Bday gift from Dawn And Selina And some Crocheting

Sorry its taking me so long to post this. I received Dawns wonderful gift on Wednesday. Unfortunately thats also the day our computer completely crashed. It said windows was no longer there and so we had to completely re install windows and am now working on re installing everything else. Dh finally reinstalled the camera software last night but I was too tired to post anything. Okay enough yapping heres her wonderful gift:

The orange and brown thing is a bobbin potholder, its so cute! I want another, lol. And do you see the adorable needleminder? It has my initials on it and its my favorite color, purple! And she included 2 adorable kits. And she cross stitched that cute Happy birthday fold. Thank you Dawn!

I also received a generous gift certificate from Selina to linabear and so I ordered three biscournu patterns:

Autumn Flowers

Bellflowers

Shared Love

Thanks again Selina!

And in the meantime my cross stitching has slowed a bit. I'm not working on anything though it all nags at me to stitch something. Instead I have been crocheting these sweaters for my girls in Red Hearts Plum pudding. I know its still summertime. But I plan to give the sweaters to my DD's in November for their birthdays. One is on the 14th and the other is the 24th on Thanksgiving. I wasn't sure how long they were going to take so I wanted to start now. Their going pretty fast though. I started on Destiny's first and I already have the front and back done and am working on sleeve #1. Heres a preview from a few nights ago. I'll try and take another picture tonight. And Hopefully I will have some stitching to show you too soon since I have a charity square due Oct 1st and I haven't even started it yet! Yikes!

Heres a close up of the squares. The front and back are made entirally of little 2 inch squares. I had to make something like 72 squares for Destinys sweater. And heres what pattern I am doing so you know what they will look like when finished:



This is from Hooked on Crochet magazine August 2005 in case anyone wanted to know.

Exchanges

Just posting that yesterday afternoon I mailed out my monochromatic colour exchange and also my squares for Ulla for the F&S Exchange. I'll post pictures of both once they are received.

Birthday gifts, exchanges and a new finish!

First of all I have to say a HUGE thanks to Jenna and Michelle.

Yesterday I received a gift certificate from Michelle for Down Sunshine Lane. I was thrilled and heres what I got:

Romance In Bloom by dragonfly stitchersAnd San Man's Winter square. I also bought some beads and some Krienik floss and some beading needles since mine are too big for the beads I have. Again Thanks a ton Michelle! Its okay that you didn''t get a chance to send something stitchy. :)

And Jenna had my name for the xmas/bday club. She heard I really wasn't doing much of anything for my bday so she sent me 2 packages full of wonderful gifts:

Notice anything? Look at what she stitched. That's Right! Its part of the set I ordered last night! LOL She made a sachet, scissor fob with scissors, Altoid tin made up beautifully, and a biscournu. The scissor fob she stitched over one on some very tiny count, maybe 32 or higher. She also included 3 hand towels to stitch on, 4 fat quarters, some awesome cross stitch fabrics from silkweaver, some french cards with a matching journal. And a bunch of floss, which Jenna I can tell I didn't have. Theres some DMC including a Precious Metal effects, The Gentle Art threads a couple of carries creations, and some six strand sweets. I feel so spoiled these last two days. THANK YOU SO MUCH JENNA!!!!

And now onto stitchy finishes, I completed the second and final picture for my older sisters bday, now thy both needed washing, ironing and framing which I will get done this week.

Sorry for the dark picture. This fabric really is much lighter.

Brittercup Designs

Kitty with Mouse

16 Count Mint Aida

5 x 7 Inches

Also since my partner for the May Flowers Exchange flopped on me and didn't send, Judith who was running the exchange was oh so sweet as to send me a replacement, which I recieved the other day. Its just beautiful and I plan to fill it with lavender.

Thank you Judith!

HAPPY BDAY TO ME!!!!!!

Here is the second one I have decided to do for my older sisters bday. Though I haven't really gotten much done of it. I had migraines for nearly 3 days straight. No meds were working for me. So here is the little bit I of what I accomplished last night, before I got to talking to my lil sister on the phone till 430 am

As for my bday so far it hasn't been much of anything. Carol and Dawn both emailed saying they have sent me something. What sweethearts! I'm also in the bday/xmas club thing Becky started but I guess my partner is late sending out, though no email, so I guess I will email Becky so she can email my partner and see whats going on. Though the mail has been slow getting here lately so it could just be that. My family is also sending me gifts but I won't gt them for another month since thats about when they'll remember to mail them out. DH is still asleep, he got off work at 0600 so he'll be up in another hour or so.

Well, I guess I am just going to relax on the couch and stitch the hours away. Chores can wait for tomorrow. :P

Finish!

Kitty with frog

Brittercup Designs

16 count Mint Aida

DMC Floss

5x7 inches

Well, this was a quick finish. It only took me a little bit of last night and today. It was so much fun, I think I will do another for her too. This will fit into a 5 inches x 7 inches frame. I also completed the finishing for my monchromatic exchange but don't want to post pictures since I don't know if my partner reads this so as soon as she receives it I'll post piccies!

Britty Kitties

Okay so I have finished the stitching on my monochromatic exchange. I just got into this groove last night and kept going till I was done. So tonight I will do the finishing and package it up. And since my older sisters bday is September 11th and she loves cats I decided to make my next project her bday gift. Its the top one in the frame:

Okay so I have ben working on my monochromatic exchange, but can't really show it to you yet. The mailout date is August 15th and I have ben dragging on this one. Not that i dont like it, I just feel like I am going through a 'I don't feel like stitching' thing.

And even more disappointing. My birthday is coming up on the 12th of this month and I doubt that the family and I will get to do anything at all for it. We have hit a snag in the money for at least the remainder of the year. I won't be participating in anymore exchanges until our finances are better and that also means no more stash buying for me either.....

The DH is now on 12 hour night shifts and comes home at 0600 and sleeps half the day and is useless the rest of the day till he goes to work. So I now have his extra duties it seems like. I still have PIF gifts to mail out too but it seems like they will be waiting a bit longer to go out. So since I have no real progress pictures to show you of anything I will leave you with this picture of Ruby. I found her this way when i woke up in the morning a few days ago. This is our bathroom.

Stitching and Castles

Well here is my Chinese Goddess of Mercy so far, I was stopped because my frame fell apart. so the DH took a day before he got around to fixing it for me. So in the meantime I worked on some PIF gifts and won about 16 new packages of Mill Hill beads on ebay for $20.00 USD. I crocheted this little needlebook too yesterday afternoon:

And here's it opened up:

And now for some fun pictures. This past Saturday we took a bus for 5 hours to visit two of the most famous castles in Germany, Hohenschwangau and Neushwanstein. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside though but they were awesome and we all definitly got more excercise than we had bargained for. It was a 20 minute walk one direction to one of the castles and then 45 minutes to the other castle in the opposite direction, and we were rushing all the way just to make our tour times.

This one is the princess castle but from the backside as thats where the trail was to go up it. We didn't have time to go around to the front and take pictures. We had a five hour drive back and a bunch of people waiting on us so we plan to go back on our own next time, it should only take about 3 hours to drive there the way my DH drives plus we have a GPS so we won't get lost like the bus driver did.

Neuschwanstein Castle
Southwest Bavaria, Germany Built: Construction began in 1869 by Ludwig II, King of Bavaria. Pop culture connection: The design pays homage to the operas of Richard Wagner. It served as an influence for Cinderella's castle in Disney's Magical Kingdom, and Oroduran Castle in the 8th Pokémon Movie. Highlights: Its fantastical nature isn't owed to an architect, but to theatrical set designer Christian Jank. It features a room made to look like a cavern, and a secret flushing toilet in the master bedroom.

Trips and surprises!

I havdn't realized it has been that long since my last post. So Sorry everyone! Just working on some PIF gifts and still thinking about what I am going to stitch for my monochromatic exchange.

This past Saturday I went on this very long one day trip to Weinfurtner Das Glasdorf, its a glass making place near the Czech border. I had high hopes for it since we were suppose to get to see them making the glass. It was only suppose to be a three hour drive there and it turned out to be four hours since the driver got lost. We spent hours there looking around but never saw anyone actually making anything. What a dissapointment! The landscape was pretty though. It was a four hour drive home too. I went with a group of people and the DH stayed home with the girls.

Here's as you walk into the place.

This is an actual fountain with running water down the sides.

And upon my arrival Saturday night, the bus got back on base at 930 pm. My DH and DD's gladly welcome me back and I explain to him while we were late. Turns out the guy at the CAC place that coordinates the trips had no clue there was a trip or even how to get in touch with the driver so my DH was worried the entire time we were late. We were suppose to be back at 8 pm. Anyway my DD's tell me there is a surprise for me at home so what do I see when I walk into the door, this darling 5 month old little kitten, so everyone meet Ruby:
Please ignore the stack of sirty dishes. As you can see my DH doesn't do dishes so after being gone for 14 hours, I had a dirty kitchen to clean. Anyway, Ruby has taken to the kids very well, she plays chase with them and even punces on them like there just huge kittens, lol.
I'll try and post a stitchy update tomorrow. :)

My name is Dorky Dippin Dunkin

can't wait to hear what your new name is. This just takes a minute and will make you laugh. MY NEW NAME IS IN THE SUBJECT.....DON'T LAUGH UNTIL YOU FIND OUT WHAT YOUR NEW NAME IS ..
We all need a little stress-reliever! This only takes a minute. Please don't be a bore and ruin it. We all want to know what your new name is! Sometimes when you have a stressful day or week, you need some silliness to break up the day. If we are honest, we have a lot more stressful days than not.. Here is your dose of humor...
A. Follow the instructions to find your new name.
B. Once you have your new name, comment here. And don't go all adult - a senior manager is now known far and wide as Dorky Gizzardsniffer!
The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Under pants And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names... So:

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your New first name:
a = snickle
b = doombah
c = goober
d = cheesey
e = crusty
f = greasy
g = dumbo
h = farcus
i = dorky
j = doofus
k = funky
l = boobie
m = sleezy
n = sloopy
o = fluffy
p = stinky
q = slimy
r = dorfus
s = snooty
t = tootsie
u = dipsy
v = sneezy
w = liver
x = skippy
y = dinky
z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:
a = dippin
b = feather
c = batty
d = burger
e = chicken
f = barffy
g = lizard
h = waffle
i = farkle
j = monkey
k = flippin
l = fricken
m = bubble
n = rhino
o = potty
p = hamster
q = buckle
r = gizzard
s = lickin
t = snickle
u = chuckle
v = pickle
w = hubble
x = dingle
y = gorilla
z = girdle

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:
a = butt
b = boob
c = face
d = nose
e = hump
f = breath
g = pants
h = shorts
i = lips
j = honker
k = head
l = tush
m = chunks
n = dunkin
o = brains
p = biscuits
q = toes
r = doodle
s = fanny
t = sniffer
u = sprinkles
v = frack
w = squirt
x = humperdinck
y = hiney
z = juice

Thus, for example, George W. Bush's new name is: Fluffy Chucklefanny. And remember that children laugh an average of 146 times a day; adults laugh an average of 4 times a day. Put more laughter in you life!

Exchange piccies

Today my squares cam in the mail from the F&S exchange. Here's what Tanya made and sent to me along with some scaps of fabric, thanks Tanya I love them:

Also my bookmark exchange came in from the Robins Nest. Catherine also sent me a pattern and the charms that go with it. The bookmark is designed by teresa Wetzler:

And heres another WIP pic of my chinese goddess, almost done with this page. Thank you everyone for all the kind comments on her, its rally helped keep me working on this moon.And one last picture. Its Destiny's school photo. Kiley is in it because the lady was so nice enough to put her in it. They normally don't do that kind of thing and I wasn't allowed to tell any of the other parents.

Chinese Goddess WIP

Okay so seeing everyones huge projects coming to life made me think of the BAP I have sitting in the office that I haven't touched in months. Why? Because that moon is huge and I am still on the first half and doing never ending DMC 745. I've used up two skeins already and still going if that gives you some idea of its largness. Anyway almost done with the second page of the 20 page pattern, though two of the top pages are completely empty. Anyway I got about 22 rows completed yesterday and I hope to get this page completed today.

And then I had to share this photo I snapped last night. This was Kileys way of not going to bed. She has daddy wrapped around her little pinky.

2nd and 3rd PIF gifts

Well, I completed my second PIF gift and made some headway on the third, which I will complete today.

And here is the current WIP to be completed today It will be a cupcake pincushion, It still needs decorations and its wrapper.

EDIT: later on today:

I finished the pincushion cupcake so be honest everyone. :)

And also it has been brought to my attention that I didn't have a link to my wishlist so now it is up there in the sidebar below my completed projects link.

Crochet Hat

Well, this is what I have been working on sicne yesterday. Its the beginnings of this cute hat pattern I found in on of my crochet books. The background you see is my diningroom chairs. My DH is rearranging everything in our house so now our house lookslike we are moving in still after 2 years or almost 2 years of being here. We got our names and their fav colors for the monochromatic colors exchange so now I have to think up what I am going to make for it. This will be fmore fun though since of their fav colors is also mine.

Baby Blanket

Well, here is my progress so far, but I ran out of red so it looks a little lopsided right now. But once its completed and then blocked it should be fine. I have the yarn on order so when it gets here I can continue it, so for the meantime its getting put away and I am going to get working on those PIF gifts again. I'm so behind on them, its driving me crazy. And since I feel like crocheting the next PIF gift is going to be crocheted. =)

F&S Exchange

Well, I was just about peeved when I came out of the bathroom after completing the little house sampler. I came out of the restroom and my 2 year had to help mommy cut off the border strings and in her attempt she cut a hole in the fabric next to the number one. So I had to redo my square which is what I have ben working on since my last post. I opted to leave the house white this time as I liked it better that way. Heres a pic:

I then carefully cleaned and ironed it and put it into the envelope and sealed it safely inside. I mailed it off today so she will get it soon. I also signed up for round 2.

I have still been crocheting the baby blanket too but no pics this time of it. Its halfway done and now with my full attention on it at least tonight I hope to get a hug portion done of it. Though I know I am going to run out of yarn soon and I can't go pick more up for at least another week. But thats ok I have other stitchy projects to work on too! =)

F&S Exchange

Okay so I still can't get the images from my camera but I did take okay ones with our webcam. I apologize for the quality, theres bad lighting in the room. Heres my square for the fair and square exchange. Tanya likes houses and samplers so I kinda joined them both. The house is from Herb Garden by Leisure Arts. I still need to stitch up the second square with the personalization but that will be a quicky.

And here is the pic of the PIF gift I had finished earlier:

Its one of the motifs from this month Gift of Stitching magazine. The Dutch Sampler. If you look for it its the lower left motif on page 7.

I want to thank everyone for their lovely comments, I appreciate them very much. I'm sorry I have not been commenting on all of your blogs lately. I just haven;t had much time to sit down at the computer. I have the kids home for summer vacation through September and they rarely give me a moments peace. I am reading your blogs though. =)

1st PIF gift done!

But I can't show it to you since I can't figure out how to get it from m camera to my computer. Kiley destroyed my memory card and I don't know where the original one is and so I am trying to figure out how to go from the dock to the computer. If not then I will buy another card on Friday and then I can show it to you guys. But I won't say who its going to. =)

Thanks for the nice comments, I read them all and appreciate them a lot. I am a lot more relaxed today. I have a bit of a clogged nose which kept me up all night cause thats when it ants to be a waterfall, but other than that i am doing better and getting back into my stitching. My material came in for the fair and square exchange and I have everything ready to go, so I will be working on that and my next PIF gift. =)

Bleh!

That's how I feel at this point. My entire week has been and still is tiring and exhausting! Firts of all we had to clear a ton of stuff out of the community storage area because the SGT upstairs swears he saw a baby rat there. So DH and I go downstairs and load all our stuff that we are tossing onto a borrowed truck and he drives it to the junkyard, 2 trips there and I felt we barely made a dent. Then our pregnant friends come over to look at whats left, i.e. all the baby furniture from our now 2 year old Kiley. They pick out what they want, we decide on prices and DH hauls it to their storgae until they get their housing. Now they left on vacation and I have yet to get paid but DH ensures me I have nothing to worry about and when they return on Thursday in two weeks, we will get said money. I'm like uh huh we have been burned before (not from these people). Then this week was my DD last week of sure start. We got her yearbook and the thing that made me laugh is one of the pictures when I was volunteering there made it in, and Kiley (the 2 yr old) made it in the yearbook, LOL. Anyway there was tons of stuff being sent home, homework to finish up, digging for crayons to finish homework, and tons of house cleaning and organizing being done. And I have been outside with the kids in the heat all week for at least 4 hours a day. I'm exhausted! I have stitched a little this week though. I am working on a PIF gift and I also pulled out my Chinese goddess and filled in a little bit of the never ending yellow moon. But mainly I am tired and I don't want to do anything but crawl back into bed. But there is still tons of laundry to wash, dry, fold and put away and the house needs to be spotless before tomorrow. As we are going Kayaking tomorrow all day and there is a sitter coming to watch the kids. And you all know how we hate for people to see our house messy. There is some other stuff I wanted to say but will do that later since I need to put the kids to bed and I think I am going to take a little nap myself before I have to finish up the laundry and the house.

Book/bookmark exchange & baby blanket

Well stitchy news first: I received my book.bookmark exchange from Margie, she did a wonderful job!

Now on to other news, my pregnant friend Enya just found out shes having a boy! Which is great since thats what she wanted, though her DH wants a girl. Anyway, I have started a baby blanket for the little tike:

I thought about adding a hunter green into the mix but then I have to order it and then wait. The blanket will be about 35 inches once completed. I also want to make a pair os socks, a hat and an outfit to go with the blanket all in matching colors kinda like one big set.

My DH already told her I was going to make her something for her baby and thats why I wanted to know the sex when she found out. I was so mad at him for it since I wanted it to be a surprise, though she has no idea what i am making for her so I told my DH to keep his lips zipped.