Calendar Poodle SAL

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Um, Yep, Another Poodle Magnet

Hi friends! Yeah, I cannot help myself. We could blame June. She is the one who sent me adorable poodle patterns from her Cross Stitch Crazy Magazines! I took this poodle from a pattern called  " French Fancy".
You cannot tell very well in the sunlight, but this is stitched on 32ct Silkweaver one over one. Maybe you can see the pale turquoise on the upper left. The right side of the fabric is pale pink. It is all sparkly. I did make the bow around her neck white. The pattern had red, but that matched the woman's blouse, bag and shoes.
The pretty, pink trim around the inside of the magnet is a gift from June also. :) Thank you June! I finished this in yet another one of those large craft bottle caps from JoAnn.

I finished the French Knot Henry! :) I will show you him next time. Until then, here is a sweet picture of Mabel for you. :)
Stiching and praying,
Vickie

Sunday, July 27, 2014

An RAK, A Finish And A Giveaway

Hi friends! The shots on Tuesday went alright. The needles weren't so bad, it is the pressure of the injections. o_0 The pain was horrid for two days. Then the pain went completely away in my right hip. Well I rarely get pain in the right hip. My left hip pain greatly reduced for one day, then...... Well, accidents happen. Unfortunately, Madeleine accidentally kicked me. Now the pain is back to bad on the left. Barely, barely there on the right. I go for two more shots in two weeks. Yay! NOT! =( I am told you need a series of two to three shots to make the bursitis go away or get better. So I will try again. sigh.

How about happy news?! I got an RAK from Lynda Ruth! Just because I leave comments on her blog. =) What a very, very nice thing to do! Take a look.
She stitched me a sweet, little pillow, and added some of her sea glass! Her husband and her comb the beaches for sea glass. I think that is so cool to get a little piece of her world. And I got to teach my kids about sea glass. They had never heard of it!! A pink butterfly candle, Canadian pencil, more sea glass and pretty stones, and a really neat purple project pouch too. Do you see the yummy blueberry tea? Madeleine, Brian and I have enjoyed some already. When I set these gifts up to take a picture, Henry took off with the blueberry tea! Here he is right before he ran with it!
Madeleine found these nifty socks at Target. We both got a pair. ;)
I finished up Uncle Sam last week. I made him into a pillow, filled with crushed walnut shells. I was happy to have all the supplies in my stash. I backed it with denim.
This is one of the Littles by Bent Creek. I stitched it as the pattern called for, two over two on 32ct mystery linen. I used DMC, and Weeks Dye Works 'Straw' for the background, and Victorian Motto '1795 Tarnished Gold' for Uncle Sam's buttons and '1795 Sampler Pink' for his nose. He finished up at 1.5"x1.5". :)
I did not have a red star button, so I stitched myself a red star. ;)
This is one of the charts I got from Crosse Stitchery. I found out on the ride home, as I read the receipt, she just gave me this one. =) That was very nice. Now that I have stitched him, I would like to give this Bent Creek Littles Uncle Sam chart to you. Just be one of my followers and leave a comment, telling me you would like this chart. I will draw a name on Sunday, August 3rd.

I am working on the French Knot Henry. Almost done! Hundreds and hundreds of knots! I am loving the way it looks.

Thank you for your kind words, well wishes and prayers.

Have a fantastic week!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Monday, July 21, 2014

A Sweet Surprise

Hi friends! A sweet surprise arrived in the mail for me yesterday. All the way from Canada. Our dear friend Anne sent me a few lovely, belated birthday gifts.
Anne crocheted me a fabulous, pink cup cozy. Madeleine actually put it on Henry for a scarf! The poor 6 pound boy! Not very macho. And yes, you read that right. He is now 6 pounds. When he came to us he was 4 pounds. The vet said he was too skinny and needed to add weight. :)

Anne also included a lovely Crescent Colours 'Clay Pot'. Her friend made that sweet bird card.:) And I am happy to announce to you that I have finally had a black tea that I like! This is from Anne also. It is called Cream Earl Grey. It has the prettiest purple bergamot petals in it too. :) Thank you again Anne.♥

Yesterday was our dear Emerson's 18th birthday! We had the family over for cake. He wanted marble cake. I made a chocolate pudding type frosting for between the two layers. I frosted it with chocolate cool whip to keep it lighter. Had to make my own chocolate cool whip. Can't find it anymore.
I finished reading A Man Called Blessed by Ted Dekker. This is the sequel to Blessed Child. Another older book by Ted. And another one I recommend. I really enjoyed it. :)

Tomorrow morning I am subjecting myself to more pain and torture. When I had an exam from the pain management PA two weeks ago, she pressed on my outer, upper thighs. I thought I might scream. YIKES! She said I should not have pain there at all, and that is unusual. She says those are my bursa. What?! They are fluid filled sacs that cover your joints in your body. So I am having cortisone injections tomorrow by the doctor in both hip bursa. I hope and pray this takes away the pain completely in my hips. She said it will do nothing for my back pain. I understand that. I am willing to try this. ONCE at least. I hate to go through the whole sedation/IV thing, so I opted not to tomorrow. However, I tend to get myself worked up ahead of time. I do not want to, I just kinda do it. So now my stomach is starting to hurt. I am second guessing that decision.

If you care to, would you please pray this goes well for me and ACTUALLY WORKS? I will take pain relief of any kind!! I would love for the pain to go away for a few months. That is a possibility. Thank you!

I am so glad you stopped by today.  Take good care of yourself! There is only one you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie
Two poodles on Winky Watch(Madeleine's parakeet).












Friday, July 18, 2014

South Dakota

Hi friends! How are you?! I am improved. Thank you for all of your kind words, warm wishes and much needed prayer. We just got back from a vacation in South Dakota! Yay! :) I survived our vacation. ;) With the help of percocet. Oh well. It took us 12 1/2 hours to drive there and the same to come home.

We went to Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, Rushmore Cave, Cosmos Mystery Area, Custer State Park, Iron Mountain, Bear Country, Chapel In The Hills, an antique store and an antique mall. I think that about covers it?!
This was the view from our lodge & resort. Can you see George Washington off in the distance?! :)

The Black Hills of South Dakota! Wow! What landscape! So extremely different from our little part of Wisconsin.

The National Monument of Mount Rushmore was so very amazing. The night time ceremony was so very inspiring. We all sang "America The Beautiful". I am getting goosebumps all over again just thinking about it. So many Americans singing together in the dark. It was all so very patriotic. It ended with every person who has ever served in our military coming down to the platform. They all told their name, where they are from, and what branch of military they served in.
Custer State Park has 71,000 acres with buffalo, burros, big horn sheep and so much more. The roads! We have never driven such crazy roads! We drove through one lane tunnels that were blasted through rock. We made it to the top of Iron Mountain. This is the highest point in the U.S., east of the Rocky Mountains.
The kids did the Extreme Rushmore Cave Tour. They walked with their guide for 20 minutes total and CRAWLED for 2 hours. Talk about dirty?! And intense! Madeleine positioned herself between her two brothers. ;) Good for her. She did not cry til she saw Brian and I after it was over. She was brave. They all were. My goodness! There are rooms called the Spider Trap ( You crawl through a tunnel, end up in a small circle that is funnel shaped. You drop into the hole and climb back up! No thanks!), and the Book Worm (You crawl while on your back with your head sideways because the helmet won't fit otherwise. You go up and down bumps.). Their only lighting was from their head lamps. The kids were quite tired that night.
Bear Country is a Wildlife Preserve. We saw arctic wolves, badgers, beavers, bighorn sheep, black bears,
bobcats, buffalo, Canadian lynx, coyotes, elk, grizzly bears, mountain lions, porcupines, raccoons, red foxes, reindeer, river otters, Rocky Mountain goats, and skunks! ;) Needless to say you drive in and stay in your car!
At the end of the park they have "Babyland". Bear cubs! Too adorable. :) They are taken during hibernation from their mothers for their own safety (many are killed by male bears in the wild).

We did stop in a Ben Franklin in Rapid City. We just don't have one of those great stores near our home anymore. I bought some linen there.
 See the Shirley Poppies?! They bloomed while we were gone. I sprinkled some seeds this spring and never expected them. =)

Guess where we stopped during our loooong journey home? At a NLNS. NOT local needlework shop! ;)
Crosse Stitchery in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Right across the border from Minnesota. We all really wanted to get home, but you know I got psyched up! :) Me, being me, bought purchases from the sales bin. I just have a hard time spending money on myself. Here's what I got.
I couldn't resist that Bent Creek Littles Uncle Sam. :) I have him half done right now. I will be passing that little chart along. Watch for it!

Check this out!
Like my new t-shirt? It came in pink too! Not in my size though! Wah wah! :(

My brother Michael stayed at our home and took care of our poodles. He is 13 months younger than me. He was born breech with the cord wrapped around his neck. He was blue. His leg was sticking out when my mom arrived at hospital. So Michael has always been "slow". He has lived with my mom all his life. He loves animals like I do. The two poodles love Uncle Mike. =) It works out very well for us all. Mike gets a bit of a break from the same house for almost 44 years now, and we get excellent care of our precious poodles.

That is everything for today my friends. I look forward to hearing from you!

Have a great day in the Lord!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Summer Postcard Blog Hop

Hi friends! My pain has barely gone down. :(  I went to the pain management PA on Tuesday. She really poked, prodded and pushed. This is why I am still suffering. Percocet is getting me through. Unfortunately stitching while on percocet guarantees stitchy mistakes. puh!

I have not one, but two lovely stitchy pictures to share with you on my Summer Postcard from Mouse!
I am not familiar with either of these designs.  So fantastic!

And here is the message on my postcard from Mouse:
dear stitchy friend ... 
the sun is out,
the sky is blue .... 
my needles in my hand, 
how about you ???

wish you were here joining me :)
 
love mouse x

I was sent this postcard because I took part in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop sponsored by Jo. You can join too if you like! Just have a look here. :) Thanks Mouse! Thanks Jo!

I wanted to share with you a surprise that arrived in the mail for me yesterday.
A lovely lavender pillow filled with lavender. Didn't Jacquie do a wonderful job?! It is backed with a wonderful purple fabric too. Thank you so much Jacquie! I certainly was taken by surprise. :)

That's it for me today friends. I am trying to get better. I hope you have an excellent weekend. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Cutie

Hi friends! I am having a rough week, due to pain. I thought I would show you the little magnet I made up for my mom though.
My mom has a new kitten. They are not sure if it is a boy or girl yet. Pretty sure it's a girl. ;) So far the kitten is named "Cutie". We have been over to see it once. I realized after I gave this to her, that I did not make enough white under the chin. No matter. My mom loves it. That's the great thing about making up things for my mom. She loves it all! =)
Cutie is stitched one over one on a mystery sage green 27 count linen. I left the eyes unstitched so the green showed for the color. She has light green eyes, this color. She has the most wonderful white whiskers. :) I used a sweet gingham ribbon I had saved from June, to frame the magnet with. This is a freebie you can find right here. I changed a few things on my kitty.

I am beginning a new stitch. The garden needs weeding. I just can't do it now. I will be stitching today. And reading. Need to recover.

I hope you have an excellent day my friends. Some of you are not doing so well. I am praying for YOU. Actually I prayed for all of you my friends today.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Sunday, July 6, 2014

The Gorgeous Ort Box

Hi friends! Beautiful day here. We had a wonderful Fourth. :) I received the most fantastic gift in the mail all the way from New Zealand yesterday. Our friend Lee had giveaways celebrating her 5 years of blogging. She had chosen my name for week three. I leave her lots of comments, and she chose a frequent commenter that week. :)

I had always "planned" to make an ort box. Never got around to it. Now I do not ever have to. Look at this lovely ort box Lee made just for me. =)
 Lee tells me that "the little ladies round the sides have been adapted from a Victoria Sampler freebie design- 'Angela' angel ornament."
This one above may be my favorite. It is so hard to choose. Although she is in pink and has brown hair and all. ;)
Which one is your favorite? Aren't the ladies just superb? Are you seeing the teensy, tiny stitches? And their precious, little bullion stitched curls? FANTASTIC! Thank you so much Lee. I will definitely be using this collapsing, hexagon shaped ort box.

I am finishing the second 'American Strawberry'. Just a tiny bit left to stitch. I knew I would not get them made into strawberries before the Fourth. That is okay with me. I am glad to have two of them finally stitched up. I will make them up shortly. Hey, I am still hearing fireworks going off in the neighborhood, in the evenings when I am stitching on it! ;)

I made up a little gift for my mom I will share with you next time.

I am also still working on the french knot Henry a bit too. I am almost out of the main color of Anchor floss. It looks like I may have to get it online. The closest LNS I purchased my Anchor floss from closed last year. I called the next closest LNS to me, and they have closed. I called a small craft store in a town we used to live in, not all that far away, and yes, they too have gone out of business. Sad.

Well, I am off to pray and prepare for church this morning. Then we are all going to a family reunion and picnic at a park in West Allis where I grew up. =) The weather is great and I look forward to time with cousins I do not see often.

Have a great day in the Lord my friends. Thanks for stopping by.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Taste Summer Winner

Hi friends! It just keeps on raining around here. And the temperatures rarely are hot. It will only get to about 74º today. Our parade and fireworks are tonight. Not expecting rain tonight!

I finished stitching the first American Strawberry by Prairie Schooler and began the next one.
I could be further, BUT the book I am reading is awesome. It is the second book Ted Dekker ever wrote. He has written close to 50 now. I have read most of them. I decided to go back and read the ones I missed. This was written in 2001. Our library system doesn't own it, but they tracked it down for me and borrowed it from a library in Illinois for me. :) The book is called Blessed Child.

Today is the day to draw a winner for the Shepherd's Bush pattern 'Taste Summer'. The random winner is Meari! Meari is going through very difficult times with her parents right now. I am praying for you and your family Meari.♥ When you have the chance, please email me your mail address.

I had a special request after my last post. I had shared with you all that I was the miniature bride for my Auntie Bernie and Uncle Gerry's wedding 40 years ago. Jo asked if I had a picture of it. Well sure I do! Here is one you weren't expecting.
I was 5 years old. I had just found the box the baker used to bring the wedding cake to the reception in. I noticed there was some frosting inside that box. ;)  The photographer spotted me.

Today I plan to read, stitch, watch the parade and fireworks. How about you? I hope your day is wonderful whatever you are up to my friends. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie