Exchange

I had to wait until my parcel arrived until I could share these photos.   Since I am such poor planning of time management, I did not get her package in the mail until Monday, which meant Dec. 26th delivery.   

Putting the final stitches in my Christmas Exchange with my Pen Pal.   

Along with an assortment of handy to have needle work items I left my comfort zone and stitched up some things.   My stitching is good enough for me but I never feel like it is good enough to be given as a gift but I took that leap this year. 

 I picked up this pattern at the Mancuso Quilt show this past fall.    I love the 'tape measure' ribbon sewn around the middle.  I stuffed to crushed walnut shells.   I like the feel the crushed shells give to  pin cushions.

 Added some matching pins from JABCO.

 Included Blue Ribbons Designs Stitch Started and stitched up the sleeve to store it.

 A little needle book.

Scissors fob and matching scissors.
(Ack!  Look at that messy work space! and the photo is yellow
since it is from my phone and not my camera)

My present from SW in Connecticut arrived before I sent mine to her off
so I waited until Christmas night to open hers to me since.     I can tell you she spoiled me!

Merry Christmas One and All.

Dining Room Tree 

Look close - it is all cookie cutters and kitchen things.

A bit of color to brighten the stairs.

Carried the Green, Gold and Red throughout.

Oops! Forgot to add Santa!

 New, thinner tree this year.

 Prairie Schooler from a consignment store for $3.00

Victoria Sampler Christmas Tree Farm

 

Bright spot by the front door.

More Red, Green and Gold on the bookcase.

Same Green, Red and Gold

A different venue for my Byers Dolls this year.

My new Lefton punchbowl and cups.   Just ready for me and a friend.  (That's Penny America in the tray under the mugs.)

More color in a kitchen corner.

Touches of color.

China closet 'spruced' up.

Top of my Hoosier Cabinet.

Love when all the lamps are out and only the strings of lights are lit.
Boy is it going to be bland when everything comes down.

Merry Christmas to all and a safe, healthy new year.

Ugh!

I have been struggling with how to complete my gratitude jars for the last two weeks.   This is my normal MO.  I get these 'ideas' in my head and have a vision.....but that does not always manage to work its way out of my brain, down my arms, out my fingertips onto my work bench.

The other night I took a half hour to dig through my Stampin' Up stamps and paper to try to gain a foothold.    Viola!  I came across some extras from when I made bags of wildflower seeds as part of the favors for my D-in-L's bridal shower and like a bolt of lighting I had the inspiration I needed.    So glad....I was really getting bummed that this idea of mine might not happen.  But it was not without a detour.  Seems I kind of got into a grand sort out of my 'stuff' for the hour that followed.  (I mean I think it was time to throw out the faded and dog-earred construction paper from when the kid were in school!)

So with the idea and execution firmly my mind, I set aside Friday night to do nothing but craft away in my sewing room.

I am happy with the final result.  I stuffed each one with a supply of papers to write on, added a couple of tags with inspiration  and instructions.  If all goes well I will be able to take them into work on Monday morning for the girls.

Finally managed to finish the holiday decorating.  I just seemed to drag it out this year instead of going full throttle attack and being done in a weekend.  House has been cleaned top to bottom.  Just some grocery shopping, spare bedrooms to be made up, a bit of wrapping to finish up and then I will be done!  And boy does my craft room bear the damage. Snips of paper and ribbon and wrapping supplies and tissue and empty coffee cups and boxes everywhere.  Better get hopping on stowing everything and making the room ready for my Boston girl who is coming home Monday.

I think I will spend the first weekend of the new year with an all out attack on the 'stuff' to sort and cull and arrange in a more sensible way.  Well it will be sensible when I do it but not when I go to look for something in six months!  LOL.......I am glad I can laugh at myself!

So Excited!

What better way to end a day of shopping in Lancaster County with a girlfriend than to come home to a stitching surprise in the mail!!!!    My Lizzie Kate Mystery sampler with pattern, fabric, threads and embellishments arrived today.  Yes,  I know it was released Nov. 1 but my LNS is two states away and I am sure they didn't get it Nov. 1st.  It is not like I have been living in a drought of no available projects.  It's all good.

Don't you just love all the embellishments that come with a kit?

Look at all the WDW!  Wonder if you can spot which one is Busy Lizzie, 

a project exclusive, without looking at the names?

Calling all my willpower!  I am going to need to show some extraordinary restraint to keep me from starting this one!   Need to finish up my Christmas exchange pieces and then do some finishing on some other holiday stitches......then......and only then can I start this.  I am thinking a Christmas afternoon treat to myself.  I have no choice....Part Two could arrive any day!

Busy Busy Times

In between things, I almost have my Christmas stitching complete.   I am stitching up a sleeve for a stitch starter and a making a coordinating pin cushion.    Here is the progress on the stitch starter sleeve.   If you don't have one, check out Blue Ribbon Designs.   Almost all my stitching pals have one.   I thought it would make a nice gift to someone who didn't have one!  It consists of  a 3 inch lucite ruler that you use to find your starting placement on your linen and the sleeve you stitch to store it.  Belinda has create some cute patterns to stitch.

Otherwise.....this is what I have been up to.    I went to Longwood Gardens.   What a nice evening with friends.   Imagine your holiday dinner table decorated and set like this!   These photos from my cell phone definitely don't do the decorations justice.  

 Some photos in the conservatory.    

Somewhere along the middle of the week, I WON a cruise!    Yes, that's right!!    Actually to be clear, I WON the bid on the cruise.  Every year we assist at a silent auction fundraiser.   We decorate (as much as anyone would need to in the beautiful Hotel DuPont in Wilmington!), set up the auction items, then welcome and register the guests who start arriving at 5 p.m.   Once all are registered we get to walk through the event, eat the fabulous meal and are able to place bids.   No one had bid on the cruise package provided by AAA, so I did.   I received a gift certificate to Royal Caribbean for twice my bid!   My best friend and I will be heading to AAA this week to get the details. I am thinking either a New England/Canadian cruise or the Bahamas for something different.    

I have been working on 'gratitude' jars that I want to give to some special friends as a little something extra over the holidays.    I have it all in my 'head' what I want to do and as is so often, what is in my head is not what manifests when I actually complete the job.   So far, I wrapped mason jars with yarn, spray painted them and then removed the yarn so make the design shown to the left.                                                                                                                I did manage to get my tree up as you can barely see in the background.   I am kind of in a bah humbug mood about decorating. To say I go overboard with decorations may be an exaggeration but I have been known to have as many as three full sized trees up and fully decorated.   I have so may different themed trees and ornaments I could put up a half dozen fully decked out trees on a conservative estimate!   I decorate for myself so maybe choosing to not put up as much is for me too!

Not an original idea....saw this on Pinterest....but at home one night I made tissue paper snowflakes and taped them to the sliding glass door in my boss's office to make a holiday decoration.   Good thing I had the foresight to place a cookie sheet on the floor as I sat on the sofa and made all the snowflakes.   It actually doesn't look too bad in person and again is a cell phone pix.

I went to New York City to check out the city lights and the tree at Rockefeller Center.  I never made it back to the tree to take a photo once the lights were on.   I took the Rockefeller Center Tour and did the Observation Desk at the top.....70th floor!   That's saying something for someone who lives in a town where three story buildings are about as high as they get!  Too bad the weather was rotten....not much of a view but the tour of the complex was very interesting.

View from the top of Rockefeller Center.    Couldn't see Central Park or the river just blocks away.   But hey!  A little bad weather doesn't stop me.  The two spires at the bottom left of center are the top of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Inside St. Patrick's

This photo and the one below were taken on a previous trip to NYC.

Tree in Bryant Park

We walked and walked and walked some more.   Had a great lunch in the concourse and shopped out of the weather.  Walked some more.   Went to Bryant Park.   Had a nice dinner.   Walked through Times Square and we were really glad to get back on the bus and out of the rain!  It was a jungle of umbrellas!

Times Square

Queued up waiting on our bus.  Goodbye New York
....a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there!

Hopefully I will be able to finish up my Christmas stitching this week and get it all wrapped up.   More pix to come once finished.   Have a great weekend everyone and may your stitches be plentiful!

It is a bird.....

Is this progress of mine from skill?  Is it my new stitching stand? or, Am I on a mission?    I vote definitely not skill.   As I getting used to my new stand I realized all too late that I 'crossed' my stitches in different directions due to rotating the hoop at I stitched.   Drat!  I ran amok!  So cross off the stand too as the reason for progress too.   It's a mission!  I need to stitch this up so I can do the finishing and get it wrapped and prepared for delivery!

Liking the subtle changes in the color and I have the perfect complimentary fabric already selected for finishing.   It is moving fast and I am pleased so far.   I have been cutting my length of WDW, dividing and loading three needles at a time and stitching until each are empty each time I take time to stitch......but the needle may be parked for the rest of the day now.  Hopefully I can share that by the end of the week.   But as always the plans in my head often don't come to fruition or only do after a detour (or two).

Need to get that tree up and maybe do some small business Saturday shopping (on Sunday).   Have a great week all as the countdown to the holidays begins!

No Black Friday Shopping for me!

I hope all my USA friends had a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving.    Mine was different then usual this year.   No one was coming home....I was a mix of being bummed and being thankful.  Not thankful that they weren't coming but thankful of all the fun Thanksgiving memories of years past.   It was going to be dull, boring and I didn't even want to cook.  Such a lot of work for two.   I was ready to place an order at Boston Market...then something happened.... my brother and his girlfriend were in the same situation so last Sunday we decided to join  forces.    This had to be the easiest, most delicious feast yet.   J & L were bringing the major sides that by mid morning yesterday I was like.....what am I forgetting.   Then my sister and husband showed up for dessert.   All in all in turned out to be a great day.

Dishes done and leftovers shared, football over, everyone on their way home and I settled in with a nice cup of coffee and a new start.   This is working up fast and good thing.   It is for a Christmas exchange so I can't share too many details but it sure looks like a Quaker design to me.  Stitching on 32 count with WDW Blue Bonnet.  

No worries.....chocolate candy Advent calendars in the mail (yes at ages 34, 36 and 39, I must still send these to my children.   I made the mistake of discontinuing stockings one year and still hear about it.)  Almost all my shopping done or ordered online so I have some time available for stitching as well as holiday events!  I was lucky enough to score four tickets to the Longwood Christmas display tonight so I will be meeting up with some friends for a treat tonight.  Tomorrow I have a Christmas concert with more girlfriends. (see why I shop early?   love all the extra holiday events) So maybe Sunday I will stitch or start the dragging out of decorations.

I love shopping early and probably tend to buy more because I see something that would be perfect for somebody on my list.   I'd like to get the decorating started today and may be able to get a bit done before I head out.

I am anxious to put up our tree.   It is new this year.   We had been complaining about the other tree for years and the best way to replace something is to get rid of the version you have leaving you no choice but to get a replacement.  Works with shoes too!  So after the holidays last year, we donated our tree.   You know that mess of cords for the lights on the pre-lit tree?   My new tree has the ingenious concept of the lights and wiring go up through the 'trunk'!  Nothing to mess with...connect the sections and it plugs everything in.    We shall see if this turns out as easily as advertised.   More info to follow....

Three Degrees of Separation

My current stitch mounted on my new Lowery

I know a gal, who knows a gal, who had a thing, that she didn't want so......I now am the proud owner of a Lowery Workstand.   OMGosh, not even the Cadillac of floor stands; this is the Bentley of floor stands.   It came with a corner clamp and I thought, hmmmm, let me order the side clamp.   After some considerable searching, I located a side clamp on the internet and quickly decided I will learn to love the corner clamp.   I am a two-handed stitcher and this is making my needle fly with the floss following behind it like the contrails of a jet.



Here is my progress on my La-D-Da name tag.   It is a quick stitch and should be done this weekend.   The finishing directions have me a bit confused so I have to put my head together with two fellow stitchers who have already finished this piece.

Starting Monday I need to get serious on my Christmas stitching.   I have a couple of smalls I want to get done.   Of course, I can't share them here but I can tell you one crosses over to another stitching genre or even two.

And of course, for those of you who have asked, my middle of the night companion.   Buddy, or often fondly referred to as Budders, is a fur ball that would prefer to ram around under the night skies and neighborhood waking me each night between 1:45 and 2:15 a.m. to go out.  It as been far too cold to put him out before I retire for the night.  Geez!   I tried shutting the bedroom door and there was such a CATaphony and clawing at the door off and on for hours it was deemed not a wise move.  

 I feel evil by thinking I should continually wake Mr. Nocturnal while he catches some rays and ZZZ's.

Here's wishing all a healthy and happy Thanksgiving.   May your homes be filled with family and friends, may your tables be flowing with yummy foods and may you sneak in a bit of stitching time while others take their post dinner naps.