Just catching up

I know it has been awhile since I have updated here. Lots have been happening here and I just didn't get back here. I have been working on my Christmas ornaments, all 35 of them, and other Christmas gifts. I have stated previously that my DD has been bitten by the cross stitch bug and now we cross stitch together. It is so nice to share the love of my hobby with her. She helped me with some of the ornaments and now she is working on her first bigger more complicated project. It is called Butterflies, a free chart from e-Patterns. This is actually two companion pictures with beautiful and very colorful butterflies on daisies. It is a very ambitious project but she is having fun working on it. I will post some pictures after Thanksgiving.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and God Bless!!!

I have been going through my stitchy stuff and decided it was time to make room for other stitchy stuff so I have decided to do a "give away". These to projects are up for grabs this month. They are completely stitched but not "finished" in any way. Leave me a comment or send me a post if you are interested and I will have Gabbie pick a name on the October 20th. I hope to list at least 2 projects in November and at least 2 in December.

Have fun and good luck.

a "little" news from WI

I thought I would share with you the newest addition to our family. This is Tiger Lily and she is 6 weeks old. She is the sweetest, fiestiest kitten I have ever owned. She is in a household with 3 other cats who are all at least 5 times bigger than she is but 2 of the 3 didn't know what she was at first. They had never seen a kitten before. The first day the bigger cats hissed and spit at her and she hissed and spit right back. It was so cute, she would arch her little back, puff up her tail and hiss right in their faces! Now the bigger ones have accepted her and they all now think she is a toy to play with. She is adjusting to our lives just fine.

And now for the BIG news.......

Here it is!!! Amber's first cross stitch piece. I am so proud of her. She did a great job and even the wording was that hard once she figured out her mistake. She did the "Christmas" and when she did the "2009" she couldn't figure out why the counting wasn't coming out. She did 6 stitches instead of 5. I bet we counted the stitches 10 times before she figured out what she did. Now she is helping me with other ornaments. I will post other pictures as they are finished. We did plan to make this little guy into a door hanger pillow as he is alittle big for our small Christmas tree.

I hope everyone has a great weekend with lots of stitching time. Those that are cold, I send my warmest wishes and to those who are still in the warmth, stay cool.

Amber's progress

I told ILCS last week that my daughter, Amber, has finally been bitten by the cross stitch bug. She says she is now addicted and is very excited about her next project. Here is a picture of her project. She started late Thursday night so she is doing well. She even changed the colors because the penguin was suppose to be even lighter gray than it is. She was visited briefly by some nasty frogs but we managed to chase them away. I am so proud of her.

These are two of my newest ornaments I have been working on. They are very easy and work up in no time. I did 4 in 2 nights. The green and red one was the first and then I made the blue and silver one. I also made a purple and fuchia one along with another green and red one. I am now working on more ornies. I think I have 12 of the 28 I have to do. Kind of a tradition with me.

Happy Stitching to everyone!!!

answer to poem

Here are the answers to the poem I sent to the group.
(666) red,
(932) blue,
(310) black,
(776) pink,
(970) orange,
(318) gray,
(740) gold,
(701) green

Hope no one had to cheat and had fun with this little poem.

Happy Stitching to everyone!!!

I finally finished my Ink Circles

Here is the picture of my finished Ink Circles. It was so great to finish this project. I have never done anything this large before. My Snad Castles wasn't even this big. I am so proud of myself and even got it done way before Christmas. I plan to finish this as a wall rug. I will use a heavy muslin for the back and leave a fringe on each end. My niece likes this type of think and I thought it would be great on her wall.

For my birthday back in June by SIL gave me an awesome book full of Celtic needlework patterns. This was part of one of those. My SIL made sure I knew that she liked this cat head and kind of hinted that she would like it. So, her wish will be answered when she opens it for Christmas. I will be making it into a pillow with beaded fringe. The picture doesn't do the colors justice. It really is a beautiful piece.

So now I can go back and finish the baby announcement for a friend. Kylie Deeann was born on July 16, 2009 and I now know what info to put on the piece. The name will go above the large moon with the date under the large moon. I am putting the height on the first star next to the large moon and the pounds and ounces on the other two stars. I do have to frog the little bears hat as I thought I would give this before the baby was born that I did the hat in aqua but now I know I can make it pink. This one will be a quick finish as I really only have a few things to finish.

And this is my day time project as this is going to be a bookmark for my daughter. One of two for her actually, and there are at least two more for me to get done by Christmas. I thought they would make great stocking stuffers for the readers in my family. As soon as I get all these small projects done I can work on the several dozen ornaments I need to make for the family and friends. I have 5 Baby's First Christmas ornaments to make this year. My needles will be smoking for awhile. But I love it and the ornaments become heirlooms.

I am sorry this has been so long but I have gone too long without posting some pictures. I hope everyone has a great weekend and Mother Nature is cooperative for all your weekend activities.

Happy Stitching!!!!!

Another Big Finish

I can't believe that I have another big finish. I finished my Ink Circles. I don't have pictures yet but will take some this weekend. I am so happy to get that one done. Now I am working on all the Christmas ornaments I have to make. This year I have 5 Baby's 1st Christmas ornaments to make. Then I have about 20 other ornaments I have to make for family, friends and neighbors. I will also be making a few more Christmas gifts that I have started on. The gifts are not large but they are going to be awesome. I will try to post pictures as they are finished. So now I am off to get all the ornaments threads together. Have a great weekend!!

several finishes

I have finally finished one larger project. My Snad Castle is now finished!! I am so happy to finish a project as big as that. I know it doesn't seem too big but for me it was.

I also finished a few small finishes. My second no-sew cube for the baby boy shower on Saturday and the baby girl pillow also for the shower on Saturday.

Here is a picture of the graduation picture I did for my great niece. She loved it when I gave it to her on Sunday.

I have had a very busy week and weekend. My DD and I worked very hard getting read for the double baby shower and our annual family picnic. We compiled a family cookbook of all the favorite family recipes from all the family members, typed them up and created a beautiful cookbook that the family really enjoyed. We also came up with a few games for the 8 kids. We put together a scavenger hunt at the park where the picnic was. What fun that was. We gave the teams 10 minutes to get 15 things. The winning team took 6 minutes and 14 seconds to get all 15 items. The other teams all came in at about 8 minutes each. We had enough "prizes" for everyone to get something but the winning team got to pick first. Gabbie was helped by the graduation girl and her boyfriend so they did win but everyone had a great time and nobody was complaining about who won. It was really interesting to see what the teams came up with for some of the items needed. And then we got the pinata out. We were having a great time then the end of the whacking stick came off and the stick hit one of the watchers. She was able to walk but the wound bled for a while and her cousins had to gather her share of the goodies inside. She recovered quickly and continued with the fun.

After everything was done we had all had a great time, ate some great food and had alot of fun catcing up with each other. My niece did take some pictures that I will share when I get them. (I forgot my camera at home, too much other stuff to remember.) So we came home and I sat in my chair with my feet up and watched a movie. I didn't stitch a single stitch all weekend. I hope I will find some time today to put a few stitches in my Boink project.

So, off I go to clean up the kitchen and then to my stitching corner. Have a Happy Stitching Week!

My no sew cube

So here is my first no sew cube. I will definitely be making more. It was alot of fun. I even put large beads on for "feet". I think it made the perfect finishing touch.
Happy 4th of July to my U.S. friends and Happy Weekend to everyone else.

I finally have some pictures

to share with everyone. I thought I would share pictures of the bookmarks I sent to Regina. I guess things got ahead of her as I did not receive one from her. I am disappointed but will continue in the exchanges as I enjoy stitching so much I want to share with others.

The dyed material was my first attempt at dying my own and I wanted something very bright as Regina said she really liked bright colors. The bear was an original that I came up with when she said that she liked bears. I will adapt the bear to a dragon for another bookmark for Christmas. I really enjoyed making these.

Here is a picture of the components for my very first no sew cube. I will be completing it this afternoon and will take apicture of it. The blue is for the no sew for another baby shower.

Here is a project I am making for a friend that graduated this year. Her party is July 11 and I am find that i have to frog alot of the project because I don't like the spacing. I was so close to being done but I just wasn't happy. I know she would have loved it but because I wasn't happy with it, I rip it, rip it, rip it!

What does everyone think. You can see where I frogged "School and Class of 2009" I am going to move that all up about 6 rows. I am also going to frog "don't tell me" and move it over about an inch and up about an inch. I hope that will make it look better. Opinions?????

Here is my progress on Snad Castles. I am about 85% done. Just a little filling in (now that I have more of the color I needed), and the water on the right side. I think I will definitely have this done for Christmas.

And here is the progress on my Ink Circles. I did do alittle change up so the tile with the 2009 appears in the tile where the needle is. I am really liking this project but i think I will go back to the smaller projects when I am finished. Although I would love to do this one again in pastel colors. I think it would be beautiful. Well, maybe one day.

Now, I have to thank everyone that sent me ideas for getting rid of the ants that were driving me to distractions. I got some Grant Ant Traps and put them all over (of course nowhere the cats can get into them and I had a very long talk with Gabbie about staying away from them). With in 24 hours the ants are gone. I can again go into my kitchen with out fear. I don't have to clean up ant carcasses any more. WOO HOO!!!!

So today, Thursday, I will spend my afternoon frogging the graduation project and working on it again. I intend to relax and stitch as much as possible and of course making the no sew cube.

Happy stitching!!!

Just a little update

I know it has been a while since I updated but it is just because not much has happened...at least until last night. I was walking out side and missed the small step onto my deck. I fell and after having my dd and dgd come running I managed to get up and hobble out to the car. I didn't get hurt except for the large lump on my left wrist. I put ice on it and this morning I have a large purple bruise on it. I can move everything but it is very sore and the fingers are slightly swollen. I guess I will be ok. Considering the fall, I am very lucky.

I have been stitching as much as possible and am trying very hard to finish my Snad Castle. I have run out of one of the major colors (didn't get enough) and will have to go get another skein of it. I will be traveling to a near by town to get that soon. I am now working on two small projects for baby showers. I have decided to try one of the "no sew cubes" that so many people at ILCS have done. Rene was nice enough to send me the instruction. I will post pictures when I get them done. They are basically the same pattern but one is in pink and one is blue. I was amazed how quickly they stitch up and the backstitching really makes things pop. I started the pink one last Friday and had it done on Monday. I started the blue yesterday and have more than half of it done. I won't be able to stitch until this evening as my day is full of errands.

My dd and dgd decided to go to Wal-Mart for donuts this morning and they called me to make a call to 9-1-1. In a large truck with the passenger window down about only 3 inches was a small white dog the was obviously not happy. At 10 AM it was already close to 90 degrees outside here in WI and the dog should not have been in the truck. I am appalled at people who think that an animal will be OK as long as they leave a (one) window open. I wish we could close them up in the truck and only leave one window down 3". I wonder how long they would last. I'm sorry but I am all for having a pet as long as it is cared for.

Now that I have made that point I will say "TaTa" for today. Happy Stitching.

My thrift store discovery

On Wednesday my DD and DGD went to a local thrift store that has only been open for about 2 months. The first time we stopped there the store had just opened and they really didn't have many things there. When we stopped again I was over whelmed. There were so many things in there that I had to stop and make a plan to make sure that I saw everything. I had to take each area at a time and not look around the store too much. I was having a ball then I went to the back aisle of the store and HIT THE JACKPOT!!!! There was a whole lot of craft stuff back there and on the bottom shelf was a whole plastic bin of linen and evenweave scraps in every color imaginable. (I have never tried using linen or evenweave and was affraid to purchase a large piece only to find I didn't like it so this was great.) I think I spent 45 minutes digging through the bin. I could have bought alot more but I chose 5 pieces. One piece is mauve in color and is only 7"x16", another is a small 9"x8" of white, a 13"x8" of hand dyed blue, a 18"x6" baby pink and a 24"x 10" piece of lt sage green. These are all in 32 ct and I got all five pieces for $1.00. I am so excited to try a piece but have to finish at least one of the 6 projects I am working on. I will make sure to take pictures of whatever I decide to do with my find.

Here in WI we are experiencing the late spring rains and it has been cloudy and drizzly for about 3 days. I an hoping today the weather will improve as I have some painting to do outside and really want to get to it. I hate to take away from the stitching but I have to take advantage of any nice weather I might get.

So, happy stitching to everyone and have a great weekend.

An update

Sorry it has been so long since I've updated here. My family is finally healthy again. My DS is fully recovered from his bout with pnemonia and is back to being himself. My DD still has her hacky-wacky-barky cough but is getting much better. My DGD did get slightly sick but only for about 3 days. She is her happy, playful self again. I doubled up on my vitamin C and was able to avoid any sickness. (knocking on wood) So far so good.

We had a great weekend here in Wisconsin. Saturday was sort of blustery with the wind but Sunday was GORGEOUS!!! I spent the morning with DD and DGD then we went to visit my sister and BIL. We had dinner with them and talked for hours. My sister is a very good cook so we were excited to see what she had come up with. She made a yummy pasta salad with crab meat, baked beans, corn on the cob (frozen from last year, it was very tasty), watermelon and BIL grilled burgers and hot dogs. Everything was terrific. Dessert was a cherry pie filling, whipped cream and angel food cake. So yummy. My sister didn't disappoint us. We were so full when we left. All in all it was a great day.

Yesterday, Monday, I took my mom and her dog down to my sister's house in Madison. My mom had an eye doctor appointment today, Tuesday, and my sister drives her. Mom always goes down the day before and stays for a few days. I had a good visit and lunch with my sister before returning home. My sister gave me my first piece of 18 ct linen and a piece of 18 ct evenweave. I am looking forward to trying these out. In exchange I gave her a 1 yd piece of Vietnamese silk in a beautiful iridesent(spelling) orange that in the right light changes to red. My sister quilts and wants to make a quilt with koy fish on it. The silk I gave her is perfect for that. I still have another yard of the silk. I found the 2 yard piece in an old army trunk. I have had it for years and never knew what to do with it. I'm glad my sister can now put it to good use.

Today, Tuesday, my SIL and BIL are coming to make an oriental supper for us so when I am done here I will have to get to work cleaning. Just the basic cleaning, vacuuming, sweeping, dishes, that kind of stuff. I am hoping to get it all done and still have time to stitch a while before they come.

So, ta-ta for now and happy stitching to all.

My Mothers Day is going to be a quiet one as DD Amber is still very much under the weather. I did make pancakes for breakfast and I am making baked chicken with rice for supper. I am also making homemade dinner rolls. I know it is my Mother's Day but it is also Amber's Mother's Day. I know that once she is healthy again she will make it up to me.

My DS and his girlfriend brought these flowers over last night for Amber and I to share. I thought that was so sweet.

I also tried my hand at a "stitch picker" today.

What do you think of my first attempt?

I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!!!!

My early Mother's Day gift

Sawyer Paul Brinkman

Born December 22, 2008

At 4 months I finally got to meet my newest grandchild. He and his parents surprised me this weekend with a visit from IA. I got to spend the whole weekend with them. We went to a water park and he loved the feel of the water on his toes. My daughter Amber and granddaughter Gabbie and I got to babysit him while his parents went out for their 1st wedding anniversary. He was a little fussing but he just missed his parents. He really is a good baby. They left on Sunday morning after many tears and promises to come back in September. I am already looking forward to that visit.

Gabbie had a bit of a problem with all the attention Sawyer was getting but after alittle explaining she understood. Gabbie loved having a little "cousin" to play with even though he didn't do alot of playing she still had fun with him.

So after a very busy but rewarding weekend things are back to normal and I can now get back to my stitching. Of course I will now have to put something into my WIP basket for Sawyer.

HAPPY STITCHING EVERYONE!!!!!

Thrift store find and update

Yesterday my DD and DGD went to the local thrift store and hit the jackpot. We would have walked out with alot more if our finances had been better. But we had so much fun and found so many neat things. I did find a few items to add to my stash, a asian style kit that I will make for my mom and a piece of 18 ct Aida in white. I have never worked with 18 ct so I was thrilled when I found it. We also found some baby items for the multiple babies coming our way this year. I found a Boyds graduation bear that will go to my niece with her graduation picture I am making. We also found things for ourselves. I am hoping my little green froggy friend will keep the other frogs away by showing them what happens to frogs that stay too long at my house. He is on spring that allows him to bounce up and down but not go anywhere. The green notebook was perfect for my DD. The front says: Some people work to live, others live to work. I work to expand my shoe collection and eatout. My DD has an extensive shoe collection (the ones you can wear). We trully had a great time.

Now for the update: I have been working on my ink circles lately. I put the Snad Castle away for awhile so I can do something with more color. The circles are coming along good. I am spending alot of time counting, then recounting, and recounting especially the border. I also have the graduation picture to finish and another to design and make. My DS GF asked if I would design and make a baby girl announcement for her sister. I am working on that too. Just not enough hours in the day, or evening. I have even started taking my cross stitch basket to bed with me to get a few extra hours. I put my music on and spend a few hours alone with my stitching. That is the time of day I cherish most.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and happy stitching.

Some updates and a special finish

Sisters are such special people. They know how to make you smile and cry all at the same time. My sister brought me a wonderful gifts this Easter. I had spent many months years ago (I think my daughter Amber was in 1st grade) making a set of the 12 days of Christmas. They were supposed to be made into a tree skirt but I never got around to making the skirt. I told my sister about them in 2007. I brought them for her to see at Thanksgiving and she took them, telling me she would finish them some how for me. I was excited but forgot about them til this year at Christmas. My sister had said she was trying to get it done for Christmas but wasn't able to. No problem. She finally gave me the finished piece on Easter Sunday.

She does all the quilting by hand and although it is hard to see the quilting on the dark green pieces between the red squares it is a golden row of rings. It is beautiful and to know that we each had a hand in the finished product is so great.

I was also able to get some progress on my Snad Castle. It is really looking great and I am getting excited to finish it. When I am done here I plan to stitch quite a while this afternoon.

I hope you all have a great week and get all the stitching done that you want.

finally pictures

I finally took some pictures of my Snad Castle and Ink Circles progress. I have been feeling better after my gift left but just can't seem to get back in the swing of things. Am hoping this week will be better. I have a very busy Easter weekend coming so stitching will be put on the back burner. I sure do hope I get every thing I want done for Christmas this year.

HAPPY EASTER to everyone.

Not much stitching this week

Well Gabbie's gift turn out to be a big one. As the week went on it got worse and worse and I haven't been able to pick up my stitching as my eyes are so scratchy and watery. I hope this afternoon I will be able to work some on the Snad Castle. I have spent most of the last week in my chair trying not to snooze. Gabbie is at the age where she can get into something so quickly if I close my eyes for too long there is no telling what she would do. Her mama was home on Wednesday but I still didn't get any extra zzzz's because I was waitig for the mechanic to call. (Turns out he had to replace my front driver side axle and sway bar. $330 later I got my car back and feel better about letting Amber drive to work.) I hope to get a picture of my progress on the Snad Castle and the boink soon. Keep watching.

Have a great weekend!!!

Gabbie's Gift

My beautiful, loving and generous grand daughter, Gabbie, has decided to share a gift with me. She shared her "sickness" and gave her loving nana a full blown head cold. I hate being sick and really was hoping Gabbie would keep the gift for herself but she gave it away. I have been sneezing and blowing my nose all morning and when I sneeze my eyes water so I am having a problem focusing. I really wanted to stitch today but I think I will snooze in my chair instead. I can't really sleep as Gabbie is awake and is not ready for a nap but I usually snooze with one eye open.
I have put the boink away for a few days and got the snad castle out but have not felt up to working on it. I'll see how aI feel tonight. I will try to take a few pictures of the boink in the next few days.
In the meantime I will work at getting better and trying to stitch.

Weekend update

Had great weekend stitching. Saturday was nasty outside so stayed inside and worked on Ink Circles. Got the second square done and am now working on border to get started on third square. I am really liking the colors and the Aida I decided to do it on. I'm going for an old look so decided to use 14 ct fiddler cloth. I plan to finish the project to look like an antique rug. My niece collects southwest art and I thought this would make a nice addition.

Gabbie has a nasty cold and I woke up this morning with a sore throat and stuffy nose. Knock on wood it is nothing as I really don't want to be sick.

Our car goes to the mechanic on Wednesday as it has a bad shake and a clunking sound when I turn a corner. I have a great mechanic in that he lets me make payments on the repairs. I have known him since he was 8 years old so we have this arrangement worked out.

Well, am anxious to get back to stitching so will say, "Have a great week."

One very large frog attacked last night

As I told everyone yesterday, I have put the Snad Castle away for a while and started the Ink Circles. I am loving it but after last night I am very upset. I had set a goal for my self to get the border done for the #1 square so I could work on it today. Well, I got everything to line up and was really excited until I started really counting everything. I counted, recounted and recounted and no matter how many times I counted I still kept coming up 2 stitches short. 2 stitches short!!!!! So I had to rip out over 150 stitches that were already in place. I had worked for well over 3 hours and had to rip-it ALL out. I wanted to scream. I tore all the stitches out and have learned a very important lesson for this project. Count, count, count, count and then recount. I am very excited to actually start my first square. Perhaps tonight.

Have a great Wednesday.

My weekend

I DID IT!!! I started a new project before finishing the one I was working on. I haven't really done this before. I know it sounds funny but I usually only work on small projects and tend to finish them before moving on to the next one. I was really getting bored with the browns in the Snad Castle so I have put it away for a while. I am now working on the Ink Circle project. I have picked some awesome colors and am having alot of fun. I just started it last night but am going to work on it all afternoon. It is a gloomy, rainy day here in WI. The perfect day to spend stitching. I will post a picture of my progress later this week.

Everyone have a great week.

My Snad Castle update and others

I have been working diligently on my Snad Castle but am thinking that I may go against my tradition and start something else too. I really like the Snad Castle but the browns are rather boring and I am in need of some color so I think I may figure out the colors I want to use for the Ink Circles and start that one. In the meanwhile here is a picture of the progress on my project.

I have also been trying to get the picture to complete the Graduation gift. The picture will go to the left of the bear.

I am feeling slightly guilty because my housework has been put on the back burner for now. My neighbors were outside last weekend raking their lawns and I keep thinking, "it is too early, I have time to stitch some more." I will go rake when it gets alittle warmer. Today it is way tooo cold to do it. My stitching calls to me.

Have a great weekend.

busy two days

My last two days have been very busy and I haven't had any time to stitch. Tuesday I took my daughter to work to keep the car to gets some errands done but on the way to work my daughter got sick and had to bring her home. She ended staying home all day. She spent the majority of the morning in the bathroom but about 1:30 pm she was finally better. She slept for about 3 hours then got up and ate supper. I was so glad she was better as Tuesday night was supposed to be our night out. We did get to go as she was much better by 6:30pm. We went to a friends house and learned how to play Bunco. We had a GREAT time. We are now a permanent part of the group and will be meeting once a month to play. What a great time. I now know that at least once a month I will get to spend at least a few hours with other adults. I am soooooo excited.

Last night was game night for me and my kids. Once a week we get together and play whatever we decide to play. It gives me time with my adult kids every week and gives my son time to do his laundry. Yes, he and his girlfriend bring their laundry to my house to wash . We had a good time but it was late and again I didn't get to stitch at all.

Later this afternoon I will get back to my Snad Castle and work on it awhile. I am really liking the pattern. I will post my progress in a few days.

So, I wish everyone a great Thursday.

trouble with the Snad Castle

After getting off to a great start with the Snad Castle (there was a typo on the freebie pattern and I decided to run with it) I ran into a snag last night. I knew when I started working on it yesterday that I was slightly off in my concentration and should have put it away and start on something else but I really wanted to work on it so I kept going. Last night after supper and a trip to the ice cream shop I went back to it. After having to rip out one area because of one mistake I was trying to tie the next area of the chart to the one I had done. It just wouldn't line up. I was getting so frustrated so I went back over what I had done, low and behold, I was off by one row. One row too many. I immediately put it down and walked away. I was so frustrated and didn't want to deal with it. I waited about an hour then went back and picked it up. I did find the mistake and have since discovered that the mistake isn't too bad and I can work around it. (The mistake is in the center tower above anything that would have to be attached to it.) I will pick it up again in a while and see what I can do today. I feel a little more focused today.

Tonight my daughter and I are going out without Gabbie for the first time since New Years Eve. We are going to play cards with a friend. I am looking forward to it sooooo much.

So I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day and remember that even if you aren't Irish you should still get a kiss.

Weekend update

It was a beautiful weekend here in WI. Temps in the 50's and lots of sunshine. I finished what I could of the graduation gift. I did a big OPPS when I calculated the area for the picture. I forgot to convert from 10 ct of the graph paper to 14 ct for the material and I didn't leave enough room for the picture I have. I recalculated and found that I now need a much smaller picture than I have. So now I must get another picture from my niece. Will update when I get the picture. I did get started on my sand castle. I was very excited to start on that one. I do not have a picture of what it will look like completed as I got it as a freebie. I love it so far. Will post a picture soon.

My daughter, Gabbie and I spent some quality time Sunday while we took a ride around the countryside. It was just too nice to be in the house and I'm not ready to tackle my yeard so we decided to enjoy the weather from the car. It was a nice time. Gabbie got her nap and Amber, my daughter, and I caught up on our conversation.

Well, back to my sand castle.

Have a great week.

Well, I finally figured out what was wrong with the link that I sent out. A stupid typo on my part. Oh well, I got it figured out, with the help of some awesome people.
Last night I worked more on the graduation gift but am torn now because I went to the school website and found that the color blue I chose for the majority of the project is the wrong shade of blue. I have so much of the project done that I think I will just keep going. After all, I didn't have to use the exact color, right? I am still very torn. I just have so much done that I would have to ditch everything and start over.
I am anxious to start another project so I guess I will turn off the computer and move to my work space. Have a great weekend!!!

Why am I here?

Well, you may be wondering why I decided to do this "blog" thing. Well, I joined an awesome cross stitch group that inspired me to do this. It is a wonderful place for me to keep track of what is going on in my life and with my stitching.

I just started a customized graduation gift for my great niece. She is the first of my mom's 8 great grandchildren to graduate. We are all very proud of her. She actually finished school in Jan. but will be getting her diploma in June.

I am also starting to get ready for Christmas. I have 3 very large projects I am working on and hope to get them done. I will also have a few "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments to do this year but have to wait to see what color scheme I can do them in. I try to keep myself busy and with not having to work, too much, I do have time to stitch.

My first blog entry

Hey everyone, well here I am. My first BLOG. Never done this before so please bear with me.

Well, alittle about me. I am a stay-at-home grandma who has the priviledge to live with my daughter and her beautiful 4 year old daughter. I get to stay home and watch Gabbie while here mom goes to work. We have almost a strictly female household. We now have a male kittie that thinks he is King because he is the only male. The other 2 kitties are females but they are treated like princesses.
I live in a small town in central WI. I have lived in this town for over 30 years except for the 4 years I lived in CA while my husband was in the USAF. I liked the people in CA but hated the weather and couldn't wait to get home. My family was all in WI so that made the decision to come back even easier.
I am the youngest of 3 girls in the family. And even though I was adopted I have never felt like I didn't belong. I was only 6 days old when I came to the family as a foster child and 3 years later became a permenant part of the family. I knew alittle about my biological family and in 1999 I discovered I had a full blood biological sister I didn't even know existed. We met in 2000 and have kept in touch since then. Through my sister I have found out facts that were previously not know so it was a good thing she found me.
I married my high school sweetheart in 1981 and spent almost 25 years with him then he decided I wasn't what he wanted and he went to live with another woman. Yes, I did know her and was extremely hurt, but it has all worked out. My life is better and I have my grand daughter to help raise.


Anyway, there it is... a short quick over view of my life.