My Health and Dear Diary Giveaway Winner.

Everything seems to be sorted out now in my personal life and getting back to "normal".  I may have a kidney stone that is starting to work it's way out, I have to go for an ultrasound to see how big it might be.  The pain was brutal for a few days but seems OK now.  I've been drinking a TON of water as I have had a kidney stone pass once before and it was truly AWFUL.  Now I have a terrible chest infection and I'm coughing up my lungs (or so it seems).

I got my kids to draw a name for the Dear Diary giveaway and they chose It's Daffycat!  Sharon I will email you shortly and we can start to work together on your finish :)  This will have to be my last giveaway which makes me sad but the postage costs are just too high and I honestly feel I can't charge the winner the postage as that doesn't seem fair.  

I have been stitching but not as much as I would like.  It's really difficult to stitch when all you do is cough and my elbow has been acting up again so that surgery might have to happen after all!  I'm trying everything else first but I don't want to cause any permanent damage from ignoring it for too long.  I did send out a Birthday Gift that should arrive soon but of course I forgot to take a picture!  I'm finishing up my part of my Round Robin to get that sent out this week.  I changed my mind and am going to be sending out Blue Ribbon Designs "Black Cats and Flying Bats".

No pictures today :(  Hopefully I will have some stitching to share with you next week!

Thanks for stopping by today.

A Special Gift

Plum Street Samplers "Sergei"

32ct Mushroom Lugana

GAST "Mulberry" and DMC

Finished as a flatfold

Pics courtesy of Michelle (I forgot to take some)!

Yesterday was my good friend Michelle's Birthday!  I wanted to make her something extra special this time around and I know how fond she is of Bird designs so it was an easy decision to stitch Sergei.

 Now I had a real love/hate relationship with him.  This was the project that was "frogbound" last month and Sergei ended up taking a couple of "test flights" around my Living room as a result of that!  I put him aside for a little bit, tried to find something else that I thought Michelle would like but I went back to him and I was so happy that I did.  This is my very first Plum Street Sampler stitch but I know it won't be my last.  I know "Olga" is destined for one of those boxes I shared in my last post!

I finally have a day off tomorrow and I plan to make good "stitchy" use of it!  It's been a very chaotic busy week.

Blogoversary Winner!

The random generator has selected............

Karen (Karen's Handiwork)

Ive also decided to keep my blog open to everyone so you can all see my finishes.  I wish I could explain what happened but it is something in my personal life not anything related to blogland.!

Thanks everyone for helping me celebrate! 

What am I doing?

I feel like I am so busy lately but not a lot is going on!  Have you ever felt like that too?  I have a few things to show you.......

I started a Round Robin with a group of friends and I chose Blue Ribbon Designs "In My Heart".  Since there are only 5 of us, I will be stitching the first two and the last two squares leaving the middle ones for my friends.  I think it will be a wonderful piece for me to hang and always remember my friends :)

Blue Ribbon Designs "In My Heart"

32ct Ivory Lugana

DMC alternates

I've also finished a few small stitches that will be turned into something at some point in time!

Sampler Girl "Boo"

Halloween Companion Booklet

32ct Autumn Fields Lugana

DMC 310

I also changed my ornament design this month to something a bit quicker to stitch.....

Sampler Girl "Believe" 

32 ct Platinum Lugana

WDW Turkish Red

Do you remember Black Cats?  I started this one last year and when I went to go back to it I found a massive mistake in my counting!  Honestly, I did learn to count!  LOL.  So I re-started it and this is where I am with it now.........

Honestly I am so in love with this design and the fabric color!  I will be working on this one more often as I'd like to have it finished by this Halloween.

I also received a lovely RAK from Michelle. Thank you again Michelle for thinking of me :)

I didn't get the best news from my Ulnar nerve test.  I might have to have surgery after all!  I'm going to try other options first and will only consider this as a last resort.

I'm going to see the Toronto Symphony Orchestra "Sci Fi Spectacular" show next week and I'm really excited about it.  I've always loved classical music right from a very early age but film music has always been at the top of my favorites.  I thought this concert couldn't have been better suited to me as they will be playing music from the films "Star Wars", "Star Trek", "E.T." and many vintage sci fi themes.  Of course my ultimate dream is to see a concert with John Williams as the conductor, maybe one day :)

Don't forget to enter my Blogoversary giveaway in the post below this one.  I will be announcing a winner on April 29th my "official" anniversary.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the time you take to come and see what I have been up to :)

Happy 4th Blogoversary Giveaway!

Finally here is the grand unveiling....

LHN Blessed are the Pure in Heart

32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss as charted

Stitcher's Box finish

Stitched by my Mum

Finished by Me

I chose to add a little pocket inside for your scissors and a pincushion on the top for your needles.

I painted the box a "Satin Cream" and added a little heart charm!

If you would like a chance to win this finish all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post only.  Giveaway is open to all readers/followers from anywhere in the world.  I will close the giveaway on April 28th Midnight EST and announce the winner on my Blogoversary, April 29th!

Thank you for continuing to visit my blog.  I appreciate all of your comments :)

Sneak Peek Time

I'll be celebrating 4 years of blogging at the end of this month and I have a really special prize lined up for you all!  As you may know my Mom taught me to stitch about 20 years ago and this year my Mom has decided to stitch the design for my prize and I will do the finishing.  I'll give you the sneak peek above of my finishing choice and the fabric I will use for the inside but I want to leave my Mom's choice of design for the grand unveiling.

I hope you will join me at the end of the month to help me celebrate :) 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I appreciate your visits so much.

Under construction

Unfortunately with having to spend so much time in the Hospital and not having my stitching with me I haven't done much more on my Tea Room SAL with Lesleyanne.  I really love this design, the colors are so delicate and pretty and I can't wait to get back to this one!  I have a Birthday gift or two I need to get stitched this month so it may have to wait for me to get back to it :)

My ornament choice for April will be one of these cute LK designs.  Not sure which one yet, it will be a tough decision!  I will share my finish at the end of the month.

Thank you for all your wonderfully kind comments for my DD.  She is resting well at home and seems to be slowly recovering.  They say the older they are the tougher it is.  She is only 10 but the size of an adult so I feel that is what has made this worse as her tonsils were the size of an adults!  She is happily watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" with her feline companion by her side :)

Thanks for stopping by today for an update!  

Little Houses......

My Little Houses exchange arrived today from Pokua.  She chose a Trilogy design called "Moon Houses" and finished it as this lovely flat fold.  It's so pretty, I love it!  Thanks again Pokua.

I'm just getting all the final details ready now at home before my DD's surgery on Thursday.  The house is clean, the shopping is done and I just have some laundry left to do tomorrow.  She is having her tonsils/adenoids out at 10 years old :(  I just hope everything goes well , it is day surgery so she should be home the same day.

I might be back with a SAL update tomorrow but it will probably be on the weekend.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Blessed are the Merciful.....

Our second round theme for the Stitching Between Friends exchange was "Little Houses". It was a difficult decision for Pokua but I finally settled on this one....

Little House Needleworks "Blessed are the Merciful"

32ct Mushroom Lugana

Floss as charted

Finished as a smaller stitchers box

Painted with Craft smart "Vanilla"

The paint matches the sail in the boat and the brown trim matches the roof of the house perfectly!

I found this fabulous green fabric to match the border and I'm very pleased with the finished result.  I've been on a box finishing kick lately!  I hope you don't get bored :)

I sneaked out of the house yesterday morning while the kids were at School to see one of the early screenings of "The Hunger Games".  If you are a fan of the books (I am) then you are going to LOVE the movie!  I'm not giving away any spoilers but I have to say I thought it was absolutely wonderful and I loved Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss.  It is definitely worth seeing!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I love to read all of your comments so much :)

March RAK Winners

Krista (Just Stitching Along)

RAK # 1 Winner

Deborah (Cranberry Samplings)

RAK # 2 Winner

Can the winners please contact me asap with their mailing addresses at  My Daughter is going in for surgery next week and I'd like to have these in the mail this weekend. 

Thanks to everyone that left me a comment to enter!  I will be back soon with a stitching update, that is if the frog will leave me alone!  LOL :)