And the winner is......

Before I announce the winner, I want to thank everyone that commented and posted about my giveaway. I'm a relatively new blogger and I appreciate your participation and comments. Thanks to you, I have "discovered" many new and interesting blogs and have added them to my list of favorites. This was fun so I'll be doing lots more giveaways in the future.

Okay, drum roll please..................... the winner of the JSC Ornie issue and the Angels charts is Deb, creator of the wonderful blog, The Thread Gatherer http://threadgatherer.blogspot.com Deb, if you would email me your snail mail addy, I'll send this out to you right away.

Thanks again to everyone for participating! Enjoy your day!

The new ornie issue is here, time for a giveaway!!!!!

I've just received the Just Crossstitch Ornament issue and and it has made my day! I have eagerly awaited the yearly arrival of this magazine since I first discovered it. And, since my Hope Angel made the cover this year, and since I have been such a poor blogger lately, I am having my first blog giveaway.

I will be giving away one copy of the magazine, along with one each of my four Angel Ornament crossstitch charts. That way, the winner will have the entire set of angels to stitch. To enter, please leave a comment on this post. If you post about the contest on your blog, you will get entered a second time. I'll announce the winner next Thursday. Good luck!!!

More about the magazine, lots of great ornies in there to stitch. So many of my favorite designers are included this year, all with wonderful designs. I have kitted up six already and will start stitching the first this afternoon while waiting on the school pick up line for my kids.

This brings me to the reason that I have been a poor blogger, my kids went back to public school for the first time in four years. It has been a real change. They love their new adventure, new friends, new teachers, band, dances, etc. They do not enjoy homework, getting up at 6:00 am (mommy really doesn't enjoy that one, it's still dark here at 6:00 am, ugh!!!) or busy work. All in all, it has been a good experience so far. We'll have to see how we do on our first quarter report cards. Until then, if anyone has any ideas on how to motivate kids to get out of bed on the first call, please let me know. The "time to get up" song doesn't seem to be working as well as it did the first couple of weeks. :)

I do actually have some stitching to show, I'll post pics next time. Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

This is one of my early freebies, I've always liked it and it fits in with the theme of the day. Click on the picture to download. Enjoy!!

The angels are coming....

My angel ornament series, that is. I'm printing the charts as I type this and soon they will be winging (slightly lame pun intended) their way to the shops and my distributors. They should be available in shops and on my Etsy site by the middle of next week. They are stitched on 30 count with just a little over one stitching and I love them. I enjoyed every part of the design process with these, even the finishing which I usually don't absolutely love doing. I can see them decorating a feather wreath or stitched one above the other on a bellpull. I have the threads pulled for the bellpull idea but haven't started stitching it yet.

In other news, the weather has been hot and sunny and the kids and I have been spending some time down by the lake, which is too good for words. It's a tiny lake but you'd never know it to see how much fun the kids have there. I've also started walking/jogging everyday. I've been inspired by some of you fellow stitchers that manage to work, take care of family, stitch and exercise and make it sound so easy. I used to run years ago, and hope to get back to where I actually can run 5 miles and make it look easy.

My printer is beeping at me so I'm off for now. Thanks for stopping by!!

Progress...

First, thanks for all the comments about Miss Mary Mac's Sewing Roll. I'm working on another pin cushion and sewing roll set and will have pics soon (keep in mind that soon is a somewhat relative term on this blog). Between a new puppy showing up at the house (with 4 dogs already) insisting that this is where she should live and the first week of really nice weather, I've not had much daylight time up here in the studio. I have had lots of lovely early morning chats with my daughter on the porch and evening chats with my sister and nieces in the same spot. Family is a very good thing.

I do have a few things to show. First, my CHS SAL, I didn't forget this week Annemarie, I'm just hopelessly late at getting up to the studio to blog. I'm stitching it over two on 40 count as I am hoping to put it in a shadow box style frame. It will be too teeny for a real stocking. The fabric color is dangerously close to Noah's haircolor, so he may have a bit of a dye job before I am through. Oh, and I changed his coat color as well. More progress next week, I promise.

I also finished CCN Summer Bungalows yesterday. My chronic case of startitis caused me to finish this one, so I could have the stitching frame for my next design. Seven stitching frames and something on every one of them. Lots of solid areas of stitching on this one, which I normally don't do well with, but the soft colors made it easy to stick with. I apologize for the wrinkles.

In other stitching news, I found out that my ornament design for the 2009 Just Crossstitch Ornament issue will be on the cover and I am very excited about that. I can't show you the design but you'll be able to see it soon enough. It's my favorite out of all of the designs that I have done for the magazine.

My son turned 12 last week and I think that I am in shock. How can he already be 12, it seems he was just a toddler not so long ago. He spent his weekend doing guy stuff with two of his best buds, dirtbiking and the new Star Trek movie. We're celebrating his dad's birthday tomorow as he was out of town on his real day. Lots of birthday cake for our family in May, and lots of fun!Thanks for stopping by!

Miss Mary Mac's Sewing Roll

I just finished the chart for Miss Mary Mac's newest design. It's a sweet little sewing roll to go with her pincushion. It was fun to stitch and easy to finish into the roll. I love doing these small designs and have several more in the works. This one will go out to shops the first of next week and the distributors will get them soon after that. So, I'll be folding and packaging this weekend, in between doing family stuff.

I had planned to post my progress on my CHS no pressure stocking stitch along, but as there is no progress, there is no post. The day is still young, though, and I could surprise myself. Thanks for visiting!

Finally, some sunshine!!!

It is a beautiful day here in middle Tennessee, and we are enjoying it. The kids are getting into their Summer mode, which means doing everything possible outside instead of in. I tried to get pics of the human children and the furry children but as you can see, the dogs, especially my corgie Max would not cooperate. Most of the

pictures look like the first picture, with dogs going every which way, but I did get a couple with all faces forward. The other smiling girl is our dear friend Saxon who is staying with us for a few days.

I actually have some stitching to show you as well. I'm not quite getting the hang of taking pics as I go, but I am trying. The first one is Birds of a Feather's A Very Fine Sampler which I have been working on for years. I pick it up and put a few stitches in it, then put it aside. I'm not sure why it is taking me so long to finish it, I think that it's because I love stitching on it so much and I don't want it to end. The colors are wonderful, and I love the way that unfinished areas are designed into the piece, making it look like a beautiful old sampler.

I'm also working on Summer Rentals, it's a little faded in the pic but I didn't want to take it off the scroll frame to shoot it. It's taking a bit longer than I'd like, lots of solid areas of color always slow me down, but it is for my resort, beachy wall in the studio. I LOVE the shore, any shore and have been collecting beachy charts for my wall. I've got my The Sun Sets design hanging and my Summer At the Shore and this one will fit in nicely. And lastly, I'm working on this bright little pelican canvas. It's small, the perfect size to put on a beach tote. I've got some great stripey fabric to use when it's finished. Okay, has anyone else noticed that I am in a beach mindset? Time to sneak away to the shore for a few days, if only I could. Hubby has a big show next week, no where near water and the kids have spring show the week after that. Aghhhhhhh!!!! Maybe mid May........ Until then, expect more wishful beachy stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Easter!

It has been a while since I posted, time really flies when you are having fun. I've been stitching some new projects and will post some pics this weekend. I had to post this springy picture that my husband took yestrday. The girls were playing dress up and they posed for Dale in their "ballalina" outfits. That's my DiDi in the middle and my nieces, Adaline and Vivian on either side. We had a lovely sunny day and the girls enjoyed it to the fullest. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Finally, a new design and a new series!

I just finished stitching Miss Mary Mac's Pins & Needles Pincushion. It's about 3 inches wide and 8 inches long, stitched on 40 ct. I love long narrow pin cushions and wanted to do one of my own. It's prim without being too prim, more of a sophisticated prim look. I stuffed it with tiny glass beads, so it has a bean bag feel, which I love. This is the first of a series of sweet, smallish designs. They will all be called Miss Mary Mac's something as that was my nickname all through high school and I like the way it looks in the prim typeface that I am using on my patterns. I am trying something new and will be selling the chart in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5871581 . Thanks for stopping by!

A Little Needlepoint Progress

Just before Christmas, I saw a couple of Curtis Boehringer Santa needlepoint canvases. I was instantly hooked! I ordered several santas as well as some small ornaments. I haven't started on the big ones yet but here is one of the small ornaments. It's called Beach Santa and was such fun to stitch. Those are starfish on his head. I have a couple of others in the works and will show them as soon as they are done. It is so fun to be able to pick the stitches to fill the spaces in.

As usual, one good thing led to another and I reached into my stash and pulled out these The Princess and Me designs. These stitched up really fast and I love them, especially Rudolph. I've started designing some small canvases of my own and will show my progress on them soon.

This last canvas was stitched by my 11 year old son, Colton! He chose all the fibers and the stitches himself. Santa's beard and cuffs are stitched with two different fuzzy fibers and he used a red/gold metallic for the background. He is usually such a ball of energy that it was weird for me to see him sit still long enough to stitch, watching him work out the stitches was like watching a scientist working out an experiment. He's working on a long skinny santa ornament now and wants me to paint a dirt bike canvas for him to stitch next.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Two little finishes

I've been busy on the computer all week so not much to show, stitching wise. Today was a great day for me to catch up with friends both via the phone and internet. I get so busy that it is hard for me to keep in touch with everyone that I want to (and I know that I am not alone in this). The internet helps, I've started a facebook page and love chatting on that while I work in the studio.
These are Carriage House Samplings Designs, and are 2 1/2" by 1 3/4" in size. I plan to make them into little scissor fobs.
The kids have Seusical tonight so I'll get a little stitching time in while I wait in the Green Room. If all goes well, I'll have some new things to show on Monday.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

The Show Must Go On! Suessical that is...

Tonight is the first performance of our local playhouse's production of Suessical the Musical. I've spent much of the last week at the playhouse with DiDi and Colt, so no stitching to show. Although they do Nutcracker and the Spring Productions every year, this is their first"real" show. They are both so excited. Here is a picture of Di from Spring show a couple of years ago. I can't post the Suessical ones yet, but Colt is a Who Cadet and Di is in the Who Marching Band. It's such a cute show and they love being on stage with their friends.

Heart in the Garden Finish

Heart in the Garden by Ewe & Eye & Friends is my latest finish. I stitched it over two on 40 ct. using the leftover threads from the last LHN that I stitched. I have always loved Ewe & Eye designs, I have dozens in my stash, though I've only stitched 2 so far. I do have four of their original stitched models in my collection, including my all time favorite, the Millenium Sampler. They are currently in one of the shop boxes, waiting to be unpacked. Some day soon, I will put all of my shop pieces back on the studio walls, I'll post pictures when I do. Thanks for stopping by!

A little weekend stitching

I strated this cute little piece from Little House Needleworks on Thursday and finished it Saturday night. It's a stress relieving piece. Had a family member in the hospital this past week and I always start a new piece to keep my mind off of things. It's my version of a worry stone and it works for me. The chartpack contained the Crescent Colour Threads and I stitched it on 40 count linen over two. Since I only used a single strand of floss, I had tons left over so I started a Ewe & Eye& Friends piece using the same shades. It's nearly done as well and I'll post it soon. Not sure how I'll finish this, I'm thinking of mounting it on top of a papermache' box and stitching the rooster again to make a pin cushion for inside the box. We'll see. I'm off to do school with the kids, have a great day!

Something in the works

Two posts in one day. I totally forgot about posting my newest "in progress" piece. It is a sampler and it is coming along nicely, I find that I am enjoying the blackwork areas the most. I've not done a lot of blackwork and it is a little like doing a dot to dot. You just count threads and work your way around the fabric following the pattern and the design appears. I'm hoping to get this done in the next couple of weeks, although the outer border, which you can't see, may take little longer. My kids, Colton and DiDi, are in a Suessical production at our local playhouse and I get lots of stitching time in while waiting for them in the green room. :)

Since moving back into the studio, the design side of my mind has switched back on. I have so many new ideas going through my head that I've started keeping a sketchbook with me again. I have several new designs waiting for me to pull threads so that I can get them to my model stitchers. And several that I will have to stitch myself. I'll be posting progress reports and sneak peaks here. I will also be posting some freebies here as well. I just have to figure out how. :) Please be understanding of my limited blogging skills. I'll get better.

A cold day in Tennessee

This is my baby, Beauregard. He is not happy about the weather. I have three other dogs but as he has the least amount of fur, he is the most annoyed by the weather. Besides, it is impossible to get my dogs to pose for a family portrait. They all went out this morning and he came back in shivering. We are having some unusually cold weather here in TN. It was 5 degrees this morning. Brrrrr!!!! I raced up to the studio and refuse to go back outside until it is absolutely neccessary.

My studio is across the yard from my house. It's above the garage. My husband built it for me and I love it. He even built the garage to put it above. I have a huge window in front that overlooks the neighborhood and a deck off the back which is wonderful for stitching and hanging out to watch the stars at night. Right now the front room is a little stuffed with extra shop merchandise but that will work itself out over time. The kids do their school work up here when I'm "at work" and my daughter DiDi has taken over a large corner for her crafts. It's a wonderful place to come to work to.

Acorns and Threads

This is one of my first stitching projects for 2009. I've had it in my stash for years. It's Acorns and Threads by Carriage House Samplings. I'm stitching it on 40 count over two. I have a couple of the charts (new from my former shop) on my ebay auction right now http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280299538363 along with lots of other charts by Carriage House Samplings. I'll be adding things to my ebay auctions daily in an effort to free up a little more space in the studio.

I'm working on a new sampler of my own as well and I'll post a picture in the next day or so.