Happy New Year!

Good Morning my friends! Welcome new friends! Hope all is well with you. We are still frozen and covered in snow around here. We went to a Marquette Golden Eagles basketball game on Saturday. We were gifted the tickets. It was fun because Marquette is the University Jacob attends. Otherwise I am not much of a basketball fan.

I thought I might show you an ornament I made 5 years ago, in honor of my father. He died 5 years ago. He always called himself the Polish Eagle. He was very proud of being 100% Polish.

This was a freebie I found on the internet. I am sorry, I searched, but after 5 years, I cannot find it anymore. I know I stitched this over one on 28ct evenweave.

This is the progress I have made so far on the Riolis kit. I am going to call it Theotokos. I cannot read Russian and the Riolis kit is from Russia and has no printed English anywhere to be found. Good thing the DMC is numbered. I will just have to refer to the color photograph for the rest of my questions. And there will be many!! This will be my first significant project with lots of beading.

I am overcoming my dislike for stitching this whole thing on 14ct Aida. This is a gift for Brian. He wants it stitched "just as it is supposed to be". No fabric change and no additional threads used. Of course!! It is always, always that way with him. He thinks patterns should be stitched just the way the designer says.

Since this is a large piece, I had to dig out the 9"x24" scroll frame I bought many years ago. I had never used it. It was still sealed in the package. I am not finding a stand for this brand of scroll frame locally anymore. It was a cheap one bought from Michael's. I do not wish to invest further into it. So I will try and make do, since I rarely stitch large projects.

My pain is very bad lately. I became nauseous from it in church this weekend. I kept telling myself I could make it. Then I started to faint, it was so intense. I had to just sit and pray to make it through. This "pain management" that I have STINKS!! The doctor AND his PA have had off 6 weeks so far. They still have off 2 more!!!! I called yesterday morning. I need new meds or med changes. NOW. The problem is their "coverage" for when your doctor or his PA are not there. Sometimes I have had NO ONE return my calls. Sometimes I have had battles with staff for DAYS without any help. Sometimes I cry and beg on the phone. Sometimes I am very, very assertive. It just shouldn't have to be this way. Not at all. I had to call back 3 times yesterday. The PA wants me to try Voltaren gel. This is a NSAID gel. The hope is that this will work without causing my stomach problems. They never called it in. They never called me back. They left the office early and just plain left me hanging. It is a good thing I had an appt in the late afternoon with my ob/gyn. I was telling her of my increased pain problems. She said she would just call in the Voltaren gel for me. That was it. Taken care of!! For crying out loud. It seems to be giving me that little bit of extra help thus far.

Thank you for stopping by today. I am so glad you did. May God richly bless you in 2014!

"Let God's promises shine on your problems."
 ~Corrie Ten Boom

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Niall

Hi friends! I hope your Christmas was beautiful. Ours was. Very cold and very white. Lots of family.♥

So, do any of my friends know who Niall Horan is? Um, do you have a teenage daughter? That might help. ;) He is the "blonde" of One Direction. Please tell me you have heard of One Direction? Miss Madeleine has been obsessed with One Direction for a few years now. I remember well being a teenage girl and being obsessed with Duran Duran. ;) There was also Michael Jackson. tee hee!

Anyways, Madeleine really adores Niall. HA! When she reads this!!!! So, I thought, "Why not create a Niall and send  a pinkeep to him and ask him to sign it?" Well, I did this. IN MARCH!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, I keep hoping because they are on tour around the world constantly, that this will eventually come back to us. Supposedly they do sign things for you and return them. Here he is.

Cute huh? I may never see this again, so I thought after 9 months that I would share this with you. Remember I sent the Pope a pinkeep of himself? That came back, so I am gonna keep on waiting.

I used Cross Stitch Card Collection by Claire Crompton (a library book) for ideas on how to make a young man, but this is my own little Niall. ;) I also used Donna Kooler's 555 Christmas Cross Stitch Designs for the guitar. I made it to match Niall's guitar colors. I know I used DMC, but I did not write down what count white linen I stitched this on. I trimmed it simply with a red ribbon to match his polo shirt.

I have begun my big project. This is a Riolis kit for Brian. It is a Russian icon of the Mother of God and Child.

I finished reading  Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen. It was a good mystery. I enjoy her series.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends. We are enjoying family time together while the kids have off of school. Thank you for stopping by. I enjoy your comments.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

A Blessed, Merry Christmas To You My Friends!

Hi there! What a very, very white Christmas we are having here! We have at least 16 inches of snow on the ground. Henry and I did make it to visit the seniors on Saturday. And I did not slip once. Yay! We handed out Christmas cards. He wore his Christmas bow tie of course! ;)

I have not shown you this little nativity before. It was made in Ecuador. My in-laws gave it to us years ago, when they visited an orphanage there.

Miss Mabel with snow-encrusted legs

This is the latest little stitch I have worked on. It is called 'The Christmas Gift Quaker Motif Ornament' and it is from Gentle Pursuit Designs. The pattern is found in the 2008 JCS Ornament Issue.

I was so very disappointed in the floss colors. I had none of the four DMC called for. After I bought them at JoAnn and brought them home, I thought, "Yuck!". So I used only one of them, the dark brown for the words in the center.The green is Celadon from WDW and the two remaining colors are Nancy's from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.

I stitched this on a scrap of creamy tan 32ct linen, one over one. All so it could go in the other side of the snow globe. Well, I did it again! What a talent I have. Not! This one is really one stitch too high. It just barely fits. It looks warped and possibly off center in this picture, inside the globe. It is not. And you can see the bottom of the wreath too. Just not with the photo I took.

Here is a sneaky peaky at the next project I am beginning now. It is a gift for Brian actually. We chose the pattern together. It is a biggie. Yikes! It is popping out of the lovely project bag Barbara made me this year. =)

My Christmas Wish for you is peace and love and blessings from God above.♥
Thank you for stopping by today. I treasure your friendship.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Climb Ev'ry Mountain

Good Morning friends! Welcome new friends! Glad you all stopped by. I want to show you my latest stitch and finish.

My favorite movie is The Sound of Music. I can't help but sing some of the movie's songs once in a while. I have been known to burst into song in the home, in the car and gasp!, just for fun, in public. ;) It was fun when the kids were little and we would sing Do-Re-Mi together on car rides. =)  So when Tanya offered this freebie on her blog, The Sampler Girl, very recently, well I knew I had to stitch it up!

This pattern is called Climb Ev'ry Mountain. I stitched this on 28ct light blue evenweave, one over one with DMC. I know Tanya's chart shows bare legs and purple shoes for Maria, but, well, I just couldn't! I gave her very dark grey tights and shoes. ;)

The ornament is backed with the pale blue crepe the ornament is lying on. I have had this fabulous, light blue brocade ribbon for a few years. I finally found the perfect use for it!!

The edelweiss is a bit hard to see in these pictures. Oh well. You can see it in person just fine. This ornament just makes me so happy. Thank you Tanya! =)

Did you know that 'Edelweis' is not a true Austrian folk song or Austria's National Anthem?

Well, that is all I have to show you today friends. I will be baking gingerbread cookies this weekend. I baked the Mabel and Henry sugar cookies yesterday. ;)

We received ice pellets last night. Everything is covered in ice outside right now. Henry and I were going to make our Assisted Living Center visit this morning. We will see if we still go today. I do NOT want to slip and spike my pain. I already did that on the ice we received two nights ago. =( My pain is rather high. If you wouldn't mind praying for me? I would appreciate that. Thank you. ♥

Baking and stitching and praying,
Vickie

Matryoshka

Good Morning friends! It is supposed to get above freezing tomorrow. Yay! It has not been above freezing in weeks. Today is the funeral service for Brian's 94 year old grandmother, my MIL's mother. This is the grandma that we took Henry to visit last month. It is a blessing for her to go Home. She had advanced dementia.

Do you remember the freebie I stitched last month. She has been waiting for some finishing. Once I realized she could not live in my snow globe, I knew what I wanted to do with her. Check it out.

Isn't she just adorable this way? I love her. Yes I do!

She is stitched one over one on 28ct evenweave with DMC 815. I hand stitched her to the backing fabric. Turning her right side out was challenging. She is so tiny! I had applied Fray Check to the edges of the evenweave. Very glad I did that! I covered a tiny washer with a bit of matching fabric. And hot glued it in place. I was going to use a dime for the base, but that was too big!!

I found 3 thimbles on ebay recently. Two of them were pewter and I could care less about them. It was the third one listed as " a metal poodle thimble" that I wanted. I felt guilty for a bit, since I knew, just knew this was an unmarked silver poodle thimble I have been wanting for half a year. They rarely come up on ebay or etsy. When they do, they sell for more than I want to pay. However if you persevere and are a poodle nut like me, you watch and wait! Some of them are marked sterling or .925. This thimble came to us as dark as the pewter ones. I got out the silver cleaner and went to work. It took a lot of work, but just look at it now! =)

Love. LOVE. LOVE!!! All three thimbles were bought for the total of $6.00. Hooray! Deals still can be found!

We still have to shop for a few of the children from the Dove Tree. We will do that today.

We all went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last night! Wahoo! What a great movie! I was not ready for it to end. And it was 161 minutes long!

Have a super day friends! I am hoping all is merry and bright in your world. Take care!

Stitching and baking and praying,
Vickie

If You Thought He Was Cute With A Coat....

Hi friends! Still cold and real snowy here. Because I am one crazy poodle nut, I made Henry yet another accessory. I thought he would look very handsome in a Christmas bow tie. And I was right! =)

He can wear this when we visit the Assisted Living Center soon. The residents will love it!

It is not perfect, but it is done. I will do a few things differently next time. tee hee! Yep, I think he needs another one. Not so sure he agrees. ;)

I received this very nice gift and card from Shirlee.

This is  Psalm 23:6.♥ Thanks again Shirlee!

I made myself do the finishing on 'Bethlehem Scene' for Emerson's homeroom teacher. The stitching was done many weeks ago. He will give it to him on Monday. The whip stitched finishes are so fiddly, but I do admire the finished look of them.

I have been making candies and cookies. A few have been given as gifts. I froze most of them right away. Some are hidden in the refrigerator too! shh! Yummies disappear around here very quickly. Gotta use sneaky tactics if you want them to be available for Christmas.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate you taking time to leave me comments. You guys are great!

Stitching and baking and praying,
Vickie

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
~St. Augustine

Gifties

Hi friends! Hope all is well with you? It is VERY cold and very white here.  I did finish my Mary's Sampler last week. I have been searching for a 5x5 frame for weeks. =( Cannot find one suitable. I will keep searching.

One over two on 40ct Sandstone linen

I received this lovely package from Annette quite a while ago.

I finally opened it last night. Just look at the lovely pattern with flosses Annette got me. I have never had a pattern by Ellen Chester. So nice! And that adorable, little needlebook. Oh my! Such attention to detail. Fantastic! Thank you Annette. I love my gifts. ♥

 

I also received these gifts from June.

I have been so very fortunate enough to receive one of these sweet bookmark calenders from June before. Love them! Thank you June!

Here is another gift that I received from Chris. I had admired this pattern on her blog many times. She gifted me not only with the pattern, but also the linen. Thanks Chris!

Take a look at the surprises I received from sweet Maggee.

Wonderful linen and pink fabrics that I am absolutely going to use up! I am loving the sweet card she sent. See the precious pup looking in on Jesus too? =)

Not ready for Christmas yet. Working on it still. I decided to make things a little simpler this year. We used our 4 foot white Christmas tree this year as our primary tree. I told the kids to put just their dog ornaments on it. That's it! A Dog Christmas Tree. Why not? Easy, simple and fun. =)

All of the above have been made by me in previous years. This one below was stitched by Madeleine about 4 years ago. It was finished by me.

That's it for today friends. I am off to finish two more gifts. Gotta bake cookies soon. =)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Dove Tree

Hi friends! This weekend at church the Dove Tree was put up in the narthex. This tree holds paper dove ornaments. Each dove has boy or girl written across the top with the age of the child. These are children from our congregation who are from financially struggling families.  It is all done privately, through the church office. These children can ask for a few things for Christmas presents. Things they know they will not be getting. Nothing outrageous or outlandish. Brian and I have enjoyed taking a dove over the years.

We decided it would be a wonderful thing for our three teens to do this year. Pick their own dove and shop for that child. Brian and I are done with our 11 year old boy. The three kids will be shopping this week.

I would like to show you a picture of the dove ornament Emerson chose.

Does it affect you the way it affects me? I get teary eyed every time I read it friends. We chose one like this a few years back. I do believe you are in a rather desperate way when you are asking for underwear. It truly makes you think. It truly makes you appreciate. Does it not? Emerson wants to buy the young boy athletic shoes. Brian and I will also be buying him the underpants.

Do we have extra? Do we have excess? By American standards, not by a long shot. I can truly say this is the tightest Christmas we have ever had. But God richly provides. He always does. We will not forget Him. Praise the Lord! He has not forgotten us.

Stiching and praying,
Vickie

I Did It! I DID IT! I DID IT!!!

Hi friends! I got it done! WHOOO HOOO! Take a look at these babies!

Yep! One. Two. Three. All three made it into the stockings for this morning, St. Nick's. We give the kids an ornament each year in their stockings. Not all are made by me. Each year the ornament has something to do with that year. Well we got Henry this year.♥ They have one for each of the dogs we have had.

I stitched each one of these on the same mystery light green 30 count linen. They are all OVER ONE. whew! That takes quite a while I must say. Especially when it is secret stitching and must be hidden a lot! But they were all surprised and happy. And yes, Jacob is 19, Emerson is 17 and Madeleine 15. So what?! My mom still gives us all St. Nick's stockings and I am 44!! I am NOT complaining. This is a tradition I plan to keep on with.♥ My mom has not given me ornaments. I just thought  that would be a real neat tradition for our children. And it is!! =)

I decided to add the date and a paw print on the backs. =) Look at that copper wire and some of the beads glow in the light. Neat! I decided to use the border and finishing instructions from monsterbubbles, Day One, found in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments 2009 Issue.

A little inside story....... Henry's name before we renamed him when he came to us was Copper. The monsterbubbles ornament has 26 gauge copper wire used as the hanger.  ;)

Thank you all of my friends for your wonderful encouragement! You told me I could accomplish this on time! You were right! =)

I received this lovely Christmas card and Christmas tea from Michelle a while ago. Brian, Madeleine and I will be having the tea today. I made us wait until December. ;)

I may just finish up my Mary's Sampler today. We will see. I have so very little Christmas decorations in place. Those Henry ornaments have been all I have been doing. I need to get us ready for Christmas! Always something right?!

I have thanked God for you today friends! ♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie