Sunday Sewing

I am enjoying a quiet Sunday morning in my sewing room. While watching quilting shows that were recorded on the DVR I made some key fobs. I already have some finishes and it isn't even midmorning...

It is amazing to me how much I've learned over the past couple years. All the little simple tricks to make things look nicer that experienced sewists take for granted leave me agape when I learn. Like this little trick to join the strap ends leaves you with a loop...you just can't forget to put your clasp on first!

Look close...the fabric reminds you to stitch!

I wish every day could be so carefree.

Four of them finished...two short and two long. They make it so easy to find your keys in your purse! Another trick I learned to save my fingers and nails is using a staple remover to pinch key rings open.

Let's have a giveaway! If you would like a chance to win a "Stitch!" key fob leave me a comment below. Tell me, have you learned any new tricks lately? 

This giveaway closes at the end of July 2, 2016...so be sure to comment by Saturday at midnight! I will draw a couple of names and contact the winners by email. NOTE: I will need your email address if your name is drawn as a winner. If I cannot find a way to contact you another person will be chosen. Good Luck!

This giveaway has closed and the winners will be contacted shortly!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Hidden Giveaway

If you have been reading my blog very long you will know I am quite sneaky. Sometimes when you comment on my blog, you are actually entering yourself into a secret "hidden" giveaway. Here is another one! Back in June, I noticed I was getting very close to a major blogging milestone...my 20000 comment!

I waited very impatiently for this to be reached because I wanted to send that special blogger a little treat. Finally on July 10, 2013 someone left the 20000th comment! I was so excited I snapped these pictures of the screen on my phone.

Linda of Stitchin with my Furbabies left that 20000th comment on my July TUSAL post. Congratulations, Linda! Here is your prize:

I will get this out in the mail tomorrow!

Thank you all, who read my blog. Thank you for commenting. Don't hold back...on this blog you never know if one of my posts is a hidden giveaway!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Better Late Than Never

Waaaay back in January I participated in a blog-hop to help grow my friend's blogs. There was supposed to be a giveaway drawing announcement on February first. Yeah, that SO didn't happen! The past year for me has been a whirlwind blur...I am only now getting to it. Here was the prize in case you don't remember and are too lazy to click the linky above:

I've finally chosen the winner ~ Melissa of Boyett-Brinkley. Please, go visit Melissa's blog and click her followers gadget. She'd love to welcome you! Congratulations, Melissa!

I've been busy stitching. I'd say it was too hot to do much else but this summer has been so much better than the past three summers, who can complain? Me. I'm a wimp when it comes to heat. If it's 90 degrees or higher, I'm staying inside in the air-conditioning! So I've been stitching a lot.

I finished Wave by Bent Creek.

Then Celebrate Freedom, again by Bent Creek. Both of these were done in DMC and need buttons and finishing. I am really looking forward to doing all the finishing on my patriotic basket pieces! Just a few more to stitch.

Miss Molly doesn't care if it's hot outside. She loves to go out and run. Then she comes inside panting and slobbering and collapses in a hot mess. I try to keep her inside when it gets too hot. Giant chew bones help keep her busy!

Be sure to post tomorrow for the TUSAL! 

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Welcome To The Party!

A warm welcome to new visitors...and one to my many regular readers as well! I started this blog November 1st, 2007 with this awkward post. I blog to share my love of cross stitch and my general joy of life. From that first post with no comments to five years later of having 1300 subscribers is unbelievable. I never once dreamed I'd have so many beloved friends from ever corner of the globe. Blogging is truly an incredibly important part of my life. We've shared our ups and downs, had arguments (not many,) given advice, cheered our victories and mourned each other's losses. I'm terribly grateful for every single visitor here. 

Vicki over at 2 Bags Full had the wonderful idea to throw this Grow Your Blog party. While I am not hurting for readers I remember the excitement of that first comment:

1 comment:

Rachael said...

Hello Daffycat and welcome to the world of Blogging ;0)

November 3, 2007 at 4:02:00 AM CDT 

I remember the thrill of that first "Google Follower" Mine was Patti.

I remember the fun of hosting my first giveaway and then coming up with a silly way of choosing the winner.

Yes, I remember just starting off, thinking no one would ever care a whit what I had to say. I learned early on that the more blogs I visited and left comments on the faster my own blog grew. To make friends you gotta BE a friend! Go make friends! Visit some blogs. Leave comments so people can find their way back to your blog. This Grow Your Blog party is an awesome way to start. 

Click Here

to see Vicki's Grow Your Blog guest list. 

Now for some more good stuff...

I promised a giveaway right? I'm offering this treasure box I made last year. If you would like to be included in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere...no hoops to jump ~ except for the comment!

I will put the names in my "hat" and draw a winner on February 1st as the Grow Your Blog party instructions indicated.

Hmmmmmm, the box looks empty...I just might have to fill it with something for the winner!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

And The Winner Is...

Sorry for the delay announcing the winner of the business card giveaway. Life has been absolute hell these days. I'm trying to cope but not doing a good job of it. Forgive me if I am not around much for a while...

Big congratulations to Annette who blogs at California Stitcher! Thank you to everyone that entered.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Business Card Giveaway

I love business cards! I have started including one with my information on it in with exchanges, RAKs and giveaways. On mine, I have my name, mailing address, email address and blog address. Isn't that a great way to keep in contact with your online friends? I'm using homemade ones now but I'm really, really looking forward to receiving some professional ones from PrintRunner very soon ~ I hear they have awesomely fast turnaround time!

Did you know you can Print online with PrintRunner?  They print business cards that look professional and expensive at an affordable rate. PrintRunner is a full service, high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, California.

I was so excited to receive this offer from PrintRunner this week. They are providing a set of 250 business cards to give away to one of my readers AND a set to me for hosting! The offer as follows:

• Prize: Business Cards
• Business Card Size and Style Business Cards - 2x3.5 (Standard)
• Quantity:  250
• Colors:    4/4 Color Both Sides
• Paper:   14 pt. UV Coating on Front, 14 pt. UV Coating on both sides,
• Proof:    NONE
• Rounded Corners:   NO

The Fine Print ~ *Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above.

If you would like to enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post. I will need your name and email address to send to PrintRunner (if you are the winner) so be sure I have a way of contacting you.

Hurry now ~ I've found my giveaways do best if they are quick (meaning = hardly anyone enters after the first couple of days lol) so I will choose the winner next Wednesday, May 17, 2012. The actual prize gets awarded on May 31, 2012. Be aware you can only win one giveaway prize from PrintRunner in a two-month period. You can also "like them" on Facebook like I did!

The Disclaimer ~ Thank you to PrintRunner for providing us this giveaway. I will receive a set of business cards for hosting this.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Bird in Hand

Last weekend I finished my Nina's Threads Project into a pillow. I waited until now to share with you so to give Nina a chance to post on her blog first, since it was all her idea! She has had it up for several days and now it's my turn:

Design ~ A Bird in Hand

Designer ~ La-D-Da

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-stained Lugana

Fiber ~ Nina's Threads 

This was such a fun project. I really enjoyed working with Nina and getting a chance to try her lovely hand dyed threads. I am very pleased to learn you can buy Nina's Threads in the US at The Thread Basket. It was nice to see there are two sizes of skeins so if you only need a little you can buy a half size at a reduced price.

I found the finishing fabric at Hobby Lobby, taking my stitched piece with me to color match. I couldn't believe I was able to find fabric that went so well. It's like Nina had that fabric in mind when choosing the thread colors for the design. My pillow is lightly stuffed with fiberfill. Big thanks to Nina for letting me try her threads!

This pillow could be yours! If you would like to own it, leave me a comment on this post and I will choose a winner in a few days.

And the winner of the drawing for the Traveling Pattern, Thankful, is geeky Heather of It's Geek to Me. Thanks to everyone that entered and don't be too disappointed if you weren't drawn since you can follow it to Heather's blog and try again after she has stitched it!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

The Totally Useless Winner

It is about time I announce the winner of the 2011 Totally Useless SAL Giveaway, isn't it? More on that later...first I want to show you the total prize box. Sound like fun?

Here are all the charts:

The fabrics:

The fibers:

The finishing fabrics:

The handmade items and a couple of crafty things:

The kits:

The tools:

Isn't this a fabulous prize for the lucky winner? All of these items were sent to me by your fellow TUSALers to give to the winner of the giveaway. There are a couple of donations that are to be sent directly to the winner by individual parties. Those parties can contact the winner directly. Wait! Who is it, you ask? Oh, yeah...I nearly forgot!

Big congratulations to Catherine of Bramblewood Stitches! Thank you so much for being a part of this Totally Useless adventure.

I wanted to remind everyone that the 2012 Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long has begun. You can click the link here for information on how to sign up. I am NOT accepting donations for the giveaway this year but there will still be prizes.

Also a reminder that the first New Moon of 2012 is tomorrow so get those ORT jars shined up and ready for their debut!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Behind

Reveling in not being obligated to post after NaBloPoMo I find myself behind in a few things!

First up is some giveaway winners! Winners, you ask? Wait, wasn't there only one giveaway recently? Officially, yes, but the Joy scissor fob I posted about was a hidden giveaway post. Surprise! Everyone that commented on that post was secretly entered to win the fob. The lucky winner this time is Meari of Meari's Musings. Congratulations, Meari!

The other giveaway was for the Lizzie*Kate Snowman '10 chart. The lucky winner of that cute snowman design is Judith of Judith's Needlework. Congratulations, Judith!

I will contact both winners to find out where to mail the prizes!

 

For those of you asking after Sheba, she is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, the 6th to biopsy her thyroid and to remove it if possible. We will find out about a week later if the growth is just a benign tumor or if it is a malignant cancer. Sheba will be feeling pretty poorly after the surgery and until her thyroid levels go down. The high thyroid levels make her metabolism run very high, that's why she has lost weight and is always panting. She doesn't play ball but she wants to: she brings the ball, you throw it and she runs to get it and lays down to rest. It makes us very sad that she doesn't feel up to playing ~ that isn't my normal Border Collie! Since the thyroid is in the neck she won't be able to wear a collar until she heals. I went to the pet shop this morning and picked up a step-in harness she can wear if she needs to go somewhere. When I got home and tried it on her she looked so sad and confused as if I was strapping her into a torture device! Silly old girl! I will keep you updated as I know more.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Mini Giveaway

I guess I liked this design so much I bought it twice. You do that, don't you? Please, don't tell me I am the only one! My silliness is your gain. Up for grabs is this Lizzie*Kate design Snowman '10. Leave a comment on this post telling me to include you in the giveaway. I will close the giveaway on November 30 and draw for a winner on the 1st of December. Quick ~ hence the "mini" giveaway in my post title.  International participants are welcome.

I discovered this silliness yesterday as I sorted stash. I started a basket to put  the designs in that I really wanted to stitch soon. Of course the basket is overflowing with more patterns than I could hope to stitch in ten years, let alone SOON! A brief search netted me a couple to stitch next though. More on that later!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced soon!

 Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Five Golden Rings

I've been meaning to show you my Prairie Schooler 5 Golden Rings all finished up. It took forever but I finally tackled that hand. A little dark maybe but I guess my True Love is an outdoorsman so he's a little tanned.

In other news, Heather has received the fabric I sent her for winning my blogoversary giveaway. See the Fabric here. Visit her entire blog It's Geek to Me here. If I were you I'd visit her entire blog and read the post above my giveaway prize as well. Heather's unintended houseguests had me rolling on the floor! You and Michael are too clever by far, Heather! Thanks for the giggles!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Blogoversary Giveaway

November 1st is my 4th Blogoversary! To celebrate this milestone with my readers I have stitched up a pretty Christmas ornament to give away. If I get enough people interested I will add another prize of some Daffycat-Dyed fabric for a second giveaway winner. Sound good?

Design ~ Fill With Love

Designer ~ Designs by Cathy Jean (of Victoria Sampler)

Fabric ~ 32 count tea-dyed Jobelan

Fiber ~ DMC



This was really quick to stitch and very fun. Except, I'm not entirely sure I actually have those pine branches exactly in position! Talk about fiddly ~ those are a booger to place! Oh, but I loved creating this for you.

1. For a chance to win this little treasure (or maybe some Daffycat-Dyed fabric) leave a comment on this post.

2. You must be a follower, old or new.

3. To make this a little more interesting I'm going to count all your comments on any of my posts in October as additional chances! You must still comment on this post to let me know you want to enter. And no, of course I don't mind if you run back and comment now on my previous October posts! And when I make a new post, don't forget to comment to get another entry!

A post on your blog telling others about my giveaway is kind but not required.

I will close this giveaway on my Blogoversay, November 1st.

This giveaway is now closed and

the winner will be announced shortly!

Good luck!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

To The Top

I make you look at my stitching before letting you see who won the giveaway...

I made it to the top of Peacock Cypher! Once I am finished with this line of over-one lettering, I will need to check for dropped stitches. Then the beading. Lots of pretty beads! It will be such a fine feeling to move this WIP to the finished pile.

It took much longer than expected to tally the giveaway entries. Holy crows, I should know better to add so many variables into the draw. Anyway, I finally finished this morning and the winner is Virpi from Crossed Stitches by Virpi. Congratulations, Virpi! I will email you to get your address today.

Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway and for posting links far and wide. I'm now well over the 800 dreamed-for followers. Wow ~ thanks!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

From My Gnome To Yours

An end-of-summer giveaway! Stitched items and Stitching stash are neck and neck in my poll.

I stitched up this little scissor fob and magnetic needleminder using parts of Bent Creek's Gnomes in the Garden Row. Isn't it precious? ABCD on the front and WXYZ on the back with Mr. Gnomes' lady wife on the needleminder. Stitched over one thread ~ these guys are tiny. I stuffed the fob with crushed walnut shells for weight. Pretty red scissors are included.

Design ~ Gnomes in the Garden Row

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 28 count Monaco

Fiber ~ DMC 



To have a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment on this post. Everyone is welcome ~ I can mail anywhere.

2. You must be a follower! I only need another 26 followers to reach 800. Can you help?

3. Please leave your email address if it isn't available on your profile.

4. Those of you posting a link to my giveaway on your blog will receive an extra entry, indicate this in comments.

5. I will draw a winner sometime on Tuesday, August 23rd.

Good luck to all!

This giveaway is now closed.

The Winner will be announced as soon as possible!

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

A Beautiful Sampler

My stitching, work and life-in-general is going great. My blogging/blog-reading has gone agley. I need balance. I need more time. Someone send me a few spare hours? It's actually my own fault...I seriously should pare down my reading list. There once was a time I could read through my blog list in less than an hour...it's an all-spare-time event now. But how can I stop reading anyone's posts? I might miss something! What a kerfuffle.

I must share this beautiful stitching I won from Heather of Cross-Stitching Mom. Isn't it gorgeous? The over-one alphabet has me enthralled. Of course, I love alphabets so this has nothing to do with Heather's absolutely perfect stitches, right? Thank you so much, Heather. I love the sampler and it's already on display in my guest room.

In between reading blogs, I had fun creating a little game for you = a Needlework word search. Once you open the page you will need to click Options and change the layout to 20X20 or 25X25 to load all the words. Have fun!

Some places to visit: Angela of Hooked On Stitches has created a new Traveling Pattern and I know you don't want to miss a chance of getting it sent to you. You will want to enter Edgar's blogoversary giveaway for four great years of Blacksheep's bit of the Web. Edgar's prizes are always so very special. And since so many of you like Halloween, you must see what Alex is doing over at just alex...he's already building props for his Halloween display! Freakin' scary awesome ~ I can't wait to see his finish.

For those of you in my Totally Useless Stitch A Long, don't forget the next New Moon is on Tuesday, May 3rd! I should have a good showing and maybe even a finish to share.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

A Hidden Giveaway and TUSAL Stuff

I was sooo pleased to receive so many comments on my bunny fob finish...because that post was another hidden giveaway! Yup, you heard right ~ I'm giving away that little fob to someone who commented on that post! Why didn't I state that it was a giveaway in the first place? Because, that is my way of rewarding those that comment on my stuff ~ and I receive so many wonderful comments, I can't help but be grateful. Sooooo ~ the bunny fob goes to Anne of Doll's Musings! Congratulations, Anne! I will email you for your mailing address when I finish posting this.

I hope you are keeping up with posting pictures of your ORT jars...because Lynn of Kearnel's Korner sent us some lovely things for the Totally Useless Giveaway! Feast your eyes on these goodies! Lynn stitched a beautiful pinkeep and added in some fat quarters (I'm tempted to steal them, they are so delish) and a darling Halloween design. Thanks Lynn ~ great stuff!

Just for kicks, I snapped a quick photo of ALL the TUSAL donations that have been sent so far. It covers my kitchen table!

The box I am keeping it in is a little over half full! Don't you just love giveaways? Dear readers, you are so generous!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Eureka!

Today...I took this little bunny, gave him a wash, ironed on some interfacing, sewed on a button, seam-sewed the edges together, stuffed it with Lavender and walnut shells and edged it with silk ribbon and petite seed beads...

.

.

...to create this fob! It turned out exactly as I wanted it to look. And I finally have a finish to share.

.

Design ~ The Littles "Bunny"

Designer ~ Bent Creek

Fabric ~ 32 count Daffycat-Dyed Lugana

Fiber ~ DMC, Dinky Dyes Silk Ribbon, Mill Hill Petite Seed Beads

Finish ~ Walnut Shell & Lavender Stuffed Scissor Fob

The edging was inspired by Valerie, of Fog City Dweller. Remember Valerie sending me the sweetest little fob for her blogoversary giveaway? I really loved the edging and wanted to try something similar. Thank you, Valerie!

I searched every store in town looking for ribbon that would work and could find nothing suitable. A plea on my blog sent Glenna, of Eye of the Needle into action and she found the perfect silk ribbon for me. Thank you, Glenna...it worked perfectly!

Isn't that edge treatment fun? The random swirls, spaces and beads really appeal to me. So ~ all in all, this little bunny fob was a joint effort and I'm so pleased with the results! *happy dance*

This post was a Hidden Giveaway!

The winner was announced on this post!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

It's been kind of a crappy few weeks. What with two major snowstorms and dealing with several problems that have cropped up at work ~ I'm left feeling glad February is such a short month! Then, last weekend I come down with the flu. The real honest-to-goodness flu. Fever, chills, body aches and it put me flat for several days. I'm seldom ill enough to stay home from work. Indeed, when I checked, I found I've only taken three sick days in four years!

It was so nice to find a sweet package in the mailbox for me. Valerie of Fog City Dweller, had a blogoversary giveaway and I won! And boy did I get spoiled...

It was all I could do to stop and take photos...

I just wanted to RIP RIP RIP!

Oh what fun!

A close-up of the gorgeous fob.

Isn't it the yummiest?

Oh my, I keep picking it up and caressing it. I will treasure this fob, Valerie. Thank you so very much! I am so blessed with friends of such creativity & kindness.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox