Random Act of Kindness, L*K Update

Look at this little beauty I recieved from my blog buddy Sandra Sews:)!

I've been admiring the zipper bags she makes (check out her blog, she is a zipper bag machine!) and she graciously offered to send me one! Look at the pleats and the little yoyo detail...isn't it cute? She also attached the sweetest zipper pull:

My photo isn't great. I hope you can see the stones and beads she used. Thanks Sandra, I love it!!!

If you're interested in making this type of bag check out this great tutorial on the blog Heart of Mary.

Here is a picture of the progress I've made on Christmas by the letter:

I haven't stitched on it for awhile, I've been busy doing exchange stitching (which have turned out soooo great, I can hardly wait to post pics of my finishes!)

I just have the seam to stitch up on Happy Halloween by La-D-Da and I'll be able to post a picture of that finish too!

Happy Stitching!

Cream Puffs and Stash

I haven't posted in over a week because I haven't stitched in about as long. My mom came to visit and we were too busy running around lunching and shopping! Now I'm ready to get back at it.

Today I took treats in to my son's class for his birthday, even though it was in August. I guess this will be the last time since next year he's off to High School which is Grade 8 here in BC. *sniff* What did I take in you ask??? Was it the ever crowd pleasing Confetti cupcakes out of a box with buttery sugary icing? Nooooo...it had to be cream puffs...filled with whipped cream...dipped in chocolate! Homemade of course. Good taste for a twelve year old. Here is a picture of the result:

As for the stash part of this post yesterday I bought an Epattern from the Sampler Girl called The Stitching Janeite's Pattern Book No. 1. I've been on a Jane Austen movie watching marathon lately so when I saw the charts I was hooked. I'm going to do Netherfield Park first I think.

Today I headed over to my LNS (such as it is) and was able to get some stash for upcoming projects. They don't carry a lot of the current threads and fabbies there but I was able to improvise pretty well and here is what I bought:

I also picked up a few skeins of thread just because I liked them. One of the cutest was WDW Trick or Treat thread from their Holiday collection. As soon as I saw it in there window I ran over and grabbed two. I don't even know what I'm going to use it for, I just had to have it.

Is that not just the perfect Halloween colour ever!?! Love it!

I've made a lot of headway on Christmas by the Letter and will post a pic this week. I've also almost finish an exchange piece for Stitching Exchanging in a Harvest theme. It's turning out really cute.

I have more stash coming in the mail this week, woo hoo, and hopefully I'll have some progress on something to show soon.

Happy Stitching!

More Pillow Talk

This is where my cat, Pumpkin, slept last night as I worked on Christmas by the Letter:

Mes Girafe is now safe in a drawer until it's time to frame it. I'm playing with fire (fur???) leaving it out!

Today I'm doing a floss toss for a Harvest/Fall exchange piece I'm doing. My first! Woot, Woot! I'm very excited about that and can hardly wait for Tuesday when I find out who my partner is. I have some Gentle Arts Limited Edition mystery colours that I received (as a freebie) with an order that will work perfectly for the chart I've chosen. I'm also doing more organizing in my stitching room, AGAIN! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Happy Stitching!

Fini!

It's done! I finished putting in the last stitch to my initials and the year last night and now it's framing time! Hopefully that will go as well! I just love how the back stitching on the tails turned out. The chart didn't call for beads (horns, hoofs, eyes, flowers) but I thought they would add nicely to the finished project and I think I'm right.

Mes Girafe by Tom & Lilly

28 count Raw Cashel Linen

DMC Floss & Mill Hill Beads (my conversion)

I'm still making good progress on Christmas by the Letter as you can see here:

I want to add another WIP in the rotation to keep from getting bored. My plan is to make ornaments for my family this Christmas so I should probably get a leg up on that.

I got some stash in the mail yesterday from The Silver Needle. Yet more stitching to do:

Happy Stitching!

Progress and Birthdays

The last few days have been very busy with stitching and organizing and my son's 12th birthday on Friday. Isn't it hard to believe how fast they grow? Dad and Grandpa took the boys to paintball. DD and I hung around long enough to get some pictures and then we had to pick up the...cake!...yeah, that's why we had to leave! ;-)

I swear things like this are genetically programmed! Why else would boys want to go shoot at each other and girls want to go for mani's and pedi's! My DH and I actually censor TV and video games (no 14A TV or movies or T or M games in our house!) so it's not like he's desensitized or anything. Oh well, he had a blast, it was great excersise and he enjoyed showing me his one "war wound" or welt, whatever you'd like to call it.

I organized my 2nd spare bedroom, which is also the library and stitching room, this week. I now have so much credit at the used book store that I had them put my dad's name on my card so he can help me use it up. My dad also spray painted this small tool storage cabinet for me Heirloom White so now I just have to figure out what stitchy things I'm going to organize in it!

I've made a lot of progress the last few days on Christmas by the Letter:

Tonight I'm going to finish up the beading on Mes Giraffe and hopefully start the framing process. I found a great tutorial at The Twisted Stitcher so my dad is going to help me frame it for my DD. Here's hoping I'll have a picture of the finished stitching to show you tomorrow!

Happy Stitching!

"M" Finished

I finished "M" last night on my current WIP, Christmas by the Letter by Lizzie*Kate. It didn't take too much time at all. I'm having issues with my stretcher bars though, and it's driving me bonkers! I can't seem to keep the tension on the fabric taut enough for very long. I'm using stretcher bars because my fabric is 11 x 30. Any suggestions?

Thanks to Daffycat for the great advice on project photo taking! I think this photo turned out way better than previous attemps.

I went to my LNS yesterday and got my Nymo thread so I'll do the beading on Frosty Blue House today and take it to the my local quilting shop to find some pretty backing fabric for finishing. I was also inspired by this post on Daffycat's blog and bought paper bunches to make my own floss tags. Too cute!

Also, more very exciting news, to me anyhow. I noticed I have 3 more new followers of my blog! In one day!!! Woot, woot. I find that hugely exciting. Thanks for reading and Happy Stitching!