Merry Christmas!

 Christmas is almost here!  I would like to be like the little girl above and go caroling amongst the falling snow in a perfect Christmas outfit!  I would sing my favorite carol which is Joy to the World!  There are so many truly wonderful Christmas songs....what a beautiful time of year this is.  

Of course, every year, I am never ready!  I have great visions of the perfect decorations, perfect gifts and spending lots of time with loved ones.  Not all of it gets done; but what does get done is very special. 

 A true highlight of my Christmas season was getting together with my stitching friends!  Here we are at Karin's beautiful home.  We spent time gifting each other with wonderful presents, stitching, eating and just generally basking in the glow of being together.

Several of us did an ornament exchange.  Here are the treasures that were exchanged!


Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!!!

Well, I'll Be......

Phew.....I thought it was curtains for me and my blogging days.  I received that message yesterday about not being able to upload more photos and put out the SOS to you all.  Thanks for all of the comments and help!!!!!  

I sat down tonight and was determined to figure it out...I spent the last 30 minutes on Photobucket and that was fun.  I barely scratched the surface of that.  Then I came back to the blog and tried to upload pictures like I normally do because I still could not figure out how to do it with Photobucket and lo and behold....they uploaded just like usual.  I don't know if this is a temporary reprieve or what...but I will take it.  

I wanted to show you that over the last few weeks I have been drawn back to making cards and stamping.  I saw this new paper collection by October Afternoon - Make it Merry and I just had to have it!!!  Above is a card I made using different papers from the collection.  I put it in the mail to my Mom.  She is always my #1 fan so I knew she would love it.   

Above is the first card I made.  I was just fooling around with stamps, etc. and this one came together with a collage sheet I had been hoarding for about 4 years.  It is from Red Lead in St. Louis.  I sent this one to my friend Dorothy because we have an inside joke about Ellen Clapsaddle.  She is the artist of the image on this card.

At one point I had been making Christmas tags using family pictures.  I ran across this one which has a picture of my cousin Bobby and me with my brother Todd in a doll carriage.  This just melts my heart!

Here is my secret craft for this year.  I purchased some vintage Christmas Seals from Ebay and I am turning them into gift tags.  Fun, Fun, Fun.  Here are some tags in their first stage.  They need some stamping and some "ribboning,"  but they are going to be great fun to make.  This new little task has even turned into a Stamping Up order for the first time in years.  I needed more red cardstock and that also turned into getting a new table top paper cutter.  UPS should deliver all of that on Wednesday and I will be back in business.

As I was driving today thinking about the fact that I no longer could easily add pictures to my blog I seriously thought about packing it in.....but then I got home, started listening to music, and reading other blogs....I was overwhelmed by all the love, friendships and joy blogging has brought to me.   I will have to work through this technical glitch.  

Happy December everyone!!!!

Rats!

I was all set to update my blog today.  And I got a message that I had used up all my space to add pictures to the blog.  I do not want to have a blog entry without pictures!!!!!  I have to figure this out.  One way is to spend a certain amount of money each month to upload pictures...and I don't want to do that.  I am kind of having a panic attack about this whole thing.........will be back as soon as I figure this out.  There is talk of Picasa and Monkey Pic or something when I looked on line to figure this out.  I don't even know what they are talking about.   Rats.

I thought I was a genius because I could figure out how to get my pictures from my camera to the blog.....

December 2012 Small

Here is what is going over on the 2012 Year of Smalls blog!  This month's pick is Christmas Songbirds Ornament by Historic Stitches.  Absolutely stunning!  Cathy of Inspired Needle picked this month's small, stitched it and finished it beautifully!!!

Here is a picture that shows you the size/scale of the ornament as you can see it grouped with a darling pair of Christmas scissors.  (Santa, if you are seeing this could you put a pair of these scissors in your pack for me?) 

As you can see....this is a two-sided ornament so you can add a personalization on the back. 

Cathy has kits available for this ornament at the shop.   The pattern calls for 32 count linen which makes the size of the ornament 3-1/2" x 3-1/2".  

Included in the kit will be the two pieces of 32 count linen you will need to stitch the front and back, Gentle Arts Buckeye Scarlett floss and, of course, the chart from Historic Stitches.

Kit prices are as follows:

14 count aida kit is $17.00

28/32/36 count linen kits are $19.00

40 count linen kits are $23.00

In addition to being a beautiful ornament, this looks like a fun stitch too!!!  

Click HERE to be taken to the Inspired Needle website and you can order a kit!

FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY CONTEST!!! - Winners Announced

WINNERS -  Gee, I wish we had candles for everyone....thanks for all of the responses and the great book titles!  I did a random number generator and the winners are as follows:

First Prize:  Lorrie of A Stitcher's Snippets 

Second Prize:  Terri of Rosy Stitches

Third Prize:  Cherise of From the Rubber Room 

If each of you winners could please email me at duetabode@comcast.net with your mailing addresses I will pass that on to Peter and Juwels so they can send out your package of happy!
 
Congratulations to the winners and thanks for the comments from everyone.  Thanks especially to Pollen Arts for making this happen!

____________________________

Remember those fabulous candles I won from Pollen Arts??????  Well, that wonderful twoesome from Pollen Arts contacted me and offered a giveway of their candles on my blog!!!!!  Can you believe how cool they are???  There are three prizes!!!!   Above is First Prize!

 This is Second Prize!

And this is Third Prize!

Oh my goodness!  I am so excited!!!!!!!!  

TO ENTER....please leave me a comment with one of your favorite book titles (I love to know what books people love!).  Make sure I have your email address so that I can pass it on to Peter and Juwels of Pollen Arts.   I will print out all of the names of the entrants and then randomly pick three of them out of the hat on Friday evening after 5 p.m.  

Then, whether you win or not, please go to the Pollen Arts Etsy shop........Click HERE to be taken to the shop.

That way you can see all of the great candles they make and order some for Christmas presents.  I really can't say enough how cool they are!    And if you mention Maude and Mozart at  the Pollen Arts checkout you will receive a freebie candle!!!!  That little deal is good through Nov 17, 2012. 

Here is a link to their blog:   The Winnebago Diaries.  Be sure to read about the Winnebago project!!!  They rehabbed a 1975 Winnebago into such a gorgeous place to live!!!!  I would love to go driving around the country in that Winnie!!! 

Okay, good luck to all!!!  Happy candle dreaming!!!!

Inspired Needle Retreat Part Three

On Saturday Patti and I went to lunch at this fabulous Coffee House.  It was nicely quiet and off the beaten path by one block.  Totally fabulous!  I will be going back here every time I come to Shipshewana.  I loved this coffee lady statue in the window!!!!!!

I tried to put these pictures in order....but you know how that goes....so, here, following, is a potpourri of images of the retreat.

Anna and Ranae had these cute cups of pop from across the street from the hotel.

 Anna was working on this beauty from Ink Circles.

Barb H. was working on this beauty.  Falling Snow Sampler by Threadwork Primitives.  This became a priority on a lot of people's to do list.  

Barb R. was working on this gorgeous work by Jeanette Douglas.  This was especially nice of her because it is a piece her husband requested that she do and it is not an easy stitch!

And now a word about new friends........this was Kellie's (on the left) first retreat.  We are lucky that she lives near to us and can hang out with us all the time.   Kellie and I roomed together and we had so much fun.  She also took good care of me because I was not feeling well for most of the retreat.  Booo!  Kellie is a trained chef and a very lovely person who is just the best!   On the right is the world famous, Vonna!!!!!  She drove up from Bloomington, IN (which is about four hours away from Shipshewana).  Her blog is The Twisted Stitcher (but you probably already know that!).  Vonna is a dear person who is also extremely hilarious.  We had a great time and we all wish we lived closer!

Here is Brenda's scimshaw whale needleminder.  We have all swooned over this for the past couple of years.  It is laying atop a gorgeous stitch wallet made by Natalia from Stitch 4 Joy. 

One of the trunk shows that Cathy had at the show was By the Bay.  I love this piece and I especially loved the way it was framed. 

Oh, and I also really love this little whale!!!!!  He looks like he would swim by you, wave, and blow a spout of water in a friendly greeting!

Another trunk show was Cherrywood Designs.  She finishes her delightful projects in such unique ways.  Gorgeous.

Here are Ranae and Diane.  Ranae was the lucky person who received Diane's small in the smalls exchange on Friday night.  The pattern is by La D Da. 

 Diane was working on Thomas Turkey by Notforgotten Farm.  Love!!! 

Here is the totally fabulous retreat gift from Cathy.  Dovo scissors!  Darling scissor fob and fabulous wooden scissor stand.  Love!!!!

 Another shot of Jane Pattison wool fibers  I am still obsessing over these.

 Here are some shots of the smalls!  Yum Yum!!!

 Here are Kellie, Vonna, Jayne and Brenda......gorgeous girls!  Note that Kellie is trying to run away with the whale needleminder!

 Here are the gals of our table.

 We had many fiber/fabric conferences at the table in front of the shop goods. 

 Here are two girls that always help me out in so many ways!!! Patti and Karin.

 Here are Katrina and Karin showing off their new Dovo scissors!!

 My roomie and me!!

 Hugs were the order of the day!

Okay, I hate this picture of me....but....it sure is a good one of Cathy of Inspired Needle and Vonna of The Twisted Stitcher.

I was working on the top left design on this chart all weekend.  Did not get very far needless to say!

Here is Nancy with her Kentucky Wildcats piece that she is working on for a family member.

Here are Pat and Linda.  They are holding the retreat gift in its very cute pre-unwrapped status.   Please note that we are still loving and using our Vera Bradley Kiss and Make Up cosmetic kits for our stitching needfuls.  I think Vera needs to bring those back into production.

Oh, back to Saturday lunch that Patti and I had.  I loved these two diet Cokes that we received.

 Anna, Ranae and Patti.

 Ranae and Barb R.  Barb received Ranae's most gorgeous small. 

 Ranae was working on Old Glory by Rosewood Manor.

 The smalls table before picking.  Cutely wrapped!

 This is Kellie's Thistle needleminder.  I am putting this one on my list.

This is my treenware bowl!!!!  I have wanted one since last year when a bunch of my friends purchased one in Shipshewana.  I am going to put my smalls in it!!!!!  Love!!!  The bowls are handmade in North Carolina.

You know that this has to be the Grand Finale picture!!!!!!  Vonna standing on a chair and being crazy!!!  We had tons of fun and this pretty much illustrates all of the craziness that went on!!!!!!  I love all of my stitching friends so much!!!!  

Thanks Cathy and thanks to all of my great friends!!!