Sewing, exchanges and more!

Hello all my dear friends! I hope that this post finds you all well and hope you have all enjoyed your weekend!

I got a great surprise this last week. I do not have a sewing machine and have wanted one for a long time for some finishing my stitching! There is a little crafting sewing machine at Wal-Mart that I have had my eye on for some time but just have not been able to afford because $39.00 is a lot of money to me and my family right now. Well, my mom showed up at my house this last week and had bought it for me. I was so excited! So that evening I had a great time sewing and practicing my sewing skills, which need A LOT of practice but at least now I can!

So the first thing that I done was finished up a couple of my patterns that I have for sale. The "Stitchy Gift Series". I framed one and finished the other two into little cushions. I think they are much more appealing now! I wish that my camera was much better, but at least I have one that gets the job done! What do you think? Of course, I have to remind you all that if you would like to purchase this set of designs, you can visit my shop to do so!
I also received my Lizzie Kate exchange from Susan! It is beautiful! I love it so much and she done gorgeous work on it! She stitched one of the patterns that I had on my wish list too, which was a great surprise!!! Thank you so much Susan! I will treasure it forever!!I have my LK piece completed and will be putting it in the mail tomorrow and I hope that recipient loves it!! I thought about going ahead and showing a pic of it as the person who will received it don't know who is sending hers, but I think that I will wait until after she receives it.

My dad finally sent a pic of the card that I made him. This is not the best pic in the world, but you can tell what it is anyway!
I will have at least two more patterns for sale at the beginning of next month. I am hoping that there will actually be 3 released but I know for sure 2. Of course I will post on here about it, but you can also make sure and sign up for the newsletter on my website so you will know exactly when they are posted!

Lisa has been great about helping me with my model stitching and she is such an awesome stitcher. Here is a sneak peak of one of the designs that will be released next month that Lisa stitched.I am actually looking for one or two more people that might be willing to help me out with some model stitching. I just do not have a lot of time to stitch and have a lot of ideas for designs. The payment for stitching for me would be keeping the pattern for your own personal stash or passing it on as well as keeping the stitched piece or passing it on. It will be up to the stitcher as to what they stitch because I do not want anyone to stitch something they don't like! That takes the fun out of it! So if you are interested, drop me an email at info@cindymaedesigns.com.

Well, I guess that is about it for this time around! Hope you all have a wonderful and Blessed week!!!!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Was Starting to get sad!!!

I was starting to get a little sad. I knew that people where coming to my blog and I was getting visitors but no one was leaving comments! I love the comments that you all leave!!! They keep me going, they give me encouragement and I just love them and look forward to them every time I make a new post. Then I got an email and someone said they had tried to leave a comment and could not. Well it took me a little bit but it finally clicked in my little noggin that my comments where not working! LOL Anyway, I hope that it is fixed now!

Great Mail, Awards, Stitching news and more!

I have been blown away the last couple weeks as I have received a couple awards. One of them comes from Wendy and is the "One Lovely Blog Award". Since I have already received this and passed it on once, I will not do that again. I also received the Kreative blogger award again from Meari! The sad thing is that she passed this on to me back in June and I forgot to post about. I added her name to the award on my side bar, but just forgot to post! So thank you so much Wendy and Meari!!!

I have also received a couple other awards. I received This sweet friendship award from Janet C. Thank you Janet for considering me for this award! I am flattered!!!I am suppose to pass this on to 8 of my friends and I have made so very many but since it is only suppose to be 8, here they are:

Ok, I tried to pass this on to just 8 people, but I have to be honest. I had a list done and posted and then thought of a couple other people, so I went back and was looking over my list and thought of even more people. SO, here is the deal . . . If you read my blog and I read yours, you are a friend and I give this award to you! If you have stumbled upon this post by me leaving you a comment and directing you here, this award is for you!

I also received this great award from Nur Azimah. She does beautiful stitching and has the cutest little boy. If you have not stopped by her blog, please do. She is learning English more and more and getting better at communicating all the time. She always tries to use her best English when posting!!Here are the rules of the above award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I have really had a hard time deciding who to pass this award on to. There are so many of you out there that give me inspiration in many ways. Since this is for newly discovered blogs, that made it a bit easier because many of you, I have been following since I started this blog and before. So, this award is passed on to:

Edgar: I started following Edgar in the last couple months and he just does such gorgeous work! He is so talented!!
Janet C.: I just really met Janet when she signed up for the ATC birthday exchange and she is just such a sweety and I love that she is open about her beliefs!!
DaisyGirl: Not sure when I started following DaisyGirl but I know it has not been long. She is another who is open about her beliefs and does great stitching!

Now there are others that I have recently started following but not for very long.

It is almost time for the TUSAL update. Since I know that I will probably not post until have the new moon, I will go ahead and post a pic of my update now. I don't figure that it matters that much as I have not posted an update on the TUSAL for a couple months!


I finally finished my first ornie for the Stitching for a Cure tree! I actually almost had a second one done, I was doing it on perforated paper and was almost complete but I think that a dog might have eaten it! LOL I can not find it anywhere! I have looked all over the place too! Have no idea where it went. So, I am gonna get this one off in the mail tomorrow and try and get another one done on time! Now keep in mind that I have almost NO finishing skills at all! So this ornie is as about as good as it gets!! LOL



Now for the wonderful mail that I received! I got a fantastic package from Barbara! This was from a surprise giveaway that she done a while back. She actually chose several winners and then surprised us with whatever she felt like! Well let me tell you, she surprised me greatly! I love everything!!!! Just look at what I got!!! Thank you so very much Barbara! The nose in the pic is of our Chocolate Lab, Romo (yes we are Cowboy fans) He tries to get right up at the camera when I have it out! He is such a ham!


I did get my dads birthday card done and mailed to him, but just like the three ATC's I sent off in the last week or so . . . I forgot to get a pic. I asked him to snap a pic and send it when he has time. So maybe next update! Lisa is now helping me by doing some of my model stitching! She does such gorgeous work too! She just finished the first one for me and it turned out marvelous! I love it!!!! I have decided that I will release at least one new design a month!! Instead of doing a big release a couple times a year, I think that at least one a month will be great! With Lisa and I both stitching, I might even be able to make sure there is two a month, but I do not want to commit to that yet! LOL

Well if you are still here now that I am done rambling, I do thank you! Until my next update, happy stitching!!!!

Cindy Mae
www.cindymaedesigns.com

Fly By Post!!

I would like to mention a couple great giveaways going on right now. Over at Violarium blog you can enter to win an awesome book "Cross Stitch Letters Bible"! It looks fantastic!!

Also, you can head on over to Micki's blog to find another great giveaway!! This is an awesome Irish themed giveaway that you don't want to miss out on!!!

Now I have to share about a new blog. If you, your husband or kids like to play Runescape please send them over to my husbands new blog!!! This is a Runescape blog and it has and will have a ton more great info on it!!!!

Well, thats it for this fly by post! Hope you are having a great rest of your weekend!!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Don't forget to stop by my store and sign up for the newsletter and feel free to shop a bit while you are there! LOL

No Title Post! LOL

Sometimes, I hate trying to title my post!!!!!!

Ok . . . First I have to mention an Awesome giveaway! Go on over to Patti's and check it out!!! It sounds like we sure do not want miss a chance at this one!!!

I noticed the other day that I have not done a TUSAL update pic in forever!!! I have missed the last two update times. So, I am really going to try and remember to get that posted on time this month!!!

No stitchy pics right now! Everything that I have been working on is for exchanges so I can not show them yet. I did get a birthday card made and in the mail for my dad but it would be my luck that if I showed you the pic, he would pop by here for one of his random visits! LOL So that has to wait as well. I have made and sent off several ATC's lately and guess what . . . I forgot to take pics of all of them!!!!! I know, that is terrible. Maybe I can borrow a pic or two from the receivers to post here though!!

I want to thank those of you who have helped me out by mentioning my site on your blogs! I really appreciate it! I just have to remember that it takes time to get my name and designs out there. We all have different taste in what we like to stitch and I just have to reach those with a taste for my designs! LOL I do think that my "Stitchy Gifts Series" is going to go over well. I have gotten a good response to it so far, at least for just starting out!!

I do want to mention that I do now have a place to sign up for a newsletter on my web site. This is a double opt in newsletter . . . which means that not only do you sign up for it on my web site but to complete the sign up, you have to confirm your subscription from an email that you will receive. There are several people pending and that is probably because they did not realize they have to confirm through the email to complete it.

Anyway, I do hope that next update there will be some stitchy pics to show you!!! I am starting to miss working on West Winds so maybe I will get some stitching done on that one!! I have a couple new designs in the works as well. I have got to get my ornie for the stitching for a cure tree done and sent out like, NOW!! I know I still have time, but it has been weighing on my mind! So I have to get that finished in the next day or two! So, ya, I should have some stitchy pics next time around!

Also want to let all my stitching blogging friends know that you can probably plan on a visit a week from me! I use to be able to stay caught up because I had time daily when I was working to read blogs but now that I am not working, I have less time on the computer!!!! Between a hubby and two children that all love the computer, that leaves me kind of out. LOL I have such a hard time keeping up with my blogging friends! But I will be there soon if I have not already been there! LOL When I logged on this am, there are almost 300 post I need to catch up on! EEEeeeeeeek!!!! And even though it is hard to stay caught up on my blog reading I sooo love visiting each of your blogs and seeing your work and learning about you and your family! I just simply love it!!!

Ok, well I have blabbed enough for now! Thank you all for visiting! I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed weekend!!!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

Happy 4th of July and an Award!

Happy 4th of July!!!!! I hope that everyone who is celebrating this holiday has a wonderful and safe day!!!! I gotta show off something that Bonnie done!! She has stitched one of my 4th of July freebies and finished it into a pin keep and has been sweet enough to allow me the use of the photos!! I gotta tell you Bonnie . . . I LOVE IT!!! Since I have been busy stitching my model designs that are for sale now, I have not had a chance to stitch any of my freebie designs so this is the first time that I have seen this one stitched and it turned out just how I imagined it would! She done a fantastic job on the finishing and it looks great, don't ya think?
I have been busy trying to catch up with my blog reading and commenting as well as some stitching for some exchanges. I have also started a birthday card for my dad but can not show you that here because it would be my luck that he would pop by my blog to see what I have been up to and see it. So pics of my stitching will have to wait!

We had our Firework show last night at the local park. We did not go to all the festivities as it was just to darn hot!!! But we went and parked and watched the show from a top a hill. It was great! The symphony and everything that goes on airs on a local radio station so we were able to hear it all. I took several pics with my cell phone, but they did not turn out to well. But I will show you a couple anyway because you are all the reason that I took them anyway!

I have been awarded a wonderful award from Kate! She is so sweet and I appreciate that she thought of me for it!! Thank you Kate!!!
Now I have to pass this on to 7 people. Passing these awards on is really hard for me but I also know how hard it is to accept an award when it has not been given directly to you. So . . . I will try and select only 7 out of the over 200 blogs I keep up with!! LOL This is hard . . .

Karen
Angela P.
Cindy F.
Lisa
Ranae
Lori
Maureen

Oh ya, I almost forget to tell you that I added a newsletter sign on at my store! So make sure and sign up so that you will get newsletters about my upcoming designs and things!!!

Ok, I think that is about it for now! So until next time . . .

Happy Stitching my dear friends,
Cindy Mae

Thank You!!!!

I want to thank everyone for the good luck wishes for my new store. It has been open and I am so excited about this new venture in my life so if you have not already, make sure and check it out!!!!. Now I have a some exchange stitching that I gotta get caught up on before getting into my next set of designs.

I hope that I have not drove you all to crazy with all the posting on here about my shop!!!! I sent emails to everyone in my contacts list yesterday and there were some emails that I never even knew that I had there! LOL!!!

I also want to thank those of you who have or are planning to help me spread the word about my new shop! I really really really appreciate it.

Ok, gotta go visit some blogs and then get to stitching!!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae