Comment Here For Giveaway

This is "Fa La La" by Little House Needleworks, the first in a monthly series for a year. Since it has the pattern on one side and the necessities (uses only DMC) on the other side, I never had it out of the bag, so it's like brand new. I included a little plastic bag of the beads it calls for, and there are plenty for more than one ornament if you drop any. I hope you win!

Just leave a comment, and I will have DH draw a name next Sunday. This little jewel can be yours.

First Finish of 2010!

Finally... a first finish for the new year. Last year was a horrible, unproductive year for me, so maybe getting back into the swing of the Internet again after an absence and illness, I'll do better this year.

This was a fun little stitch - Fa La La by Little House Needleworks. It works into an ornament, which, of course with all the extra work we're doing in my late SIL's house and getting her affairs in order, I have not done. Before pressing this little ditty, it looked adorable. Now, the French knots look cattywampus, and the sweet little girls look as though they have goiters and other forms of illnesses, none of which are flattering. I fluffed them up after pressing, and they turned out normal again.

Be sure not to miss this giveaway in my next post. It's a good one, and if you've never tried LHN designs, stitching this will give you an idea of the fun they are.

Gingerbread Cottage Back From the Framer

I need to learn to use my camera better. This design by Country Cottage Needleworks was finished before Christmas, and I recently got it back from being framed, which you can tell little about because of my crappy photography. I love this piece and you can take my word for it; the frame is really pretty with it.

WIP Progress

Here is my 2nd progress pic on "Winter Sampler" by Little House Needleworks. It's going to have to be put away while I finish "Fa La La," "Pear Tree" ornaments for January and February, and I'm still waiting for "The Library" fibers and fabric, all for SAL's with the Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks Yahoo Group

Books I Bought Before Christmas

The two books on each end are older books I bought from half.com, though they are brand new, and the one in the middle was a book I just love. It came through the mail when I sent in a post card with a yes in the correct box. One of those deals that you get a free gift whether you decide to keep it or not. Yeah, I'm a sucker, LOL!

Fa La La Progress

This is my latest WIP, "Fa La La" by Little House Needleworks. I'm a slow stitcher, and this is deceivingly short and simple at first glance. It seems I've put an awful lot of time in on this one, but it's sooo worth it, and I'm nearly done. I need to pick up my other WIP, then pick up another to keep me inspired. I'll post pix when I get to them.

I was up till the wee hours last night because I tried using another template (not this one) and ended up losing all my blinkies, blogroll, etc. I started over and still working on it, but I've knocked off because of bleary, tired eyes. A blog wasn't built in a day, but I was horrified. Can you imagine?

Ornament Made Before Christmas

I belong to a local stither's group which meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Since I'm catching up my stitching from over the last 6 months (which is nothing to brag about so have to remember every little piece), here is a little ditty I did for our special occasion before Christmas. We did it party style, with goodies from home to eat. There was no stitching done at that meeting. Next Tuesday is our next meeting. We meet at a local restaurant to eat (changes monthly), and we spend the evening shopping at the LNS that hosts it, stitching, and talk, talk, talking. It makes for a fun evening.

Bear In His New Home And My New WIP

After finding my SIL's nearly finished piece of Bear, I got a couple of pix wandering from top to bottom of his new home.

I thought it would be perfect to write my SIL's name, dates of birth and death and add the info about this being her cat on the right side of the XS'ed picture.

Death In the Family

Here I am; same place, six months later. I have several things finished, more stash, and it will take some time to get pix up to make it more interesting.

On December 27th, I lost my sister-in-law. She had just bought her first piece of real estate, a beautiful new duplex in Oswego, IL, close to the suberbs of Chicago. She only had four months in which to enjoy it before she died outside blowing snow in bitter cold.

We have 4 kitties, and couldn't get any of her friends to take her Bear, a large, beautiful gray tabby male with pretty white markings. We tried to find a good home for him but decided there was no place like our home. We inherited a new kitty to make me more of a crazy cat lady, but we're very happy with him, and he's adjusting well. Only one of our other kitties has kept her distance, but it's changing, slowly but surely. Her estate has a long time to be settled, but I am getting her cross stitch as well as Bear. I'll be getting that soon, but I just found a kit that she had almost finished: the spitting image of Bear. I need to finish the back stitching. Finding it made me cry. I know she is happy that we took her Bear to come live with us. No one could have loved him more. I'll get his pic up here along with the cross-stitched image.

It's good to be back on the Internet.