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 ~ ♥ ~

I Received the Kick A** Blogger Award!!!

How exciting! I have been out of town for a week and a half & I came back & found that I have been given the Kick A** Blogger Award by Dawn (GoldenAngelWorks)
Thank you so much Dawn!!! Dawn is an amazing person who has endured a lot over the past few months and is truly an inspiration herself!

The rules of this award are that I am to choose 5 other bloggers who I think "Kick A**"!!! This is very hard to choose only 5 because I think you all Kick A**. Here are my selections:

Cross Stitch Happy ~ Your blog is wonderful and you are so creative and talented with the patterns that you have designed! And your stitching is beautiful! You are an inspiration!

Dani (Navy Stitching) ~ I really enjoy reading your blog about your stitching updates as well as your life as a Naval officer. You definitely are to be commended for all that you do! Serving our country as well as all the stitching and exchanges that you do is amazing!

Gill (Cross Stitch Ramblings) ~ Your stitching is beautiful! With all of the pieces that you do and the sizes of each design, you truly inspire me to try to get more stitching done myself!

Shannon (Oodles of Stitches) ~ I love seeing your progress on the Angel of Cross Stitch! You are doing a beautiful job on it. Seeing your progress gets me excited about stitching this design myself!!! I'm very anxious to work on this design, even though I really do have to finish other WIPs first. Great blog and beautiful stitching!!!

Paula (A Celtic Stitcher) ~ Your stitching & knitting projects are absolutely stunning! I love reading your blog to keep up with everything!

Now, choose 5 bloggers that you feel are "Kick A** Bloggers". Let them know in by leaving them a comment post on their blog, via email, or twitter that they've received an award!!! Share the love and link back to both the person who awarded you and back to http://www.mammadawg.com/.
Hop on back to the Kick Ass Blogger Club HQ to sign Mr. Linky, then pass it on!!!
Don't forget to link up the person who nominated you for the Kick A** Blogger Club!!! :~)

Mushroom Faerie House Completed & Framed!

Well, finally here it is!!! :~) Mushroom Faerie House is completed, washed, ironed & framed! :~) The frame is a metal frame with the border of the frame in a dark brown metallic color. I took the glass out completely, and used the mounting foam so that it's raised a bit. I think it turned out really nice.

Tonite we went over to my FIL's house & gave him his birthday gift. He absolutely LOVES it!!! He has already found the exact spot where he is going to hang it also. Right where everyone will see it as they are going thru the entry way into the livingroom!!! :~) It's going to look perfect on his wall too bcuz his hallway & dining room walls are painted pretty much the exact same color as the mushroom top! It's really going to POP the colors of this piece. I was so happy that he likes it so much. And I'm sure he will enjoy it for many years to come. :~)

Mushroom Fairy House Progress ... COMPLETED!!!

Hello!!! Great news!!! I have finished the Mushroom Faerie House!!! I just have to finish ironing & framing it (which I'm doing now) and it is completely & totally finished!!! :~) But all of the stitching is finished. So here is a picture of the completed stitching & once I have it all framed & everything I will post a picture of that as well!!! :~)

Mushroom Fairy House Progress Day 7 ...

Well, I stitched & stitched yesterday as much as I could & was even late to the party ...

But alas, I didn't get the Mushroom Faerie House finished in time. I only have 2 shades of green to go & the wording. I thought for sure I'd have it done. But it just didn't happen. So now I am going to try to get it all finished today while my husband is at work, and then will meet my husband at his dad's house after he gets off work tonite. And if that doesn't happen today, then we'll do it tomorrow nite.

Anyways, here is the progress that I did make up until we left for the party.

Mushroom Fairy House Progress Day 6 ...

I am so happy with the progress I made on this yesterday! My father in law's birthday party is tomorrow @ 4pm & I'm finally feeling like I'll definitely have it finished in time!!! Just a little bit left to fill in on the stem of the mushroom, and the grass at the bottom & then the wording off to the side!!!

Mushroom Faerie House Progress Day 5 ...

Ok, so here we are with only 2 days to go. I'm doing pretty well with my stitching, but still have about half of the design to go. My husband & I are working together looking thru the alphabet pattern books that I have trying to find the best alphabet for "Shroom Sweet Shroom". I am thinking maybe a script alphabet of some sort. But of course it has to be one that has both upper & lower case.

Anyways, so 2 days to go & I'm about halfway finished. I'm so glad my husband is off work today so that I can probably get more stitching done!

Mushroom Faerie House Progress Day 4 ...

Well here I am 4 days into this project and 3 days left to go. I think I made some decent progress yesterday. It was a little chaotic at home however with my son running around like a crazy person & getting into trouble a couple of times. Today is going to be a more productive day, I am sure of it. I am so excited about this project!!! I can't wait to have it all finished. I do still have to design the wording, which will sit to the right of the Mushroom Faerie House and will say "Shroom Sweet Shroom". I just know my father in law is really going to love it!!! I mean I know it's nothing fancy like 2 of my brother in laws are going to give him. They both have money. But this gift that we are going to give him is from the heart and made with lots of love & TLC. Anyways, here is my progress for day 4!!! :~)

Mushroom Fairy House Progress Day 3 ...

Well here is my Day 3 progress ~ I wasn't able to do very much stitching yesterday & I am so frustrated with myself for it. I just HAVE to get this finished in time. And with my husband on graves this week, you'd think I'd have more time after the kids go to bed to do some stitching. But there's always so much else to do. Tonite I think I'm just going to sit myself down on the couch & stitch like a mad woman!!! But here is yesterday's progress! :~)

Mushroom Fairy House Progress Day 2 ...

Here is what I completed on day 2 of the 7 days. Just 5 more days to go!

I wasn't able to get very much stitching completed over the weekend. However, it's Monday & I'll be sure to get a lot more finished each day this week!

Mushroom Fairy House Progress Day 1 ...

Here is what I completed on day 1 of the 7 days. Just 6 more days to go!

FINALLY I Got My Stitching Bug Back!!!

Well, I haven't done hardly any stitching since I finished the piece for my Grama. It was as if I lost my stitching bug for a while. But I think I just had a lot going on in my mind. Plus I hadn't been sleeping well the past few months & I think the lack of sleep was finally catching up with me.

BUT NOW, although still feeling sleepy now & again, I seemed to have found my stitching bug again. My father in law's birthday party is one week from today ... 7 days away. And my husband & I have been trying to decide what to get for him. Then last nite it hit me! My husband's family has a sort of symbol that they all share, a mushroom. There is no specific reason. It's just something they decided. My father in law and all of his sons have a mushroom tattoo on their legs. And I too have a mushroom tattooed on my left ankle. Anywho, last nite it hit me for a great gift for my father in law. I have the cutest little mushroom house pattern!!! I thought I would stitch this for him & then add the family name on it or something. Then my husband came up with the idea of having it say "Shroom Sweet Shroom" to the right of the mushroom house. I thought that's a great idea. So now I have exactly 7 days (I know I've heard that in some movie) to start & finish this pattern, in order to present this gift to my father in law at his 60th birthday party next Saturday nite. Here is a picture of the pattern that I am doing, other than the wording. And each day I will post my progress as I stitch it up until next Saturday when I should have it completely finished & framed.