Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all of my faithful readers! I'm wishing you the very best Christmas, enjoying the day with your families.


I feel more ready for the big day than in past years, but I know that I haven't been around here much lately. Thank you for sticking with me, I really do appreciate each and every one of you who takes a bit of your time to visit me. I promise, and I will add this to my growing list of resolutions, that I will do better in 2011!


Happy Holidays and love to all,

Sharyn :-)

How do YOU get in the holiday mood?

The holidays are fast approaching..........tomorrow is the first of December and it seems after that, the days take on extra speed! Before we know it, Christmas is here, then the New Year! Where did 2010 go??


I'm just not there yet with the holiday mood. I don't mean to be a humbug by any means! But, we haven't had much cold weather, altho I heard we had snow flurries today, but I didn't see them. The tv ads haven't gotten me in the shopping mood either. Black Friday and Cyber Monday were lost on me. And, I'm really not ready to put up the decorations or the tree.


But, I have been doing some holiday stitching! Here's a Little House Designs piece called Holly & Berries. Think I will turn it into a flat hanging ornament.

And, I have been stitching on other ornaments...one for my stitch group exchange and a couple for gifts. None can be shown yet.


Anyway, maybe between the Christmas light displays, cards that will soon be arriving, cookies that will fill the house with wonderful aromas, and possibly even some snow on the ground, I will be ready to enjoy this most festive time of year. After all, none of this preparation is important if we forget the Reason for the Season, celebrating the Christ Child's birth.

How do YOU get in the holiday mood?

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blogger friends!

We will be leaving soon to go to our oldest daughter Jennifer's house for our Thanksgiving feast later today.

There will be 8 children and 7 adults in attendance! And I'm sure there will be plenty of food!

I'm wishing each of you a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

I'm Back!!

Hi, All! Did you think that I'd abandoned my blog completely?? I know it certainly looks that way.

It just seems like this has been an especially busy fall. I do want to update you on my stitching tho. Between pumpkin patch visits with both sets of grandkids and 2 trips to Branson, I have managed to get a few finishes to show you.

But first, last Sunday when I returned from my wonderful stitching retreat in Branson, I saw this beautiful tree in my front yard! Now mind you, it was a dull color when I left! It was so striking and so yellow Sunday, and still is! Actually more colorful than the Ozarks!

Now to the stitching: Here's another Little House ornament. It's Snowy Pines. I love the added touch of the beads.

Next is the piece I stitched for my stitch group block exchange. It's by Homespun Elegance and from the Simply Autumn leaflet.



This Waxing Moon design was the block that I received from my dear friend Sandy. Isn't it lovely?

And finally, I have a finish from the retreat.... This is Blackbird's Waiting for the Harvest. This is an example of a design change due to mistakes! My initials weren't spaced correctly so I had to add another row of stitches on the left side, and my friend Janet stitched the over one 2010 beside the R to correct that spacing! The result, creative changes, LOL! Thanks, Janet! You know me and over 1. Maybe I'll make a New Year's Resolution to bite the bullet and conquer over 1!


I hope everyone has a stitchy weekend!

Sharyn :-)

Stitching out of the box!

Fall is here and that brings out the fall stitching mood in me! Here's a cutie that I stitched up recently:

This is by Val's Stuff called In the Pumpkin Patch. I just love the kitty! This is one piece that I changed the colors on..........I know, isn't that amazing and shocking at the same time?! I usually stitch "by the book" or chart, rather, and use the designers' choices of fabric and floss colors mostly because I figure they know best how the design should look.

Well, this one I had to change! The two outside pumpkins were to be stitched with Mimosa...........my Mimosa didn't look at all like a pumpkin color so I used Fragrant Cloves for the left one and Autumn Leaves for the right one. Then to be even more "maverick", I stitched them vertically so they look striped. I also changed the vine color! Did I step out of the box or what??

I hope you are enjoying your fall stitching too!

A Stitching Finish.....Almost!

Hi, It's me again! Don't faint! I know, this is highly unusual for me, but I wanted to share my "almost" stitching finish!

It shows up bluer than it is. This is the Blackbird Honeysuckle Manor reproduction sampler that Barb Adams named after her great great grandmother Hannah Lovina Joslin. The chart is from the Honeysuckle Manor book.

I had a hard time deciding who to dedicate my sampler to. At first I thought of my maternal grandmother, Ina Gertrude Leive. I adored her, she always made me feel so special. I've tried to be the same kind of grandma to my grandchildren. Well, she wasn't a very "flowery" woman. Don't get me wrong, she liked flowers, but she wasn't much for adornment or flowers in her house and I thought that maybe this didn't look like her. I'll find something more fitting to her, probably an Anniversaries of the Heart piece.

Then I thought of my paternal great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Langhofer. She passed away before I was born, and thanks to one of my aunts who wrote a book of that side of the family, I do know about her and have her birth yr. Hmmm, but, her name was just too long to fit in the space. And you know me, over one is DEFINITELY out of the question! See a previous post!

So, I decided that I was going to dedicate my sampler to my other paternal great grandmother Etta Alice Rock. I did know her, and always thought that she was a sweet lady. My dad was especially fond of her too. And her name should fit. However, I don't know her birth yr so I'm waiting for that information from my aunt. Then I'll be ready to graph the name and birth yr and complete it.

I love this sampler and the way it turned out, but I must warn whoever wants to stitch this..... the border is very time consuming and has a lot of color changes. But I think it turned out in the end and was well worth it!

It's Fall Festival Time!

Hi and Happy Fall!

It's finally here..........cooler temps and soft breezes and an occasional rain!

With fall comes the fall festivals and shows! Such fun! Janet, my DH, and I went to one today! It's an annual event and we manage to find such interesting treasures there every time! It's a bit of a drive for us, but well worth it. Our excitement grew as we parked on the side of the farm lane and walked in to the craft booths. Some are lined on the side of the gravel drive, some are in an old building and some are in a barn! There's pumpkins and gourds for sale also, the ones that came home with me are above!

Here are my goodies, things I "Had to Have", treasures that "I Couldn't Go Home Without"!


As you can see, I purchased quite a variety of things! I adore little pincushions so the little kitty had to come home with me, and the crow and pumpkin ones on the ceramic insulators too! Another thing I like are old wooden bowls and this one is a great size. Inside it are little handpainted gourds! They will be adorable on my Halloween tree! The little ceramic piece by the kitty pincushion in front is a bell..... when I picked it up I said, "Oh, it's a bell!" And my witty DH said, "Isabelle!" So we named her Isabelle on the spot and of course, I HAD to buy her then!

Three Stitchin' Finishes

Hi, Dear Readers!


I have some finishes to share! The first is by Little House Needleworks. It is Winter Sheep, one of the monthly ornaments. He was fun to stitch!






Next is my pumpkin block for an online group I belong to. I chose to stitch a Halloween piece by Pine Mt. I love the kitty's tail! Think I'll stitch this one again for me!

Lastly, the finish I'm most proud of! This is a Blackbird Design called Spring's Messenger. It was the project from Heartland Camp when Alma and Barb were the guest designers in........ 2003! Can you imagine? It's been a UFO all this time and I was determined to finish it this year! I must give credit to my friend Janet who stitched the over 1 purple motif on the right side, by the weeping willow tree. I have an aversion to over 1! She graciously stitched it for me, thanks so much, my dear friend!

Back to School!

It's back to school time! And I'm back too! What a crazy busy summer!

Yesterday was the first day of school for all 5 of our grandchildren! In fact, the first day of Kindergarten for two of them! Altho an exciting time for all, it was also a melancholy time for me. It marks the end of taking care of grandgirls on a regular basis, several days a week. We will still be available for unexpected events or days out of school tho.

But time marches on and I know that now I will be able to turn my attention to my house, and more of this.........

and this....


and this!

Red, White and Blue!

Hello, Dear Readers! Are you still out there? I certainly hope so! I apologize for my absence and hope to get you caught up on the happenings from the past two months in my next posts. From our DGD Kelsey's dance recital in May, to our Mediterranean cruise, family reunion and camping in June to now, July! Wow, no wonder I'm tired!

Anyway,I hope everyone had a safe, fun and relaxing Independence Day! We had rain showers off and on all weekend which put a damper on some of the fireworks displays around here.

To catch up on the past months, I'll start with a few pictures of Kelsey and her dance recital. These are from their dress rehearsal, Kelsey is the blond in the middle in the first picture. They tapped and sang to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", were they ever cute!






Here's pictures her grandpa took at the recital:




And afterwards, a tired little dancer!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I hope you are all enjoying a great day with your families.


Where did April go? And here it is almost mid-May! I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long and I really don't have an excuse except that life got in the way.


We took our RV to the Ozarks in mid-April and I celebrated my birthday while we were gone. It was the first long trip we'd taken with the RV, and only the 3rd outing. DH got some practice in backing, as had to back down a road and into our campsite!


Last weekend we spent at The Elms in Excelsior Springs. MO. http://www.elmsresort.com/ Our two daughters had given my DH a gift certificate for a stay there when he retired...what a lovely resort! It has quite a history as was where President Truman stayed when he was awaiting election results. There's a spa in the resort and I opted for a "Rejuvenating Hand Treatment"! The massage was wonderful as was the paraffin wax treatment. I have arthritis in my hands so the treatment was really a treat!

Now to the stitching: I finished another Little House ornament design..........Pear Tree. It was a fun stitch!

This next picture is of the block I received at my stitch group exchange. It's a design by primitivebetty. I want to finish it into a pincushion someday!

Until next time, I wish you Happy Stitching!

Two March Finishes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Day! We enjoyed the day with our two daughters and their families. Our youngest daughter Sarah and her husband Dave had a delicious brunch dinner. The grandkids enjoyed the egg hunt in the backyard and we all were delighted with the sunny altho windy day!


Before we get further into April, I want to share a couple of cross stitch finishes I had at the end of March.

The first is a design by primitivebetty. I used a piece of PTP Ancient fabric and the recommended DMC flosses. I love the way it turned out and will get it framed to add to my Quaker wall. Oh, it's called Olde Primitive Letters!

Blackbird's Bluebird stitched up very quickly. I used Gentle Arts Midnight on Cafe Kona fabric. I'm going to add some old buttons and finish it into a pincushion.

HOPPY EASTER!!!

Spring has finally come to my house !! I love to decorate my house for the seasons so I thought I would share with you a few of my Spring and Easter pretties!

I picked a bouquet of the gorgeous Daffodils that come up every Spring in our backyard! They're the kind of flowers I love.........yes, because they smell wonderful and are so pretty, but also because I don't have to do anything in order to have them......just pick them! The lovely egg is a Maggie Bonanomi original!

Here are some lace eggs I made many years ago. They were fun to put together.

Baby chicks are a sign of Spring so I couldn't resist this lovely pillow! Isn't this sweet little chick from a dear friend adorable?

And so I will leave you today with this message: I wish each and every one of you a Blessed Easter and a Wonderful Spring!!

Spring in Kansas City!

Good Morning, Dear Readers!

Here's what the First Day of Spring looked like in my backyard:








I guess Mother Nature hadn't checked the calendar when she gave us all that snow Friday night and Saturday! It melted alot Sunday and Monday so there's not much evidence of our last (hopefully) Winter Blast!
I did finish stitching my Little House snowman He's a Flake over the weekend.
The fabric is really a pretty green which looks more blue green in the picture. Next up to stitch in the series is Pear Tree.



Earlier this month I finished Little House's He Is Risen. I warned you that I would be sharing Little House finishes this year! I love this design, and it stitched up really quickly. I wish the angels' wings showed up better, but you can't always see angels' wings anyway, right?

More Winter Stitching!

I want to share my recent stitching finish with you..........this is Winter Wonderland by Little House Needleworks. I started it on Jan 1st. Have had a few interruptions in between, but made up my mind that I would finish it this week. I have many charts by Little House and seem to be drawn to stitch on them this yr so be prepared, you will see more!

The next picture is of the block I received at my stitch group exchange this week. It's by Val's Stuff, isn't it cute?

Valentine Cookies!

Since I featured Kelsey in my last post, I thought I would spotlight her sister Addie in this one. She was out of school recently for parent-teacher conferences so we had her for the day. The idea of making cookies mushroomed into making Valentine Cookies! So we made the dough and later in the day rolled them out and she cut out the cookies. Since this was before the Super Bowl, she wanted to cut out football helmet cookies for her dad too. Here she is decorating the cookies and the final result.

Making Pizza with Papa!

Last week Kelsey and Papa made pizza for lunch! She loved the idea of making her own pizza! Of course it was a cheese pizza! Here she is at work!

Stitching!

My weekly stitch group does a block exchange. Several years ago we stitched monthly blocks. Last year we decided to stitch 4 per year and it worked out great. Our first block exchange this year was going to be today, but we didn't meet because of icy streets. We'll exchange next week, but thought I'd share a pic of my block now. It's a heart design by De Selby. While searching for the "right" design, I started going thru old magazines in my stash.....and I found this heart with several other designs called Damask Ornaments in the June 2007 issue of The Cross Stitcher Magazine. I hope my exchange partner likes it!

The next stitched project is my RR from last year. There were 6 of us in the RR. We stitched the Quaker Style Friendship Sampler by Samplers and Such. I chose for my sampler a handdyed linen by Lakeside Linens (sorry, I can't remember the name!) and used CC Bing Cherry floss. I stitched the middle bottom section myself as there was a postal strike in England when my sampler was to go there. I'm very pleased with how my sampler turned out and am anxious to get it framed. Isn't it pretty?

One Month Down!

Goodness, one month is gone already in 2010! Where did it go? We celebrated our DGD Addie's 8th Birthday in January, attended a family wedding and had lots of snow to shovel! That kept my DH busy!

As far as my stitching, my first finish this year was Little House Needlework's Fa La La. It's the first ornament in her series. I made a few changes which is very unusual for me. I changed the lettering to red, changed a coat to blue and backstitched the girls' mouths instead of making French knots. I think it's a very sweet design.


I also stitched a green block for the Stitcher's Time Out exchange, and picked a Prairie Schooler shamrock design for it.


I will have more finishes to post soon so stay tuned, stay well
and keep on stitching!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year 2010!

Isn't that an unbelievable date?? It sounds so futuristic!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I meant to post at Christmas and on New Year's Day, but life got in the way! And Snow!

We had our family Christmas on the 26th as our DD and family who live near Liberty were snowed in by big drifts on C-mas Day. We had a great time that Sat and The grandkids so enjoyed being together.

We've gotten so much snow, quite unusual for us. WDH has been kept busy shoveling the driveway!

The pictures below are of more C-mas stitching. The Little House Home for the Holidays ornaments were for our DDs and their families. I like the flat ornament finish and will definitely be using it more in the future.

Next is a design by The Sampler Girl. I stitched this for my friend Janet. The quote is from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. And the heart is my present from Janet, a pretty Homespun Elegance design. Isn't it sweet? Love the finish on it.


I wish all of you many blessings this coming year!