Updates and a Winner!!!

We have a winner for the drawing on the pattern I just finished, The Cross Stitch Collector! Drum roll please . . . . . . . .

The Winner Is Chars!!!!!!! So Chars if you can email me (its in my profile) I will get it sent out to you this week!!!!!!!

I am absolutely blown away because I just won a giveaway from Sharon!!! I am so excited to see what I get!

I am also excited because I finally figured out how to finish my Collector girl. I went back and forth on how to finish finish her for a while. In the mean time of trying to figure out how to finish her I decided to start going through all of my magazines and organizing all of the patterns that I liked. I decided that I wanted to start tearing them out and putting them in a notebook in those clear sleeve things. So I got a three inch binder and got to work! It took me all weekend on and off to look through all of the magazines which are mostly those that I got such a great deal on recently from Maria. Well in the middle of going through them I started trying to figure out how to decorate the front on the notebook. I got to looking at the Collector and thought wow . . . I got it! The poem on it says "I Collect Floss and Fabric, Buttons and Ribbon - A Stitcher's Passion is her Pattern Collection". Well this is my pattern collection that I am categorizing and I do love my patterns so this is what I came up with and I just LOVE it!:Several weeks ago our dog had a litter of puppies. She is part Chihuahua, Corgi and Jack Russel and the daddy is something that does include Chihuahua. LOL Anyway, they have been staying in my sons room and they are now 5 weeks old and getting very playful. So the other night they were making just a bit to much noise and so I put them all in a laundry basket and carried them to my room. I snapped a couple pics of them, they are so cute!!!!
This little black and white one has really neat marking on her. It looks like lightening bolts! Not sure if you can see it in the pic.Well, thats about it for now! I do want to say thank you so much to everyone who visits my blog and especially to those who leave such great comments. I can not believe that I have only been back to blogging for a short time now ... and I feel that I have made some great friends! I have already been awarded two awards and everything. You are all so great! Thank you!

So until next time,
Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Next Project, Award & Answer's!

First of all I have got to tell you about my next cross stitch project!!!  I am so excited!!!  I am not going to show you this design though, you will have to watch it grow and come to life with me as this will be the first time it has ever been stitched.  My daughter is 13 years old and just loves Anime (not the dirty kind) and she loves to draw it as well.  She is getting really good at drawing it.  She does it free hand on the computer using a electronic tablet.  Anyway, she was working on a drawing a while back and I told her that I would love to cross stitch one of her drawings.  She thought that would be most awesome!  So I showed her how to use the pattern maker that I have and never use LOL and she has taken her drawing and created me a pattern to stitch for her.  Her birthday is next month and she said that me stitching one of her drawing for her birthday would be the bestest birthday gift ever!  So anyway, I plan to start on it in the next day or two.  I have to get a couple of different colors of floss for the skin colors and then I will be set!  So, hopefully my next update will show some progress on this piece!!!

I have been given another award and I am just thrilled!  Lynda has given me the friends award!! The description for this award reads "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind of writers. When you pass this award along please include these guidelines" 

Now, I have a really hard time passing these on because I just love everyone whose blog that I visit.  I have decided that I am going to pass this award on though.  I just don't want anyone to feel left out!!!  So, I am passing this on to:

YOU!!!!

Please, if you leave comments on my blog and I visit yours I am passing this on to you!  If you take the time to visit me and leave comments and then I visit you and leave comments, I consider you a friend and this award applies to you!!!!  So, please do not hesitate to accept this award!!

Also, there were a lot of questions about what an ATC is in my last post.  So, I am going to answer that now.  Part of what I am answering is taken from other sites, just to let you know. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. As their name indicates, ATC are collectables, a brilliant idea born of the older sports-themed trading cards. The one rule that makes an ATC derives from their origins: the dimensions of the ATC must be 2.5"x3.5", or 64x89mm.  An ATC mustn't be sold, only exchanged, as the whole essence of these tiny works of art is about artists meeting (by correspondence or online if need be) and exchanging their works, thus meeting many artists and getting exposed to many personal styles. the back of each ATC the artist writes part or all of the following information: name, contact information, title of the ATC and number (1/8, 2/8...) if it's part of an exchange.  You can go here to see even more about ATC's!!!  

I also had someone ask what WOCS is.  WOCS is a message board that I visit!  I love it there, although I have not been visiting the boards as much as I use to.  I still love it there and I love all the people there too, of course not as much as my blogging/stitching buddies though!!

Anyway, make sure and check out my last post and sign up for the drawing!!! 

Happy Stitching,

Cindy Mae

A Finish, Drawing & First ATC's

I have finally finished my current WIP! I am really happy that this one is finally done. I really enjoyed stitching this piece. I am still a little undecided how I plan to finish it, but am thinking of putting it on the front of a tote bag for a new stitching bag. I had to make a few changes to it because I did not leave enough material at the top to finish and get the border done. I also only stitched one star but I am still happy with the way it turned out.
I would like to pass this pattern on to someone else now that I am done with it! So, if you would like a chance to win the chart to the below pattern, just leave a comment and I will add you to the drawing. I plan to draw the winner next Sunday on the April 5th! So make sure and leave a comment on this post before that time for the chance to have this pattern passed on to you!I have also signed up for my first ever ATC exchange. I had never heard of ATC's before until here recently and have been eager to get into an exchange. I signed up for a ATC birthday exchange on the WOCS boards! I do not know if all the people that will send ATC's to have blogs or if they read mine but I am going to show them off anyway because if they do look at my blog they will not know which one will be their's! So, presenting my first ever ATC's!I recently sent out my first PIF of this year that I owe and it went to Dawn. She has received it so now I can show you what I made and sent her. I do hope that Dawn likes it!Well I guess that is about all for this week. Remember that if you want a chance to win the Collector pattern, leave a comment on this post!!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Lossing my touch

I first want to say thank you so much to everyone who left comments on my last post about the giving and stuff. Every single person totally agrees with me that it is ok to give charts and things to other people! There were only two people who said they would NOT be offended if a handmade gift was re-gifted to someone else. I honestly never thought about it before, but I see what they are saying. If I give someone something that I made for them and they just did not like it but knew someone who would just love it . . . well I think it would be ok with me too! I said in my last post that I would rather them put it in a drawer rather than re-gift it, but actually YoYo , Ranae and Carolyn are right. I would rather my work be appreciated and "showed off" rather than thrown into a drawer. I would appreciate and email or something letting me know that they were going to pass it on to someone who would truly love it! I think that would just be respectful! Anyway, thanks again to everyone who responded.

Now onward to other stuff! Here lately it seems like I have been getting lots of stuff in the mail, which I am not arguing about at all! I just love it, I mean who don't! Anyway, to start with I received my gift from the drawing that Amy had on her blog! I was so excited to open, as I don't win things very often . . . well almost never! Well let me tell you, Amy out did her self! If she had this stuff pre-selected to send to the winner, then it was just meant for me! The pic is below and I must say that the Praise His Name chart is my favorite!!! I have been wanting a chart like this forever! It is huge though, so I am going to wait until I can afford a good scroll frame!I signed up for a birthday ATC exchange on WOCS forum and I already received my first one! My birthday is not until April 23rd! Claire sent this to me. Now as far as I know she don' t blog, but if she reads this one I want her to know that I love it and this is my very first ATC to ever receive!Beth had left a comment on a post and mentioned the Stitcher's Bible. Well sweet Sandy let me know that she had the book and that if I wanted it she would send it to me. So very graciously accepted her offer! I received it this week as well! It is great and I think it will help me start moving on from just regular cross stitch and aida to bigger and better things!I have also recently decided to give swap bot a try and join a Biscornu exchange. I love Biscornu's and think that are just too cool! Anyway, I got to goofing off with a blank piece of graph paper stuff decided to see if I could create my own design. Well every thing fancy that I tried went terribly wrong so instead I ended up with this (below) and then I even messed up of the stitching of it! LOL Anyway, maybe I will try again! Do you see the mistake?Now, I know this is a long post but one last thing. Have you ever had one of those patterns that just gave you a hard time! Well I had one this week and it has got me to thinking that maybe I am loosing my stitching touch! (thus the title of the post) I started on this little pattern four times before finally getting it right. It is such a simple little pattern too!! Anyway, I finally got it right and the pic below is the finished product of a birthday card for my step-mom! Now the kids had a hand in this one. My son drew on this inside and my daughter just had to write on the front! LOL Anyway, it turned out really cute. I do want to NOT take credit for the flower though, it is an iron on patch!
Well, I think that is it for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed week filled with lots of stitching!

Happy stitching,
Cindy Mae

The Etiquette of Giving

I recently had someone ask me about trading, giving and so on.  I was asked if it was ok if you were sent a gift such as a chart or kit that you would never stitch, if it was ok to send it on to another stitcher for a trade, give away, RAK or whatever.  

My response was that I don't mind at all if someone gives something like that to someone else.  Now if I give them something that I stitched for them or made for them and they give that away, that might upset me a bit because that item was made for them.  But I don't see anything wrong with giving charts, kits, material and things like that to other people if you won't use it.  I would actually like for it to be given to someone else who might use it!  I also said that I would not mind if I had given a chart or kit to someone and they ended up putting it on their for sale or trade list.  I think that is great because then it will give another stitcher a chance to get an item they may not normally be able to get or maybe it is something they are looking for and have not been able to find else where.  

So, now I would like to know how everyone else feels about it.  Is it ok for someone to give something you gave them to someone else?  Would it bother you?  Just thought I would get a response from other stitchers to see how they feel about it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stitching,

Cindy Mae

Lots to talk about!

I am sorry this post is a bit late! I have been sick and it has really drained me. I am feeling better now though!
Guess what today is?? Give up?? It is my wedding anniversary! My wonderful hubby and I have been blissfully married for 8 years now!

Onto stitchy stuff . . .

My friend Maria made me an awesome deal on some magazines. I had mentioned on one of the message boards that I go to that I wanted to start a magazine collection and asked if anyone had some they would sale for cheap. Maria responded back and said she would go through hers. She ended up sending me at least 40 magazines and about a dozen leaflets for a great price. Please visit her web page. She makes and sales some gorgeous items!!!

I am also very excited because I won a drawing for some new stash!!! Amy was holding a drawing for her Blogaversary and she picked me! She said that it will be stitching/stash items. So I am so excited and can not wait to see what she sends me!! I just can not believe that I won!


I went mini goodie shopping the other day. We actually went out of town but did not have the finances to buy much, so I went mini goodie shopping! LOL


I also have to share a couple more things. The thread on the left (down) was from a great stitcher friend from another message board that I go to. I had actually asked for small airplane charts and she traded me for a few. She threw in a great surprise and added some thread! The book is from another lady on the boards who was giving some things away from her stash as she was cleaning and I asked for this little book. I have never learned any specialty stitches, so I am hoping that this little book helps me learn a few!



I have not had a lot of time for stitching this last week. I did manage to get more of the back stitching done on the Collector piece though.
I have started a little stitch for my step-mom's birthday! My husband will be doing small wood carvings for this one as well! Can not wait to see how it turns out!!! Oh and I am stitching it on evenweave! I have never tried anything but Aida before due to being scared! LOL But I finally took the plunge and so far, I love it!!!!! I am not sure about the count but I am thinking 28. I am stitching 2 over and my X's look about the same size as 14 count Aida. Anyway, I think that I could get use to using the evenweave it!!


Well, guess that is about all for this time!
Until next time, happy stitching!
CindyMae

My First . . .

I have been nominated for my first blogger award! I have not been back to blogging for long, so this is a great surprise!!! Carolyn has nominated me for The Kreativ Blogger Award and I thank her so much for it!!!! What an honor!

Now I just have to nominate a few people and to be honest I have no idea who has and who has not received this award because so many have!

So, if you have not been nominated for this award and I visit your blog, please accept this as a nomination! I love every single blog that I visit and I think that everyone should have it!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Stitcher's Rock!

First I want to say thank you so much for the comments and the prayers for my great nephew. He is still doing well! I appreciate you all so much. My husband and mother-in-law are always surprised at the kindness that us stitcher's have! I just tell them that stitcher's rock!

I have finally got all of your blogs on my Google Reader so that I can keep up better! I really enjoy going to everyone's blogs and seeing their stitching updates as well as hearing about their family. So, if you come here and don't ever see comments on your blog from me, let me know because that means that somehow your blog is not on my reader list and we can not have any of that!

It does not seem like I had much stitching time this last week but I have made some good progress so I guess I had more than I thought! I stitched a piece that I really just wanted to stitch and after completing it decided that I would probably use it for my one my PIF's that I owe! I contemplated on showing on here but then I decided that I would because no one will know who will end up with it because I don't even know! LOL So here it is:

Here is the progress on my stitcher piece. I am really happy with the progress that I did make this week.
I was hoping to have a picture of a Valentine's card that I stitched but I can not find the pic that I took of it! So, I will have to see if the person I sent it to can get a pic for me!

I also worked on starting a wish list. Don't have much on it right now, just the few things that I could think of that I want most right now, but I will add to it as I go along!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great and Blessed week!

Happy Stitching,
CindyMae