a photo question..

Many of your blogs have some sort of computerized "signature" on the pics, with your name and the year, or your blog name and year, I am assuming so people cannot use them for random things.. how do you do that? It's a really good idea! (Yes, sometimes it takes me awhile to catch on.. lol)

My parents will be in this evening and staying for the weekend, so I will have a lot of blogging to catch up on, on Monday! :) Hopefully a little stitching to show too!

I Love Candy Canes finished!!

I finally finished I Love Candy Canes. Woo hoo! This was an easy piece but for some reason it took me forever to finish- I guess cause I was only working on it one day a week, and it was on the night I usually have zumba class. lol
I don't think I posted this yet either- I actually finished this several years ago but never framed it- I found a frame my dad had made me - for what I don't remember- but it fit my L*K Autumn Cottage Boxer perfectly! So I framed it a weekend or two ago.

My birthday was ok, nothing super spectacular, but got lots of well wishes from friends and family, a nice card and gift from my boss. :) Not alot of money for a gift from dh, but that's ok- he'll make it up to me at some point. Overall it was a good day. David couldn't understand why I didn't bring a party home from work with me- he thought I forgot my birthday! I told him we'd celebrate when Grandma and PaPa got here. :)  That's about it for today- better go to bed- back to work tomorrow.

It's not too late...

You can still join Missy's 13 Days of Halloween giveaway! <-Click! Lots of fun prizes!!

Giveaway time!

 April at Itching 2 Stitch is having a great giveaway! Just click the title of her blog for details.

Clouds and sunrises

Now that Hanna has to be at school by 7:30! I see a lot of sunrises.. I am also a cloud freak- I love pretty clouds. Here are a few snaps I've taken with my phone for your viewing pleasure. :) The first one includes some crows or blackbirds of some sort- we've seen scores of them lately!!

A finish, some birthday mail, and some park pics!!

A busy busy day! Started out the morning with breakfast then off to zumba class.. came home, ate lunch, did a little housework(Mom and Dad will be here next Friday!)then off to do a zumba demonstration with some others from my class.  Took my kids to the park after dropping off the library books-

I had a picture of Hanna too hanging from the monkey bars-but realized her undies were showing and wasn't sure she'd appreciate me posting it for the world to see.   lol

My birthday is Tuesday and I got a lovely birthday gift from my dear friend Mark in Washington state- the new double CD set by Loreena McKennitt- I love her music!And last but certainly not least, I finished the final ornament kit for my MIL!! Happy dance!!! Now to begin assembling them all..Now on my lunch hour I'll begin working on a birthday card for my grandma, whose birthday is next month.  The design is from a 2004 issue of the UK "Cross Stitch Crazy" magazine. :)  Well, off to stitch on my Linen Flowers bookmark, which sadly I can't post progress on, as it is a gift for someone who may see it if I post it on here!

Free chocolate and some progress

Parsley is having a chocolate giveaway!! Click here for details. :)

And now for my progress on my LK flip-it.. not as much as I would like but it's my own fault for trying to do things on the computer (read blogs, facebook, etc), watch tv, and stitch at the same time!!  Sorry for the dark pic!
Tonight I'm going off my rotation to finish an ornament kit I've been working on.. I tried to finish it on my lunch break at work today but didn't have quite enough time.
OH and if you're a Sampler Girl fan- be sure to stop by her site for a $5 sale! All patterns except booklets and brand new patterns are only $5!! But only til midnight tonight!

Does anyone know...

Where I could find a complete list of Blackbird Designs out-of-print charts/books? I looked on their website and didn't see anything, and didn't see a way to contact them except via the blog(which I would have to leave a comment on as there is no email link.) Thanks!

Yet another great giveaway- two, actually!

Kathy is having 2 thank-you giveaways on her blog! Click here or the post title to check it out!

a prayer request

Hi everyone-  please keep in your prayers my friend's sister Amber- her 7-week -old baby passed away this week, of SIDS they think.  I can only imagine what she is going through right now..

And the winner is....

And don't worry ladies, David didn't cheat, he can't read yet! I tried getting a picture of him pulling the name but he was too quick! Hmm... is that a samplar.. I see?

Terri of Dixie Samplar Designs!!

Terri, please email me with your address and I will get the pattern out to you asap! You can email me via my blogger profile. :) Congratulations!

Oh, and here is my progress on my flip-it thus far-

A fun and free way to raise money for breast cancer research

Just click the title of this blog or click here. Create a patch and Propel Water will donate $1 for every patch you make!

Tonight is the Winter Wonderland giveaway (click here if you haven't signed up yet and want to), and will also post progress on my flip-it. Last night was a crazy night and I didn't get to stitch until late..

Birthdays, please!

I would like to *try* to keep track of my blogging friends birthdays, if only to just pop in and say "Happy Birthday!"  Could you please click here and add your birthday? You don't even need to put what year, and if it asks for anything you don't feel comfortable giving, just skip that part. I think it may ask for an email address but I don't think it's mandatory if you don't want to leave it. Thanks!

A giveaway in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month

Karen is having a great giveaway on her blog- Click here: Feathers in the Nest for a chance to win some wonderful stitchy stuff!

"The Proposal"

I am a big Sandra Bullock fan... Rob rented this from the Redbox tonight and it was so good!!  And not overly mushy which I liked. lol  The only bad part was there was the cutest dog in it- and he looked just like our Wolf when he was a puppy.. sniff...   Anyway, I really recommend this movie, it was so cute! Got a little stitching done on my flip-it, will post progress in a couple days when I change to something else in my rotation. :)

Winter Wonderland finished and a chart giveaway! :)

First, let me share with you that my little one wrote his name tonight without help! Though I am sure he has done this at preschool, it's the first time I'd seen it firsthand. I'm one proud mama. :D

Here is "Winter Wonderland", ironed but still wrinkled.. sigh..

And because my mom was generous enough to buy the "Winter Wonderland" pattern for me, I am going to PIF to someone else. If that person wants to keep it going after they stitch it that would be great! I know this is an older pattern but I also know I don't go out and buy every pattern I want, so hopefully there is someone out there who still wants this. lol As for finishing, I love the Thread Pal that Impie, Hattie, and Bea has made for this design, but money is a little tight right now.. so maybe I will hold off on finishing til I can get that.. I don't know. If you are interested in the giveaway, I'm keeping it pretty straightforward- just comment on this post. You don't have to post it on your blog unless you want to, don't have to become a follower or anything, though of course I would love it if you would. ;) I will draw a name Friday the 16th. Have a great Monday my dear friends and readers!

Charts and old magazines for sale/trade

Just click the link to the right. Prices listed include U.S. Postage, if you are out of the country and are interested in anything I can calculate the postage for you. Or we can make a trade of some sort. I am really looking for a piece of sky blue fabric-anything but aida- 11x13 or so- to do something for my daughter for Christmas- just to throw that out there. lol I really just want to get rid of these so after postage most of them are only a dollar or a dollar and a half. There are a few For the Love of Cross Stitch mags as well as some old Cross Stitch and Country Crafts magazines, among other things. Thanks for looking!
I finished "Winter Wonderland" last night- will post a pic after I iron it as it is REALLY wrinkled.

I love library book sales!!

Today was the start of our library's semi-annual library book sale- they have one once in the spring and once in the fall.. 5 paperbacks for $1.00! I got several that were on my goodreads "to-read" list.. want to know what I got? I'm gonna tell you either way so... lol.. here they are:

Inferno by Karen Harper
Left to Die by Lisa Jackson
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Silver Bells by Luanne Rice
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen
Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts
Hide and Seek by Fern Michaels
Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock
Almost Dead by Lisa Jackson
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella

I also got a few books for the kids- for Hanna, a Nancy Drew mystery, Never Been Kissed (based on the movie-which I will read first), and a Judy Blume book- I think it was called The Luckiest Girl- I think it was the first romance book I ever read!! We also found an actual script from the play Grease, she was pretty excited about that! For David I got some gaming magazine with the Mario Brothers in it(which I will also look at first, since it is geared toward older kids/adults), The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Caps for Sale. Also a little pop-up book of some sort I think..

I just love the library book sales.. I may check back before the weekend (and the sale!) is over.. ;)

Another kit done....

Just one more to go! I finished this one before work this morning. Sorry for the less than stellar picture, I took it with my phone. I'm surprised it's so dark with all the flourescent lighting here!

under construction...

Please bear with my odd colors until later today- I wanted to use this beautiful picture my mom took as my background, and for some reason when I use the "easy" way to edit font colors it's not letting me change them- so I have to go into the html and do it and I don't know all the codes. I will mess with it after work today. Thanks for your patience!

Blog layout question..

I see alot of blogs that have a picture of your choice behind the header at the top- I see where in the layout setup you can add a picture, and I have done so, but it's not showing up. How did those of you that have blog layouts other than blogger work this out? Thanks for any help!

Travelling Stitcher Giveaway..

Click here. She said she was going to draw yesterday but I don't think it's too late yet..as far as I can tell a name hasn't been drawn! Thanks for the chance Sandra! :)

UPDATE: This giveaway is closed. Congrats Teresa S!

a HUGE giveaway!

I happened across this blog today and WOW! You won't believe all the stuff Annette is giving away. Click here. You can enter until the 18th of October.

Another update!

Two in one day! Amazing! Here is my progress on "I Love Candy Canes" since I haven't posted for a couple of weeks. :)Monday nights are my "Christmas" themed stitching night- the past couple have been pretty busy so I haven't gotten as much done as I would like, but I'm getting there!

Let's try again..

Well after I blogged last night I got a bit of a second wind and stitched a little more.. so here is my progress! Not much longer now!

almost but not quite...

I was really hoping to finish this today- but I am nodding off while stitching and watching tv so I am calling it a night. Just a few blue snowflakes and the top border and I believe I'll be finished! :)

Well- scratch that.. evidently blogger is having some issues, can't upload any photos! Will hopefully post one tomorrow.

Autumn fun

It was a beautiful day here in NC- some friends of ours hosted the church picnic at their home. We had a great time! I am so envious of their yard- here are a few pictures from today.


A beautiful centerpiece on the food table, carved by our hostess. I wish I had such talent!



Another table centerpiece on one of the outdoor dining tables..



Some of the yard decoration..




I didn't get a good picture of their koi pond but there were many of these little guys in the plants next to it.. isn't he lovely?



I so hope to have a yard like this someday.. we sat outside for hours. I told Rob if we had a yard like that I would be out there all the time! They also had a lovely shaded patio off the back of the house with lots of windchimes hanging. There was a nice breeze today which made it just perfect. A lovely day! Tomorrow check back for progress on Winter Wonderland..

a scaaarrry finish!

Well, not really. lol Actually I think he's kinda cute! I'm going to make him into a pin! My husband thinks I'm crazy-- hee hee!

Blackbird Designs giveaway!

Jolene of Dip Diddly Designs is having a great giveaway at her blog for a new Blackbird Designs pattern and so much more! Check it out!