Whew - I'm Back!

After a very frustrating time of trying to resolve the issues on my home network - I think it is all finally working!

I haven't forgotten my giveaways - I'll hopefully post about that tomorrow.

First, some overdue acknowledgements:
I was thrilled to win Day 9 of the 13 Days of Halloween Giveaway over on Missy's blog. Her presentation was charming:

And look at all the goodies! Can you see the bat stickpin in the second photo? Mega cute!


















Thank-you, Missy. I love it all!






Then, I was lucky enough to win a copy of Simon's Cat from Daffycat. Besides being beautifully wrapped in the ladybug paper you see in the photo, she included a heart charm - I have a project in mind for it! Sharon, thanks a million - I'll let you know what the grands think of the book - I know I'll enjoy it.




Monique received the Needle Book that I stitched for her for the Tiny Treasures Needle Book Exchange, so I can post a picture of that.


The design was a freebie months ago on Danybrod's site - I thought it adorable.



Here's a before photo of the EMS Rose Sampler SAL that I stopped working on last year:


And an update tonight of the progress I've made over the last ten days or so:

I'm stitching this in hand - and so it looks fantastically wrinkled right now! This is one of the projects in the basket by my comfy chair that I want to finish before the end of the year.

And last, but not least - my TUSAL update:

Better late than never! I am having to push down on the orts as I place them in the jar, but I think it will last until the end of the year (I hope!).

I have a gazillion blog posts to catch up with, and mega-dozens of emails, so that will be all for tonight.

Thank-you for visiting my blog today.

ETA: Blogger is driving me crazy with the way it handles photos - and it's a very short trip!

Friday 56 6 Nov 2009 and Giveaway Winners

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

The book closest to me is The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.

When he’d been a lot younger, there had been a certain excitement in seeing the sigils glowing with magick as they hung in the air before him; there was even a kind of aesthetic pleasure in creating them, for like ornamental writing they were pretty in an austere, yet baroque fashion.


Giveaway Trivia Answer: Gingerbread Girl by Waxing Moon Designs (no one hazarded a guess) and here is a pic of my finished ornies. I did change the little girls dress to have a white collar (the design had the plaid continue across the yoke of her dress).

The Winners: Not too many entries - was it too complicated? But the lucky few had increased chances of winning thereby!

None of my DGS was interested in doing the drawing - so my DDIL did the drawing for me. Without further ado - the winners:

For the books: Blu said...

Entry 1 for both. The books, because hey, there's no such thing as too many books. And the kit, because that plant looks like something my aunt would like on her walls...

For the kit: Blu said...

Entrys 2 & 3 since I'm a follower!

Please email me your snail mail address so I can get your prizes in the mail!

I'll be posting another giveaway Sunday - so be looking for it as I share some of my blessings with you.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sweet Dreams finished crochet and other projects

I originally found this chart here, but when you follow the link to Sweet Dreams, AOL hometown has been shut down, so I have no idea who the original designer was. I suspect it was Priscilla’s Crochet.

Oh, look what I found: the new site for Priscilla's Crochet! Isn’t Google wonderful? And Sweet Dreams is listed under her freebie filet samplers!
And look what else I found for sale when I was googling. Wonder if Priscilla knows about it?

I'm finishing this as a pillow - hope to have a pic for you tomorrow.

I've also finished the little ornaments I was working on - but since they are the subject of the Trivia Question in my on-going giveaway, I can't show you a pic of the finish until Friday.

And last for tonight, I've decided to make some more floss wallets for Christmas Gifts - and there may even be one in my giveaways this month! Hmmmmm - we'll just have to see about that.

100th Post (it's about time)

Woo-hoo! Here it is: my 100th post.

All Souls Day William-Adolphe_Bouguereau

It also happens too be All Soul's Day (or day 3 of El Día de los Muertos) - so don't forget to say a prayer for your family members who have departed.

You may remember that I'm in the midst of cleaning and sorting my craft room. That is resulting in a stack of craft supplies that I know I'm never going to use. What I didn't share previously is that it's all part of a Grand Scheme - and all parts of our home are undergoing cleaning and sorting. I have stacks of another person's treasure all over my house.

I have so many blessings in my life and I would like to spend the month of November sharing some of my blessings with you. So, to celebrate reaching this milestone, I've decided to have a serial giveaway. What's that? You may well ask. Haven't you enjoyed the giveaways hosted by Missy, Jolene and Cameo? Mine is a variation on the theme:

1. Every few days in November, I will post an item or two for giveaway. Each giveaway will end three days after it starts, and I'll give you the ending date on each post.
2. Comment on that post to be entered into a drawing for that day's item(s).
3. If you are or become a follower on my blog - that will get you another 2 entries. Comment again to tell me so.
4. Post about that day's giveaway - get another 2 entries! To keep me straight, I'll have to ask you to comment again and give me the link.
5. Each giveaway day will have a Trivia Question (the answer given when I announce the winner!). Answer correctly in a comment - 1 more entry.
6. I will send internationally - I already have friends all over the world and I wouldn't mind a few more!
7. Please make sure I can contact you - either through your blog or by including an email address.

Now, that's 6 chances of winning that you can be eligible for. I will be drawing each giveaway's winner the old fashioned way - by having one of my grandchildren draw a name out of the Magic Basket. So, if you qualify, your name will be in there six times!

The Giveaways:

OK, enough blathering. First up today are two hardback books: Shadowmancer and Wormwood, both by G. P. Taylor. Remember that these are from my personal collection and are not new, although they are in very good condition. Both books will be going to one lucky winner.

I also have a Dimensions kit - and yes, I'm not ashamed to say I bought it on clearance! But I am ashamed that I bought it - it's not my style at all! This is a complete kit with 14 ct beige aida and thread.

You can enter for either the books, or the kit, or both!

Trivia:
I've got a current WIP that I scanned just because I thought it looked funny at this particular stage.You can blame this on my clean-up efforts - I found a scrap of aida from another project that was the perfect size for these ornaments. The one on the left is an adaptation by me, but the one on the right will be an accurate reflection of the designer's chart. Your mission - identify the designer! Hint - I pulled the chart from my huge collection of online freebies, and I saved it on 15 November 2003.

Entries will be closed at midnight, CST on Thursday, 5 November 2009.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today - and Good Luck!

The Friday 56 - 30 October 2009

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

The book closest to me is Dragon Harper by Anne and Todd McCaffrey

All of his half-formed dreams of kissing Kelsa, of dancing through the night with her, maybe even of partnering with her, vanished as he absorbed that.

I missed posting a 56 last week – RL got in the way.

What good books have you read lately?

_______________________________________________________________

Change of subject: it’s taken me a long time – over three years – but this is post # 99! I do plan a giveaway for my 100th post – so watch this space.
_______________________________________________________________

I received the two charts I ordered from Tanya – they are so wonderful! It’s going to be hard resisting starting them right away (I have no willpower – lol!).

Thanks for stopping by today.

Craft Room Clean-up

For the past year or so, what with family in the hospital (everyone is home and well at the moment, Praise the Lord), my craft room has suffered badly from neglect. That doesn't mean I stopped crafting - oh no, never that! - but it does mean that I wasn't faithful to put supplies back in the proper spot, or even to put away new purchases. And it seemed that everytime we needed to quickly straighten the house - odd bits got tossed into Mama's Craft Room to be put away properly later. My stash diet has meant that there are no recent purchases to be sorted, but the clean-up is taking a while. Here's a pic of what goes out for the garbage pick-up today: The blinds aren't going - they are just down to be cleaned. I didn't take a "before" picture of the craft room - it was too depressing - lol! and the room is not yet ready for an "after" picture, which is another story....

I signed up for SALsuffit mostly to encourage myself to finish off projects that have been hidden away (mostly by the mess - lol!) - but first I needed to find them! One thing I had been wanting was a largish container to sit near my stitching chair to keep WIPs in - so they would be near to hand when the stitching bug bit! I found this basket at the local thrift store, and I think it's perfect! That's five WIPs/UFOs (that I selected from among too many!) in the basket, and Ive set a goal of finishing all five before the end of the year. Wish me luck!

If, like me, you have a surfeit of WIPs/UFOs, join me in a finishing challenge: Five by 2010! If you'd like to participate - add a comment below. At the beginning of January 2010 - we'll look around and see how many of us met the goal - and I'll devise a little crafty prize to award by drawing from all names. On your honor, now - don't include newly started projects - only current WIPs/UFOs allowed.

I'll continue posting finishing ideas here if you need some inspiration - lol!

Thanks for visiting today!

ps - this is post #98

Long and Filled with Pictures - You Have Been Warned!

Over the past several months, I've won several giveaways - and have been remiss in acknowledging them here. So that's first:

Belinda sent me a mini heart shaped yo-yo maker. I'm currently working on a project featuring it - hope to have pictures of the project soon!


Bonnie had a wonderful giveaway - and to my amazement - I won! Look at all the goodies: Two kits (my children are trying to take possesion of the wizard - but I'm holding tight!), an Omnibook of Flying charts, a beautiful biscornu chart, and a set of Kreinik silk floss in Christmas colors!


And last, but not least, Cameo hosted a serial giveaway (I'm not sure how many days it ran!) with daily winners - and I won two charts: Thank Heavens for Little Boys (with four DGS - it's perfect for me) and a Janlynn Anniversary chart, that I hope to have stitched by next June for our 38th wedding anniversary!



Something New: I spotted this button on Tanya's blog and I think you should check it out too (the image should be clickable - I hope!).

New Giveaways (at least new to me - lol!)

Daffycat's 2nd Blogoversary - she's giving away a copy Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield to two lucky readers

Kathy is having a One Year Blogging Anniversary giveaway - and she's being very generous! She's giving two prizes - and I would love to have either one!

Geta is a quilter extraordinaire! Go and see the shadow trapunto tabletopper quilt she is giving away.

And finally (for tonight, at least!), Sherry is giving away not one, but two Quaker charts by the Workbasket.

I'll be posting links for all of these over on the right, so you could also click there.

Exchanges:

Monday, the mailman was very good to me! He brought this beautiful Needle Book from Pokua in Western Australia. We're currently exchanging Needle Books and Humbugs at TTE, Too.

And, not to be outdone, Sheila (no blog?) sent me this absolutely stunning ornament for the EMS 6th Annual Holiday Ornament Exchange.

Whew! If you've stuck with me this long, I thank-you! And I want to remind you about the 13 Days of Halloween giveaway - today is Day 9!

I hope I've remembered everything I wanted to say today - if not, tomorrow is another day - right?

Thanks for visiting today!
ps: this is post #97

Two More Giveaways

To be perfectly honest - I thought about not posting this - I'd love to win both - and the fewer entries the better my chances - right?
But here I am, letting you know I found these so you can have a chance too. The soul of generosity, that's me - lol!

First up is Craftymoo (Sarah) who accidentally purchased two lots - her mistake is some lucky stitcher's gain! And she's even including fabric! How sweet is that?


And then there is April (whom I know thru TTE, Too) - she's been inspired by all the other giveaways in blogland to have her own generous giveaway. It's a MYSTERY, but she lists an incredible number of things she's including, not the least of which is something stitched by her very own self. Good for you April!

I did the finishing for my Holiday Ornament Exchange over at the EMS Board, so it's ready to go in the mail Monday. Next on the stitching schedule is the Humbug for TTE, Too.

I've been trying to decide how to finish I'm Wicked - I stitched this on a scrap of dark blue aida - and only today when I hauled out some orange fabric did I realize that would give it the wrong team colors (you have to be an Alabama Football fan - Roll Tide! - to understand).

I've also been sorting out my craft room - a daunting task - and looking for the old, old piece I want to finish before the end of the month for SALsuffit.

I'm putting a few stitches in the EMS Rose Sampler SAL from 2008 tonight. I had to put it down last year when my eyesight deteriorated (all fixed now - yea!), and only recently got it back out so I can (hopefully) finish it before the end of this year. This is the last progress picture from last year - and it literally had not been touched in a year - I'm so ashamed, because I love this piece. Do you have something languishing in your stash that you want to get out and stitch?

My stash diet was truly broken last night - temptation won! I ordered two charts from The Sampler Girl (they were on sale!): Jane Austen on the Weather (which I fell in love with the first time I saw it) and The Witch School Sampler 1821 (ditto!). I will probably tell DH, "Look what you got me for Christmas!" - lol! Please tell me I'm not the only one to break my diet. You've done it too, haven't you?

Thanks for visiting today!

ps: post #96

Enablers of the First Order

Tanya has nearly broken my stash diet - and there are still about 18 hours left of her sale Here. I don't think I'm going to be able to resist the temptation. Get thee behind me, temptation - and don't push! lol!


Jolene continues her weekly giveaways. This week is So Much to Be Thankful For and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling her three things you are thankful for. Sounds easy, right? But how do I decide which three things to list? I have so much in my life that I'm thankful for!


Flo has a link to this giveaway - what a cute lapinette! Virg is offering to dress her to suit the winner. I always love visiting Flo's blog - so inspiring!


Svetta is having a SAL over on her blog (Thank-you, Google Translate!) If I understand correctly, she plans to finish this in a week! Svetta is an online friend I met over at TTE, Too.


I read someone's comment (somewhere?) that this seems to be the season for giveaways. I don't know if it's the upcoming holidays, or a reaction to uncertain economic times, but it goes to prove that we have a huge community of wonderful people in Blogland.

So, what's going on in your neck of the woods?

Thanks for visiting today!

ps: Post # 95!

Unfortunately....

Annie had this on her blog – it looked like fun, so I tried.

The idea is to type unfortunately followed by your first name into Google or your favorite search engine, and see what you get.

Here are the first ten for me:
1. Nita was unable to provide for herself financially.
2. Nita ***** folded like a cheap camera and relinquished her own quest for the Senate to allow Her Highness to take that position.
3. Nita was on holiday during out stay but Mike looked after us very well!
4. Nita said her goodbyes at this campout because she's leaving next month to accept a new job and oversee the constructing of their new home.
5. Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association (NITA)
6. Nita stayed with the Follies for a long while, gradually becoming one of their leading attractions.
7. Nita ****** is a nice grandma with a sweet ride: a seafrost Jaguar!
8. The NITA Foundation is pleased to award a scholarship …
9. Nita **** dunked me on her first ball tossed
10. Unfortunately this caused Nita to break off her engagement to him; she can't bring herself to love a clown.

If you decide to play, be sure to leave a comment so I can visit your blog and see your results.

Don’t forget Missy’s 13 Days of Halloween Giveaway – today is Day 4.

I received the charts I won in Cameo’s recent giveaway – no pics yet, but I can’t wait to stitch them both. {But they will have to wait until after Christmas – I just can’t eke out any more stitching time :-( }

No stitchy pictures today - I'm still working on exchanges!

ps - if you're wondering, this is post #94!

Thanks for visiting today.

edited to add: if you are a woman of a certain age, visit Jennifer's blog today for a much needed ROTFLMAOASTC!

Great Giveaway!

Brenda over at Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe is having a fantastic fat quarter giveaway. I drooled all over my keyboard!

Just click on her logo above to go and visit and find out how to
sign up.  Entries close at midnite EST on Halloween.

In other happenings - I was finishing the Needle Book for the
TTE Too Needle Book Exchange this evening.
It seemed the further I got into the finishing the less I liked it.
So I de-finished it (you know what I mean - lol!), and started the
finishing over again.
Much happier now - but it won't go in the mail tomorrow as I had
hoped.
Sigh.

Thanks for visiting today.

Missy's 13 Days of Halloween starts Today

Missy's 13 Days of Halloween starts Today!

Here's a teaser from today's post:





It does look like it will be spooktastic!

Thanks for visiting today.

TUSAL October

It's the new moon - and that means it's time for a TUSAL update. As you can see, my jar is getting pretty full. Let's see, the purpley-blue is from - no, can't tell you about that one - it's for an exchange. How about the pink - nope, that's for an exchange too. The green and dark shell pinks - oops, another exchange. Seems that all I've done in the past month has been exchange stitching!

Wait, I have one I can share. I had a hard time sleeping the other night, and wanted to do a little cross stitching - but not something that would keep me from heading to bed when I got sleepy. This filled the bill: I'm Wicked - a freebie from Stitches 'N Stones Cross Stitch. It's stitched on 14 count dark blue aida with DMC Color Variations floss, and I plan to finish it as a little door knocker. It would have taken no time at all to stitch, but I ended up frogging the W twice!
It was nowhere on my stitching schedule (every moment is scheduled between now and Christmas - how about you?), but since it wasn't scheduled stitching time (insomnia doesn't count!), I don't feel even a twinge of guilt.

I'm really proud that I've been sticking to my stash diet - everything I've been stitching has come straight out of my stash. But I am going have to break down and buy a few skeins of floss - I'm running low on some I'll need for Christmas stitching. And, since this is Post # 91 - I'm looking at de-stashing some things for my 100th post give-away, but I may need to purchase a few things to round out my prizes.

Last weekend was my 2nd DGS's birthday. Like all 9-year-olds, he's Transformers mad. I thought the cake was u-g-g-l-y, but he loved the whatch-ma-callit Transformer on the top (sorry - I can't remember this one's name).
I don't know why all kids like to make hand signs for pics - it's a kid thing!

That's my warm and cuddly pink fleece robe thrown over the chair in the TUSAL picture - we have the first freeze warning of the season for tonight, so I'm keeping snuggly things handy!

That's 'bout all the news this time around.

Thanks for visiting today!

The Friday 56 - 16 October 2009

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!


The book closest to me is The Alibi by Sandra Brown:

One couldn’t help what he’d been born into, but if he didn’t like it, he knew instinctively that he was destined for bigger and better things, he could sure as hell shake one image and create another.

_______________________________________________________________

Change of subject: it’s taken me a long time – over three years – but this is post # 90. I do plan a giveaway for my 100th post – so watch this space.
_______________________________________________________________

And I was looking at some old pics and found this one from a long-ago Easter. That’s two-year-old me on the left.We are not being shy - anyone else remember being forced to stare into the sun in the days before flash cameras were common? Just wanted to share.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hearty Craft by Zinaida

Whilst blog hopping this evening, I happened upon Hearty Craft, an absolutely beautiful stitching blog by Zinaida in Siberia, Russia and simply had to share. Please go visit and see for yourself.

Of special interest to TTE members, look at this Humbug Freebie by Zinaida - it's absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks for visiting today.

My Little Monsters

The Friday 56 - 9 Oct 2009

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

The book closest to me is The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown:

The shocking discovery, it seemed, paralleled the ancient spiritual belief in a “cosmic consciousness” – a vast coalescing of human intention that was actually capable of interacting with physical matter.

I have to say that I’m not enjoying The Lost Symbol as much as Angels and Demons or The Da Vinci Code. The writing is staccato (notwithstanding the quote above – lol!) and while I’m about halfway through, there have been several chapters that are only two pages long! It reminds me far more of Digital Fortress and Deception Point.
YMMV!

Thanks for stopping by today.