My Special Christmas Gift from Ray....

I wanted to share my gorgeous gift that Ray made for me that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago! It started with Vonna coming up with the idea with the framed fabric covered cork board to hang her scissors/fobs on. I LOVE the idea, but didn't really have anywhere to hang one, so, I asked Ray to make a case that could have a glass top that I could lay my scissors/fobs in. And he made it.... and lined it with red velvet and it's so very pretty! I knew he was making it but I didn't get to see it until late Christmas Eve. Isn't it great? I do have more scissors & pretty fobs, but many are kitted up with UFO's & other projects, but you get the idea I'm sure!

Below are pics with & without the glass.....



I love it & that's what counts, right? ;-)

As you can see, I've been working on my blog a bit. I like it with 3 columns, but it took me an hour to get all the html changed. I should have been working but it was Saturday evening... who wants to work on Saturday evening?! ;-)


I also finally stitched last night! Yeah for me! I am listening to a book on CD & hope to finish up a RR by bedtime. If I do, that's it for RR's for me, at least for awhile. I have so many, many projects I want to finish in 2009 & so many more to start.... wish me luck! :-) I also finished my LK Double Flips (the first series) last night with the exception of adding the charms. I'll do that sometime after I finish the RR & post a pic.

Thanks for looking & have a great week ahead! Happy New Year to all, may you have a very happy & blessed 2009!!!

Make A Wish Exchange from Gaby!

Look at this lovely "humbug" ornament Gaby made for me in the Make A Wish group! Isn't it lovely? A gorgeous design & I love the finish, and esp. the beaded hanger. I emailed her but haven't heard back about the designer, but it's so pretty. She also sent it in this cute bag with the fob (don't you LOVE the charm, it's a red "bra" or bikini top!) and the folder paper stars! I asked about these as well, so I'll update when I hear from her to give you the details. It's all just wonderful, thank you so much Gaby!!!

Merry Christmas....

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas filled with much happiness & many blessings!

Oh lookie what I got!!! (and more!)

I received a LOVELY gift in the mail today from our dear,sweet Vonna! Isn't this so pretty (and RED!)!?!?!! :-) She knows me too well! I love it, thank you Vonna! :-) And I do believe, 100%! This will stay out year round, along with all my other "redwork" pieces! :-)




Next is an exchange to Shelleen in the Make A Wish group! I just saw a post that she has gotten them! WHEW! According to the delivery confirmation, over the past 10 days they have gone from here to NY, then to VA then back to NY. I was so afraid they were lost. Shelleen's wish was for a floss ring tag for Halloween or Christmas. I decided to do one of each using the Krazy Kitties from Cat's Whiskers. There had to be purple somewhere so the Christmas kitty got purple boots. I sure hope Shelleen likes them. They were a fun & quick stitch (and I'm so glad the USPS didn't lose them!).

Below are two ornaments I finished yesterday. The first one is a Homespun Elegance design that I am giving to my Mom's friend Donna. She collects snowmen and I thought she might like this little guy. He's kinda cute, don't you think? Donna always bakes lots of cookies & breads for our entire family. It's her fault I'm getting fatter each year. Yep, that works, I'll blame it on Donna! ;-)

And this one is for my niece Hannah. It's an older SanMan design which I'm pretty sure is OOP. I gave the other two SanMan's from a previous post to my mom & sister. Hannah likes anything pink (she didn't get that from me!) so I thought she might like this one for their tree. I included a pic of the fabric I used on the back. It's from a fat quarter that Louise sent me not too long ago. It's pretty cute.... I guess you could say it's a 2 sided ornament, Hannah certainly thought so! :-)

Thanks for looking & hope someone is getting some stitching in... none going on around here!

My Christmas Tree.....

Here are some pics, as promised...

The tree skirt was made my Ray's Grandmother the year we married, so it's now 20 years old. I miss Grandmother very much & am reminded of her each year with our beautiful tree skirt & many of the crocheted ornaments she made for us. She also taught me to crochet & all the crocheted ornaments you see on our tree were made by either her or me.

I think the pics are clickable to make the larger in case you want to see anything close up.

I have many,many more stitched ornaments on stands & on an ornament tree on my table... I'll see if Ray will take more pics later! :-)

Thanks for looking & happy stitching!

Just some thoughts this morning......

About my Christmas tree having "a few" ornaments on it, I have managed to add about a dozen or so more ornaments since my post the other day. I know some of you think I'm nuts, but I LOVE my tree being completely covered in ornaments!!!! :-) So does everyone that see's it in person, or at least they say so. I guess they woudn't tell me if they thought it was tacky thought would they? ;-) I hope to get Ray to take some good pics of the tree today with some close up's of some of the ornaments. I have ornaments on the tree that are at least 40 years old. Some I made in Brownies (Girl Scouts) & there is one (from a set) that I can remember sitting at the kitchen table helping my mom make. She said my sister was a newborn & I was 5.5 when my sister was born, so that was 35 years ago! I remember making the ornaments with her so clearly. A few are some of the earliest ornaments my mom bought & my parents 45th anniversary is Sunday! And then I have ornaments on the tree that I bought at Hallmark this year, and a brass engraved ornament for every Christmas that Ray & I have known each other, and we met in Dec of 1985, so that's a lot of ornaments!! ;-)

While being very happy about my ornaments & special memories, some of my friends & customers (of whom many I also count as friends, though we've never met), are having some tough times right now. I don't have any great words of wisdom or a magic wand to make all the hurts & problems disappear, but I do want you all to know that you're in my thoughts & prayers. I'm so sorry that you are dealing with these things, esp. here at Christmas time. Try to remember that tomorrow is another day & it might be just as hard as today, but keep the faith & things will improve. I thank the good Lord for each day & all the blessings in my life & I hope that you will do the same. Sending hugs to you & PBS for you as well.

I hope everyone is getting lots of stitching in. None here this week to speak of, but keep watching.... though I said wasn't starting anything new, I will be! I might wait until Christmas Day.... we'll see! :-)

Check back later for pics (I hope!)

Have a great weekend & happy stitching!!

Oh and a PS about my Olde Colonial Basket & pin cushion.... if anyone is really interested in either one, I think I can still order them. But sorry, you cannot have mine! ;-) Nice try though....

New Sale/Trade Blog.....

I have started a new Sale/Trade blog & have a few items listed, with LOTS more to come. Please take a peek if you are interested!!

http://amyssaletradeblog.blogspot.com/

Happy stitching!

Several finishes & an Exchange pkg to share!!!

First, let me say I haven't been stitching lately, I really haven't, at least not much! I stitched this Christmas tree freebie design (found the link on Petra's blog) several weeks ago. It's DMC 500 on 32 ct Ruby Wine Belfast. The colors really are much better than they appear on the computer monitor! I love how this one turned out.

Next are two designs by San-Man that I found in my stash. I stitched one of these the same weekend as the tree above & I'm not sure when the other was stitched. They were kits that came with the tucks & buttons, floss, etc. I think they're pretty cute & very quick & easy stitches.

At the Pals Fall Fling Ruth got a basket just like this one (with the handles) in her grab bag from Jane Timmers/Fancy Work. I tried to bring it home with me but Ruth wasn't having any of that! I was afraid it was the basket or no more See's candy for me, so I didn't press the issue (or steal the basket when she wasn't looking). I just came home & ordered it for myself from Olde Colonial. Well, FINALLY on Sunday I got it & the pin cushion basket out & used some of my precious Moda Maderia (Blackbird) fabric to line the bottom of the basket (it is removeable) and to cover the pincushion. I think they're cute & they're VERY useful for me. I'm thrilled with how they turned out!

And speaking of THRILLED..... I joined the Pals Christmas Ornament exchange and mine arrived today. I was thinking geez, what a big ornament ;-) when this big ol' box came and I opened it to find this ADORABLE tin! Isn't it just the cutest? See the bird? I do so love birds...

When I opened the tin, I was THRILLED to find all these wonderful goodies, just look!!! The ornament is the M Designs bluebird from the 2008 JCS Ornament issue, which I got to see in Myrtle Beach as Mary had the model with her! Also, there was one in the ornament exchange but someone else got to it before it was my turn, darn it all. I really wanted it! Thanks to dear Michele (Mavis, Marva, Mabel, etc), now I not only have the adorable ornament (she also stitched the one in the MB exchange!), I have all these other wonderful goodies to go with it. Don't you just LOVE those fat quarters (fabric is my other addiction after/along with cross stitch stash)? And those RED Debbie Mumm buttons are simply adorable! (I think Michele likes red *almost* as much as I do!) She certainly brightened my day with this package!!! Thank you again Michele! :-) :-)

Here is the ornament hanging on my tree... isn't it cute?
And here is a portion of my tree. Do you think it has enough ornaments on it? Nah, neither do I!! ;-) I'm a total addict when it comes to my ornaments. I'll get Ray to take some good pics very soon!

Thanks for stopping by & happy stitching!!!

PIF (from several days ago).....

I used the random number generator to pick a winner & the number was 6, and the 6th person to post is Malinda (Mel). So Melinda, you will get the two JBW Mitten charts & now you'll need to put a PIF up on your blog! Thanks to those who want to join in. Watch Malinda's blog for her PIF & maybe you'll be the lucky one there!

Happy stitching!

My Winter Seasonal Exchange from Becky SC.....

I recevied a very nice package from Becky SC a couple of days ago and finally took some pics a few minutes ago. Forgive my photography, it's not very good! Becky stitched two pieces for me, this bunny that she put on top of a wooden box, and a Quaker redwork piece that she made into a pinkeep. Aren't they both lovely?

And here is a pic of everything except 2 Christmas decorations (a snowman & a Santa)... I forgot to put them in the pic. It was good of Becky to send such a nice package, thanks again Becky!

I have been stitching a bit & hope to finish up my last exchange commitment for 2008 tonight or tomorrow. Wish me luck! After that, I have a few UFO's I want to get done before the end of 2008. We'll see how far I get. Thanks for visiting & happy stitching!

PS-Don't forget my PIF post below....

A finish to share.....

My friend Renee got married on Nov 1st, and I finally gave her their wedding gift today. Of course I didn't get the pattern until Thursday & didn't start until Friday, so I didn't do too badly! Her "new name" is McCord, so I decided to do an M Designs tree using her favorite colors. The fabric is Ruby Wine Belfast & the threads, beads & MH treaures are black. It really did turn out lovely and best of all, I *think* Renee really liked it!

I'll get pics of the exchange pkg from Becky sometime today. Ray took this one pic of the tree & the batteries died (of course!). Check back later for more pics!

Thanks for looking & happy stitching!

Anyone interested in a PIF - Charts???

Instead of it being stitched designs, how about a PIF of a pattern or two? I have two NEW JBW charts, Red Mitten Collections 1 & 2. Anyone who wants to enter must agree to put a PIF on their blog if they win. So, if you're up for it, leave your entry to this post & I'll draw a winner on Saturday morning. Make sure you check back unless you want to leave your email address so I can contact you! '

I also received a pkg from Becky today. I'll try to get pics this evening & get them posted, so check back!

Thanks & happy stitching,
Amy

And The Winner Is.....

The winner of the cute little Christmas chart (from the blog post below) is... Julie - moreofhim. Julie, if you will email me your mailing address (amycspals@ yahoo.com - no spaces), I'll get this out to you right away! Thanks for reading my blog! :-)

SO who is stitching? I stitched yesterday afternoon & evening and am getting ready to sit down with my stitching VERY shortly. So early in the day? Well... I have worked every day since last Saturday, so I'm ready for the rest of the weekend off. Wish me luck! :-)

Ray is out in his workshop making me what I requested for Christmas! :-) What is it you ask? You'll have to check back on Christmas & see, as he surely won't let me see it until then (or so I'm told!). But it does have a bit to do with cross stitch/stash, etc.... :-) Yes, he's a keeper for sure!

Have a great weekend & happy stitching,
Amy

A VERY big THANK YOU to Vonna....

Don't you love what Vonna did to my blog? She made it look like Christmas-y --- isn't it adorable! Thank you Vonna, you're so kind & dear!

In honor of Vonna & her kindness, I want to do a little give away! The item will be a cute Christmas cross stitch chart! If you want a chance to enter, just comment to this post.

Thanks again to Vonna & happy CHRISTMAS stitching to everyone!

How did December get here so fast?

Wasn't it just July a few days ago? Are you sure? If feels like it was to me!

I haven't stitched but once in over a week (almost 2) and then it wasn't for very long. With my mil here for 10 days & then going out of town (to the beach) for Thanksgiving, things have been really off schedule here & it's just now starting to feel like things are somewhat back to normal. I hope to get my Christmas tree up in the next day or two and hopefully take part of Saturday (and Sunday) off & hopefully stitch! All of my Christmas shopping is finished, just have to get everything wrapped. I prefer wrapping over gift bags, but this year, we'll just have to see what happens!
What about you? Done shopping, decorating & wrapping? I bet many of you are!

Have you seen the new Lizzie Kate Halloween Double Flips coming in early January? Click here to see! They are so cute.... will have to do these as well. Linda's designs just keep getting cuter & cuter imho! :-)

My 2009 stitching list is so long.... I really want to stitch "And A Garden Grew" by Rosewood Manor and "Common Ground" by Just Nan, and I have at least 5-6 BIG UFO's I'd like to finish, including "And A Forest Grew". Maybe I can get some of it done if I stop doing so many exchanges! :-[ Wish me luck!

Hope you are having a great week filled with lots of stitching!