Photos, photos & more photos - Merry Christmas to All!

This post is photo heavy, but wanted to catch up on all my exchanges, Christmas card stitching and charity stitching.  I've posted days 17 - 24 of my CSE Advent Exchange gifts from Glenda.  Thank you so very much for everything you picked out for me, Glenda. 

Advent Exchange Days 17 - 20

Advent Exchange Days 21 - 24

At Sapphire Stitching group, we had a Secret Santa exchange and here's a pic of all I received from Georgena.  Thank you so much for everything, Georgena.

Secret Santa gift

At SanManville, we had a Yulemas Ornament Exchange and here is the ornament I received from Linda in Canada.  Thank you so much, Linda.  I really love the Vee & Co design you stitched for me.

Here are the 3 Christmas cards I stitched.  These were fun to stitch and my 1st attempt at making any Christmas cards.  I'm hoping to do more for next year.

And last, but not least, here's the tea theme charity square I finished for Q4OC that will be sent to a group who makes quilts for Seniors.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoyed browsing through my pics.  Please leave comments - I love them. 

Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope you have a wonderful holidays!!!

Barb

Advent Exchange & Stitching

I've gotten behind on posting pics of my Advent Exchange gifts, so here goes.  The 1st pic is of days 5 - 8.  Day 5 was a cute Boyd's Bear Pin and day 6 was 14ct red Aida.  On day 7, I received mitten ornaments filled with 2 tubes of lip moisteners and a purrfect pin (says "I love cats; it's people I can't stand").  That so fits me.  LOL  Day 8 was a kit of kitty ornaments to stitch (I LOVE IT).  Thank you Glenda!!!

The 2nd pic is of days 9 - 12.  On day 9, I got these soft and comfy pair of socks.  They came at just the right time, since it's been cold here lately and they keep my feet warm & toasty.  Thread Heaven was in the day 10 package (which I will definitely put to good use),  day 11 was a small "Think Spring" kit with handmade button (similar to the Hobb Nobb doodles for leftovers kits & I LOVE IT).  On day 12, I received a tin of 12 coasters with bizarre (but real) words on them.  Cracked me up.  Thanks again, Glenda.

This 3rd pic is of days 13 - 16.  Day 13 was a hilarious air freshener for my car in the shape of a cat butt (just tooooooo funny).  Day 14 was a small stocking filled with a herbal foot creme and pumice stone, which I'm really looking forward to using.  Day 15 was craft fabric with cat faces on it (I LOVE IT) and day 16 was a package of cat themed chipboard stickers (I LOVE IT).  Glenda has sure picked out the best gifts for me.  I'm loving everything!!!  Thank you so very much, Glenda!!!

As for my stitching, I recently finished 2 small charity squares for Q4OC.  The beach theme is a design from the July 2004 Crazy For Cross Stitch magazine.  The transportation design is from Issue 142 of The World of Cross Stitching magazine.

  

Also made these ornaments.  Jingle All The Way is a Helga Mandl design & I use the reindeer fabric for the back.  Itty Bitty Christmas Tree is a SanMan Original (for SanManville members only).  There will be 3 others to go with this and will make into a cube.  The Vinnie Reindeer is a Just Cross Stitch design & I made this for a group exchange (used light blue felt on the backside).

I'll put pics of the Christmas cards I stitched in my next post.  I'm sure blogger won't cooperate to let me add more pics in this post and don't want to over-do the pictures for all of you reading this.  Finally, I want to thank yall so very much for visiting my blog.  I also love the comments you leave for me.  So, am heading off to bed now.  Bye yall!

Barb

Snow & Advent Exchange

I know this isn't a big deal to some of you, but here in SE Texas, it's a big deal.  We got a couple inches of snow today, and we rarely see the white stuff down here.  I let the kid in me come out and built 2 snowmen (one in the front yard & one in the back yard).  You can see in the 1st pic that it was coming down pretty hard.  I know my snowmen aren't very good, but made the best with what I could find.  LOL  They will melt quickly anyway. 

Here's pics of what I've received in my Advent Exchange from Glenda.  First pic is of all the packages and second pic is what I've opened on days 1 - 4.  This is such a fun exchange and it's the 3rd year I've participated in it. 

On day 1, I opened the cutest LED frog keychain.  It goes ribbit, ribbit when you press on the light. 

Day 2 was a package of 2 sachets to stitch. 

Day 3 was a lovely journal and matching photo album.   I plan to use the photo album for pictures of some of my stitching projects. 

Day 4 was 3 Stitch A Card Kits (2 for Christmas and 1 of a cat).

Time to get back to some stitching now while watching the final episode of Monk.  Sure am going to miss that show.  Thanks for visiting.

Barb

Let's Say Thanks

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

at www.LetsSayThanks.com

If you go to this web site, you can pick out a thank you card, Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them. This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's. Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I really need to update my blog more often. While I was browsing through my pics, I noticed some pics that I never posted here. So today is your lucky day (LOL) to see them. First, this is the giveaway I won a few months ago from Chris.

This is some of the Silkweaver's fabrics I've gotten during the past couple of months and the Santa Hob Nobb kit I won off Ebay.

These pics were certainly not some of my better ones and I need to do better in the future. However, I do have one that I just love. Let me introduce you to my cat, Shadow. He was laying on the chair (under my Ott Lite) while I took some pictures of my stitching.

I've been stitching some Christmas exchange items, so cannot show them yet. Also have been stitching a few Christmas cards. Wish I could stitch faster so I could send a stitched one to everyone, but I will have to settle on sending out just a few of these. Also am trying to finish up a few charity squares. And yes, it's COLD outside. Right now it's 54 degrees F and supposed to drop down to freezing tonight or tomorrow. Looks like I'll have to wrap my outdoor plants today. I even had to turn on the heat this morning because I was freezing in here. lol

Well, better go for now and get some bills paid so I can get back to my stitching projects. I'll soon be updating with pics of my Advent gifts. Have already opened the first 3 days, so need to get the camera out and take some pics. Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy the new holiday music I've added to my blog. Yall come back now, ya hear!

Barb

4 in a row

WOO HOO!!!!  Jimmie Johnson won his 4th consecutive Nascar championship today!!!! 

And another record went down in Nascar history today.  The Hendrick team got the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place championship finishes.  No other team has ever done that.  This post is my way of congratulating them all & thanking them for a fantastic year of race watching.

Thanks for visiting.

Barb

Unfortunately, Barbara................

Yep, I'm blogging again today.  Just couldn't resist giving this game a try.  Hope you enjoy!

Found this game on Annie's blog, and had to give it a try.  The way it works is for you to  type your first name preceded by the word "unfortunately" into Google and see what you get.  Here's some of what I found when I Googled Unfortunately Barbara.....

• Unfortunately Barbara got sick of being typecast in horror movies.
• Unfortunately Barbara didn't seem to get it.
• Unfortunately Barbara was psychologically unstable, ill-bred and despite outward appearances, on opening her mouth, could be counted on to be the rudest, most foul-mouthed, classless person in a room.
• Unfortunately Barbara lost her sleeping companion, Spikey, her favorite stuffed dog.
• Unfortunately Barbara couldn't have been more wrong.
• Unfortunately for Barbara, the marriage proved disastrous.
• Unfortunately Barbara is also a talker.  Nonstop.
• Unfortunately Barbara had a few technical hitches.
• Unfortunately Barbara is teaching and writing about Western Civ when she should be writing about politics.
• Unfortunately Barbara has left the building.

Now, give it a try for yourself.  I'm sure you'll find it somewhat amusing.  Bye now!
Barb

Happy Friday the 13th and more!

Can't believe it's been so long since my last post here. I need to keep up more often (well, like that's gonna happen - NOT). ;-) I have been stitching a little and did finish a piece for Halloween. This is an OakHaven Design called Goodnight Halloween & I stitched it on a piece of 14 ct Sapphire Stitching's Lemon Splash Aida. Isn't he just the cutest? The poor little guy is just tuckered out from all the treating he did. LOL

Now I'm stitching exchange projects, so won't be posting anything about them until they are sent & received. And I just found the cutest 2 charts that I've added to my wish list. They are just too funny, so am going to share pics of them with yall. These charts are by Prairie Moon and are titled The Crypt Club and Merry Christmas. They sure aren't your normal type of designs, but they are just so me. Yep, I have a weird sense of humor. LOL

I had an appointment for my yearly boob smashing exam this morning, but guess I was so anxious to have it done that I went YESTERDAY! Talk about feeling dumb! But they were nice and did the test for me so I wouldn't have to return again today. I made my appointment for next year on the same day as my eye exam, so I shouldn't make this mistake again. (at least I hope not).

For all you fans of Weeks Dye Works threads, I just read that their threads are going to be colorfast. As they produce new batches of colors when they run out, the colorfast production will begin. What a neat idea, so their won't be a problem with washing projects with these overdyed threads in the future.

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting my blog. I do so appreciate everyone coming and leaving comments. I know I don't leave comments for everyone like I should be doing, but hope yall know how much I enjoy reading your blogs and viewing all the beautiful stitching. It's time for me to get stitching, so I bid yall tu-da-loo!

Barb

Final alphabet square finished

I've finished the final alphabet square for Q4OC - the letter H. Now I'm working on an OakHaven Designs Goodnight Halloween piece for myself.

Scroll down to the bottom of my blog to find out what color and what flower I am. It also will link you to the sites for you to take your own quizzes and find out what color & flower you are. Hope you enjoy!

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Before I sign off, I want to leave yall with one last thought - GO JIMMIE JOHNSON!!! He's on his way to winning his 4th consecutive Nascar championship and become the 1st driver to every accomplish that. For all you non-Jimmie fans.......eat your heart out! ROFLOL Sorry, just couldn't resist. ;)

Have a nice day everyone!

Barb