Progress!

The painting is finished, the plaster dust is (almost) all wiped up and vacuumed away, the rooms are back in order - SIGH.  Boy, does it feel good to get my house back.

While the upstairs was in an uproar last week, I was busy in my studio finishing a few more pieces.
The first is a scissor fob kit, "Love", from Shepherd's Bush ( www.shepherdsbush.net).

I made this little pillow from LynnB's chart (happinessiscrossstitching.blogspot.com).

Enjoy your week!

It's Raining, It's Pouring.....

Yes, it's still raining here.  Flash floods, roads closed - a good day to stay home and stitch.

Feeling a bit dreary and a bit down.  It's taken me many weeks to be able to write about the passing of our oldest Miniature Schnauzer, Missy.  We lost Missy less than two weeks after Sally Bear.

Missy was the matriarch of the group.  The Queen Bee and she knew it.  Her mission in life was to protect us at all costs.  Each evening after dinner would find Missy at the sliding door in my office or on the chair in our sun room, making sure we wouldn't be attacked......by deer, wild turkeys, stray farm cats, birds, squirrels......yes, anything that moved.  She was My Girl, always laying at my feet so she would know if I moved to another room or was off on an adventure.  Missy loved to sing for her biscuits (though I'd have to make sure Hubby was out of the house for the serenade ;)).

Missy, we miss you!  Tears still well in my eyes when I think of you.  Maybe, someday, I will be able to remember you with a smile on my face - but there will always be tears in my heart.

Here are the latest finishes (i.e., STUFF).    I posted "Be Joyful in Hope" (Little House Needleworks)) earlier in my blog when I'd completed the stitching but before it was finished-finished.   I decided to make it into a standup - my first.

At long last, the baby door hangs in an earlier post are ready to warn visitors and family when babies are asleep.  Took me awhile to get these done, but was slowed down because I needed the time to  learn how to use a new sewing machine.

Wishing you the best - Cheers!

April Showers - Freebie

It's been raining and raining and raining.  Granted, we need all we can get (within reason) to get us out of the drought we experienced last year.  However, it's cramping our style.  Bella is driving us crazy because she can't get out and run, hubby is itching to get the garden started and work on outside projects.  So, what can we do when we can't get outside?

Strip wallpaper.  Paint the kitchen, hallways, sun room and family room.  Yes, it's SPRING.  Things are a mess, so glad I didn't Spring Clean yet.

Bella does NOT like the rain.  When we take her out to her dog run to do her duty, we have to literally push her out the door.  Poor thing hates to get wet.  First, Bella looks surprised she's getting wet.  When she comes back in, it's pathetic  - her head is down and she mopes her way to the door to the house looking like we've ignored her for days.

Watching Bella shake off the rain, I thought, "She needs a rain hat." So here's Bella Dog April Showers:

Click on this link to download the free chart.  Side note:  I stitched beads at the bottom of the backstitched rain drops for some added dimension.
 Bella Dog April Showers Free Chart

Here it is all finished.  It hangs on my curio cabinet in my office.

Happy stitching - until next week - Cheers!

I'm Having Too Much Fun!

Time flies when you're having fun.  Isn't that the truth?  I disappear into my studio in our lower level and don't resurface for hours!

My resolution this year was to learn how to finish my own needlework.  Here are words to describe my experiences so far:  challenging, frustrating, rewarding, loads of fun, painful (have you noticed how much blood can come out of a teeny-tiny pin prick?) and - last but not least - discovering I have everything I need to finish something EXCEPT......

I continue to come across projects I just HAVE to do, they look so cute and/or inviting. I know someone the completed project would be perfect for.....YIKES.  Just when I think my stash is getting smaller, more gets added to the pile.  But that's what brings the joy to stitching - sharing.

OK - now to my STUFF.  Here's The Silver Needle's (www.thesilverneedle.com) February Secret Needle Night, Benny's Bunny.  Isn't he darling?  You can't tell from my photo, but Benny's Bunny graces the front of the cutest treat pail you've ever seen.  The inside is lined with felt and the handle is twisted wire.

I've always loved Burberry, though don't own any pieces.  I found this nifty kit from Gone Stitching (www.gonestitching.net).  It's called a "Threadband" by Pepita Needlepoint.  Again, you can't tell from the photo, but it's a headband.  It was quick and easy - and is amazingly comfortable to wear.

Last, but not least, I stitched and finished three floss fobs.  Bella Easter Dog is my design.  The other two are from Lynn B's Happiness is Cross Stitching blog (happinessiscrossstitching.blogspot.com).  I love Lynn's work - always creative and cute.

I've got more projects in the works - another Bella Dog Design coming next week.

Happy stitching - Cheers!