My Blackbird Designs Sampler....

Blackbird Designs Freebie Sampler

36 ct Copper by Lakeside Linens

Paprika Crescent Colours Belle Soie thread

Like most of the stitching bloggers out there, I decided to stitch the Blackbird Designs freebie sampler & to personalize it my way! Here is my finished sampler - and I'm happy with the way it turned out. When I first saw the design on Vonna's blog, her finished piece with her grandma's name, I thought what a wonderful idea that was & had a brief thought of doing the same thing. But my idea soon changed, and here's the long story why..... I had just finished going through a pile of my fabric stash & had run across a certain piece & had the thought that I really needed to stitch something on this for my *new* kitchen because it matches the ceramic tile backsplash (that I helped with) just perfectly. Suddenly I knew exactly what to stitch! When we moved into our new dream home that we built in 2007, my parents gave me their antique dining room furniture including a bowfront china cabinet and their wedding china. I stitched this sampler using my parents initials/last name & the year they were married. I'm going to finish it and put in the china cabinet where it will show up perfectly against the soft white china, and it also matches the kitchen perfectly. I'm thrilled with how it came out & that's the most important thing, right? I used 36 ct Copper fabric by Lakeside Linens & Paprika Belle Soie silk floss by Crescent Colours. The pic isn't the best in the world, but I'm sure you get the idea. :-)

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend! Happy stitching!

Sale/Trade Blog UPDATED w/fabrics & more....

I've added more to my sale/trade blog, be sure to look if you might be interested in some fabrics! http://amyssaletradeblog.blogspot.com/

Happy stitching!

A couple of exchanges to share....

I know that both of the exchanges I mailed last week were received, so I thought I'd post them. First is the 2nd ornament I stitched for Carol in the Ornament Exchange group I've been a part of for almost a year. The first one I sent hasn't shown up, so I hope wherever it went, the person is enjoying it! This one is by Mary Garry.... a little birdie told me Carol is a big Mary Garry fan, so I stitched this for her. :-)

Next up is a design by Anita's Little Stitches of an emery. Karen AZ wished for an emery/strawberry & put pink as one of her fav colors. I thought this was was a pretty design & decided to stitch it in pink, like the model, only with different threads. I think it's rather cute, even if it is pink. ;-) It shows it was delivered to Karen at the end of last week. I sure hope she likes it.

I stitched a bit on Sunday & for maybe an hour last night. Things have been rather crazy/hectic around here lately. Hope to get more stitching in tonight. First I need to list tons of fabric on my sale/trade blog, hope to get to that this evening, wish me luck! :-)

Thanks for all of your kind comments about Ray & our new fountain. He is amazingly talented.... one of these days I'll post pics of some of his guitars he's made... THAT will amaze you! He can figure out how to make almost anything.... he does do research (LOTS of it) and he has a plan always. He rarely ever just starts something & figures it out as he goes. He's quite the perfectionist. I don't know how he ended up with me! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by & happy stitching!

Look what Ray made....

I think I posted that Ray has been working on a fountain for our courtyard? He finally finished it today, isn't it wonderful? He made the moulds, poured them in concrete, made all the parts & we found the birds at Wal-Mart. He drilled holes in them, put tubes in to make them "spit" water. I LOVE birds as everyone who reads my blog knows, so they're perfect! He says now that it's done that there is a thing or two he'd change, but I like it they way it is! :-) Here is a pic from further in the yard of the whole courtyard.

On the stitching front, I started something new today... will post a pic when it's done, likely in a few days. :-) I have been going through more stash & OMG, I didn't know I had so much fabric. I have 70+ pieces I'm going to list on my sale blog soon, and I haven't even gone though it all yet. It's unreal.... enough said!

Thanks for stopping by! Oh, and be sure to go down a couple of posts & see the Online Needlework Show RAK. You have until Sunday night to leave your comment! :-) Have a great rest of the weekend!!

Updated Sale/Trade Blog today...

More added, check it out! http://amyssaletradeblog.blogspot.com/

An exchange received & a WIP update...

I received an ornament from Jill the other day in the year long Ornament Exchange group I'm in. My month to receive is May, but Jill is on the ball & has sent early. :-) Isn't this lovely? It's "ABC Noel 2007" by ... a French designer! Maybe Jill will help us out with the name... I can't remember, sorry. Anyway, it's stitched with DMC 115 on white opal Cashel & it's just wonderful, thank you again Jill!

Next is Shepherd's Bush "My Earth" in progress (with before & after pics). I picked it back up several days ago & you can see my progress on it. I do hope to finish it soon. I ordered the mats from Jill Rensel & they should be here around May 1st or so. :-) I think it's so cute.... I'm still trying to decide if I want to add the words, such as grass, sunshine, etc... Right now I'm leaning towards leaving them off, so we'll see.

Before... (as of March 31st I think)

After (as of April 15th)

I have also sent out two exchanges today that I've recently stitched. I'll show you those after they have been received.

Oh, and here is the "Spring Exchange" that I sent to Becky SC last week. I think this is the cutest polka-dot fabric, and shouldn't we all "Be Hoppy" all the time? ;-) It was a simple stitch, but Becky kept telling me to keep it simple, so I took that to heart this time. I have her "Summer" project already figured out & it will be a bit more than this was, hope she'll be happy with it! :-)

Be sure to see my post below this one about the Online Needlework Show.
Thanks for stopping by & Happy Stitching!

Online Needlework Show....

As many of you already know, the Online Needlework Show started today. I have browsed through it rather quickly so far & saw several things I liked, (what's new, right?). ;-) Take the time to visit and find your favorite item, then comment to this post with the designer/title by Sunday, April 19th with that item, and you might be lucky enough to get it as a RAK! How's that for fun "window shopping"? :-) Also, if you see something you want to order, we'll be happy to order it for you, just send an email to dsl@downsunshinelane.com with the designer/company name & the titles of the item(s) & we'll get the order in for you.

I hope to have some pics to post soon as I have actually been stitching in the evenings! Happy stitching (and shopping too!).

A Finish & An Exchange.....

I finished Erica Michael's "Serenity" this afternoon & I love how it turned out. The pic is kinda crooked, but you get the idea. :-) I didn't stitch it on the silk guaze, obviously, I used 32 ct Antique Ivory Belfast and I changed all the colors (as usual!). I used DMC for the words & WDW for the border blocks. I can't wait to get it framed & hung up. :-)

Next is the ornament I sent to Julianne in the year long Ornament Exchange group I'm in. She received it today & says she really likes it. I know Julianne loves Prairie Schooler, but I had no idea what all she already had stitched or what would be stitched for her, so I decided to do her initials from the PS Christmas Alphabet leaflet & make it a 2 sided ornament. It was really fun to stitch & I hope she likes it as much as I do! :-) Below you can see the front & back & the two pieces before I cut the apart to stitch together.

Thanks for stopping by & happy stitching!

Sent Exchange To Share....

Jill received her ornie in our year long exchange the other day. I chose this Shepherd's Bush design for Jill. She asked for a Pine Tree in all of her ornies & I thought this was a cute design. I tried several trims around it but everything just seemed too "busy" with the border & buttons on the ornie. Jill says she likes it & I hope she does. Juliannes went out yesterday & I have to re-do Carol's as she never recieved it & then in May I get my ornies, can't wait! :-) Last but not least will be one for Becky in June, and that year long exchange is finished.

I also have another exchange piece to mail out tomorrow. I just realized today that I totally spaced out on an exchange for Karen on the Make A Wish BB.... I will be doing that one asap too. I'm sorry Karen! After that, I have TONS to get back to on my WIP/UFO pieces. AND I want to start several more. Yes, I have lost my mind.... ;-) It's a nice place to be though! Care to join me?

Have a great rest of the week & happy stitching!

Hey ya'll....

I can't belive it's already April! Where is the year going? I've had a rough week here. Won't bore you with the details, but hopefully things will soon be better. I sure hope so anyway.

I haven't stitched much either, but I did finally get Jill's ornament out & have Julianne's picked out & getting ready to pull the threads & cut the fabric after I finish this post. I'm waiting on Ray to decide if we are going to go listen to a friend play guitar for a bit this evening. He's playing at a resturant/bar here, and it's not our usual thing, so we'll see. Ray is hurting this evening too.... so it's all up to him! ;-) He has been busy building a new fountain for our courtyard and my brother came this a.m. to help him put it in place. He figures it weighs at least 600 lbs, but he did make the "surround" in 2 pieces, but it's still heavy. I'll take a pic of it when it's finished. It looks wonderful so far... can't wait until it's done!



This afternoon we went "shopping". (You have to know the town we live in for that to sound so funny, we have one dept. store & a super Wal-Mart. UGH!) Ray actually found some shorts he likes and we bought 5 pair and a couple of shirts too, and a hat...... Woohoo! If you had any idea how picky he is about clothes, you'd know why I'm so thrilled! :-) I got a pair of capri's, a pair of shorts & 2 shirts myself, ALL for around $30 (just for my stuff, his wasn't as cheap! lol). They had a fantastic sale & I had printed two coupons online before we left. We also found some Reebok Flip Flops that were $20 for $5.40 and we are planning to trip to the beach soon, so we went wild & bought those. ;-) I'm NOT a flip flop person, but hopefully they'll do the trick at the beach. Yesterday I bought some petunia's & a couple of other plants. Everything is starting to bloom like crazy & seems all of our plants & trees survived the winter. I'm thrilled to see them! With all the rain we've had this week, things are growing like crazy, esp. the weeds. The grass is going to have to be cut next week for the 2nd time this year, and it's only April...


Anyway, back to my stitching.... here is an update of the Lizzie Kate ABC Lessons. I haven't touched it in several days & have some other things to do before I get back to it. I like how it's turning out very much!


Next I have to share a wonderful gift that Karen SC brought me last Sat. when she, Nicole & Teresa came to stitch (we had a great time btw!). Look at these adorable cards she made! Aren't they the cutest? And of course they're in my fav colors too! I just love them. Thank you again Karen!! :-)



And last but not least, this is my new bunny! I just love rabbits... and this is one of my very favorites to date. I have quite a bit of Marjolein Bastin Nature's Sketchbook items that have always been found at Hallmark. I mostly have rabbits, bird/birdhouse & pansy items, lots of the ornaments, etc. Well, I just found out that Demdaco (who makes the Willow Tree that I also collect) is now producing a line by MB called Nature's Journey and this sweet little rabbit is by far my favorite!! It's not very big (about 4" tall & close to 4" wide) but it's really heavy. I hope she does lots more rabbits & birds.... just can't get enough, esp. when they're small & as cute as this one.



If you're still with me, thanks for stopping by. I hope to have more pics to share soon. Happy stitching!