Easter Basket Find!

Check out this cool Easter Basket find! Found it at Bill's Dollar Store for $15 bucks!

It is huge...and Aidan will have a fit when she sees it! I also got a huge stuffed bear ($5 on Valentine's Clearance), Two chocolate bunnies ($1 each), and a tall doll ($5) to add to the "loot". I have jelly beans from my secret sister this month to include as well!

So, it is in my office...in a huge black trash bag, behind a chair! The fact that I can camouflage something so big and hide it...gives you insight to the amount of "clutter" in my office! Really, it's a storage room with my laptop and a chair! It is where I put my craft supplies, Studio stock, shipping containers, jewelry displays, and anything else I can't find a spot for. Do you have such a room? Then you know what I mean! No? Well, it's a huge dumping ground that needs to be sorted, organized, and cleaned out...want to come help me? Yeah, me neither...which is why is still looks like this! I'd rather be stitching!

Mermaid Sisters -- Elena

Here is a younger sister, but perhaps not the youngest of the sisters...assuming that I'll create more of course! Elena does have a more youthful appearance than Lavenia however...I think it's the hair style that does it.

If you enjoy the mermaids, let me know...and I'll work on some others for you to embroidery.

My Heart is All a Flutter!

Oh My GOSH! Seriously! I just found The Girl from the Ghetto's blog...and she is having the BEST GIVEAWAY IN THE WORLD! Seriously! It's $30 worth of CHOCOLATE!

Really, the only thing better might be diamonds or maid service! Geez! Hop on over and check out her site. But, DO NOT ENTER THE GIVE-A-WAY FOR CHOCOLATE! Seriously, DON'T...cause I WANT TO WIN! and your entry might prevent that!

We're Getting a Little Funky!

Aidan and I have been painting...doll parts! (Oh, and notice how short Aidan's bangs are? She did that haircut herself!...isn't she clever!! Argghhh!)

She's a little weird and wacky! ...the doll, not Aidan. (Okay, maybe her too after-all she IS my grand-daughter! LOL!). The doll is just adorable...we think! At least the vision we have of her is one that will be adorable...and weird and wacky! I'll post when she is dressed and has hair to see what you think. That will take me a few more days. We painted all the parts, then we added strips of tape to the arms and body; and sticky dots to the legs. And then, we re-painted. The parts were not two impressive at this stage.

When dry, we removed the tape and sticky dots and here is what we have!

She has a "circus" look right now, but just you wait and see!

I like the dotted legs best!

And I think I'll paint purple gloves on her hands....am also thinking some glitter might be good! And, if I do elf ears...that could be grand! If you want a great vehicle to get creative...try making a cloth doll!

Mermaid Sisters -- Lavenia

I've been playing around with Illustrator lately, trying to get some embroidery motifs created. I've done a couple of mermaids and want to do more. So, today and tomorrow...I'll share the designs I have so far. These will be a series of mermaid sisters. The first is Lavenia...

She is the eldest of the sisters...because she seems to have a wisdom about her face. 

Blog Guidebook

Check out the Blog Guidebook if you have a blog and want to share it! They also have other helps and even a new Club for bloggers! I'm so happy to have found them as I want to improve my blog and learn more about blogging!

And grab my new button from my sidebar...that Blog Guidebook helped me to create...WITH the HTML code! I'm so proud of myself! Thanks Lyndsay and Sarah!

Butterflies

Butterflies make wonderful additions to crazy quilt blocks. Here is a whole bunch of small charts that you could cross-stitch on scraps of Aida to have ready to put into your patches. They would be great to create scissor fobs with too! And you could use the charts to create beaded versions!

Here's one I just stitched up to show how they might look...

It will make a great center patch in a needle book! What other ideas do you have for these butterflies?

Can you Imagine?

This photo is from a fashion magazine published in the late 1880's. Can you imagine how much these bathing suits would weigh when wet? Yikes!

Or maybe ladies were not allowed to actually GET into the water then....

Scissors Fob

Over at the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo Group, we're having an exchange of scissor fobs. A fob is something that dangles from your scissors (or keys) that helps you to locate them. My exchange partner was Jeannie, and I mailed this fob to her on Monday. She got it today, so I can share photos with ya'll now and not spoil her surprise!

Recognize the little bird chart? It was posted here.

The other side is a monogram for "J". This was my first stitched fob to create...and I loved doing it. Think I'll make some more!

Lady Elf

If you like elfs you might like to embroidery this design. If you don't like elfs, you could easily "round out" the top of her ear to make it a lovely lady portrait.

Easter Egg Chart Three

Okay, here is last of the Easter Eggs in the trio. I sure hope someone out there in blog land stitches these up and posts a photo in the Yahoo group. You know how long it takes for me to get anything done lately! So, I'm shooting for next Easter! Ha!

And here is the symbol chart with color to guide you of course...I love color charts!

Lastly, the legend so you know what DMC colors the design was created in.

However, you can use your own palette if you wish!

Easter Egg Chart Two

When I think of Easter, I remember lots of really cold mornings attending sunrise services. Then, almost immediately, my mind jumps to Easter egg baskets, egg hunts, and finally...rests quite soundly on "chocolate bunnies". I love chocolate...and especially love chocolate in the shape of a bunny! Yum!

So, one of these three eggs HAD to have chocolate bunnies on it!

I also like marshmallow PEEPs, but I'm not sure about a big blob of yellow on an egg...so, I think I'll just enjoy them in real time! Perhaps an Easter lily, or some other type of flower...okay, back to the chart making!

Here is the legend. And larger photos will be in the files section of the Yahoo site.

Easter Egg Chart One

I'm working on charts for Three Easter Eggs. Thought they might make a great bell pull if lined up vertically; or each alone would be good for a framed piece or a pillow. Here's the first one done...

I'm still working on the other two, and will post them when they are finished. Here is the stitch chart for this first one...

And the stitch color legend. This is charted in standard DMC colors, but these could be changed easily to use up scrap colors I think too.

You should be able to right click the photos and save them to your computer and print. If the image is too small I'm uploading a full size photo to the Yahoo Group Cross-stitch photo album...it is over 10M so too large for here!

Also the chart is for Aida 14...because that is the default for the software. You can stitch it on anything you like, I'd prefer linen or 18 count Aida myself...depends on what I have on hand of course too!

How Many Colors Do You Have?

It's time for all the gorgeous Spring Colors of nail polish to come out. So, I'll be watching for sales at my local drug store!

Here's my current stash!

And I use these for painting charms! Well, sometimes my nails too...but, mostly...it for brass and pewter charms!

So, watch out for those sales papers..and stock up!

Have a minute? Have a stamp? That's all it takes to make a child smile...

I'm re-posting this from Pat Winter's blog:

"Do you feel like making a 12 yr old smile? This was sent to me by a trusted friend. What do you think? Feel like making this 12 yr old smile? I Do! If you do, read on." "RECEIVED A NEWSLETTER IN THE MAIL YESTERDAY FROM ONE OF MY QUILT SHOPS...THIS WAS IN THERE AND I FELT LIKE I NEED TO PASS IT ALONG. PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND LETS SEE IF WE CAN HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN FOR THIS LITTLE GUY......

Max Low is a 12 year old from Neola, Iowa. He has

been battling cancer for half of his life. His 

doctors recently told his parents to enjoy the time

 they have left with him. His wish is to get 1 million 

cards. He has currently gotten 23,000. If you would

 like to help Max get his wish,please send a get 

well card to the following address: (I'm sure a 

postcard would be just as wonderful)

MIGHTY MAX LOW

C/O GREG AND BAMBI LOW

P.O. BOX 111

NEOLA, IA 51559"

How about it? Have a minute to slip a card into

an envelope and address it? Not sure what to 

say...How about "Thinking of You, Hoping you 

are having a Sunny Day!" ... If you don't

have a card...fold a sheet of paper and draw a 

smiley face on the front :)

I'll be sending a "thinking of you" card out in the 

morning sinceI don't have any "get well" cards. 

How about You? I would love to know that all 

of my blog followers could spare enough

time and energy to make a child smile...blessings

to you! Sending hugs out to everyone!

Thanks Gail!

Last month, while doing a little blog surfing I found a super lady named "Gail". She blogs over at Shedding the Wolf, and was having a pay-it-forward event. I entered and look at the lovely beaded serving spoon and knit dishcloth she sent me.

Thanks Gail! I love following your blog..and your gifts are wonderful!

Spring Cleaning -- Virtual Style!

My mind is in the mood to spring clean...but my body does not want to listen. So, instead of sorting and discarding things in the closets today...I spent some time putting items in the Studio on clearance!

All of the beaded hat pins, counting pins, and scissor fobs are now in the clearance section...until they are gone! And, I will not be putting these back on the site.

Everything in the GIFTS section that is not sold by the end of this month, will go into my personal gift basket for family and friends.

So, get these while they last!

Not Posting Today

Well, at least not about stitching. It's been a hard week so far...and I've not sewn on anything except a few stitches on a surprise swap piece, which I can't blog about.

But, I thought I'd at least let you know I was alive and kicking! The sinus crud is still in full swing...and I don't think I've gotten 6 hours of sleep in the past four days! So, I'm tired and can't think enough to be creative!

Sommer goes to the hospital today for a scan of her liver. She got her annual physical last week and her white blood cell count is very high (over 250) when it's supposed to be around 20 so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She has been battling the sinus crud too, and has a UTI. So we think that the infection is the cause of the elevated white count...however, they want to scan her liver to just make sure it's not something worse. She is also anemic. They have advised she quit smoking and no more beer drinking for her on the weekends...(I totally agree...but hey, I'm not young any more...so fun is not important to me! Ha!)

She was trying go get some sleep today...after working last night. But, NO...she had to get up and go to the school to pick up Aidan. Ms. Aidan has been mis-behaving lately. She talks in class...a lot! She does not listen to the teacher, and is talking back. And this is just the first grade! (Oh the joys to come in following years I'm sure!!)

She has been in the principle's office off and on for about 3 months now; AND has gotten little "behavior" comments on her report card too. We have tried taking away privileges, spanking, time out, and she crys and carries on...and then does it again the next week.

This week, she has been in the principle's office each day. The principal makes her write sentences..."I shall not talk, I shall not thrown food in the lunchroom, I shall not whatever...." but, apparently that has not worked. So, today...they called her mother...and Sommer had to go and pick her up. She brought her to me (Nana's get the FUN jobs too!). So, right now...Aidan is in bed...for a nap (punishment). She will not get any TV time today either. When she gets up...the plan is to feed her a peanut butter sandwich and milk (prison food)...and give her school style work to do. No fun things. I'm thinking about corporal punishment (have her help me mop the floors) but I'm not sure I have the strength to carry that out!

So, no fun for either of us today it seems...and I was wondering if any ya'll had any suggestions you'd like to share? See...I'm desperate! I'm pleading for help to the public at large!

Aidan is a good kid generally; makes all A's...but just won't stop talking when she has something to say. (Sounds a lot like her Nana...I know...hush! this is not about me...) And, I have told her many times that she has to be quiet in school, listen to her teacher, do her work...and not get in trouble.

When we were children (my mom has seven!)...I don't remember us having problems in school. At least not to the point that my parents had to go pick one of us up! Of course, in those days kids got whippings if they were bad....first at school, and then when they got home. I myself have carried many a stripe across my legs from a hickory switch and on rare occasion, my Dad's belt. The fear of getting a whipping kept me in line pretty much. Today...that's not an acceptable thing...to have children be in "fear" of you. I'm not sure I agree or disagree with this. Depends on the particular mood I'm in when asked the question....today...I am wishing for a hickory bush. But, instead...I'm going to go lie down and get my own nap! Think I'm gonna need one! Hope the coughing doesn't keep me awake!

Now is your day going?

Redwork Peacock

This little peacock is based on a crochet pattern for a pillow that was published back in 1911. I modified the original design to adapt it to cross-stitch, and think that it would be particularly suited for redwork. Hope you enjoy it too!

CIJ Round #4

The Round #4 files for the Christmas in July Block(s) of the Month are loaded on the Shawkl_Blog_Files Yahoo Group Site now. So, hop on over there and download them if you are working on this Christmas in July quilt top.
Here's a sneak peek of Round #4