happy crazy busy . . .

The crazy busyness of the season continues ... and probably will right up until Christmas Eve evening! But it's happy crazy busy, which makes all the difference in the world, right?!  Wednesday evening Todd and I went to the staff Christmas party for Essential, the church where we're currently serving.

It was a very fun, laid back evening. Except for the 10 minutes we had in Target (where we went as a group to shop for our dirty Santa gifts).  That was hilarious!

Thursday lunch was the staff Christmas luncheon for my work (it was also my last day of work until January 6, 2020).  We met at a very nice restaurant and I forgot to get a picture. Silly me.  After lunch, I ran some errands, including running over to Patches and Stitches (our LQS) to check out metallic flosses for future snowflakes. I wanted some blues, purples, and iridescents. Here's what I came away with . . .

Aren't they yummy?!  They're Kreinik brand. And they make me anxious to finish the one so I can start another! LOL!  It's the story of my stitching life.

I had a couple of more things to take care of and then it was time for our guild meeting (where I did NOT forget to take photos). It was set up beautifully and we had a great crowd!

My mini stitcher's group (my affirmation sisters) were all there, so a trio selfie was in order!

It was a fun night with a fabulous spread of desserts, games, prizes, and camaraderie.  I ♥ guild.

Friday was Todd and my traditional Christmas vacation movie date day.  We went to see The Rise of Skywalker and it was excellent.  But kind of bittersweet, too, knowing it was the end of the franchise. We had lunch out and did a little Christmas shopping, then came home and I did some stitching and went through Christmas cookie recipes. I think these are what I'm going to make to take to Joc's house for Christmas Eve . . .

Chocolate Ganache-Filled Mint Thumbprint Cookies.  Only I'm going to color them pink and call them "Peppermint" Thumbprint cookies.  LOL! I've got some other baking to do as well, and I've got Monday and Tuesday set aside for that.

This afternoon I'll concentrate on some slow stitching. I've got a variety of things to choose from. I'm not quite finished my holly snowflake, but it's close . . .

So that's definitely an option.  I've also got labels to print, iron-on, and blanket stitch to each of the three Christmas quilts.  And then Saturday I got a wild notion to quilt this UFO from April, 2015.  

Good grief, right?!  LOL! I backed it with purple flannel, got it sandwiched and did some simple straight-in-the-ditch stitching in the center.  

And I'm hand-quilting unicorns and stars around the outside, in a very pretty rainbow thread. So I can work on that, too.  And I probably need to, because I hope to have it bound and ready to take with me to:

Yup, California, here I come!  And it looks like I'm bringing the sunshine with me.  Whoop, whoop! I can't wait to see my Panter crew! ♥

I'll leave you with this charming shot of my local girls, modeling for the Spring/Easter trunk show for Mary & Grace . . .

Aren't they beautiful?  They make my heart melt!

Linking up today with the Slow Sunday Stitching post at Kathy's Quilts.  Happy Sunday! 

And MERRY CHRISTMAS!

:)

snowflakes and snowmen . . .

Last week we had snow overnight . . . this week we had tornadoes.  Weather in North Alabama is always a bit crazy.  We were very lucky and didn't experience any storm damage, and we were able to ride out the warning in the storm shelter under the new cabin in the campground.  It's the first time we've needed to put it to the test since it was build this past spring.  And the first time in the ten years we've lived at the camp that we haven't had to leave the premises to find shelter!  Phew!

I haven't really had much time to do much of anything besides go to parties and wrap presents.  I know, poor, poor, pitiful me, right?!  LOL!  I got a couple of minutes in to stitch on my Christmas snowflake:

I can't decide if I like the Sulky Stick 'n Stitch stabilizer yet. It's probably user error.  Anyone have any experience with it?

I can say that I love this in the metallics!  I'm using DMC's Diamant metallic floss for this one.

I love the green and the red and the shiny!! It's eye candy . . . hence the candy bowl.  Purdy! ♥

Joc has lamented on the lack of 'homemade' ornaments of Edith. She's the only one that hasn't gone to/needed to go to preschool, where they do those things!  So I helped out a little . . .

These will look sweet on their family Christmas tree!  I love playing with the die cuts and the laminating machine!

One party I'm really looking forward to is our annual Christmas Dessert Social at guild! 

This is tomorrow night -- and for the first time in forever, since I'm not on the board, I just get to show up!  (The board members provide the desserts.)  Plus I'm planning on bringing the three newly finished Christmas lap quilts in for Show 'n Tell!  Whoop!

Finally, I have a winner from last week's snowman giveway!  

The winner is Barbara Black, who commented, These are adorable! I would love to add a snowman to my quilt-y tree. So she totally will get to add it (the pink one) to her quilt-y tree!  Thank you to everyone who participated and especially those who became Pearl's Pegs followers!  :)

It's hump day ... yay for that!  Have a great rest of the week!

:)

this, that, and everything in between . . .

Looking back, it's been a fairly busy week/weekend!  It started snowing Tuesday afternoon, and continued well into the evening, giving us a full inch of pretty ground covering . . . 

Coming into the camp.  It took me ninety minutes to get home from work on Tuesday evening!

It was still pretty the next morning, too!

Wednesday I finished up the binding on the last of the Christmas quilts . . .

Three little lap quilts, all with their binding neatly stitched up! Ijust need to pop labels on them.

Thursday we had our annual Christmas Open House at work.  I enjoy getting things set up for it.  We generally have a good number of visitors come through the doors!

My favorite table of visitors . . .

The Christmas tree always makes a great backdrop for this pretty trio of girls:

Does that not just deck your halls?!!

Friday morning we had several visitors over for breakfast al fresco . . .

And along with running some Christmas errands and lunch at a new restaurant in town with Todd, I tried my hand at this darling fabric origami hexi ornament:

Well, I tried my hand twice . . .

These whip up very quickly and make a darling addition to a gift!  Not Afraid of Color shared theirs in a recent Slow Sunday Stitching post and also shared the video tutorial she'd used to make them.  You can find it right HERE!

Saturday, was all about tea!  My mom, Joc, Ellie, Evey and I headed to Chattanooga for a Victorian Christmas tea at Polly Claire's!

Four generations!

We had a very lovely time.  :)

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Mary Corbet at Needle 'n Thread released a darling set of snowflake embroidery patterns.  SO pretty!  I'd been watching the sample pieces on her instagram feed, and knew which one I was going to want to stitch up first . . . 

I couldn't wait for Sunday and have taken a few stitches, but this will definitely be my project for some much anticipated slow Sunday stitching!

And I'm using metallic floss, so it sparkles.  ♥

Linking up to the slow stitching post at Kathy's Quilts--stop by and see who's doing what!  

Have you seen one of the latest ornaments on my tree??

Isn't this hand-painted snow fellow the sweetest?  If you haven't entered my 'giftaway,' and you'd like one like him, be sure to check out my Pearl's Peg post!

Happy Sunday stitching!

:)

i ♥ pearl's pegs . . .

I've been meaning to do this for a while now and today is as good a time as any, so here goes. And yes, it's a long post, lots of pictures, but I'll reward you for sticking with it to the end with a GIFTAWAY!

I wanted to share the amazing talents of my beautiful daughter.  She is a peg doll painter . . . 

Aren't these just the cutest of things? She's painted every Disney princess character there is!

Actually, she can paint pretty much anything. I adore this nursery rhyme set! And check out this set of Charlie Brown figures . . .

And the action figure heroes . . . 

I have a thing for Marvel! She's also done Star Wars and sports pegs, too.  Look at this fun set of college football pegs and see if you can guess the team!

Did you guess? Hint ... it's *not* my favorite college football team. LOL! I've gifted football pegs to both my bosses and they loved them!  But these are really the perfect toys for precious little hands . . .

Edith loves to play with the Nativity!

This is an absolutely beautiful set. I especially adore the cubby sheep and the camels that match the wise men! She also does a smaller unit of just the Holy Family. :)

The pegs are all hand-painted and non-toxic, so you don't have to worry about them going into mouths.  They're great for dollhouses or just imaginative play!  Joc created a set specifically for sensory bin use:

Perfect for toddlers who need busy play and enjoy the tactile activities.  Also perfect for learning colors! Edie will play for an hour with a bin like this, which is perfect for Joc as she's preparing a meal!

There's also a "Paint Your Own Pegs" kits she's put together, for artistic kiddos that like to do for themselves . . . 

Everything they need to paint their own peg family!  Pretty clever stuff!

Ellie certainly thought so ... she's pretty talented in her own right!  ♥

These make wonderful memory markers, too.  Joc does a LOT of custom painted peg dolls, especially of families (based off of photos/digital images) . . .

Isn't this a sweet little family of four?  Every time I see it, I want the mom's dress!  And what about this group of pretty ballerinas . . .

She does a lot of custom pegs of ballerinas to commemorate a recital!  Isn't that fun? My favorite is the little mousie from The Nutcracker!

She added ornaments to her repertoire this year, too.

I adore these! Of course, I also have a thing for snowmen!

If there are children or grandchildren (or great-grandchildren!) in your life that might enjoy some peg play--and I'll just go ahead and say it, who *wouldn't* enjoy some peg play?!--you can order from her Pearl's Pegs page on facebook or from her Pearl's Pegs account on Instagram.  It's fun to scroll through her IG and see all the fantastic photos!

I do have to caution that her Christmas orders are closed (so she can enjoy the season with her own family).  So NO new orders now, but she'll be taking new orders after January 10th!  

In the meantime, how about a giftaway?!

Jocelyn gifted me with two snowmen ornaments . . . one for me and one for YOU!   You have two chances to win.  The first chance is simple:  just leave me a comment on this post (you must leave me a way to contact you).  The second is to follow the link to Pearl's Peg on facebook or Instagram, and follow her on one of those two accounts.  Then leave me a comment telling me which one you followed, and under what name!  Easy-peasy! I'll leave this open until December 17th, then pick a winner and ship it quick, so you have it in time to put on your tree ... or in someone special's stocking!!

Ho ho ho!

:)