Category Archives: cross stitch

Feb27

That warm fuzzy feeling

Posted on by
Standard

After Heroes was over last night, a new show came on called the Black Donnelly’s. I tried to watch it for about 20 minutes and couldn’t get into it, so I switched over to find the Oprah Winfrey special about the all girl school she opened in South Africa. I was totally mesmerized by those sweet girls and how happy they were to be able to go to the wonderful facility that Oprah built after 5 yrs in the planning. The last photo that was shown, was Oprah in the middle and surrounded by a sea of smiles (every single girl!) teared me up big time. Oprah said that ‘all the girls are like her daughters’. This touched one girl whose mother left her when she was 4. I can see many lives changing now.

Oprah and the girls

This special will be rebroadcast on Saturday, March 3rd so check your local listings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m doing a little ‘me’ pampering tonight-I couldn’t get a hair appt until 6 tonight and I called a week ago! Cruella DeVille and I could be sisters! I guess my stylist is getting too popular. I plan to shop at a local office supply place for some art card supplies (I’ve made 32 ATC now) and then go to Subway to pickup dinner so I don’t have to cook and run out the door.

My mom is still unwell. She said she was wheezing a lot last night. She has a doctor’s appt at 3. Wish her well as this is about her 3rd week of this illness.

I went and started a new cross stitch project when I have two looming deadlines. Not to worry, the house round robin is nearing completion as I need to finish the garden area in front of the house. The bee and flower for Love Quilts is fine-the poor bee needs it’s wings! I’ll put an updated photo above soon. What I started was a heart shaped design filled with butterflies. My mom gave me the two packages of DMC linen floss for Christmas and they both came with free designs. The fabric I am using is from Sugar Maple-a blend of pinks, greens and a little yellow and blue. It’s a cashel and very nice to work on.

It’s in the 40s today, so down right tropical. Go away snow and ice! Bri almost fell in the driveway this morning as it must have done something during the night.

Feb21

A winter scene

Posted on by
Standard

Yeah! I actually did a little something for myself. : ) It took a few months, but I sewed it into an ornament today.

Just finished ornament

Other than that, the temp is up to near 50 and the snow is melting a little. Sean just went for an free oil change (I had a card) and hopefully he’ll stop by the mall to get his snap on sunglasses fixed and to bring home a shrimp topped white pizza which I am craving. And it’s Ash Wednesday too.
I’m one of ‘those people’ who throw ‘stuff’ (mostly in clear plastic boxes)in their bedrooms when she is cleaning for the holidays and company. I did put some under the bed, but they all won’t fit, so I have to bite the bullet and decide what stays and what goes.
My mom sounds awful! She has a loose cough and was at the doctor’s yesterday. She has a sinus infection and bronchitis! I so need to go clean her place, and hopefully will do that in the next few days.

Feb20

Cape May, NJ and other beaches, etc.

Posted on by
Standard

The crusty snow is still around us. I keep taking trips down ‘memory lane’ and today it’s ventured to the beach. I’m having sinus problems now (especially on the right where I had the new crown inserted), so I wish I was taking a deep breath of fresh salt air. We are experiencing warmer temps today, so that means the heat won’t run as much! Yeah!

When you live in suburban Philadelphia, taking summer trips to the New Jersey shore is just something that you do almost every year. If you don’t go just one year, you miss it!

I love Cape May where the streets are lined with Victorian houses. We stayed in one only once-Poor Richard’s Inn– (the room we stayed in on the second floor has been redone since 1999).

Poor Richard’s Inn, Cape May, NJ

The parking is horrible, but to sit on the porch on the second floor and watch the people go by at night was pretty neat. So was using the bathroom down the narrow, winding staircase (reminded me of a cover of a Nancy Drew book). The beach was a stone’s throw away.

Sean and me a long time ago

Lately we’ve headed to the beaches of Delaware and Maryland for a change of pace. We live about an hour closer. My brother and his family go to Ocean City, MD every year. It’s a huge place and you hardly feel crowded out while sunbathing and enjoying the ocean. Unfortunately, the Jersey beaches tend to get crowded-well Wildwood has such a wide beach, so not so much. The boardwalks are usually crowded at night. People walking off sunburns and eating fattening foods like salt and vinegar fries or huge ice cream cones seem to be in a happy, but tired daze. I love to look out on the dark expanse of beach and to hear the waves crashing on shore. Sometimes there are bands on the beach and that’s a cool experience to stand in the dark watching the lit up stage. I also love to walk by the outdoor restaurants and check out what people are noshing on.

I always have to go to the cross stitch shop on 8th and Broadwalk called ‘Salty Yarns’ when we vacation in OC, MD. It’s a pretty decent shop and I always have to get ‘a prize’ to remember my trip to the beach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have some bananas that need to be used or tossed. I figure if I make a cake that will get my mind off my sinuses. I found a recipe for a pineapple/banana cake. Yum! Toto is watching over that piece I just cut!

Pineapple banana cake

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ice falling off vehicles has been a terrible hazard around these parts! There have been a few people on the news, one of which was a 2 yr old boy-so sad-his lips were all swollen from a hunk of ice that flew off a van (his mom said the size of her windshield) and crashed into their windshield! Mom is 38 weeks pregnant. Was she ever lucky just to have cuts on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and to end on a happier note (while I hope the music has helped)
Jo, my heART winner received her goodies-they all arrived in New Zealand fine. Thanks for the nice post Jo!

Feb16

February crawling along

Posted on by
Standard

I try not to let cabin fever bother me too much. I have so much I could do, whether it is cleaning, cooking or crafting-ha-the 3 ‘c’s! I’m here fairly warm in my little haven and my fellas have to go out and brave the cold.

A few of the bloggers in my blogroll said they think they need a break from writing here. I think it happens to the best of us. One lady has two little girls and wants to spend time with them and write some children’s books. I am stalled in a way, but with eBay. I’ve been selling there pretty steadily since Aug. ’99. I find when I purchase something to sell, I do a search and there’s always a number of others selling the same thing. This can be discouraging. I have A LOT of things accumulated for eBay. I think it’s time to get rid of most of it. The last few things I tried to sell went over like a lead balloon. I think since I share the computer with the guys, it’s hard for me to hop on it all the time. When Sean goes away, I see me getting into it again or if all is well, getting a part time job.

For me today, it’s stitching on Carol’s NRR which is coming along beautifully and venturing out to the store. I noticed there is a bunch of snow on the roof of the van. I heard you aren’t allowed to have packed snow on your vehicle and I know in the past it’s flown off. Luckily, I have 1/2 mile to go and probably there won’t be anyone behind me. I hope.

Have a great weekend!

Feb6

Embracing my age

Posted on by
Standard

My age
I got a couple of compliments today at the dentist office. I was telling the hygienist that my 40 yr old little brother hardly had any cavities as I had acted as a ‘little mom’ to him being 7 yrs older and made him brush his teeth regularly. She replied, ‘so that means your 47, you sure don’t look it!’ Wow-so nice. I thank my parentage for good genes. And I thank the hairdresser too. Dr. Tim did an excellent job with my crown. It feels a bit strange as it’s higher than the first one there was. He’s only 28. I guessed around 30 as he’s so professional. He answered my questions and even looked at an area of concern on my gum. He also went to Penn State (like Sean), but studied Life Science before going on to Temple for dentistry. So I graduated the year before he was born-I feel old now! ; )

Brian stopped at Burger King because all my stress was gone and I was hungry. I tried to eat a Healthy Choice turkey meal for lunch but didn’t eat most of it.

Stitchingwise I am working on an ornament for a change of pace. I want to have something to add to the stitch-along blog. I did find a hemp cord website and am waiting on suggestions from the webmistress on what to order.

Jan26

Brrrr…

Posted on by
Standard

Not fit for man or beast in PA and much of the northeast today. It was a balmy 10 degrees this morning with a windchill factor of ‘pretty darn cold’. I felt bad that the guys had to go out in it.

The most exciting thing today for me was receiving Carol’s pretty Neighborhood Round Robin cross stitch project from the ice cold hands of the mailman (I had to sign for it and he had no heat in his truck). At the beginning of the project, I had gathered a bunch of designs and low and behold, a cottage and garden looked perfect for this one. I started on it tonight!

Brian’s new thing is bidding on eBay. He uses my account, so I have to make sure he pays on time and all. He had to get a money order tonight for a camera he won. I’ve been doing this since August, 1999 and he’s really never taken an interest in it before. I have a few things for sale, but need to add more. It’s good pocket money for me-sometimes.

Jan20

Stitching WIP

Posted on by
Standard

I’m long overdue showing you some stitching projects. I’ve only worked on the little boy making a snow angel  (Giggles in the Snow by Mirabilia) and the pink  flower blossom (for a charity quilt). The other things are the finished half of an ornament featured in the JCS Ornie magazine and Cape May by Valentine Stitchery. I plan to work on the later tomorrow. Hope to get the house round robin project soon from Rachael to work on and then it will be that and the bee and pink flower for the next few months. I just added the legs to the bee that is on the blossom as I needed a break from the pink.
Not much new-just cold and windy. I did make 6 Valentines today for my pals over at tribe.net. I forgot to take photos of them. We’ve been sending each other mailart since October ’06.  We have a new particpant-a guy. I had a little trouble with his Valentine as I don’t usually do cards like that for other guys. : )
wips07.JPG

Dec22

Gifties

Posted on by
Standard

I guess it’s safe to post these as three of the five (as far as I know) have received them. These were for my pals over at tribe.net. Six of us are pretty close and in the last few months we have been sending mail art to each other. I decided not to do paper for the ornament exchange and do what I do best-cross stitching! I used my sewing machine to finish them off. With the stuffing I added some blue spruce pine needles that smell like citrus. They really like them which makes me smile. I was working on them when I was getting over my tummy bug, so that helped me recover.


Dec21

Wrapping marathon

Posted on by
Standard

That’s all I’ve been doing. I wrap for all one person, and move on to the next. I want my niece and nephew to have their own special paper too. I’m almost finished-I have a few of my nephew’s gifts to wrap and my father-in-law’s. Brian and Sean only have to wrap gifts for me (and Sean for his dad and grandparents). Then I stick bows on the packages or use pretty ribbons to finish them up. I don’t do bows until the last minute as they like to pop off, so I have to use tape to hold them on. Plus who likes a squooshed up bow?
Here are a few things I thought you’d like to see:

I’ve been trying to finish this little bear ornament since high school! It only needed a few stitches and assembly, which I did yesterday. I redid the mouth and metallic stripes on the drum. And I added the fringe to the scarf. Those are my initials from 1976! I did learn how to make cording too. : )

This is a gift for my mom. My brother Dave had uploaded a bunch of slides from the 1950s he found, and this was one of them. That’s Ruth and Alan-Christmas 1954 (we think). So besides Christmas, why the photo in a frame? I took a few of their good china (what was left of it is just little chipped cake plates) and smashed them up to make mosaic pieces. So although the dishes are pretty much gone, here is a sample of the grape pattern with even the maker in a chard of the china-one the bottom there. Let me tell you, it was hard to break up! The grout should dry a bit lighter. This is a my favorite photo of them. My ‘pop pop’ died when I was 6 weeks old-a long time ago!