Hooked on Stitches

Random Acts of Kindness 2012

2012-01-28T17:56:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking about how I can incorporate some "smalls" into my stitching this year and have finally decided that RAK's will work great. I decided late last year that I wanted to back away from exchanges but I'd still love an excuse to stitch up some of my smaller projects to keep me busy in between these larger projects! I don't know how many I will do or how often but I'd like to send out one per month starting in February.

If you'd like to be considered for a possible RAK then please leave a comment on this post only letting me know who your top 3 favorite designers are and then email me your snail mail address to apxstitch@gmail.com.

Everyone is welcome to join :)

Thanks for stopping by again!

Black Cats and Red Threads!

2012-01-27T22:47:00.002-05:00

I seem to have discovered a new "love" for larger projects! I've wanted to get back to this one since I started it last year. I love Halloween designs and lately I've been drooling over Blue Ribbon Designs too. I stitched across the tops of all the squares because I was terrified I would run out of fabric but it looks like I will be just fine after all :) Please excuse the wrinkles............

Below is a close up of the first square, minus the poor little birdies feet :) I will leave any and all details until the end of the design but I do hope to stitch some of the border as I go along.

Designer: Blue Ribbon Designs

Design: Black Cats and Flying Bats

Fabric: 32ct Steel Gray Belfast Linen

Floss: DMC equivalents

Date Started: October (ish) 2011

Designer: Bent Creek

Design: Red Thread Snappers

Fabric: 32 ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss: DMC equivalents

Date Started: January 2012

I finally got my first square complete on RT. As you can see I went overboard on the cut of fabric but when I don't start in the center of the design, I panic and tend to cut a mile more fabric that I need! I hope to stay on track with this project and stitch one square per month. If I manage to stick with this one (and I'll need some encouragement there) then this will be the largest project I will have completed!

I also finished up an exchange piece but that isn't due out until March and I'm currently working on a Birthday gift for my Stitching Sister, Lesleyanne. I think I know which ornament I am going to stitch in February but I'll share that in my next post.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :)

Distractions, Another Happy Dance and something you didn't get to see!

2012-01-18T22:42:00.002-05:00

It's a little difficult to get any stitching done when you get one of these.....

I'm not complaining too loudly though, it was a perfect price (aka free) and I have been enjoying a bit more blog browsing and researching my books, TV shows and movies! Plus the only person I share this with is my hubby :)

I did manage to do some stitching though, LOL. Me....not stitch.....yeah right! I finished my ornament for this month. Woohoo, another happy dance!

Blue Ribbon Designs "Frosty in the Firs"

JCS Ornament 2011 issue

32ct Clay Lugana

Recommended threads

I just realized that I completely forgot to show you this finish from last year!

LK Cinderella Is Proof Boxer

28ct Cream EW

DMC floss

And I"m almost finished the first square on Red Threads. I also picked up Black Cats and Flying Bats that I haven't touched since last year since I was having nightmares about not having enough fabric left to stitch it on and I put my mind to rest. I'm really enjoying stitching whatever I please and I'm kind of doing a lot of flipping back and forth. I'll share the RT and BC&FB projects with you in the next post.

I just made a tea and it's time to stitch while watching Revenge, which is such a great show! Anyone else like this one too?

So what did I start with, a Happy Dance and a Health scare!

2012-01-08T15:55:00.011-05:00

The grand unveiling is here.......

I decided I couldn't wait any longer to start Bent Creek Red Threads! I went down to my local LNS just after Christmas and got a couple of pieces of 32 ct Mushroom Lugana. This one measures 12x43 inches so it's a bit hard to handle but I really love this saying! I'd like to stitch at least one square per month and by the end of the year I should have a really great piece to add to my collection. I'll share my first stitching update with it next week :)

I'm challenging myself to stitch one ornament per month as well. I'll show a pic of the ornament at the beginning of each month and the finish at the end of the month. I'm hoping that will keep me on track :) I will use some of these as gifts at the end of the year. The ornament for January is...............

JCS Ornament 2011 Issue

Blue Ribbon Designs

And guess what else I get to share??????

My first Happy Dance of 2012!

Little House Needleworks Winter Band Sampler

28ct Mushroom Lugana

I loved every stitch of this design! I did take the liberty to change a couple of things. I substituted DMC 816 for the 221, I like my Christmas red to be red :) I added a bit of back stitch to the Snowman to make him stand out but I'm not sure I like it now and might change him back and I changed the lettering in Winter to the red so it would stand out better on my fabric. I have plans to stitch the Autumn Band Sampler soon, along with the Spring and Summer when they are released!

On a personal note, 2012 hasn't started out on the best foot. It turns out I have bronchitis, my hubby spent time in the Hospital but thankfully he is OK and at home now. His blood pressure was 219 over 120 (or something close to that) and they thought he may have had a stroke but all the tests (including a CAT scan) came back normal. He has heard the "wake up call" loud and clear and is now on blood pressure medication and a healthy lifestyle. The kids return to School tomorrow and hopefully I can get back into a more normal routine :)

You may have also noticed the introduction of a Reading challenge at the top of my blog! I have always loved to read, I work in the Library so that helps but I went through this awful time when it didn't matter what book I picked up I couldn't get into it! That lasted for about a year but now the reading bug is back in full force and with the help of my new Kobo I have set a couple of reading challenges for myself. I thought about starting another blog "Hooked on Books Too" but I have a hard enough time keeping up with this one and I didn't want either to suffer so I hope you will bear with me through a few book posts too. I might just change my mind again and start up another blog :)

Thanks for stopping by today! I don't get the chance to be online as much as I used to but that may change soon :) I think, I hope, I pray I might have my own laptop arriving soon (fingers crossed). Of course that might be a bad thing too!

2011: A Year In Review! Stitching Goals for 2012 too!

2011-12-31T19:30:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

I am so happy to leave 2011 behind and pray that 2012 will bring health, happiness and good luck for everyone!

I wanted to review my year of stitching in 2011......

32 Finishes (not as many as previous years)

22 Exchanges (too many again)
5 Gifts
5 ME stitches

Some of my absolute favorite finishes from this year are........

Exchange for Elisa

ME stitch

Stitching Sister Gift

Flatfold for Mom

Exchange for Mouse

ME finish

To be honest I'm a bit disappointed with myself :( I honestly just haven't felt like stitching for weeks and finishing is the last thing on my mind lately. Not sure what is wrong, maybe I'm just tired, burnt out or just not in the mood to stitch. I don't know but it has affected my blogging too, as I am sure you have noticed!

We start a New Year now and I do have new stitching goals to share. This is going to be the year I return to BAP (big ass projects). I have about 8 f them I would like to complete. Am I dreaming? Probably. But I just can't decide which one I want to stitch more......could you?

Bent Creek Red Thread Snappers

Lizzie Kate Halloween Double Flips

Lizzie Kate Christmas Double Flips

LHN Little House Neighbourhood

LHN Family Sampler

LHN Elizabeth Hancock

And how am I supposed to choose between these 3 lovely Sampler Company charts......

Sampler Company Red House Sampler

Sampler Company Sweet Humility

Sampler Company Country House Sampler

Willow Hill Samplings Alice's Lament

I've been promising my Daughter one of these beautiful ladies and I've been putting it off too long......

Mirabillia's Stargazer

Mirabillia's Sabrina

So as you can see I am going to have a very busy year and a very difficult decision deciding what to start first! I doubt I'll get all of these finished in 2012 but I'm personally challenging myself to see just how many I can stitch! LOL

Our Christmas was good but unfortunately was interrupted by the stomach flu that spent some time with each of us last week! My Son was hit the hardest with it, he is still recovering but the rest of us seem OK now.

Santa (aka my kids) were especially nice to me this year and got me this......

Apparently Santa knew how much I have wanted one and has been saving for it all year! LOL. Of course this could be part of the reason why I am not stitching as much :) I LOVE IT! Reading has always been a passion of mine too :)

My Mom really surprised me with this gift.......

Lizzie Kate 6 Fat Men

32 ct Mushroom Lugana

DMC threads

Isn't it gorgeous!? I love it and was totally not expecting it! This was one of the BAP I was going to stitch in 2012. I have it hanging right above my stitching chair.

I hope you will still continue to enjoy visiting my blog even though I won't have as many finishes to share with you. I have a feeling my Mom will still keep me busy finishing smalls for her but I don't have a lot of plans for stitching smalls myself.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have enjoyed my look back at 2011 and my look forward to 2012!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T19:06:00.001-05:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'll be back in 2012!

Taking a break....

2011-11-27T15:50:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I am going to be taking a break from my blog. Not sure how long I will be gone.

Thanks so much to everyone that stopped by my blog!

Happy Stitching,

Are you tired of Christmas yet?

2011-11-25T11:07:00.002-05:00

I hope not because this gorgeous exchange arrived from Lisa S on Wednesday morning and I just couldn't wait to show it off!

Sampler Girl "Good Tidings To You"

JCS Ornament Issue 2011

It's just gorgeous and I love it! Funnily enough I was stitching this same design for myself because I loved it so much but I wasn't sure how to finish it! Now I don't need to worry and will keep my finish for future use :) Thanks again Lisa!

My kids have both been sick with the flu and home for the past 3 days! I'm actually looking forward to working this weekend to get some peace and quiet :) LOL.

I have one last Ornament swap on it's way to it's new home so will share that soon. I think it was my favorite one for the year and I'll have to make one for myself.

Thanks for stopping by today~

More Christmas stitching!

2011-11-23T09:14:00.003-05:00

A group of 6 stitchers got together and started a new private group where we have arranged to exchange for 3 rounds. The first round was a Christmas theme and this is what I sent to my partner Lisa S....

Design: Prairie Schooler "Song of the Season"

OOP chart, my Mom's not mine :)

Fabric: 32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss is DMC as charted

Finished as a flatfold

I won't tell you how long it took me to stitch up this design but it seemed to take forever! LOL. I enjoyed every single stitch though and just like every other Prairie Schooler design I have stitched before, it grew more beautiful with every stitch! I borrowed the pics that Lisa took because I hit the delete button instead of upload on my computer! I'm so happy that Lisa loved this finish too, it turned out beautifully!

My exchange from Lisa is on it's way, hopefully it will arrive soon. Funnily enough we both mailed out on the same day and we had bets to see whose parcel would arrive first. Ha! I knew I would loose :0) I just wonder how many more days it will take for Canada Post to deliver it???

Thanks for stopping by again and your well wishes, my migraine is now gone ~

It's beginning to look like Christmas!

2011-11-22T23:03:00.002-05:00

I received the most lovely gift from Michelle last week.

She stitched me this Lizzie Kate pinkeep which has proudly joined my Christmas decorations. My Daughter wanted to put up the tree too and I put my foot down :) LOL. Putting up the tree means re-arranging all my furniture so it can actually fit in our Living Room! Not something I look forward to every year.

Please excuse me for being "quiet", I've had a dreadful migraine that has lasted for a few days now and it's really making me feel awful! I've suffered with migraines since I was 18 years old so this is nothing new to me, it's more annoying than anything else. I know what caused it too.....stress! Hopefully it will pass soon as I have more stitching to share.

At least the pain in my right hand side has diminished greatly but I'm still waiting on test results. I don't expect it to show anything wrong though, since increasing my Neurontin the pain has gradually subsided so it's very, very likely just nerve damage. I just wish both would go away!

Thanks for stopping by today ~

A little something for me.....

2011-11-04T09:30:00.001-04:00

My Mom stitched this Prairie Schooler design for me last year for Christmas and I thought it was about time to finish it into something! I've been trying to settle on a way to finish this.....

Design: PS December

Fabric: 32 ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss is DMC as charted

Finish as a stitchers box

I bet you're surprised to see another box finish, right? LOL. I did want a bit of a different look for this one so I asked me Dad to stain a box for me instead of painting it. I really am very pleased with the way it turned out and is a very welcome addition to my Christmas decorations!

I am so disappointed that I won't be able to send out any Christmas parcels this year to my stitching friends. I did manage to find a few extra hours at work this week (today and Sunday) but it's not long term or permanent so we need to be frugal until my hubby's hours pick back up again. The pain in my rhs is also still bad, I've increased my Neurontin but it's not helping this time around. I see my Family Doctor next week to see what else we can do.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today~

Fall exchange and a new direction!

2011-10-30T12:46:00.011-04:00

I've been patiently waiting for the "go ahead" to share this exchange with you all. I participated in the SWL Fall exchange and this is what I sent to my partner Pam......

Design: PS Acorns (OOP book)

Fabric: 28ct Autumn Fields Lugana

Floss as charted

Finished as a box

I got the most lovely Fall exchange in return from Ann (no blog). This box is truly stunning, she did a fabulous job on painting it and I simply love it! Thanks again Ann , I truly love everything that you sent!

Since my exchange stitching is winding down (only 2 to go and almost finished) I decided to join along in a SAL with my Stitching Sister Lesleyanne and Sally. I'm supposed to be stitching on Sundays and Tuesdays but so far I'm only managing the Tuesday. The weekends always seem to be too busy for me to find the time to stitch! How about you? Of course it doesn't help when you work a full day shift every other Saturday! This is my pitiful progress so far (hanging my head in shame)......

I also started this Prairie Schooler sampler (the middle design) that my Mom has had in her stash for a really long time. I have plans to stitch one of these band samplers to represent each season of the year.

My Mom doesn't have the Winter Samplers OOP chart so I decided to substitute it with a Christmas Sampler. I'm not paying the ridiculous amount of money they are selling for on Ebay and elsewhere! I still don't understand why a designer wouldn't be publishing her older charts when there is obviously still a demand for them and she could be making money (instead of someone else). Does it make sense to you? I've always wondered if there is another explanation for this happening? Perhaps copyright only lasts for so long. I'd love to know :)

In "other" news, my hubby has recently lost some hours at work and we have had to make some budget adjustments at home. Not a good time, right before Christmas! I'm trying to pick up some of the slack but it is challenging to find extra hours at other locations that work with my kids schedules. My health is still up and down.....I spend at least some part of each day in pain, probably from nerve damage! It is not completely unbearable but it is very annoying and I hate ~~talking~~ moaning about it too much. I've gained too much weight back again and I'm not happy about that either! LOL. Sometimes life can be challenging :)

I did some finishing this weekend too which I will share with you in my next post. I've been a very bad blogger and I'm behind on my reading/commenting but promise to catch up really soon.

Thanks for stopping by today~

Autumn Basket

2011-10-19T11:53:00.005-04:00

This one went to Elisa in the Seasonal Autumn Exchange Round.

Design: LHN "Autumn Basket" (part of)

Fabric: 28ct Autumn Fields Lugana

Floss is DMC as charted

Finished as a flatfold

Short and sweet today, thanks for stopping by.

Lizzie Kate Exchange

2011-10-11T18:10:00.023-04:00

I have been in a Christmas stitching mood lately and I love Lizzie Kate's Tiny Tidings series so I stitched this one up for my partner. I love making ornaments, I love hanging ornaments on my tree and I'm happy that Sharlene liked this one too.

LK Tiny Tidings XIV

32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss as charted

Finished as a flat ornament for Sharlene

My exchange was finally delivered by Canada Post, 19 days later, but it's been well worth waiting for! My picture does not do this pillow justice, please visit Karen's blog to see how pretty it is! I love it :)

LK "Love Blooms", Stitched on 28ct. linen w/DMC

from Karen T

It arrived at a "perfect" time and really cheered me up! I've spent the evening sleepless and in severe pain with some sort of a stomach bug/flu. I paced for about 6 hours and still felt awful! I packed the kids off to School this morning and sent myself straight back to bed. I haven't been in that much pain since all my Gallbladder problems, it was scary bad. At one point I thought it might be something worse but I didn't want to go to the Emergency room again! I don't feel too bad now, my stomach hurts and I feel extremely tired still but I think the worst of it has passed or at least I hope so!

Thanks for stopping by today. I will have some more stitching to share with you all soon.

Black Cats and Flying Bats!

2011-10-04T15:10:00.002-04:00

Since my exchange stitching is winding down for the year I have a bit more time to focus on starting one of my larger projects. Since I'm in a Halloween mood this is what I started......

Blue Ribbon Designs "Black Cats and Flying Bats"

My Mom and I went to our local LNS a couple of weeks ago to try to pick a fabric color for this design. Sometimes it is too difficult to try to guess the color online and I didn't think I wanted to go with the linen that was called for in the chart. The ladies were very helpful and pulled a lot of different colors for us from blue's to gray's and this is what I chose. Guess what? It's Linen too! It's a 32ct Belfast "Steel Gray" and it's the most perfect dark gray/blue for this design. I am not having any problems stitching with it either!

When I got home and measured it though I got worried about the size of the fabric cut! So I decided to start in the middle and stitch all the way across the top to one side to make sure there was enough room for framing. It's close.......just over 2 inches as shown above! What do you think? I'm the type that is over excessive and likes to leave about 6 inches on either side.

I decided to carry on with it (sorry about the wrinkles) and chance it, since I think there will be enough room or so my Dad says and he is my framer :) I'm stitching it with DMC and I'm really enjoying it! It's so nice to be working on something for me for a change. I did get a bit more done than shown in the picture but I'll save that for the next post.

Thank you to everyone for my Birthday wishes. I am glad I decided to continue blogging too :)

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-10-02T12:10:00.002-04:00

I celebrated another Birthday on Friday and I really wanted to share the lovely gifts that I have received from my wonderful stitching friends! I will share them in the order that they arrived.

This one is from my Stitching Sister (and great friend) Lesleyanne. She stitched me this Quaker Snowman and finished him into a little pillow. I love Snowmen and don't have this one so it is perfect! I am very proud to own something stitched/finished by my Stitching Sister :) She also sent me "Olga" a chart I've had my eyes on since it was released which I can't wait to stitch and she also sent me some of my favorite Earl Grey tea. Thank you again Lesleyanne not only for your thoughtful gift but also for your friendship :)

This one is from my great friend Lisa. Lisa and I have know each other for years and it's becoming a bit more difficult to surprise one another. Well, she sure did surprise me with this parcel! Just look at this "Friendship Bag" that she made for me, it's gorgeous. Lisa has more details on her blog but when she stitched it the lady in blue/light hair is me and the lady in purple/dark hair is her and our hands are joined by one heart. Lisa had a lot of trouble with the finishing but I am glad her perseverance won out in the end. Thank you again Lisa for being such a wonderful friend to me. I am so thankful to this day that you are the first person I made contact with in the stitching world :)

This one is from my great friend Michelle. Michelle stitched me this lovely pinpillow in my favorite colors. It's the perfect size to have it beside me to hold my needles while I am stitching. Michelle also sent me some more "fancy" finishing pins and some ric rac which will come in handy for my future finishes. I love everything Michelle and I am so happy to call you my friend :)

My Bent Creek exchange arrived from Lisa a couple of weeks ago and I had completely forgotten to share it too. She stitched me "Snowbuds" and finished it into a hanging scissor pocket! I LOVE IT! I am the biggest Snowmen lover so it was the perfect choice for me. Thanks again Lisa for another great exchange :)

I've decided to continue on with my personal blog. When I explained that I was going to stop and my Son heard he got very upset with me as he seems to be my number one fan (as he put it)! LOL. I'm also thankful to everyone that took the time to personally email me and leave me a comment of encouragment. It does mean a lot to me to know that my creativity is appreciated.

"Paper Whites"

2011-09-22T21:18:00.010-04:00

LHN "Paper Whites"

28ct Autumn Fields Lugana

DMC as charted

Flatfold Finish

Private Exchange for Mouse

I had an incredibly difficult time trying to decide on a LHN design to stitch up for Mouse! LOL. I was in a MAJOR stitching slump and everything I picked up just wasn't right for one reason or another. I even emailed Mouse and asked if I could switch my designer but in the end I was "hit" with inspiration and I am happy to say it turned out exactly as I had planned! I have to say this is one of my favorite finishes this year and I am happy to say that Mouse loved it too!

I have to say thanks to everyone that left a comment for me on my last post......it's has definitely helped to keep me motivated to keep stitching! I finished a LK exchange piece which I will mail out tomorrow. I also finished a Fall themed design for another exchange but I am unsure on how to finish it! Decisions, decisions!

I should be back shortly with more stitching to share! It's my Birthday really soon and some great parcels have already arrived :) Stay tuned!

Two in one!

2011-09-18T23:31:00.013-04:00

Hello Friends, Family and Fellow Stitchers.....

I'm sorry that I haven't been around much lately, things are stressful for me right now and my heart just isn't into this whole blogging thing :( Nothing is wrong, I'm just feeling very, very, very "blah"! LOL. My creative juices are on "standby" and my needles are not stitching very fast! But I do have something to share with you all!

It's time again to share my yearly private exchange with Lisa V. Lisa and I have exchanged a different theme for the past few years and this time around it was Bent Creek Designs. This is what I sent to Lisa.......

Bent Creek "Signs of Winter"

28ct. Mushroom EW

DMC floss

Finished as a flatfold

I had an incredibly difficult time choosing a design to stitch! I originally started this one, then hated the colors and switched to another design but I hated the colors of that one even more. I came back to this one and played around with the colors a bit to find some that I liked. I think it turned out pretty cute and I'm happy that Lisa liked it too :)

Lizzie*Kate Tiny Tidings 15

28ct Bone Jobelan

Floss as charted

Finished as a flat ornament

It was also Lisa's round in our Ornament Swap group so I added that one into the parcel too. I wanted to stitch something a bit different this time around from other ornaments I have sent and I loved this reindeer!

I also finished my private exchange piece with Mouse and it's on it's way across the ocean to her and should arrive any day now! I'm onto some Autumn stitching now and I might just sneak something in there for a giveaway soon! I am behind on answering my emails and visiting your blogs so please forgive me....I hope to get caught up soon. Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Lavender Hill

2011-09-02T14:02:00.003-04:00

LHN Lavender Hill

Private Exchange with Mouse

Mouse and I arranged a private exchange last month and I am so excited to show off my exchange that arrived today! She stitched me Lavender Hill and finished it into a pillow. I really wish the picture could show the amount of work that she put into this finish, it's so pretty :) Thank you once again Mouse for a truly stunning finish!

Now where is my exchange?? Let's see, I think I've started about 10 different designs and ended up hating all of them but I've found a LHN design now and I am about half way through the stitching so I hope to have it finish, finished and on it's way to Mouse soon! I know exactly how I want it to look when

it is done too :)

I have been quiet lately and I apologize. I've had quite a few emails asking how I am doing and I am fine but it's been a bit crazy around here and I've just felt really, really quiet. I'm still in a bit of a stitching slump but I have some exchanges to keep me busy and I should have something to share with you all soon.

Thanks for stopping by today~

A whole lot of nothing (well almost)!

2011-08-19T14:02:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I hadn't planned on taking such a long break away from blogging but my life was turned upside down by a serious situation at home that I can't get into details about here. Things are finally starting to calm down but I have been very busy and my thoughts very occupied so my needle has barely touched fabric in a couple of weeks. I tried to start lots of projects (most for exchanges) but each time I did I ended up hating something about it so I have no stitching to show of my own :(

I did receive a beautiful exchange from Kathy K in the Seasonal exchange though and I just love it! It is stitched and finished into a wonderful pinkeep. Thanks again Kathy :)

We did also take a short break away from all the craziness to go on a family camping trip to McRae Point Provincial Park near Orillia, Ontario. My hubby has been camping at this park since he was a toddler and I love it too. The oly thing I didn't enjoy were the million and one mosquito bites each of us got even though I went through a whole can of mosquito repellent! Hopefully none of them were carrying the West Nile virus (fingers crossed).

I hope my life will continue to return back to "normal" and that my stitching "mojo" will come back really soon!

Let's get you up to date!

2011-07-30T00:11:00.001-04:00

LHN "Summer House"

I recently stitched and finished a pinkeep for Lucie in the Seasonal Exchange "Summer round". I used a combination of DMC and CC floss and a 28ct White Lugana.

Tea Party Exchange

This is my exchange from April in the Stitched With Love Exchange. I'm not sure of the design but it is finished into a lovely pinpillow and I got a great assortment of extras.

L*K Life's A Beach Kit

I stitched this design on vacation to finish as a pinkeep for my Stitching Sister Lesleyanne. It arrived yesterday and she loved it! The fabric in the picture is the backing fabric.

CCN "Red, White and Bloom"

This is another one of my Mom's recent finishes that she wanted me to share with you all. She loves CCN as much as she loves LHN and this one is stitched on her favorite fabric 32ct. Mushroom Lugana with the recommended floss.

Dimensions "The Postman"

I don't think I've ever mentioned that my Mom's Sister also cross stitches. This is her latest finish that she did for my Mom. My Aunt still likes to stitch on Aida and loves Dimensions designs where my Mom can't stand stitching them anymore. This one is really pretty in person though and my Mom is very pleased :)

PS "Autumn Leaves"

This is what I have been so secretive about! LOL. I've been having this recurring dream (seriously) of finishing a needlebook with this design for a few weeks now, so with a little cursing and a lot of patience I finally figured out how to put one together! Really it wasn't that difficult after all (just a bit fiddly) and I'm quite pleased with the result. It's far from "perfect" but I am still happy with it.

So I had to take a million and one pictures to ~~bore~~ (show) you all!

The inside I created a couple of small "inserts" for needles or scissors.

This is what it looks like from the top :0) LOL! My latest "read" managed to sneak in the picture too! Has anyone read this series yet? I've heard that it is good, good, good!

My new Nephew (21 weeks old)

Scared you for a second didn't I?? LOL. No, this one is not mine (thank god) but I am so excited about becoming an Auntie again, I just had to share this with you. This sweet boy belongs to my "little" (she is younger than me) Sister who is expecting her first child at the end of November. I can hardly wait to hold him! I thought this picture was just too cute, you can see he is sucking his thumb, amazing!

Well that is everything going on in my life at the moment. With my kids home from School it doesn't leave me much time to have the computer. I can hardly wait for September! LOL.

Happy Stitching,

Lots to share!

2011-07-15T22:16:00.019-04:00

We had a great time on vacation this past week and it all went by way too quickly! I have a lot of stitching to share so I'll get right into things...

I made this box for Sally as the winner of my Blogoversary prize. It's only 2 and a half months late but she loves it and that's what matters :) I could have had it done sooner if I didn't keep changing my mind, have the wrong fabric and made a huge mistake on my first attempt! LOL. The design is LHN Blessed series stitched on 32 ct Mushroom Lugana with the recommended floss. You can see more pics on Sally's blog :)

The one above is my exchange to Teresa for the Stitched With Love Summer/Tea Party exchange. It's a LK design "Tea Crazy" stitched on 28ct Bone Lugana with DMC floss. I added the tea pot charm to make it look like it was pouring tea into the cups :) Teresa has a great story to go along with the pillow and I am very happy that she loved it and it meant something to her as well.

Next up is the L*K exchange for Line. I stitched an ornament from the Tiny Tidings XIV book and finished it as a flat ornament.

And last but definitely not least is my exchange from Lucie. Lucie stitched me this darling pillow and finished it with a pom pom fringe! How cute is this? I love it....now I have to look for some pom pom fringe too :)

I have more exchanges en route and they should arrive next week. I think I got about 10 stitches done the entire week so I have no updates right now :) I think I need another vacation! LOL.

I've also opened up a poll for everyone to feel free to vote on. I have enjoyed hosting group exchanges in the past and took a break from most of them while I got some personal stuff in order again. I am now thinking about starting up a new group exchange again but I can't decide which type to offer. My top ideas are to host either a Christmas Ornament exchange, a rotating (per round) specific Designer exchange, a Halloween exchange or maybe you have another idea which you can leave in the comment below for me to think about :) The exchange group will run 4 rounds per year and be open to everyone to join regardless of finishing experience. If there is enough interest I will let everyone know and more info will follow soon.

Thank you's go out as well to Ruth and Elisa for the Stylish Blogger award, I appreciate your thoughts but since I am waaaay behind on my blog reading and emails I will skip passing the award along to others. Thank you as well to all that stop by to see what I am up to, I enjoy sharing my passion for stitching with anyone that will listen :)

Happy Stitching,

An Update and personal exchange partner revealed!

2011-07-06T22:56:00.002-04:00

I've been keeping myself busy stitching as much as I can but the Summer is always slower with the kids at home :)

I brought out my L*K Green Flips which I started last year and stitched a little bit more on that. I am stitching this one on 32 ct Autumn Fields Lugana which is my favorite fabric! Unfortunately I am finding it more difficult to see those holes at night so this is my daytime stitch!

I am also stitching another L*K design Cinderella Is Proof Giggle Boxer kit which you can still buy. This one is on 28ct Cream Lugana with the DMC alternates. I'm hoping to get this one done by the weekend so I can take something new to start with me on vacation next week.

My Mom has also been busy stitching, this is one of her recent finishes that she wanted me to finish as a flatfold. My Mom loves my flatfolds :) This one turned out pretty good considering it gave me a lot of grief!

I have mailed out most of my exchanges, nothing has arrived yet. I have only got 1 parcel since the mail has been running again, my last ornament from Lisa D for our private Ornament exchange group. It's a Helga Mandl design called Peppermint Paul :)

And finally here is a picture of all the ornaments together........won't my tree look great again this year!

This is the project I hope to start on vacation, a little something planned for my Stitching Sister, Lesleyanne.

I am also going to draw a name now for the private exchange so I have time to get it organized before heading out of town......I had a few entries and the random generator has chosen........

Mouse, I'll email you shortly to set up our exchange details, I'm looking forward to exchanging with you :)

Thanks to everyone that stops by my blog, I appreciate your visits and your comments. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with vacation pictures!

Happy Stitching,

More Ornaments to share

2011-06-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I was going to wait for all of my ornaments to arrive from the Ornament swap group but alas Canada Post has finally fully shutdown services, the workers have all been locked out of the main sorting depots and the Mailmen can't get in to get any mail to deliver, so nothing is going anywhere in or out of the country! We have had 2 weeks of rotating strikes across the country but that wasn't getting any results. To say I am very upset is an understatement, I have an exchange due out this week that won't be going anywhere until this is resolved, so I hope that my partner will understand and be patient in waiting along with me :( I have another exchange due in the mail by July 5th but hopefully it will be over by then, that one is all ready to be mailed as well. So I'll show you the ornaments that have arrived so far......

Conny's Ornament

Lisa V's Ornament

Lori's Ornament

Sharon's Ornament

HOE Snowman Ornament from Ellen S (no blog)

Thanks for stopping by again today! I picked up my Green Flips project and hope to get some more stitched on it this week. I'll be back with an update soon :)

Before and After (Edited)......

2011-06-08T09:49:00.007-04:00

Before......

After...

**"Country Wise" Prairie Schooler** Updated for those that asked :)

I wish my Mom didn't love the flatfold finish so much! LOL Still I think they all turned out really nice, which one is your favorite? Mine is the Snowmen :) Surprised!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I will have more to share with you all really soon :)

PS-I changed my settings and now we are not so frustrated! Thanks to everyone for helping point me in the right direction :)

Another flatfold and some "dyeing"

2011-06-04T09:38:00.008-04:00

This is the last of my recent exchange pieces to arrive at it's new home! I think it was my personal favorite :)

Prairie Schooler "Garden Fairie "
28t Antique White Lugana

DMC floss as charted
Finished as a flatfold
Backing Fabric

This one went to my partner Amy for the Hooked on Exchanging Prairie Schooler Seasonal Exchange. Amy picked Summer and I love to garden in the Summer (even though I have a tiny garden) and thought this would be a perfect design! I finished it as a "traditional" flatfold without bows at the sides and I have to say it turned out perfectly, I was very proud of this one and didn't want to let it leave :) Amy is very happy with it too so that makes it easier, LOL.

I decided to try to "tea dye" some fabric again this week, this time using Sharon's instructions and I couldn't believe how simple it was! The smaller piece was my first attempt and turned out a little bit darker so I decided to leave the larger piece for just a few minutes and I love it :) You should be able to click on all my pictures for a close up look and I hope you will be able to see the beautiful variations in the color like I can.

Of course, I wish I had known that before I bought these new fabrics! I have been really disappointed lately with the color choices available at 123 stitch, especially in 32ct (and I can't afford the postage charges at other sites) so I decided to order some linen and give it another try. It's not that I can't stitch on it but I am not a fan of the feel of it in my hands compared to evenweave. I am very happy with the colors though, on the left is Vintage Country Mocha and on the right is Willow Green. I look forward to picking something out soon to stitch on them :)

I am back to some more exchange stitching and the giveaway piece is coming along nicely too. So I should have more to share with you all soon. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and did you notice....I did....just over 500 followers now! Wow, never did I imagine when I started this blog that so many would be interested in my stitching. Thank you, thank you, thank you :)

PS-I've just about had it up to here with blogger putting too many spaces in between my paragraphs, does anyone know why it is doing this? Any advice you can offer would be great! I am sick of editing my Html and it just goes back to the way it was before :(

A dear friend's Birthday and another exchange to share!

2011-06-02T21:31:00.002-04:00

The Trilogy "Happy Bunny Bunny Day"

28ct Mushroom Monaco

DMC floss and CC (my choices)

Finished as a pillow

This one is for my very dear friend Lisa who celebrated her Birthday yesterday(today in our time zone)! I know how much she loved my last pillow finish with this design and so I decided to make one for her too. I highlighted our initials and had just enough of the same fabric left. I also sent her a few other little bits but forgot to get a picture of them! You can pop on over to Lisa's blog for more pics and to wish her a Happy Birthday :)

Another exchange arrived yesterday and I was so pleased to discover that Edgar was my partner for the Prairie Schooler Seasonal Exchange. I have admired Edgar's stitching/finishing for a few years now, his work is always so beautiful! Thank you so much again Edgar, I really love this finish! My finished exchange piece is on it's way to my secret partner and should hopefully arrive sometime next week! Can't wait to show it off to you though :)

I have a feeling things may be a little quiet here for the next little bit as it does look like Canada Post will be going on strike after all! They announced a strike deadline as of 11:59 pm tonight and the last offer was flatly rejected. This will be our first postal strike since 1997 and they will be disrupting mail service on a rotating basis (city by city) throughout the country! I just hope it doesn't last too long as I have 6 parcels en route to me and I have 2 exchanges due to be mailed shortly.

Thanks for stopping by my blog again this week!

Ornaments, Ornaments, Ornaments (TUSAL too)!

2011-06-01T12:13:00.003-04:00

With Christmas being my favorite holiday, it really is no surprise that I love ornaments! Actually the ornament finish was the very first one I challenged myself too when I first "learnt" about finishing (aka drooling over blogs)!

First to arrive was my PIF for Tricia. This one is Little House Needleworks "Fa La La" stitched on 32 ct Autumn Fields Lugana with a combination of DMC/WDW/CC floss.

This one went to my partner Ellen S (no blog) in the Hooked on Exchanging Snowman Ornament Exchange. I love Snowmen of all shapes and sizes but this one is so quirky I loved stitching him! The design is Heart In Hand "Tall Snowman" stitched on 32ct Mushroom Lugana with DMC my choices to match my fabric/trims.

Then in my Ornament Swap group I received my first ornament for this year from Sharon (aka Daffycat). The little owls are so sweet, my daughter went crazy for this one when she saw it and I love it too! I don't have any Owls on my Christmas tree so this was a perfect choice for me :) This year I asked the ladies to stitch me something they would love to have on their own trees to make it a surprise!

It's that time again.....totally useless time! I had to empty my Snowman jar into a bigger one since it was getting pretty full with ORT's but that is everything from back in January when I started. I am actually quite amazed at how much it really adds up to :) I'm still having fun with this though, not to mention it stops me finding them all over my house too!

I will be back again tomorrow, more parcels arrived yesterday too! One for me and one for a very dear friend of mine. I look forward to sharing them with you :) Thanks for stopping by again today! I noticed today too that I am almost at 500 followers and I can't tell you how very flattered I am by that :) You guys just make me smile! I'm off to work now :)

I think my head is spinning!

2011-05-30T11:52:00.003-04:00

It's been a long time since I've caught up with you all! I have been very busy stitching, mostly for exchanges and I have been sick again. I had a bad sore throat thingy last week but it seemed to only last for about 4 days and I am feeling better from that now. The pain in my side that I dealt with all through my Gallbladder problems got a lot worse this past week too. Not sure why because I am still taking my nerve block pills and haven't been more active than normal but I've had to take painkillers again and I didn't want to do that anymore! Hopefully it will all calm down again soon, it's so very frustrating being in pain everyday. BTW, it's probably Postherpetic Neuralgia (sp?) that I have in that area, in case you are wondering :) I'm not counting or anything but this July will be 2 years! LOL. Yep, I'm counting!

So now it's onto the fun stuff.........

TUSAL giveaway prize

32ct Silvery Skies Lugana

I was at Gitta's my local shop and I found this totally awesome fabric that literally screamed "buy me"! It turned out I was right, it was the perfect choice for the surprise design I will stitching for Daffycat's TUSAL end of year giveaway! I don't know if you can see in the picture but is is all sparkly and pretty :) This is a bigger design that I think might be a pillow or a flatfold, I'll figure that out when I go looking for backing fabric! I can't say the design just yet because I want to try to keep it a surprise. This one will be mailed out to the winner by me to save on postage costs for Sharon. It is my hope that it could be the "grand stitching prize" :)

I finally settled on a design choice for my "larger project" it's one of the first charts I bought by Little House "Home of a Needleworker" and I keep admiring my Mom's finish, so it's time to get my needles smokin! I am really enjoying it too :)

I also brought out my LK Green Flips and did a tiny bit more on that too! It is my hope to have both larger projects done by the end of June! Ha.....wish me luck on that :)

Then as if I'm not busy enough, my Mom kindly dropped off some of her recent finishes for me to well, you know, finish! LOL. I picked out backing fabrics for them too but didn't get any further than that.
I've also started a design for an upcoming exchange, planning out another 2 exchanges and did some more stitching on a piece for a friend that was supposed to be done by Christmas....oops! Finally looks like my Blogger is behaving better now, I can post, comment, sign out, change my design and most importantly I have my followers back! Hooray, fingers crossed it stays that way :)

Eric at Splash Pad

Ben laying on my chart

Couldn't resist sharing these 2 pics, don't they both look like they are having fun?! LOL. Lucky for me it wasn't' a chart I needed!

Till next time, thanks so much for stopping by today! I'm sure I'll be back again this week with more stitching! Now it's time to get back to "stalking" my mailman :0) You know what I mean!

I've just about had it up to here!

2011-05-29T12:58:00.004-04:00

Wow, Blogger is driving me absolutely nuts at the moment! I am having problems with just about everything but I do notice I am not the only one :(

Please know that I am reading your blogs and would love to make comments if I could! I can't even sign out of my account or change anything in my design. Grrrrr. I wonder if I can even post but I'm about to find out!

Will post soon with more stitching. If you can't leave a comment either I'll understand, LOL! I guess this means I have more time to stitch again!

Angela

Another Stitching Sister Gift

2011-05-25T22:29:00.007-04:00

I'm really enjoying getting to know my Stitching Sister, Lesleyanne and when I discovered that she doesn't have a flatfold finish I decided to fix that :) This is what I came up with.....
Lizzie Kate "Stitching Forever "
28t White Jobelan DMC/WDW floss
Finished as a flatfold

Backing fabric

I was really pleased with the way this one turned out too! It's been awhile since I finished a flatfold and I totally forgot how much I LOVE finishing them :) I think you might be seeing more of these in the next few months!

The Lizzie Kate "Life's A Stitch" travelling pattern is on it's way to a new home, please visit Loretta's blog (in the future) for a chance to be a part of the "Stitcherhood". I love Elisa's finish too, it's so pretty and worth a visit to her blog :) I will try to keep up with the travelling pattern and let you know when and where it is so that maybe you can be a part of the "Stitcherhood" too.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by again this week! Don't be too surprised to hear from me again soon, I told you I went "stitching crazy" and I meant it! LOL

Time to share again.....

2011-05-24T00:27:00.005-04:00

I heard on Friday that another one of my parcels has arrived but long weekend plans have kept me very busy so I haven't had a chance to post before now. Michelle celebrated her Birthday at the beginning of this month and I feel so bad this arrived late.......with all the drama in my life last month I was behind with everything. To be honest after my eye diagnosis I didn't know if I ever wanted to pick up my needle again but in a matter of days my outlook changed and I got my stitching butt in gear! LOL.

Prairie Schooler Garden Birds

32ct. White Lugana

DMC floss as charted

Finished as a pinkeep

I was very happy with the way this finish turned out! I found a flat candle base at Michael's, a similar finish as my Jenny Bean Pinkeep but this one sits flat and I think I like that better. I want to make more of these in the future, it is easy and fun too :)

Trust me when I say I have tons of stitching to share with you! I went crazy mad and I'm just waiting for them all to arrive. I may have more of a problem with that if Canada Post walks out on strike tomorrow! I just hope the parcels I did mail last week are well on their way out of the country and almost to their destinations or it will be a very long wait :) On the plus side I will have more time to stitch if I don't have to stalk my mailman! On the downside I will have to wait to post anything else out until they go back to work.

I'll be back soon! I'm playing catch up on my emails and blog reading too, please be patient with me for just a little bit longer:) And now I'm off to bed or I won't wake up in the morning!

Another lovely exchange arrives!

2011-05-15T11:10:00.005-04:00

Earlier this year, Conny and I arranged a private exchange. We decided on a Spring theme and this is what she sent to me.........

It's Tulip House from Blackbird Designs, stitched on 36ct Linen with the recommended floss. She finished it as a pillow and the design is created into a pocket to hold my scissors. Isn't it pretty? There are little glass beads in the corners and a made with love charm on the back. I really love it Conny, I really like Blackbird Designs!

This is a close up of the stitching but not sure if you can still see the beads or not?

Then to surprise me Conny sent me some Dutch tea and made me a scissor fob to match. The tea is awesome and I love my whole exchange. I sent Conny the Happy Bunny Day pillow which she loved too. Thank you again Conny for exchanging with me it was a great pleasure :)

I have more stitching to share with you all soon, a couple of Birthday presents and a few more exchanges. I was in such a stitching slump and I needed something to get me feeling creative again. Plus I really do love to create something for another stitcher, it's fun and you get to make new friends too!

Thanks for stopping by today! Thanks to all my friends that supported me through Blogger's (almost 3 day) downtime! I was practically crawling out of my skin, LOL! Funny how we get so used to something so quickly, the Internet hasn't been around for all that long!

Oh, I almost forgot, I got my heart monitor test results back and I do have something wrong but apparently it's not that uncommon. I have a Ventricular Premature Beat and of course there is nothing they can do for it :) I have to live with it but it's not that bad but it's still something else to live with. I made a decision after that......I am not going to another Doctor for a long time! LOL.

A New Travelling pattern begins it's journey!

2011-04-30T18:50:00.007-04:00

I thought it might be fun to start my own version of the "famous" Traveling Pattern. I asked Sharon aka It's Daffycat about how to start the whole thing up. I've chosen one of my favorite L*K designs, Life's A Stitch. It has only a few colors that can be easily changed to suit the current stitcher and it's a simple, quick and fun stitch too.

My finish went to my Stitching Sister, Lesleyanne

If you would you like to be part of this new Traveling Pattern here are the rules:

1. Comment on this post, saying you would like to be part of the Stitcherhood.

2. You agree (if you are chosen) to stitch the design and send it along to the next person in a timely manner. If this means dropping everything in your rotation to concentrate on this project...so be it. If you can't bring yourself to do this ~ don't sign up.

3. You must have an active blog to participate. If you have a blog but never post to it ~ you won't be chosen to be the next stitcher.

4. This is a giveaway-type Traveling Pattern. That means you must follow it from blogger to blogger to enter each time it is ready to send along. Commenting on this post doesn't make you a guaranteed part of the Stitcherhood.

The Traveling Pattern has been stitched by:

1. Angela, Hooked on Stitches, Ontario Canada

2. Elisa, Old Ragged Threads, United Kingdom
3. Loretta, Loretta's Stitching Blog, Manitoba, Canada
4. ??????

If you would like a chance to be the next stitcher please leave a comment on this post only. The next stitcher will be chosen on Sunday, May 8, 2011. I will try to keep up with the travels and fill in the next stitcher in the list as it goes along.

If you have any questions you may contact me at apxstitch @ gmail. com (remove spaces). Thanks to everyone for stopping by today! I promise that stitching update really soon.

It's time to annouce the winner!

2011-04-29T13:36:00.005-04:00

I am so overwhelmed at the response to my 3rd Blog Giveaway, I have enjoyed reading each and every comment. I've gone through all my entries, wrote all the names down and I have picked out the winner!

Sally (Stitchyangel's Treasures)

Congratulations Sally, I will be in contact with you shortly to discuss the finish :) I am looking forward to creating something wonderful for you!

I am so thankful to you all for your support. I have had a trying couple of years and my stitching has been one of the most important things to help me cope with it all! I hope that you will continue to visit my blog in the future :)

Thanks for visiting today, I'll be back with a stitching post very soon~

Green Eggs....

2011-04-24T00:41:00.005-04:00

Design: Lizzie*Kate Green Eggs
Fabric: 32ct Autumn Fields Lugana
Floss: DMC (my choices)
Finished size : 7 inches high x 6 inches wide

I stitched this one last month too and finally got around to doing the finishing this week. I changed the colors to match the fabric that I had.

Thanks for stopping by and for all of your support on my recent diagnosis. I've received many personal emails which I am so grateful for, I will respond back to them all as soon as I can :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

New fabric, new(ish) stash and sharing my news!

2011-04-21T09:44:00.004-04:00

It was time for me to get some more fabric because I was running low and I wanted to order some different colors than what I normally get. I love all of them :) Now to decide what to stitch, that's the fun part!

Top Row (Left to Right) Bone Lugana, Lambswool Lugana, Clay Lugana

Bottom Row (Left to Right) Wedgewood Lugana, WaterLily Jobelan, Heritage Lugana

Then I went to my Mom's house and raided her chart collection and this is what I brought home with me! I honestly don't know where to start they are all such wonderful designs! Where would you start?

I've been debating whether or not to share my bad news with you all, it's not that I don't want to, it's just been a difficult time for me to adjust to a new way of thinking. I have had a lot of emails asking how I am doing and realize that this diagnosis is gong to be a huge part of my life so I should share it. BTW this is my news that caught my off guard as it was totally unexpected. I am still waiting for one more heart test to return so I may still have that to deal with too :)

I went to the Eye Dr. last week for a checkup (long overdue) and thought I just needed some reading (Stitching) glasses which I did but she also saw something else that is going on as well. To keep it simple, I have the start of Macular Degeneration, I suppose this news would pretty much knock anyone down but for someone whom has leaned so heavily on her stitching these past few years, it was utterly devastating. So one day I won't be able to see enough to cross stitch anymore but the one bit of good news is that it is normally a very slow progressing disease so I should still have many, many years to indulge in my passion! The only treatment known so far is to supplement a good diet with a vitamin supplement for eye health. Hopefully a cure will be found in the not too distant future :) I honestly don't know what I would do with myself if I couldn't cross stitch, it's that big a part of my life and who I am!

There's still time to enter my 3rd Blog anniversary giveaway, details are on the post below this one! I am really flattered by all of your lovely comments, I've had lots of fun reading them! I will keep the giveaway open until April 28th (midnight EST time) and announce the winner on April 29th. Good luck to everyone :)

Thanks for stopping by today~

Happy Blogoversary, Happy Blogoversary, Happy Blogoversary.......It's giveaway time!

2011-04-17T22:31:00.002-04:00

I can hardly believe it is time for me to celebrate my 3rd Blogoversary! It feels like it was just yesterday that I discovered the "Blog" and thought it looked like a lot of fun :) I sure didn't expect that after 3 years I'd have 339 posts, 424 followers and just over 68,000 visits to my blog! I couldn't be more thrilled about that!

Now onto the celebrating bit.....if only I had something to show?? Oops.....time seems to have run away from my needles and I didn't get a chance to get anything finished but don't worry I think I've come up with a super great idea! I will stitch and finish the design of the winner's choice (see rules below) and you get to choose which design and which finish you would love to win:) Make sense? I hope so but in case you need some inspiration I have put together some pictures of some of my past finishes to inspire a choice, or make it more difficult to choose :) LOL.

"Stitcher's Box Finish

(No pressure but this is my favorite way to finish)

"Pillow Finish"

(I think I'm getting pretty good at these)

"Flatfold Finish"

(Takes a lot of time but they look really great on display)

Now here are the rules..........

1. You must be a follower (new or old) is fine with me. If you are a new reader to my blog please feel welcome to join along! I always say "the more the merrier".

2. You must choose a design either by Little House Needleworks or Lizzie Kate (I have the largest collections of these designers and they are my favorites).

3. Your chart choice can be no larger than 85 stitches high by 85 stitches wide but can be any dimensions under that. Please note: some designs work better in different finishes but we can work that out together!

4. Let me know which finish you would prefer (either Stitchers Box, Pillow or Flatfold) or if you would prefer a "Surprise" that is fine too :)

5. If you live overseas and choose the Stitcher's Box finish I will reserve the right to mail by surface which will take a bit longer but I won't have to buy shares in Canada Post to get your prize to you :)

6. If you let others know by posting any one of my 3 pictures above on your blog with a link back to this giveaway I will enter your name into the draw 3 times!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask me :) Good Luck to everyone! I will draw a winner at random on April 29th which is my actual "Blogoversary". I will then email the winner to discuss the finishing details, I will probably need a few weeks to actually stitch the prize too.

Thanks for stopping by today and for helping me to celebrate! My Blog, my stitching and sharing with you brings me happiness :)

Busy Needle

2011-04-15T09:40:00.002-04:00

Acutally I've been giving my needles a bit of a rest, not planned on it, but life has thrown me a major curve ball I wasn't expecting and my mojo flew right out the window with it! I stitched this one up last month and finally got around to the finishing but I have to admit it's not one of my favorites.

Design: LHN Busy Needle

Fabric: 32ct Autumn Fields Lugana

Floss as charted

Finished as a "Mini" Stitchers Box

I was going to pick up my LK Green Flips to see if I could get it finished but even this colorful design has not been enough to cheer me up!

Finally got a good picture of Ben so I thought i'd share, it's so difficult to photograph a black cat! Isn't he cute? My little troublemaker, LOL.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with more stitching to share with you. I'm still waiting on some test results so hopefully more bad news won't be coming my way anytime soon. I think I've dealt with enough already!

Thanks for stopping by today~

Hopping into Spring!

2011-03-27T12:49:00.008-04:00

Design: The Trilogy "Happy Bunny Bunny Day"

Fabric: 28ct Mushroom EW

Floss is CC/DMC

Finished pillow size approx 7" x 14"

I have just heard that my private exchange with Conny arrived! I wanted to make something really special and I know how much she loves Bunnies :) I stitched our initials in pink to personalize it and added the little heart charms. I am so glad that Conny loved it too, this is one of my all time favorite finishes and I hope to stitch it up again for myself soon :)

Thanks to everyone who stops by and for all the lovely comments that you leave for me. I really enjoy reading each and every one of them!

First Stitching Sister Gift!

2011-03-24T07:33:00.002-04:00

Design: L*K Life's A Stitch

Fabric: 28ct Mushroom EW

Floss : DMC, CC, WDW

Finish: Mini Stitchers Box

Design Size: Approx 4 inches square

Box size: Approx 6 inches square

My stitching sister Lesleyanne has let me know that my first gift arrived yesterday. I decided to make something "extra special" for the first gift, so I finished a "mini" stitching box. I really love this Lizzie Kate design, I have stitched it numerous times over the past couple of years but this is the first time I got brave and tried the satin stitched border! It was very easy to do and it looks fantastic, why was I so scared now???

I am behind again in my blog reading, so please be patient with me, I'll pop by soon!

Thanks for stopping by today~

Ornament for Sharon

2011-03-23T08:42:00.002-04:00

Freebie "Citrouille de Noel" found here 123Citrouille

32ct Autumn Fields Lugana

DMC 115

Design size approx 4 inches square

March brings another round for our Ornament Swap group and this time it's Sharon's turn! I wanted to stitch some "different" charts for the swaps this year and I chose this one for the Reindeer's and Bird especially for her. I'm so happy that Sharon loved this one as much as I did, it was such a pleasure to stitch. If you click on the link below the picture it will take you to the designer.

So, I think I'm ready to give you a health update. I have good news and bad news! Good news, my thyroid is returning to normal (I had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis). The bad, my iron levels are dangerously low and I'm still getting heart palpitations/dizzy spells. The Doctors thought it was due to my thyroid (not the iron) but it can't be so now we must test for other complications. I am being sent for a series of tests to see if there is anything wrong with my heart and while we don't expect there to be, you just don't know. If all my tests come back normal and my iron levels are still on the borderline then my Dr. will have to send me for blood transfusions. I have always been Anemic and on the low "normal" end of the chart but I have dropped so much in the past 2 months that I am now considered severe. If you are interested you can read about it here and here. I am taking iron pills (which are hard on my stomach) but I don't have any choice now. Fingers crossed all will be OK, and once again, stitching will help to keep my mind off all this :)

I have a couple more exchanges that should be arriving shortly, so I'll have more stitching to share with you all soon :) Thanks for stopping by today!

It's Jenny Bean time......

2011-03-19T15:13:00.002-04:00

Design: Shakespeare's Peddler Jenny Bean's Pin Tuffet

Fabric: 32ct Bone Lugana

Floss: DMC alternates

Finished size: Approx. 4 inches round

Finished as a pincushion

Another View

Base of the pincushion

I'm finally ready to reveal one of the things that has been keeping me so busy lately! I have had this idea floating around in my mind for months now and it just wouldn't go away :) So I have been searching in every store for a wooden base to attach my stitched piece too. I finally found the perfect candlestick holder in Michaels. I just stitched my piece, cut a piece of matt board in a round shape to fit the base, adding extra quilt batting and glued my piece to the top. Very, very simple finish! I have it on my stitching table to hold my needles and I have something pretty to admire too while I am stitching! I am very proud of myself :)

I have 4 other finishes to share with you soon, all are exchanges and they are on their way to the new homes! I'm not sure what to start next though, I've been looking at a few Blackbird Designs or a Little House Needleworks, maybe even a Prairie Schooler! Decisions, decisions.......

Thanks for stopping by today, I'll be back soon :)

Announcing my first adopted "Stitching Sister"!

2011-03-13T01:51:00.000-05:00

My very first adopted "Stitching Sister" will be............

Lesleyanne of Lesleyanne's Life Of Stitches

Thanks so much to everyone that entered, I am really flattered by all of your lovely comments! I will be in contact with Lesleyanne later on today :)

Thanks for stopping by today~

My PIF Winner is......

2011-03-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

Since only a few signed up for this I decided to just pick one name for my Pass It Forward.

Tricia from The Stampers Stitches.

Could you please send me your mailing information to apxstitch@gmail.com I will send out something stitched by me this year. All I ask now is you promise to offer the same on your blog in return to keep the kindness going around :)

Thanks to all that entered! I'll be offering lots of other giveaways throughout the year :) You still have time to enter my Ultimate "Adopted" giveaway which closes on March 13th.

TUSAL Giveaway ornament and my Ultimate Giveaway!

2011-03-04T10:03:00.010-05:00

I knew when Sharon (aka Daffycat) decided to organize this year's TUSAL giveaway prize that I would stitch something up for it. I already have one other giveaway design/finish in the works (a bigger one) but when I read her post I got some inspiration and thought this design would be great to add to the prize box! I also included a couple of LHN charts but forgot to get a picture of those, you can see them when they get posted on Sharon's blog later on :) TUSAL March 2011(Ignore the dust) And here is my jar for the new moon :) As you can see I have added a fair amount to it. I wonder what on earth I have been stitching? Stay tuned......such a tease aren't I???? LOL.

2011 "Adopted Stitcher" Giveaway!

I have been thinking about "adopting" another stitcher again this year, I wanted to do this last year but my health (operations) got the better of me. I'd really like to do this now, so if you are interested then leave me a comment on this post only letting me know you'd love to be adopted.

So what does that mean exactly???? Well, it means I will stitch/finish a few things for you over the remainder of this year and possibly spoil you with some other items too (not sure what yet) but you don't have to do anything in return, except promise to post them to your blog when they arrive :)

I have a feeling I may have more than one person interested in this (I hope) so I will draw a name on Sunday March 13th. All I ask is that you be a follower of mine to be considered :) I have a few other exciting things planned too shortly!

Thanks for stopping by today~

Passing it Forward......

2011-03-01T12:35:00.000-05:00

PIF from Elisa

Love freebie from Stitcherhood Designs

Finished as a mattress pincushion

I got the most lovely surprise in my mailbox yesterday! As you can tell from the needles already in the cushion, I love this finish :) I have always been too "chicken" to try a mattress pincushion finish but I've always wanted one. Now that I can see how it is put together "in person" I may get brave enough to try one in the future!

So now it is my turn to offer a Pass It Forward :) I normally do random acts of kindness in place but want to stick with tradition this time around. So, it's simple really, in order for the opportunity to have something stitched by me, you will offer 1 (only one) pass it forward on your blog. This way the kindness just keeps going around :)

If you are interested leave me a comment on this post only, with your favorite designers and I will draw on March 8th.

Thanks for stopping by today and my Mom says a HUGE thank you for all your comments on her finishes, she loves reading them!

January to December!

2011-02-27T11:53:00.007-05:00

My Mom has had a reason to celebrate this weekend! She has finally finished the Little House months :) She started this project back in late Fall so even her speedy needles were challenged with this project!

January to June (To be framed)

July to December (to be framed)

She plans to have them framed and hang them side by side. I look forward to seeing them on my wall ;0) Ha, please Mom? Just kidding, my Mom absolutely loves these and I stand no chance whatsoever of getting them!

My fabric finally arrived for the Country House Sampler! Now to start it later on tonight (while watching Oscar, go"King's Speech") but I'm feeling very intimidated by how LARGE of a project it is :) I'll be back with another stitchy update soon. Thanks for stopping by today~

First round of Ornaments

2011-02-22T08:44:00.005-05:00

Our first round of the Ornament Swap has started again and this is what I stitched up for Lori (lucky first round recipient).

**Edited to show close up (pics should now be clickable)**

I stitched up Glory Bee "Snow" from JCS 2004 issue on 32ct Autumn Fields Lugana with DMC threads to match my backing fabric and trims. I finally found more tassels but wanted to add another touch of detail in the bow and charm. I am extremely pleased with the finished look, now all I have to do is "recreate" that another 4 times (with different designs of course). I set my standards for finishing pretty darn high so hopefully all the rest will turn out as good!

Thanks so much to everyone for your continued well wishes :) I have been feeling a bit better so hopefully it will continue!

I have something to show you :)

2011-02-20T19:07:00.006-05:00

This exchange took absolutely forever to arrive!

I stitched the Winter freebie from Stitcherhood designs for my partner Jan. I am happy that she loved it too, I matched the DMC to the fabric colors.

This is my very pretty exchange from Grace. She stitched me this freebie from Gazette 94 and finished it so beautifully. Thanks again Grace.

I haven't been very well at all these past 2 weeks, my thyroid has gone absolutely bonkers but I don't really want to talk about it. I've been down in a "funk" about stitching, blogging and finishing so I don't have very much to show. I have been stitching it just feels like I am getting nowhere very fast ;)

My Mom has been stitching up a storm though, as usual, so at least I can show off her finishes!

Blue Ribbon Designs "It's Cold Outside"

Little House Needleworks "Winter Band Sampler"

Country Cottage Needleworks "Joy Peace Love"

Lizzie Kate "Love Keeps Us Warm"

I should have a couple more finishes to share with you soon, so please stop by again~

Prairie Schooler "Spring Has Come"

Country Cottage Needleworks "Christmas Carols"

Can anyone help with the tab feature?

2011-02-02T22:59:00.004-05:00

I keep seeing all these pretty blogs with tabs at the top linking to different things on every one's blogs and for the life of me I simply can't get mine to work! The only thing it wants to do is link me right back to the home page?

I'd like to create a tab to go to my tutorial blog, movies I'm watching, books I'm reading, and my projects. Can anyone offer me any advice on how to get started or where I need to go to figure this out?????? I'm feeling pretty dumb right about now :) LOL.

Many thanks,
Angela

Updated Many thanks to Blu who was the first to "hit" me over the head and make me realize just how "dumb" I can be ;) Seriously though, thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I got it now! LOL

Larger Project Challenge

2011-01-28T23:31:00.004-05:00

"Country House Sampler"

Finally I've sorted out the first large project I'd love to stitch this year! I just need to order some 32ct Ivory Lugana and get the DMC colors ready. I have admired The Sampler Company's charts for a long time now but have been unable to decide which one to stitch. I suppose it is an "occupational hazard"! I love everything about this sampler, the colors of the border, the perfect house and the Victorian people in the garden :)

I'm still stitching some smalls in between, or I will loose my sanity! I want to try stitching a medium size project each month as well. I think my first one will be a prize for the TUSAL giveaway!

The Specialist wants to run more tests before starting a treatment. I did more blood work and have 3 scans scheduled for next week, so hopefully I will have an answer soon. My Daughter has been very sick with another ear infection, it's so bad that her ear canal is swollen shut! My hubby spent Wednesday night with her at the Hospital and I have spent the past 2 nights awake with her as she is in a lot of pain. She has antibiotics and ear drops but they haven't started to work yet!

Thanks for stopping by today. I do appreciate all of you that leave comments for me. If you are a new visitor to my blog please feel free to say "Hi", if you leave me a comment then I get to come and visit your blog in return! Sorry I have no stitching to share today but my exchanges should be in the mail soon and I can't wait to share them with you all :)

Peppermint Lane

2011-01-20T09:33:00.007-05:00

CCN Peppermint Lane

28ct Bone Lugana

Floss as charted

Finished as a Stitchers Box

Box size approx. 7"x7.5"

Side View

Paint used Folk Art "Country Twill" and "Parchment"

Inside fabric

I wanted to share another one of my finishes that I have been working on for the past few weeks. I am suffering with more severe symptoms from my thyroid now and haven't felt like doing much of anything. I "forced" myself to get some stitching finished yesterday and I feel a bit more like myself for doing that! I still feel lousy physically/mentally and emotionally I am just drained so my mojo for pretty much anything has disappeared. I am very happy with the box turned out in the end, even if it did take me just about a month to finally finish it.

I have been stitching but not at my "normal" speed or desire! I will admit to sometimes (OK, most of the time) spending anywhere from 4-6 hours per day stitching but that's down to an hour or two at most now and it shows. I can't share what I finished stitching just yet because it's for the Ornament exchange but I can tease you all (and Lori too) that I am extremely happy with how it turned out! I changed the colors completely for it and wasn't sure how it would look :) I did also stitch for the Winter exchange (my last group exchange for awhile) but haven't done the finishing yet (maybe today though) since the mailing date is getting close!

I see the Specialist on Monday, not a moment too soon as far as I am concerned! I will keep you all updated. Thank you so much as well for all the emails asking why I've been so "quiet", I appreciate them all so much and think I've finally caught up with answering them. I haven't felt like spending much time on the computer either so my reader is practically exploding!

ABC's of Me :)

2011-01-08T08:52:00.000-05:00

I saw this on Michelle and Elisa's blogs and since I still don't have any stitching to share thought this might be fun!

A - Age: I'm 41

B - Bed Size: Queen with my own fluffy duvet!

C - Chore you hate: Grocery shopping

D - Dogs Name: Don't have a dog

E - Essential Start of the Day item: Cup of Tea , computer and then another cup of tea!

F - Favourite Colour: Royal Blue

G - Gold or Silver: White Gold but Silver is good too!

H - Height: 5ft 4"

I - Instruments you play: Used to play Flute/Clarinet

J - Job: Part-time Library Assistant for the Mississauga Library System

K - Kids: Son 10 and Daughter 8

L - Living Arrangements: We're renting an imposssibly small apartment! LOL

M - Music You Love: Motion Picture Scores, Composers James Horner, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, James Newton Howard

N - Nicknames: None

O - Overnight Hospital Stay: 10 days for severe Tonsilitis infection, 3 nights in the ICU, Gallbladder surgery, Both kids

P - Pet Peeve: Tailgaters when you are already driving a little over the speed limit!

Q - Quote from a Movie: "Get Away From Her, You Bitch"! Ripley to the Queen from Aliens (my favorite movie)

R - Right handed or Left: Right handed

S - Siblings: 1 Brother and 1 Sister

T - Time you wake up: 7:30am but only because I have no choice!

U - Underwear: Ummmmm, you don't really want to know ;)

V - Vegetables you dislike: None really , veggies are my favorite foods!

W - Workout Style: Try to walk daily, I LOVE walking!

X - X-Rays You've had: Chest (countless times), abdomen, head, right wrist and probably others I am forgetting about now.

Y - Yummy Food you make: Lasagna, I love mine the best!

Z - The best place to Visit - Walt Disney World or England (especially the country villages)

Hope this gives you a little personal insight into "me"! I am finishing another one of my Mom's stitches for me so I should have that to share with you all soon! No new news on my health either, still feel the same.

First finish (but not stitch) of the year!

2011-01-07T13:34:00.001-05:00

My Mom stitched this one for me back in the Summer and I finally got around to some finishing today that I'm thrilled to finally share some stitching with you! After all this is a stitching blog!

Design: Prairie Schooler June

I painted the box all one color Craftsmart "Tan" (but it's not my favorite)

Found a pretty blue fabric to match the bird!

I do love how this turned out, Prairie Schooler designs are some of my favorite so expect to see more of them stitched up this year! I am lucky too as my Mom has almost every chart in her collection for me to borrow :) My Mom loves Prairie Schooler (did you notice)!

Thanks for stopping by today and for your comments on my last post! I see the Specialist on the 24th of this month and hopefully treatment won't be far behind. I will probably have to have more tests done to determine what has elevated my thyroid levels and hopefully it is nothing too serious and easily fixed. I'd love to know what feeling "normal" is like ;0) I am trying to read a few blogs each day but forgive me if I don't always leave a comment. I have been putting in a few stitches each day but they are for exchanges so nothing to share yet but stay tuned.

End of Year Giveaway Winners!

2011-01-01T00:01:00.013-05:00

Thanks so much to everyone for your lovely comments regarding the 2 giveaway finishes. I have really enjoyed reading all of your comments and visiting some new blogs too!

I asked both of my kids to pick a name for the giveaways to keep things fair and to include them in the fun too!

My Daughter picked.........

Lynn (Kearnel's Korner)

Please email me with your mailing address and which pillow you would like since your name was picked out first.

My Son picked............

Jennifer H (Confessions of a Serial Starter)

Please email me with your mailing address and I will mail the other pillow out to you.

Congratulations Ladies :) I wish I could offer more giveaways as I love to share my stitching but finances just won't let me! I will have a few more giveaways throughout 2011 and will also continue with some Random Acts of Kindness too:) I have been sorting through my charts for my first new start of 2011, although I did already start an exchange piece for my Ornament Swap group!

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy (I think I deserve this) and wonderful New Year! As always thank you for taking the time to read my blog :) I look forward to another year of sharing my stitching and being inspired by all of yours!

Family Gifts....

2010-12-30T11:19:00.005-05:00

My Mom and I normally stitch each other a stitched gift every year and this year she really spoiled me so I wanted to share with you all!

This little design caused me a TON of grief stitching it (no the frogs didn't visit) but it just took me absolutely forever to stitch it (3 weeks to be exact) and I didn't think I would make it in time for Xmas! Needless to say I was doing the sewing on Christmas Eve so I just made it and I'm very happy to say that she really loved it! WHEW!

And in return she stitched these for me........

(Sorry for the crappy pictures)

See, spoiled right????? I've been trying to steal her framed Bookshelf for awhile now and I guess she got tired of telling me off ;) LOL. I love them all and can't wait to turn the Prairie Schooler and Little House into something wonderful! Please don't ask me how my Mom stitches so fast because I have no idea :) I think she need to "bottle it" and sell it, she'd be a millionaire! LOL.

I can hardly believe it is New Year's Eve tomorrow night, this year has flown right by!

More Gifts!

2010-12-29T01:03:00.006-05:00

These arrived for me just before Chrismas and I just have to share them with you all :)

This beautiful ornament arrived on the 23rd from my friend Eileen, I just love it! The tasseled trim is perfect and it looks fabulous on my tree. Thanks again Eileen :)

Here's that "surprise" pillow unveiled! It's for my dear friend Lisa, I know how much she loves Carriage House charts and the design just really said it all. I was (and so was Lisa) very pleased with how this one turned out. I sent her an ornie too which you can see on Lisa's blog!

And this arrived from Lisa on the 24th, so it made it in perfect time :) Lisa stitched me a super cute Bent Creek Snowman ornie and my very first needleroll! I have been admiring needlerolls for a long time now but I have been trying to get up the courage to try finishing one and just haven't felt capable. I love this one very much, it's a part of the Blue Ribbon design Peppermint Twist and it's so very pretty :) I couldn't get a good picture of it no matter how hard I tried. Thanks again Lisa!

I have more to share but will save it for another post as it's getting really late here! Thanks for stopping by again! It's almost New Year's Eve but you still have time to enter my end of year giveaways.

End of Year Wrap Up

2010-12-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

I know this is kind of boring so I won't be offended if you skip over this post :) I like to keep track to see how much and what I stitched over the year. I know I stitched A LOT this year but I just didn't realize how much! LOL.

Exchanges: 15
Gifts: 9
Giveaways/RAK: 13
Me Finishes: 32

Grand Total of 69 finishes! So I'd say that was another very successful year stitching wise. I have different goals for 2011 that don't include such a high number of finishes but hopefully more larger projects. I did start a couple of new projects with another one planned but I know they won't be finished before the end of the year.

I will still continue with some exchanges throughout 2011, giveaways and the occasional RAK too. I enjoy sharing my stitching with others :)

I will be doing the draw for my end of year giveaways on New Year's Eve so there is still time to enter. Thank you to everyone that pops by and reads my blog, I do appreciate every comment that is left for me.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:56:00.001-05:00

Wishing everyone a very

Merry Christmas!

Final Ornament arrives!

2010-12-21T08:16:00.001-05:00

The last ornament in my Ornament Swap group finally arrived yesterday morning and isn't it too cute? I was getting worried because it was mailed out on November 24th but I discovered that there is a postal strike in Conny's part of the world and that explained the month it took to arrive. Typical for a postal system to pick right before Christmas to strike! LOL.

Here is a group shot of all the new ornaments for my tree. I really want to thank Lisa D, Lisa V, Lori, Sharon and Conny for making this group an absolute pleasure to host. I will think of each of you every time I look at them and be reminded that you are all such wonderful friends to me :) I'm really looking forward to more ornament swapping fun in 2011!

Well, I still have a million and one things to do before Christmas so I better get to it! Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog today~ Please don't forget to enter my end of year giveaway in the post below before December 30th.

Not one but two......end of Year Giveaway's!

2010-12-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

Giveaway 1 Sampler Girl Christmas Eve Freebie (above)

Fabric: 32 ct Autumn Fields Lugana

Floss is DMC

Finished as a long pillow

Giveaway 2 Lizzie*Kate Winter ABC

Fabric: 28ct White Lugana

Floss is DMC alternates

Finished as a long pillow

I wanted to do something different for my annual end of year giveaway and I just couldn't choose between these so I have decided to give away both (but not the globe). It seems only fitting that since I managed to conquer my fear of the sewing machine this year that my giveaway would be for a pillow. I am so proud that I have not only conquered my fear but I can honestly say I LOVE sewing and I have a feeling you'll be seeing A LOT more of my finishing done this way!

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post only. Everyone may enter and I will mail to anywhere in the world. You may chose to enter only one or both but please let me know in your comment. Giveaway will close on December 30th and I will randomly draw a winner at Midnight on New Year's Eve(my time).

Good luck to everyone that enters and thanks so much for reading my blog! I can't express how much I love to hear your comments they inspire me to keep stitching, sharing and trying new finishes :) I am very grateful to all of you for visiting~

Frosty Flakes....

2010-12-04T17:03:00.002-05:00

This super cute ornie arrived this week from Sharon in our Ornament Swap group. When I opened it I had a little chuckle because this was the only LHN ornie chart I actually put aside to stitch up quickly for myself if no one stitched him for me. Not that I don't like all the LHN ornie's but this one is just so "me"! All the details can be found on Sharon's blog :) Only one more ornie to arrive and my tree is going up this weekend so I'll be sure to share a picture with you all!

I had a few questions from my last flatfold finish post. I have been making flatfolds for well over a year but always used the glue gun but found the sides didn't "sit" together nicely and there were huge gaps that I would have to fill with more glue and then sometimes the cording didn't sit nicely along the edges. I've been scrutinizing some other flatfold finishes, put my thinking cap on and decided to get brave and just use the tacky glue instead and see if it would be strong enough to stay together. It does take A LOT longer and is more "messy" but it is well worth the extra hour or so that it took me and I will be finishing everything this way from now on. The next time I make one I will update my tutorial blog as another option to finishing :) I'm also going to try to share a pillow tutorial too, now that I am confident with the sewing machine.

Thanks for stopping by again this weekend. My end of year giveaway is up next! I'm super excited about it, are you????

PS- Fringe was awesome again this week! This is one TV show that just keeps getting better and better! I just wish more people would watch it or Fox is gonna end up cancelling it.

Sugar Plum Fairy

2010-12-03T00:44:00.000-05:00

Design: CCN Sugar Plum Fairy

Fabric: 32 ct. Taupe Lugana

Floss : As Charted

Stitched by my Mom and finished by me!

My Mom stitched this one up for my daughter a few weeks ago and my daughter has been bugging me to finish it for her. She chose the backing fabric and finishing trims and then asked me to make a flatfold.

I wanted to try something new with my finishing to see if I can perfect it so that the seams are not as noticeable. I normally use a glue gun but this time around I only used tacky glue and I have to say I am completely thrilled with how it turned out. I will be finishing all of my stitching this way now :)

I finished stitching another gift today and only have 2 more to go! I think I've finally settled on a finish for my end of year giveaway so stay tuned for that as I will be posting it shortly.

Thanks for stopping by, hope everyone has a great weekend!

More Christmas Gifts.....

2010-11-29T09:30:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

This is just a drive by posting as my "regular" computer is under repairs and this replacement one is driving me nuts because it is a lot slower! Funny how quickly we get used to something :) My sewing machine is working overtime now that I am not afraid of it anymore and I am quickly realizing how much fun it can be!

Design: Lizzie*Kate Tiny Tidings IV

Fabric: 28ct White Jobelan

Floss is DMC

Finished as a long pillow

Gift for someone?

"Surprise" gift for someone that reads my blog!

Can't share the stitching yet :)

I'll have a few more to share with you soon! I'll be back to my emails when my computer returns.

Thanks for stopping by ~

Angela

Ho, Ho, Ho It's starting to feel like Christmas!

2010-11-24T12:09:00.003-05:00

I started a little ornament swap group at the beginning of the year with a small group of my stitching friends. Every other month one member was to recieve 5 ornaments for their tree this year. November is my month!

First up is from Lisa V.....

Val's Stuff "Chilly Willy"

Beaded edge detail!

These are from Lori.....

Amy Brucken "Let the frolicking begin"

Lizzie*Kate Santa Flip It (Thank you gift/Needle box)

Nose and arm details!

I'll have more to share with you soon, I'm off to enjoy lunch :)

Raspberry and Almond Garden Salad

(My Favorite)!

Thanks for stopping by again! I promise a visit to all of your blogs soon :)

My final exchange for this year!

2010-11-22T08:44:00.002-05:00

I arranged a private trade with my friend Michelle recently and both have finally arrived, so I can share them with you now! I'm so happy that Michelle loved this sticher's box finish, it's one of my favorites too.

This is what I stitched for Michelle, I also included a Xmas ornament but forgot to take a picture of it! Silly me :)

Design: PS A Gift from a Friend Freebie
Fabric: 28ct Bone Jobelan
Floss is DMC as charted
Box painted in Linen (Folk Art Paint)

Michelle's exchange arrived on Thursday and she really spoiled me as you can see below! The PS "From me to you" is my exchange piece. The LK Berry Christmas pillow is my Xmas gift and I love both of them. Michelle was worried that her finishing wouldn't be as good as mine but I see no faults that she has to worry about:) Thanks again for exchanging with me Michelle!

That's it for my exchanges this year! Hooray, now maybe I can finish my LK Green Flips before the end of the year! I'll be doing a few exchanges next year but I want to spend more time on some "me" stitching projects :)

I will have more stitching finishes to share with you soon. Thanks for your input on my last entry and for stopping by again today :)

A trip to the ER (and it wasn't me)!

2010-11-19T21:05:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been quite the week since I last posted. As you can see from the picture of my poor little guy below we spent some time in the ER this week!
On Wednesday night I went out with my friend to enjoy dinner and on my way home got a call from my Mom that my Husband and my Son had been taken to the Hospital via Ambulance. My Hubby has been suffering with bad lower back pain again but the pain was so intense he blacked out and hit the floor from it and doesn't remember a thing until the Firefighters were shaking him to wake him up! That leaves my (autistic) Son and his younger Sister alone to figure out what to do. I have to say I am very proud of my little man, he called my Dad and then my Dad called 911 and the 911 Operator called my house and spoke to my Son about what was going on.

My Dad arrived just as the Ambulance did and the Firemen were already here. As the paramedics were bringing in the stretcher my little man tripped over the Firefighters bag and banged his head against the door frame (the edge) and cut it wide open! So he had to be bandaged up and was sent along in the Ambulance with my Hubby to the ER.

I am happy to say that both of them are recovering well at home, my Son was released within a few hours but Hubby stayed in overnight so they could run tests to make sure it wasn't his heart but they all came back fine. I feel so bad that I wasn't here for my kids and that they had to go through all this alone but my Son made me really proud despite being hurt in the commotion. Now I would like to return to my normal very boring life :)

Speaking of normal life I do have some stitching to share with you! This was stitched by my Mom and I did the finishing for her. She wanted another flat fold but she got this instead.

Design: LHN Strawberries

Fabric: 32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss as charted in pack

Here is a close up of the charm I added with the bow, I still don't really care for my bows but I'm trying! I think they are getting better and I'm probably being too hard on myself again because my Mom was over the moon with this one! LOL.

Design: LHN Under the Tree
Fabric: 28ct Bone Lugana
Floss is DMC (changed by me)

Now I'm way behind on my emails/hosting duties/general comments/blog reading so please give me some time to play "catch up". It's amazing how one incident can re-arrange your whole week! I also have an exchange to share with you very soon too, I'm just waiting for mine to be delivered to the UK! Thanks for stopping by again :)

BTW did anyone watch Fringe last night??? That crazy cliff hanger was outstanding, two weeks is going to be a very long time to wait! I LOVE this show, anyone else?

I'm seeing double!

2010-11-12T10:23:00.006-05:00

My Mom has been at it again! She stitched these and asked me to finish them, they are gifts for Christmas. Isn't she a crazy, insanely fast stitcher!!!

Prairie Schooler Winter Wind

Little House Needleworks Daisy Lane Cottage

All finished as flatfolds!

I need a break from finishing! I love it but I need a break :) LOL. I haven't even picked up my needle in 3 days now and I'm going into serious withdrawls! I am working on a few gifts for Christmas and time is quickly running out on me to get them out in the mail!

I did take a few days to finish up the 3rd block of my Lizzie Kate Green Flips......

This is such a fun, colorful design to stitch and I wish I had more time to get it finished. I have a goal to get it all done by the end of the year so that should work. I am stitching this one on 32ct Autumn Fields Lugana which I have to say is one of my all time favorite fabrics to work on!

I have an exchange in the mail and it should arrive next week, can't wait to share it with you all! It's my weekend to work, so not too much stitching time for me :( I won't complain too loudly though since I have all day today to stitch!

Thanks for stopping by today! I enjoy your visits and comments :)

Prairie Schooler December (this one is actually a third one)

Random Acts of Kindness

2010-11-07T21:49:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone!

If you previously sent me your address for a chance to possibly receive a RAK from me in the future could you please re-send your address? Silly me deleted the folder on my gmail account, LOL :) I was cleaning up and cleaned a little bit too good!

I will be continuing this through next year, so if you would like a chance to have something stitched (or stitching related) from me then all you have to do is send me your mailing address and blog link (if you have one) and a list of your favorite designers as well would be great to apxstitch@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by again! I'll have another stitching update soon :) I'm sorry I'm behind on my emails too but promise to catch up really soon!

It's Snowing!Edited

2010-11-05T11:10:00.005-04:00

Design: Love Keeps Us Warm
Fabric: 28ct Mushroom EW
Floss is DMC alternates
Started on October 20th
Finished on November 1st

Stitchers Box Tutorial

(Edited to add tutorial link for Florrie)

I think this is my FAVORITE LK finish so far! I have a special "fondness" for Snowmen and this was my second LK chart purchase that I have had (just about forever) in my collection and I finally got around to stitching it!

I had the snowflake charms in my stash and felt that the hats were a bit "naked" without something :) I painted the box in a mushroom color to match the fabric and used that awesome Snowman fabric that I got at Fabricland last month! I didn't add a cord trim to the inside of my box as I really wanted the focus to be on the Snowmen.

Now it's not really snowing outside but it is in our weather forecast for the weekend! I have plans with a comfy chair and my stitching so I don't care :)

Thanks for looking!

Frightful Finishes!!

2010-10-31T00:15:00.002-04:00

Design: Waxing Moon Halloween Stack

Fabric: 28ct Mushroom EW

Floss is DMC

I had so much fun creating this finish! I had hoped to have it "professionally" finished but I just haven't had the resources or time. I just had to share it with you though (it's not exactly) perfect or ironed but you get the idea of how I want it to look. For those that are interested I bought a wood scrapbook frame (12x12) at Michaels and painted the sides in Purple/Orange (7 coats in total) and the cute little wood cutouts came pre-painted. What do you think? I am extremely pleased with my creative self :)

I also sewed another pillow for me :) I used DMC and evenweave but changed some of the DMC slightly to better match the colors in the fabric. This is one of my all time favorite LK designs and I'm currently at work on another favorite that I should be able to share with you soon!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by again this week. I'll be back soon with another finish and my final exchange for the year!

"My Pretties" and finally an answer!

2010-10-27T08:09:00.003-04:00

First of all I have some wonderful news to share with you all! My biopsy results came back as a benign Fibroadenoma! The relief I feel is beyond words and yet I am still sad as I know there must be another woman out there that did not get good news like me. Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts and prayers I really feel that it helped! I hope now to get myself back on the track to staying healthy, I've been sick for far too long!

I have more great news.....my Halloween exchange with Lisa has arrived! Funny how we mailed them a day apart and they arrived exactly a day apart :) Here is the exchange that I received...

Private Halloween Exchange from Lisa V

Isn't this just too cute? I really love it and all the extras will come in handy too! I don't have the LK Boo chart (I know I don't believe it either) and I have a great idea for it for next year's Halloween finish. My kids had so much fun stuffing the ghosts heads and hanging them around my house! They have been singing "Ghostbusters" all day :) LOL!

And here is my exchange for Lisa (sorry it's not the best picture)..........

Design: LK Halloween Sampler
Fabric: 28ct Bone Jobelan
Floss is DMC alternates
Finished as a hanging pillow

I really wanted to challenge myself to finishing something different for Lisa. It took me a long time to finally get this "vision" into my head but I'm so happy with the way it turned out and Lisa loved it too :) I'll call it a hanging pillow! I sent some "extras" too but forgot to take a picture. This is the second year that we have arranged a private exchange and I hope that we will be able to do another one next year too.

I'll return soon, I have a couple of "frightfully fun" finishes to share with you! Thanks for stopping by again, I sure do have a lot to say and share this week, don't I??!!

Here's another one.....

2010-10-26T08:33:00.008-04:00

Design: Prairie Schooler Autumn Leaves

Fabric: 32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss is DMC as charted

Stitched by my Mom

Finished as a flatfold by me

No news yet on my biopsy results. I'm hoping that no news quickly means good news later! Thanks for stopping by again! I'm slowly getting caught up on my emails and blog reading :)

December, already?

2010-10-24T21:16:00.011-04:00

Design: Prairie Schooler December

Fabric: 32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss is DMC as charted

Stitched by my Mom

Finished as a flatfold by me!

I spent the weekend doing a bit of finishing but this is the only one I can share right now. My Mom stitched this design last month and she loves my flatfold finishing. I have another 3 lined up to finish this week that she has stitched as well. I was pleased with the way this one turned out.

I don't know why but I always "overlook" Prairie Schooler designs but I always find that when they are stitched and the finishing is done they always stand out among the "crowd" and are some of my favorite finishes. Have you ever felt that way about a designer?

Thanks for stopping by today and welcome to all my new blog readers/commentors :) It really is wonderful to hear from you and I appreciate the time you take to leave me a message!

Wow, I actually have a (finished) finish to share!

2010-10-17T22:31:00.003-04:00

But first I wanted to say thanks to everyone for your thoughtful comments on my last post. I am deeply touched by all of your support! The biopsy is done and the results should be back within a week or so. I am sore, swollen and bruised but that should subside over the next few days. I've spent most of yesterday/today in bed with an ice pack over the area. The Pathologist did tell me that it is only 6mm in size so whatever it turns out to be it's in a very early stage. So now it's more waiting for the results which will hopefully be this week and I've never prayed harder that it will be benign.

I've been trying to keep myself busy with other thoughts (and away from that chocolate)and I have a finish that I can share with you now!

My Mom stitched this one for me (I'm not that fast) and I've been trying to figure out how to finish it. I found a larger wood box that I thought would suit it perfectly. I made a small pouch inside the box for scissors etc. and this time opted not to paint the box, mostly because I was feeling lazy! I'm pleased with how it turned out :) I have to say that this is probably my favorite way to finish my stitching but it does take a lot of time and patience but isn't too difficult to do!

I have one exchange en route that should arrive shortly and another that I am in the finishing stages and then my exchange commitments are finished for the year :) I've been stitching a couple of things for myself that I hope to share with you soon too!

Well, thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate your visits, your comments and all the emails too :) I think I am almost caught up on them all!

My week continues!

2010-10-07T16:59:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update to let you all know I had my repeat mammogram and ultrasound yesterday afternoon and they found something on my right breast (not the left one as originally thought). I saw whatever it is as plain as day on the ultrasound too. My Family Doctor called me at home this morning to forewarn me about the next step which is a biopsy and that has been scheduled for next Friday. That will determine what it is. I know a lot of "others" have walked in these shoes before me so any advice you can offer to me would be wonderful :)

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and your words of encouragement, they mean so much to me :) I'll let you know as soon as I know what it is. To say this has been a rough year and a half is just an understatement!

I promise some stitching pictures soon, I am stitching it's just been for the last of my exchanges so I don't want to spoil the surprises as both ladies read my blog.

What a Week!

2010-10-05T15:15:00.003-04:00

And it's only Tuesday! My wisdom tooth was more complicated to get out but it's out after it broke into 3 pieces, took 14 needles to freeze me and almost 2 hours later! I have bronchitis (how did that happen) because I'm on 2 powerful antibiotics and my jawbone is still infected too!

And now to top it all off I have to go back to the Hospital tomorrow morning (because they need me in as quick as possible) for a repeat mammogram and an ultrasound of my left breast. My very first mammogram was yesterday and I expected a completely routine exam but the Nurse that just called me said "Don't worry dear but we found something we want to investigate further and quickly". Don't worry and quickly don't belong in the same sentence!

Anyway enough ranting and raving (and no stitching pics either!) I'll go and hide under the covers now and wake up next week, that one might start better than this one!

Today is my Birthday!

2010-09-30T00:16:00.018-04:00

Another year and another Birthday! This one will be celebrated quietly with my family and working (I'd rather be in Walt Disney World)! I got some wonderful parcels in the mail and gifts so I'll get right into sharing them with you all!

First up above is from Michelle. Michelle and I became fast friends later last year when we swapped a couple of Lizzie Kate charts. She sent me a lovely book, chart, ribbon and some metallic flosses that will come in handy in the future. Thanks again Michelle, I look forward to our exchange later on this year!

From Eileen, she sent me some Halloween finishing fabric, some 28ct evenweave in 2 very pretty colors and some great cat charms. Thanks again Eileen, I am so glad that we "met" a few years ago and that we have stayed in touch!

This one arrived yesterday from Lisa, she sent me a Sampler Girl chart, some wonderful "smelly" soap from the Body Shop, some of CindyMae's cording (which is really nice) and not one but two beautiful stitched cushions! How spoilt am I?? LOL! I dropped a seriously big "hint" on Lisa's blog about the LK Spring cushion but I was only joking :) Okay, maybe I wasn't but I'm very pleased to give it a new home! Thanks again Lisa!

Next one is my order from 123stitch with money from my parents. I got a very large piece of 32 ct Autumn Fields Lugana and some floss to start the LHN Family Sampler (which my Mom bought and I'm borrowing as soon as she is done). I am not planning on starting until New Years Day and it will be my main large project through 2011! I think I showed tremendous restraint with my order, don't you?

And just look at this! Isn't it wonderful to have a Mom that stitches too :) I LOVED this design and had it pulled out to see if I could stitch it up next year and now I don't have to! It's so perfect for me because I love to read and I work in the Library :) Awesome Mom, I love it!

I also received these lovely handmade notecards from Karen to say thank you for hosting the first Creative challenge on the LK lovers blog. Thank you again Karen, it was such fun to see all the wonderful entries and I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. I can't wait to put them to good use!

I go for my Wisdom Tooth extraction on October 18th unless that pain gets any worse (and it is getting alot worse). Our Thanksgiving holiday is getting in the way but I'm not in any hurry to have it pulled sooner (unless this pain continues) and who wants to have a wisdom tooth pulled on their Birthday! I need more time to work up the courage to go.

Thanks for stopping by again! I might not have a lot to share over the next few weeks because I have really slowed way down on my exchanges. I did join the Pumpkin challenge that Becky SC is hosting and I am currently finishing up my first entry, are you taking part in the challenge too?

I'm Back!

2010-09-27T09:09:00.009-04:00

I have a lot to share with you today so I'll get right into the pictures!

I have done some finishing, these were all ornaments I stitched up over the last few months and finally got around to doing something with them. I think they all turned out pretty good, I like the bow on the Merry Christmas and the tassels I buy pre-made but I only have a handful of them left as they don't sell them anymore (not that I can find). I also found this awesome Snowman fabric and have a great finish or two in mind for it!

I did one more block on my Green Flips SAL with the LK Lovers Group. I am really enjoying the colors in this design and I was hoping to get through it a bit faster than I am but of course I got sidetracked! I have finished a Halloween exchange but can't share that one just yet, I am trying something new with the finishing so pray with me that it works, LOL! I've spent hours (not kidding) going over and over it in my mind so I'm confident now (Ha) on how to put it together.

My Mom has been stitching too so here are some of her latest finishes!

All of the above are by Prairie Schooler, my Mom is on a "kick" of stitching them so expect to see many, many more! She stitched me the June sampler to say "thanks" for doing all her finishing :) I think that's a fair trade don't you?

On a not so happy sidenote I have to see an Oral Surgeon today, one of my back wisdom teeth needs to be extracted it's got a huge hole in it and it's all infected (tooth broke) and I'm a big baby and didn't go to the dentist for a few months so this is my payback! Needless to say we will be talking sedation because my roots are all crooked and apparently it is going to be a difficult extraction. Gosh, I just can't wait! LOL. Can you believe I am almost 41 years old and still have all 4 of my wisdom teeth to begin with? To put a positive spin to it I'm used to pain so what is a little bit more!

Speaking of Birthdays, mine is quickly approaching and I will get to share my lovely bday parcels with you soon! Fingers crossed I will get to actually enjoy this Birthday not like last year where I just wanted to crawl in a hole and sleep!

Thanks for stopping by today, my "mini break" from blogging is over and I should be back more regularly. I have a lot of emails and blog reading to catch up on this afternoon so please bear with me if you are waiting to hear from me.

Computer Issues!Edited

2010-09-22T15:13:00.003-04:00

**Edited** I have my computer back home now all fixed and ready to go but I lost a whole ton of emails that were recently sent to me so if you haven't heard from me please email me again and give me at least 24-48 hours to get back to you. I know I had a few requests to join the blogs? I will have a stitching update soon, I'm still feeling quiet :)

Please bear with me if you have sent me a recent email, my home computer decided to crash a few days ago and my Dad is trying to fix it. Apparently 2 out of 3 of my hard drives decided to crash and he is attempting to retrieve the information. Thankfully he knows what to do but I will be away from a computer for awhile with only limited access through work.

Wish me luck!

Angela

Autumn finally arrives!

2010-09-16T09:34:00.007-04:00

I have just heard that another one of my "missing" parcels has finally arrived. I participated in a private Autumn exchange that was organized by Becky SC and my partner was Becky K. I found this totally awesome fabric and wanted to choose a finish that would show it off so I found a "mini stitching box" and then went in search of a perfect design. I read on Becky's blog that she liked Prairie Schooler and since I do too it was an easy decision. Of course it wasn't very easy to part with this finish :) I have lots of this fabric though so expect to see it used again!

Here's a close up for you of the inside of the box, I painted the box in a 2 tone color to give it more interest. I am participating in just 2 more exchanges this year both private with friends and I'm working on getting both together so will be able to share those with you soon. I have decided that I won't be exchanging next year, I've made a lot of big decisions regarding my stitching, blogging, exchanging and in general my life to attempt to make things less stressful for me :) My health continues to be an issue too so that doesn't help!

And I know you've seen this before but I wanted to let you all know that I have a tutorial posted now on how to finish this. This one caused me a lot of grief because it's just not that easy to explain so forgive me but I tried my best :) I will be working on a tutorial to cut the board soon but I'm gonna try a video tutorial so please bear with me. I'm gonna try and come up with a Tips and Tricks tutorial too on some of the things I have learned over the years of finishing and I think that pretty much sums up all of my finishing knowledge :) I am so happy that everyone is finding them useful and I am more than happy to try to help you along the way.

I won't have anything else to share with you for awhile so I may take a bit of a mini break from blogging. I will still continue to read your blogs and drool over your stitching though! I'm off to Michaels now to fondle the Halloween ribbon that is on sale!

Thanks Canada Post! Edited

2010-09-13T23:26:00.006-04:00

**Edited** I knew you guys would understand (my dh says I'm panicking over nothing) but I get so anxious until I know they have arrived safely at their destinations. One parcel has finally arrived so that helps me breathe a small sigh of relief, the others should follow shortly! All my fingers and toes are crossed and I'm praying to the postal gods :)

Parcel 1- Ornie Exchange (Arrived)
Parcel 2- Private Autumn exchange (USA)
Parcel 3- LK Lovers Grand Prize (USA) (Arrived)
Parcel 4- LK Lovers Runner Up Prize (Australia) this one can take up to 21 days normally
Parcel 5- Big Girl Giveaway (UK) normally only takes 5-7 days.

I mailed 5 parcels on August 28th that cost me almost $60 and they all haven't arrived to their destinations yet and they never take this long! That's 16 days now and counting and all I keep envisioning is all the extra work I will have to do to replace (or try) all of them! I simply can't afford the postage again so please pray with me that they all arrive tomorrow so I can actually sleep. I can't even concentrate on stitching, I pick it up and just feel like throwing it or crying and I just have to get it out or I'll end up screaming!

I'll have to think twice about mailing out so many parcels on the same day again!

I've been Rak'd!

2010-09-10T14:08:00.002-04:00

I had a wonderful surprise arrive in my mailbox this morning! Sharon (aka Daffycat) RAK'd me :) I loved her recent Halloween pillow finish and instantly fell in love with the fabric she used for it. I have been searching high and low and all points in between for Halloween fabric and would you believe there's NOTHING! Fabricland just recently got some Christmas fabric in but that is jumping a bit ahead and I love Halloween :) Thank you again Sharon, you are a real lifesaver! LOL.

I did some more finishing this one is for me :) I just about hit the floor when I saw the strawberry buttons in Michaels! Perfect. I love this fabric but sadly the quilt shop is all sold out now. Oh and surprise, it's another flatfold :)

Not much else is new, my kids started back to school this week so I have a bit more time to myself. I say a bit because the first few weeks back into the "strict" routine are always a challenge for them, especially my Son :) It's always fun trying to co-ordinate bus pickups, buses not showing up and then having to drive my kids to School, some against their will! LOL. Things should settle down in a week or so and then I will have 6 (glorious) hours to myself each day:) Of course it's still amazing how quickly that time goes by and you still didn't get a chance to stitch!

I wanted to answer a few questions that I had from my last post and hope I don't miss anyone :) I actually display all of my finishes in my 2 cabinets but they are quickly becoming full, it's also how I stop them from getting dusty! I know I don't have any sympathy for that one :) My Autumn exchange post should be posted shortly, I meant to hit "save now" and instead hit "Publish" and my partner hasn't let me know it's arrived and I'm getting worried as it's been almost 2 weeks! Thanks for all of your positive comments on my tutorials! And yes please send me a picture of your finishes, I would love to see them :)

Speaking of stitching, that is what I am finally going to do! I might have just enough time to sneak in watching the Vampire Diaries season premiere from last night! Fall TV is right around the corner and I can hardly wait!

Thanks for all of your comments on my last post and thanks for stopping by again today!

Not once, but twice!

2010-09-04T23:51:00.005-04:00

** Edited** Tray and Pinkeep Tutorial's are now posted for all whom are interested! Happy Finishing :)

I was supposed to go camping this weekend but our weather has taken a sudden nosedive into Autumn so we decided to stay home :) I wasn't planning on doing any finishing this long weekend but I was sorting through my finishes that need finishing and found these two and knew immediately how I wanted to finish them. I *borrowed* this idea from Becky SC after I saw her tray finishes I just knew I had to give it a try too and I just can't tell you how thrilled I am with these :) I love being inspired by other stitchers to try something new, don't you?! Now I can't take credit for stitching the first one, this one was done by my Mom and I raided her finishes earlier this year and she let me have this one for my daughter (that's why it's pink)!

Design: CCN The Nutcracker
Fabric: 28ct Bone Jobelan
Threads: As charted
Finish: Tray (Tutorial to follow soon)

Design: LHN Kitty Cottage Sampler
Fabric: 28ct Lambswool Jobelan
Threads: DMC as charted
Finish: Another tray!

I hope I've inspried you to try something new :) I did take pics as I made them so I hope to create a tutorial for you soon! I'm just dying to break 300 followers and I'm so close, can anyone help me out??? LOL!

Thanks for all your comments on my last finishes! I am looking for a frame for the Winter Snapperland and hope to have it framed soon.

Look at what I finished!

2010-09-03T00:29:00.001-04:00

I've been feeling very quiet lately, not sure why, but it's not like me. I haven't spent much time on the computer but I have been keeping busy stitching.

I am thrilled to announce my latest finish and I did a pretty good happy dance late last night when the last snowflake was done!

Bent Creek Winter Snapperland
28ct Mushroom Monaco
GAST and WDW
To be framed (soon)

I had to go waaaay back in my posts to discover when I started this one which was October 2009, LOL! I couldn't sleep one night a couple of weeks ago (or practically every night since then) and when I was sorting through my stuff I came across it and knew I just had to get it finished to prove to myself that I do still have the patience to stitch larger projects. I still have to find and then add the JABC buttons but I'm not sure about the snappers. Does anyone else not like them either?

I've also stitched and finished some small pieces.....

Lizzie Kate Plant Love
28ct White Jobelan
DMC as charted
Finished as a pinkeep (Tutorial to be posted shortly)

Lizzie Kate Forever Stitching Freebie
28ct White Lugana
DMC to match fabric
Finished as a pinpillow (Tutorial to be posted shortly)

I've also finished 2 more exchange pieces which should be arriving shortly and look forward to sharing those with you too :) I'm now working on a private Halloween exchange piece for my dear friend Lisa V and I am stitching the next block of the Lizzie Kate Green Flips.

Hopefully I will be back to my normal "chatty" self soon :) Thanks to everyone who e mailed me to see how I was doing. I appreciate all of your emails and comments so much!

Big Girl Panties Winner!

2010-08-28T01:15:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Since I'm still awake I decided to use the random generator to pick a number for my giveaway! The winner is................Number 20!

Elaine (Lainey's Stitching Hoose)

Congrats Elaine, I will be emailing you shortly! Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments on this flatfold, I really enjoyed reading all of them.

Nothing exciting to say but....

2010-08-18T22:23:00.006-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Wow, I didn't realize so much time had passed since my last update! I don't have too much going on right now but I have been busy stitching.

I started LK Green Flips this weekend and I was almost finished stitching this first square and then I realized the dreaded frogs had made an unannounced trip! How dare they?! So I spent another hour ripping out almost all of my stitching (which almost had me chuck it across my living room) and re-stitched it. I don't have any exchanges due out now until October 5th so lots of time for me to concentrate on this piece. I'm using 32ct Autumn Fields Lugana with the DMC threads and I love it! Now I've not been a big fan of 32ct before but I got some reading glasses and I am totally cool with it now, LOL! Turning 40 has not been kind to me has it?

Speaking of exchanges my Lizzie Kate and Summer Seasonal exchanges arrived :)

This is my Summer exchange from April. She stitched me a San Man design that reminded her of the sea and vacations. Isn't it cute, I haven't been following San Man designs for awhile now but will have to pop over again for another look :)

This is my Lizzie Kate exchange from Karen D. Don't you just love that fur trim?? It's just so much fun :) Plus I adore Halloween designs!

I did some more finishing for my Mom too, she stitched this Prairie Schooler design and asked for another flatfold. It's a good job I like making them right?? LOL. The problem is I end up loving what I've done and want to keep them all :)

Prairie Schooler June

32ct Mushroom Lugana

DMC as charted

I hope everyone has a great week! I appreciate all of your comments so much, it inspires me to keep on stitching and blogging. Thanks for stopping by~

It's Giveaway time!

2010-08-11T21:40:00.008-04:00

Hi Everyone!

You know I LOVE Lizzie Kate designs and giveaways! You know I LOVE making flatfolds too! I've been a busy little bee stitching and finishing this and I hope you will LOVE it too!

Design: LK Big Girl Panties

Fabric: 32ct Antique White Lugana
Threads: WDW Blue Bonnett, Peoria Purple and DMC
Finished as a flatfold!

This giveaway is open to all of my followers only as a little way to say thank you for reading and commenting on my blog! You must be a follower to be entered and you must leave me a comment on this post only! I will mail this to anywhere in the world and will use a random generator to pick the winner. Giveaway is open until August 27st midnight (Toronto time) and I will announce a winner on August 28th.

Good luck to everyone :) Thanks for stopping by today! I'll have a stitching update shortly :)

At this time I am not interested in letting go of this chart as I know I will be stitching it up again soon! Thanks for respecting copyright laws :)

Naughty or Nice?

2010-08-02T10:48:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone!

What a week this has been! We had a wonderful vacation, spent time in Niagara Falls and then went camping. In between we took in a Ball game and the Zoo. Unfortunately it's back to work tomorrow but I think I need another vacation, LOL!

My Xmas In July exchange arrived from Paula this week too and it's a beauty as you'll see from the pictures. Paula stitched me Santa Wants to Know (and I'm not telling) and finished it into a cube. Isn't it beautiful :) Thank you so much again Paula, I truly love it!

I put it on top of my new display cabinet so it's close by while I am stitching. Look at those Jingle Bell feet :) I've admired this one over and over again. Paula also spoiled me with a ton of new stash, 4 Lizzie Kate charts, beads, buttons and Xmas finishing bells. It's been so much fun exchanging with her and a real pleasure getting to know her better too :)

I haven't had a lot of opportunities to stitch this week but I did some finishing for my Mom (again)! LOL, she gave me 4 new small finishes last week and this was the first one I have tackled so far. Of course I didn't want to give it to her :)

I have been inspried though by these fabrics, just wait to see what I stitch for each of them! I can't wait to show you :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog~

Friendship Grows!

2010-07-24T23:36:00.009-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I couldn't wait to share my latest finish that I spent the better part of today putting together! I've stitched this freebie a half dozen times and none of those were for me and technically this one isn't either as my daughter Julia quickly claimed it for herself! LOL....that's OK as almost everything I make is for her.

Fabric is 28ct Antique White Lugana
Threads are DMC 209, 334, 602, 704, 721, 725
Ladybug charm and Happy Flower Button
Finished as a "flatfold with a twist"

I can share my finish with you all because I am not officially entering mine into the voting since I already have both kits and I'm the host it makes more sense for me to take a "back seat" on this one :) I wanted to do a flat fold but I wanted to try something different and a bit more creative this time around so this is what I came up with! I'm pretty proud of myself actually and the most important thing is my daughter loves it too :) Don't you just love the smiley face flower button?!

If you want to participate in the challenge too you must be a member of the Lizzie Kate Lovers Blog, stitch this freebie and finish it then submit the pictures to me by August 21st to be "officially entered". If you have any other questions please read the previous posts and/or email me at apxstitch at gmail dot com (no spaces).

We are off to Niagara Falls on Monday so when I return I will post some pictures! I haven't been there in a few years and it will be the first time the kids will see the Falls up close.

Thanks for stopping by~

A dinner, a movie and more Christmas stitching!

2010-07-20T21:55:00.010-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for all your comments on my latest finishes, I do read each of them and appreciate your feedback so much! I have continued on with my Christmas theme and stitched a few more small ornament designs for gifts but I'm bored with it and have now moved onto some Summer stitching! It's still hot here and humid so it's the perfect weather to stitch inside in the air conditioning.

Design: LK Tiny Tidings IX
Fabric is 28ct Taupe Lugana
DMC threads

Design: LK 2001 JCS Ornament
Fabric is 28ct Autumn Fields Lugana
DMC threads

I went to see Inception on Monday night and it was awesome and mind bending so I'd recommend it but make sure you are awake and pay attention! LOL. My hubby and I also celebrated our 11 th anniversary on Saturday with a nice dinner without the kids which was great but weird because it was really quiet!

I hope to do some finishing soon and my Mom has a couple more for me to create something with too. I have also started my LK Lovers SAL piece so will post a picture of my poor progress in a few days! Stay tuned~

Thanks for stopping by my blog today~

LK Xmas In July Exchange!

2010-07-16T23:08:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Wow, I know two posts in one day! I just have a lot to say today and just can't wait to share this with you all:) Paula let me know yesterday that my Xmas in July exchange had arrived! We both love Lizzie Kate designs and Christmas so this is what I made for her.

LK Don't Get Your Tinsel
28 ct Taupe Lugana
Floss is DMC
Finished as a Stitchers Box

Side View

Inside view

I kept changing my mind on what to stitch for her but this was my first choice and I stuck with it. I hope that it will make her smile whenever she sees it!

LK Tiny Tidings IV

28ct Autumn Fields Lugana

Floss is DMC

Finished as an ornament

Well, it was a Xmas theme so how could I not send an ornament??? So I found out that Paula hasn't stitched up any of the TT from last year yet and went ahead and stitched one for her tree. I love the Tiny Tidings series and this one is another RAK from me :)

LK Friendship

Then I found out it was her birthday last month so I knew I had to stitch something for her too :) It's my 4th attempt at a pillow finish and i'm gaining more and more confidence so I think I will tackle a tutorial soon for those of you who are interested.

I'm gonna take a short break from exchanging now aside from a couple of private trades already lined up for later on this year. I want to tackle some more "me" projects!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today~

Time to share my Lizzie Kate collection!

2010-07-15T21:33:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone!

First of all I have to say such a huge thanks from my Mom for all of the wonderful comments you left for her on her LHN collection! She was so thrilled to read them all and I even sent the picture to Diane at Little House and she sent me a lovely email back which I shared with my Mom too. I am extremely lucky to share this passion with her not only does it help to save me a TON of money, it's nice to create something for her as she really loves it!

So I decided to put together all of my L*K finishes for you to drool over next:) These are the ones that I have kept, not all are stitched by me as some are from exchanges. You really don't want to know how many LK charts I have that are waiting to be stitched!

You should be able to click on all pictures to make them bigger to see each finish! I'm not the best photographer but you get the idea.

These are all the ones that I stitched up for gifts or exchanges over the past couple of years. I know that everything is not pictured here as my Xmas ornaments are all safely packed away so will share those with you all closer to Xmas!

My Xmas in July exchange arrived yesterday so I'll share that with you on my next post shortly.

Thanks for stopping by my blog~

I love to read all of your comments!

Hooked on Stitches

Random Acts of Kindness 2012

Black Cats and Red Threads!

Distractions, Another Happy Dance and something you didn't get to see!

So what did I start with, a Happy Dance and a Health scare!

2011: A Year In Review! Stitching Goals for 2012 too!

Merry Christmas!

Taking a break....

Are you tired of Christmas yet?

More Christmas stitching!

It's beginning to look like Christmas!

A little something for me.....

Fall exchange and a new direction!

Autumn Basket

Lizzie Kate Exchange

Black Cats and Flying Bats!

Happy Birthday to me!

"Paper Whites"

Two in one!

Lavender Hill

A whole lot of nothing (well almost)!

Let's get you up to date!

Lots to share!

An Update and personal exchange partner revealed!

More Ornaments to share

Before and After (Edited)......

Another flatfold and some "dyeing"

A dear friend's Birthday and another exchange to share!

Ornaments, Ornaments, Ornaments (TUSAL too)!

I think my head is spinning!

I've just about had it up to here!

Another Stitching Sister Gift

Time to share again.....

Another lovely exchange arrives!

A New Travelling pattern begins it's journey!

It's time to annouce the winner!

Green Eggs....

New fabric, new(ish) stash and sharing my news!

Happy Blogoversary, Happy Blogoversary, Happy Blogoversary.......It's giveaway time!

Busy Needle

Hopping into Spring!

First Stitching Sister Gift!

Ornament for Sharon

It's Jenny Bean time......

Announcing my first adopted "Stitching Sister"!

My PIF Winner is......

TUSAL Giveaway ornament and my Ultimate Giveaway!

Passing it Forward......

January to December!

First round of Ornaments

I have something to show you :)

Can anyone help with the tab feature?

Larger Project Challenge

Peppermint Lane

ABC's of Me :)

First finish (but not stitch) of the year!

End of Year Giveaway Winners!

Family Gifts....

More Gifts!

End of Year Wrap Up

Merry Christmas!

Final Ornament arrives!

Not one but two......end of Year Giveaway's!

Frosty Flakes....

Sugar Plum Fairy

More Christmas Gifts.....

Ho, Ho, Ho It's starting to feel like Christmas!

My final exchange for this year!

A trip to the ER (and it wasn't me)!

I'm seeing double!

Random Acts of Kindness

It's Snowing!**Edited**

Frightful Finishes!!

"My Pretties" and finally an answer!

Here's another one.....

December, already?

Wow, I actually have a (finished) finish to share!

My week continues!

What a Week!

Today is my Birthday!

It's Snowing!Edited

Computer Issues!Edited

Thanks Canada Post! Edited