you have a lovely week ahead & happy stitching!!

Prayer request.....

Would you please keep my darling niece Hannah in your prayers for the next few days? She is having eye surgery on both eyes tomorrow morning (Thursday) around 9:30-10 a.m. When she was 5 1/2, she had congenital cataracts removed & the lenses replaced in both of her eyes. They have come back & she is almost blind in one eye. They were going to wait & do the other eye after the first one heals, but due to some major company insurance changes with my bil's company, if it's not done before May 1st, it won't be covered. They found this out TODAY! So my sister called the doctor & he is going to do both eyes at once. This cannot be done by laser as they cataracts are too thick, so she has to be put under.

Hannah is a very precious child & we love her dearly. Your prayers & positive thoughts would mean a lot to us. Thanks so much!!

Earth Day F&S Exchagne from Jen R...

I recieved this cute Earth Day F&S from Jen.... two of my fav things, bunnies & trees! Isn't it cute? :-) Thanks Jen, I appreciate it so much & thank you for the extra goodies as well!!!

I actually did stitch some again last night.... I feel like I'm on a roll! Hope to get more done today. The weather is nice... it has rained SO much lately it's unreal. We probably got around 3" or more in 2 days I think. It seems like it's been raining for weeks. Luckily we didn't get anything severe this week. I LOVE spring, but I don't like the storms that come along with it. Everything has really turned green though and I love that! This week we're supposed to have highs in the mid to upper 70's and low 80's. And yes, it's already humid.... we live in the south, it's always humid! I love it though... I'm so glad the cold weather should finally be out of here!!!! :-)

Hope you have a great Sunday & happy stitching!!!

Our Pergola is *almost* finished.....

Ray has been building a Pergola over our back patio and it's almost done!! He still has to bend the metal to put around the outside top to match the facia board on the house. He went all out & made it really nice, at least I think so anyway! I wanted to share pics, and you can also see our new vehicle in one of the pics as well. Excuse the grass.... we still have some places where is hasn't grown in yet due to the grading/landscaping he & my dad did back in Feburary. The last pic is from inside the house, you can see how the "louvers" look from that angle.

I have been stitching a bit this week & have finished two exchange pieces. I can't share them yet though.... but I hope the recipients will like them!

Earth Day Fair & Square TO Jen....

I heard from Jen today & she has received her F&S package. I stitched a portion of LHN's "Morning Berries" with some color changes. Jen is like me & loves bunnies & likes trees as well, so I had to find a bunny and a tree! :-) I think it turned out cute & hope Jen likes it as well!!

I have another SBEBB exchange piece stitched & I hope to get the finishing done on it over the weekend. I have a few more exchanges to get busy on, so that's next on my long "to do" list.

Thanks for stopping by & happy stitching!!!