14 Years Old - EEEEeeeeeek!

My beautiful darling daughter is now 14 years old!  Today is her birthday and I just can not believe how time flies!  And for those of you thinking another birthday . . you are right!  My sons was week before last, mine was last week and now my daughters is this week!  Expensive month April is!  LOL  

Anyway, Happy birthday Candice Mae!  I love you with all my heart and I pray that you have a fantastic birthday and that God just blesses your socks off today and for the rest of your life!!!

Here is how I finished the piece that she designed and I stitched.  She knew when she designed this piece that it was for her birthday card.  She wants to frame it and hang it on the wall now!  I think that there might have been a  couple people not so sure about her design.  If you look at it closely, you can tell that she has a shirt on that is the same color as her hair.  You can see a little shoulder and then her hands in front of her chest.  So, she is holding her arms in front of her and you see the sleeves and hands.  Hope that helps!  Anyway, here it is finished as her birthday card.  I really did not do much beside find a cute frame to put around it.  I did not want to take away from the girl!  Oh and YOSH means OK!

Now I want to mention an awesome giveaway that is going on over at Daffycat's place!  She has got two giveaways going on that are for some her own hand dyed fabric and let me tell you, it is gorgeous!!!  So you gotta go on over there and check it out!

Well, I guess that is about it for this time around.  Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!!!

Happy Stitching,

Cindy Mae

Busy but Good Week!

First of all I want to thank everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes! I had a great birthday!I have not been thanking everyone for their comments by email because I have just realized that half of them don't even get to where they are suppose to go! So, I will just thank you all right here! You are all such wonderful friends and I really love all the comments that you leave, they truly mean a lot to me!!!

It is the Totally Useless SAL update time! Make sure and check out the link to this SAL, because it is not like most SAL's! This is different, creative and just great!!! Anyway, here is my update!I received my package from Sharon! I won this giveaway a few weeks ago and actually received this package on my birthday, so that was exciting!!! I love it all! The fabrics are fantastic!! I just love them both and the hand dyed floss is beautiful. I was really excited to see the pattern as it is Lizzie Kate! I love Lizzie Kate and I just joined the Lizzie Kate exchange, so this just adds to my patterns that I will be able to stitch up for this exchange! Thank you so very much Sharon!!!!

I did get a bit more done on Wedding Spots! I love the way this is turning out and I can not wait to finish it and surprise my brother and new wife with it. I know that he will not be expecting anything from me and especially something hand made, so I am excited!

I have also started WestWinds! I just love this design! I have not done much on it, but I have started the tree trunk anyway!I have almost received all of my ATC's from the WOCS ATC birthday exchange. Once I receive them all, I will post more pics! Don't forget to check out the new ATC birthday Exchange that I have started! Remember these things are very quick to stitch and put together and the best part is they are lots of fun!!! The sign ups for this exchange will close on May 1st, so if you are thinking about joining, just go for it!!!!!

Well that is about it for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Happy Stitching,

Cindy Mae

Great Mail and Lightening!

I have had a great mail week. I have received more ATC's from the birthday exchange that I am in on the WOCS boards! Here is the first set. These are from Lorraine and Nicola. They are both just to precious! I love them both! Thank you ladies!

This next one kind of blew me away! I did not expect all of this. This one is from my dear friend Paulie! She not only sent me the cutest ATC but she also stitched me a birthday card with a Britty Kitty, which I love and her granddaughter stitched a little Fairy for me as well!!! She also included some patterns that she had told me she would send me along with my ATC. Paulie, thank you so very much!!!

Just to mention my new blog again! This is the ATC birthday exchange for stitching bloggers! Now I know some of you may be thinking that you don't have time for another exchange or something but keep in mind these are very small and can be stitched, put together and ready to mail in just a couple hours time. Just to mention it again. The sign up ends May 1st and then we will start exchanging in June and will go through May of next year. I have not had many people sign up yet so come on and join us!!!!!!

Now back on to the mail stuff if you are still with me:
I also received a card from another friend, Sheila just because she felt like sending it! Thank you Sheila!!

I also already received my ebay auction that my dad and his wife bought me for my birthday. I did not take a pic of it but I got a great lot of all 18 ct fabric and one piece of 28 ct linen for when I get the nerve up to try it again. I got that piece just because I could not resist the color! LOL I would like to try stitching something on a piece of clothing of some sort so I also got some wast canvas.

I have made a little progress on Wedding Spots even with all the birthday going ons this week. I like the way this is turning out so far. I think it will be a really pretty piece when it is done and framed. This picture does not do it justice, I need to start taking my pics outside in the sun light, they turn out so much better.
And then just a few more pics to share. These are from video that we took of a lightening storm we had here this past week. I just paused the video and took a screen shot so they are not the best quality but they are sure awesome!



Well I think that is about all for now!! Thank you to everyone who visits me and leaves me comments!!!!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Growing Up

Ok, so I have decided that the more I try and blog on a schedule the more I don't want to!  LOL  So, from now on I will just post when I feel like it!  LOL

My baby boy turned 7 yesterday!!!  I can not believe how time flies!!  My daughter will be 14 on the 28th and then I will be 33 on the 23rd . .  eeek!  So April is a busy and expensive month around my house!  LOL   Anyway, John had a great day yesterday.  He will have a party to invite friends on Saturday but he got his presents from family yesterday!  We got him a new bike!  He loves to ride his bike, he loves the outdoors.  When he came in from school it was sitting in the living room but when we were walking up he seen presents sitting on the table through the window so he did not even notice that bright green bike!  LOL  When he did notice it, he was so excited and started jumping around.  This bike has the front and back breaks.  My husband explained that if he only used the front brake it would cause him to flip.  Well I don't think that he believed daddy!  He was going really fast and what does he do . . . he uses just the front brake! (He had to try it, right?)  Next thing you know he has handle bars jabbing his tummy and has a pretty bad scraped up elbow!  But he is fine now and now he knows that daddy was not telling him a lie! LOL  Anyway, here is a pic of my handsome little man on his new bike!

He is so funny when you tell him to smile he makes crazy faces that you can tell are forced smiles! LOL Anyway, I let him pick what he wanted stitched for his birthday card, so here is the card that I made him.

I have started on "Wedding Spots" for my brother and new bride but have not had a chance to take a progress pic, so I will show that next time!  My dad told me that I had some money to spend on stitching goodies for my birthday so off to ebay I went!  I found a great ebay store with a ton of great 18 ct Aida for a great price.  So, I am looking forward to receiving that!

Don't forget to check out the new blog that I made.  This blog is for an ATC birthday exchange group that will last 1 year.  If you would like to sign up, please do!  The more that better.  If you are not sure what an ATC is then you can find a like on the left of this blog or on the right of the new blog to give you an idea.  I also have a few example pics on the new blog as well!  So make sure and check it out and sign up!!!  ATC's are a lot of fun to make and they are also very quick to make!

I would like to thank everyone for the comments on the stitching of my daughters design!  I would also like to thank you all for the wonderful comments for my dad and step-mom for loosing their dog, Tazy.  They are doing better now but miss her like crazy!  

I have not been very good about responding to everyone's comments but please know that I really appreciate every single one that I get and you all mean so much to me!!!!

Well, that is about it for now!!!

Happy Stitching,

Cindy Mae

New Blog - New Exchange!!!

I have created a new blog and would like for you to all check it out!!!!!

GO HERE!!!!!

Happy Stitching,

Cindy Mae!!!

Daughter's Pattern Finished!!!! :)

As you can tell, the posting more than once a week has not happened so this post is a bit lengthy but when I only update once a week, that happens!

Well it has been a good week and a bad week!  I started off this week sick and in bed with a stomach bug of some sort!  It was horrible but I am well now!  If I have not commented or my comments have been very short this week, that is why.  It took me two days just to get caught up on my reading of your blogs!  

My dad and step-mom's dog died.  Now this was not just a dog but instead one of their children.  They discovered she was diabetic and was in the hospital for about a week.  They vet was not able to ever get her stable and they ended up loosing her.  That was very sad!!  And let me tell you, I may be turning 33 later this month but I am still and always will be a Daddy's girl and it just killed me when he called me to tell me and was crying!!!  I hate for my daddy to be hurting!!!

Anyway, now lets get to the goood stuff!!!

 God has been awesome this week (as He always is) as far as making sure that my family and I are always taken care of!  We were very behind on our mortgage payments as well as our electricity.  We were getting close to losing our home and getting the electricity cut off but God came through!  We were able to get the money we needed to get those two things caught up!!!!!  Where did I find the money . . . well lets just say that I work for some awesome people!!!  Another good things is that we got a new back door, thanks to my dad!  We needed a new back door very badly as the entire bottom half was missing!  LOL, it was horrible!!!   

I finished my daughter cross stitch that she designed. She just loves it and so do I!  It turned out really good.  Not bad at all for her first cross stitch to design!!  I think that she done a great job on this one!  She has a couple other drawing that are really great that I want to stitch really badly but this is the one she wanted for her birthday!  She drew one last week of a girl praying (non-anime) that I really want to stitch.  Anyway, without further ado, here it is:  And by the way, Yosh means Ok. 

I also received 2 more ATC's from the WOCS ATC birthday exchange.  I now have three and should receive 12 in all!  Thank you Nikki and Claire!!!  I love them both!!
My brother who lives in Alaska is getting married soon!  Well actually they are already married by law but they are now going to have their wedding and honeymoon at the end of May.  So, I ordered (with the help of my mom) a little something to stitch for his joyous occasion!  I received it and the material yesterday.  I really do not know much about her, my brother's new wife and what her likes and dislikes are so I picked a pattern that is just a nuteral wedding sampler. Here is the chart:

I have also received some great stitching inspiration from Sharon over at One Life To Live. I just love her walls! I think that her walls just being covered in things she has stitched is awesome! I want that in my house. As it is, I only have a couple things hanging on our walls. I always stitch with a certain purpose in mind. What I mean by that is that there I have never stitched something just totally because I liked it!!! There has always been a reason behind it, such as a gift or made for a special reason! Did you know what I mean? I am not sure that this is making sense but I know what I mean! LOL Anyway, I have always adored Sharon's walls! So, I have decided that I am going to start a rotation and start stitching some items that I want to hang on the wall just because I like the pattern!!!! Some weeks I only get a couple hours of stitching time so I think what I will do is one week I will stitch on what I am stitching for the wall, the next week on something else and the next week on smalls for gifts and then start over.  I will see how that goes!  So, I am planning on starting this piece in this next week!  I am going to first have to get online and see if I can order the 6 or 7 colors of floss that I didn't have.I think that is such a cute design and I just like it!  So Sharon, thank you for your inspiration!!!

Now, one more thing before I go.  Stitching for a Cure is a blog that Donna has created!   I would love for you to all make sure and visit her blog if you have not already done so.  This is a year long project to help save lives.  We are stitching ornaments to decorate a tree that will be raffled off in Nov 09.  All the money raised is going to go to the American Cancer Society!  So, if you would be interested in stitching and ornament or two or three for this tree, please visit this blog!!!!

I have also been working on updating my wish list a bit.  My dad told me that he wanted to spend some money on me for my birthday on just stitching goodies!  So I told him how awesome he is and I have been searching online.  Since doing that I have come across a few things to add to my wish list.  I think that I am going to have him buy me all material!  That is all, just 18 ct Aida material!  Since I do not have a store near me that sales stitching items it is hard for me to get material sometimes and I would love to be able to have a small stock of it for when I need it. So, if anyone has a bunch of 18 ct Aida they want to sell, let me know!  :)

Last but no least, I want to thank you all so much for visiting my blog and for those who leave comments!  I love getting the comments!!  I try to respond by email to everyone's comments but this week that has not happened!  So just know that I received your comments and I appreciate every single one of them very very much!!!

That is it for this time around!!  Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter that is filled with tons of blessings!!!!

Happy Stitching and Easter,

Cindy Mae

Progress and Another Award!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a ton of laundry and housework to do and we also found all 7 of the puppies new homes! That is a BIG relief. It was just getting a bit much with all of them running around the house!

I finally joined in on the Totally Useless SAL! I decided that I wanted to go ahead and show you a pic of mine to show you my start! I think this is such a cool idea! I was not able to find a jar around the house to use but thought that this vase looked kind of cool. I think it will look pretty as it fills up with all those great floss colors!
I joined a new blog that I am excited about. I joined the RAOK blog! Check it out, you might want to join it too!!! Sue started this blog and I think it is a great idea!

I really did not have a ton of stitching time this last week. I got a small item stitched for a friend but can not show you that until she receives it! I got my last ATC for right now done as well. Here is a pic of it. This is for an exchange on the WOCS boards. I have made some great progress on my daughter's drawing that I am stitching. For those who don't remember or know about this . . . the below progress is of a drawing that my daughter done of an Anime character and she turned it into a cross stitch pattern for me to stitch for her. This is going to be part of her birthday this year. I am loving the way this is turning out so far. There is no backstitching in it and I hope that the thick black lines don't take away from it when it is finished. Other than that, I think that it is turning out great! I know I am just a proud mommy but it is really cool to be stitching a design that my 13 (14 on the 28th this month) year old daughter designed! Anyway, without further ado, here it is so far:
I also want to now talk about an award that I have been given! Sandy has given my a very special award! I am honored that Sandy thought of me for this award! Thank you so much fo thinking of me! Now my first two awards I passed on to everyone who visited my blog and left me comments. This award I am going to stick with the rules and award it to 8 more bloggers . . . .well actually I am going to pass it on to 9 more bloggers but you only have to pass it on to 8.
Here is the info about this special award. I took this off of Sandy's blog and she took it from someones else blog. The award is accompanied by the following words:

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or 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 8 (mine is 9) writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award."

I would be honored if the 9 people listed below would accept this award. I would love to pass this back to Sandy but since she has received this award I will pass it one to 8 others. (These are in no particular order)


Chars
Lynda
Carolyn
Gaby
Anita
Yoyo
Natasha
Lynn
Sue

Well I think that is about it for now! I have decided that I might have to start doing updates during the week sometimes so that my post are not so long. People get busy and I don't want my post to take forever to read! LOL So when I have things to talk about during the week, I will post about it but will probably keep Sunday as my stitching progress day!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae