One of My RR Pieces

Hello Everyone!

So I will be starting the HAED Wicca pattern on January 19th. In the meantime, I am working on two different Round Robin projects. I am getting nearly done on one of them and wanted to post a picture to show my progress so far. It's my EMS Lil Stitch Devil with Bobbin piece. My son is so cute. He was a Lil Devil for Halloween, so when he looks at the pattern, he asks me "Is that me, Momma?" I think it's so funny that at 2 years old he is making those kinds of associations. Anyway, with this RR, there are 4 of us. Each person selected a theme. We stitch a pattern for that theme on one section of the fabric and then mail it to the next person. And then when we get the new fabric in the mail, we stitch a pattern for that person's theme on a section and so on. I don't know if this is normally how the round robins go with the whole theme thing or not, but this is how we decided to do it. I just love it bcuz by the time this RR is finished, I will have a finished piece arrive in the mail that has 4 Lil Stitch Devils that have been stitched by 3 of my friends and I, two of which are in Canada and one in Florida and me in AZ. On the other RR, when my piece gets back to me all finished, I will have a piece that has been stitched by 4 different people in 4 different countries, me being the only one in the US. I just think that is so cool!

Anyway, without further delay, here is my progress on my Lil Devil!



Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

My Mom LOVES Her Aprons!!!

Hi Everyone!!! Between Christmas and New Year's, my husband and the kids and I went to TX to visit my Mom and my Grama. I gave my Mom her aprons. She absolutely LOVES them!!! And she was so surprised! She said she knew I was making something for her but she had no idea that it would be aprons. She has been wanting aprons for a long time. And she was thrilled! She is so funny. She said she is going to take them to work when she goes back on Monday to show everyone. Maybe I'll get some orders! That would be so great! Anyways, here are some pictures of my Mom with her new aprons. Shhhhh ... don't tell her I posted these ... she would probably freak out and say they are terrible pictures of her.





I think she looks great! :~)

Hope ya'll are having a really great 2009 so far! Thank you all so much for your support!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

New Project That I Will Start 01/19!

Yes that's right! I am going to be starting a new project on January 19th! Well around that date. I am going to be SAL with one of my online stitching friends. We are both going to stitch the same pattern & keep each other motivated and everything. This will be my first HAED pattern that I will be stitching. I am so excited! I have my Q-Snap floor frame all ready with the 18 count aida on it already. I bought all the floss & have it ready to go. Pattern is printed. YAY! Just have to wait for my friend to get her supplies. She lives in Canada the closest Michaels is kind of far from her home. So she will be going there the weekend of the 17th & she will be home by the 19th & that is when we'll start!!! Here are some pictures of the pattern that we will be doing, the stack of papers which is the printed pattern, me with my floor frame & the aida on it, and all 90 colors of floss for the pattern!


Heaven and Earth Designs Wicca


Here is the pattern all printed out ... all 30 pages of it!


Here I am with my Q-Snap floor frame which also has the tilt kit.


And here are all 90 colors of floss, including the Kreinik #4 braid floss. There are 2 colors that only have 1 single stitch in the entire pattern. And a few others that have 12 stitches or less in the entire pattern. Crazy! LOL.

I am really looking forward to stitching this. I would love to start now, since the friend that I will be SAL with stitches SOOOOOOOO fast!!! But I promised her that I would wait for her to get her supplies before I start. I will be sure to post my progress once we start working on it!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Happy 2009!!!

Hello Everyone!!!

I just want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope all of your New year's wishes come true!!! I can't believe 2008 is already over. Seems like we just celebrated a new year not too long ago.

So what plans do you have for yourself in 2009? As for me, well my goals are as follows ...

1 ~ build up an inventory for my business so that I can sell items on either Etsy or Artfire.
2 ~ Get lots more stitching & sewing projects both started & finished, both for others as well as some for myself
3 ~ create my "shop" on Etsy or Artfire & begin selling
4 ~ shed a few pounds & get more active
5 ~ as always to be the best wife & Mom that I can be

Plans for next year include a trip to visit my Nana in Oregon whom my daughter & I haven't seen since 2003 and my husband & son have never met. Also my Mom & I are going to Northern California to pick up my baby brother & he will be moving in with my husband & my kids & I in September.

Again, I hope that all of you have an excellent 2009!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Finished & Current Projects ...

Well after lots of frustration with the second apron, I am very happy to report that I have completely fixed and finished the apron! And it turned out really good, if I do say so myself! I can't wait to see my Mom's face when she opens her gift. We are leaving christmas morning after the kids open all their gifts. I have been working on a blanket for one of my cousins and I started a set of placemats for my Grama. The placemats I should have finished later on today. The first one turned out great, well except for the size. It's smaller than I wanted it to be. But I'm ok with that & I know my Grama won't mind at all. I just know that when I make the next set of placemats they will be larger with another row & column of squares. Included with the set of placemats is a centerpiece placemat that actually IS a bit larger. I'll post more pictures of the entire placemat set once they are all finished. But in the meantime, here are some pictures of the finished peach apron, the blanket that I have been working on, and the one placemat that is finished!




This is the top front of the apron. I thought it would look cute to add a little lace to it. My Mom's favorite color is orange/peach.



This is the top back of the apron. I love having these cute little tags to add to all the items that I sew! :~)



This is the entire front of the apron.



This is a close up of the pockets on the front of the apron, which also have the lace.



This is a close up of the front and back together.



This is the entire back of the apron.



This is the blanket that I am working on for my cousin. He is only 5 years old and absolutely LOVES trains. It is not a christmas gift, so there's no rush with getting it finished. I am also going to make another blanket just like it for my son who also LOVES trains. The stacks of squares on the top of the picture are sewn together in rows which will be added to the two rows that are already sewn together on the bottom half of the picture.



This is the first of the placemats that made for my Grama. Her favorite color is green, and the little pictures on the blue squares are bumble bees which have some green in them. So I think that the green squares & the yellow squares make a great contrast.

So there we are! Things are really coming along nicely!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

SOOOOOOOO Frustrated!!!

OMG! Have you ever had a project that you've been working hard on, you're so excited about working on it, and you're so close to getting it completely and totally finished, only to discover that you screwed up and have to take it apart in order to make an attempt to fix it??? Well, that is EXACTLY what has happened to me with the second apron I am making for my Mom. You see when I make the aprons, I put batting in them in order to give them a little bit of padding. And with this apron, when I layered the front panel, back panel & batting together so that I could sew them all together, I put the batting in the wrong place. So when I went to turn the apron right side out to do the finishing stitching, that's when I saw it. The batting would be on the OUTSIDE!!! So now I have to rip all the stitching out around the entire apron, and piece it back together & sew it again. Only the overall size of the apron will be a tad smaller since I had already trimmed all the excess fabric after sewing all the way around it. I am hoping it all comes together and doesn't look too bad after all of this. But since I have now made this mistake, I know that I won't ever do it again. Every time I piece together an apron now, I will be sure to pay closer attention to the order I place the panels. Guess that's what I get for trying to rush to get a project finished.

Anyways, I thank you all for "listening to" my venting and rambling. I feel better now. LOL.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Latest Project ...

Hello Everyone!

Hope this finds you all doing healthy, happy & smiling! With the holidays quickly approaching, I have had to put aside all of my cross stitching until after in order to complete projects that we will be giving as gifts to family & friends. I have several blankets that I am & will be making. Also my Mom's birthday is coming up. She has been asking for a couple of years for a handmade apron for when she's cooking & baking & such. So this year I decided to make not one but two for her! I've made one that is a festive Christmas theme. And the second one is going to be in her favorite color orange/peach for her to use on an everyday basis. I have finished the Christmas one, and posted pictures here for you all to see. The second apron I am still working on, and should be finished with either tonite or tomorrow. I will post pictures of the second one as soon as I finish it. It has been so much fun making the aprons. And I can't wait to hear how my Mom likes them. She lives in TX and I am in AZ, so as soon as they are finished I will mail them priority to her. I have already told her that once she receives the box in the mail, she is not allowed to open it until she has me on the phone so that I can hear her first impressions of them! I'm so excited!!! These are the first aprons that I have ever made, and I really feel the Christmas one turned out great! And the second one will be really nice also! Let me know what you think! :~)

Hope you are having an excellent Friday nite!

Happy Stitching/Sewing/Crafting!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥




Whole Front of Xmas Apron



Whole Back of Xmas Apron



Top Front of Xmas Apron



Top of Back of Xmas Apron



Close Up of Sewing on Top Front of Xmas Apron



Close Up of Sewing on Top Back of Xmas Apron



Picture Showing Front & Back of Xmas Apron

Got some GANGA XS Stash Deals Today!!!

I am sooooooooooo excited about the GANGA deals that I got today at Joann's! I had a 50% off coupon and knew exactly what I would use it for. I am planning on starting my very first HAED pattern after the first of the year and so I thought to myself I need to have a piece of aida large enough for the entire design and all the precut aida/evenweave is not big enough. So Joann's sells different counts of aida at $8.99/yd. So, I used my coupon & bought 5 yards of 18ct white aida and paid only $13.50!!! So it's 5 yards by 44 inches!!! I figure I will be able to use that to stitch 5 different HAED patterns with it!!! I also got DMC floss at 4 for $1! So I bought floss for a friend that lives in Canada bcuz she pays 50cents per skein where she lives. And I also bought the colors that I will need the most of for the HAED pattern that I will be starting after the first of the year. I am so excited about this! And for sewing purposes, I bought lots of needed flannel fabric at only $1.49/yard! GREAT DEALS!!!

The picture you see here is the HAED pattern that I will be starting very soon!!! :~D Looking forward to it very much. But I know that I am going to need lots of help in motiviation since it's such a very large pattern. It measures 500x635 stitches!

Twitter Anyone???

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all doing really great this weekend before Thanksgiving! I recently was introduced by my husband to this website called Twitter.com. This is a pretty cool site! It's been lots of fun! So if any of you do Twitter, I wanted to give you all my Twitter ID so we can add each other to our following list! My Twitter ID is AmythsytMoon.

See you on Twitter!!!

Forever Treasured Keepsakes!

Hello!!! :~) I thought I would go ahead & share some pictures of some of the other items that I make that I sell since I mentioned in my previous post about the blankets. I design & make holiday stockings, blankets, aprons, & placemat sets. The pictures here are some of the stockings that I have made. They are my own design. After someone tells me the theme of stocking that they want, then I get a picture in my head of what I see the finished stocking looks like & then I make it! I have so much fun with it!!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures!

Brightest Blessings,
♥ Margie ♥

New Round Robin Project ...

Hi Everyone!
I am in a 2nd round robin. And this time for my theme I have selected the EMS Stitch Devils!!! I am so excited about it! I chose the Stitch Devil with a bobbin & floss as the one that I will stitch. The other ladies in the round robin have chose Winter Wonderland, Birds in a scene, and Love Tatty Teddies. I have already picked the pieces that I will stitch for each of them. I'm not sure if they read my blog or not so I don't think I'll post them here until after the round robin is finished & everyone has received their finished pieces back. I will also post my finished piece when I receive it back at the end of the round robin. I do have a link to my blog posted on my facebook profile so, probably best not to post anything except for the piece I will stitch for myself until the end.

Also this weekend I have been working on sewing blankets that I will give as gifts for christmas. They are also blankets that I sell, but these are for family members. One is with trains. Another with pink camo. Another with Care Bears. Another with Marine Corps fabric. And one with wolves. They are a sort of patchwork quilt type of blankets. I make them in either all flannel pieces. Or with fleece & cotton fabric pieces. I know they're not cross stitch, but I will post pictures as I finish them for you all to see.

It's been a very busy weekend for me. I hope you all have had a great weekend!!!

Happy Stitching!!!
♥ Margie ♥

Chiloe is having a GIVEAWAY!!! :-)

I was just visiting Chiloe's Corner & she is having her first giveaway on her blog!!! It's really exciting bcuz the item she is giving away is a french cross stitch magazine! I have purchased cross stitch magazines from the United Kingdom before, but I have never seen one from France. So if you're interested in entering for this great prize, please check out Chiloe's Corner & the post about her GIVEAWAY HERE!!!

Have a great day & Happy Stitching Everyone!!!

I've Been TAGGED!!!

I've been tagged by Ashley and Dawn to share six random things about myself, according to the rules.

The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.



Ok, so here are six random things about me ...

1 ~ I absolutely LOVE just about anything & everything PURPLE!!!
2 ~ I like to eat lots of foods that are banana flavored ... but I don't actually like to eat bananas.
3 ~ I like to collect mythical & fantasy things like faeries, dragons, unicorns, mermaids, etc
4 ~ I tell my husband that I'm "not a gamer" but I have a Nintendo DS with several games, and also many games on my computer, as well as a membership on RealArcade.com.
5 ~ In addition to cross stitching, I love to sew, paint plastercrafts, scrapbook & crochet.
6 ~ I'm a native Californian ocean lover who is now looking for that ocean front property in Arizona ... they said it was here somewhere!!!



I have tagged ...

Rachael
Sharon
Tammy
Dani
Anna
Chiloe

A Great Cross Stitch Site with FREE Patterns!!!

I just found this great site that has lots of FREE cross stitch patterns on it! They do ask that you register & you get 20 points for that. You can download the Patterns of the Day for free. From what I can tell you earn points for different things. And the patterns that are not patterns of the day cost 10 points each. Not bad for a cute pattern! :~) Definitely worth checking out!!!

Here is the link for the website ~

Cross Stitchers Club

Hope you enjoy the website!!!

Happy Stitching!

♥ Margie ♥

Darn Stitching Bug Has Evaded Me!!! BUT I WILL FIND IT!!!

Hello Everyone ~

Well I must say I wish I had more stitching news to report. Sadly, that darn stitching bug has evaded me ever since I finished the Faerie Mushroom House piece at the end of September. There has been a lot going on. My kids & I took a trip to Southern California. I went to my high school reunion, which was a lot of fun! Plus I just have been going thru a lot. However, I have been doing a little bit of shopping on the PatternsOnline.com website as well as on the Heaven and Earth Designs website, both of which are absolutely wonderful sites! I do highly recommend them both!!! And after doing some pattern shopping, I do feel the clouds beginning to lift and the stitching bug has started to come out of hiding. So tonite, after my husband leaves for work, and my kids go to bed, I am going to sit down & attempt to work on one of my WIPs. ***Fingers Crossed*** that the darn bug comes fully out of hiding once my fingers meet with needle & floss & aida/evenweave!!!

So I am very excited about the patterns that I have purchased. From Patterns Online, I purchased some holiday designs, which are very cute. And from Heaven and Earth Designs, I purchased Small Things in color and Small Things in black & white and also the Sol, Stella, & Luna Chart Pack, all of which are simply stunning. With the Small Things design, I like them both so much that I just couldn't decide which I liked better. So I decided that I would get them both. And since I already have some other black & white designs, I am going to dedicate a whole wall in my house just for those in black & white. So I'm curious, after looking at both of the versions of Small Things, which version do you like better? Color? Or black & white? Or are you like me & absolutely love them both?

Well, that's enough from me for now. Happy Stitching to everyone! I hope you are all having an excellent weekend. I'll report any progress that I make during tonite's stitching!

~ ♥ ~ Margie ~ ♥ ~