Still here!

I am still here!  I have been busy stitching exchanges, so I can't show the work yet.  However, I did get a few exchanges.  The picture above is from my secret pen pal.  She made this note pad herself and its all recycled paper.  It is beautiful and I love it!

This exchange is from Arlette of France for the Bookmark and Needles exchange I organized in the ILCSing group.  I love the card she send.  He is a cute frog.  On the bookmark, it is stitched "A rose is a rose."  If my memory serves me correctly, the quote is from William Shakespeare.  Also stitched is "J'aime lire", which transfers to "I love to read". The needles will come in handy. Thank you Arlette!

In KraftersKorner, I got this lovely exchange from Georgena.  The exchange is to stitch a freebie pattern and to finish it anyway we wanted to do and included 3 skeins of specialty threads.  I love the pattern Georgena chose.  I been wanting to stitch Chocolate Covered Cherries for awhile.  The threads are from Silk and Ivory and they are so soft.  I hope I can find some use for them.  Thank you Georgena!

I do have a finish I wish I could show you. If you can see the bunny in the above picture, it was stitched  for Jane in
U.K.  The exchange was a Summer Holiday theme but I went with Jane's love for bunnies. The pattern is The Checkered  Bunny by Waxing Moon Designs using DMC threads.  Jane did send me the picture of the bunny but I cant get it to download on the blog.  It keeps crashing my browser.




This picture is the goodies Jane send to me.  I was spoiled by her gifts.  Jane stitched a pillow and a ornament and so lovely stitched too.  The threads and rick racks are in my favorite colors, and the beads too and were in the tin box. Jane added some Belgium  candies, a blank bookmark, a hanging fish decor, a tea tart candle. mini flags and two postcards.  I love everything! Thank you so much Jane!  You can seethe other exchange gifts on this blog!


I got another copy of The Chocolate Shoppe.  I was finally able to start on it again  last night.  I am starting  it in the middle of the fabric this time.  I did very little but its a start.  I am going back to  my  stitching and hopefully I will have another finish shortly.

Many hugs,
Vicky

Cape Cod and a Finish

I had went to Cape Cod for a  week.  Before I left, I went to my sister's surprise birthday party.  She turned 40 this year.  Her husband put it together and he did a good job, considering he doesn't plan parties. He asked me do some cooking for the party.  My sister was surprised.  Anthony, my nephew, made a birthday hat for her. Unfortunately, the hat was too small and my sister couldn't keep it on, even with bobby pins.  A picture was taken with the hat on her head.  My other sister came down for the party and I got a ride from her to the Cape. She lives in Falmouth but I stayed with my aunt and uncle in East Dennis.

The first day it rained all day.  We went to the movies and saw Sarah's Key.  It was a good movie but sad too, because it was a storyof the Holocust.  Aunt Terri was visiting Aunt Betty and Uncle Fred, so came to the movies too.  Even though it was beautiful, AT and I just went to the grocery store and I stitched.  Wednesday AB,AT and I went to Sandwich, to the glass museum.  Glass blowing is very popular at Cape Cod, though the sand can't be used for glass making.  There is too much minerals, and the sand needs to melt at 3,180 degrees Fahrenheit.  There was a demonstration on glass blowing and the glass blower made a tiny pitcher. She couldn't guarantee it will survive the cooling process.  
After the museum, we went to Marshland.  It is a diner and bakery. I had fried clam strips with onion rings, which I wanted for a long time. I can't find good fried clam strips in Connecticut.  On Friday, we went to Chatham and drove by the lighthouse and a monument, I think is dedicated to the Coast Guard.  Rest of the day was shopping and I stopped at a bookstore called The Yellow Umbrella. It was small but packed with books.  We found a Ben Franklin store.  It was the only store I found DMC threads.  I tried to find a LNS, but the ones I found on the Internet or phone book end up being closed.  Saturday we went to see One Day with Anne Hathaway. I love Anne Hathaway. This was a sad story too.  I picked both movies out too.  Maybe my aunts wont let me choose next time.  On the last day, we went to the beach, but to Lake Scargo and not to the ocean.  I am not a good swimmer and I prefer the lake.  My sister joined us at the lake.  She was suppose to sleep over Saturday night. She went to Boston to do an errand with a friend that was suppose be a couple hours but end up being all day. There was ducks too and walk near to us, looking for food. AT and I headed back to Connecticut the next day. You can see more pictures from Cape Cod here.

I own a HUGE apology to my secret penpal. I had joined a secret pen pal exchange on Seasons with My Mind blog.  I did not post right away I received this lovely letter .I am very sorry. I promise I will do better in September.  I can't wait to get the next one.

I finished Summer is Sweet by Waxing Moon Designs.  I used the DMC threads on 14  count aida. I had joined a new group, January Crazies 2012.  It is the one where you start one project each day for the first 15 days, then you have    the rest of the year to finish the projects.  Since I have quite a bit patterns, I don't have to buy the patterns, just som fabrics and threads.

This tray I got at Goodwill.  It is in very good condition.  It was priced at $4 but I got it for $2.  Isn't that awesome?!  I don't like the design, but I am sure I could change it.  There are screws on the side so I don't see why I can't change it.

As many of you know Tropical Storm (a.k.a Hurricane) Irene came through Connecticut.  I was very lucky, our family didn't lose power. But some sections in my city did lose power and still out.  Half of Connecticut did lose power.  Some houses  by the shore were destroyed and a lot of flooding along the rivers. There is a lot of cleaning up that needs to be done.

I hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend!

Friday Night Sew In~August

For the Friday Night Sew In, I stitched Lizzie Kate ABC Lessons.  It is a fast stitch.  I think it is coming along great. 

As this week, I started two new projects.  The first one is Summer is Sweet by Waxing Moon Designs.  It is a freebie I got from the retreat.  The second one is Lizzie Kate Dog Lessons for People.  I am stitching this one on my hand dyed pink evenweave. 

The two pieces above are pieces of material I had dyed.  The first piece is sprayed paint in green apple and fuchsia.  I love how it came out.  I am going to use it for my Owl SAL, when I start it, hopefully soon.  The second  piece is painted with a pink shade of acrylic paint.  The pictures are not great.  It is the same piece I am using for Dog Lessons, and that picture is more to its truer color.

I am at Cape Cod and heading to the beach. I am leaving home tomorrow so I will have another update in a few days.

A Special Visitor and more Exchanges

We have a special visitor for a total 2 weeks. Her name is Mama and boy, is she a meower, lol. Her first two nights, she meow so much, my brother couldn't sleep.  Mama is visiting because she had a litter and her milk needs to dry out before she gets fix.  Than she went into heat, and with other cats in the house, her owner was not taking another chance.  With her in heat plus being put in a different home with no other cats, its no wonder Mama mewed like crazy.  She is not taking too much a liking to me, but she tolerates me though.

Exchanges

 Mare received my Summer Exchange .  I stitched her an  ornament. It is Summer by Stoney Creek.  This is the second time I stitched this pattern.  I used Caron threads for the boarder, which i got from my retreat.  I am not sure the type of thread or the name of the color, since there was no tags.  I used 14 count Grasshopper aida. I just love the color.

I, also, included Country Cottage Needleworks Beach Cottage, three skeins which goes with the pattern, and a plaque with the motto "Cats leave paw prints on your heart".  I love that saying. 

 Jody received the ornament I made for her in the Christmas in July exchange.  I stitched CandyCane Cat by Chessie & Me.  The pattern was in the 2004 JCS Ornament issue.  A few changes were made, the boarder was stitched with Peppermint Twist by Threadworx, the year was changed to 2011, and I used metallic gold for the snowflakes to give it a spark.  I included the three threads in Christmas colors. 

 

In my new group, pensandneedles yahoo group, there was a bookmark exchange.  The picture above is Dancing Fans by Joan Elliot, which I stitched for Debi M.  I would love to stitch this again but I lost the booklet the pattern was in.  The booklet was a freebie with an UK magazine. I don't remember the name of the magazine because I gave it away.  It was a lovely booklet with oriental patterns.  The picture below is the bookmark I  got from Debi M.   She did a beautiful job stitching. Thank you Debi!

 The Stiitching with Love Exchanges blog had Tea/Picnic exchange.  We had to stitched a Tea/Picnic theme, 5 items which could go with the theme, stitchy or not stitchy items and a recipe.  It was a secret partner and mine was Heather in Canada. Her package was delayed  because of Canada's  strike. After reading on the blog Heather did get the package, I can finally show off the exchange.
I stitched June pillow by Pine Mountains Design.  They are cute kits.  I picked this kit up in Cape May. I started it right away and had hoped to finish it over that weekend but it took me a week.  Life just got in the way.  I included a Bent Creek pattern, an UK magazine,sticky pads, needles, DMC threads, and evenweave material.  I sure hope she like the package.

I put in some more stitches in LK ABC Lessons.  I wont be stitching this weekend.  I am cooking for a surprise party on Saturday.  On Sunday, I am attending the party and afterwards, I am leaving for Cape Cod.  I will be there for a week.  I will be bringing Lessons, a few small projects, and hopefully the Chocolate Shoppe.  Most of you know I lost my stitching bag almost 2 weeks ago. Inside the bag was the Chocolate Shoppe I was stitching, the Oriental  booklet I mention  earlier, a couple scissors, and a book. I reorder The Chocolate Shoppe from 123Stitch on Thursday morning and was shipped on the same day, so I am hoping it will be here tomorrow.  They are very good but its cutting it close. 
I will post again soon.

Many hugs,
Vicky