Deep Fried Cupcake

one finish and two wip's

2011-08-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

First, the finish:

I Thee Wed by The Goode Huswife

Stitched on 36 ct. Vintage Sienna Night by Lakeside

DMC threads, 2 over 2

The top picture is the truest as far as the color of the linen. I LOVE this linen, it's so easy to see on and not the huge PITA that stitching on black can be. Every stitch on this was a joy.

Now, for my first WIP:

The Charlotte Clayton sampler.

Stitching this on 36 ct. Vintage Sand Dune, with Needlepoint silks.

How appropriate is it, that the last photo, of the doggie, has a DOG HAIR on it? Those pugs, they sure shed a lot ;-)

My second WIP:

THIS BLOG!! Poor Siobhan, first she encourages me, then she has to come to my rescue! She's pretty smart, and thankfully, a sweet friend :) Otherwise, this blog would be toast.

Now, all I'm aiming for here is bigger pictures, less clutter, and a nice blog header picture. Once I get those things in place, I'm never changing anything ever again! Meanwhile, if things look weird, just pretend you don't see anything wrong ;-)...
it takes me a while to do computer stuff!

Thanks for visiting! Happy stitching, and stay cool!

Hello!

2011-08-11T00:04:00.019-05:00

Yep, it's me, alive and well!

Not dead, and no major injuries. Puggies are well, fat and happy :-)
Thanks to those of you that have emailed asking if all is well, or to say they missed my posts! You're nice!
I have been stitching, just having several issues of frustration with my blogging experience that have not worked themselves out yet. Mainly because I don't know just how to work them out!

*First of all, Blogger is such a booger for me these days, even to post these pics now took me FORever.

**Then there's my cruddy camera and horrible pictures. Ugh.
***Not liking the looks of the blog, but too lazy or tired or just too inept to change it!

****Tennis elbow! Painful and limits computer time (typing hurts!) Just been to the doctor for it (finally!) and got a cortisone shot and list of exercises to do, so hopefully that's much better soon.
Oh geesh! Sounds like whining, which I'm not, just explaining my absence ;)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

Picked up my Mary Beale sampler from the framer today, so I thought I'd share that and then come back later with what I've been stitching.

So here she is, Her Sampler, which is now MY sampler :)

The frame moulding just jumped out at me, as we were mulling over many different ones, I looked over my left shoulder, and spotted this one, and it ended up being the ONE!

So very happy with my framing gals. If you live anywhere in the area, you should check them out! Framing MemorEze in Plano Texas.
They are pretty much the only ones I can trust to do my things right. In fact, I had to take them something to redo, that had been done at another place :( Later on, you will see the before and after pics (some of you have already seen the before....hideous!)

This sampler was framed under museum glass, can you tell? Usually don't put glass on my pieces, but wanted to try out that stuff, and I do like it :)

Stitched on 40 count Park City Blend by R&R
over 2 with one strand DMC thread
Design by Mary Beale, Her Sampler was included in the 1998 Pocketbook Needlework, which is still available for purchase in Mary Beale's online shop.

Well that's all for now my friends. Thanks for visiting and for your friendships, I am very blessed by each one of you! Sorry I have not been commenting on your blogs very much, will try to do better as my elbow/arm pain gets better!

PS. Who's ready for Autumn?
Just wonderin' ;-)

ABC Hornbook (and the winner)

2011-03-31T14:59:00.007-05:00

Here's my ABC Hornbook finish. It was while I was stitching this last month, that the terrible accident happened, which claimed Lisa's life. Such a tragedy, there really are no words. She will be missed.

Design by The Primitive Needle

Stitched on 36 ct. Earthen by Picture This Plus, using recommended WDW and GA threads.

Well, I have more Primitive Needle finishes to show, but since this post is picture heavy already, I will save them for later.

The winner (chosen by the random generator thing) of the Remember Me chart is Laurie! Thanks to all who entered the drawing and for everyone that takes the time to leave a kind word :)

Life is short, but LOVE is forever. Love those around you without measure.
xo

Remember Me

2011-03-23T17:47:00.003-05:00

Hello sweet friends! How are you? Ready for Spring? The weather here in Texas has been beautiful! Even though fall is my very favorite time of year, Spring runs a close second :)

Despite being hit with a second round of the "creepy crud" as we call it, my stitching fingers are still working. Hot off the needle is my latest finish...

From Blackbird Designs Reward of Merit Sampler, Remember Me
Stitched on 35 ct. Parchment linen, by WDW
Over two with one strand Gentle Art threads in Aged Pewter and Cidermill Brown

In that second picture you can see an old pocket watch that my husband has had for years. He found it a long time ago, can't recall the exact details, but it's very old and very neat. It's not in the best of shape, but we treasure it and wonder about who it may have belonged to.

I'd like to offer someone the chart for the above finish. I accidentally marked it with my highlighter (thought it was my working copy), but it's just a small part and won't affect the stitching of the design :)

If you're interested in having it, just let me know in the comment section on this post. And please tell me about something old that you treasure.
I'll draw a name this weekend.

And in Pug news, Astro wants to know if you think he's handsome....

He's thinking about Daisy and how she's always on the lookout for a sexy pug, and wonders if he qualifies :)

Finishes

2011-03-11T14:44:00.008-06:00

Next time I decide to go off and take a bloggin' break, someone please take a switch to my backside! Uploading pics to blogger is taking forever today. That'll teach me!

So, in no particular order, here are some projects that were completed during my blogging absence (all pics are clickable)....

First up, Trudy's Flower by Elizabeth's Garden (daughter of Kathy Barrick)

This one I started, oh gosh, who knows how long ago, and I just couldn't get into that much. Finally decided it was because I was using one strand of DMC over two, and the coverage was "meh" at best. Thankfully, one of my daughters enjoys frogging (she takes after her father, go figure), so she ripped out all I'd done (which was about a quarter of it, so I could start over on that piece of fabric.

So, with TWO strands of DMC, over two on the 36 ct. Barn Owl, it was much better.
Dated 2009 because that's the date it had on it before daughter ripped it out.

Next, Dainty Housewren by Carriage House Samplings

Stitched on 40 ct. Ink Spot Black with Needlepoint Silk.

I left off the beads because they just seemed HUGE and too busy on this piece.

This one is Snow Day, from With they Needle & Thread

Stitched on 35 ct. Confederate Gray linen by WDW, with two strands of DMC over two.

A very fun stitch!

This one, I've done before, for an exchange I was in. Liked it so much that I had to do it again

The design is from Chartmakers, and is called Christmas Night.
Stitched with DMC and WDW threads, on 32 ct. black Belfast, over two.

I'm thinking it would be nice to get it made into a bag like before. My friend Patti did the previous one. Maybe Tobie can help me out this time ;)

That's all for now. Oh wait....pugs!! As requested by MaryLou :)

Someone stole Mom's stitchin' chair....

and promptly got kicked out and put next to his brother ;)

They really cannot stand it when they can't sit right beside me. We got them that big pillow you see in the second picture, which I would pull up right beside me in the sun room, but they'll have NO part of it, thankyouverymuch. Astro says "You wasted your money Dad! We'd all be much happier with a bigger stitching chair" :)

Happy weekend y'all. Stay tuned for more finishes...will post next week :)

well, hello!

2011-03-09T14:19:00.008-06:00

Anyone still out there? Hello! It's me, Andrea, and yep, I'm still kickin', chickens! Not sure how time flies by so quickly and how four months have passed since I made a decent post here! Yesterday I was at my eye doctor, getting my annual exam for contacts. Except that it had been TWO years since I'd been there. NO WAY! She showed me my chart as proof, since I didn't believe her, lol! Why is it, the older we get, the faster time flies? Oh well. You know that expression...time flies, whether you're having fun or not!

Anyway. I'm blessed that even when my life gets busy and hectic, I am still able to stitch. So I have lots of stitching to share, almost too much! My plan is to break it up into several posts. Also been doing a LOT of cooking and baking...if I'm on your list on Facebook, you already know this, lol! Sometimes I think I post too much about food. But it's a passion, as well as my stitching.

This is a little something that I stitched a long time ago and sent to Deb for finishing. Love what she did with it!

Love is All You Need
Freebie by Bent Creek

Will be back with more that I've done, but for now, I must share a couple of gifts I'd received for Christmas.

Becky sent me this adorable little cupcake pincushion she made.

I think the design is from Blackbird Designs, but not 100% sure. It's just the cutest bitty thing you've ever seen! Thank you so much Becky, sorry to be so late in posting about it!

From my dear friend Patti:

Design by Carriage House Samplings. Filled with crushed walnut shells and also finished by Deb, isn't it beautiful?

OK, one more from me ;-)

Bent Creek Winter Snapperland

I'd stitched this one a while back and sent to my sweet friend Tobie, to do her magic on it. I LOVE what she did :)

The fabrics she used couldn't have been more perfect! I have more Tobie finishing to share with you later :)

That's all for now. If you're still around after all these months, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I promise to come out and play more often ;)
xoxo

Twenty Eleven!

2011-01-01T00:34:00.003-06:00

A happy New Year!

Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end...
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~ Edgar Guest

...from my heart, to yours....all the best for 2011!
xoxo

Greetings

2010-12-23T19:31:00.002-06:00

Sending love and blessings to my buddies out there in Bloggerland. I haven't forgotten about you, things have just been crazy for me since the middle of November and I haven't had much energy or will to blog. Hopefully my mojo will return in January and if it does, I'll be back then and post the things I've finished the past month or so.

Wishing you all the best for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year...
xoxo

everything is good!

2010-11-03T15:29:00.010-05:00

Have I mentioned before how I feel about this time of year? No? Well, let me tell ya...this is the BEST, most favorite time of the year for me! To say I LOVE it is such an understatement! Right now, the weather here in Texas has cooled off, and yesterday we had lots of rain. Those two things together sent me into a cooking, baking, stitching, nesting FRENZY! If I could just stretch this couple of months out a wee bit longer, life would be just perfect :)

Here's my Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler...

I did finish it by Oct. 31, but was too lazy to blog about it...

this was such a fun stitch!

Stitched on 36 ct. Vintage Pearled Barley over two with two strands GA Sampler Threads (had to use more than one skein of the black)

Way back at the first of October, I received this lovely ornament from BeckySC...

She just sent it to me out of the blue and I loved it so much I hung it from the lamp by my stitching chair so I could admire it, which I have...every. single. day! But I am soooo bad because even though I thanked her by email, I totally forgot to post about it! Becky is such a sweetheart though and never took offense. Thank you again Becky...I really do love it :)

And look what I received from Mary! She sent me this tree for my BBD stockings when she read that they wouldn't all fit on the one I had....

My hubby twisted and turned the branches so it would look "SPOOKY"...

I LOVE it!! Thank you again Mary! (It was hard to get a good picture of the whole thing where it was sitting in our living room, so I had to take it out to the sun room...but it's so perfect!).

Well, that's about all I have for now...need to get back in the kitchen and tend to my cooking! I'm so thankful for my sweet friends and for all of my readers and visitors here...THANK YOU for blessing me the way you do :)

stockings!

2010-10-21T17:17:00.010-05:00

Well, last year I stitched all but 2 of the thirteen stockings from the Blackbird Designs Tis Halloween book.

Such fun stitches! My original plan was to try and finish these myself, going by Vonna's awesome tutorial, which made it seem so very easy.
Which I'm sure it is....for someone not finishing challenged, like myself.

Let's face it, some people have it (finishing talent) and some don't. I don't. Not yet....maybe someday ;-)

Luckily, I have a really sweet and talented friend, who took pity on me and finished every. single. one. of them for me. How blessed am I?! Patti, I know I've said thank you several times, but seriously...THANK YOU AGAIN!!

I do have a little metal tree to hang these on, but they don't all fit...

and I couldn't get a good picture of it anyway, so here they all are...

that house with the kitty in the yard is one of my favs!

but I love all of them...(even with the pug hairs all over)

these two (below) are other favorites...

which one(s) are your favorite?

Oh, I forgot...I did make the little beaded hangers for all of them AND attach them!

That's all for now! I'm diligently stitching away on the Jenny Bean Halloween Sampler and hope to have it done by Halloween. We'll see....I'm usually not so good with deadlines ;-)

Take care of yourselves and enjoy Fall, while it lasts!

staying up late...

2010-10-13T02:09:00.009-05:00

...struggling with this blog! Pictures aren't loading right and heaven knows if I start messing around with things, it's only going to get worse! Someday I will figure out how to widen my margins and load bigger and better pictures, and make things prettier around here, but y'all probably shouldn't wait up for it! Ha!

Thanks for laughing along with me on the CHS chart I already had! Turns out that post was appropriately titled...as in...I need all kinds of help, maybe even professional, LOL! Oh well. You know your stash is a wee bit too big when you don't even know what's in it. But at least I'm in good company! wink wink!

So anyway, here's some pics of things I managed to get uploaded ~~tonight~~ this morning...

Have I posted this here before? I can't really remember. It's an oldie from Lizzie Kate called Fall Y'all...one of my favorites that's been in my home for over ten years now. Love bringing it out every fall :) The flash kind of distorts the color of the fabric, but I couldn't get a good picture without it.

Finished up this...

Hallow Sampler by The Primitive Needle

Stitched on 32 count PTP Dill with recommended WDW threads.

And I finished stitching up a friends Christmas gift...

Hooked Rabbit Pincushion by The Goode Huswife
36 ct. Vintage Pearled Barley w/2 strands WDW threads

It's a little big for a pincushion, so we're going to discuss the options...it's not a surprise to her as you may have guessed, maybe next year I'll try to keep it a secret ;-)

Guess I'll close for now, since it's almost 3 am! Yikes! Will try posting more pics later this week as I have a lot more to share! Hope you'll come back!

PS. Muttley had another good checkup but the Cone is still on, just to be safe...

he seems to think it's a part of his own head now, so no worries ;-)

help!

2010-10-07T18:04:00.006-05:00

Isn't it lovely? As you can see, it's not mine....I don't enter things into the fair. But it's fun to see what is there and I love this one. MUST FIND IT!

Can anyone tell me who designed it? (It looks like Carriage House or Goode Huswife?)
Thanks a bunch! Will post again soon :)

**edited to add: The design is Carriage House Samplings Farmers Wife! Thanks to everyone that let me know. Now, guess what? I ALREADY have it in my stash, DUH on me, lol!
Thanks you all

October!

2010-10-01T13:09:00.007-05:00

"I love fall!
Fall is exciting.
It's apples and cider.
It's an airborne spider.
It's pumpkins in bins.
It's burrs on dog's chins.
It's wind blowing leaves.
It's chilly red knees.
It's nuts on the ground.
It's a crisp dry sound.
It's green leaves turning.
And the smell of them burning.
It's clouds in the sky.
It's fall.
That's why...
I love fall."
~Author Unknown

I'd like to share with you my Blackbird Designs Autumn Song box. It was finished earlier this year, but it didn't seem the right time to share it then...

I had some help finishing it. Meaning, I tried to do it, messed it up, and ended up sending it to a friend for finishing ;)

and Deb finished the pincushion for me...

Fall stitching is really my favorite :)

Here's my current WIP, Good Huswife's Hooked Rabbit Pincushion...which is a gift for a friend for Christmas. It's being stitched on 36 ct Vintage Pearled Barley with two strands WDW. Lots of solid stitching!

Muttley Pie got his stitches out Tuesday! And the ulcer is healed! Yippee!! He's got a little scar there now (you can make it out if you look closely, the right eye), but he's on medication to minimize that. The other eye is still a bit inflamed and gunky, but all in all, he's doing better....

He has to wear the cone for two more weeks though! I'm beginning to think he won't know how to act when it's finally off. He gets around with it like a pro now!
We'd like to say thank you for all of your good thoughts and prayers...I've shed a lot of tears of worry over this pug while all this was going on. A sweet friend on Facebook reminded me to just have faith that it would all be ok...it was a reminder I really needed....sometimes (well, most times), I have a tendency to expect the worse...so when/if it happens, I'm prepared to deal with it. Turns out...it takes about the same amount of energy (maybe even less!) to think positively as it does to worry about the worst case scenario! Who would've thought it ;-)

Happy Fall Y'all! Take good care!

Mary Beale, Her Sampler

2010-09-26T13:58:00.006-05:00

She's done!

And what a joy it was to stitch this sampler!

One of those you enjoy working on so much, you almost hate to be done with it!

I had to change the wording along the bottom....my whole name didn't work with the way it was charted, (her sampler, finished in ****), so what you see is my version ;-)

I will miss working on it, but it's headed to the framers soon, so we can enjoy looking at it on the wall :)

Mary Beale, her very ownself, recommended not filling in around the verse, so that's how I left it :)

"Mary Beale, Her Sampler"
Designed by Mary Beale
from the Pocketbook Needlework series, 1998 edition
available from Mary's online shop (click on link to go there)
Stitched on 40 count Park City Blend by R&R
over 2 with one strand DMC thread

Thank you all for visiting my blog and always saying such nice things. The stitching and blogging community is so wonderful...I'm very grateful to be a part of it.
Have a wonderful week ahead and stitch much!
xox

some finishes and some winners too

2010-09-23T14:57:00.006-05:00

Apologies in advance for these horrible pictures. I've been fighting a cold bug for weeks and it finally hit pretty hard the past few days, so everything I try to do just turns out cruddy!

I recently sent a few things to Tobie for finishing, she makes awesome pillows and other things. Got two of them back today...

Here's Jingles & Jack (design by Becky's Boos)...

and the Daisy Sampler (design by Little House Needleworks)....

Also, I recently stitched up this little freebie from Shepherd's Bush, called Halloween Grins...

Stitched once for my hubby, as he picked it out when he was with me at the LNS last fall. The Frankenstein one is his. Then stitched again for my daughters, the grinning kitty. They are in some tuckable hanging banners that Tobie made for me a few years back. Can't remember what they were originally for, but these fit perfectly. My original plan was to make these into little hanging ornaments, but I feel too shaky to even attempt that, so here they go. I may need to spruce up the banners a little...when I feel better...maybe some cute buttons in the corners.

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. The random generator thing was done and the winners are Tracey for Lot A, and Deborah for Lot B. Congratulations ladies, I will be emailing you soon for your mailing info...or if you see this first, please go ahead and email me with it :)

Back to my Mary sampler...which I've managed to work on in-between my Nyquil shots, lol! She's almost done :)

Happy Fall Y'all! Yippee!!

welcome fall!

2010-09-18T15:09:00.003-05:00

Just couldn't stand it any longer! Seeing all of the fall finishes on the blogs has put me in the mood! So I took a little break from my Mary sampler to stitch this up for a friend!

Design by Lizzie Kate - Autumn Things #125
stitched on 28 ct. Country French Latte linen with WDW
(I left off the square border and put the acorn button in a different spot than shown on the cover of the chart).
premade acorn banner from Stitch-A-Gift

Hope she likes it! Now, one more fall stitch to complete and then back to the Mary Beale sampler, which is almost done!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

stash giveaway

2010-09-16T16:43:00.005-05:00

Hello again! How are you this week? So far things are just peachy here at Cone Headquarters. Mr. Muttley had a checkup on Tuesday and all is going well. So far. One more week to go, then another recheck and hopefully the stitches can come out and the eye will be ok. The vet did say if she thinks it needs another week under the patch, she'll sew it back up. Oh boy!
Astro is still not happy about the cone, and steers a w i d e path around it, even though I think in his heart, he'd like to play. Muttley says he's tired of feeling like a reject!

Meanwhile, I'm clearing out my stash and wanted to share some goodies with my faithful readers in the process. There will be two winners, one for "lot A" as seen here:

The contents will include:
Little House Needleworks Acorns & Pines, with the fabric
Lizzie Kate Snippet - Wanted! with fabric and buttons
Heart in Hand Grand Old Flag
& Lizzie Kate Fall Crazy #131

And another winner for "lot B" as pictured below:

which will include:

Whitman's Tin Sewing Set chart and Whitman's tin
BrightNeedle Can You Spy? with fabric and Anchor threads called for
Threads of Gold Heart to Heart (Christmas ornament)
Homespun Elegance Tiny Stuff Noel Noah Pin/Ornament with fabric and embellishment.

If you'd like a chance to win, please let me know in the comments below this post. I will draw two names next Thursday, Sept. 23. Be sure to let me know which group you'd like, should you win!

samplers & pugs & rain, oh my!

2010-09-08T19:37:00.017-05:00

Hello my dear and faithful readers! I've thought about you often and wanted to write. Really, I did! But I couldn't think of anything to say and since I'm just working on one project right now, wanted to be further along before posting pictures of it. But time sure is flying, and here we are, in September already, so here's where I am on the Mary Beale sampler (that I still don't know the name of!)

It's kind of big and hard to get a good picture of, so the photo above isn't the best.
But look at this little butterfly, I love it...

and the verse, that I also love. It's just outlined by the green border right now, the chart says to fill in the whole verse area with the same color...but I'm thinking I won't. What do you think?

As there is so much solid stitching around the rest of the sampler...

more grass will fill this area below this blank space (which will have a little couple sitting at a table under some grapevines...

anyway, that's as far as I've gotten on it so far. Almost there!

Some of you that are my Facebook friends will already know about my pug problem, but for those that aren't, here's the problem....Muttley...Munny Pie...Mutt Lee...

It all started when his eyes started looking funny. Cloudy, etc. One eye worse than the other. We took him in to our vet, she did a dye test, which showed a corneal scratch on one eye, and corneal swelling on the other, both due to "injuries" of some sort. All we could figure is, because he's so WILD, he ran into something and scratched it. He loves to bury his face in the carpet or in blankets. So anyway, she prescribes drops, antibiotics and said to come back in a week. TWO DAYS later, the one eye with the scratch turns into the ulcer you see above. How lucky for us it was the holiday weekend, so no going back to the vet until Tuesday, and trust me when I say, it got uglier before Tues. Let me tell you, I pretty much went off the deep end, picturing this little (well, not so little, but you know what I mean), two year old pug, going blind! We've had a bunny rabbit lose an eye, even with excellent specialized medical care, so I knew what it looked like.

But, we made it to Tuesday, took him back in first thing in the morning and now we have this...

The vet made a "patch" over the ulcer, using his extra eye-lid flap, or whatever it's called. It should help speed the healing. It looks seriously gross. He's soooo happy {snort}. It has to stay this way for two weeks, and considering he's WILD, the Cone of Shame must be worn for that amount of time as well, until the stitches come out.
You may notice, the cone is already dented...

He's since figured out that this "Cone of Shame" can be used to his advantage...

*Mom holds his bone for him, so he can get his daily chew on (he chews a LOT on a regular basis, it's his therapy).
*He can terrorize Astro relentlessly (because Astro is terrified of the cone coming at him)
*He can lick food, water and whatever else might get into the cone at his leisure.
*Everyone feels sorry for him when he moans for one solid minute while laying on the couch, so he gets extra treats, rubbin' and kisses.
*If he plants his face straight down on the floor, the cone spreads out and he can pick up miscellaneous crap off said floor.
*He can clear a path really quickly because the humans and other living creatures in the house have figured out that the cone HURTS like h*ll when rammed into their legs, so they get out of the way, and fast!

I'm sure there are other advantages to the cone, but he's only on the first 24 hours, so give him time. Meanwhile, his parents continue to pray really hard that the #1 advantage to all this will be that his eye heals up and when it's opened back up, that ulcer will be much better.

And rain? Yes, lots of it, which normally I love. Except when there's a MONSOON and you're trying to walk doggies with cones on their heads and they are freaking out cause they've never heard all that NOISE before, all around their heads, while they need to peepee reaaaaaaally badly. They hate even getting their feet wet anyway, geesh! (You doggie owners out there know exactly what I'm talking about....don't ya?) I've never been so completely drenched in all of my life, but at least he went potty finally :-)

:::::sigh:::::
Life is good, even when it's nuts! I'm so happy it's the beginning of fall. So happy in fact, that I'm going to have a Fall giveaway very soon, so stay tuned for that. It will be for my loyal blog followers and regular commenting friends only :)

Stay safe! Stay dry! Be happy!

PS. For those that haven't seen the movie UP (such a great movie)...here's a clip about the Cone of Shame:

lots of things...

2010-08-08T22:11:00.012-05:00

This post will be all over the place, so consider yourself warned! I guess it's the unbearable heat...maybe other things going on in my life...not sure, but it's very hard for me to focus on anything lately. I've been in a funk, stitching and otherwise....so first, some stitching, which is probably what you came for, right?

In July, still in the patriotic mood, I started on this Blackbird Designs piece, called Summer Souvenir (which is NOT in the book by the same name, so dontcha go looking for it, like I did, or you'll end up scratching your head in wonder...it's in the Tokens of Friendship book).

Then, the heat started getting to me and I started thinking about fall, which led to this finish:

Jingles & Jack from Becky's Boos...stitched on 10 count hand dyed something or other with WDW #5 perle cotton thread. A fast and fun stitch. Be warned...if you stitch it, you will need at least three skeins of the Onyx (the chart only calls for one. I didn't even cross my stitches as I went along, like one normally does with overdyed floss....and I still came pretty close to the end on some of the skeins....

after that, I picked up an old WIP, Be Kind, Be True, another Blackbird Designs:

That was about the third time I've tried working on it, and just can't get into it. Not sure if it's the fabric (35 ct. Marva's Breakfast Blend)...but it always ends up frustrating me so it gets but away. Siobhan gave me the chart a long time ago, because I'd fallen in love with it when seeing her finish, I really do love the design so much....sigh....

My next attempt was the Adam & Eve sampler by The Goode Huswife....meh....

love the fabric, design, etc. but it just caused my shoulder and hand some grief, as it's 40 ct. and sometimes I struggle with that now (which is sad, cause it's always been my favorite)....heavy sigh....

So finally, the past couple of weeks, I've been able to focus on this Mary Beale sampler...just the top left corner flower was done on it when I'd tossed it aside a few years ago, and this is how far along I am on it now (almost halfway)....

I'm a little reluctant to post this when it's finished, as it came from one of her newsletters way back when, only subscribers could get it I think...what were those called? Pocketbook Needlework, something like that? There were several designs in each issue and this one came in installments, over four newsletters? Not sure. A friend gave me the charts when she was done stitching hers. I'm not sure which edition it was in, so maybe I won't post it when it's done since I know so little about it. I get emails all the time about things I've posted here, that are out of print, and I just don't know enough about it to be of any help to anyone. Maybe someone else knows and can fill me in.

Anyway, I love it, and am happy that I've been able to stick with it for so long. So far. LOL. Every time I say "so far" at the end of a sentence like that, I think of a line out of my all time favorite movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"...where Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney are trying to fly and land a plane they get stuck in after the pilot (played by Jim Backus) gets knocked out ("what could happen to an Old Fashion" lol)...they are talking to an air traffic control guy and they're pretty much freaking out and the control officer is trying to calm them down...he's on the radio with them and says "I want to congratulate you men on doing such a great job. So far." Cracks me up every time...because, you know. They're in the air after all and still need to land the plane ;) My hubby and I quote so many lines out of that movie (along with Planes, Trains and Automobiles; The Great Race; The Money Pit...) Pretty silly, huh? :-)

***********************************************************************************

**edited personal details out 08/11/10...thank you SO much to everyone who reached out to me, either in the comments or through emails. You all helped me so much, more than you can know, and I'm forever grateful for your friendships! I have also closed and hidden comments for this post. They are still there, but only I can read them, and I cherish each one. Again, thank you so much!**

a few more flags

2010-07-15T16:09:00.007-05:00

It is so dang hot here today...hubby was helping me move some of these things out into the sun room so I could get pics, and about halfway through, about to faint, we gave up! So while this is not all of the rest of my patriotic stitching, it is a little more, for your viewing pleasure ;-)

as you can see, a lot of it is not "finished"...need to work on that!

Looking at the picture below, here's some information, from left to right in each row
back row:Blackbird Designs Home of the Brave , Carriage House Samplings Long May She Wave;
2nd row: Shepherd's Bush Olde Glory, Birds of a Feather Land I Love, Blackbird Designs Stars & Stripes
3rd row: Handwork America Pillow, Shepherd's Bush Peace for All
4th row: Blackbird Designs Union Forever, Ewe & Eye & Friends Liberty Days

and a few of the framed ones....

On the left, in the back, is Lizzie Kate's Land I Love, and all the rest are from Bent Creek kits, except for the bottom left one, which is from Chessie & Me and is called Love Liberty.

All of the links I've posted are just convenient ones I found online, for easy reference, I am not affiliated with any one of them, or promoting their website :)

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate each and every one of you, especially the sweetie-pies that leave comments ;-)

I leave you today with some fat pug legs, these belonging to Muttley...

Smile!

days late and pesky husbands

2010-07-11T17:10:00.005-05:00

Had a couple of patriotic finishes to share with my faithful readers, ~~way before~~ a few days before the start of July, but life went a little haywire and messed with my blogging plans.

That's life!

Well, here's one from Little House Needleworks....

and from Heart in Hand....

Anyway, hubby had an accident at work and long story short, he dislocated his shoulder and bruised a couple of ribs, but he's OK and will go back to work in another week or so, after being HOME for three (count them...t h r e e )weeks. I loves me some hubbies, but when they come into the bathroom to watch you pee, they have to go. There's only so much one can deal with. Seriously, I'm happy it wasn't much worse...in fact the doctor told him that most men his age (like he's 90 or something, ha, he's only in his early fifties) would have needed surgery, but hubby is healing nicely and for that I'm very thankful.

and Muttley is also very thankful for some quality Dad time

All of this happened during the big birthday week, so the birthdays were a little subdued this year, as he was in a lot of pain those days. I think we'll celebrate this next week by going to see Toy Story 3 and my plans are to put so much butter on my popcorn that I will just slide right out of my seat when it's all over! Yay!

Here's a picture of the birthday girls, lo, all those years ago....(22 to be exact). She was brand new and at 24, I pretty much was too, lol!

weird look on my face, huh? Probably just tired. Babies are exhausting.

Here are some random pictures of some patriotic things I have gathered from around the house...

please excuse dust and pug hairs as I'm just not a good housekeeper, let's be honest here. There are lots of framed patriotic pieces around too...someday I'll gather those up, knock off the dust and take pictures...bet y'all can hardly wait ;-)

**edited to add some designer info, to the best of my recollection :)**
(in the picture above, from upper left to right: the large flag with acorn wreath is from the Blackbird Designs Fine Collection book, and is called July Celebration; the America Fob (only bottom half shown) is from Shepherd's Bush; the May You Be Blessed ornament is from the Blue Ribbon Designs Patriotic Wishes Volume 1 leaflet, it was a gift from a friend; the tall skinny flag with America under it was a kit from Twisted Threads; the lady holding the flag, dated 2003 in big letters is called Liberty House & is from Ewe & Eye & Friends; the little pudgie guy holding a flag is called Glory Fob from Shepherd's Bush as is the Oh Say sheep and the little mattress pincushion in front of it, from a kit called Tiny Flag ; Pray for Peace is from Birds of a Feather. Hope this helps! Any questions, just shoot me an email!)

Hope everyone had a happy 4th and are heading into summer by having fun and staying cool in this heat. It's just unbearably hot all over the country...our first electric bill for the summer was double what it was this time last year! I'm not complaining, a/c is a Godsend, whatever the cost...don't you think?

(me, circa 1966)

stitching and stashing

2010-06-18T14:14:00.000-05:00

This finish has been a WIP for oh, about seven years. I've posted about it before, my plans were to try and finish it up back then, but it never happened. Oh well, better late than never.

I started on this when the design was first published, in the August 2003 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. Can't remember if this is 35 or 40 count fabric, but it is the 18th Century Blackbird linen from R&R, and stitched over 2 with one strand Gentle Art Sampler Threads.

The design is called Summer Jubilee in the magazine. It was published again later in their book "Souvenirs of Summer", not sure if it's called by the same name in that book. Anyway, now that it's finished, I love it!

Am I the only person having issues with Blogger and their new improved stuff? OY! I can't get this text aligned right, no matter how many times I push the button, it's driving me MAD!! HELP!

Well, anyway, here's the stashing part...my order from Pineberry Lane

Some charts I've wanted for a while, some scissors, bobbins, fabric, and rusty jingle bells.
I love all of it, although I'm not too sure what to do with the bobbins, they're bigger than I expected :-)

I think they can be used for the bases of pincushions or "make do's". Hmm....

It is SO hot here! Even indoors, taking pictures for this blog, I broke out in perspiration! Summer is just not my favorite time of year, although, we do have the big birthday week coming up in our family, first my daughter has hers on the 30th, mine on the 1st and they're always followed up by the fireworks on the 4th, so that part of summer is usually fun :-) After that, it's just a countdown until Autumn!

Stay cool my friends. Stitch much. Be happy!

feels like summer

2010-06-12T15:38:00.002-05:00

Just a fly-by post so no one thinks I'm dead or anything. Although, I am wilting at an alarming pace with the hot weather we've had. The picture above was taken from our seat at the coffee shop downtown the other day when Patti and I had a little visit. I thought that bike was pretty cool!

Not much stitching to report. Shoulder and hand pain, along with other things have left me with nothing good to show. I'd like to say thanks for everyone that visited from Terri's blog (when she had the giveaway) and left such nice comments. Y'all are sweet. And Terri's a doll, isn't she? I gained some new followers (and lost a few after she had the drawing, lol), and promise to be back soon with some stitchy goodness to share.

Take care, happy weekend (and summer, even if it hasn't officially started yet ;-) )

one flag and some insomnia

2010-05-26T18:45:00.003-05:00

Here's my latest finish....One Flag

design by Hands to Work

stitched on 29 count Cottonfields Glenshee with DMC thread.

A very enjoyable stitch! Plans are to have it made into a pillow. It will look good beside this one, don't you think? And this one too, once they're both made into pillows that is ;-)

(I am changing how I post pictures, because blogger was driving me crazy since I changed it over to the "easier" version...anyway, you can still enlarge the pictures by clicking on them, it will take you to my Flickr page, and all the sizes are available for download there).

Lately I've had terrible bouts of insomnia. I'm a night owl anyway, but the past few weeks have been really worse, maybe it's just hormones, who knows. Anyway, I've been productive at least, as evidenced by these yummy garlic and onion croutons

I am probably the last person to catch on to the fact that homemade croutons are better and cheaper than store bought, but there it is. My oldest daughter calls these "crack-tons", so reckon that means they're pretty good. I just saved leftover buns, bread, misc. whatevers that were perfectly fine but going stale, kept collecting them in the freezer until there was enough (a lot). Cut it all up into cubes, sprinkled heavily with garlic and onion powders, then olive oil and baked them in a slow (250 or 275 degree) oven until they were crispy. Took about an hour I guess, stirring them every 20 minutes or so.

Then, I made these out of a free baguette that I'd gotten from Central Market:

Just sliced the baguette up, brushed with some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and baked them in the same oven until they were crispy. YUM-E! Also, the next evening, I made these:

Baker's Potatoes (second recipe on that page) in front, and a tomato pie in the back. We've eaten off of it all for two days :-) The potatoes are very good, however, if you bake them as directed, the tops don't get as tender as the bottoms. Next time, I'll either turn them as they cook, or put them in a deeper dish and cover them in the broth. Otherwise, very good. The tomato pie? Well, let's just say I have cash offers to make these for my hubby's coworkers, that's how tasty it is :-) (it's best when it's served cold)

Next bout of insomnia, I'm making DOGGIE BISCUITS!! Pugs will probably be all over that one ;-)

remember me

2010-05-20T16:13:00.000-05:00

It's back from the framers! That was fast! They actually got it done in one week, it just took me another week to get back over there and get it...

Blackbird Designs Remember Me, from the Tokens of Friendship book.
Stitched on 40 ct. Autumn Gold with called for threads.

Wanted to share my mother's day cake with y'all, it was from Janie's Cakes....

Janie's Cakes in Tyler, Texas

A sweet friend of mine got me the lemon one for my 40th birthday a few years back...it was SO delicious. Well, I hadn't had one since then, but when my friend Patti and I were in Central Market the week before Mother's Day, we rounded the corner and saw these sitting on a table...I'm pretty sure I squealed like a little girl because you just don't see these in stores! They are very good, and have been reviewed in Country Living Magazine and others. Patti got the lemon one for her family and I ended up getting this one for mine, it's called "The Saucy Jane", for chocolate lovers, it was wonderful! It said on the Janie's website that the cakes would only be at Central Market through Mother's Day weekend, but Patti and I were there again today, and they still have them. I'm telling you all this because if you live close to a CM, you should go and get you one, they are totally worth it. I didn't get another one today, and now I'm kind of regretting it! The shipping costs on these are pretty high, and obviously you don't pay that at CM :-)

Thanks for visiting! Have a great weekend :-)

sarah esh

2010-05-11T15:16:00.003-05:00

Another Sarah, this one from Carriage House Samplings

Stitched on 32 count Picture This Plus Ale...

with two strands DMC thread

a most enjoyable stitch!

It's starting to warm up here. Another good reason to not do housework! Yesterday I vacuumed and swept the whole house in the morning, and was drenched in ~~sweat~~ perspiration by the time it was done. (I wanted to say drenched in sweat, but my Mama always said "Ladies don't sweat, they perspire", so there. ;-) )

Anyway, next time I vacuum I may end up with just a leaf covering me, like Eve!

And yeah, not in the mood to cook either, perspiring over a hot stove is just not my thing! The crockpot comes in handy in the summer, don't you think? Although...it can warm the house up too. At least our house, which is not that big. I am thinking of putting it (the crockpot) out in the sun room and letting it do it's thing out there, we keep the door to that room closed off when it's too hot, or too cold, unless we're sitting out there.

Anyway, here's a good crockpot recipe for you, Shredded Beef for Burritos.

We just tried it last week and it was DELICIOUS! And if you have leftovers, they are even better! We got some freshly made tortillas from Central Market, the butter kind and the southwest kind, which are a little bit spicy, put the meat and some cheese inside and rolled them up. YUM!!

PS. I used the Kroger brand taco sauce, the hot one, 10 oz. It was cheaper than the Ortega brand (which had 8 oz in it) and it turned out perfectly!

Thanks for visiting my blog! I noticed on my stat counter that I'm almost at 70,000 hits, which is BIG for little ol' me ;-) My friend Patti and I were are our LNS last week, Needlework Boutique (which is a dream to shop at, they have everything!) and ran into some sweet ladies who had just read my blog and seen the BBD piece I'd posted, which was laying there on the table.

Small world, huh?

(Hi Amy, Hi Trish!)

an oldie and a winner

2010-05-05T19:03:00.006-05:00

First things first, the winner of the Mary's Best Handework chart is Alice from France! Alice, I'll be emailing you soon for your mailing address!

Here's the oldie I was referring to in the title:

The design is from Blackbird Designs, ~~but I can't really recall which book it's from. Maybe Summer Souvenir?~~ **edited to add - the design is from the Tokens of Friendship book** It was stitched on 40 ct. Autumn Gold from R&R, with one strand overdyed threads, whatever it called for :-) The fabric is much darker in person than what's showing here.
Someone (can't remember who, sorry), had posted a picture of this design on their blog and it made me remember that I had stitched it! Knew it was in the finished pile, not yet framed, so I went digging for it. Can hardly believe it's been 6 years since I stitched it! Goodness! So it will be headed to the framers this weekend, about time, don't-cha-think? That finished pile really needs some working on, that much is true :-)

Have a great week y'all!

wag the dog?

2010-04-30T16:02:00.005-05:00

"Does the dog wag the tail, or does the tail wag the dog? You see the tail moving, you assume the dog is wagging it, and enjoying it, but maybe the tail is wagging the dog, and the dog is enjoying the attention!"

Here's the puppy dog tail that I left off...

my hubby said to just leave it, no one would ever know, but I knew it would bug me, so it took me all of about 15 minutes last night to fix it and now I can sleep at night ;-)

Here's the whole thing again. Although I couldn't get a very good picture because it's so overcast outside today.

Don't forget to let me know if you'd like to enter the drawing for the chart (see below).

Mary's Best Handework

2010-04-29T19:54:00.006-05:00

Here's what I've been working on the past week or so, and managed to finish up the other night...

The design is from With thy Needle & Thread, and is called Mary's Best Handework

it is stitched on 30 count WDW Parchment linen with DMC threads, two over two, and measures around 9.5 by 12.5 inches...

a very enjoyable stitch!

I loved the reds in this the most, followed by the sheep in the grass and the little doggie. (WHICH, by the way, I noticed after I posted this.....is TAIL-LESS!!!! OMG! So, I will have to go back and fix it, because seriously, TAIL-LESS???? No way. Click here to see how he should look!)

I'd love to pass along the chart, which has been gently used of course ;-)
If you'd like to have it, let me know and I'll draw a name for it next Wednesday, May 5th.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Oh, and for those of you wondering, the rosemary plant is still alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

sarah seifer

2010-04-13T13:54:00.005-05:00

It's embarrassing to admit just how long it took me to finish this one...

(especially since I just had to have it a few years ago and a friend sent it to me right away)...

so I won't! But there she is, Sarah Seifer, a design by The Goode Huswife. Stitched on 35 count Daily Grind linen with DMC threads :-)

Thanks for all of the advice on the rosemary! And thanks too, to those who weren't too shy to step up and confess their own plant killing skills! Whew! Some people have a gift for growing things...my mother is one of them, she can grow anything! When I was growing up, she had huge greenhouses, sold plants to the public....whole rooms full of African violets, you name it, she could grow it. Still can. But that gene did not get passed along to me!
Anyway, I transferred the rosemary to a planter pot thing for now, cause we can't figure out where in the yard it might be the happiest. Hopefully it will live and grow and be big enough to take some sprigs from for my potatoes! OH! The potato recipe I was referring to is on the PW food blog, you can't imagine how delicious these are and so simple to make! Try them!

Surprise!

Just kidding, I did not buy a basil plant, lol! Just got this fresh bunch from Central Market for a recipe. Fresh herbs are so awesome, I really wish we had a whole yard full of them. Dream on, right? ;-)

gift from a friend & rosemary!

2010-04-08T21:08:00.004-05:00

Still plugging away on my Village and some other things too...I seem to be having some Attention Deficit problems where my stitching is concerned, ahem. So in the meantime, I wanted to share something my friend Patti stitched for me.
It was actually a Christmas gift this past year, and finally, four months later, I post about it!

Isn't it lovely?

Deb did the wonderful finishing on it, she always does such perfect work. P.E.R.F.E.C.T. There was a cute little bow on the corner, but I decided to take it off because even though I liked it, it looked good without it too. What can I say, I am very fickle.

Patti used some sparkly threads in the wings of the bees, it's kind of hard to pick up with the camera though. Thank you again Patti, your stitching is perfect, as always!

OK, see this pretty little rosemary plant?

Well, I am infamous for my plant killing skills. Trust me. Even my hubby calls me "the Morticia of the plant world". Plants come here to die. It's not pretty. But despite my knowledge of this, I keep on lying to myself! I got this on the way into Central Market with Patti a couple of weeks ago, maybe a week and a half. Because there's a killer (oh hahahaha) potato recipe I've been making that uses rosemary and I thought, oh boy, FRESH rosemary, how wonderful would that be? (Silly, stupid disillusioned woman)! So....we're walking through the store and a lady working in the deli department spotted it and said "oh, are you going to plant some rosemary? It's very hardy and easy to grow, it'll take over". I said, "yes, I'm going to try, but I kill everything"! She said "I can't get rid of mine, it keeps coming back, even after I put a big rock on top of it, it grew back up around the rock". I'm just shaking my head, thinking, lady, you don't know me, I'm the grim reaper of plants, seriously.

So can you see where this is headed? I won't show you a picture of it, but believe me when I tell you that part of it is already dead. It's in my sun room, getting plenty of light (indirect), I've watered it, misted it (which did perk it up some), read the directions over and over (not watering too much, etc). But yep, still trying to die. I'd like to plant it in the back yard but with three male pugs that use the back yard as their bathroom, there's a lot of hiking and peeing on things, so that's probably a worse idea. Maybe out front....we have a flower box on the front porch that gets a lot of sun (direct)...any ideas? Put it in a pot or plant it in the ground?

I'd like to keep it alive at least until I make the potatoes again ;-)

April sneaks in and brings us a winner!

2010-04-01T13:26:00.008-05:00

Gosh, time sure does fly! Hard to believe it's April already! And I realized this morning that yesterday was actually Wednesday and the day I was supposed to have the drawing for the Noah chart!! Well, I declare! I have to admit, I was just too busy all day with a girlfriend, shopping and having lunch and then making dinner and playing with my stash....the drawing completely slipped my mind!
But better late than never though, so I entered the names into the Random Generator this afternoon and Cari in VA is the winner!
Congratulations Cari, I hope you will enjoy stitching this wonderful design...it was one of my very favorite stitches! I love all things Noah :-) Anyway, please email me your mailing address and I will get it off to you!

Thanks to everyone that entered for the drawing, and those that didn't but left sweet comments anyway. It's always fun to hear from y'all, and I really appreciate you taking time to let me know you were here!

So anyway, Happy April!

Here's an oldie from Ewe & Eye & Friends I stitched a while back and actually finished into the little stand up myself. He is not perfect, but I think he's cute!
Have been working on my Village and didn't get pictures this week because of having too much fun!

Meanwhile, Astro is feeling pretty good lately, he's over the broken nail incident

although, he's not over the baby food and still wants to have some twice a day, pill or no pill! Pugs have good memories, I'm just sayin'!

Well, I'd better be off, lots to do to get ready for Easter Sunday coming up. That one sure did sneak up on me!

Take good care Peeps!

goodies!

2010-03-24T19:06:00.008-05:00

Well, helllllllllllllooooooooo!!! How have you been? Did anyone miss me? ;-)
Just kidding. I am pretty random about posting, true. I admire those gals that can find something to blog about almost every day. Me, it takes a while, ha!

So anyway, one of my very favorite bloggers, Terri(boog) had a drawing for her regular readers/commenter's, and yours truly won! I just couldn't believe it in the first place and then when the package showed up, I was in even more disbelief!
Look at the wonderful treasures she sent me:

A beautiful Longaberger basket full of treats and treasures! Fabric bundles (plus the wonderful BBD fabric the basket and goodies are sitting on), thread bobbins, rick-rack, pincushion, tape measure, dish full of buttons (squee!), vintage hankies, mother of pearl thread rings....

love these so much...

plus, some CHS stocking charts!

Such good taste in designs, don't you think?

Terri didn't know that I'd already done the Noah one, so I asked her if it was OK to offer it here and she said yes! So, if you'd like to have a chance at the NOAH stocking chart, please let me know that in your comment and I will draw a name for it next Wednesday, March 31. I have big plans for the Virtue Stocking, so it's not up for draw just yet ;-)

Thank you again Terri, for everything!! You just made my whole month with your sweet presents, and I treasure your friendship more than anything!

OK, on to the stitching news. I have been stitching on a couple of things, mainly this though:

Sorry for the wrinkles and curls, stitching in hand, things get crumpled, plus, it's big, so it's hard to get a good shot anyway...

but considering how long it's been since I'd last worked on it, I am proud of myself for picking it back up again and making a little progress....

MORE SNOW!! Yep, we got six inches on the first day of spring. That's big for us! I'm so over winter though, aren't you?

Well, in Pug news, one of them (Astro)thought he was Super Pug and jumped off the arm of the couch on to the tile part of the floor and when he landed hard on all four paws, one of his nails cracked right into the quick. Oh boy, did he bleed!!(His nails were way too long because ever since we brought Muttley home and he has conniption fits over nail clipping, he decided he could act the same, so it's a big production now and sometimes they get too long, talk about a bad doggie mom!) Anyway, we bandaged, and he was so sad about all the tape over the gauze, which he had to wear for a whole day before we could get him in to the vets office....

she took care of business (which I was afraid to do since it was so deep), and sent us home with antibiotics to keep infection away, and Astro wants me to tell y'all, this is the PUG APPROVED way of taking a pill:

Just insert pill into big spoonful and down it goes!

(if you're a friend on Facebook, you've already seen this, so I'm sorry for the repeat...modern technology these days, lol!....like a friend says, now everyone can know at once when there's earth shattering news to share ;-) )

That's all I have for now dear readers! Don't forget to let me know if you're interested in the Noah chart, or if you have a friend that may be wanting it...
I will leave you now with just a random picture, I was just playing in the bowl of buttons with my CHS pincushions and liked this picture....

Take good care of yourselves!

still alive!

2010-03-09T15:56:00.002-06:00

And feeling *almost* brand new! After the back and teeth issues, a lovely little cold hit me and after getting no better for five days, I went to the doctor. Turns out I had a nasty sinus infection. Well duh on me, that's what was aggravating my teeth! So after a round of antibiotics, I can finally breathe and my teeth aren't hurting. Yippee!! And just for the record, Mucinex DM is my new BFF, love that stuff!!

Thanks for the bed recommendations! We tested out many, many and ended up getting a Simmons Beauty Rest "Treasured Spirit Plush", and it is an absolute dream! I really wanted the Tempurpedic one to work out since we'd heard such good things about it, but every time I tried it out, my back would scream murder! Drats. Well, anyway, we've had it for over two weeks now and it's been wonderful. The pugs almost broke their necks the first couple of days because it's higher than the old bed, and instead of using the little ottoman we keep at the foot of the bed for them to get up there on, they'd jump off the side. But they've figured it out now and all is well. Yes, we let our pups sleep with us, shame, shame ;-)

Not sure if I've shown this little finish thing on this blog before, but since I have been such a wreck and haven't finished anything new to show, here it is again:

The design is from Birds of a Feather, and is called Bloom Where You're Planted. I stitched it forever ago and then found this perfect little frame for it at Hobby Lobby for about $6 on sale. It fit perfectly and remains one of my all time favorite cheap finishes!

Speaking of framing, I have a question. Those of you that take your finished samplers to Joann's or HL or Michael's....do you know, or ask them how they attach your piece to the foam core? Like by lacing or pinning? Back in the early 90's I took some things in to Michael's and that was back when they used the sticky board, which I've heard is a big no no, so I stopped taking my things there and always had my LNS's frame things. Well, it's interesting to me that a couple of pieces that were framed that way, on the sticky board are still in perfect condition, and they've been on that sticky board for almost 20 years! So I'm just curious, since I've seen such gorgeous framing on some of the blogs and they're from Joann's or HL, etc. Maybe I should give them another try? It is cheaper there with the coupons or do they jack up the price in the first place so you're just paying about the norm when it's all said and done?

Have a great week everyone! Thanks for visiting me and I hope to return soon with some good stitching to share :-)

just nothin'

2010-02-20T00:07:00.003-06:00

There are no stitchy photos for this post because lately I have issues and haven't stitched anything. Looking through old files on the laptop, I came across this one of the Astro Dazzle when he was just six months old. Aww!! That face! So kissable, dontchathink? :-)

So yeah, no stitching because....I'm a wreck!. And when you're a wreck, you find stitching unappealing. Trust me. I think this happens to me annually. Pretty sure. Anyway, on the Saturday before Valentine's Day (which was our 28th anniversary), my dental problems returned, and because I think my dentist is not very competent in what's going on inside my mouth, I keep putting off going back to him. The problem with this is that this dentist is on my "dental plan" and to change where I go for treatment is a huge ordeal and will take 45 days for the paperwork to get transferred, etc. Hubby wants me to just go to another dentist, outside of our "plan", pay whatever it costs to get it fixed right, but of course that would cost more than THE PLAN and let's just say I squeak when I walk, so it's pretty difficult for me to just pick up the phone and call another dentist. Yes, it's hurting, but paying more than you have to or should, well, that hurts more. Plus, we need the extra $$ for something else (see below). So there's that issue.

Another contributing factor to the "wreckedness" of me is that I threw my back out of whack on Monday and the misery over the dental problem paled in comparison to the unbearable back pain. My back is getting better, and long story short, we think a new mattress will definitely help so we're going to go this weekend and get one.We need a really good one, for people with lower back pain. Any suggestions?

Guess we'll see what shape our pocketbook is in after that... I will either go to a new dentist who will fix me up good, or back to the old one where I may or may not get fixed. And how about suggestions on how to tell a dentist that you think he's wrong about something? And have him listen? Because ticking off one's dentist before he goes digging around in their mouth with sharp instruments is probably not a smart move.

(And yeah, I probably shouldn't post when there's no stitching to show and all I do is whine, but thanks for listening anyway! Hopefully normal programming here can resume soon. If not, I'll just get some cheese and crackers and keep the whine all to myself)!

PS. Did anyone notice how much Tiger looks like his mother? And how his mother barely looked at him during his "press conference"? And does anyone really care about all of that anyway? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I wish people would just keep things like this to themselves...we as a society shouldn't be all up in people's personal lives like we are. Let's hear it for keeping things behind closed doors and heck, even sweeping things under the rug or yes! skeletons in the closet! Keep them there, I loved those days.....

"Snowtorious B.I.G." visits Dallas

2010-02-11T16:59:00.005-06:00

Those of y'all that are 55 inches deep in snow probably will laugh your tushies off at this, but for us Dallas folk, this is a LOT of snow! Over six inches in our area and more to come! We haven't had this much snow since the late 80's!

Here's the cute little snowman I watched my neighbor's kids build while I was in the kitchen this afternoon:

The corner of our house (on the left) where the dining room and kitchen are:

a big bush:

and here's what I was up to in the kitchen:

DE-FREAKIN-LICIOUS! It's Cinnamon Bun Bread and you can find the recipe HERE. You should make them ASAP! It was super easy and worth the very little time it took to make them. Yum!

I also made a HUGE pot of pinto beans and filled my iron skillet with cornbread and made mini pecan pie muffins for dessert, but we kinda ate it all before I could get pictures.
Now we're all stuffed full and some of us {ahem} found all this extremely exhausting and needed a nap ;-)

A couple of you have asked about Astro's bump on his face I'd posted about last month. I'm happy to say it was just a little cyst and it's totally gone now :-) Thanks for asking!

And more good news, the work is almost done in the laundry room! The tile is down and we should have the washer and dryer moved back in by tomorrow, providing the roads aren't icy enough to keep the guy away. Cross your fingers for me, I go through a LOT of dishtowels around here, lol!

Stay toasty!

home of a needleworker (too!) and a winner

2010-02-10T15:46:00.003-06:00

This past week, I managed to finish this little design

from Little House Needleworks, it's "Home of a Needleworker (too!)". I'd always loved the first one but never got around to stitching it, and then when this one was released, I knew I had to do it instead :-)

This was stitched on 40 count Vintage Examplar from Lakeside, with Crescent Colors threads, one over two.

And I couldn't help but think of these ladies while I was stitching this. What do their homes look like? Is their home even still standing? I know their lives are so very different from mine. Yet, they are stitchers, needleworkers, crafters, just like me and that makes us sisters in spirit. I prayed for them, their family, and for their homes, which are the homes of needleworkers, too. :-)

Thanks to my readers that posted about the Haiti by Hand craft supplies drive.
There were five ladies who did and I entered their names in the random generator thing and Angela came out on top, so the needlecase goes to her :-)
Hope you like it Angela!

La Belle et la Bête (and a prize)

2010-02-03T01:05:00.010-06:00

(more about this needle book at the end of the post)

or, as we say in English....

The Beauty...

(Take one lovely design from the wonderful Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel book)...

(add some delicious Belle Soie silk threads, and some hand dyed fabric, and you have a beauty of a sampler :-)

and The Beast...

(Where we've taken one hot water pipe leaking under the foundation and added one "highly recommended but turns out to be maybe fairly incompetent plumber" who thought it was alright to pile mud three feet high in our laundry room entry way without the benefit of LARGE plastic drop cloths, and not forgetting of course, the inches of concrete dust over every inch of the house, and you've got one big P.I.T.A)

So anyway, the pipe is fixed, the dirt is all back in the hole now, after sitting out for four days, now we're waiting on it to settle a little before he pours in the concrete and re-tiles the floor. All along with promises that he's going to make it all look "Brand New". And if you think I believe that one, well, I gotta bridge I want to sell ya ;-)

But, really? It's all OK. Because even with such a mess, I'm very aware of my blessings and have refused to get all flustered over the situation when there's such hurt and devastation in other parts of the world, and by that, I mean Haiti. I came across this blog last week, hearing that they were seeking donations of the crafty kind for these women in Haiti. HELLO?! Threads? Oh, you bet, got that! Here's the thing...you can clean out your stash, the items don't have to be brand new :-) They need lots of different things, not just thread, check out the list to see! The address you mail to is posted at the bottom of the list.

Please check out the links I've posted above and see if your heart is not touched by these beautiful women. And then please post about this on your blog too and help get the word out, let's show some stitchy love to Haiti, whatdayathink?

If you do help spread the word, via your blog, facebook or twitter, please post the link (to the post you made) here in the comments on this post and I will enter your name in a drawing for this little lovely:

A brand new needle book from The French General! You may have seen a little bit of mine in this post. It was a gift from a dear stitcher buddy. I liked it so much, I wanted to share one like it with one of you. But the catch is, you have to post about the Haiti by Hand blog somewhere to be entered to win!

Thanks so much :-) You have ONE WEEK to get it done and let me know about it, I'll draw a name on Wednesday, Feb. 10

PS. Um, you don't have to post about this to comment here, I really love hearing from you, even if you don't want to enter for the drawing :-)

dusty tuesday

2010-01-26T11:34:00.003-06:00

Broken hot water pipe under house + twelve inches of foundation to jackhammer through + TONS of concrete dust over every available surface in house = ONE BIG HEADACHE! Oy.
I'd just done a major cleaning after putting away Christmas stuff. And that my friends, just proves my theory that housework is a complete waste of time!

Remember, too much housework, when done correctly, can KILL YOU.

Make it your motto!

Oh well! With not much else to do, I am camping out with the Pugs in the bedroom, as the workers jackhammer away across the house, in the laundry room. The noise is only mildly ear piercing from here. I am keeping the doggies calm by using Cesar's advise of being the strong and confident pack leader, but all this licking they are doing is almost driving me insane!! What is it with Pugs and licking, anyway?! Dang it!

No stitchy news this week, since with all that cleaning, and subsequent shower of concrete dust,the conditions are not that conducive. I was working on the big beautiful red cardinal from the BBD Joyeux Noel book (what's he called?) but put it away so all the lovely silks wouldn't get covered in dust. Meanwhile, here's something I got back from Deb back in December I think.

It's an old Ewe & Eye & Friends design, and if I recall correctly, from an old JCS magazine, but it's been so long, I can't say with certainty.

It had been sent to someone for "finishing" several years ago, but I was never really happy with it, it just had several, um, problems, too many to list.

so, off to Deb it went, to be fixed. (She's "fixed" lots of stuff for me, I just say "fix it somehow" and leave it up to her what to do with it and she's never let me down!)
It's weighted now, maybe with the crushed walnut shells, not sure what she used, but it's a nice sized pincushion of sorts now, and I love it!

So the lessons today are these. The housework thing...remember, it kills. And Pugs lick a lot, even when they're remaining calm. And be careful who does your finishing for you the FIRST time, or else you end up paying twice for it, like me. And that's just silly!

stitching too!

2010-01-19T00:16:00.002-06:00

So now the cake is gone (anyone make it or have plans to?), I have some stitching to share....

From the Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel book

the Joyeux Noel reproduction sampler (my first finish dated 2010!)

stitched on 30 ct. Lucky Penny linen with the called for Gentle Arts, Weeks Dye Works and Crescent Colours overdyed threads. I did sub DMC for the CC Petite Maison, as the skein I had just blended right into the fabric and couldn't be seen.

What a joy this one was....well, except for that four-sided stitch, could've lived without that as it took me FORever to do! But, it's a neat look for a change and it's over and done with, so I'll quit whining about it ;-)

Oh, and I did finally finish stitching that last stocking from the BBD 'Tis Halloween book, called Enchantment...

on this one I used DMC 3371 for the CC Blackbird and DMC 3856 for the CC Copper Penny. Come to think of it, I never used Blackbird for any of the other stockings either, but the DMC instead. It made me happy to use what I had on hand :-)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope y'all have a great week!

cake!

2010-01-17T20:48:00.004-06:00

There's a cute blog I read called Cherry Hill Cottage, have you seen it? No one can get us all in the kitchen quicker than Tina when she posts one of her recipes!
She makes her pineapple upside cake very similar to how I make mine, and since we hadn't had it in a while, and it's one of my hubby's favorites, I got busy :-)

Here's what ya need:

1 stick butter, melted
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 20 oz can pineapple slices (drained but reserve juice, see below)
1 cup pineapple juice
maraschino cherry halves (or just use the whole thing, without the stem and pit of course!

I always make mine in an iron skillet, just like Tina, but if you don't have one, you could make this in any pan that the batter would fit in, or a 9x13 inch dish.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Take 3 slices of the pineapple and chop up (I do this because when making the cake in my iron skillet, all of the slices will not fit, there's always three left over and I don't like to waste them. You may want to see how many slices fit in your pan first, before doing this, or leave out this step altogether if you don't want chunks in your cake)
Mix cake mix with the eggs, oil and 1 cup of the pineapple juice. Beat on med-high for 2 or 3 minutes. Fold in pineapple chunks.
Put stick of butter in skillet and place in oven until melted. Then sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of skillet, top with pineapple slices (7 is all that will fit in my pan), putting a cherry in the center of each ring. Pour cake batter over slices and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool for 5-10 minutes, then invert onto serving plate, let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Thanks Tina, for the inspiration! I hope I've inspired my readers too :-)

thank you!

2010-01-07T15:38:00.003-06:00

Y'all are just the best! The tombies I was looking for have been found! Thank you so much (you know who you are ;-) ) I am so thrilled and excited to get started stitching them up!

And thanks for the well wishes for Astro! I think it may be a cyst, as it seems to have gone down some, but he's got an appointment for the vet next week and we'll find out for sure then.

Again, you all are the best! Thanks again for your help and for your friendship!

and so it begins...

2010-01-05T16:34:00.005-06:00

..2010! I just love saying it, "twenty-ten". Don't know about anyone else, but I'm so over the "two-thousand and's"! GOODBYE! And as my sometimes crass hubby says (not to me of course) "and don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya"! Sorry. He's got a million of those, trust me!

Anyway. So Happy New Year! I'm a little late posting that cause things have been pretty crazy around here. That and I'm ~~lazy~~ tired. Since I always end up working on holidays (including Christmas Day and New Year's Day,) along with doing everything else to get ready for said holidays, by the time others go back to work, I'm about to need a nap. A week long one. But we had a good time, everyone got what they wanted and ate like ~~pugs~~ pigs and now the cabinets have been cleaned of all the sweets and treats and we're going to try and eat right for a while.

these ~~piggies~~ Puggies just want to know where all the ham went...

I have no real plan for my stitching in TWENTY TEN (squeeee!!) except to stitch as many tombstone samplers as I can get my hands on. I finished this one in December, but didn't want to post it then as everyone was in the Christmas spirit and all...

this is Tombstone Angel by Carriage House Samplings

the design was in the October 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. I stitched it on 36 ct. Pear from Lakeside with NPI silks, one over two. A very enjoyable stitch!

Now, you may remember, I have a slight obsession with morbid stuff. I know there are others out there that share this love of tombstone samplers. I've gotten my hands on a few of them, thanks to ebay and Kathy Barricks etsy shop, but still can't find
these four: Abigal Adams, Prudence Blackstone, Patience Ivy or Sister Spirit. I asked Kathy about them and she said they are from the Chartmakers line of designs, (a collaboration she did with Anne from The Good Huswife) which are all out of print, and those were Anne's designs, not Kathy's and they are not available for sale. Yet. Anyway, if anyone has any of these and would like to trade or sell, please let me know! I have several of the other tombie samplers I could trade for. Other stuff too. I could also beg. Oh wait, already doing that, lol!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh sorry, I fell asleep for a sec there..

anyhoo....that's about all the stitchy stuff I have going on right now.
Now, for something completely unrelated, check out this thing growing on Astro's face.

If you click on the pic you will see it more clearly, to the left of his eye there (and please excuse the eye booger on his lashes, I didn't see it when I zoomed in for the pic). This thing just popped up and grew that big in a matter of weeks. Obviously, he's going in to his Dr. Jan (what he calls his vet), but seriously...it's very worrisome for his mother....what do y'all think? I'll let you know what the doctor says!

Thanks for visiting and I hope y'all have a great week!

have yourself...

2009-12-24T14:10:00.006-06:00

...a merry little Christmas!

let your heart be light....

from now on

our troubles will be out of sight....

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
From now on
Our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years
We all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star
Upon the highest bough
And have yourself
A merry little Christmas right now

love letters

2009-12-13T16:17:00.002-06:00

This little stitch from the new Blackbird Designs Joyeux Noel book was so much fun to stitch, I did it twice :-)

Once for me, and one for a friend!
I do believe it's my favorite thing I've stitched in all of 2009!
I used the recommended threads (except for using CC Pea Pod instead of the Putty called for) on the called for fabric, which is 32 count PTP Dill. Good stuff, wonderful stitch. My plan is to have these made into the little tokens box like pictured in the book :-)

Jingle, Sparkle, Joy!

2009-12-09T19:20:00.002-06:00

My friend Patti stitched this ornament for me last year (a freebie design from Deborah) but because we had just moved, I was too frazzled to post about it...

It came attached to a really pretty wreath, but I had to take it off to get a decent picture.
(Santa, please bring me a new camera for Christmas!)

I really love it!

Just decorating today and thought I'd share!

blessings abound

2009-11-29T21:27:00.010-06:00

Gosh, it sure is hard to believe we're only one day away from December! This year is really flying by! I've been so bad about keeping up with this blog and am so late in posting some things. Figured that late is better than never though, so here goes!

First off, I won a blog give away! Couldn't believe it as I was just commenting on Jolene's blog and wasn't even thinking about entering my name for the prize, and then the next time I read her blog post, just happily reading along, there was my name! Look at what Jolene sent me:

and not just the beautiful chart, but all of the goodies needed to stitch it too!

I know there are lots of us that have received something wonderful from Jolene, she had so many fabulous treasures that she gave away, what fun it was! Her blog is a real blessing, not because of the prizes, but she always posts very inspiring or uplifting things, some things that really make you think or count your blessings.
Thank you so much Jolene, for being a blessing to so many! And especially to me ;-)

OK, on to these things....before it's Christmas time and these are just repulsive to look at, ha!

My stockings from the Blackbird Designs Tis Hallowe'en book, which are not yet finished into actual stockings, but I'll get it done by next fall ;-)

I've worked on these since my last blog post....

and nothing else....

they may be small (about 3 x 5 inches)....

but some of them took me a while :-)

loved each one though....

especially this one.....

but OK, here's where I lost steam people....

it's as far as I could go without tossing it to the curb in favor of another project. Sigh...oh well. Will finish before next year. There are two stockings from the book I chose not to stitch, so once this one is done, that's it!

My friend Patti helped me find a cute little metal tree to hang these from, once they are finished. It has to be spray painted black first, but it'll be really perfect! Look at Hobby Lobby on "the gold table" (that's what the employees there call it I think)....little gold metal tree, got mine half off!

So that's all I have to show for the time being.....thanks for looking even though most of you are probably focused on Christmas stuff now :-)I may not be posting for a while as we're having a crisis with my mother and I'll be going down to East Texas to help her when I can and it will all be very exhausting to say the least.
Until next time, hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Stay well and keep safe! Hugs!

all about fall

2009-10-14T15:59:00.007-05:00

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

It's my favorite time of the year! All of my stitching this past month has been centered around fall or Halloween, and I'm kinda on a roll, lol! In truth, I haven't felt very well for a while (dental problems), and being a hermit has helped my stitching life somewhat.

So with apologies for the craptastic photos and pug hairs, here are my finishes....

This one is Halloween Fun, by Birds of a Feather (the linen came with the chart)

I loved this little spider :-)

this is Autumn Song, one of the Loose Feathers from Blackbird Designs

It will be finished into a box someday, as shown on the cover of the chart....
the colors on this one really made me happy...

this is part of the pincushion that goes with it....

a tiny ornament from the Lizzie Kate Fall Crazy chart...

Trick or Treat from La D Da (I think this was in the 2008 JCS Halloween issue)
(I really love designs featuring Witches shoes ;-) )

and this is Boo, from Lilybet Designs....those pumpkins crack me up, I'd be scared of that spider too!

This is not stitching related, but so cute, I wanted to share. It's from the Oct. 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine (if you click that link, you'll get a better picture than mine, and better directions too, lol)

These are MOON PIES on a stick! You just use some melted candy coating (almond bark) to "glue" the stick in (push it into the marshmallow center) and secure the goodies to make the faces. The ones with "eyes" is made with open faced Oreo cookies with M&M's, candy corn nose and sprinkles for the hair. You can find the dowels or sticks at Michael's or Hobby Lobby where the candy making stuff is. Aren't these adorable? These would be a fun project for kids and I love that they're totally edible :-)

yes, there are still cupcakes here

2009-09-16T23:57:00.003-05:00

It's been overcast and raining here, so the picture is the best I could get, just a little peek of our strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting....

when the weather is like this, all I want to do is cook, bake, and make stuff!
Today for dinner I made oven baked cornflake chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar bay biscuits, and green beans. And of course, the cupcakes for dessert :-)
I had some leftover strawberry frosting (the recipe was enough to frost a three layer cake!)so that will go on some fluffy sugar cookies and with me to work later in the week...too much sugar for one household!

Speaking of sugar, did you know you can make your very own brown sugar? I was kinda skeptical, but tried it and DUH, it works! (I may be 45, but I can learn new tricks ;-) !
All you do is add one tablespoon molasses to one cup white sugar and stir it around with a fork until it's blended together. If you want dark brown sugar, add 2 tablespoons molasses for each cup of sugar. Store it in a ziplock bag and TADA!! No more $2 bags of brown sugar for me! Hah, take that Imperial, lol!

Stitching wise, a little more progress on my SB Sail Away SAL...

it seems very appropriate to be finishing up this SAL up as we head into fall....the best time of year to me!

greetings (with a little help from my friend)

2009-09-08T13:52:00.010-05:00

A dear, sweet friend of mine that likes to stitch and talk about stitching (Patti, I'm talking about you)asked me if I'd seen this book by BBD. Of course I had seen it, and not only that, but I owned it! So I found it and took it to her so she could look at it (I'm pretty sure she ended up ordering it). Anyhoo...it was buried in my stash along with a project I'd started from it several years ago. Like 2004. For whatever reason, (well, honestly, because I have stitching related ADD) I'd become disgusted with it at the midway point and tossed it to the side.
But when it saw the light of day again after so many years stuck away, it sang a pretty song to me and that song was "I'm so beautiful, you know you want to finish me"...so thanks to Patti, for inquiring about the book, Greetings is now finished!

It's supposed to have some snowflakes, which are made from Queen stitches, scattered about, but I'd rather dance with the devil than do queen stitches, so yeah, no snowflakes!

The fabric is actually much darker than it's showing here, I just can't get a good picture with this camera....anyway, it's 32 ct. Autumn Gold from Lakeside and stitched with GAST and WDW threads.

This is totally random, but after hearing it the other day, I haven't been able to get it out of my head....

From back in early 1986, when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter....

Ah hey ma ma ma! Take it easy on yourself....

sailing along...

2009-08-27T18:28:00.003-05:00

A little more progress on my Sail Away SAL piece....

still need to put some initials and the heart charm in that flower wreath, but will save that for last.

Also finished up my Finch Song....

which was a joy to stitch!

On a non-stitchy note, we had a little, well, big actually, health scare with my hubby, but after visiting the cardiologist and then the family physician today, we got news that it wasn't anything serious. Still have some blood work results to look at, but so far, so good! Hubby's health is always an issue around here, guess when you have heart problems, that's to be expected, but sometimes even small things get magnified out of fear it could be something serious. At least now he goes in when I force the subject. Back in the 80's when he was sick with his thyroid (to the point of being hospitalized), I'd told him then, for months before the hospital trip, that something was seriously wrong. I just knew it! He wouldn't go. Turns out he had Graves disease, with all sorts of complications, you can't imagine. Then again in '97 when he had the heart attack, he didn't listen again and wouldn't go to the doctor, kept saying it was just indigestion, etc. Didn't go until three days later! The serious damage from that one he lives with EVERY DAY! But, ever since then, when I say "you're going", he doesn't argue! MEN! Gosh, it takes soooooo long to train them!

if only...

2009-08-25T17:38:00.006-05:00

....I could be near a cool ocean breeze right now....that would be Heaven! Instead, I'm just pretending to be... as I stitch along with my fellow Sail Away pals...

I am actually further along right now than these pics show, but just haven't busted out the camera yet to get pics...

If you haven't guessed by now, this is Sail Away, a kit from Shepherd's Bush. To say I'm lovin' it would be an understatement!

Something else we've loved recently is a tomato pie recipe I found here, it is truly yummy, and just like she says, it's better served cold, so after I made this one and it cooled off, it went straight to the fridge and we ate it the next day...

Once again (this is our second pie), it was consumed before a picture could be taken of the baked pie, so you'll just have to look at the vanilla sugar blog to check out what the final product looks like! It's so awesome! Fresh Texas grown tomatoes, bacon, cheddar cheese, how could you go wrong?! Make it! (My pie crust looks so pitiful in this picture, it's a homemade one and doesn't look perfect, but it's the best!You can find the recipe to it in my sidebar.)

Thanks for visiting! Stay cool y'all!

whatever

2009-08-12T20:11:00.006-05:00

Long time, no blog!
It's not really that I have nothing to say. Or anything to show (see below), it's just that I haven't really felt like saying it or showing it. Anyone know what I mean? So, there are few words for this post, just mostly pictures, it's the best I can do for now...

Design by Shakespeare's Peddler
"I Love the Birds"
NPI and Belle Soie silks
over two on 35 ct. Daily Grind linen

and a recent package from Deb, who finishes my stitching with perfection. You can click on this picture to see all of these better....

Designs by Birds of a Feather
WDW, GAST threads over 2 on
36 ct. Meadowlark linen

and a design from Twisted Threads

"America" (kit)
one over one, with threads and linen from kit

one benefit of aging...

2009-07-10T15:59:00.003-05:00

...is that although you might have to wear reading glasses to see your linen while stitching...

when you take them off, you don't see the pug hair or the twisty stitches!

The America Pillow
by Handwork Primitives
32 ct. unknown linen (calls for Sparrow by BOAF)
Gentle Art Sampler Threads

Here's my patriotic finish for the 4th, just a wee bit late! Started in June, this one took me forever it seemed, all of that border! I decided before starting on it, that I would not railroad my stitches, (something I usually do when stitching with two threads because I tend to twist my thread a lot while stitching), as that takes a lot more time for me. And since this will be a pillow that the dogs will just shed on, who's ever going to know that my stitches aren't flat? And I certainly can't tell without my glasses!

Here's another benefit of my getting older....I DON'T EVEN CARE ANYMORE! Life is just too short to fuss over such things. At least for me anyway! I have doggies to kiss, people to hug, pies to make...you get the picture!

Gotta run, Muttley is whining because his tennis ball is under the coffee table!
Have a Happy Weekend!

no stitching. just pie.

2009-07-07T12:48:00.006-05:00

Oh, I have been stitching, and something patriotic to boot, but since it's the "lazy, hazy days of summer", I am trying my best to live up to the lazy part by refusing to iron it and take photos of it until it's complete!

So instead, may I present....

The Easiest and Best Key Lime Pie EVER

I thought twice about making this since it involves turning the oven on for a few minutes, but the fact that there are no eggs in the recipe made me forge ahead.
My family was glad about that ;-)

Here's the recipe (please note that I had a typo on this recipe when it was first posted, but it's correct now)

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
2 cans sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! (mine never did get the little pinholes and I baked it ten minutes then took it out and it was perfect!)

Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

If you would like to be lazy like me, you can use this stuff, instead of squeezing all those tiny limes....

We happen to go through a LOT of limes in this house, so I had some zest already, but I think this pie would be fine without it. You can also use the fat free Eagle Brand milk to reduce calories but whatever!
One piece ain't gonna kill ya.

Last week was my birthday and here's one of the bestest things I received, just had to share....

Isn't it adorable?! (thank you sweet Nancy if you're reading this, I love you!)
I was truly spoiled by my family, friends and coworkers and felt completely undeserving of everything!

Life is good. Pie is good. Enjoy it.

the winner

2009-06-27T12:18:00.002-05:00

is Tricia!
(no blog)

There were 35 stitchers names that I entered into the random generator thingy, in the order the comments were received, and this is what it came up with....

There were 35 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1.Tricia
2.Meghann
3.Tanya
4.Sharon
5.Joanie
6.Autumn
7.Patti
8.Rosa
9.Siobhan
10.Terri(TerriBoog)
11.Jan P.
12.Nancy
13.Marjorie
14.Kristen
15.Barbeeque4(Edgar)
16.Jan
17.Sadie
18.Lynn
19.Deb
20.Dee L
21.TammyK
22.Violet
23.Sandra
24.Melissa
25.Rebekka
26.John (Pam)
27.Natalie
28.Tammy
29.Heather
30.Jolene
31.Leslie
32.Kathy N.
33.Judy
34.Missy
35.Staci
Timestamp: 2009-06-27 17:20:45 UTC

Congratulations Tricia! I'm off to email you now!
Thanks everyone for playing along and letting me know you're on the dark side too ;-)

link for the angel ornament

2009-06-24T19:10:00.006-05:00

Several of you have asked where I got the tombstone angel ornament, so I wanted to let y'all know...(in case you don't win the drawing on Sat.), that I got them from the Bay of Evil (as I've heard it called...I for one, love ebay!)...anyhoo...this seller, stitchinthedayaway was lovely to deal with! I don't know her personally, but thought these were very reasonably priced, and her shipping charges were good as well! Not to mention, these are adorable in person :-)

split personality (& a giveaway)

2009-06-22T12:42:00.007-05:00

Yep, Terri was right when she guessed that I was referring to a tombstone sampler in my last post!

While I love the cute, with Shepherd's Bush, etc. (not to mention my love for Mary Engelbreit), I am drawn to the dark side...

and this little design from The Primitive Needle features one of my favorite tombie sayings

I stitched this little sampler on 36 ct. PTP Ale linen over two with one strand WDW Onyx....a very enjoyable stitch!

Any other morbid fans out there? If you'd like to have this little chart, AND a beeswax tombstone angel ornament (like the one pictured here) of your very own

just let me know on this post and I'll have a drawing on Saturday, the 27th, for a winner! And if you want to stitch it with the WDW Onyx, let me know that as well, and I'll include it with the prizes :-) Let your tombie friends know, they can enter their names too!

an old wip and some little finishes

2009-06-18T13:34:00.007-05:00

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me on the last post, it sure was helpful to have some opinions on the matter. I've decided to just leave the framed sampler as it is....I had lived with it for all the years that it awaited a frame, (TEN!) so there's really no good reason to freak out over the missing parts now...

And speaking of things that are ten years old, here's an oldie from Ewe & Eye & Friends that has been in the WIP box for a looooooooooong time....

I feel pretty certain that I did not start on this in 1999, but that's the date on it....

had all of it done but filling in the grass area...and it's really shameful how long this was waiting for me to do that part...

After finishing up that, I was in a patriotic mood, so I pulled out this little quickie kit from Shepherd's Bush...

as you might guess, it's called Peace for All....

And of course, I cannot do just one SB design at a time, and this one had been calling my name...

it's called Glad Heart

such a joy to stitch

I especially loved the cherries on this!

From bright and cheerful to terribly morbid, that's me....wait until you see the next thing I'm working on, lol!

finally framed!

2009-06-12T13:33:00.007-05:00

This one only took me exactly ten years to get framed....and no good reason for that time frame, just that I had other stuff framed instead, and pushed this one to the back of the line....

(this is the indoor shot)

and here's the outdoor shot....

This is from Little by Little Designs, and is called "Tale of This & That Sampler".

(OH CRAP! I just saw a picture of this design HERE! and realized that the cover model shows the designers name and date stitched in the cartouche along the top! Now that I look at mine, it looks BARE!!! OMG, did I just completely mess this up??? I can't believe that I would leave that off! And there are also other initials added that I didn't do. What the heck?? Should I redo it??)

It was the first thing I'd ever stitched on hand dyed linen with silk threads, and good golly Miss Molly, was I ever hooked after that, lol!

And here's my little "Be Kind" by Homespun Elegance that I stitched earlier this year. The frame is also from Homespun Elegance.

Now I'm thinking I need to go ahead and stitch the "Be True" that was on the same chart....had talked myself out of doing it, mainly because I was ready to work on something Shepherd's Bush at the time. Hmmm....

Thanks for visiting! Have a good weekend y'all!

earth sampler

2009-06-06T14:08:00.003-05:00

Oh what fun I had stitching this one!

It was very enjoyable, right down to the last stitch :-)

It was stitched on the recommended Ale linen (from Picture This Plus), I used 36 count, with the threads called for except I used GAST Cinnamon for the bunny because the Sable I had was just Ugly, (if you look ugly up in the dictionary, I'm pretty sure you'll see my skein of Sable)!

So what is it with this designer anyway? I just love all of her designs! Not to mention, she's cute as a button! She just doesn't know how to put out something I don't like!

Astro says "Hey y'all! Have a great weekend!"

And you know, with the look on his face, you'd better do it :-)

sweet summertime treat

2009-06-05T14:31:00.004-05:00

My friend Sheri gave me the recipe for this ice cream dessert she is famous for. It was something she always brought to our stitch group lake retreats, by our request...we lived for this!

Here's a picture of what the whole thing looks like....

my family demolished it soon after this picture and in the frenzy, I didn't get a picture of the layers, so use your imagination...

Here's what you need:

1 package Oreo cookies, crushed, with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup crumbs reserved for topping
1 stick melted butter
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (I use Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla), softened enough to be spreadable
1 can Hershey's chocolate syrup
1 tub Cool Whip, thawed

In 9x13 pan, mix Oreo crumbs with melted butter and pat down evenly. Spread softened ice cream (all of it) over Oreo layer, freeze until firm.
Next, pour whole can of syrup over ice cream layer, freeze again until syrup hardens.
Spread Cool Whip over top of syrup layer and then top with reserved Oreo crumbs. Freeze until firm again or serve immediately. (the easiest way to cut this is with a metal spatula, in my opinion :-)

So easy, and yet so good! I'm wondering about different combinations of cookies and such...like maybe Nutter Butters and caramel syrup...hmm, the possibilities could be endless....I'll get back with you on that. Blue Bell is on sale at the grocery store this week ;-)

almost half way there

2009-06-02T13:42:00.006-05:00

In our little family, two birthdays mark the mid-way point of the year, one falls on June 30th and the other one, on July 1st. Happy times. And this year, more so than ever as it means I'll be halfway done with 2009, which so far has done nothing but kick my patootie!!

Anyhoo, I'll spare you all the gory details, and just offer up some pretty pictures instead :-)

Here is my Cape Cod Girls....

design by The Primitive Needle and stitched on 36 ct. PTP Highland with recommended threads....

and this is Westwinds, by Carriage House Samplings...

which I stitched on some unknown 32 ct. linen with recommended NPI silks. I wasn't that happy with the coverage of one strand over two, but was already halfway done when I decided that, so I just kept stitching and tried not to think about it ;-)

this birdie was my favorite part of the whole thing!

Here are my boys....

Astro, soakin' up some sunshine....

and Muttley, who is too busy worrying about what's in my hand (maybe it's FOOD!!) to pose for a cute picture....

and while we were outside, I snapped a picture of this old cross stitch that's sitting in my Fuchsia plant....

If I recall correctly, it was from a Debbie Mumm kit...these used to be one of my favorite things to stitch in the 90's....she had some Christmas ornament kits I did as well, all on plastic canvas and I can remember having to use a leather thimble on my finger while stitching, otherwise it would bleed from pushing the needle through with all that thread on it...thinking it was at least three strands...

This little chick has held up pretty well over the years, she's been chewed on, gotten wet, sunburned, dirty...but she's still here. Hmm, kinda like me, lol!

the winner....

2009-05-24T13:52:00.003-05:00

....is Natasha!

List Randomizer
There were 27 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Natasha
Alice
Sandra
Sadie
Csicsone-Melinda
Dovile
Rachel
CathyB
Evelyn
Sue
Ann
Marti
Pat
CindyMae
Sheila
Heather
Nina
Ellen
Colleen
Edit
CarolynNC
Nancy
Texcinlulu
Teah
Rebecca
Violet
ReneeG
Timestamp: 2009-05-24 18:54:00 UTC

Thanks everyone for playing along!!

up for grabs

2009-05-21T15:30:00.007-05:00

Been busy cleaning out my stash, such a great feeling!

Came across this little chart, I'd stitched it back in 2007, although it's still not finished into a pillow yet, which was/is the plan. Someday!!

So anyhoo, if you'd like to have this sweet little chart, leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name this Sunday!

a big finish and some framing

2009-05-12T23:19:00.006-05:00

Here's my "big" finish referred to in the last post.... it's my Blackberrie Sampler by Shepherd's Bush...

hard to get a good photo of the whole thing as it's a little long, so I took several close up shots...

the verse says:
" The blackberie tree is aftr his sort bushy
bearing that fruit that eftsones refresheth
the shepherde"

and if you're like me, and did not, or do not, know what the heck "eftsones" means, well then click here and learn! And you can even hear how it's pronounced :-)

wonder if that word could be worked into a conversion sometime soon :-)

Anyway, on to the framing part of this post. Today I went to the LNS and picked up two things I'd taken in last month.

This is The Song They Sang, by Carriage House Samplings...

it was stitched a while back and I finally got the frame for it last fall...

I have a thing for bird samplers and verses like this one, so I plan on hanging this where I can see it every day!

and here's my Plain & Fancy, also by Carriage House Samplings...

finally mounted into the really super cheap frame I'd found at Tuesday Morning a while back...

which was originally purchased for something else

but ended up being perfect for this sampler. At least I think so ;-)

That's about it for now! Working on another CHS, Westwinds....was finally able to turn the channel from the SB station. For at least one project that is, lol!

Thank you for visiting my blog! And for the sweet and kind comments you take the time to leave for me...I really appreciate them.

Have a great week!

movin' right along

2009-05-06T21:49:00.007-05:00

Remember when we were kids, time just c r a w l e d by? Especially if looking forward to something. Now? I just wish the world would slow down a tiny bit and let me catch up! Can it really be MAY already? Summer is almost here and oy, the Texas heat? I can wait a while for that to get here.

Anyhoo, it's been a while since I blogged because let's face it, my life is sooooo boring! You have no idea people. The most exciting thing I've done recently is take an online class that was required for my job in which I was tested at the conclusion of, with TRICK QUESTIONS! Love that. Hopefully I passed. The test sheet has to be faxed in and if you get a certificate in the mail, you passed, if not, I guess you don't get to work? Maybe I'll get a forced vacation! Which wouldn't be all that bad except for the humiliation of being the only operator that failed the test at my workplace. So y'all, keep your fingers crossed for me, ok? Thank you ever so much!

Stitching wise, it's been all Shepherd's Bush, all the time. It's like I'm tuned to the SB channel and can't adjust the dial to anything else, ha!

This is My Heart's Garden...

I got twenty skeeter bites trying to get a good picture outside....

But since I am not French, I cannot take a good photo ;-)

This was just a teeny tiny finish, I actually have a big one to share with you, that I finished after this one, but need to post that later because, seriously? I am so ready to get off this computer and stitch!! (and scratch!)

Oh! PS. Almost forgot! Alice had a dare for us to post a picture of ourselves when we were 18 or a little older. Well, most of my pictures are still packed away, but this one is close to that time frame....kinda...

back in the very early 90's when I had short hair (the sides were much shorter than the top)! Listening to Bobby Brown and Paula Abdul and my kids were just little things, trying to do the "Hammer-Time" thing, lol! (Oh yes, they loved Mr. "MC Hammer", remember that crazy dance he did?) That's the Best Cat That Ever Lived, Chester, when he was a kitten, and yep, that's stitchin' stuff in front of us :-)

how to be happy

2009-04-22T00:00:00.004-05:00

This illustration by Susan Branch is one of my favs :-)

(click on it to see larger)

There are a few things I could add to this list, but it's a good start ;-)
(especially the naps, lol)

Meanwhile, another Shepherd's Bush finish, yippee!!

this one is called Quaker Heart. A lot of fun to stitch, and I'm on a roll with SB again so stay tuned for another finish soon!

What do you think about these boys? Here they were fighting for lap space and Muttley is the winner as you can see, that's Astro under his foot....they were sleeping like this on Easter Sunday...

softly, spring comes

2009-04-15T19:11:00.004-05:00

FINALLY! A finish!

This was a kit from Shepherd's Bush called Soft Spring...

Despite the shoulder issues, work has been so stressful that I had to stitch, just to stay sane...

there really is something about picking up the needle and running the thread through the fabric that is soothing to my soul. Better than medications, (tried that, gained weight, which just stressed me out more!), and less fattening than a margarita!

Now, if only I could stitch at work, that would be just perfect!

hello peeps

2009-04-11T23:55:00.004-05:00

My hubby really loves Peeps but it's not so much the eating of them, as it is the talking he does to them. They are on the kitchen table and every time he walks past them he says "well Heeeelloooo Peeps", like they are a long lost friend......

It cracks me up!

So anyhoo....Happy Easter my peeps!

I'm in a better frame of mind now, thank you...got a little stitching done and just decided to focus on the good stuff...I saw something written the other day and it made me snap out of it.....

"Be at rest my soul, for the Lord has been good to you"

So anyway, I'll have some stitching to show soon, in the meantime,

here's my Hibiscus tree, which I have managed not to kill yet....

she's actually pretty happy here in the sun room....

she keeps blooming, every day there are new blooms.

we did buy another one similar to this, but more "bush like" for the front porch but if it ends up being happy in the sun room we'll keep it there.

Better go check on what's cookin'. The menu for Easter Sunday is pretty big, had to start way ahead of time. As much as I enjoy cooking and baking, if there ever comes a day when it's just the two of us for a holiday, we're eating OUT!!

Blessings, y'all!

no good, rotten frame of mind

2009-04-08T00:06:00.007-05:00

Such happy title, dontcha think? Makes you want to run away from here quick like, right?
Oy. But it's true and I'm sorry, I have to vent! Here's my day, in no particular order....
**my shoulder hurts like h*ll and I haven't even stitched in four days.
not. one. stitch.
**took my 30% off everything coupon to Kohls, prepared to do major damage, but discovered, much to my horror, that absolutely everything I tried on was just wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. Who designs clothes for "full figured", (ok, FAT), women anyway? (Someday I hope they pay). Meanwhile, I brought home three things, two of which are questionable.
**some gal waltzed out of the dressing room I was using (in between taking things back and forth), leaving both things she tried on LAYING THE FLOOR!! And the hangers on the hook, empty. I was again, horrified...
**someone pooped outside the front door of my workplace. Yes, pooped. And no, it wasn't doggie poo. Guess they couldn't hold it any longer?
**a rookie coworker thinks they know more than everyone there and yet, she makes the same stupid mistakes over and over again and admits, "every day is a new day" to her...so why the constant arguing???
** edited **

OK, rant over, sorry about that...here's something cute....

It's an old Bent Creek kit that I stitched forever ago and just needed to sew the buttons on the corners. Not sure it was done right, but I got tired of seeing it in the closet, waiting, so there it is :-)

Thanks for your thoughts on the angel Hornbook. Found a cute easel at the WalMarts yesterday that I'm going to put her on!

yes, no, maybe?

2009-04-06T16:47:00.003-05:00

This little punch needle angel design is from Carriage House Samplings. When I punched it, my plan was to have it made into an hanging ornament. Then, I found this little horn book online and thought it may work out better....

this is just laying on the horn book for now, I'm going to be naughty and glue it down. BUT, what I'm torn about is this....does it need something behind it? Not to protect it from the glue, but to enhance her appeal :-) Like a piece of wool? And if so, should I cut the wool square and then mount it behind the angel, or cut it out along the outline of the angel?

HELP! I need opinions!

And warning....Pug Rear-End shot below....

the picture is a little blurry but I thought it was funny...it's Astro's hind-end

he's been feeling bad, had to go to the vet last week but he's better now :-)

so easy. and yet, so sinful!

2009-04-03T13:39:00.009-05:00

Surely most of you already know about this dessert. I am usually behind on this sort of thing. But I figured, if it's new to me, maybe it will be to someone else.

So...I found out about these here, you will also find better pictures there too...it was raining here on the day I made this, no good sunshine for a pic...so there's one picture without flash, one with, both are super crappy pics, but trust me, the brownies are not!

Just get yourself one box of brownie mix (I used the "family" size), one package of chocolate chip cookie mix. Mix them both up as directed, in separate bowls. Spread brownie batter into a buttered 13 x 9 inch pan. Drop cookie dough by rounded spoonfuls onto brownie batter already in pan. Press the dough down a little bit. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until done. Let them cool for about an hour. Then top with glaze or frosting.

I used a different glaze than Bakerella did, and it was perfect. Just melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 4 tablespoons butter in the microwave and then stir in 2 tablespoons corn syrup and stir until smooth. Spread over top of brownies and let sit until the glaze is set. You can put it in the fridge to speed up the process.

These were YUMMY! I cut them all up into small bars, took half the pan to work with me and left the other half for my family. To say they were a HUGE hit would be putting it mildly :-)

Now go and make them.... ASAP. Your peeps will love you for it!

PS. I did notice, when I went to buy the mixes for this, that Betty Crocker makes a brownie mix with the cookie dough mix already in the same box, but doing it this other way, it just seemed like they would be thicker, but who knows! These were pretty thick :-)

heart attacks and mcbutterpants

2009-03-29T15:01:00.003-05:00

No, hubby didn't have another heart attack, thank God. But last time I was in the Costco laundry detergent isle putting my hand on the big ol' box of detergent we always buy, I almost had one! It went up in price over $6 from the last time we bought it!
So, my hand flew off that box like it was on fire and I slowly backed out of the isle, shaking my head in disbelief. No way. No how. Luckily for us, I'd been reading up on home made laundry detergent, how much cheaper it was and how much less of it you have to use than the commercial stuff. So my thought was, I can do this!

Here's what you need:

1 bar Fels Naptha (can use regular Ivory or Zotes bar too), grated finely
1 1/2 cups WASHING soda (NOT baking soda)
1 1/2 cups Borax powder

I found all of these items on the laundry detergent isle at Kroger. The first batch I made, I only used 1/3 of the bar, 1/2 washing soda, and 1/2 cup borax. Then I figured out, you could just make a bigger, longer lasting batch if you used the whole bar and tripled the amount of the powders.

Here I am grating the bar of soap, using gardening gloves so I can get that last little bit of soap through the grater and not my skin :-)

Mix it all together and store in airtight container. Mine is in an old, (large size) sour cream container. All three ingredients with tax cost a grand total of $7.43 and the boxes of powder will probably last me all year, I'll only have to buy more bars of soap (those were $1.19)

Here's the deal about this. And it's NO JOKE, we've been using it for over a month and so I know it works. You use 1 TABLESPOON for light loads or 2 TABLEspoons for heavy loads. Just mix it all together, don't worry about the amount of grated soap you get in each scoop, it all comes out in the wash! Yes, your clothes get clean!!

OK, the final kicker is this. Don't faint. I've been using VINEGAR as my fabric softener! Yep, regular white vinegar! And we don't smell like a pickle! In fact, all of our towels, sheets, etc. smell better than they ever have! And I'm a faithful Downy user from way back, so I was skeptical! Actually, I read somewhere that if you had any fabric softener left over, you could mix it with the vinegar for scent (some people add essential oils for fragrance, but it's not a must), so I've been adding 1 teaspoon to each 1/4 cup vinegar and putting that in the Downy Ball with each load. But when the Downy runs out, that's it. A huge gallon bottle of vinegar cost a little over $2 at the WalMarts :-)

I feel better about laundry now :-) Cutting back in small ways really adds up!

Speaking of cutting back....have you seen Muttley lately? He's one year old now and we're thinking it's time for him to get rid of that baby fat....

so here's Muttley, aka Fatty McButterpants, aka Laser Eyes

Yes, we have an Amazon pug!

Astro is not fat, but check out that face roll....

Happy Sunday y'all!

a post about nothing...

2009-03-26T14:22:00.005-05:00

...in particular that is :-)

Thank you all for the bloggy name love and get well wishes on my last post. Not only am I gonna keep the blog name, but I spent the better part of last night trying to spruce it up a little bit around here. Just some little changes, but I hope you like!

Shoulder pain. Oy! I've had a bum shoulder since I was about 14 years old (30 years ago!!). It acts up every now and then. Usually what causes it is my job, which involves counting things (money or paper) the whole time I'm there....it's a part time job, but we pack 8 hours of work into 4 or 5, so it's intense and fast paced. The other thing that doesn't help is that I stitch in hand, and holding the fabric sometimes just aggravates the whole issue. Luckily for me, it comes and goes, it's just that I have to give up stitching completely until it passes.

My friend Patti stitched all of the CHS Virtue series recently and then passed her charts on to me. My plan is to stitch them all together, vertically, and maybe make the finished piece into a bell pull....maybe. Here's the first one, she's not done yet (no stitching for 3 days), but I wanted to share anyway :-)

this is so tiny...less than 2 inches wide by 2 1/2 inches tall. I'm using DMC on 40 ct. Goldfinch...

Oh gosh, on the bloggy love subject, I can't forget that I got some awards recently!

Melissa gave me this one...

and Lynda gave me this....

Thank you both so much!! I am the world's worst about playing along with these, so hope you all can forgive me for being late in saying thanks and for not playin' by the rules. There are just SO many blogs that I love and read and that deserve these awards, if they haven't already gotten them, how can I pick just a few?? But I do appreciate the thought behind receiving them!

Totally random picture....

this past weekend we had GORGEOUS weather, oh my gosh, it couldn't have been more perfect!! Hubby grilled outside, he even grills up extra chicken, etc. so during the week we have it for whatever...nachos, chimi's, salads. And the above was my contribution to the Monday night nachos, lol! We LOVE fresh guacamole with plenty of cilantro, fresh tomatoes, etc. YUM!

It's been gloomy and raining for two days now...you just never know about the weather here in Texas!

One more thing before I quit (if you've stuck with me this far, bless your heart)

Sweet Sue had an idea to start this blog, and I think it's just the sweetest idea! There's no commitments or deadlines...just whenever you feel like spreading some kindness, you can! We need more people to join!! Come on over and play!

be kind

2009-03-23T13:07:00.004-05:00

My shoulder and hands have still been giving me trouble, so not much to show in the stitching department. Even this tiny finish had to be mounted in Q-Snaps and then to my lap frame in order for me to finish it....

This is from the chart, "Be True, Be Kind" by Homespun Elegance

it is teeny tiny, measuring just 2 1/2 inches high by 2 inches wide

my favorite part of stitching this was doing the colonial knots, I've never been good at French knots, these are much easier for me :-) My friend Jan (hi Jan!) once filled in, with french knots, the whole area of a bunny tail on a design for me, that's how much I disliked doing French knots, and that's how good of a friend she is...to jump in and do somethin' that you *hate* for you :-) Luckily for me, since she moved to another state, I learned how to do the Colonial knot, and actually enjoy it! But she's still missed. A lot!

So anyhoo, getting lots of stuff done around the house since I can't stitch...organizing the stitching closet, getting ideas going about paint colors for the dining room, kitchen, sun room....DH is all over the idea, helping chose colors. He's also been full of energy and happy about doing lots of stuff around the house, lucky me! I think he's feeling a lot better these days and I'm so thankful for that!

I've also been thinking about changing my blog name. When I first started this blog, I was really into cupcakes, and when trying to think of a blog name, thought of all sorts of crazy things....anyway, I think we'd just been to the State Fair of Texas, and you all know one thing State Fairs are good for is coming up with different things to DEEP FRY every year, so that was fresh in my mind as well. Hence, Deep Fried Cupcake. Do you know, I just thought that was such a random thing, but it's really NOT! There IS such a thing as a deep fried cupcake, if you google it, you will see for yourself. One site made me laugh, it's called something like "this is why you're fat" and showed a picture of an actual deep fried cupcake!

SO yeah, I'm thinking maybe I should change the name....is it just too silly and random for a "stitching/pug/baking/who really cares" blog? Your thoughts?

tiny finish and an oldie

2009-03-18T19:25:00.004-05:00

My shoulder has been giving me FITS the past week, so there's not much to show in the finished department. Just this tiny heart...

It's ABC Heart, a bitty kit from Shepherd's Bush....

and I was going through my "finished" pile earlier today (cause if you can't stitch, the next best thing is playing with your stash, right?!), and came across this piece of work...

OMG, there are so many things wrong about it, but it's one thing I can never seem to part with.

Does anyone know the name of this? I can't remember if it was in a magazine...I did a LOT of stuff from mags back in the early 90's, anyone remember the Jeremiah Junction designs? I have stitched my fair share (and more), of those!

One of my Flickr pals, Sue (who started up the new BBD blog) recently shared a photo of this very same sampler in her photostream, her pic is much better than mine, and I actually think her finish is prettier as well ;-)
Now, looking at mine up close, I see some boo-boo's!

What you don't see is the MASKING TAPE that I used around the edges of the aida cloth, which is what I did to all my fabric back then. I'm pretty sure it wasn't acid free ::insert snort here::, so my plan is to cut it off, there's enough of a margin around the stitching to do it.
Anyhoo...it was framed very poorly by myself, in a really atrocious frame, so a few years ago I decided to "save" it by removing it from said frame and putting it away, to be re-framed later.
There are SO many things in that box to be framed or finished...some things I don't even LIKE anymore.
Maybe I should put those things up for adoption?

giveaway winner

2009-03-11T17:16:00.002-05:00

Since my DH isn't home so he can "screen capture" the Random Generator thingie, I just cut and paste and the winner is Katrina!

True Random Number ServiceList Randomizer
There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Katrina
Abbey
Alice
Cindy in Va
Nancy
TraceyIL
Evelyn
Rebekka
Debbie
Timestamp: 2009-03-11 22:15:26 UTC

Thanks to those of you that played along! (And thank you all for visiting my blog and leaving such sweet comments).

thanks be

2009-03-10T14:40:00.006-05:00

Today's post by SouleMama is so touching...I just love her blog, she's always reminding her readers to appreciate the small things in life, and to remember...

Sometimes the remembering part is hard, especially when our brains won't even allow us to put together a complete thought. Even trying to figure out what I want to say here is difficult! So my posts have been short. And still, it takes me forever to come up with one. Silly.

So I'll just show here what I've been stitching and try not to say too much since it all comes out wrong anyway...

This design is from La D Da...

an oldie, but goodie.

it was finished before the Spring Fling, but I forgot to post it. Typical!

Stitched on 35 ct. Daily Grind over two with one strand WDW thread.

spring fling

2009-03-08T18:33:00.003-05:00

Finished this up last night after work...

thanks to the time change and a wicked case of insomnia, I really hit a lick with it!

The fabric, which is 30 ct. Glen Ellyn Blend by R&R is really much greener than it appears here.

but it's a perfect match for the greens in the design.

This has been my absolute favorite project so far this year, I loved working on it.

Design by Blackbird Designs, Loose Feathers #13, Spring Fling. Stitched with recommended Gentle Art threads, two over two.
I'd really like to have it made into a pillow eventually I think.

Don't forget to comment on the post below if you'd like to be in the drawing for the Noah Stocking chart :-)

And Happy Spring to you!

giveaway

2009-03-05T16:14:00.003-06:00

Remember my CHS Noah Stocking I posted about in January?

Well, I'd like to offer up the chart for it here. So if you'd like to be entered into the drawing to receive the chart, please comment on this post. I'll do the random generator thing to pick a winner next Wednesday, March 11.

Hope that makes sense. My brain is a little deep fried lately.
I'd really like to thank you all for your sweet comments on my last post (and always)
Things are all-righty around here...we're going to make it, we're definitely blessed...
:-)

therapy stitching

2009-02-24T01:34:00.004-06:00

Friendship Sampler...

...design by Birds of a Feather

stitched on 36 ct. Barn Owl with Gentle Art threads

stitching on this during the month of February was my therapy

cheaper than meds I guess, the results are satisfying at least :-)

love is all you need

2009-02-14T16:10:00.007-06:00

Celebrating 27 years of wedded bliss today....

here is my Valentine Message by Blackbird Designs, which was finished into a stitching tray last fall by Deb...

and here's my Love Crazy, by Lizzie Kate

not sure whether I'll frame this or make it into a little pillow...

one of my daughters really likes this so it'll be hers...

Well, this is the second February in a row that our lives have gone haywire.
Things are uncertain but I know it's that way for lots of people now days....
I will most likely not be blogging for a while. Please don't forget about me, I'll be back....

wednesday's child

2009-01-28T14:47:00.005-06:00

Remember that old nursery rhyme?

Monday's child is fair of face.
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving.
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

(Don't ask me why I think of this stuff, it always happens when I try to think of a title for a post)
How true does this ring with you or with your family members? I'd have to say, in our family, it's pretty accurate. Strange, huh?

Anyhoo, there's a box I finally got unpacked today and in it, I found this...

It's a little Bent Creek freebie from years and years ago (I don't have it any longer), didn't know what to do with it, so Deb made it into a scissor keep for me.

Meanwhile, back in blog-blog land, Siobhan gave me this little award
(thanks gf!)

I'm supposed to list five addictions, so here goes

1. All things stitching related (that's a given, right?)
2. Lotions and hand creams.
3. Starbucks Carmel Frapps.
4. Internet (stitching, and foodie blogs).
5. All things Pug.

I'm not tagging anyone else since I am usually so bad about playing along myself....I've enjoyed reading these on various blogs though :-)

The ice is melting around here...it wasn't too bad last night while at work, but the pugs were none too happy about the melting part this morning...

(note on the mop bucket...it's not ours, it was back there when we moved in, we just haven't gotten rid of it yet. I should be embarrassed, but actually, it's kind of appropriate considering the melting ice and the pugs who hate wet feet, lol!)

rainy days and mondays...

2009-01-26T12:46:00.003-06:00

Remember that song?

Wow, I sure did love her....what a voice.

Anyhoo...I'm not blue, just thought of that song since it's Monday. And it's rainy, ha! We're in for an ice storm here in North Texas, tonight and through tomorrow. Ugh, wouldn't bother me except that I'll probably have to go to work in it instead of snuggling in with the pugs for a stitch-fest. If I'm really lucky, it'll be bad enough for them to close up and I won't have to go in....but that's only happened once in 12 years so not holdin' my breath here.

On the stitching front, I recently finished the first part of the Loose Feathers Mystery Sampler (Blackbird Designs)....

I'm so far behind on all these. The plan is to stitch them all on separate pieces of fabric and the stitch them all together when done. Kind of doubting this choice since seeing it done on one piece and how pretty that was/is. Too late now though!

Stay warm and safe, and have a great week ya'll!

Noah Stocking

2009-01-21T18:41:00.002-06:00

This was finished up last fall, so don't go thinkin' I'm such a fast stitcher, lol!

After I saw Siobhan's finish last year, and then my friend Patti's stocking in person, it was a "have to stitch this asap" project.

Don't you just love how other stitchers keep us inspired?!

This is a Carriage House Samplings design, stitched on 40 ct. Lentil linen from Lakeside, and with DMC threads...

and as always, Deb did the finishing on this for me...

I'm so thankful for my stitching pals, who keep my needle moving, whether it's a blog post, a finishing album, or seeing something in person, if it weren't for my friends, I'd probably stitch a LOT less and just collect stash...which is always a good thing too, I'm just sayin' :-)

winter snapperland

2009-01-10T14:16:00.002-06:00

After seeing a friend stitch this a while back, I fell in love with it. It wasn't just the whole design, but the fabric she was using, that did it for me. So with her permission, I copied her choice...

Bent Creek Winter Snapperland series stitched on 32 ct. Raw Opalescent fabric with recommended threads....

too bad you really can't see in these pics, how sparkly the fabric is...

I only used one of the "snaps", the black one, on the horse, wasn't too fond of the other ones...

an enjoyable stitch, although it did take me a loooooooooong time to finally finish it....

the big plan is for a pillow of some sort and some Pugs that will be good and not slobber on it for me ;-)

queen sheep

2009-01-08T14:54:00.005-06:00

Another finishing job by Deb!

This one was a quick and fun stitch,

but oh my, the finishing she did on this really knocked my socks off!

Queen Sheep kit from Shepherd's Bush...I want to marry it!

And here are both of my helper Pugs, tired from a long day of mischief...
that's Muttley with his arm around Astro. If Astro is sleeping next to me, Muttley will come up and lay directly on top of Astro until he eventually is forced to move over (or have a heat stroke, choice is his), so that Muttley is then the one beside me! (He's got a whole little brother thing going on).

But at least he's nice about it, right?

tiny flag

2009-01-07T13:49:00.004-06:00

This one was a really fun stitch :-) And I wanted it to look just like the little pillow on the chart cover and as usual, Deb did not disappoint! I really believe that girl can do anything!

Shepherd's Bush Tiny Flag kit

I can't tell you how much I'm in love with this little thing, lol!
(the wind was blowing pretty strongly yesterday and so the USA charm is a little crooked because of it, it's not really stitched on like that)

here's the back of it....

and here, you can see, I had a little helper taking pictures yesterday ;-)

Astro just wanted to make sure I was doing it right, hee!

rosebud and companions

2009-01-06T22:35:00.005-06:00

Organizing my new stitchy closet today, I came across some finishes that I got back from Deb late last year and never got a picture of until now. There are three or so "smalls" and a big one to share, and here's one of them now:

Design by Ewe & Ewe & Friends called "Purple Rosebud Scissor Companion".
I think it was a kit but now may be offered in just chart form....

I'll share the others later this week :-)
In the meantime, there's something I have to vent about. There's a coworker at my workplace that got his son a puppy for Christmas. So I've asked about it a few times to see how she (the puppy, she's a Lab) is coming along in her new household. Every time, he starts ranting about it, how bad she is, she jumps on the couch, pees on the floor, etc. Tonight he told me he went to let her out in the rain last night, thought she was outside, but when he turned around, she was at his feet, peeing on the floor. So he said he "lost it". Meaning, he spanked her, probably too hard and too long, as if any of it is warranted in the first place.
It just chaps my behind that a grown man is spanking a puppy! For anything. PERIOD. It's all about behaviour modification with a dog, they don't understand yelling or hitting. So instead of "losing it" with my coworker, I tried explaining some puppy training methods that I've used with our Pugs. Like the water bottle...boy hidee, just SAY "water bottle" around Muttley and he's all "Man, I'm cool, it's all good"...he stops whatever it is he's doing (that's wrong) IMMEDIATELY. And we've only ever actually squirted him with it three times! It works!
So anyhoo, he acted like he was going to take my advise and hopefully he will...
I look at our boys and their sweet faces (see below)...and it makes me sick to think anyone would spank such a loyal and loving companion...

Muttley would like to say "Hi. Can you tell my mama I'm a good boy and she can stop with the water bottle threats already? Thank you so very much."

And the winner is....

2009-01-04T16:19:00.003-06:00

C Cubed! Please email me at my blog name at hotmail.com with your info and I'll get your Gingerbread Cottage chart mailed right out to you!

Thanks to everyone for playing along!

wee snowman

2008-12-31T18:14:00.003-06:00

wee snowman
Originally uploaded by Deep Fried Cupcake

Another precious finish by
Deb. ....
I don't think I've posted this here, have I? My brain is on eggnog overload ;-)
Anyhoo....design by Heart in Hand, believe it's called Wee Snowman (could be wrong, please inform if I am, lol!) and I stitched him with recommended fibers....

Hey y'all....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Hope you all have a wonderful, healthy, happy and prosperous 2009 and stitch your little hearts out, all year long!