Hubby, LK, Giveaway and more!

Again, I want to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers and support for my husband and our situation. We have found a doctor that is willing to work with us on the money side of things and pray that he will be able to do some tests and give us some answers. We go see this doctor on Friday. It is a bit of a drive for us but it will be worth it. The sad thing is that I am broke and there are lots of hobby shops where we will be! LOL Oh, well . . . maybe next time!

Kathy received my Lizzie Kate exchange package and she loved it and that makes me incredibly happy! I stole the pic from her blog because it is soooo much better than my pic of it! LOL Anyway, I stitched the Live, Laugh, Love pattern of LK's which Kathy says is one of her favorites! I finished it into a pillow.I also have to share my other blog with you all. I feel that there are some of you who would like this blog and some who will not, and that is ok. Inspiration Korner is a blog that I have had for many years. I stopped posting on it the first of the year but I am being moved to start posting to this blog again. So, feel free to stop by and visit!

You gotta check out the awesome giveaway at Lori's!!! She has got a great lot goodies up for grabs, you don't want to miss it!!!

I have been doing some stitching but no pics of that at this time. I am working on one of my designs and have stitched a couple ATC's. Hopefully, I will remember pics before I send them out this time!

Well, that is all for this time around. Hope you are all having a great week!

Mothers Day and More!

First of all I want to wish all you moms out there a wonderful and Blessed Mother's day!! My son brought home the Mother's day gift that they made at school and just could not wait to give it to me! LOL The pic is below, too cute! The green with white and orange flower is actually a CD cover that they decorated. There is also a CD inside with about 4 songs on it. Two of the songs are by Alvin and the Chipmunks and the other two I am not sure about. Must be music his teacher likes! The other one you should be able to read if you click and make it bigger. You can see that it has a tea bag in it. Well . . . had a tea bag in it. John thought that he needed to drink that! LOL Kids are so cute!!
Stitching this week has been a little slow. I did complete the stitching for an ornament for "Stitching for a Cure". I have not finish finished it yet though. The pic is not that good and does not do the colors justice! I am also about half done with the next one. It is just like this one but a little different colors and I am stitching it on perforated paper. It is the first thing that I have ever stitching on the paper and am really liking it. I made to little progress on WW to show this week but maybe next week will hold an update with it.


I joined the new Lizzie Kate exchange and I am so excited about it! So I went through all my Lizzie patterns and decided that I did not have enough! LOL I went searching and have ended up adding to my wish list! I just love her designs!

I have received all but one ATC from the exchange that I joined on the WOCS message boards. Not sure I will be receiving that last one, but oh well. I love the ones that I did receive!! Anyway, I wanted to find a way to display them all and since I just loved the way The Collector piece came out in the front of my stitching notebook, I decided to do the same with these! I had a smaller notebook that has a ton of smalls and freebies in it so I thought the small ATC's would be a great way to decorate it. This is the front:
This is the back: Now this that is on the back is from one person, Paulie. She stitched the card and birthday ATC and her granddaughter stitched the fairy! Isn't that just the coolest!

And here is our newest mommy in the family. This is Jazmyn! This is my precious baby! Unfortunately that is just what she is. She is only about 8 months old and just had a litter. We did not even know that she was ever in heat! I was so worried about her during this pregnancy. She is so small and young and I was afraid she would have some issues. She only had 3 and one did not make it. The one that did not make it was very large compared to these two that did make it. She did not even know what to do at first, but with my guidance she has become an excellent mommy. The bad news is that it is going to be very hard to get rid of them. With only two and the way that she loves them . . . I donno, we will see what happens!

Lastly, I would like to ask you all to please keep my mom and dad in your thoughts and prayers. Mom and Dad are divorced and are both remarried but they are both having some health issues right now. Both of them are having issues that could end up being serious, so please pray for them.

Well that is about it for this time!!! As always, thank you so much for all the wonderful comments that you leave. I don't seem to have the time to respond to each one, but please know that I read each and every single one and I love getting them!!!

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

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

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