A finish(sort of) and giveaway goodies!

As some of you saw in my last post, I was blessed to win one of Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe's givaways- for the Treasured Friend bag- here are the contents!

I posted a couple of pics cause it was hard to fit everything on my lapdesk- then I realized I was still missing a spool of thread! It is so lovely Nancy, I love everything!  Thank you again!

 

I do have a little finish to show you- I said "sort of" in my title because I need to get a button for it yet-poor planning! Just a little cardinal button.. but here it is so far. :)

I had to use some substitutions here and there, and I did french knots instead of buttons for the mouth, mostly because I didn't read the directions carefully and had stitched them before I realized they were supposed to be beads. I probably would have done it that way anyway because I don't think I have any tiny beads that were the right color.  This is Snow Dreams by Designs by Cathy Jean for Victoria Sampler- from the 2009 JCS Ornament issue.

 

I am impatiently waiting for my mums to open up- the ones that opened in the spring haven't come back, but I do have one pot thats getting ready to open!

 

There is a farm stand not far from my house that sells big pots of mums cheap- I am hoping to get some more soon.

 

I have been going through my stash-I am going to add another tab/page to my blog soon with stash for sale, will let you all know when I get it set up. I am hoping to get rid of it more that way vs. ebay- ebay is so time-consuming and not very cost-effective unless you have something really rare to get rid of.

 

The semi-annual library book sale is this week- I can't wait! I really have no business buying any more books- I still have so many from past sales that I haven't read, but you really can't beat the price, and the money is for a good cause! That's Thursday- it seems so long from now! ha! Although if it goes as fast as this weekend it will be here before I know it. It's been a nice weekend- all of us home all weekend which is unusual- usually Hanna is at some friend's house or another- yesterday a local church had a clothing giveaway/swap- you can bring stuff that you don't want anymore or just come and get some clothes if you need some. I brought some items that I don't wear anymore as well as a couple of things of David's. Hanna usually passes hers on to friends.  I found a few nice things- a cute pair of shoes, some dress shorts, a really pretty skirt- and a "Life is Good" long-sleeved shirt with a cup of coffee/cocoa on the front, which is perfect for me! I love their shirts but I never want to pay full price.. haha. Also found a Transformers shirt for David and some pj's..and Hanna found a few things as well.  We also went to Starbucks and to get a toy for Ginger. Pet Supplies Plus sent us a postcard for a free toy for her because her 1st birthday is October 18- 9 days before mine! So we got her a little toy frog.  He lasted most of the weekend but I noticed earlier she was into something and it was his stuffing. So bye-bye frog.

We then came home and I got some laundry and dishes done- Hanna and I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies- which were delicious- they are almost gone already. The recipe was on verybestbaking.com.  It had a glaze and no chocolate chips but we didn't have the ingredients for the glaze, so we added the chocolate chips and Hanna made her own frosting from a different recipe and website, but we left it on the side cause I thought they were just as good if not better without the frosting.  So she frosts them as needed. ;)

 

Ginger and I have been walking more now that the weather is getting cooler- and today I found a piece of pinecone that looks like flower-

I had some more of changing leaves but blogger is being weird again so I will have to share them next time. :(

Have a great week!
Tracey

 

 

A completion, a splurge, and Ginger of course!

First off, I am feeling so accomplished as I pulled out an old finished piece(I think I finished it last year..)and framed it.  I had started to once before a long while back, but stupid me sewed the button on before I ironed it, wasn't even thinking, ironed it and broke the button. I had a hard time finding another blackbird button small enough. I think I even emailed Bent Creek about which button they used in the kit but got no answer.. so without further adieu- Blackbird House by Bent Creek!

I love this piece. Though I admit really it is not completely complete- was having some trouble with my craft glue so the back is bare and there is no hanger on it yet.  I may have to run to Michael's this week and get some new glue.  I always lose the little plug for my craft glue and it gets all rubbery.

 

We took the kids to Raleigh this weekend and went to one of the malls there- Hanna and I went to Forever 21 - I love this store because they have so many different styles and I really feel there is somehting there for so many age groups. I saw a lot of the 80's styles had returned, some of the cooler ones thank goodness.  I splurged and bought myself at hat, even though it is not cold enough here yet to wear it. I couldn't resist- I am pretty sure it was the last one and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it, especially when Hanna said "It looks like Breakfast at Tiffany's!" And she did mean that as a compliment, as she likes the movie too. It wasn't really super expensive, but I am ever the bargain shopper so it was a little splurge for me.

I can't wait til it gets cold enough to wear it!

 

Even Ginger got something new this weekend. I had to get her some food and when we went to Pet Supplies Plus they had a bunch of toys on clearance. I know she is always trying to get the kids' stuffed animals so I got her one. I knew she would tear it up so I figured I might as well get one on clearance. Here she is with her new buddy.

Yes, it is a tomato- and it makes a sound that sounds something like pig snorts.  This was taken on Friday. She has already torn off an arm and I had to amputate one of the tomato's legs today as she was working on it and I didn't want her to eat the stuffing. He also has a small hole in his body that I am going to attempt to patch.  My 7-year-old son David is very concerned about her and things she gets into that she shouldn't- so when the hole in the body was torn he tried to throw it away. Ginger looked so forlorn and tried to get in the trash closet- luckily it was just on some paper trash so I took it out and will try to mend it. We'll see.. I wish they made sturdier stuffed animals for dogs.

 

I started a new book this weekend- Shadow Valley by Gwen Hunter. This is the first book I've ever read by her and so far it is really good. I can tell it's going to be one of those I don't want to put down.

 

Well that's about it for this evening.. will post again soon. (I really will!)

 

 

a lovely giveaway, and some other goodies too!

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having another fabulous giveaway! Click here!

Today was a good mail day- I got a free shopping tote from Country Living magazine (got a free subscription with my Coke Rewards points), and my Victoria magazine. I looooove this magazine- my mom got me a subscription for Christmas. :)

And I stopped by my friend Diana's house and she had this for me-

She subbed to World of Cross Stitching and then decided she wasn't going to stitch anymore, and instead of cancelling it she is giving me her magazines. :) She is such a sweetheart.

No stitching yet tonight. :( Hoping to get a few stitches in but it's getting late- we'll see..

Ack! I am so sorry!!

I forgot to draw for the giveaway!! So sorry! OK, I listed everyone's name, then numbered them randomly, then had dh pick a number from 1-12.. and the winner is... Robin!! Congrats! I will get it out to you on Monday. :) Enjoy!


Today was a busy day- this morning a local church had a clothing swap/giveaway.. you could bring clothes, take clothes, or both.  I brought a ton of stuff I wanted to get rid of.. found a few nice things for myself and a couple things for David.  Hanna picked out her own stuff for the most part, except for one thing I picked up and she snatched out of my hand. hee hee.  We then came home for lunch, and then we went to a zumba-thon for a friend of one of the instructors.  She is a breast cancer survivor and we were trying to raise some money to help her out.  :)  It was a blast- so many different instructors and a lot of people getting together for a good cause.  They also had door prizes- and I actually won something cool for a change! Usually I don't win or I win something I will never use. lol Today I won this-

Which is funny because Rob is the main cook in our family, but I am generally the pancake  maker. :) And it will be sssssssooooooo nice to make several at once instead of making them one at a time!

I must confess, speaking of zumba, that I mentioned in a previous post I was going to a zumba class in a parking lot. I was lazy that day and didn't go.. 

Been making some good progress on Beach House.. will post a picture soon. 

Oh.. remember that beautiful Crepe Myrtle tree I posted a few posts back? Here it is post-Hurricane Irene-

now that they have cleaned all the broken bits away. :( 

I know I am being pretty random in this post- sorry- 

I recently finished a really good book by Luanne Rice- Safe Harbor, and now I am re-reading Mansfield Park again.  I have only read it once before and the other night Rob turned on the movie for me, and it made me want to re-read the book. I went to find it and realized I didn't have it! I thought I had all of Jane Austen's finished works! So I ordered it from Amazon straight away.. and got it free, between Amazon gift cards from swagbucks and Amazon Mom free 2-day shipping.

And I know this sounds silly, but I'm glad the people on the cover are small- when they have all those old pictures on the cover of different ladies and such, I always picture them through the whole book, although now I just think of the people in the movie.  Which is better I guess! :)