Emerson's Awards

Hi friends! It is snowing yet again as I type this. You may recall last year I told you of Emerson's achievement in art in this post. Well he has done it again! He has won another Gold Key Award  and an Honorable Mention Award in the Scholastic Art Competition. This is a national art competition. There were almost 2,000 entries from our state of Wisconsin alone. It is for grades 7-12. His Gold Key piece will go on to National Competitions for Gold and Silver Medals. This is the painting he won a Gold Key for in painting.

He has titled it 'Captured'. Perhaps you are familiar with the Prince Valiant cartoons in the newspapers here in the U.S. that have been running since before I was born? Well Emerson always reads that and truly admires the artwork in it. So he painted characters from the series and created this. I know I have never shown pictures of my kids. This is the closest you get! ;) Emerson has painted himself into this piece, next to Prince Valiant. I love the Vikings expressions he created. This next one is the Honorable Mention.

He calls this 'The Merchant'. =) I was with Emerson all the way on these pieces. He works at the kitchen table when not working on them at school. Mom stitches at the table and he draws and paints there. So cool to see these things come to life.

We will be attending the award ceremony at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Saturday. 'Captured' is hanging there already.
 
 I received a special RAK from Donna! She made me a sweet, pink Valentine. She found "Matilda" the poodle candle while thrifting and thought of me. =) She also sent some nice variegated pink floss and yummy Candied Caramel Pecan wax cubes to melt. Thank you so much Donna!

I finished Little Town On The Prairie. Another great read. Laura cross stitches a gift for Carrie in this story. ;)

This is my progress thus far on Theotokos.

Thanks for indulging me today friends. I just had to share Emerson's wonderful artistic talent. =)

Have a stitchtastic day! I have thanked God for you today!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

A Little Valentine Stitching

Hi friends! Still cold and snowy here. At least the frigid, subzero temperatures from the beginning of this week are going away for now. The kids had school closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the bitter cold.

I put away the winter smalls and took out my Valentine smalls. The sweet, little, red heart box that Peggy made me last year was tucked in there. I decided I would like to stitch a little something for the top of that box.I had this pretty,little floral freebie sitting in my stash for a while. I am sorry I do not have a link for you. Sometimes I forget to jot that down when I print them off.

I stitched this two over two on 28ct rose evenweave.

I chose my  own DMC colors as I could not figure out what colors and numbers the German chart was referring to.

I am still stitching on Theotokos. I just needed a small break, the frogs visited.

I know the Chicken Soup For The Soul books are nothing new. But we have two different versions of them that we own. I read the first, original version at the end of last year. I just read the Christian Teen Talk version. I really find those books uplifting, ya know? And they are good to read more than once, especially if it has been a few years.

I finished listening to On The Banks Of Plum Creek and By The Shores Of Silver Lake. I am enjoying every, single one of these books in the series. =)

Here is another picture of the poodles sunning themselves. This time they are chewing rawhide bones. Yes, Mabel is chewing her bone while lying on her back. ;)

Have a stitchtastic week my friends! Thank you for your friendship.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Stitching and Freezing

Hi friends! Hello new friends! Glad you all stopped by. Still very cold here. And very white. The ground has been covered in snow for 2 months now. Good weather to stay in and stitch. Here is an updated picture of Theotokos.

That is the next skein of wool thread I have begun. What you see stitched in the olive color, was after one skein was used.

I have been listening to Farmer Boy and then Little House On The Prairie, both by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Love them immensely! Did you read these books when you were young?  Did you watch Little House On The Prairie years ago? Do you ever see it on TV now? I find these books so fascinating. They are all true. A few things occurred in a slightly different order in the books, than from her real life experiences. A few details may have been added to make the story better, but these things really happened. Well, I am enjoying the series. =)

I believe my body has adjusted to the Cymbalta. The headaches have subsided. There is a tiny amount of pressure in my forehead. I will take that and trade in the high amounts of daily pain. My hip pain is very low presently. Thanks be to God! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. I appreciate it! 

This is how little poodles stay warm here in frigid Wisconsin. They sun themselves. =)

I hope you have a stitchtastic weekend my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
~ Leo Buscaglia

A Wonderful Surprise

Hi friends! Hello new friends! Glad you all stopped in. Still snowy and cold here. How is your weather?

I got a wonderful, unexpected gift yesterday. It came all the way from England, from our dear friend Mouse.

She made me a pretty pink stitcher's tray. Absolutely perfect fabric, isn't it?! And look at this!

Yes, it is Miss Mabel! My very first needle minder. =) I love it! Thank you so much Mouse.♥

I have been doing a bit of unstitching this week. So frustrating. I am trying to be so careful. I have completed all the DMC areas on the chart for Theotokos. I have begun using the woolen thread. I thought I would not like it, but I do. It gives fabulous coverage on this aida.

All of the olive green you see surrounding Mary thus far is the woolen thread.

I finished reading A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert. I liked it a lot. I just wish she did not feel the need to put in a few swear words. I read plenty of fiction that is not dull and the feelings and messages get across without cheapening it. So anyhow, that book got me interested in Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder. I just listened to Little House In The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I really enjoyed listening to it.Well, except for learning how to make head cheese. ;)  I am now listening to A Little House Sampler: A Collection Of Early Stories and Reminiscenses. It is very, very interesting. It is by Laura and Rose.

I did see the pain PA on Tuesday. I am now on Cymbalta too. I hesitated to even bring up the whole "pain thing" here, because I still don't know where it is going. I began Cymbalta on Tuesday. My pain is only a 1 or 2(or 3 after I use the treadmill. Yes, I am trying to get walking again. I can for 10 minutes at a time). That of course if fantastic. Problem is I have a headache for 3 days now. I am hoping it goes away during this adjustment period? What a trade off: low hip pain, new constant headache. And I did not say a word at the clinic to anyone about all the trouble I go through. I got a survey, done by an independent company, right before the appointment. I gave them terrible ratings on most everything. They asked if I wanted someone to contact me regarding the survey, I marked YES! I think this will be better. The office manager is in on the problem. I don't want the mess covered up, I would love to see the system fixed up!

Have fun stitching away the weekend my friends! Take good care of yourself. There is only one you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Finally Framed

Hi friends! Things have started warming up. Problem is that it rained and froze, so everything is very slick out there. Is anyone enjoying good weather? Tell me.

I finished Mary's Sampler over a month ago. I have been searching for a 5x5 frame ever since. Let me tell you, those are not readily available around here. Unless you want black. Michael's had two different wood ones. I bought one and tried it out. It wouldn't fit! I measured the frame, and guess what? It was 4 1/2 inchesx4 1/2 inches!!! C'mon! Ridiculous. I returned that and guess what? We finally made the trip to Hobby Lobby. Yay! It is not near us. I have been wanting to get back to that store FOR YEARS. Finally went. So glad I did. =) Found a frame. For only $5 too! =)

I found a sweet, little, vintage poodle pincushion with the original thimble on ebay. =)

This is the progress I have made on Theotokos this week.

I decided, why wait for one more week in this elevated pain? I have done some hunting down of this pain PA.She returned to work this last week at the main pain clinic she works out of. She returns this week to the clinic I visit. I have discovered the true problem is that I see her and the pain doctor at the location closer to me. The main clinic they work out of is far away and NOT affiliated with mine. The nurses and people don't seem to work together. So I called my place and had them fax over the message as usual. But then I called that clinic and asked if they received the fax. The receptionist assured me they did and she was delivering it to the PA herself. I called back 90 minutes after I knew she had the fax delivered to her desk and asked if she actually saw it. The receptionist told me she knew the PA saw it because she personally delivered it to her. She put me on hold for less than 2 minutes and then said she personally asked the PA. The PA said she had the fax sent back over with the directions, but you can tell Vickie to increase her meds to 4 times daily beginning now and I will see her in one week as planned. Do you know the nurse from the facility I deal with called me the next morning, 18 hours later? She said they received the message from the PA and the prescription is being called in for you to your pharmacy now. That was it. I didn't even discuss it with her. I will with the office manager at my appointment in two days.Being on the Neurontin 4 times daily has brought the pain level down lower. It has been better.

Off to have lunch with family in a few hours. Hoping the ice melts a lot today. I do NOT need to slip! Who does?!

Have a stitchtatic day my friends. =)

Stitching and reading and praying,
Vickie

First Two Finishes Of The Year

Hi fr fr friends! I am freezing. School was closed yesterday and is again today! The last day of school the kids had was December 20th! They don't mind extending their Christmas vacation.Yesterday it was -16º with a -45º wind chill. Today is just as cold so far. It will begin warming up tomorrow. It will get up to a whole 10º!! ;) Our bathroom sink pipe froze. Brian got her going again. He also did some work to prevent this from ever happening again.

Wanna see my first two little, sweet finishes I have for this year?

Are they not absolutely adorable?! I made very, very minor changes to the patterns found in Sam Hawkins' 520 Christmas Cross Stitch Designs. They were supposed to be white and grey lambs. Drop the hooves, shorten the ear a bit, and bammo! You got yourself poodles.

one over one on 28ct mystery green and hand dyed Santa's Suit linen

I had two more of these copper rectangle charm frames from Darice, found at JoAnn. Perfect. The linen tends to want to shift between the glass, right when you are ready to clamp it shut for good, but an easy finish. I used the fabric you see above them for the backing. That is the only piece of it I have left. I guess it is good to save scraps after all. ;)Yes, they are hanging out with the rest of the dogs on the Christmas tree. =)

I wanted to show you a picture of my Christmas gift from Brian. It is a hand painted matroyshka from Russia. She is called girl with pink roses. He said he knew THAT was the one for me. ;)

 She is wonderful. I love her.

I have been back at stitching Theotokos. And reading.  I finished reading Lost Mission by Athol Dickson on New Year's Eve. That was a very good book. I am now reading A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert. This is fictionalized history about the life of Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. I am really liking it so far.

I am staying inside again!! Keep warm my friends.♥ Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your kind words of encouragement.

Stitching and reading and praying,
Vickie

A Beautiful Gift

Hi friends! How are ya? Freezing like me? We have been barely making it above zero for our daytime highs around here lately. I gave Mabel her much needed haircut a few days ago. Henry needs a cut too. He is very, very fuzzy. I will have to wait just a bit longer. He needs that extra protection. It is going to get even colder in the next few days. The kids will get off of school one extra day, extending their Christmas vacation yet one more day. The schools have already decided to stay closed on this coming Monday. It will be a high of -11ºF with a windchill as low as -45ºF that day. That is just too dangerous for little and big people to be waiting for a bus or to be outside at all!

I received a lovely package in the mail from Anne yesterday. A beautiful Christmas card, great tea that we have all enjoyed, one of her sweet, little crocheted snowflake ornaments, and just look at that beautiful pillow made just for me! Oh Anne, it all so very nice, but that pillow really, truly touched my heart.

Thank you my friend! I am so blessed to call you my sister in Christ.

I do not take part in the TUSAL thing, but I do save my orts. I put them out for the birds in the spring. =) They use them to build soft, pretty nests!

These are my 2013 orts in a 10 inch tall vase.

I am going to pick up Theotokos again. I, um, took a small break already. I have not stitched a poodle in quite some time and just wait til you see these two cuties I am working on!! One done, one to go. They are small. One is apricot and one is grey. Imagine that! ;)

I continue to use the Voltaren gel for extra pain relief. It helps some. I go to the pain PA in less than 2 weeks now. I hope to get my Neurontin increased in dosage at that time. Thank you for your prayers and concern.♥

Keep warm my friends! Behold the Lord's glory and you will grow in grace.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie