sampler lady

TGIF! I’ve a finish to share ~ haven’t had one in awhile... The Sampler Lady by LHN.

I received this design as a token of thanks from my dear friend Sally and now I have this little gem all stitched up. Notice the top corners being a little bare. That’s done on purpose. The design has scissors stitched in a golden tone in both corners, but instead of stitching them I’m going to use small scissor charms. I think it’ll add a nice touch.

Wrapping up July, I have found that I wasn't as productive as I have been in the past. Maybe I'll have better luck in August; although our little Cameron turns 2 at the end of the month and Jose returns to school. He'll be in the 7th grade! It'll be quite a month. WOW! Where does the time go??? lol

Well I’m off to eat dinner with the in-laws. Talk soon!

i won

I had a nice surprise in the mail this afternoon. Well, I knew it was coming to me, but it's always surprising to get sweet gifts (ahem, prizes) in the mail. I entered into a blog giveaway a couple weeks ago over at the Winding Vine Wanderings blog. And can you believe it, I won a prize! I won Patti's handmade tomato pincushion and emery strawberry. I love pincushions and I love strawberries, BUT Patti loves them more. Patti did such a sweet job at presentation. It came wrapped in white tissue paper with a pretty blue ribbon (which I'm keeping, btw), and the card with a strawberry photo on the face page that had the neatest wax sealer. Just so cool, Patti!

Thanks so much Patti for a speedy delivery. I love it and already have it displayed. :o)

at the beach and then...

My BIL and his fiancé flew into Nashville from Calgary this past weekend and Monday we all decided to go to one of our lake’s beaches. It was very warm and extra sunny with puffy white clouds; a perfect day for beach-going. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too thrilled about the outing. I don’t own a bathing suit so how much fun can I have? [Note to self: Get bathing suit.]

Anyway, we brought picnic-type lunches, snacks and good company. I actually had a decent time.

This was Cameron’s first time at the beach…well, a man-made, no-where-near-an-ocean kind of beach. :o) Here is Cameron and daddy testing the sand and water.

The boys had fun. Jose made friends with some kids and we didn’t get photos of him ~ he was too busy. Cameron had an absolute blast!!! He had soooo much fun with his Uncle Rob.

In fact, Cameron had the time of his life! He had more fun at the lake than he does in the pool which to me is very surprising. We will definitely be going back.

And then…

I stitched SN’s Cast Your Spells in 2 days. The ticking is for the back of what will be a pincushion. The black wool is to make a heart-shaped swatch to attach to the ticking. This was a fun little break away from my Jane Austen sampler which I’m back at, btw. I’ve also been jumping back and forth from JA to LHN’s The Sampler Lady. I’m 85% done with it, but not enough progress since last time to show right now.

I apologize for taking a week long hiatus from the bloggy-blog world. Since family from Canada is here we’ve been pretty immersed. However, Jose and I did get a chance to see the new Harry Potter movie with my mom Tuesday afternoon. It was really good; a little sad at times, but definitely the darkest Potter movie yet.

I have other things to share, but I’ll include that in another post very, very soon. Let’s just say for starters that I received some very surprising, yet extremely generous gifties from a new and a very sweet, sweet stitchy-gal pal Joanie ~ more on that later though, but must get this out. THANK YOU SO MUCH, JOANIE!!! You are so thoughtful to think of me and for being a fan of my blog. It’s truly appreciated!

I leave you with Cameron and one of his favorite things…

Talk soon!

a teeny tiny break

I’m sure most, if not all of you, are tired of seeing the same project over and over again, but I’m not. LOL Last time I tried to post JA sampler photos of the motifs I couldn’t get them to load, so here is the progress on those.



Just so much fun! I can’t say it enough. HOWEVER, I need a teeny tiny break away from the biggie and started Cast Your Spells by Stacy Nash that I recently received in the mail (another one of mom's love-y gifts to me). I have no business starting something new, believe you me, but I had to. It’s just too cute and I know it’ll go fast. Swear! It’s nice just to have something small for the hands, you know.

I started this yesterday afternoon while outside with Cameron. These days he loves playing in the car. He’s so boy. Anyhoo…it’s a nice little kit. It has the cutest beige/tan ticking to turn into a pincushion or whatever the fancy, but I’ll stick to what its purpose demands.

I’m so disappointed. I’m going to miss my LNS moonlight stitching on Saturday evening. I always go to this and I’m bummed that I can’t make it. I have other family obligations that should have my attention so I must go. It’s my FIL’s 60th birthday. My BIL and his fiancé, my friend, are coming all the way from Calgary to celebrate and relish in their vacation time here in the States. It’ll be a nice visit for everyone. Dh has taken quite a bit of time off for the occasion so a relief for him indeed. Starting August, however, dh will be commuting to Birmingham, Alabama for that entire month…but this is a whole other story to which I’m not about to get into right now. I’m going to keep this post happy. :D

Did anyone watch Miss Marple on PBS Sunday night? I caught it the next day via the laptop. I thought it was a bit creepy b/c of the eccentric personalities. They were so very bizarre. Btw, I want to thank everyone who visits and comments. I so appreciate the attention as I am aware of how many wonderfully beautiful blogs are out there and you've made a choice to come see mine. Ah, YOU are great!

Anyway…Talk soon!

happy feet

I'm following Tanya's lead with the i heart faces blog contest. Usually this blog enters photos of faces, but this week it's about feet. Okay, anyone who really knows me knows feet are my least favorite body part. I can't stand feet...unless of course they are my children's feet...and they are babies and toddlers. After that age feet are off limitis. LOL

These little feet belong to my youngest child, Cameron, when he was a week old and still in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Cameron, who is 23 months old now, was born early weighing in at only 5lbs 4.5 oz. His feet were extra tiny. I love this photo so much that I have it framed and on the bedroom wall. Because any longer after these toddler years I won't even want to see those stinky feet. :D

motif-ing it up

So much fun this one!

I feel so good about my JA sampler. I’ve started on the motifs. I have more progress photos than this, but for some reason they were loading at the wrong angle. Has anyone else had that problem with Blogger before? I'll have to take new ones and try it again. Anyhoo...I’m halfway done with the house. You can’t see the other set of windows below b/c I didn’t want to unroll my rod – sorry. :-( I think I’m going to halt on the house for now and make my way towards the right of it to keep things in line and then make my way down my rod-n-roll.

Saturday me and the boys were at a birthday party all afternoon. Our little friend turned 10. Her father is a good, good friend of mine and dh. It was a fun-filled day for sure; tiring too. It was a pool party so the kids had lots of fun and the adults grilled out and laughed it up. Met some new people too. The day got away from us b/c we forgot to check our mailbox. So today we got our mail and look what was inside…

I can’t wait to start this little needle/pin cushion. Looks like it’ll be a quick one. This evening me and the boys ate at my parent’s house and I didn’t make it home in time to watch PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery which is airing Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories. I’ll have to catch this one on PBS.org. You can watch them online after they’ve aired. I’m off to sit and stitch for now. Talk soon!

giveaway reminders

A gentle reminder that Paulette's one-year Typepad blogaversary is today. She will announce the name/winner on Monday, July 20 so get over there and enter your name.

Jolene is having a great giveaway as well and will be announcing the name/winner on Monday, July 20 so jump over there too before the day is out. These both end today ~ don't miss out!

I will post some stitchy progress photos later on. It's quite cloudy today so I'm hoping the pictures I do take aren't washed out. Speaking of washed, today I've been doing some linen laundry. Not "our" linen, but sheets and towels linen. :D Talk soon!

home sweet home

We have three dogs. One of which is Lucy, a 3 year old Shih-Tzu. Unfortunately, Lucy doesn't get along too well with children. She has snapped at Cameron, even bitten him, and has done the same with Jose. Other than her lack of social skills with kids she does perfectly well with adults. In fact, she loves people. Lucy needed a better home and we've been struggling for a long time with placement. We didn't want to take her to the pound because she has such potential to be a great dog with the right owner. We just aren't the right ones for her. She deserves more; deserves better than us.

Well, I couldn't be more pleased with her new home. Recently, my FIL's two dogs have passed away and he has decided to make Lucy his new companion. At first, he wanted a trial run with her so she's been sleeping over for the past week to see how things go. Today, he stopped by with Lucy in tow to pick up her file that I have on her. I guess this means it's a done deal. Lucy has found a home and a good home. We are so grateful and my heart can rest now. I do miss her presence because she is such a sweetie, but I don't miss having to watch Cameron's back so she doesn't bite. Every part of this experience is a relief b/c I still get to see my Lucy-Lu when we visit my FIL. I'm happy about the arrangement. Talk soon!

plum street samplers

Plum Street Samplers is having a spectacular blog giveaway to celebrate Paulette's 1-year blogaversary. Go check out the details! It's sooooooooooo worth it. Good luck everyone.

a new toy and progress stitching to boot

Knock! Knock!

Who's there?

Quad!

QUAD WHO???

QUADING-CAMERON!!!
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I didn’t get any new toys, but I have made excellent progress with On Travel with Jane Austen by The Sampler Girl.

I’m the stitches out of this one! I just can’t drive myself to work on anything else right now. I’m about down to all the motifs. Woo-Hoo! Dh will be home soon which means time to prep the din-din ~ boneless pork chops tonight. Talk soon!

miss marple

Did anyone watch the Masterpiece Mystery program on PBS Sunday night? Tanya talked about it HERE. Series IV of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels are airing all this month every Sunday evening. I didn't get to see the first showing on July 5 but I watched the second one this past Sunday. It was really good. Miss Marple reminds me of Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote) minus the writer aspect.

If you'd like to get caught up you can watch the two mystery movies HERE. Check your local listings though b/c this link will say 9:00 pm, but that's eastern time. Mine started at 8:00 (central) and lasted almost til 9:30. Make sure the kiddos are in bed. :0) You'll want to sit and stitch to these. Talk soon!

"People do tend to confide in old ladies, don't you find?" Miss Marple in A Pocket Full of Rye

announcement

I have an announcement. It isn't THAT exciting (LOL), but I wanted to bring attention to it. At some point in the future I would like to start creating/designing cross stitch patterns. I don't have any high expectations, but it's been rolling through my mind for months; ages really. Anyway, to make a long story short...too late...I opened an Etsy shop called none other than Julie's Keepsakes. I've added an Etsy Shop Here button on my sidebar that'll route you to my shop page. There isn't anything for sale yet, but without sounding redundant...too late...I wanted to bring attention so that it stays with you. Hopefully I'll get something started relatively soon. I have many drawings but no charting yet.

Thanks for your support, everyone. You all bring such joy and creative passion into my life. Talk soon!

haircut time

It was about time to get the clippers out and trim this child's hair. I set him on the toilet, put a mirror in front him so he could watch the festivities, and away I went with the clippers. It took all but 5 minutes to get this done. He was sooo cooperative and patient and for nearly 23 months old he did pretty darn good. I think he looks dashing. Cameron thinks so too!

an afternoon with jane

I told myself I wasn’t going to do this before I read the book, but after six-plus months I couldn’t help myself any longer and I succumbed to the temptation. I watched "Sense and Sensibility" with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. I cried. I laughed. I sighed. I held my breath. I even clapped.

I haven’t really enjoyed a film like I enjoyed this one. I’m ashamed I waited this long to capture the essence of what Jane Austen was saying. What a storyteller. I realize this is only an adaption of her novel, but I will definitely read the novel sooner rather than later. The period in which her novel is wrought, I can’t help but feel a tad bit jealous that I wasn’t born another time. The clothing. The emotion. The cottage – oh the cottage! What I wouldn’t give to live there. The still of the sisters and mother working on their needlework was peaceful. I was so moved and felt connected. At one point I was on the edge of my seat trying to soak in the scenery and house décor. The wallpaper. The tapestry. The furniture.

I was sincerely captivated by the sisters and envied their relationship. Each actress did a marvelous job at convincing me of their disposition and I loved them all. I hated the dreadful sister-in-law, and so much that I’ve even forgotten her name. But my absolute favorite character is the Colonel. Such a lonely, quiet sufferer who truly, without a doubt, loved Marianne with his entire core, and that made him sexy. I knew there was more to him than meets the eye and when he sent Marianne the piano I knew their fate. Now that is love and I cried.

While enjoying the film I worked on On Travel with Jane Austen by The Sampler Girl. I am using the called-for threads with the exception of changing three to the alternative DMC colors. I made changes to some cross stitches themselves. Instead of the cross stitch I changed it to the satin stitch, but still used the colors for that symbol; just a different stitch. I did this with the triangle-like band (above "Sunday"). I love how it's turning out. Other than this, we're as good as gold. Oh, and I'm using 32 ct Parchment instead of what the model is done on.

Stitching on this piece makes me happy and I’m calm. Stitching in general is therapeutic, but when I work on On Travel I can’t help but feel at peace and at ease. I think of nothing else and I cherish that sensation; for lately I’ve been high strung. But for now this is the only design I stitch on and I’m okay with that. Even though I’m a multi-tasker and like having more than one thing going on, my other projects can wait. Besides, they’re not going anywhere ~ they have no legs. :o)

Talk soon!