This and That of Smalls

First up we have Splash. I was at my LNS and they had some kits on the counter from a local designer. Splash jumped right into my purchase pile, she's just the cutest. The other designs were not kits, but just as cute, so I will be going back for more. Then we have Checkerbird from HIH, she turned out better than I thought.

I did some stitching with my Stacy Nash group I think these turned out pretty good and will be
finishing them into pillows. I have quite a lot of stitching finishes that need to be done, so will set aside a whole day soon to do this.

I'm off to stitch the challenge at Let's Stitch I have a freebie pattern that I've been wanting to to do for awhile now.

B is for Black Bird

I received this lovely pillow ornament
from Anna, as part of the PS exchange
in HOE. I can't begin to tell you how
lovely it is, my picture does not do it
justice.

She also sent a cute fob that she made, a little pillow, fabric which I already have plans for and Eco Earthy Scents "Fresh Cut Grass" solid perfume, which smells lovely. A couple of patterns. and the white sachet everything is sitting on had Herbata in it, polish tea leaves,which my Mom has already claimed.

This and That

How many scissors does one really need ? Well when they are as cute looking as these, one just won't do. I am really pleased with them. They are light and so nice to handle. They can be found on Ebay from seller rosa0537 She gives great service and is fast.



Here's a photo of an exchange I did with the HOE blog. I had a really hard time parting with this.


This is from the TOSM Dec. 06. It is a Debbie Draper Design.

The bat is from Tantes Zolder. This is only a 1/4 of the design and I like it just as it is, so I may leave it and make a pillow of it.

Well that's This and That for this week. Happy Thanksgiving to fellow Canadians !

Blogoversary Drawing

The names I drew were Dovile and Rachel. Please send me your mailing address, mine is in my profile. I'll have the gift bags out to you later this week. Hope you will like them.

Yesterday's Stash

These are photos of the rest of yesterday's shopping. At the top we have

Sitting Pretty by Mosey 'n Me, I fell in love with the crow's eye, yeah I know call me crazy ! The cutesy elephants are by Heart Strings. It's a series called Noah and Company and they had all sorts of animals designed similar to this one. These are laying on top of the floss I got.

Next we have the $5.00 bundle of fabric. I've already made a fob out of one of the smaller pieces, just need to sew it together. The pieces laying on the bottom are longer than the top ones. And lastly we have Checkerbird by HIH. It's a kit with chart, linen and pillow included. I thought the bird was pinkish, which is one of the reasons I liked it. I didn't take a close look at the back of the package, so didn't see that the pillow was black with pumpkins. I looked at the threads it calls for and the bird is Sampler Thread Nutmeg, that's right not in the pink family at all. I noticed a small part of one edge of the pillow looks sun-bleached and I'm wondering if that is what happened to the picture, after all the store had it sitting by the window. I really like the design, so am going to stitch it up and hope it ends up looking okay.

PS: Happy Birthday Tiger, she is 9 years old today.

Deception Pass

I was up early this morning to go to Bellingham. Since it was a nice day I went all the way to Whidbey Island to Anacortes to shop at Ana-Cross Stitch. I picked up some WDW and Shaker floss, the May-August HIH monthly markings, L*K Hocus Pocus, a couple of Bent Creek holiday charts and a really cute elephant design by Heart Strings. Then I noticed a bin with fabric scraps, about a dozen pieces wrapped in ribbon for $5.00. They are big enough for a fob or ornament, various colors, I couldn't resist and got 2. At the end of the block from the shop is this fire hydrant/fountain.

When I left there and since it was still early, thought I would "hop" over to Oak Harbour and check out their cross stitch shop. It wasn't where I last saw it and apparently no longer exists. Good thing I like to drive and was able to take some pictures along they way or I would be very upset. Well I am, but serves me right for not checking first.

These are a few of the photos I took.

When I got back to Bellingham I went to J&J Needle Arts shop. I was there about a year ago, only to find that they had closed. I thought maybe they had retired, but was surprised to find they had only moved to another location. I did buy a couple of things, which I will share next time. I'm too tired to get up and see what it was *LOL*

And speaking of tired, I must get to bed, it has been a very long day. Tomorrow I get to rest and then I'm working for 2 days, so that means getting up early again.

Blogoversary

I was wished a Happy Blogoversary and couldn't believe another year went by and I missed it. I am going to make up 2 gift bags of stitching supplies (sorry, it would take me too long to stitch something) for a draw of names. You will be able to use all the items for stitching and finishing. Won't say more or it won't be a surprise. Just mention in your comment that you would like to be entered into the draw, which I will hold on Oct. 5th. I do love all the comments I receive and enjoy visiting your blogs in return.

Otter Love

A sea otter who captured the hearts of millions with her heroic tale and loving nature died yesterday at the Vancouver Aquarium.

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/PDF/2007/10/10/20080924.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kavoAsYkjq4

Burn After Reading

Nope, not my blog. The movie. The furnace is broken and it was raining all day yesterday, so took my Mom to see a movie. Originally we planned on seeing The Women, but we were early and in time for this one. I'm not sure what I was expecting, surprising in a lot of parts, but overall it was a good movie. Brad Pitt plays the goofy/nerdy part very well.

Had someone out on Friday to look at the furnace and a part needs ordering, so it will be a few days before it gets fixed. We do have a gas fireplace so are not freezing by any means. Today is nice and the sun is trying to come out. Tiger and I walked Trout Lake twice to make up for yesterday, I might have done one more but she had a hard time keeping up with me.

Also started some finishes yesterday morning, but they are not quite done. Oh and I got the JCS Ornament issue, lots in there I would like to do, have even started the PS one. I'm stitching with the called for colors, but as I'm stitching it I start thinking it would look nice with green trees and a reddish/brown house, so may do another with those colors.

I'll have some pictures of my finishes to post in a few days.

I Love Red

Finally I have some pictures to show for my stitching. I have been trying all week to get decent pictures taken and they were either too dark or blurry. Maybe I need a new camera or maybe it's the photographer.

First up we have a Star with a Heart in the middle. I stitched this with DMC CV4210. I can't seem to find the pattern to say where I got it from. It is a free one, if anyone really wants to know I will look for the site. Here's the site http://aurelle.over-blog.com/article-4775483.html

Thanks Anna.

I stitched up a little fob using Lizzie Kates Alphabet. I only stitched the background for the initial, assissi style. I was so engrossed in hand stitching the seams and getting the needle through the ribbon I didn't realize it was upside down, the little hearts should have been facing the other way.

This lovely design is from Debbie Draper . I stitched this using Carrie's Creation Ruby. I used the same for the fob.

This little birdie is from the Readers Digest Big Book of Cross Stitch Designs. I stitched it with DMC 817.

And lastly we have a Pelin Tezer free design. I left the border off and stitched it in DMC 304.

I do have another red one in the works, just a little more stitching and it will be done.

This week I think I will go back to stitching LHN Neighbord and LK Christmas flip its. If I just do these two I should get a fair amount done on both.

The Holly Frog !

That darn frog just won't leave. I decided to start LK Christmas Double Flip. I got the fabric especially for this so knew it was the right size, I just don't know how to count very well. I started the border across the top and down the sides a bit then started Holly, got the HO done and then the L wouldn't line up right. Found where I went wrong and had to rip what I had done, not the border thankfully. Got the HOLL done and half the Y and it wouldn't line up right. I started the top of the Y over one stitch too many, so instead of ripping it out I added a stitch at the bottom so it looks okay, I think. It's too late to take a picture now, maybe tomorrow.

A few weeks ago we met this dog at Trout Lake and he took an instant liking to Tiger. I managed to get a little video clip of them playing. You will hear his owner refer to him as a Jack Russell, which he is, only the tail was never cropped, which I rather like.

Blues and Frogs

Well It's been a while since I've been here. I was without a keyboard and it's kind of hard to keep a blog or yahoo groups up to date when there is nothing to type with. Then I got the "summer" head cold, the sore throat came first, then stuffy nose, now a lingering cough. I'm feeling blue enough with the lousy summer weather we've had I don't need to be sick any longer.

Even with feeling lousy I did manage to get some stitching done. I found these cute little patterns about a year ago, printed them off, but it doesn't say where I got them and I can't seem to locate where it was. If anyone recognizes them please let me know. There were 8 in total in light blue and reds. Anyways, here is two of them, didn't turn out like I thought they would, but they will do.

I couldn't resist this Helga Mandl pattern from the June 2008 issue of The Gift of Stitching. It's just the cutest, but hasn't' been doing a good job. Maybe if I move him closer to where I stitch it will help :)

That's it for today, tomorrow I will share more of what I've been stitching and some WIP's.

Love my Blizzards !

Nope not the weather kind, but Dairy Queen where today is Canadian Miracle Treat Day. One hundred per cent of the proceeds from every Blizzard(R) treat sold will be donated to the Children's Miracle Network a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for Canadian children's hospitals. So, for such a worthy cause I had to have one. Tiger likes them too and did share a bit of mine, the picture is actually from a year or two ago, I couldn't get a good one today.

I've been doing some stitching, hope to have pictures to show soon.

I learned about Google Reader yesterday, Thanks Carol and highly recommend it. If you read a lot of blogs it is well worth the time to set up. I started with 12 blogs to see if I would like it and only 2 had updates today. Imagine the time saved when you have "tons" to read.

PIF Received

I received this lovely pin cushion as my PIF from Mary Kathryn. The picture does not do it justice, it is absolutely awesome.

I stitched this for a friend who retired and moved to Prince Rupert to be with her daughter and family. It seemed appropriate as she made the move to help look after their 2 boys and new born daughter. I couldn't get it finished before her move, so will be mailing it off this week, hope she likes it.

We have been having absolutely gorgeous weather. Some days are so hot, but then it cools down the next day which is nice. So it looks like we will get a summer after all.

There's a contest going on over at Stitch Pink , take a look at the July 9th posting.

Quaker Box Received

I received my Quaker exchange from Jennifer and she has outdone herself. This is her first exchange and I think she was rather anxious about it. Not to worry Jennifer, I LOVE IT !
She stitched the Sheep and finished into a box and filled it with goodies. My favorite Bliss chocolate, DMC Linen thread, postcards of Ohio, colored book rings, Lavender sachet and candles and she also stitched a fob.
Thank you so much Jennifer.

Quaker Inspired Exchange

We were to stitch a Quaker Critter from The Workbasket, and this is what I did for Donna.
I really enjoyed stitching it and may do one for myself.

At first she didn't know it was from me. I have a very bad habit of sealing up the envelopes and then realizing I forgot to write up a card.

I have finished one PIF and am working on the second. July 15th (or sooner) still looks good as the mail out day.

I received some of the latest LHN patterns in the mail this week, making me anxious to start them all at once. Oh how I wish I could stitch in my sleep :) which is where I am off to now, so I can stitch when I get up !

Happy Canada Day