Saturday, October 31, 2009

Sharing Gifts/Exchanges!

I wanted to share the stitched pieces I received at the Pals Fall Fling. First, we have the ornaments from the Christmas Ornament Exchange. The way this works is for every one you stitch/bring, you take we home. All the ornaments are laid out for everyone to see (drool over) and then you are given a ticket for each one you bring. When your number is called, you get to go up & (quickly) pick one. I took 6, so I came home with 6 - actually 7 because Connie NE put two in one bag - the first two, the Gingerhouse & stocking. These will be cute on my little ornament tree! Next in the center is tree from Renee SC -it's in RED, which we both love! Then the tree/angel is from Myra SC - and it's taken me 10 years to get Myra to bring ornaments, so I was so happy to get one from her!

In this pic, the first one is by Karen SC & I fell in love with it when she had it at my house a few months back - so much so that I found the magazine it was in on ebay & bought it. Then I was lucky enough to get the actual ornament - woohooo! ;-) The one in the middle is by Faye NC and it's gorgeous isn't it? The last one is also by Karen & I love it as well. I did good huh? ;-)

Next are the two Halloween "ornaments" I came home with - the first is the JN that was in this years JCS Halloween issue & Shelleen NY stitched it - too cute! The Skeleton is from Kathy SC, and his arms & legs move. I am pretty sure she said this is from last years JCS Halloween issue, but I could be wrong so don't hold me to that! Again, I did good huh? ;-)

This is a precious pinkeep that Toni IL bought me. What she didn't know is that I've always loved this HIH design & have it & a couple of the charms in my stash and have stitched it a time or two. I was looking at it just the other week thinking I'd have to stitch it for myself one of these days even though the charm is for a " friend" because I really do like it. And apparently Toni was reading my mind - because here it is! I love it Toni - thank you! :-)


And last but certainly NOT least is a very special gift. My wonderful friend Susan TN re-charted Bent Creek's "Summer Row" to say Cross Stitch Pals 2009 & stitched this for me. Then if I understand it correctly (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong), some of the Pals chipped in for framing & this was a special gift to me this year at the Pals Fall Fling. I think everyone signed the back (including me, as Susan is a BRAT & told me it was hers the entire time) ! I wish the pic were larger, but you can click on it to see it better -
It's wonderful - I love it & I will think of all of you everytime I look at it! :-) Thank you to Susan for such a creative idea & a special gift to help me remember the 2009 Fall Fling!
Thanks for stopping by - Happy Stitching!



Friday, October 30, 2009

Wow! Trick or TREAT!!!!!!

I received an amazing gift today via that big ol' brown UPS truck... a box from the Silver Needle..... What was inside you ask? It was the stunning exclusive Just Nan kit "Merry Fifteen", this gorgeous Christmas Biscornu for me to make, and it was a gift from Becky SC!

Can you believe it? I wanted to open it up & start stitching right away... and I hope to start on it VERY soon! Thank you Becky.... your kindness is beyond measure! (You should see these pins, talk about CUTE! ;-)

Hope you all have a great weekend & Happy Halloween! :-)

Wow what a Contest!! ;-)

Okay gals (and guys), here is a contest for all of you to enter! Janlynn’s Dolly Mamas™ Contest, with $1400 in prizes (Grand Prize -- $1000). You can find info here - www.janlynn.com/dolly

You can watch the You Tube video right here:


All of us who cross stitch like to have input on new designs, so this is our chance, don't you think? ;-)

Last but not least - here are the rules http://www.janlynn.com/dolly/. I might enter, how about you? Hope one of us wins! ;-)

Happy stitching!

**This post is dated Nov 30th to keep it to the top so everyone can see it & have a chance to enter by the end date of the contest. Good luck & don't forget to look below to see my newest posts! :-)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Ornament from Becky!


Isn't this adorable? I love Nativity's and Becky SC sent this really cute ornament to me in this round of the Ornament Exchange Group. Thanks Becky, it's just adorable! :-) Now, stitch another..... what are you waiting on! ;-) LOL Becky says the design is called "Noel Ornament" by Barbara Sestok and it's stitched on 32 ct with DMC. Too cute & just in time to hang on the NEW tree I picked up today to put in the dining area. It's just a small 6' tree and I'm not even going to put lights on it... ONLY stitched ornaments, or at least that's the plan. We'll see how that works out around Thanksgiving weekend/first of Dec! lol


Check back VERY soon for more pics from the Pals Fall Fling - I have pics of the ornaments I came home with & also a couple of very special gifts.

Thanks for stopping by & Happy Stitching!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Gift for Fiona....


I hinted back this summer about something I stitched but couldn't share until Oct, so here it is, finally! Fiona comes from Scotland most years to the Pals Fall Fling. We've become very close friends over the years & this year I wanted to do something special for her. I think she liked it... she's a big Mirabilia fan, and a big fan of Jill Rensel's as well.
See below for even more pics...... and more coming soon, happy stitching!

Lots of finishing..... all for the Pals Fall Fling!

I did a bit of stitching & lots of finishing getting ready for the Pals Fall Fling - here is a bit of it -


First is the piece I did for the "stitched exchange" we had on Saturday night. I think a few of the Pals really liked it..... it did turn out kinda cute if I do say so myself! The buttons/design are by Hob-Nobb, I just "tweaked it" to fit the box I had and made a pin cushion & scissor fob to match. And yes, it's on pastel pink, but I don't have to wear it! ;-)




Next are the two pieces I did for the Halloween Exchange . The first one is Val's Stuff "Spooked" and 2nd is from Blackbird's "Trix or Treats" booklet. Both are on bright green fabric, the pics just aren't "great".


This is a SanMan designs for the Christmas Ornamnet Exchange-

And here are 3 more Christmas ornaments I did:

And two stocking ornaments:


That's it for MY stitching - here are some things I finished for others.

These 3 pics are finishes I did for Susan TN - ornaments:
A Flatfold for the Stitched Exchange on Saturday night:
And a pinkeep for Susan:
These two are for my oldest friend in the world - Donna. We met first day of 9th grade & we still talk/see each other as often as possible. There was a Halloween pillow for her too, but I don't have a pic of it.


These ornaments were finished for my good friend Toni from IL. She came back to the Pals Fall Fling this year for the 2nd time & we had a lot of fun!

Last but not least is a journal cover I did at the very last minute (literally) for Renee. She picked it up the night before we left. It turned out pretty good.... wish I had pics of the back/inside - the fabric was a perfect match!

Check back for more.....

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ornament Exchange ......

I heard from Meghan yesterday evening that she has received the ornament I sent to her in Becky's Ornament Exchange group. Meghan is a young stitcher (yeah for young stitchers!) and on her wish list her some of her fav things were sheep and the color bright green. So.... I decided to get a tad creative on this one & Meghan says she loves the ornament & I'm glad she does! This is an Amy Bruecken design from the 2009 JCS mag. and I did the front - I added the red bow & tiny bell to dress her up a bit....
And used the design to make up a "back" for the sheep.... it looks like the back of a sheep, right? ;-)

Here it is side by side - the colors are more accurate in this picture actually...

And there we have Meghan's Christmas Ornament.

I have been very busy with DSL, Market, getting ready for the Pals Retreat that's coming up QUICKLY, trying to get things ready for that, doing some finishing for friends, and the list goes on & on. Karen & Nicole came over for a bit on Saturday & it was great to see them again. I don't think I posted about it in my blog, but I fell about 3.5 weeks ago & hurt my leg (and part of the rest of me), but my knee was the worst. I went back to the doctor yesterday evening (2nd trip to him after the first to the ER) and he said it's healing nicely. I'm glad, because I wasn't looking forward to a lifetime of knee issues. Just be careful when you vacuum & you're on a ceramic tile floor - trust me on this one - it's HARD!

I will hopefully have more pics to share soon. Hope you are getting lots of stitching in. :-)