A Private Exchange

Awhile back, Angela, of Hooked On Stitches, contacted me to see if I'd be interested in a private exchange with her. Since it had been quite a long time since I had participated in an exchange I eagerly agreed. We set a mail date and an "anything goes" theme and each put our thinking caps on to decide on a project we thought the other might like. Last week I received the item Angela stitched for me:

  

A flatfold. OMG Angela stitched me a flatfold! Out of the many years of exchanges and blog giveaway prizes, I have never received a flatfold! I adore the design and the finishing is perfection. She even made sure to use my favorite colors of brown, green and lavender! Thank you so much, Angela! You can read more about Angela's project here.

My project for Angela was a Blackbird Designs Stitcher's Box. This was one of the best things I have ever done. The stitching was a dream and the finishing I fretted over (to no end) was very easy. I was very pleased when Angela said how much she liked it!

Design ~ Our Home Sewing Box

Designer ~ Blackbird Designs

Fabric ~ 32 count Belfast Linen

Fiber ~ DMC

Finish ~ Sewing box as instructed

Special ~ Overdyed after stitching with RIT tan dye

I'm still so impressed with my finishing on this project. As I said, it was so easy and it turned out really nice looking! My corners could be better...but why quibble?

Many thanks to Angela for a wonderful exchange!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Very Last Swap

The last of my Ornament Swap exchanges has been received. This one went to Conny of Little Woman's Creative Basket. This signals the very end of this exchange group. I'm very sad. However, we all stitched and received some truly wonderful things the past two years.

Design ~ 1 Partridge from 12 Days of Christmas, OOP

Designer ~ Prairie Schooler

Fabric ~ 28 count tea-dyed Lugana

Fiber ~ DMC 



No! I didn't send Conny my first PS ornament. This was the project that got me itching to stitch them all. The pleasure received stitching & finishing this one was incredible. It was like the very second I finished I knew I had to stitch it again. Mine were started the minute I had a second to kit it up! Stitching this for someone else was one reason I changed colors in mine, you don't want to copycat too close! I hope Conny loves it to pieces like I did!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Deck The Halls

One of my recent exchanges arrived in Australia. This sweet design was stitched for Lisa of Lisa V's Lounge. I adore cute houses with curly chimney smoke! And tall skinny pine trees are almost too much fun to stitch.

Design ~ Tiny Tidings IX "Deck the Halls"

Designer ~ Lizzie*Kate

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-dyed Belfast Linen

Fiber ~ DMC

I finished this one very simply since it is such a simple design; backed with tan & red gingham fabric with a matching ribbon hanger attached with creamy white buttons. Lizzie*Kate designs are such fun to stitch and nice colors to use! I hope Lisa likes it. Lisa has posted a photo of all the ornaments she received in this exchange ~ click here.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Christmas in July

As promised in my last post, some of my finishing results. Lisa, of Hockey Mom Stitchin' Hobby, has let me know she has received my offering for our Ornament Swap. I stitched this little cutie one over one!

Design ~ The Holly Berry Sampler

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 28 count tea-dyed Monaco

Fiber ~ DMC 

I was caught out right after I kitted this one up. I thought I had until the end of August! No, I'd only just started stitching when I realized it was due the end of July. *mild panic* Starting a one over one project with less than a month to finish was quite scary for me, the Queen of Slow Stitching. Thank goodness, I made it.  

I just love finishing edges with ribbon and beads. The wine I guzzled that day really helped me loosen up and be random with the spacing. I'm prescribing wine every time from now on! This edging is super easy, just tack the ribbon in place with a bead. Curl and loop and go crazy with it. The ribbon hides the seam and the bead hides the tacking stitch. Don't be even and precise ~ you want it to look wild!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

One For Me and One For You

Here is the one for me:

This darling ornament is from Karen of Karen's Handiwork. Every month Karen stitches two identical Christmas ornaments. One is for her own tree and the other is an "exchange" gift for one of her followers. I adore Bent Creek designs and Karen's finishing is just lovely. Jealous, aren't you? Well, you might be chosen next ~ but only if you are one of her followers, right? You know what to do!

Here is the one for you:

Design ~ Woodland Joy

Designer ~ Something In Common

Fabric ~ 32 count Daffycat-dyed I Can't Remember Fabric

Fiber ~ DMC as charted

Well ~ actually for Angela of Hooked on Stitches! This was for our Ornament Swap group. It's Angela's turn to receive so keep an eye out to see what everyone stitched for her! I used my new favorite edging technique on this one, ribbon and beads and the red-checked fabric is the backing. I did use brown thread for the eyes because the white French Knots as charted kinda made them look like zombie owls! I know I saved Woodland Joy from Something In Common's website years ago. It was a freebie. The site is gone now ~ so sad.

Because I get a lot of, "Oh, your stitching is so perfect. I could never be as good as you!" comments and emails ~ I must show you this next photo:



ROFLMAO This is the border part of Angela's ornament. The left hand one is correct. The right side one is WRONG! Because ~ I can't follow directions. I gathered up all my supplies, printed off the chart and merrily started stitching. In fact, I actually took this to work with me when we had a heavy snowstorm and I knew it would be a long, boring day. Once I finished the border, something kept bugging me. It just didn't look right. What is wrong? Oh, the instructions say ONE thread and I used TWO. *sigh* PLUS I stitched the inner backstitched border green and it's supposed to be red. *sigh* I really, really can't follow directions! And even once again, I forgot to stitch "Daffycat" at the bottom. See? Not so perfect. You just can't see my pile of scrap starts, nor do I always show off those bits I toss angrily into the trash...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Ornament Swaps Are FUN!

My last Ornament Swap arrived. I received this gorgeous one from Conny of Little Woman's Creative Basket. Isn't it wonderful? Do you see the little rusty bell in the bow? I love it! This was my favorite ornament from LHN's monthly series last year...the only one I stitched ~ and that for someone in my Swap group! I'm so pleased to have one of my own. Thank you so much, Conny!

Here is a group photo of all the ornaments I received this year. I am sooo happy! Hey, don't drool on your keyboard!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

and a Three and a Four

Two more ornies arrived from my Ornament Swap group. This first one from Lori of Stitchin Times Five. Lori stitched me one of Bent Creek's hilarious Photobooth Snowmen. And look ~ jinglebells! I really like the non-traditional colors and the sparkly fabric. Thank you so much, Lori!

Then came this sweetie from Lisa of Hockey Mom Stitchin' Hobby. Oh dear, a darling sheepie from Country Cottage Needleworks! Isn't this lovely? Lisa sewed this into a soft pillow ornament and it is only edged with that dark blue ~ the backing fabric is a light blue...very pretty! I love this ornament, Lisa!

I am getting excited for Christmas and there is still nine months to wait! Only one more Swap left for me to receive. Though, I still have the pleasure of stitching for the rest of members this year. Such plans!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Wondering...

...what my mail carrier must think when I get packages every couple of days. Maybe, "That lady has gone crazy on eBay again...?"

My second Ornament Swap came this week. This one is from Lisa V in Australia. I just love the red and gold colors Lisa has used. And that tassel rocks! The backing fabric has a red & gold theme and the overall ornament is expertly constructed as well.

Thank you, Lisa! I love this ornament ~ soooo much!

Remember I needed some mauve silk ribbon? Glenna was able to get her hands on some to send me. Somehow, she couldn't resist including a very sweet RAK in the package. I love surprises!

I really like these Victoria Sampler bird ornaments. They are just the sweetest images...except for maybe the #2 leaflet ~ those were kind of an odd pair. Thank you so much, Glenna! I really appreciate you getting the ribbon for me and the chart was such a nice gesture.

I haven't finished the bunny fob yet...not had any stitching time this week. It's "Spring Cleaning" at work (my idea) and "the boss" must do her share or she can't expect her employees to do the same. Lead by example, I say! This means I have trashed my hands with all the scrubbing and scouring. No one feels like stitching with cracked, dried out fingers. Blech!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Fastest Mail in the West

Poor Angela has had a terrible time with mailing packages. Some of the packages she sends take weeks to arrive. It was with great trepidation she sent off my Ornament Swap last Monday. I must admit I was a little nervous myself ~ but it arrived yesterday ~ one week, on the dot! Congratulations, Angela...perhaps the "curse" is broken?

Isn't her ornament gorgeous? You will have to visit Angela's blog for the details, I'm sure she will post them soon. The finishing is just lovely. I wish you could see it in person! Thank you so much, Angela!!!

Oh.
My.
Freakin'.
Stars.

Have you seen the new Bent Creek charts out? Here are a couple of lovelies...photos courtesy of The Silver Needle.

Gnomes in a Garden Row. I 'bout fell over when I saw this one. It went straight into my cart and I couldn't type in those credit card numbers fast enough! My daughter, Jessie, loves gnomes (and so do I) so this one I couldn't live without.

Quaker Noel Row. This one is rather a change from Bent Creek's usual stuff. Very pretty! I resisted buying this one. For now. There are also a few "little" designs out new too. These are called Flair, top of page here. There is a snowman, a sail boat and some cute chicks under an umbrella. These were not resisted *grinz* not even for a second!

I wanted to thank you for the sweet comments on my last few posts. Sheba has a swelled head and has been carrying on with the latest of her hedgehog stuffies. I have emailed the recipe for the toffee cream scones to those that had emails in their profile and asked about it. Thanks too, for the offers of the silk ribbon I need want. I believe there is some on the way to me! Little Mr. Bunny is nearly finished and I'm looking forward to putting him together!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox

Chill Out!

It's January...so that means the start of this years Ornament Swap. We are a small group of friends swapping Christmas ornaments every two months. Long-time readers may remember my swap posts from last year...

January means it's Lori's turn. Lori's blog is Stitchin' Times Five. Everyone in our group stitches an ornament and sends it to Lori this month. I can't begin to explain how much fun it is to receive your ornaments. (My turn is in March. I can't wait!) There were PROBLEMS this go-round. First, I sealed up the box all nice and tight. Then...realized I hadn't taken a photo of my exchange. Sigh. I open the box back up. Arrrgh! Next, I'm taking the photograph when I see I have completely forgotten to Stitch "Daffycat" at the bottom like I've been doing for this exchange. *smacks forehead with palm* Arrrgh ~ again! Sorry, Lori...I was NOT going to risk frogging my careful sewing (I'm still not sewing-machine-confident) for the sake of having my name on it!

Design ~ Chill Out

Designer ~ Lizzie*Kate

Fabric ~ 32 count Daffycat Dyed Belfast Linen

Fiber ~ DMC as charted

Finish ~ Pillow Ornament

There were more TUSAL prizes that have arrived in the last week. I'm only going to tease you for now by letting you know there are more! But...I'm not going to show you pictures yet as I'm behind on my blogs, stitching and housework. Chill out! I'll get to it soon. Besides, I will need something new to blog about. I still can't show you my current stitching!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Snowmen Rock!

Angela let me know my Ornament Swap arrived yesterday. Angela said she likes snowmen and Little House Needleworks designs so when I saw this sweet snowman I knew I had to stitch him for her. I did change a few things: the design is charted with a white bird at the top of the tree and I made him into a Cardinal instead; the checkerboard pattern was charted in the same gold as the star and I stitched it in red Smyrna crosses. I backed the ornament with the red check fabric, sewed it into a pillow and stuffed it very lightly. The ribbon hanger was tea-dyed briefly to take off the brilliant white of it and was secured with two red & cream vintage buttons from my button box. If I hadn't been pushing close to the mail-out deadline I would have kept this one for myself! *grin*

Design ~ Frosty Flakes

Designer ~ Little House Needleworks

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-dyed Lugana
Fiber ~ DMC

Just a note about this exchange: We are a small group of friends swapping Christmas ornaments every other month. This exchange is not currently open to new swappers, sorry! But why not start your own swap? Choose five stitchers to exchange with...six including you...and every other month is someones turn to receive and everyone in the group stitches an ornament for them. This has been the best exchange. In fact, we have all enjoyed it so much we all agreed to go again next year. My turn to receive again is in March 2011!

Did you see the update on my last RAK post? Scroll down or click here to see who received that Raven Lunatic pin pillow...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

More Christmas stitching

Lisa has received my Ornament Swap! I stitched her LHN's Pear Tree and backed it with the fabric it's laying on here. It's so nice going to the fabric store and having the perfect fabric jump right out for you. Who knew they made yellow Christmas fabric? I played with the colors (since this was an exchange) and stitched the "L" and the "S" in red to represent our initials. This ornament was such fun to stitch ~but~ I had a little goof...I tea-dyed some 32 count fabric with this project in mind and dyed an extra piece of 28 count just to have it done. I guess I mixed them up because somehow I ended up stitching this on the 28 instead of the 32! I was having such a blast stitching that I never even noticed until it was almost finished. That made this ornament a little bit larger than I intended. Whoops! I'm pretty sure Lisa doesn't mind because she said she loves it!

Design ~ Pear Tree

Designer ~ Little House Needleworks

Fabric ~ 28 count Jobelan
Fiber ~ DMC with Mill Hill Beads

Finish ~ Pillow Ornament

I tried a new-to-me finish with this pillow, trying to follow the directions in the instructions. I may have stuffed it a bit more than the model shows and I could only find jute for the hanger/bow (it called for twine.) But I'm happy with the way it turned out. Cutting & sewing my stitching is nerve-wracking. I don't breathe easy until it's all finished!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

I got really creative!

I had the most difficult time trying to decide on a stitch for Conny for our Ornament Swap. Nothing I looked at seemed to jump out and scream, "I'm for Conny!" I take that back...one design did do that but it wasn't a Christmas design. Bent Creek's Plum Berry Sampler kept saying, "Stitch me, stitch me!" But, with a big blue bird and purple "fancy" stitches, this definitely wasn't a Christmas design. But it...could be...so I stitched all the letters first. In green. And...realized that ONCE AGAIN Bent Creek had put in the WRONG KEY so I frogged all the green letters and re-stitched in tan. (This filled my new frog-jar, nicely!) Then, I stitched the birdie in red and gave him a top-knot to turn him into a Cardinal (the USA's traditional Christmas bird) and stitched the "fancy" stitches in red as well. After looking at it, I decided to frog the "C" and the "S" (our initials) and stitch those in red as a "little extra." Tiny red buttons made holly berries and voila, a Christmas design! I found this black-and-red-checked fabric in the remnant bin and it was a perfect match.

Design ~ Plum Berry Sampler

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-dyed Jobelan

Fiber ~ DMC

I was so thrilled with the finish on this one that I took lots of pictures!

You probably can't see very well in the photos but each little separation in the alphabet has fun stitches ~ Rhodes and Smyrna. The very center one was supposed to be Eyelets but after stitching over half of them I decided they were total crap...frogged...and did Rhodes instead! I know, I am a complete obsessive when it comes to my stitching! Can you tell how much I liked stitching and finishing this? I think this is my favorite project to date!

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Today marks the end of the Bad Hair Day giveaway. Thanks to everyone that entered! I went the lazy way and put the numbers through the random generator and it spit out #8. The eighth comment on that post came from a newbie blogger, Peggy Lee of Kentucky Sampler. Congratulations, Peggy Lee! As soon as you send me your mailing address I will get your prize sent!

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Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox

A merry little Christmas ornament

Last weekend...or was it then? I forget now, because things have been freakin' crazy around the Bennett household this last week. So...maybe I had better say, "recently" I finished the second Christmas ornament in my Ornament Swap group and mailed it off. Lori was my recipient this go-round and she has posted that she has received all of the ornaments we stitched for her. She made a simply precious post about receiving them. I wish I could write like that!

I stitched a ginormous ornament for Lori. This sucker is approximately 4x7 inches! I don't usually like ornaments that are "too big." But this one insisted it was for Lori. And Lori didn't seem to mind such a big, honkin' ornament anyway. The snowflake fabric was used for the backing. I had to stitch this one because it was darling and it was a snowman and because Lori said she didn't really like sampler designs and this one is named Sampler Winter so...there you go! I had too.

Design ~ Sampler Winter

Designer ~ Marika Belfiori

Fabric ~ 32 count Belfast, tea-dyed

Fiber ~ DMC

About the last crazy week? Poor Sheba got really sick with an infection and had a 105 temperature with diarrhea to boot. She had a trip to the vet's office and had her arm shaved to draw blood and got lots of fluids put under her skin to help cool her off and for dehydration. She then got a paste for the diarrhea, antibiotics for the infection and a fever reducer. She thinks it's one big dog party because she gets to eat ground beef and brown rice for her icky tummy. But she is all back to her waggy, tennis ball crazy Border Collie self now.

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Me? After having a sick dog, I spent all weekend cleaning carpets and floors. Oh joy! Then, we cleaned out Jessie's old room. Rick was all gung-ho about painting it. "Between the two of us, we can have it painted in just a few hours!" he said. What he meant was, Sharon can paint it by herself in two days! Thank goodness I was able to take today off work! Sadly, I haven't had time for much stitching the past few days. Surely the coming week will be an easy one.

But I'm not going to hold my breath.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Swap received and a Spring blizzard

Remember all the lovely Christmas ornaments I received in January? This month it was my turn to send to Lisa. I really enjoyed stitching for her! I'm so happy you liked it, Lisa! I've stitched this ornament once before but in green...and Glenna is now the owner of that one. I like this design so much, I'll probably stitch it again!

• Design ~ Fa La La
• Designer ~ Plum Pudding Needleart
• Fabric ~ 32 count Belfast, tea-dyed
• Fiber ~ DMC

Thank you all for the sweet comments on my stashy post. I'm still giddy over all that floss! Yes, my friends, feel free to steal that picture for your desktop background, I'm happy to share. For those of you asking about how I store my floss click here to see my previous posts on that subject. You will need to scroll down a bit on that page. I seem to talk about stash a lot!

Yesterday (the last day of Winter) the weather was 70 degrees and gorgeous. Today (the first day of Spring) it is 30 with blizzard snow. UGH! I am SO SICK of snow.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

The Love Bug

My Valentine exchange has landed! Paula, of Needles, Hooks & Paperback Books has emailed to let me know it arrived. I sewed her a long pillow and a little scissor fob. This was one of the rare times I've mailed an exchange late. You see, I had the long pillow all ready to be mailed when I received my Valentine, the gorgeous scissor keep from Michelle. Suffering from a bit of performance anxiety, I was positive my exchange was inferior. So I decided to whip up a little fob to make up for it. Then, I had a rough week at the grocery store because another winter storm was predicted and all of Stillwater had to stock up on several weeks worth of groceries before it hit. I was so tired after work each day that the fob took me forever to finish. And then the storm arrived. So with all these excuses the exchange was a day late being mailed. Why yes, I am OCD. How can you tell?

Paula seemed to like what I sent so I seem to be forgiven.

Design ~ Love Bug

Designer ~ Erynne Chard

Fabric ~ 28 count Crossed Wings Linen in Rainforest

Finish ~ Long Pillow

Fiber ~ DMC

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Another Late Mail Day

See? Yesterday I forgot the mail until 8pm and look what appeared! I am positive if I'd ran to pick it up at 4, right after it arrived, there would have been nothing but the credit card statement. I was positively giddy as I went back to the house with two puffy envelopes!

These are the last two of the Ornament Swaps I was waiting for. First up is a beautiful sewing tree from Lisa. Isn't this awesome? It's stitched on light lavender fabric and it's so sparkly! The neat shape is really cool too. Thank you Lisa, I love it!

The next package contained the sweetest kitty-cat pinkeep from Conny. The front side, with the hand-made card:

Then the back side. I just love the cute little touches, like the jinglebell and the star shaped pins. And look! My initials! I am not sure you can tell but it is stitched on a very pale green linen. So pretty! Conny, it is wonderful, thank you!

This has been a really fun exchange. Now, I must stitch an ornament for each of these sweet ladies in return. It is a lot of fun picking out that perfect design for each person. Hummm, maybe I'll go look through my Christmas patterns again...

.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

I'm never checking my mail again

...until late, late in the day! It seems every time I check my mail right after it arrives there is nothing but bills. If I wait or forget until late there is a surprise for me! Look what came yesterday. This is my Valentine exchange from Michelle of The Shabby Stitcher.

Michelle stitched me the most beautiful scissor keep, a design by ATALIE. This is finished so perfectly...I wish you could see. Delicate colors and stitches. I am spoiled.

The little red scissors fit into a little pocket on the back of the heart. Divine stitching. Thank you so much Michelle!

If you are interested in exchanging with us go to the Holiday Exchanges blog for more information.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Not myself

I was laid low on Thursday with a stomach virus which resulted in a trip to the emergency room that evening when the cramps became unbearable. The vomiting gave me black eyes and a large red spot in the white of my right eye. A couple of days of anti-nausea and pain medicine and now I'm about as energetic as an overcooked noodle. At least I'm not throwing up or cramping! Although I'm feeling better, I am left with terrible gas and my horrendous farts are about to chase Rick out of the house! Hold your nose, please!

These beauties all arrived over the past few days. Little bright spots in the midst of my misery. I'm involved in a private ornament exchange with a few friends and January is my month to receive...

From Lisa V came this sweet freebie by Erynne stitched up as a little pillow ornament. Look at those cute little Christmas "lights" in the corners! Thank you, Lisa...I love it!

Then from Angela came this sweet Lizzy*Kate kitty. I love his argyle sweater and the plaid hanger! Thank you, Angela!

As if I hadn't already been spoiled, I then received this little Prairie Schooler darling from Lori. I wish you could see all the pretty sparkle in the snowman. The little birds and the green scarf are right up my alley, Lori! Thanks!

OK, I hope I didn't gas anyone to death...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

More great mail

I have the best mailman! Look what he brought today...my Lizzie Kate exchange from Lisa! Lisa stitched Autumn ABC's and finished it into a beautiful pinkeep. Thank you so much, Lisa!

Best of all, Lisa's blog is new to me and I love reading new blogs!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox