A Winner, Some Progress and some Finds

Dear friends,

I'm sorry I'm late in posting the winner - it's been all kinds of crazy 'round here. I haven't had time to really read or comment too much but I hope to remedy that soon. This was an easy draw - only 34 comments and not everyone was interested so I just asked Rob to pick a number between 1 and 34. My random number generator, Rob picked lucky number 13! Guess what, lucky number 13, SIOBHAN passed so I had to ask him to pick again..... Lucky number 20! That's you, MICHELE!! If you will please email me your address, I'll get this out as soon as I can. I guess Miss Kitty is not overly popular but I hope you'll like her, Michelle. I enjoyed making her!

Here's my progress on Be Kind & Be True. I was going great guns and then kind of hit a wall - did a bit of beading and a few other things but will get back to it soon (maybe tonight)! I've got to re-do their eyes - they're kind of lopsided (like mine) one is bigger than the other (like mine) and they're just plain wonky (like mine). Heck, maybe I'll just leave 'em be.


Here are a few of the goodies I've found at estate sales and antique markets of late. Love the little suitcases and the red one with the label inside is my favorite.

This one is black, faux croc with a great lucite handle.


This is the red one - the red in the 2nd picture is a more true reflection of the color.



Love these glass shakers full of bells, beads and pearls:


I found this pretty sewing basket at an estate sale with my friend, Sheila. Isn't it pretty? I always feel kind of bad going into an estate sale and plowing thru peoples things. The things at the sale are those items nobody wanted. I always feel good when I find something like this that is obvious the owner loved and took care of. I will give it a good home!



This is what I'm totally jonesing for right now - the Desert Rose dishes by Franciscan. These were at the same estate sale as the basket - I love that woman's taste but these were a bit cost prohibitive. These were the really pretty, older ones that were made in the USA. Anyone have these that they don't want? I'd love to give them a good home!
These are the dishes that Jackie Kennedy chose for Air Force 1 which is what helped make them so popular in the 60's. I am so crazy about these that I'll start collecting one at a time if I have to. One of these days, I'll have a full set. I don't want the newer ones though. I want the vintage ones. You gotta start somewhere, right? So far, I have the salt and pepper shakers. Not much of a start but a start.

I found this sewing box at the Salvation Army for next to nothing. I couldn't pass it up and it makes a perfect side table and keeps all my sewing needs close at hand. I am going to have to do some room rearranging but I couldn't let this go.


Still has the made in Norway label.

These goodies were all bargains (wish the dishes had been) but oh well.... I just love finding a bargain!!! One persons junk is most definitely someone else's treasure. I am not a hoarder. I am not a hoarder. Do you hear me, Julie? I am not a hoarder.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a picture of Sophie and Gracie enjoying our fabulous Michigan weather:
Here's Gracie sprawled out on the patio. No hip problems here!


And here's Miss Sophie surveying her kingdom (such as it is):


I hope you're all having a lovely summer - we're enjoying PERFECT Michigan weather right now - high 70's, breezy and fabulous. Speaking of which, it's getting time for our evening walk so I'm going to have to wrap this up. Sophie is very demanding!

Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet notes, too! I hope you have a great rest of the week and a wonderful 4th of July weekend if you're in the US!

Peace,
Terri

A Giveaway, A New Car and a Quick Trip!

Dear friends,

Have you all been visiting the amazing craft rooms/studios that are being shared in the "Where Bloggers Create Party (WBC)"? OMG, there are some awesome spaces with great ideas that I plan to steal, 'er borrow. Did you find a new way to organize, display or create something? If you haven't seen any of them, check out the WBC link on my right sidebar.

In addition to stitching, I have also been beading a little bit lately. I made this cute "Hello Kitty" pendant and thought it might make a good giveaway. I would like to open this up to any of my followers as a thank you for following my little blog (a lot of new ones as a result of the WBC party - thank you!). I know - I'm old enough to be so over HK but I just love the graphic design of her. This little pendant, a bit bigger than a quarter, is made up of 81 Swarovski crystals and is stuffed with beads so that it stays puffy. Yep, she's two sided and cute, cute, cute, if I do say so myself! If you are a follower, and would like a chance to win her, please leave a comment on this post telling me you'd like to have her for your very own. I will draw the winner on Saturday afternoon, at around noon Eastern Standard Time. I am happy to ship wherever! I need to let you know that the pendant does not include the silver necklace - you're on your own for that - a pink ribbon would be lovely, too! If you don't want to wear her, she'd also make a great scissor fob or "dangly thingy" to put on something. For me, I'm wearing her - she's so cute and sparkly. What's not to love about sparkly, right?

As always, you can click the pics to enlarge if you so desire.



I also made this little fob to go on the girly scissors for a non-blogger friend. Aren't these scissors the cutest things?


Last week the four of us flew to Virginia. My parents gave my DS Tyler, their old car. It's a Crown Victoria and he couldn't be more thrilled. My mom (we call her Marme) and dad had a big bow tied around it so when we got to their house it was ready and waiting. My mom wrote a sweet note for Tyler from the car telling him how it didn't like to go fast, how it had had its oil changed regularly and that it was a safe car that liked to be driven gently. Do you think that'll make a difference? I've made a copy of the letter and tucked it in the glove box - maybe it'll bring good karma. The car is silver and it's BIG. I wanted to call it The Silver Bullet (you know, the Coors Beer reference) but we thought better of that and have been calling it the Boat. Tyler loves it and all his friends love it, too. It's in great shape both inside and out and it'll be a great first car that I hope will last him a LONG time. Remember, this is the kid that wrecked my older son Matt's car.




Thanks, Marme (and Poppa, too)!


While we were in Colonial Heights, my mom and I did a lot of antiquing and had such a good time together shopping in Richmond. The boys and Rob and my dad golfed. While out with my mom, I bought a few things but haven't taken pictures yet. Rob and I got to spend a day together while the boys chilled out with Marme and Poppa. We went to theThe Rivah Festival in Tappahannock. It was about an hour and a half drive from my folk's house and, as it turns out, way too freakin' hot for this displaced southerner. It was like 95 degrees and just too hot and muggy to be walking around! I did have a really good crab cake sandwich and some excellent bar-b-que though, so it was almost worth it. The stangest thing I saw while there were these crab races:




The crabs didn't look too happy and I felt very sorry for them. After the race, the crabs were destined for the boiling pot.

The town of Tappahannock was really pretty - right on the river and Rob and I had a good time walking around.

Do you see all that traffic coming over the bridge to the festival? It was crazy busy!!!

Finally, here's a picture of Rob and my folks. We managed to get my dad to smile but it wasn't easy. We were at the Olive Garden restaurant and had possibly the worst service EVER. We should have left but my boys can't stand to have a confrontation - funny, they don't mind having one with me..... As I was saying, my boys can't stand confrontation in public so we stuck it out. The food was pretty good but I won't be heading back there any time soon.



After all this, we headed home. We made the two hour trek to Ronald Reagan Airport, dropped Matt off at 815 AM. He flew home to Michigan so he'd get there in time for a class he's taking. Ty, Rob and I drove the boat home. It was a nice drive - the car rides great, and Ty got quite a bit of driving practice in. This was a really short visit and I wish I could have stayed longer so that I could have met up with some of my VA blogging friends. Maybe next time.......

I need to go work some more on Be Kind and Be True. I've stitched all the fun parts - the people, the verse, a bunch of letters but the rest of the tree is waiting. Hopefully a finish post next time.

Thanks for stopping by, thanks for all your comments on my room and a gigantic thank you for being a follower and a commenter! Love, love, love getting little notes from you!

Peace,
Terri

Play it Again, Sam!

Hello Dear Friends!

Some of you may have noticed the link on my sidebar for "Where Bloggers Create". If you clicked on it, you would have read that today, several hundred bloggers are sharing their creative spaces. I know many of you have already seen mine, but I wanted to participate in this fun event so I'm showing it again. Like any living thing (and I do think my craft studio is living), it changes constantly. For those of you that have visited before, perhaps you'll see something new. For those of you that haven't been here before ~ Welcome!

Come in, won't you?


Hmmmm.... maybe I should have left a light on for you!

Yes! That's better. The room, although in a basement, is bright and fun! The walls on three sides are a watermelon pink, the floor is a cranberry checkerboard and most of the accessories are an antique white. I love this space. It's the place I get to be surrounded by the colors and things I love. I hope you'll enjoy your visit.



This is my stitching chair and I love it! The old garden chair was in pretty bad shape until I painted it an antique white and had some pretty cushions made for it. It's comfortable and provides a great place to stitch or read. I have a matching one that I can bring into the room if a friend comes to visit. The space is filled with things I've made, received as gifts or found at flea markets or garage sales. Nothing is expensive but everything is priceless to me! The old pink bucket is my new waste basket and the table beside my chair was an ugly old piece that I painted and distressed.





I found carpeting to be just too big of a mess and decided to paint the floor. I used several coats of white and cranberry to create the checkerboard pattern and love how it turned out. Way easier to keep clean!



Did I mention that this is a small space? It's about 9 or 10 feet wide and deep. I've managed to pack a lot in this small space however.

This is the desk I use the most (There are two desk areas in the "L" shaped configuration of the room). It has a wonderful little cabinet on top that stores some of my collections and many of my treasures are displayed on top of it. My reference books are all close at hand on either side of the cabinet.














My little t.v. corner:



This is a little cabinet I got in the bath department of a major discount retailer. It fits in my small space and holds my collection of wooden cigar boxes which hold all kinds of crafty items, my tins and a big part of my button collection.




This is a Pottery Barn wrap station that originally held rolls of wrapping paper. I have since found an antique paper dispenser and have started using white paper to wrap all presents. So, this got a little makeover and is now a quilt rack for a favorite quilt made by a dear friend, and is now home to my tomato pin cushion collection and other goodies.














These heart pin cushions hang just above a favorite picture of my husband taken on a cruise we took a couple of years ago. Sweet!



This little niche has changed a couple of times but I think I finally have it right. It's a narrow space, too small for books but perfect for storing ribbon, buttons and other things.


spools of ribbon





A stitchers favorite accessory; a flower frog reinvented as a scissor frog - the perfect place to store all those essential embroidery scissors!


Jars of vintage buttons and a few more pin cushions!


This ribbon station was a gift from my mom and I just love it to store curling ribbon and rafia ribbon. Just under the ribbon is a set of wrough iron, swinging arm hooks that hold embroidery floss. I have a collection of DMC floss that is kept on the desk in the tall bins you may have noticed. The rolling cart, though not pretty, houses a lot of my stitching tools and pattern kits. Sitting on top are two vintage cases that hold fabric.


This is one of my favorite things:



I found this paper holder/cutter at an antique mall and just loved the color and had to have it. It has now been filled with white paper and is what I will use until it runs out! No more buying wrapping paper for me! I love to tie packages with twine and raffia so I took a couple of small funnells, attached them to the top with twine and have paper and twine readily at hand.




Thank you for stopping by! If you've been here before, I hope you weren't too bored. If you've never been here before, I'm so glad you came. Be sure to check out all the blogger participating in this fun event. You're sure to be inspired and will undoubtedly find an idea or two to borrow for your own space.

Peace,
Terri

Lo, a Lone, Red, Rose!

Dear friends,

I love to putter in the garden. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination; I just kind of stick things in the ground and they grow or they don't. I've planted a couple of rose bushes but I've never had one do this.... it's a yellow rose bush with one red rose coming from the main trunk. Have you ever seen this? This is on the side of my house and it is the only rose bush in sight. I do have a red rose bush in the front of the house but they are quite a distance from each other. This is the third year I've had this and it's the first time it has ever given me a red rose. Nope, the neighbors don't have ANY rose bushes! Anyway, here's a pic:


I got a wonderful package from FAYE!!! last week. I was lucky enough to win one of the pincushions she made! Isn't it wonderful? It is so pretty and has such a good weight to it and the colors are fabulous. Look:

How pretty is that? And look, the back is just as pretty!

The little pins she sent with it, were all tucked neatly in the hand made card and all wrapped up so pretty. I couldn't wait though and put them right in their new home. Aren't they just the prettiest, little things?! Thank you so much, Faye! I am absolutely thrilled to have this to add to my craft studio! If by chance, you haven't visited Faye's blog, please go have a look - she does the most beautiful work and has a post of her patriotic tree up right now that is so awesome - I'm green with envy!

I had my son draw a name from all those who commented on my last post and, once I confirmed that they had also commented on ANDREA's BLOG! I could announce the winner. The name Tyler picked is VINNIEY! Hey Vinniey, if you're reading this, please shoot me an email with your mailing address so I can mail you the chart. Thanks to all of you for playing along and a special thanks to Andrea for making it all possible. If you you've never visited Vinniey's blog - please go have a look. It's another wonderfully inspiring blog!

Do you recall when MELISSA & JANE stitched Be Kind & Be True as a stitchalong? Well, I fell in love with the sampler and just knew I had to do it one day! Well, that day has come because sweet Melissa sent me her chart. I started it this weekend and so far so good. Well, except for the part where I stitched the 0 too high and had to frog it. I'll fix that tonight and then move on. Thank you so much Melissa for sending me the chart - I am really going to enjoy this one. I, unlike my normal self, am stitching this exactly as charted with the called for DMC floss. It is on a piece of 32 count linen from SB but I have no idea the color name. I gotta tell you though - it looks huge to me after working on my Texie sampler on 35 count linen. Who would have thought that 3 threads per inch would make that much difference? Of course, the good part is, it's a lot easier on my old and tired eyes! I started this on Friday night and this is where I ended up earlier today:


Well, that's all the news that is news. Thank you for all the comments on my last post - I really appreciate them! The truth is, I look forward to checking to see if I got a new one (comment, that is). Do you do that, too? That thrill of blogging has not gotten old.

Have a great week dear friends - and go make some fun where you can!!

Peace,
Terri

Finishings, a Giveaway and Many Thanks!

Dear Friends,

Guess what? I've got a stitch finish to show you! Yeah!

Introducing the super fun to stitch, Sally Spencer sampler by Birds of a Feather (aren't all BOAF's fun to stitch!?), which I renamed the Texie sampler in honor of my paternal grandmother. All pics are clickable to enlarge and scrutinize ;-)


Texie had 5 kids (4 boys, one daughter) and all but one of the boys had the middle name Stuart. Her husband was Arthur Stuart Emery and my dad is James Stuart. My boys have the middle name Stuart as well which has a very long lineage which has been traced quite a long way back to Scotland. Anyone recognize the name Mary Stuart??? Anyway, I stitched my grandmother's name and birth year at the bottom and then Arthur's initials and all of Texie's kids initials over one in various places throughout the sampler. Since my dad is obviously a part of this sampler (JSE), and the main reason I stitched it, I added his wife's initials (yeah, she's my mom!) and those of their kids. That would be me, my brother and my sister.

Because I could, I included my initials in two places, once with my maiden name and then in the bottom left corner with my current initials. I think I will write all of the names the initials represent on the back of the sampler after I get her framed. I just happened to find the shoe mold in a store last weekend with Deb and Robin and thought, with the Stuart name on it, it was perfect to show with the sampler! Timing is everything!

This is stitched on 35 count, WDW linen; Mocha, with one thread over two. I made a few color substitutions but nothing too
drastic. I also added a couple of leaves/flowers in a few spots that were bare due to doing the initials over one. I can't wait to get it framed!

I have to show you the wonderful gift I got from my dear friend ANDREA!. This was a total surprise and I just couldn't love it more. Look at that sheep! How cute is he????

It is from a company called Cabin Craft by Cazan and I am now on the lookout for more of these. BTW, if you look at them on line - they're not nearly as cute as in person - trust me - they are darling!!!! I love him, Andrea!

She also sent the wonderful waxers that a friend of hers makes (and supplies to Elegant Stitch) ~ aren't they fabulous! I love them!!!

She also included an old fashioned pin book and two wonderful patterns by Beth Twist from Heartstrings Primitives. And I just had to save Andrea's perfect hang tag - how cute and appropriate is that? As it turns out, Andrea knows exactly what I like as I already had one of the patterns in my stash (My Home is Built on Glory). So, would you like to own this chart? If so, please leave a comment on my blog letting me know you'd like to stitch it. Oh, and here's the other thing you have to do - leave a comment on ANDREA'S BLOG thanking her for without her, you wouldn't have the opportunity! Makes sense, right? I will check to see if the person I draw has left comments in both places! If not, I'll draw again. If you're not a follower of Andrea's blog, go have a visit, and sign up to follow - she's a talented and wonderful woman that I am so glad to call a friend! What do you say we leave this open until this Friday, June 4th, at 9PM Eastern Standard Time? I'll draw a name then and post on Saturday or Sunday or whenever I get around to it, okay? Oh, and I'll find something extra to include for the winner that for now, shall be nameless! Yeah, you guessed it, no clue what that might be but it'll be a little somethin'!

Welcome to all of my new followers! I hope you'll come back time and again - I love doing this blogging thing even if I don't get around to posting as much as I'd like or have as much stitching to show as I'd like. Of course, I never promised this little piece of me would be ALL about stitching, did I?

And, a very special thanks to all of you who take an extra minute out of your day to leave me a comment on my blabberings. I really appreciate them and know that it takes time and isn't always easy to do. They really do mean a lot and they inspire me to keep on blogging and sharing my little piece of the world with you. What would be the point if nobody ever remarked on what you took the time to write? So here's what I'd ask of you; If you visit a blog out there with only a few comments, take a
second and leave one for them! I promise you, they do feel like "blog awards" every time you get a new note and the person you left the comment for will truly be thrilled (as I am with each and every one)!

Now for an apology.... many of you respond via email to every comment I make on your blogs and I appreciate it. Really, I do - it's wonderful to be acknowledged but, here's my problem... I just can't seem to find the time to respond to individual comments unless it's a specific question. I hope that doesn't seem rude to you, I don't mean for it to be. I don't know
how some of you do it - I know I'm not the only blogger that works full time, has kids, has a husband, piles of laundry, dirty carpets, piles of laundry, dust laden furniture, pets, a garden and more piles of laundry but I can't figure out how you all do it. I'd love to do that, but I just can't. I hope that my saying thank you here will suffice and that you know that I really, truly appreciate and look forward to every single comment! They are the best blogger awards!

Thank you and Peace,
Terri