Inspiration :)

Where does your inspiration come from?

For this project

I found my inspiration in a needlebook

that my Oma made for me

when I was a little girl.

As you can see,

it's been VERY well used :)

The entire front cover is all cross stitch.

I feel the love that went into this precious gift.

I don't think I'll ever use another one.

But it did start me thinking about

making needlebooks to cross stitch on.

I haven't seen them anywhere else,

so I got to work making a pattern.

You can unbutton the front cover

so that you can stitch your favorite design on it

and then button it back closed.

For my first one I used linen,

but I plan to make some with Aida as well.

I used wool felt for the inside

to stick your pins and needles in. 

Here's my own needlebook in action.........

yes,

its a mess,

but I use it 

A LOT!  

It makes my heart happy to think about

my Oma sitting in the backyard

stitching in the sunshine

making this just for me :)

These new cross-stitchable needlebooks

will be available soon in my shop.

No two will be alike.

For me, that's the fun in creating :)

Quick question:

If you were to purchase a stitchable item,

would you prefer linen or aida?

What is your favorite stitch count?

Thanks!

The kindness of others.....

Have you ever had "one of those days"

when you just can't wait to get home

so you can cry all by yourself?

Well, I sure had one today.

I was on my way home from the grocery store,

and I was within eyesight of the freeway on ramp

and my car died in traffic.

I mean dead, muerte, nil, nada.....

It suddenly smelled like something was burning

and the gas pedal didn't work 

I just slowly came to a stop in traffic!

First of all

I did what any woman with my skill 

and knowledge of cars would do.....

I panicked!

Cars around me started to honk at me

 as if I could do something about it.

My hazards are flashing for a reason folks!!!

Anyways,

One nice man stopped

 and helped me push it out of the way.

I was still shaking when  I called AAA.

They told me the tow truck would be about 30 minutes.

The nicest tow truck driver showed up 10 minutes later.

Super nice and funny too.

Win win :)

He said it looked like the engine was blown.

Great....awesome....fabulous.

Praise God we've already done our taxes

and I guess I know where the refund is going.

But it could always be worse.
It could have happened yesterday coming home from Irvine

on the freeway going 75 miles an hour.

But it didn't.....

God was watching over me,

I feel thankful.

Shaken, tearful, but thankful :)

Once I was home I had a good cry

and I opened the door to collect my mail

and look what I found!!!

This lovely package from one of my online friends Connie!

Thank you Thank you Thank YOU!!!

If there was EVER a day for chocolate...

this was the day!

Look how cute she embroidered

my name on the mug rug!

I love it so much.

Yes.....I ate all the chocolate already :) 

Don't judge...

it was a stressful day.

And since I am talking about the kindness of others,

I'll share a picture of another package I received last week

from my buddy Amy.

The flannel will become some cute jammie shorts

and how cute is that angel?

There was also a bar of chocolate 

from her recent trip to Switzerland

but you can already imagine what happened to that :)

And a jar of Jalapeno jelly she made

that my hubby made quick work of.

So even though this is not the way

 I would have planned this day to turn out,

I am thankful for caring friends,

my loving family,

and most of all

my God who loves me and kept me safe :)

Dare To Dresden Hop and Giveaway!

Welcome to Day 4 of the Dare To Dresden Hop!

For this hop I decided to make 

a MUCH needed new ironing board cover.

I made three 6" Dresdens 

and embroidered "wash" "press" "repeat"

in the centers :)

I used my old stained nasty  gently used cover

as the pattern.

Taking that sucker apart took way longer

than making the new one :)

Making Dresdens is totally FTS, (fun to sew)

but attaching them by hand is not my favorite thing.

I do love the final result,

so I guess it's worth it in the end. 

I'm one of the strange few that actually enjoys ironing

so this new cover just makes me happy :)

Now....on to the giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive

3 fat quarters of  Cotton Blossoms by Bonnie & Camille

and the Ruffle Potholder pattern by Sweetwater!

Anybody want this?

For your chance to win just leave me a comment

and tell me what crafty goodness you would work on

if time and money were no object.

You don't have to be a follower to enter,

but if you are....

leave a SEPERATE comment letting me know

for a second chance to win.

You have until Sunday Feb 3rd to enter.

Winner will be announced Monday Feb 4th.

Easy peasy :)

Don't forget to check out all the other

crafty bloggers showing their lovely Dresdens today!

A Peach in Stitches

Nancy W @ “that Other Blog”

L3 Designs

Bungalow Bay Quilts

Quilted Delights

Quilt Crossing

Lixie Makes it

A Quilting Sheep

Charlotte's Creations

Quilt-n-Queen
Domesticity and Other Ponderous Things

A Quilt and a Prayer

Amanda Murphy Design

Little Mushroom Cap
Kathy's Quilts

Sandra Kaye Design

So.....Whatcha doin?

I feel like I haven't had much time to blog lately.

But I'm not complaining.

Just the opposite.

I am thankful to have been busy :)

Today I had some time to play a bit.

I made this apron and listed it.

I do love me some cherries!

And here are 3 of the 6 new project bags in the shop.

I just realized when I posted these pics

that they are all fruit themed....

hmmm  I must have been feelin' fruity!

And last but not least

I'm working on a new project that involves

Christmas fabrics.

Yes.....in January :)

I'll show you more in a day or two.

So.....What have YOU been doin?

Welcome and A Giveaway!

Today I'm taking part in the Grow Your Blog Hop :)

If you are new here

I'd love to welcome you!

We are supposed to tell a bit about ourselves,

so here goes.....

That's me in the middle of the photo above.

My handsome hubby of almost 33 years,

our children and our 6 grands 

are the jelly in my donuts....

They certainly make my life sweet!

I started this blog in January of 2009.

To be honest, I started the blog

just so that I could take part in an apron swap :)

I also thought it would be a fun record

for my grandchildren someday

to know what their Nana did with her time.

I know that I would have loved to get a glimpse

of my Oma's daily life.

I certainly NEVER thought that anyone

other than family would care what I wrote about.

This blog has changed my life in ways 

I could never have imagined.

I have made the most wonderful friends

and I continue to meet more!

I have re-kindled my love for sewing

and even opened an Etsy shop.

I try to share what I've learned growing up 

with a professional seamstress for a Mom.

I was literally covered in thread

from the time I could walk!

I had my first full sized Singer when I was 8.

(and I still own it!)

My Oma taught me to embroider when I was 10.

And I started Cross Stitch about 3 years ago

and I've been hooked ever since.

I tried to knit once,

but it was a dark experience that I don't like to talk about......

So look around,

check out a tutorial or two

and don't hesitate to say "Hello"!

Your comments are the highlight of my day!

OK...enough about me..

on to the Give-away!

Anyone interested in a pair of mug rugs?

Some bright and happy toasters

to start your day?

A lovely spot to park your coffee or tea

and plenty of room for some cookies 

or perhaps a piece of chocolate (or both?)

Alrighty then,

all you need to do is leave a comment.

You don't have to be a follower 

but if you are please leave a separate comment

telling me that you are for a second chance to win.

You have until Feb 1st to enter!

Click on the "Grow Your Blog" button on the right sidebar

to see a list of all the blogs offering 

fun giveaways today too!

Good luck everyone!!!

A Quick Tip.....

Since I've been busy making project bags

that means I've also been cutting out 

lots of wool felt hearts.

I use them for the zipper pulls.

I like to add a bit of fun to them.

So this is a quick little tip I learned

from the awesome website WeeFolkArt.com

Talk about a plethora of wool felt info

and cool free patterns!!!

Anyhoo......I learned that when 

you need to cut small items out of felt

you don't' want to use pins.

It distorts the felt and with some tiny pieces

it would be impossible to do anyways.

You just tape your pattern down with packing tape!

It's seriously genius!

The tape holds the pattern piece down

and when you are done cutting,

your felt just falls away because the pattern 

shielded it from the sticky tape.

AND the more you use your patterns

the sturdier they become 

from all the layers of tape.

Cool right?

So here is a peek at yesterday's sewing :)

Annie is holding a spool of thread.

How cute is that?

And the Winner Is.......

And the winner is:

Susan who wrote:

"Thanks for a wonderful post and a really cute give-away. I would use this beside my chair in the family room where I do my hand sewing. Thanks for sharing your creativity!"

Congratulations Susan! 

Hop on over to my Etsy shop 

and let me know which mug organizer 

you would like to have. 

And for those of you who didn't win this time....

come back here on Saturday the 19th

for another fun give-away!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Sorry I haven't posted much in the last few days,

but I've been filling orders for sheep bags and organizers.

I feel so blessed that there are people willing

to pay good money for items I make.

I am thankful.

God is good :)

Yesterday I made this fun organizer

 to match the project bag I sold last week.

The lovely woman who purchased the bag 

wanted a matching organizer.

I just really love the colors together :)

OH.......

And don't forget to check back here tomorrow

to find out who the winner is of  the

 "In Your Words" giveaway!

You still have until midnight tonight to enter.

If you don't win,

don't worry!

 I'm hosting 2 more giveaways this month!

One on the 19th

and another one on the 29th

so check back to see what's up for grabs!

A New Tradition :)

Every year for Christmas 

for as long as I can remember

someone buys a jigsaw puzzle for my Mom.

We all check with each other 

to make sure that someone has it covered.

It has to be difficult and at least 5000 pcs.

It's a given,

we all know it.

It's a tradition.

She always lets us know 

when she has it completed.

This year at Christmas I was thinking to myself,

that my favorite Christmas gifts

since I was a child 

were the ones that I could "make".

I'd start on Christmas day

and get right to work :)

And I thought that I would start my own tradition.

I was going to start a cross stitch project

on Dec 25th each year.

Imagine my delight when I rec'd THREE

new charts this year!

I hadn't mentioned my plans to anyone!!!

So this is the one I chose to start my new tradition.

It's called "Magic Garden Samler" by Shakespeare's Peddler.

I finished it last night

so it took me 18 evenings of stitching.

Actually a bit less because there were a few nights

that I didn't get to stitch.

I changed out the colors a bit.

I just couldn't stitch a pale purple watermelon,

or a pink snail or purple carrot.

I'm going to make this into a pillow for my living room sofa.

Do you have any crafty Christmas traditions?

Sewin' Machine!

I'm starting to feel like a "sewin' machine" :)

I don't think I've had a chance to spend this much time

behind the machine in quite a while.

I finished up another style of the sheep project bags tonight.

I'm definitely making one of these for myself.

Polka dots, giant rick rack and red......'nuf said :)

If you need one of these,

jump on over to Crazy Annie's Stitchin'.

I also finished up another apron for the shop.

This one is made from Organic cotton.

I'm not usually a "brown" person,

but I love these colors together :)

And last but not least,

I made 7 more mug organizers.

Remember you still have until the 16th of January

to enter my giveaway here to win your choice 

of one of these from my Etsy shop.

Which one would you pick?

And just a few Sheep :)

You may have noticed the blog button on my right sidebar

for Crazy Annie's Stitchin'.

Well, not only does she have an amazing assortment

of cross stitch goodness in her shop at wonderful prices,

she is also taking orders for Little House Needleworks

"Sheep Virtues" chart of the month club

as well as Eugenia Tuffet travels the world club by JABC.

Both feature adorable sheep.

(Yes.....I joined the Sheep Virtues club :)

Anyhoo....she asked me about making project bags

to go along with the theme.

So here are the bags and mug organizers

that will be sold exclusively through Crazy Annie's Stitchin.

You can read more details about both clubs

in her newsletter HERE 

You don't have to be a club member 

to purchase one of these bags.

I really enjoyed making these 

and I'm working on another design

with a more playful looking sheep for next week.

I like primitives, 

but I have to admit, 

I like bright happy prints more.

Just like my other project bags,

they are padded with Warm & Natural

and have hand stitched wool felt hearts for zipper pulls.

Un Bear-a-bly Cute :)

Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Fabric calls out to me and I"m helpless to resist.

When I stumbled across this adorable bear fabric

I knew it was coming home with me.

Am I a bear fanatic?

No.

I just can't explain it.

It was love at first sight.

What do bears have to do with 

kitchens, 

cooking, 

baking,

or aprons?

Nothing.

Unless you have a mountain cabin....

yeah....that's it!

(I know...it's a stretch)

I just hope someone loves these bears

as much as I do......

I guess only time will tell :)

In Your Words Blog Hop and Giveaway!

When I thought about words that would describe me,

the first thing that popped into my head was

Nana-razzi!

That's what my kids call me.

At every event, or even just a random Tuesday,

you'll find me snapping pics of my family,

especially my 6 grands :)

So I thought a camera strap would be fun.

I padded it for extra comfort

and stitched "say cheese" on one side...

and appliqued "smile" with another one of my trademarks....

the smiley face, on the other :) 

I tried to come up with a clever way to keep the strap cover

from sliding around so I added these fun button flaps

and heart buttons.

Over all I am really happy with the way it came out.

So you're probably thinking....

yeah that's great and all...

but what about the giveaway?

OK...so here'e the deal.

I've recently added these fun mug organizers

to my etsy shop.

Well one lucky person will win

their choice of mug organizer from my shop!

To enter just leave me a comment

telling me what you would use the organizer for,

(craft supplies, sewing supplies, make-up brushes, etc)

You can also get a second chance to win

by following my blog or letting me know if you already follow.

Make sure to leave 2 separate comments.

That's it....easy peasy!

Giveaway ends Jan. 16th at midnight.

Winner will be announced Jan 17th.

And make sure you stop by all the others in today's hop

for more crafty goodness and giveaways!

In Your Words Blog Hop Day 1

Stitch, Stitch, Stitch, Stitch  (Cyndi H.)

Kwilty Pleasures  (Kathy G.)

Debby Kratovil Quilts (Debby K.))

Sew Darn Quilt  (Carolyn R.)

Mary On Lake Pulaski  (Mary K.)

Traveling Quilter  (Debbie A.)

Just Let Me Quilt (Carol S.)

Vroomans Quilts (Sharon V.)

Cate's Linens (Catherine R.)

Nini and the Sea  (Denise)

Sew Much 2 Luv (Karen)