Summer Exchange and some new trinkets.....

Look what the UPS man brought me yesterday. It is my Summer exchange from Michele. This exchange is between a group of us on the Stitching Friends through the Seasons blog.

Michele stitched a Blackbird design called Small Token. Of course I just love it as I am into stitching Blackbird designs. The patriotic pillow is a freebie design called 4th of July Quaker Style. Now the funny thing about the 4th of July design is I just stitched that design on Tuesday night!!! Great minds think a like:)

Here is the rest of the exchange. Michele knows how to put together a great exchange. She always sends me things in my new favorite color--green. I received a piece of linen from R & R Reproductions it is 32 count Sea Fog, a pair of green scissors, a roll of fat eighths, some heart pins, a accessory gift set from My Big Toe Designs, a really neat pincushion that also holds a scissors and a small patriotic basket and flag and some mints.

Thank you so much Michele.

Now on the accessory/trinket front I purchased this Ultra Magnifier Light by Craftlight. Now the great thing about this magnifier is the long neck. It does have a built in light which isn't that bright, so I also purchased a Dritz Flexible LED light. It wraps around the neck of the magnifier and you can point the light right on your fabric, it also sits on a table or can be mounted on a wall or side of a sewing machine. Now the other great thing about these two trinkets was the price. The Ultra Magnifier was only $25.00 at my LNS and the Dritz LED light was only $8.00 after using a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's. I am set for when I go traveling now!!!!

This is a portable LED light from Ott Light. This is really a BRIGHT light. It has a clip or will just sit on a table.

This is what it looks like when it is open. The cost of this light was $10.00 after using a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's. Oh how I love those 50% off coupons. And remember it's not what you spent, but what you saved!!!!

So I will have to say I have had a pretty good week. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Stitching.

Antique shopping and more

On Saturday the DH and I went out for lunch and then hit a couple of Antique shops. Here are my finds. I bought an old wrought iron--iron, two thread/yarn spools, a flower frog, an old hand forged scissors, some black heart valentine trim, buttons, a bone dish and box of DMC thread. It looks like it was made for traveling emergencies. Not sure how old it is but looks like it could be from the sixties.

Then I bought this Lizzie Kate scissors kit with Jill last Wednesday and got it stitched up and did the finishing last night. I think it turned out pretty cute.

I entered a drawing last month on Berit's blog for this biscornu and I was the lucky winner. It is a wonderful biscornu. I just love it. Thank you Berit. I am sorry I didn't get it posted earlier.

I stitched this pyn pillow for Edgar as a little Thank you for being an angel stitcher for my for my birthday a year ago. It is Cranberry Deer Pinkeep by Beehive Needleworks. I knew that Edgar liked deers and thought this was perfect for him. I have stitched this twice now and think I will do one for myself.

I also sent off a summer exchange for the Friends Stitching Through the Seasons blog. My exchange went to Melissa of the Daily Mel. Now with that being said, I forgot to take a picture of the exchange, so you will have to visit Melissa's blog if you want to see it.

Now I think I have gotten somewhat caught up on blogging. I seem to have a hard time with getting my blogging done in a timely fashion. I am hoping to change that.
Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone Happy Stitching.

Long overdue post

Again it has been awhile since I have posted. Much has been going on. I just returned home from a trip to Chattanooga, TN and Atlanta, GA where two of our daughter's live.

Here are two of the reasons we were in Chattanooga. Emily Kate who is 18 months and Jacob who is 3 1/2 years old. Our oldest daughter Melissa and her hubby Shad are the parents of Emily and Jacob. We spent a couple of days with them and then we drove down to Atlanta to spend a couple of days with our daughter Karissa and her hubby Jason. This was our first trip to see their new house. After a couple of days in Atlanta were went back to TN and left for home on Saturday and made the drive back to Minnesota in one long day. After 16 hours we were back at home.

So with all that being said on our way down south we made a couple of pit stops to some cross stitch shops. Our first stop was to Country Sampler in Spring Green, WI.
Our next stop was at the Needle and I in Rockford, Ill. Then we hit Tomorrow's Heirlooms in Glen Ellyn, Ill. After all those stops we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and stayed at a hotel in Mattoon, Ill. I checked out the phone book in Mattoon and lo and behold there was a cross stitch shop there. So on Friday morning before we left Mattoon we of course checked out Stitcher's Express. After all these stops here is--- the stash I acquired---

I picked up these scissors at Tomorrow's Heirlooms. DH said I should have two of them, not sure why though. More for the collection!!

My DH also thought I needed this cute little scissor/needle case. So he bought this little treasure for me from Stitcher's Express.

I still have a few more things to post but I will do that in the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Stitching.

New Treasures and some more finishes.....

I have been wanting to post some pictures for the last day or two but I was having some kind of computer/blogger issues. I think they have been resolved so I am going to give it another try.

Last Thursday was our anniversary, so the DH and I did a little road tripping over the weekend and hit an antique shop and I came away with these lovely items. The dish is called a "bone dish". I thought it was so cute and would be a perfect place to put buttons. I am collecting pearl buttons, so I bought a couple of jars of them. I think I will have enough for awhile. I also found some hat pins and crocheted lace. I have already put some of the pins and buttons to work. I can't wait to use the lace.

Then I have been on quite a binge of stitching pincushions. I stitched up this Shakespeare's Peddler "Ole Pincushion". It was stitched it on 32 count black with 2 threads of Belle Soie--Kiwi. This was a very quick stitch. I stitched it and finished it all on Monday.

As I mentioned I have been on a pincushion binge. I stitched this BBD--Bird in Hand on 36 count cream with Belle Soie Cranberry.

And yet another BBD--Bluebird, which I stitched on 32 count cream with Belle Soie Kiwi. So I guess mine would be a green bird. The back ground fabric is what I used on the back of the pincushion, along with some of the buttons and pins I bought the other day. I just love these pincushions.

I had this LHN design--Snowy Pines stitched up and was in a finishing mood, so I took care of this little ornament. It was stitched on home coffee dyed 32 count with DMC. Turned out pretty cute.

Last Sunday my DD and I framed these two pieces. They are Bent Creek Snappers. I stitched this back in 2003!!!! I can't believe it. My SIL made the frames and my DD painted them and we finally got them framed. One piece is mine of course and the other one is my stitching bud Lori's.

Over the last three Wednesday's my friend Jackie and I have been putting together these Christmas ornaments. Jackie and another stitching bud--Chris did the stitching of the ornaments and then I helped Jackie put them together. So we ended up assembling 26!!! No last minute Christmas rush this year!!!

Tulip House finish and a couple of other finishes

I finished the stitching of my Blackbird Designs retreat project called Tulip House. I went to my local thrift store and found this frame which I thought worked perfect. I like the texture of the frame and the good news is the frame cost $2.42.

This is the stitcher's box which is the companion piece to Tulip House. I really enjoyed this Blackbird Design retreat, so much so I will be going to another Blackbird Designs retreat at The Silver Needle with my stitching bud Cathy B. I think we have become BBD groupies:)

Here is my version of the BBD cupcake. The design is from BBD book Honeysuckle Manor.

Another thing I learned from Alma and Barb was how to dye headpins to make them look antique. As you can see from the picture I started out with the pins on the right and dyed them with the end result being the pins on the left.

I stitched these next two pieces when we were still in Aberdeen, but just framed them over the weekend. This design is LHN--Faith. I used this Mill Hill frame that I bought many years ago and found in my frame stash.

The Sampler Lady by LHN.

I found this frame at a antique shop and paid about $2 for it. I really like to use frames I find at antique or thrift shops. Sometimes I find a frame and then look for a project to fit the frame.

My Birthday Bash Retreat Slideshow!

Thank you to all the girls for a GREAT 50th Birthday Bash Retreat.

New header and life update....

It has been a month now since we have returned home from our nine months in Aberdeen, SD. With that being said I have put up a new header which conveys my feelings about being back home in Minnesota!!

Here is a picture of me on the day we left Aberdeen. I was very excited to be leaving for home. I have been so busy trying to get settled here back at home I have not had a lot of time to blog all the things that have happened in the last month so I am going to try to get caught up.

Here is a picture my stitching bud Lori modified for my scrap book. A cute little reminder of our days in South Dakota--As they say Great Faces, Great Places--South Dakota!!!!


I will be posting about my BIG birthday and a some other stitching related happenings in the next day or so..