Are You Bored???

It's late Friday night, well okay, it's early Saturday morning. And I'm sure you all have much more exciting lives than I do! :) But as I was looking around Facebook, I found this video.

Kodiak, Alaska is the town where I was born and lived for twenty years. And it's pretty awesome. It's really strange actually. Growing up there, was never any big deal...it's just what it was. But looking at something like this video, compared to where I live now, makes me really realize what I had.

I admit I watched a lot of it in fast-forward, it's long...almost six minutes. But the first few minutes are so pretty!

I think I'm going to call it a night. Enjoy if you feel like it! :) You won't hurt my feelings if you don't, cause I'll never know!!

I Heart Coupons

Have I ever told you that I love coupons?! I just hate to pay full price for anything... (well, maybe for cross-stitch, does that ever go on sale?!)

Anyway, we have some stores here that double coupons on a regular basis, and sometimes triple them. I got some great deals today! :) I'm sure you really want to know what they were, so I'm going to tell you!

Box of Cheerios $3.00----I paid .58
Canned Chicken $1.99----I paid .55
Little individual microwave Chef Boyardee $1.15----I paid .11
Deodorant....I paid .25
Frozen Tony Pepperoni Pizza $1.49----I paid .11

Just a sampling, I don't want to be a total nerd and admit I remember lots of the prices. I mean, if it's a good deal, how can you forget that?!

I walked out of Harris Teeter with four bags of groceries, and paid a little over $10. Walked out of Kroger with six bags and paid about $15. I just happened to walk into Kroger when they brought two cart fulls of "damaged" product out front. I got lots of stuff for .50, and the only problem was the box was dented on the side. Even got something for the kitty: Organic Cat Food $5.99-----for $1.25. I only bought one bag and there were two there, what was I thinking??!!

Went to the gym today, went to four grocery stores total, took my youngest to lunch....quite a busy day so far! No time for stitching, but I'm hoping to make up a bunch of cording this afternoon to finish up some of the ornaments I have put together, but not finished completely.

I finished three more little ornaments last night, I just used the biscornu method of connecting backstitch to put them together. Boy, are the cute! In fact, maybe my favorite so far. I'll post a picture later, first I've got to go unpack groceries!

p.s. if this bores you like it bores everyone I know, just act interested! that's what Mike and the boys do! Now if I call my Grandma (age 92) she'll be excited! Well, at least she's a good actor!

Happy Fall Ya'll

We had a great weekend at the beach! Perfect weather...we had one downpour, and I mean a soaker! But it happened when the 200+ teens and their leaders were inside with their groups. Perfect timing.

On the way back, we passed this little pumpkin stand and thought we might buy one of their huge pumpkins.

When we got out of the car and saw the sticker price of $35-40 for each pumpkin, we figured we'll settle for a few cute pictures!

As you can tell the boys were FREEZING! I think the temperature, after a two hour drive from the beach, must have been at least twenty degrees cooler! And it was windy too-check out Luke's new do!

Luke-who desperately needs a haircut, but I'm not ready to fight that battle!
Andrew, who absolutely lives in this green jacket!

What?! A nice picture of them together?! I think they were too cold to put up a fight!


You've probably seen this a million times! But last year, when we passed this same stand, it was the first time EVER I'd seen real pumpkins grown in a real field! (I'm from Alaska, don't hold it against me!) As we were leaving, there was a HUGE pumpkin field across the road, I am half tempted to go back just to take a picture! I think it's so neato!

Happy Fall! :)

JCS Ornaments

Since 2000, I have been buying the JCS Ornament Issue and loving each and every one of them! But I wasn't hardly stitching a single thing out of them. So last year, MD and I decided we ought to start stitching some. Last December that's about all I stitched.

Well, then the problem was I had all of these stitched ornaments that weren't finished into anything. (You know I HATE that part of stitching!) So this month, I decided I've just got to get them done!

Most aren't very fancy, cording is about as good as it gets for me! And some don't even have the cording attached yet, but at least they are stuffed, right?!

You'll have to forgive my little "No Peeking" ornament. I had put him together a few years ago with HOT GLUE and it looked terrible! So I took it apart, but it only left me about four linen threads past the main stitched area to work with. So he's still kind of crooked, but at least he looks decent! I love his cording!

I've wanted to stitch these little boys in the bed for years! And finally got it done. As you can see, I still need to figure out how to finish it off, but I love all the little buttons. The pattern had a boy and girl, but since I have two boys, I changed it. :) And don't you love the little piece of candy?! Yum! I need to find a candy cane button for the middle of the ribbon and two glass round beads. (HEY MD, do you have two glass beads?) And I LOVE the Noel one in the background. Love those colors!

The Santa isn't from JCS and neither is the pink snowman. The snowman was a freebie on line, isn't he a cutie? I love it on the pink fabric! The little red bird was my favorite when he was stitched, not sure he's too great at the moment. These all need little hangers or cording or SOMETHING! But at least they are closer to being finished!

Whoops, I put the cardinal on here twice! I do love him! The poor little deer (he's not from JCS either) I just couldn't figure out how to finish him off. I think I'll stitch with the red and green cording, I like that, and take off the shiny hanger. Oh and the poor little October scarecrow got confused and went into the wrong picture! :) Still need to add triming for these guys too.

Then in adition to all this: JCS decided to do a Halloween Issue last year and boy were there some cute ones! And another one this year, so I had to stitch something from that too! The little witch isn't from JCS, she's a little pattern from somewhere! LOL She was supposed to have a silver charm for a necklace, but I had the little pumpkin and I think he's cute! Can you see the spider on the kitty?

And for when finishing gets way too annoying, I'm working on this project. It's called "A Maker and a Mender". It's gonna be great. The colors aren't as true as they are in their cover picture, but I think they'll be fine. I'm a little worried about how soft the pink is, I might have to change that.

This will go on the back of the project. I just need to finish the vines. This part is all over one.

And here's how it will look when it's finally finished!


Well, I'm off this computer for the weekend. DH has a weekend trip planned for 200+ teenagers at the beach. Hope we don't freeze to death!

Oh, and yes I've spent way too much time finishing ornaments. My house is messy, the boys rooms are terrible, I'm taking care of the bathrooms TODAY, at least my laundry is done, right?!!

Sadly, I still have around ten ornaments to finish off. I haven't even started with any in this years JCS ornament issue. I'm making myself finish the others first! I have to give one up for an exchange at my stitching retreat in a few weeks...whichever one will I give up?!

Have a great weekend ladies!

The Travelling Sisterhood is on her way to the UK! I mailed her yesterday.

Unfortunately Sara....

So I was over at Monique's blog and she suggested that you go to Google and type in "unfortunately" followed by your first name....

Here is my favorite one:
"Unfortunately, Sara's is trying to be too many things and ends up being mediocre overall."

HMMM???

Luke was back to school today for a half day. And tomorrow is a full day of field trips, which I volunteered for. Today I learned it is going to be a two mile walk/hike back to the "rock" and two miles back! What was I thinking??!!! I prefer the mall field trips!

He's not patiently waiting for me to come lay down with him for a few minutes, it's our Wednesday night ritual!

I've been finishing lots of ornaments, I'll post some pictures soon. Sure wish I was more creative! I'd still rather be stitching then finishing!!

She's Ready to Travel...Sort of!!

Here she is! :) And she's ready to travel! This time she will be going to the great country of ENGLAND to visit Carol R. There is an itty, bitty, tiny issue! My youngest has managed to get the flu somewhere over the weekend. So we are stuck in the house for the next few days at least! She will be mailed as soon as he goes back to school. Hopefully by Wednesday or so!

In case you were wondering, no she does NOT have a nose! LOL She did have one, but we did some cosmetic surgery and removed it! I like it much better this way!

The first picture shows the colors much clearer, don't you love that red?! I love how the red changes shades! But here she is in her full glory! (well maybe her full, fuzzy glory! didn't want to spend too much time taking a perfect picture!)

I've loved every minute of her visit with me! It's great fun to be included in the journey! I loved all the visitors that she brought to my blog. Hope you will stick around!

On a side note: I've been invited to stitch with some ladies who do quilts for sick children. I first learned about them through the 123mb. There is a little boy Sam, age 8, out there that is really sick. They are making him a cool quilt! Here is my square! :)



And there's another little fellow out there who will be receiving a Cars quilt! Here's Flo!
She is stitched on 11ct aida with 3 strands of DMC! Quite a change from my over one stitching! :)


CAROL R I guess you need to email me with your address! Congrats!

Check me Out! :)

How cool am I?! :) Nobody answer that please! But go check out an old finished piece on the designer's page!

Come on, now that's cool!

Last Day to Sign Up!

Yup, she's gonna get ready to hit the road bright and early Monday morning. So end of today is the last chance to sign up! Can't believe 76 people want her, she must feel special! I've gotten to check out some new and very cool blogs from all the comments on that post!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll let you know, by posting here sometime over the weekend, where she is going next!

Framing

My mom was here visiting and decided that she wanted to frame some of the piles of cross-stitch I had under the bed! :) Such a great mom I have, right?

This one is the PS Nativity, stitched over one. I just love how the green frame goes with the fabric.

This is by LaDDa also stitched over one. It is stitched on hand-dyed fabric, but the streak on the left isn't that dark, at least I didn't notice that it was! LOL

This is an old Dimensions kit that I stitched in 2007. It's a countdown for Christmas, oh an advent calendar! I forgot what it was called. (and it's stitched on 14 ct. aida..HORRORS! lol)

See there are numbers behind each ornament. All the itty bitty ornaments are stitched on plastic canvas. (ick) and are to be taken off and put on a tree to count down the days. I'll probably just leave it as it is and add it to my nativity collection!

I forget who this nativity is by. I thought it was kind of goofy, until I realized the meaning behind it! It has to do with an old hymn, course at the moment I forget what it says! I'm going to attach it to the back of the frame, so I won't forget. I forget who this one is by. There are white snow flakes that at as a border, but you can't really see them in this picture.

This is an OLD OP chart, that my bestest friend MD and I both stitched. It's called A Present For Sewing Well. You can't see it too well, but you can see the size of it!


I really came upstairs to upload the picture of my finished Traveling Stitcher, but realized I haven't taken a picture of her yet! I'll do that later today!

Thanks for looking.

Ornament Finishes

So I was a little worried that nobody would find my blog to sign up for the Traveling Stitcher! But guess I was wrong! I'll have a name to pass it along to by Friday.

I have a huge pile of stitched ornaments that have got to be finished! So I did a few this weekend. I am feeling a little more comfortable...I even sewed my trim on! I'm so proud of myself, I usually use fabric glue! (shh)

This poor little guy has been sewn and ready for almost a year, all I needed to do was sew the opening closed. Then I found this little ribbon and decided to add that instead of my usual cording! He's from an old JCS ornament issue.

This lovely guy was a freebie from Daffycat! I tried a few different combos for the cording before I got it about right.

This is a freebie out there somewhere, both are backed with the same fabric. Wasn't it a perfect match? I probably should have used a lighter brown for the reindeer, but I stitched him before I saw the fabric.

This little guy was a freebie on the internet. The pictures don't do it much justice! The fabric is a dyed brown with little spots of pink, and the thread matches it just perfectly. The four sides are stitched, a freebie online. The top and bottom are empty.

Oops I can see I need to push some pins down!

Everyone needs a stitched cherry pie, right? This has been stitched a long time, but took forever to find the right size pan! And to make the cording fit right, etc! I have no idea what to do with it, I just wanted it! :) It's from an old magazine, not sure which one!

This is my first circle EVER! I'm still trying to decide what to do with the edges, I'm going to ask my friend MD tomorrow.

My mom was here for a few days, and we took a bunch of stuff to the framers! She called and they are ready, after only about five days at her shop. I'm going to go pick them up tomorrow and meet MD for lunch! :)

Stitching and friends, can't beat that!

She's Ready to Travel!

Check out the cool funky fabric I happened to have that matched just perfectly! And even made some trim today!

Alright Ladies! :) She is ready to travel! She's no longer topless..and is ready to get moving!

At the moment my camera is misplaced! It's not lost, at least I don't think it is! Not sure how long I'll leave the contest open, I guess we'll see how many responses I get in the next few days. I'll wait at least until next Friday to draw a name. Just leave a comment on this post, make sure I can get your email from your post. Can't wait to see where she travels next!

(picture coming soon, I hope!)

Below is her journey! :)

Harmien in the Netherlands (November 3, 2007)

She sent it to Lili in France (June 17, 2007)

Who sent it to Barbara in Malaysia (June 25, 2007)

Who sent it to Tessa in Australia (July 16, 2007)

Who sent it to Lizzy in North Carolina, U.S. (February 26, 2008)

Who sent it to Barbara in the Netherlands (March 11, 2008)

Who sent it to Sarah (no blog) in Ohio, U.S. (April 11, 2008)

Who sent it to Anna in Pennsylvania, U.S. (May 28, 2008)

Who sent it to Wendy in Ontario, Canada (July 4, 2008)

Who sent it to Sue in Michigan, U.S. (August 2, 2008)

Who sent it to Jennifer in Pennsylvania, U.S. (September 2, 2008)

Who sent it to CJ in Texas, U.S. (October 25, 2008)

Who sent it to Claire in Nova Scotia, Canada (January 20, 2009)

Who sent it to Kathy in Arizona, U.S. (February 18, 2009)

Who sent it to Carol in Indiana, U.S. (March 15, 2009)

Who sent it to Carolyn in California, U.S. (May 20, 2009)

Who sent it to Sharon in Oklahoma, U.S. (August 8, 2009)

Who sent it to Jill in Minnesota, US (??not sure what date!)

Who sent it to Sara (me) in North Carolina, NC (September 2009)

Who to sent it to ????????

Leave a comment and we'll see where she goes next!

On a side note: This is the biggest xstitch sin, to me! Check out how much fabric I wasted! What was I thinking? Maybe I had planned to stitch her over two? I'm going to carefully cut her out and then use the rest of the fabric for little ornaments or fobs or something! I HATE wasting linen!

Quick Question

I have some pictures I want to show you guys, but how do I make a new post, but keep the contest post at the top of the page?

When I find out the answer, I'll delete this post so the contest can be at the top again! I'm loving all my readers! :)

Here She Is! :)

Ta Da!

She's almost topless at the moment, but at least she's not headless anymore!

As you can tell, I had stitched the words in green, but the r and t just really blended into the skirt colors. Who knew that green would blend into purple? So I found this brighter pink/red color and wanted to make sure it wasn't going to do the same thing. So I frogged the r and t to make sure, before I frogged all of it!

I think the red will be fine, I still like the green better, but I wanted to be able to read the words too!

I'm going to do the border on the bottom that she stands on, in green and the leaves between the words will be green too. So I think it will all work fine.

Now, I just have to frog all that green, over one stitching!!

She's pretty tiny. I just grabbed a random piece of fabric, and it's got to be 32 or maybe 36. I'm hoping to be done this week and start the drawing by the weekend. We'll see if it works according to plan!

My momma comes to town on Saturday. Today is going to be spent cleaning and straightening up! Hopefully I'll be able to stitch a few hours at some point today!