Thank You and Christmas Stitching

First thing that I have to say is thank you so much to all of you for your out poring of love and support in the death of my brother.  I still have a hard time realizing that he is gone but I know that we will meet again one day! Your condolences, support, prayers and thoughts have been so much appreciated and special to me.  You just really have no idea how much it means to me!

So now on to stitching!  I have gotten some stitching done in the last couple weeks.  I have one finish of a Lizzie Kate piece but it is for an exchange so I can not show it off yet.  Here is my current WIP which is out of last years JCS Christmas Ornament issue.   I just love them Brittercup designs!!

I just finished this one that is also out of last years JCS Ornament Issue tonight.  Love this design and if you know it then you know it has a border BUT if you know me, you know that I hate stitching borders . . . so it is finished ... at least for me!  LOL

Then this one I actually finished right before my brother got sick but just have not had time or felt like posting it.  This is a freebie from The Sampler Girl and I just LOVE this cute little design.  

Now the one on the left was actually my second attempt at stitching it.  The one on the right was my first. . . ya . . .I kind of screwed up on my counting and the little blue birdie looks like it has landed in the tree.  So, I decided that I would stitch it again, the correct way and then make it into a scissor fob with a front and back.  One side it will look like the little birdie is flying to the tree and the back it will look like he has landed . . . I guess!  LOL  Either way its an adorable freebie that The Sampler Girl offers and I just love it!

Well that is about it for this time around.  Hope you all are having an amazing weekend and have a wonderful Blessed week!!!!

A Finish and WIP's

I have a finish!!! I finished stitching the small piece for my great nephew for a pillow. Here it is:

Before I stopped stitching when I started having the issues with my hands and elbow, I was working on a couple different projects. So I have pulled them out and added them to my stitching bag so I can start working on them. I never know when I will be able to have much time to stitch so instead of trying to work out a rotation for my WIP's, I am just gonna stitch on whichever one I am in the mood to stitch on and see how that goes.

So . . . anyway, here is my current WIP's. The first one is a Britty Kitty, Basking in the Sun and the other one the Names of God cross stitch pattern that is one of my patterns.  (sorry for all the wrinkles).

I am still in the process of going through my patterns and things getting a give-a-way ready . . . .so stay tuned for that!  Until next time . . .

I am so in Love!!!

First of all I have to explain the title of this post! It is true, I am in love and not with just my husband! I am also totally in love with evenweaves!! I have been forcing myself to stitch more on the evenweaves lately and just love them!!! The 28 count linen is great too. Not really comfortable with the higher count in the linen yet though. I don't have a lot of evenweave and lines though so I am still having to use some 18 count Aida for now. I still like the easiness to cutting and fraying the edges of the Aida so it is perfect for cards, ATC's and anything that I want frayed but even then it is getting so that it don't "feel" right to stitch on! LOL So, this means that when I ever have a chance to get out of town and actually have money to spend, I gotta start watching for those sales on evenweave!

I have gotten some stitching done lately even with all the hospital and medical stuff going on with hubby. Most of it has been model stitching though. I do have a teaser pic though.There will be three patterns in this set. I am not sure of a title yet, but it will probably be called the Shooting Star Collection or Wish upon a Shooting Star. And it may end up being something totally different by the time I make up my mind. LOL One of the patterns included is a sampler. This set will be released in September!

The others that I have been working on is for Ranae for winning the drawing that I held way back in May or June. I feel horrible that it has taken me so long to get this prize to her. She won a pattern that I designed for her. I actually ended up liking this so much that the set will be released for sale next month and the pattern will state that it was inspired by Ranae. She will receive the pattern in print as well as stitched and finished by me with who knows what else! Anyway, Ranae, if you are reading this, I am so sorry that it is taking so long!! I promise that I am almost done and will get this in the mail to you soon!!!!

I have also made some progress on this months freebie from The Holy Needle.It is TUSAL update time! It does not look like a lot from last time but that is because I had to squash it down some! LOLI have to tell Donna that I am really sorry that I have not gotten my ornaments in the mail for Stitching for a Cure! I did find the ornament that I had started on the perforated paper though. So I am going to finish it up so that I can mail both at one time. Now I have to say that I was not happy with the way that I finished the first one up. I thought it look really bad. So, after my mom gave me my sewing machine, I decided to change it up a bit and I am happier with it now!
I want to mention a couple of awesome giveaways! There is a great giveaway over at Vonna's!!! She is holding a drawing to win a couple items that she has stitched and finished. They are wonderful and even though I don't want anymore competition at winning them because I would love to have them, I thought that I better pass it on anyway! LOL!!! There is also a awesome giveaway going on over at The Daily Me. Now this is another fantastic giveaway with a ton of great stitching goodies up for grabs!!! Check them out!

Now, I will leave you with a couple photos of our fur babies! Romo has such a huge smile on his face. I think he has really gotten to were he likes his picture taken! LOLRemember the kittens that my baby Jazmyn had a while back. I tried for weeks to find them a new home and it was impossible. I tried everything, including going and sitting with them in front of Wal-Mart. Nothing worked so we decided that they were just destine to be our cats. So, this is Twister and Ratatouille (Ratty). Twister is the black and white one and he is really laid back and calm. Ratty on the other hand is a mess! He LOVES food and loves to eat, thus his name! LOL We love that movie!Sorry for such a long post! Once again, thank you all so much for the wonderful comments and the support for my husband. It truly means a lot to me. You are all such wonderful friends, true blessings from God!!!

Progress and a Thank You!

Thank you all so very much for your comments on my design. I do hope that you were all very honest with me because if not you will have to be looking at horrible designs coming soon! I do plan to keep going and see where it leads! So, thank you all so very much, you have no idea how you good you made me all feel about it.

I have done a little stitching this week. I got two ATC's made and ready to be mailed so I can not show those until they reach their destination's! I have made some decent progress on WW. I love this pattern, it is so fun to stitch!I am working on getting a LK design ready to stitch for my upcoming exchange! I have the pattern picked out, which will be one of LK's freebies but not sure how I will be finishing it yet.

My husband and son had a fun Saturday. My DH is wanting to learn to make handmade bows. He don't really have any of the tools or anything but he decided that he would make DS a bow and just have a good time. The finished product turned out pretty good! DS loves it! Hubby even found a stick to make an "arrow".Now it is time for a laugh. I was looking through some of my fabric that I don't get into very often and come across something pretty funny! I found my very first cross stitch item! LOL, it is totally awful! None of my stitches went in the right direction or anything. I have seen many people stitch something for the first time and it look pretty great, but not this!! I TRIED to teach myself and did not have anyone around that knew anything about cross stitch and so that is my excuse! LOL Anyway, here it is, please don't laugh to hard!I want to wish all of those who celebrate Memorial Day here in the US a wonderful and Blessed day. If you plan to travel any, please stay safe! Just remember all those brave men and women who have served for this country!

I pray that you all have a wonderful and Blessed weekend and week!

Happy Stitching,
Cindy Mae

I Don't Look To Good!

Well my Saturday started off as a really nice day. It was nice and cool out and raining and we need rain so badly and I just love those rainy days. I had to work until noon but did not mind as the bosses were out of town! LOL I took my stitching with me and was prepared to enjoy a nice and slow Saturday morning at work stitching and watching HULU. All was going well until I remembered that the window were not all the way up on the car and the rain was getting heavy. So I took off outside and on my way back in my feet went right out from under me and I hit the floor! HARD!! My entire left side is sore and bruised up. I hit the left side of my face on the concrete and my head bounced . . . I think! I thought that it broke my glasses but luckily I was able to bend them back without breaking them. So anyway, I am not looking to good right now but it could look a lot worse. So I was not able to finish the movie I was watching and stitching just did not go well after that. But I am good now, a bit sore but nothing I can not deal with.

I want to thank all of my dear friends here who sent well wishes and prayers for my mom and my dad. My mom is doing well now and thank God, everything is back on track with her heart. My dad is still awaiting some test results, so please continue to pray for him.

I did get a bit of stitching done this week! A very dear friend of mine celebrated her birthday Thursday so of course I stitched her a little something. Here it is stitched and then framed.


Here is my progress on WestWinds. I would have gotten even more done on this if I would not have taken that fall Saturday morning! But oh well!I want to say a special thank you to Marige! She has given me an award and this is actually the second time that it has been awarded to me. So, Margie since I have already received it once I will not pass it on this time but want you to know how much it means to me that you thought of me for this very special award.

Well, I think that is about all for me at this time. I hope that you all are having a wonderful weekend and that you have a fantastic week as well!!

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

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

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

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

A Card and WIP Update!

My step-dad loved his birthday card. This pattern was actually a white man sitting in a sail boat. My step-dad is a black man and don't sail, he fishes. So, I made the man black with the help of some of my stitching buddies and their suggestions of colors. My husband then hand carved a fishing pole and a tiny fish. He used fishing line to attach the fish to the pole too! I think it turned out great! And, here is the finished product:


It does not seem like I have had a lot of time to stitch. When I looked back at my last update photo on my WIP, I noticed that I did make more progress than I thought though. So, that is always nice!
I really guess that is about all for this week.

I do want to say thank you to everyone who has been leaving me comments! I love getting those comments, I just have not gotten good at replying to all of them yet! Give me time and I will though. I do really appreciate you all visiting my blog!

Until next week, happy stitching!
Cindy Mae

Valentine's stitch and updates!

Well, I have not been stitching near as much as I would like lately, but sometimes it just happens. It took me almost a week to stitch a design for my husbands Valentine's card, LOL!! I have not made the card yet, just stitched it. I can not show the finished card yet as I don't want hubby to see it until then, but he has already seen the stitching...so here it is: I have made a bit more progress on my main WIP. Finally got started on the girl! It has taken forever since I have not had much to stitch. I am starting tonight on a birthday card for my step-dad. It is a freebie from HERE!I have decided to set one goal for myself this year as far as stitching is concerned. As most of you know, I do not set stitching goals because I never meet them. I get to into the exchanges and gifts and things that I never make it to the bigger pieces that I set for goals. Anyway, The one goal I have set is to stitch all my family members birthday cards this year. I have never stitched birthday cards for any of my family!!! So this year I will!

Well thats all for now!
Until next time, Happy Stitching!
Cindy Mae

Actually got some progress!

Well I finally have a progress pic of my current WIP. I stitched a Valentine's exchange, but can not show that one off until it is received. Not much else been going on around here. We did get some pretty bad weather the last couple days, well bad to us here in West Texas. We had a lot of moisture and it was very cold which made for a lot of ice. Around here when there is a lot of ice, there is also a lot of traffic accidents. It has already cleared up now though, so everything can be back to normal around here!
Anyway, without further ado, here is my progress pic!

Just a Bit of Progress!

Well I have made some progress on Cross Stitch Collector! This week has just been crazy and I have not had a lot of time to stitch, but a little time is better than no time at all!!! Hopefully next time the chicken will have legs and the plant have, well a plant to show! Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. I am fixing to get started on stitching some PIF's and other exchanges soon too!

Next Project

Well I have started my newest project. Cross Stitch Collector by Imaginating. Although I do not have a progress pic yet, I do have a pic of what it will look like finished!

Also wanted to let everyone know about the slide show up top. After several years I finally set down and went through all my charts. I have a bunch of them listed for sale or trade. Most of them I will take trade. Some of them I will also let go for just the
payment of postage. Anyway, that is what is in the slide show! If you are interested in any of them, just drop me an email which is listed in my profile!

WIP - Kitty and Duck

This is my newest project. I started it today on New Years Day.This is a Charity Square that I done back in October when I finally
started stitching again.