I Got A Poodle!

Hi friends! I got another poodle! Only this one came in the mail. ;) And it is not living. ;) It is a gift from Cindy. tee hee! It reminded her of me and Mabel. I have placed it outside with the Henry statue we have.

Isn't it great? Mabel and Henry together. ♥ How sweet. Thank you Cindy!

I had a gift prepared for Cindy too. I am happy she received it one day after I received mine. She likes LHN, so I sent her the pattern Psalm 145:20. I also made her a bottle cap pincushion and counting pins. Take a look.

Pink foxgloves, pink daisies and pink roses.♥ This was a hard one for me to give away, I admit. I still have not made myself a bottle cap pincushion. Too busy making them as gifts. I enjoy that. =)

Here are pics of the Henry cake I made for Madeleine's 15th birthday party last weekend.

I wanted to show you a picture from 4 years ago too. It is of the Mabel cake I made Madeleine when she turned 11. Unfortunately I cannot find any of our digital pictures. I had to take a picture of this picture.

You cannot tell, but Mabel is laying down and facing us. Too bad this is the only picture we seem to have anymore.

I read the book One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni. This book was given to Jacob by Marquette University. It is required reading for all incoming freshmen. The freshmen and staff read a fiction book together each year. Then there is a discussion period at the University with the author. So I thought I would read it too. It was okay,not great. Something I never would have read. It opened my eyes to other cultures though.

I do not have finishing to show you. The pain has been nasty for a few days now. I will do the finishing on Snappy Sampler, I just gotta feel a little better first. You can still enter to win the pattern here.

I will be back next time with the winner of the pattern and my little finish of it.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Love Notes Winner

Good Morning my friends! It has cooled off here wonderfully. =)  I did finish stitching the little Snappy Sampler a few days ago. I even pulled a perfectly matching backing fabric. Just need to make myself finish it off!! No pictures yet. Although I am going to show you an image of the Snappy Sampler here.
 
Would you like to stitch this cute little thing yourself? The little black snaps are still included, I used the black snaps Donna sent me from a German antique store. =) I also changed up one of the colors. I will show you when I complete the finishing. I received this as a gift from my friend Laurie in Texas.

I did not forget about my Love Notes Giveaway drawing yesterday. I just didn't get on to post until now. The winner is Julie! I have emailed you Julie and I am waiting for your address. If you are one of the ladies who wanted to win it, but did not this time, please keep an eye on Julie's blog for a chance in the near future. =)

I never showed you Emerson's birthday cake I made last Saturday. I have to get busy and make another birthday cake this morning for Miss Madeleine. Her party is tomorrow. Emerson's birthday is the 20th and Madeleine's is the 31st. Wish me luck! She wants a "Henry Cake". (｡◕‿◕｡)

This is a beautiful pinkish purple dahlia I have had for a few years. My first dahlia to bloom this year.

Do you remember this little tree we planted last year? Yes, this is what our Espaliered McIntosh Apple tree looks like nowadays. No fruit. That may be next year.

This is little Mabel waiting for a green bean. =) We check the vegetable garden together. We both love fresh green beans.

Here are my first cherry tomatoes. Love them.

And here I just had to show you how Mabel helps me pull the grass that grows in the daylilies. ;) She takes a seat in the Chocolate Garden and grabs the grass and chews it up! Notice Henry is in training.

So that is it for today. If you want to stitch Snappy Sampler tell me so on this post please, so I don't have to guess! Also you must be a follower of mine. I will draw the winner on Friday, August 2nd.

Have a fabulous day in the Lord my friends! I am off to bake now.

Stitching and Finishing and Praying,
Vickie

Pretty Pink Gifts For Me!!

Good Morning my friends! It has cooled here a bit. So nice. I received this wonderful, beautiful gift from Chris a few days ago. This was what she sent me for her 200th follower giveaway.

Isn't it wonderful! Look at all this great pinkness!!  A lovely patchwork pincushion, a quilted needlecase front and center,  berry pins, a quilted fan zip up purse in back and sweet pink Angel scissors.

Here is a close up of the very sharp scissors. I have parked "her" in a spool of pink thread that was my Auntie Ethel's. She is in front of my big wooden bowl of smalls on Auntie Ethel's antique sewing machine.Thank you so very, very much Chris. What a wonderfully made,perfectly colored, generous gift!!

Emerson's birthday weekend was great. So was the cake! ;) He already treasures the bookmark, I can tell. I found him reading his Bible that night, with the bookmark. =)

Yesterday I had a follow up appointment for the ablation I had. Basically, it did NOT work. The PA now says to do those "test injections" and the the radio frequency for my SI joint. I told her I didn't understand why we didn't do the SI joint first, since this has been diagnosed as my pain point for years. She said based on the exam and the good test injection results for my medial branch (my lower spine, I guess) the doctor felt he had it pinpointed. So more trial and error junk. sigh. This should get started in two weeks, I think. I will now hope and pray this spot works. In the mean time she is going to try and get authorization for the brand name Neurontin for me. This drug kept me at a 2 pain level daily, years ago. I had to go off it eventually because of insurance changes. It was no longer covered. Only the generic. I tried 4 different manufacturers of this generic. None worked well. Not at all close to keeping me at a 2. So she said we should go for both the meds and the procedure, to really knock my pain down. Well, we will see won't we? sigh again!

I finished A Place Of Healing by Joni Eareckson Tada. This book was recommended to me by my friend Julie. Thank you Julie. I am very glad I read it. It was inspirational. It helped me understand some of the things that bother me in dealing with my constant pain.

Do not forget I am having a giveaway right now. It is for Plum Street Samplers  Love Notes. See  this post to still enter.

I am almost done stitching Snappy Sampler by Bent Creek. It is a small, quick little thing. Fun too. I changed one of the colors and I like it. Pictures soon. And I will be offering the chart up next time to you,if you like.

Have a fun day! Hope it includes some stitchy time.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

I Finished Love Notes, Would You Like The Pattern?

Good Morning my friends! We  have been in the 100's for a week! Thank goodness, a cool down started last night. Today it will only get in the 90's. ;)

Jacob is at Marquette University right now. We took him Wednesday afternoon and will pick him up at lunch time today. He is participating in Project Beyond. It is a federally funded program to encourage leadership skills in the nursing field for men, first time college students and minorities. Jacob qualified for two of those.  He gets to sleep in a dorm with the only other young man who came. All meals are covered. They invited 25 and only got 7! Jacob's roommate is Matt. His parents both came from Thailand. Oh, such nice people. Brian and I really liked them. Jacob and Matt really got along too. Jacob and Matt are the only guys there. The other five are young ladies!! I asked the teacher how many of the one hundred nursing students enrolled this year are male. 5! The grin on the faces of Jacob and Matt!!! Oh boy!!

I finished stitching the French pattern of Love Notes on Thursday.(There are three patterns included.) I did the finishing on it Friday. This is a gift. As soon as I saw this pattern on Mii's blog for a giveaway, I knew I wanted to stitch that French Pincushion. Only not make it into a pincushion. And I wanted to stitch it for our Emerson. Yes, Emerson. He has taken French for three years and will begin his fourth year shortly.

We are a close, loving family. I tell the kids I love them most every day. And today is Emerson's birthday. My baby boy is 17!! He will be getting this gift tomorrow at his birthday party with family.

It says "I love you with all my heart" in French. I thought a bookmark for his Bible was a very good use for this. I chose a dark chocolate linen for the back. I used small patches of French General fabric from my stash.

 I decided to stitch this one over one, on a mystery 30ct Lakeside Linen. I used the dark red DMC called for but replaced the pink (gasp!!) with creamy white DMC 3865.I used a somewhat stiff fusible stabilizer.

This is the only pattern of the three I am stitching. Would you like the pattern? I received this pattern in a giveaway from Mii, who received this pattern in a giveaway from Sally, who received this as a gift from Barb! ;) If you would like to be the next stitcher, please be a follower of mine and leave me a comment here on this post. Please also pass this chart on to another stitcher after you are done with it. =) This giveaway will end on Friday, July 26th.

Crazy Daisy struggling in the heat wave

No, not rain, just watered.

Milk Chocolate Daylily

Well, I better shove off. I have a marble cake with chocolate buttercream frosting to make!

Baking and Praying,
Vickie

Somebody needs a haircut!!♥

 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34

Friends Are Like Angels

Good Morning my friends! I am so glad you stopped by. Thank you for your kind words on my tiny Henry design. Even such a small attempt at designing gave me a real appreciation of the hard work our cross stitch designers do.

I have forgotten to mention that I gave the small poodle tin to the mail carrier last week. She was actually amazed. She was very happy with it, and told me she has just the place for it with her mail work. Well, that made me happy. She is really such a very, very nice person. =)

I would like to show you the two different ways I made up Friends Are Like Angels. This first one I am giving to my friend Heather. I made it to be a door knob hanger.

The trim I chose may appear to be red and white here to you, not sure, but it is dark pink and cream. It matches very well. The back is a dark  pink. I agonized over the perfect pink fabric. And I have small quantities of many pink fabrics in the hundreds I have to admit! tee hee!

Here is the flatfold. I had a pale pink organdy ribbon in the perfect shade to match the pink cross stitch border. So I made a bow for the top.

I used the same dark pink fabric as the "knob knocker".

Take a look at what I just received in the mail from the UK.

This came from our wonderful friend Mii. =) I was chosen as the next stitcher of Love Notes. I am a true chocoholic, so the Cadbury really hit the spot!! I even shared a tiny bit. ;) Now I am not a tea drinker, but never fear if you have ever sent me tea! My husband and Miss Madeleine are. Ha! You should have seen! BOTH of their eyes lit up for this tea packet. They both wanted it. So, they made two cups from it. ;) And they both liked it very much. Thank you Mii. That was very kind.

I really took my time choosing the linen for this one. I have decided to stitch the long french pattern you see at the bottom. I will not be making a pin pillow however. I have something special in mind. Not sure of the exact outcome quite yet, but I have ideas rolling around the old noggin. We shall see. I began stitching just before bed last night. Looks to be quick, but I am busy, busy with the garden too. So hang in there. You will be seeing this pattern posted for the Traveling Pattern Giveaway soon. =)

Last night, at church, our pastor opened his sermon with a story that is really sticking with me. I did a search just now, and found the story. It really is not long at all. I have no connection with this site, but it has the exact same story our pastor used last night, so this is the link I am giving you. If you care to read this short story, click here. We sang the exact song mentioned, after pastor's sermon. I am still singing it right now. =)

Have a wonderful day in the Lord my friends! Thanks for stopping by. See ya soon!

Stitching and Gardening and Praying,
Vickie

Traveling Pattern Winner

Good Morning my friends! How are you today? Doing pretty well here. Paint ball happening for the boys today with friends and again tomorrow with my brother. They do this every once in a great while. Jacob is registered for his fall courses at Marquette University. He received the AP credit for Psychology. That was a course he was supposed to take this fall. So wonderful that he no longer has to take it, it is done!!

Now that we also own a boy poodle, I realized there aren't as many small "boy" poodle motifs to be had out there. My bottle cap magnet collection has almost all girly looking poodles. I decided to try and create my own Henry. Amazing how much effort it took me to just come up with this little guy.

I used three different shades of Anchor and DMC for his coat color. I think I am happy enough with the choices. He is stitched two over one on 25ct Antique White linen. The trim is fun. I found it at Michael's a year ago.

My daylilies finally opened up this week.

Chocolate Splash

Chocolate Ripples

The next stitcher of the Traveling Pattern is Shirlee! I have your address my friend. I will send this on it's way to you shortly. Those of you who also wanted to stitch this up, but did not get a chance, will have to watch Shirlee's blog now. =)

I did the finishing work on my two finishes of  Friends Are Like Angels. I am wondering about a bit of adornment on the flatfold. I will think on it today. I will take pictures and share next time friends.

Stitching and Praying,
Vickie

Watchful, Faithful Friends♥

Unintential Untruth

Good Morning my friends! Hot and humid here. Do you remember back here, when I told you I finished all my U.F.O.s??? Well I am sorry to say, I was wrong. I don't know how I forgot or missed it.  Well I took a look back on my posts, and Holy Toledo! I finished stitching Praise God by La D Da on September 1st of last year! This pattern was a gift from Peggy last year. =)

one over two on 36ct Toasted Coconut Tree of Life Samplings

I found this frame, a real beauty, while thrifting last year. =)  I bought it for $1.75 !!!!!!!!!!

I am so happy with how this turned out. So glad to have it done and displayed in our front room.

I am now working on the finishing for another poodle magnet. Like I needed another one, right? Well I did, so there!! There are many girl or Mabel ones. There was only one Henry one. I am having a difficult time finding boy poodle motifs. Or at least poodles that look like our tiny, thin Henry. ;) So I designed one. He is just a spot motif, nothing fancy, trust me, but I am happy with him. I will finish him up into the magnet today, and show him to you next time. ;)

I will be back on Friday to tell you who is the next stitcher of  Friends Are Like Angels. If you want to be that stitcher, but did not sign up yet, go here. 

I want to say hi to a few new friends! Thank you for joining me here. =) I am thankful for all of you my friends.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

 

 

A Little Poodle Tin, And A Whole Lotta Trouble!

Good Morning my friends! I hope you are well. Some of you are not, and I am praying for you. =) It has been sunny and hot here. Today it is rainy and cooler though. I stitched up a small freebie the other day. I did some finishing work this weekend too. Got one piece done, and the other piece is 80% done. =)

The small freebie I stitched was found here. I changed the colors and shapes a tiny bit. I also came up with the little envelope. Because of percocet, I totally forgot to do all the black backstitching you see on the envelope! I did it AFTER the tin was finished! As in, this morning. Right before this post. =( Not fun at all.

This was stitched one over one on a light blue 28ct evenweave. I used one of the tiny Altoid mint tins. They call them smalls. I used a white quilted material to make a padded bottom.

This is a gift I am giving to our mail lady. She is so very friendly and nice. She leaves treats once in a while for the dogs. Do you see my broken needle? No, I am not giving that to the mail lady. ;) This is the needle I just used this morning to get the backstitching done on that little envelope. Well!! Half of the needle's eye is now embedded under the evenweave, in the batting. Oh well. She will never know. The back stitching is not perfect, but I am happy with it considering it was stitched after the fact!!

This morning I will complete framing a stitched La D Da piece. Hope to show you that real soon.

Finishing and Praying,
Vickie

♫On The Road Again, Traveling Pattern On The Road Again! ♫

Good Morning my friends! If you are one of my American friends, I hope your Fourth was a great one. Me, well....... I forgot while watching the parade, to NOT shift a tiny bit in my chair to watch as the parade approached. Just turning that tiny bit, but for an hour, did me in. I am still in bad pain. Percocet got me through the fireworks and is still getting me through. BIG SIGH!!

So, I finished stitching up the second version of Friends Are Like Angels by Lizzie Kate. I took this picture of the two together. Look how the 28ct version looks so huge next to the 50 ct version.

50 ct one over two, with one over one also  28ct two over two, with one over one also

I will tell you I loved working on the 50 ct Lakeside Linen. I used a magnifier. I plan to make a "knob knocker"(door knob hanger) out of the small one for my friend Heather. I plan to make a flatfold out of the larger one.Soon. I gotta push myself. I wanted to begin finishing, I did. Just not that much. I started a new tiny pattern last night. It is a freebie I played around with a bit.

I got a bit organized yesterday. I decided to use the wonderful floss fob, that sweet Annette made me, to hold my threads for stitching up the two poodles.

I had saved this sweet, little notecard I received a while back. I cut out the adorable picture and wrote out my master chart of which colors to use on what parts of Henry and Mabel's bodies onto the back of it. Now when I want to stitch up one of my furry pals, I have my flosses and chart all ready. =)

I made this Red, White and Blueberry Bread yesterday in the bread machine. I just used my favorite Honey White Bread recipe and added about one half cup of dried blueberries, cherries and cranberries combined. Very yummy and very patriotic too! ;)

I have told you Henry is the King Cuddler around here. I spotted this yesterday and quickly took a picture. There was no need for me to hurry as it turned out. They stayed like this for 15 minutes.

So would you like to stitch up Lizzie Kate's Friends Are Like Angels? This is a Traveling Pattern I received from Sally.  All you need to do is be one of my followers, and leave me a comment right here on this post. You need to TELL me that you want to stitch it though. I don't wanna guess at who wants to be included in the draw. I will pull the name of the next stitcher on next Friday, July 12th.

I will be stitching today. Will you? Hope so. Have a fantastic day in the Lord my friends.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie