The shades make the man!

A Verse

Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
~Edgar Allan Poe~


Isn't it lovely?

Loving Swirly Snow is finally done!

Hooray! I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out- I wasn't sure the fabric would work but I like it. It gives it that grey snowy sky feeling. :-)

Bubbles!!

Rob got David a bubble gun, and he and Hanna were playing with it outside today. I love this picture, even if he is all messy from eating lasagna! lol

David's first fishing trip

He went with Rob and caught 3 fish today, including the one pictured! He caught more than Rob did!!

Need opinions please..

Here is a piece I finished a few weeks ago, it required a charm that I couldn't get locally, and rather than order it and not know if it would fit or not, I bought a charm at Michael's today(actually a pack of them). This one is the one that worked the best. Please let me know if you think it works ok or not- I could just take it off, it didn't seem like anything was missing without it but I thought it was a nice touch. Thanks! Please excuse my wrinkles and the askew-ness of my charm, it got knocked a little when scanning!

A new finish

A bookmark for a good friend from church!

Fun with Photo Fantasy

I actually forgot I had this program til I picked it by accident to touch up a photo. I've been having fun messing around with it! I know, I need to get a life.. lol

I love this picture

I took it awhile back at my little man's bedtime!

Updates

Here are my two projects I'm working on... I didn't get much stitching done the few weeks I was sick, I hope to get back working on these on a regular basis now!!

Idle flowers

Thick on the woodland floor
Gay company shall be,
Primrose and Hyacinth
And frail Anemone,
Perennial Strawberry-bloom,
Woodsorrel's pencilled veil,
Dishevel'd Willow-weed
And Orchis purple and pale.
~Robert Seymour Bridges, Idle Flowers

I really like this quote!

What makes a good blog?

Just now I was clicking "next blog" and paging thru the many blogger blogs that are out there.. and find mine very lacking. I found blogs full of beautiful pictures and insights and things very meaningful. I am a little depressed now and feel a little like my blog is rather dull. :-(

Hanna's Oil Pastel Egg

Every so often the local schools display kids' artwork at the mall, this time one of Hanna's was chosen! Here it is. :-)

still here...

I know it's been a little while, a bad cold or flu, I don't know what it is, has got me down. It's been off and on, mostly on, for three weeks now and it's REALLY getting old. I am feeling a bit better today, but I don't know if it's the meds I'm taking or I'm actually getting better or both. I stayed home from work today because this morning I felt so weak I could hardly stand for more than a couple of minutes together, though I think that's my own fault for not eating right this weekend. I just wasn't hungry. The worst part of it is that our medical insurance changed the first of the year and our old doctor isn't under our new plan, and we haven't chosen a new doctor yet. And the new insurance doesn't cover places like Immediate Care or any of those other walk-in places. So we need to sit down tonight and find a doc. Cause I am tired of this mess.
So as a result of this, I haven't stitched much lately. I've been going to bed pretty much right after the kids do, with the exception of last night; I stayed up and read for a bit. Maybe while I'm home today I'll have the energy to sit and stitch a bit.. we'll see..I may try to go into work later just to run the end of the day reports.

A good wife.

OH my gosh this is too funny! Supposedly an actual article from "back in the day."

a better pic of "Comfort House"

Finally got some batteries for my camera..

a framing finish from a couple of weeks ago..

I stitched this piece back in '02 (!) and finally framed it, another frame courtesy of my dad. :-) Sorry for the crooked picture!

David's Haul

David is almost 3 and has been in the 3-year-old room at daycare quite a bit, so he got to go the 2-year-old's party and the 3-year-old's party. Look at all this stuff! I feel like a slacker mom, I just gave him traditional cards with tattoos in some and pencils in others.. and all these moms made goody bags!

Hanna on Valentine's Day

With a new haircut as well!

A funny Ash Wednesday story

I know, Ash Wednesday is not a funny day.. but I had to share this. My church is relatively small, and not many people (sadly) show up for the Lenten services. So at our Ash Wednesday service all of us that were there came up around the altar at the same time to receive ashes on our forehead, including me and my 2 kids. David, my 2 year old, after I got the ashes on my forehead looked at me and loudly said "EEEW! EEEW!" and was pointing at my head, and his sister's. He said something else that I can't remember then continued to say "EEW!" and said to me "You going to take a bath?" LOL!!! It was too funny. Thank goodness people at my church are fairly laid back.

And the second pic..

A little blurry but the color is a little bit better.. a little.. lol

Comfort House

Posting a couple of different pics, neither are very good.. but they'll have to do til I get batteries for my camera! This is an exclusive design by The Sampler Girl. The quote is from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.

"Magic Stitch" sewing machines are..

PIECES OF CRAP!!!!! I mean, I wasn't expecting a professional grade sewing machine, just something that I can sew little pillows and ornaments with and stuff.. well I got one free through this gift thing at my husband's work. When we got it the thing was already threaded, which was ok but it had a little sample piece of fabric in it, and the thread was kind of twisted, the foot pedal didn't work..and now my new year's resolution is messed up because I was going to finish something every week, as I mentioned before.. I hadn't posted week 4 yet due to my camera batteries being dead.. but I had been keeping up. I am really upset, I stayed up late pinning and cutting all for naught. And there's not even an address to send the thing back to that I could find. I know it was free but I want them to know what a piece of junk the thing is.

Tuckered out..

Had to take this.. David fell asleep on my lap desk so he must've been pretty tired! It was so cute. I couldn't even wake him enough to eat dinner..I just let him sleep and then took him up to bed. Forgive the not-so-good picture quality. I need batteries for my camera so I am using my cell phone!

Finish 3 of the year

I had stitched this sometime before and thought it would be great for my friend Melissa, as she is an angel!! I finished into this tuck last weekend (finishing touches today) and framed a piece for myself, which I will post later.

Heath Ledger- A Tribute

I am so sad about this- it's so tragic! I pray for his little daughter, she is my son's age and won't understand..

Oh and a Project Runway rant..

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't watch this season due to the travesty of last season.. but I am weak. lol I love Tim Gunn and this season's contestants looked really interesting.. but I am seeing it go the way of last season as well. For instance, on the Avant Garde challenge.. Viktoria and Julianne (I think that's her name) - the judges RAVED about them.. all their outfits were wonderful, and technically they had three looks. Judges on Christian and Chris- very good also but the skirt looked cheap, etc. So who wins? CHRISTIAN. WTH? Christian is their favorite and I'm not going to be surprised at all- he's good, but he's a cocky little diva. And the fronts of his garments always almost look similar. OK I'm done for now. But if he continues to get favoritism this season I will NOT watch if there is another season, and I MEAN it.

Lazy Sunday

It's been a fairly relaxing day today.. went to church this morning after thawing the car doors and scraping the windows, been doing a little laundry but other than that just been hangin' out. The kids have been watching Star Wars movies all day upstairs, so we've been watching this and that, I've been online, been doing some stitching.. but what I am really excited about is that I ordered a sewing machine! Dh's work had a 'gift book' that they gave out at Christmas- we looked through it and looked through the online catalog but couldn't decide on anything.. they had a little cordless sewing machine (that does come with an adapter thankfully), so I ordered it, it should come in handy making tucks and ornaments and things. I had one of those "As seen on TV" Easy Sew sewing machines, but it didn't come with an adapter and I left the batteries in it too long, so of course they leaked. I tried to clean it out but it still wouldn't work right. So I'm going to try again. This one's called a Magic Stitch. If I can get halfway decent at sewing I'll invest in a real sewing machine. I kind of have to be self-taught as no one around here can show me that I know of, the ones I know that could, I would have to go to them which would require making sure dh or someone could watch the kids, etc... too much of a pain. Dh surprisingly has a little sewing experience (from being in the military? I don't know) so he has shown me some basics.
I had gotten an OLD sewing machine from a friend, if this new one works out I will give it back to her. It didn't have a manual and I was afriad to even try it.. I found some threading diagrams online for it but they weren't very easy to read.
Other than that not much going on today, I've been working on my "Comfort House" freebie from The Jane Austen Stiching Group and I like the way it's turning out. I changed the colors a bit cause I like overdyed threads better, and the color the words were in didn't show up on the fabric I had chosen- basically the only piece I had that was large enough. lol When I get a little more done I'll post a pic.
That's about it here for now.. gonna check some boards and my email then probably stitch some more. I love days like this but it does make it hard to get geared up for work tomorrow! ;-)

Sharing the Holidays by San Man Originals

Is finally finished!! Woohoo! As Mr Woodhouse said in Emma - "It only wants a suitable frame!" Guess I will have to talk to Dad about that.. :-)

A finished piece from 2003

Finally framed this today(can't rush these things)- I actually stitched it in 2003 but just framed it today. My dad made the frame.

Cool pictures

My mom took these on her vacation in Minnesota this summer. I think they are so cool!

I am Jane Bennet

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!! created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Jane Bennet As someone who would rather see the good in people, Jane is a true pacifist and caregiver. At times, her shy temperament and naive outlook of people can land her in a compliant position, but those who know her love her for her positive spirit and cheerful view of what surrounds her. Jane Bennet 72% Emma Woodhouse 69% Elizabeth Bennet 66% Elinor Dashwood 63% Marianne Dashwood 50% Charlotte Lucas 31% Lady Catherine 25%

Tired of stitching white!

Ugh. I am working on three projects right now- a Christmas card design, a San Man Originals Christmas design (seen earlier in this blog) and a Swirly Snow design.. and I am stitching lots of white in all of them!! I am ready for another color! lol Just had to vent. ;-)

Two of my favorite things in one place!!

I recently joined a Yahoo group for cross stitchers who love Jane Austen and her works. Like I don't find enough ways to spend time on the computer, but I couldn't pass it up!! I'm looking forward to some great fun and friendship!

Finally finished!

This is my grandma's Christmas present, I just finished it tonight. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out! It's Cedar Hill Cross Stitch's "Rose Border Bookmark."

A card for a friend at church

The design and card are from a UK Cross Stitching magazine, Cross Stitcher I think. The UK mags are sooooo much better than the US ones! Unfortunately I can't afford the subscriptions!

Funny!

(Click to enlarge!)

Book review!!

Thought I'd throw something new into my blog.. lately I have been really hooked on Beverly Lewis's books- the ones that are about Amish communities? I was seeing them at Walmart all the time so I finally picked up one at the library sale and I was hooked. I just got finished reading a series of two -The Postcard and The Crossroad. They were great!! They center around an Amish woman named Rachel who loses her sight via hysterical blindness toward the beginning of the book, a postcard, and "Englischer" that comes to stay at her family's B&B, etc. I don't want to give anything away but they are really so good! Just make sure if you read any of the books in the different mini-series that you start at the beginning. I am going to take a break from them for a little while but I plan on reading all of them eventually. She really knows what she is writing about because she has Amish/Mennonite heritage in her background. It's really interesting reading about how Amish communities work! Ok that's enough on that for now, but I really do recommend reading them.

A gift

for my "brother from another mother(and father.")LOL I finished this as a birthday gift for him, I think it's safe to post it now.. not sure if he's gotten it yet or not..

Our tree

and a speedy little kid!

Candy Cane Seeds!

My latest accomplishment. Rob tied the bows, didn't he do a good job? hee hee. These are gifts for Hanna's teacher and teacher's asst. I have finished something else too but can't post yet cause it's a gift for someone and I haven't given it yet. ;-) I really like these jars, I may make one more for my desk at work..but probably after Christmas.

Quilt racks my dad made

The quilts were made for my kids by the lovely ladies in the Yahoo group Chatty Stitching Exchangers!

What' I've been up to-

Stitching, stitching, stitching! From the top: An ornament or card by Tokens & Trifles, my San Man stitchalong(which I am putting aside for the moment), another ornament/card by Homespun Elegance- this one will have the bird holding a star from his beak, Mom is mailng me the button- and David's stocking..

Oh I am such a slacker...

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging more or posting pics, I am still plugging away at David's stocking, and the San Man stichalong, which I may put on hold to stitch some cards/ornaments. I will post a pic soon I promise!

Halloween freebie by San Man Originals

It feels good to finish something! lol I finished this one today on my lunchbreak. I doubt I'll have it framed in time for Halloween though.. ;-)

Progress pics as of 10-13-07

David's stocking on the bottom, and my San Man monthly stitch-along on the top. I am still on the September stitchalong, I need to get crackin! I have only been working on it on my lunch break for the most part. I have put "Loving Swirly Snow" on hold to work on a fall project, a San Man Halloween design. I will post a pic of that soon. :-)

Very disappointed..

This is my Christ in Gethsemane framed. I'm NOT disappointed about this. My dad made the frame and my mom framed it for me. I took this to the county fair for the needlework competition and did not win ANYTHING for this. I mean, the eyes and the hands are 3 floss threads over one fabric thread! The two other pieces I submitted were unframed and therefore in a different category- they got 2nd and 3rd place ribbons and were much simpler, and THIS got NOTHING?? I know it's just a county fair, and it's not the reason I did the piece to start with, but I thought surely it would get something. The ones who got blue ribbons were professionally framed and I'm pretty sure that's why. But you know what? I am not spending $70 or more to get this framed at Michael's when my dad makes beautiful frames. Anyway, I just had to vent.. thanks for listening.

September Stitchalong..

My progress on the September Stitchalong for the San Man MB, moving slowly but it's my lunchtime project.

Making progress!!

Been working hard on this one lately.. still slow going but I've gotten quite a bit done since last time I posted. :-)

A funny pic!

Just a pic of my youngest eating a push-up over Labor Day weekend. lol

Moose Be Christmas!

a message board exclusive by San Man Originals.. finished him today at lunch!

Tagged! Middle Name

The rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
3. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
My middle name is Michele.
M-Music. I love it! I love to sing, I love all kinds of music.
I-Interesting.. at least I hope I am! lol
C-Cross-stitch!! Need I say more? If I need to you don't know me very well. hee hee
H-Housework. What I feel like I am always doing but I don't think I probably really do enough of. ;-)
E-Eating.. especially sushi!
L-Love I have for my family and all my friends!
E-England- my favorite place to visit.
I'm tagging:goodness.. I don't know many bloggers.. um.. M-??I-?? C-?? H-?? E- Elisabeth L-Lizzy E-Eileen (Leeny)