the right day for some stitching supplies!!

I am so sorry I haven't been blogging much lately- been working feverishly on Christmas gifts, added to the usual day to day stuff.. phew! I have cut back on my computer time somewhat for now. 

Today I went to my LNS to pick up some beads and Kreinik braid I needed for a gift I'm working on (thanks so much Michael's for phasing them out so I have to drive 20 min or more to get them! Argh!). But anyway, it was probably a blessing in disguise- I went to my LNS because she always has her Mill Hill beads and Kreinik stocked- also picked up some beading thread... and I wanted to check the price on Butternut Road's "Winter Sampler" cause I really love that pattern. I'd like to start working on it after I'm finished with gifts.. I checked and she asked me how much it was- I said "14.00." And she said "I'll give it to you for half price." I had only brought a certain amount of cash with me but she took checks so I figured out a way to work it all out. :) She also let me know from time to time she has half-off sales on her charts and asked me if she had my phone number. I said no and she passed me her little blue book where I promptly wrote it down! Am hoping to go back soon and take advantage of the sale when I have a bit more money.  "Winter Sampler" is an older pattern but here's a pic if you aren't familiar with it-

The only think I'm not too sure of is the white moth at the time.. to me it doesn't fit.. but I guess there would be nothing to put in it's place so maybe I'll try it, it is kind of pretty, for a bug. lol

Me and my little man

Taken this morning-I got all my hair chopped off yesterday!
Oh, and that hat used to be mine when I was little. My mom or grandma made it, can't remember! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for you all, my dear friends.  I so enjoy sharing my life and stitching with you!  Each new follower I get makes me feel special.I hope each and every one of you has a beautiful day!

Things I am thankful for today:

That David's fever went down and our Thanksgiving get-together will happen!
For my health.
For the ability to cross-stitch. ;)
For a roof over my head.
For a husband that is an excellent cook. :)
For the beautiful weather today.
For a wonderful set of parents and an awesome brother who love me.
For two beautiful, healthy children.
For the generosity of others.

And sooooo much more! God bless you all today!

A generous giveaway!

Robin is having a great blogaversary giveaway! Click her name or the title of this post to check it out. :)

Another new post is below...

my tiny angel, Christmas lights, and more..

Hanna and David (with a little chocolate on his face)

Tonight was the annual lighting of the Christmas lights in our historic downtown area.  I took the kids for a little while- Krispy Kreme was giving away a free doughnut to anyone who wanted to wait in line.. lol.. he was even dipping them in chocolate and putting the sprinkles on right there! So the kids and I grabbed a doughnut and waited for the lights to be turned on, and the kids also mixed up some reindeer food (glitter and oats) to leave on the lawn for Santa's reindeer. :)  These pics were taken with my phone so they aren't stellar, though I like the one of the kids.

A shot of "Main St"

the (magnolia) Christmas tree

I've also been working on my Brightneedle Christmas ornament at lunch- I am subbing overdyed threads for the DMC and finally have my conversions all worked out I think- except for one that I missed.

I couldn't get a good pic of this- if I turned my flash on it was too washed out, so I had to use this one. It is one floss thread over one fabric thread- this is sometimes a little nervewracking but I love the dainty stitches. What needles do you use for tiny stitches? I think mine is a little too big.

And last but not least, the bookmark I did for my mom for her birthday- she loved it. :) Some of you may have seen it on the Freebie Gallery blog already. It's by Linen Flowers and it's a freebie! It can be found here . They have lots of really lovely freebies on this site.  Happy stitching!

For all primitive/Early America/antique lovers

Check this place out- no cross stitch here but some wonderful items!
Carole's Country Store Be sure to check out all the different areas!

Need help finding Kate!

I need some help from the blog world- I won a giveaway on a blog a while back, and I received the chart yesterday- wanted to let the giver know that I had received but no longer have her email, and can't remember which blog was hers.  Does anyone know of a Kate that blogs, a fellow stitcher, that has recently moved? She is in the U.S. Thanks so much for your help! Worst case I can just drop her a line back by snail mail I suppose..

Will hopefully post a pic or two soon of something- most stitching has been for Christmas, some for people that may read my blog, especially now that it's linked to my facebook page.

Snowman card pattern winner!!!

Bet you never thought I'd post! Sorry it took so long-- David closed his eyes and reached into the bag o' names and he picked...FAYE RAYE!!  Woo hoo! Faye, email me your address at angelrose1108@yahoo.com and I will get this out to you Monday- congrats!!

Super stitchy giveaway!!!

Erynne is having a super generous stitchy giveaway on her blog! Just click the post title or her name to check it out. :)

A little giveaway

I came across this card pattern the other day- I have already stitched it-so if you would like it please leave a comment on this post only and I will draw a name Friday or Saturday. :) I'm hoping to finish up a gift tonight, will get it in the mail and hopefully in a few days I'll be able to show it to you. :) Not much else going on today except the usual!

My grandma's card finished!

Just a quick post to show you the card I made for my grandma- this was my first card-making attempt "from scratch" - meaning no cards with openings for stitching to be inserted, etc.  I tried to wing it last night or Friday and it didn't turn out, so I reviewed a tutorial I had received from a fellow stitcher on the San Man board, and gave it another shot. It's pretty simple, but I figure as I know more what I'm doing I can get a little fancier. :) Plus Grandma's birthday is tomorrow so this is going to be really late!! I love these brads I found at Michael's - I think they are so pretty- there were two different sets with them as well, one kind of funky (in a good way) and the other kind of classic. The design is from a Cross Stitch Crazy magazine "extra" I believe. (Too lazy to go look-lol) I know it was a British cross stitch mag.  Sorry for the crappy picture- I used the flash but it still turned out pretty dark!

Who'da thunkit?

LOL! You know that headache I had for a week?  Well all it took to cure it was a night out with my hubby and a margarita and a half at Chili's. hee hee..  Rob surprised me Friday by finding some friends to watch the kids and taking me out to Chili's for dinner!  It was delicious and so nice to relax.  And as mentioned above, the margaritas did the trick! Weird huh? Mind you, alchoholic beverages are not going to become my headache medicine. ;-)

And here is my progress pic on my LK flip-its- not as far as I thought I would get but after Hanna goes to bed I've been working on her Christmas present- once I make some progress I will post it here as she doesn't read my blog, unless it's over my shoulder once in a while as I'm typing. 

I am going to be listing a couple of items on ebay if anyone is interested-  the pattern and leftover threads from Bent Creek's Blackbird House zipper-

and a cross stitch mousepad kit- it has been opened but all the original items are in there. My ebay ID is hannasmom1198. :)

And last but not least, here is a picture of some trees near our townhouse- sorry the pic is not of the full trees but I didn't want the neighbors' vehicles in the photo.

I really wanted to wait til the middle tree had turned also, but I was afraid the leaves would be off of the other two by then!

Not exactly as planned...

Good evening dear friends! I took the day off today to spend with the kids, take them to the Veteran's Day parade, etc. Rob was supposed to work today.   Well the parade was cancelled due to the weather. Rob took the day off, not necessarily a bad thing..  I went to the chiropractor this morning to try to get rid of this never-ending headache.  I felt better after getting adjusted but the headache was still lurking, and slowly got worse as the morning went on.  We did some running around, ate some lunch, and Rob suggested that when we got home I should take a shower and let the hot water run on my neck-where most of my tension was- and then lay down.  I told him I didn't want to sleep my day off away.. and he said "Well then just lay down and watch a movie."  Great idea! He kept David busy and Hanna had a book to read for school so I did as he suggested- I have been in the mood to watch "Emma" ever since I finished reading the book(maybe even before.) So I popped that in and lay down to watch it and try to relax, and also complete one more thing on my Jane Austen challenge list! Next thing I know I am waking up and part of the movie is over. Argh! And even then I couldn't stay awake, kept dozing off and on.. though there is an advantage to falling asleep while watching the movie- I dreamt of Jeremy Northam. hee hee..  So I guess I did NOT complete another task on my Jane Austen challenge. lol  The good news is my headache is mostly gone, I hope it will stay that way and I won't wake up with it again in the morning.  Overall it was a good day, after waking up from my nap/movie watching I just stayed in my flannel PJs the rest of the day.  It has been raining since yesterday so I knew I wouldn't want to go anywhere else- even though I wanted to kit up Hanna's Christmas present and I was missing a skein of DMC.. argh! Will have to go tomorrow and pick it up.  I worked on my LK flip it blocks again and am making some decent progress- will post a pic after I work on it tomorrow.

I also read a little.  I'm reading Exit Wounds by J.A. Jance- it is really good so far. Unfortunately it is #11 in a series and now I will want to read all the others. Like I don't have enough books on my goodreads "to read" list! :-O

Well it's back to work tomorrow so I suppose I better get to bed- I hope everyone had a great Veteran's Day and took some time also to remember and pray for our vets and active duty military.  I just found out a good friend of ours is going to be deployed fairly soon to Afghanistan. :(  What sacrifices they make for us!!

I feel like I've been away forever..

but have just been really busy!  Friday night we had a few tween girls over for a sleepover for Hanna's birthday- she turned 11 on Sunday!  We watched "17 Again" with them- I am not a huge Zac Efron fan - guess just from over-exposure- but it was a cute movie.  One of the girls couldn't spend the night but the other two stayed, and they all wanted to go to zumba class with me Saturday.  It was ok, we really didn't have much else to do so it would get them out of our little place and give them someplace to burn some energy.  We had a good time-came home and Rob brought home some subs for lunch.  They hung out a while longer then headed home.  I was having a bit of a rough weekend because I had a headache that started Friday and still has not gone completely away, though it has gotten better. It seemed nothing I took would help, and the one thing that did, kind of, was Excedrin Migraine, but it gives me heartburn and acid indigestion.  At that point anything was better than a headache.. but I think a trip to my chiropractor is in my not so distant future.  I haven't been adjusted in a long time.

On the stitching front, I got a bit more done on my bookmark this weekend but not as much as I would've liked.  Tonight I worked on my Brightneedle ornament, and my lunchtime project is a Jane Austen ornament for a friend of mine- the freebie was sent out with Tanya's (Sampler Girl) orders from her $5 sale. :)

We also had something a little odd happen yesterday- the kids and I came home from church and running errands and their were ladybugs all over the front of our building!  We also had several in the house as Rob's and my bedroom window was open and evidently we have some little holes in our screen.  So the window was quickly shut and Hanna and I began ladybug-catching.  We tried to be humane and set most of them free, though I fear when I was vaccuuming up dust around the window one or two may have met their end. I thought we had most of them, then realized the seal around our kitchen door at the bottom has come off and there was enough space for them to get in- so we caught some more.  I also filled up the crevice with tin foil until I can call our property manager to replace our seal/ or the ladybugs move on, whichever comes first.  According to Hanna they were still around when they got home from school with Rob!

Well, that's the update- sorry no pics tonight, I am feeling a bit tired and lazy- maybe tomorrow. :)

Did you know...

Brightneedle is now only designing teaching designs and not retail? They are retiring all their designs. :( I may be behind on the times, but I didn't know this until I went to their site today.  So sad.. :( I love their designs!

Halloween pics, a gift, a finish, and an ebay win!

Well, back to reality!  Mom and Dad's visit was great but much too short!!  We had a great time as always!  I did happen to get a little stitching time in the evenings as we watched movies, and finished my L*K flip-it!   (***OOPS!*** Not quite finished- realized last night I forgot the border.  Am going to LQS to get some WDW Snowflake today! LOL)

Mom went with me to take the kids trick-or treating-And on Friday I received this beautiful giftie for my birthday from Sharlotte!

 A great weekend!

And today I won a pattern on ebay that I've been wanting- the Celtic Band Sampler by Homespun Samplar. I love this design! I meant to get a whole lot of pics with my parents this weekend, but again I failed.  I guess it's cause we just hung around town and did some shopping and went to Starbucks mostly! We did go to Raleigh for a bit on Sunday, but just to church and to grab a bite.. went on a disappointing trip to find a LNS that I had heard of - but evidently I had heard of it a lonnnnng time ago cause it was no longer there, and the neighbor had never remembered and LNS being there. Any of my NC blogging friends remember You Count w/ Freda in Cary?  I had never been there- I guess I waited too long to check it out! Oh well!

I guess I better go get some stitching done!

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!

a little different around here..

We had Wolf put to sleep yesterday. :( Rob originally was not going to come because he knew it would be so hard for him, but he showed up just in time and had a chance to say goodbye to Wolf. We cried many tears, and words cannot express how glad I am that he was there, not only for support but also because I knew he would regret it if he wasn't there for the end. The kids are doing fairly well with it- Hanna had been trying hard to be "strong" but gave in and wept for him tonight. Every time I wonder if we made the right decision I just think of how his life was these last couple of months or more and know that we did. He was in so much pain and could not get around like he used to, among other things. He is missed.

On the stitching front, I didn't get much done yesterday, just a few stitches on I love Candy Canes. I really am starting to get frustrated at how long it is taking me to finish this simple piece!

And an update on my Jane Austen Challenge- I have finished "In the Kitchen with Jane Austen" ( a few posts down) and that's it so far. I have just started reading "Emma". Or should I say re-reading as this has been read more than once. I understand it so much better than the first time I read it- I had never seen any Jane Austen movies, or read any of her books- I was a little lost in the language.. and now I am so familiar it's an easy read! Now if I could just find the time...