giveaway winner is...

DRUM ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cut out each entry, folded each piece and put into a felted strawberry bag. My eldest son, Jose, gladly picked the winner.

CONGRATULATIONS GAIL!!! Gail's comment said..."I am a quilter and discovered your site thru Simple Pleasures blog. Congratulations on your accomplishments! Thank you for entering me in your draw. I have never done any handwork other than quilting and would love to give it a try."

Gail, please email me with your mailing address and I'll get the Shepherd's Bush kit on its way to you (my email is in sidebar). Since this will be your first handwork, other than quilting, this couldn't have been a better start for you. Shepherd's Bush gives excellent instructions and diagrams on stitching and the how-tos. I think you will thoroughly enjoy this design.

On a side note, I would like to apologize for not getting to the drawing sooner. Had a couple of set backs the last day or so. I want to also thank each and everyone of YOU for your very thoughtful and encouraging words on my continuing success to remain smoke-free. It means the world to me that you all took the time to say a few kind words. I appreciate it more than you know and it won't be forgotten, so thank you.

Melissa and Sally, I missed going to moonlight stitching. I really wanted to be there more than any other place and I hope to make the next one for sure, but sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do, right!?! Loves and hugs to you.

giveaway...my first

I'm having a giveaway, a rather sudden giveaway. Stupid, really, but on Saturday, August 8 (this year obviously - heehee) I triumphantly reach 3 FULL years successfully smoke-free. These last 3 years have been extremely difficult aside from not smoking, but add the triggers and temptations (and visions of smokers dancing in my head) hasn't made the last few years any easier but I've persevered.

I made a promise years ago for many reasons why I wouldn't smoke and I can honestly and with a healthy heart scream now I'M SMOKE FREE. What a relief! To honor this commitment to myself, my kids, and my family and friends I'm having a quick giveaway.

I'm giving away Shepherd's Bush The Promise. The kit includes: Au Ver A Soie Silk, Thread Gatherer Handpainted silk and ribbon, beads and charms, needles, instruction book (of course), and 32 ct linen Light Sand (9x25 cut).

If you're interested in entering to win this kit, please comment on this post and become a follower. If you're already a follower just comment then. :o) This giveaway is open to the globe. The giveaway closes at 11:59 pm central standard time, August 8th. Sunday, Aug. 9th I will have one of my kids pick a name from a basket and I will make the announcement shortly after that so stay tuned.

Good luck to YOU and congrats to ME for another successful year! Talk soon!

finishing frenzy

The last few days I’ve finish-finished Cast Your Spells by Stacy Nash and Be Still and Know That I Am God by The Sampler Girl.

Cast Your Spells was fun to put together. I enjoy using my sewing machine and hand-sewing techniques any chance I get. I didn’t age this piece because the linen is already raw and frankly I’m happy with it just the way it is. I used crushed corn-type critter bedding for the filling so it has weight.

Just the other day I finished stitching another Stacy Nash called Country Sampler Velvet Bag.

This will turn into a project bag using that beautiful blue floral reproduction fabric. I still need to look over the finishing instructions, but methinks I have all my peacocks in a row.

I finally got around to framing Be Still and Know That I Am God. I stitched this design months and months ago. I hate to brag. Tanya had designed this ditty one night with me in mind (due to my confessions experiencing anxiety and my nature to be a complete worrywart) and I was truly blessed by her care and thoughtfulness. I’ll never forget it.

My intention was to frame it and hang it beside my bed as a daily reminder to take breaths and relax. It’s a perfect verse to start my day and I’m so grateful for Tanya for lending such encouragement. She’s been a dear heart and treasure ever since. On Sunday I sat at my work station, got the frame out that I bought for it months ago, and went to town. I am pleased and happy that it’s complete and now where it belongs. It may not be a perfect frame job but it’s mine. :o)

Dh is out of town on business this week so it is strange he not being here especially at night. Sunday night I watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It’s a delightful movie and one I recommend. Mom came over yesterday to watch the boys while I ventured around town to run errands. I stopped by Kohl’s, my LNS for scissor charms and needles, and then to Joann’s for a few items. I’m making a pillow for Cameron ~ it's going to be fun! It was a good outing. Dreadful hot though!

Talk soon!

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!