Rules For Life Update ...

Hello Friends and Fellow Stitchers and Crafters! 

Here we are nearing the end of September already! Seems the closer we get to the end of the year, the faster it goes by. 

I still haven't started working on the WWS Tribal Cat as I just found the floss I'm going to use a couple of days ago. I'll be using ThreadworX Indian Tapestry. Once I get it stitched, I'm going to give it to one of my Mom's best friends that I've known since I was a little girl, who loves cats. I think she'll really like it. 

What I have been working on is Kincavel Krosses Rules for Life.  I've gotten the entire border stitched and have started on the words inside. The border, which is nearly 2000 by itself, was a little monotonous, but I'm glad to have the words started, which has made it fun again. Here is my progress of the border so far ... 

I also have an ATC that I stitched for one of the ATC swap groups that I am in on Facebook. But can't post that pic just yet as she is on my friends list on Facebook and might see this post. And I don't want to ruin the surprise. The theme we were stitching was Jobs and so we had to stitch something that represented the job that the person has. What I stitched was something that I designed myself. I'm really excited about it and so happy with how it came out. Can't wait till she receives it so that I can post a pic! 

Well that's all I have for now! Should be posting another update very soon! 

Happy Stitching and Crafting Everyone! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥ 

What I've Been Up to ...

Hello My Friends! 

So what have I been working on this past month. Well I must admit, stitching has been a challenge the last month and a half. I have been working on this ATC that should have been quick and easy. But when I selected the pattern, I didn't realize the TONS of french knots it had. Now normally, they don't bother me too much, HOWEVER, stitching french knots on 18 count aida, that are placed in the CENTER of the square instead of at the corner of the squares and that has been a big challenge. It is really hard to poke the needle from the bottom up into the fabric and then go back down thru the same hole. And like I said, there are a bunch of them. I also have a couple of coasters to mail out soon. 

Another project that I have started is a pattern called Transformation by Tilton Crafts. Shelley, the owner and designer of the pattern, asked if I would do this pattern as a model stitch for her. It's a beautiful pattern that Shelley did an awesome job on. The artist is Victoria Frances. So I have started working on this pattern. I just love it. 

Here is what it looks like ... 

Isn't she gorgeous?! I just love this pattern. The pattern is 300 x 435, so it's a larger pattern. I am starting in the bottom left corner.

So I made a decision. As some of you know, I have some projects that I have started and not finished. One of them, I was never really into. Another I liked the pattern, but was not super excited about. So I'll probably either never finish it, or it will be a long while before I ever go back to it. So I am putting them, not only on a back burner, but up in the back corner of a shelf, so to speak. Those two are Pale Rose and Hold on to Hope. Both were supposed to be stitch a longs with someone else and those stitch a longs never really happened. So I'd rather concentrate on projects that I really want to do. And I definitely have other WIPs and UFOs that I absolutely love and really want to get finished.

Speaking of WIPs and UFOs ... a friend of mine on Facebook has created a new group called Wednesday UFO Cross Stitchers. The object of the group is that every Wednesday we will all work on a current or unfinished project and we will all support and motivate each other so that we can get our projects finished. I think this is a great idea and I am really excited about it! To have a set day to work on these projects may be just what I need to get some good finishes under my belt and actually complete some of my goals that I list for myself each year. So if any of you are like me and need that extra motivation and want to share some fun and progress, and if you are Facebook, just click on the link above to request to be part of the group. There are a lot of very nice people in the group! I've added a tab at the top of my blog where I will post my Wednesday progress.

And with that (today is Wednesday!), I am off to get some stitching done!

Happy Stitching, Crafting & Blogging to you all!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

News, Updates & Progress

Hi there fellow Stitchers, Crafters & Bloggers! 

I hope you are all doing well today. I have been doing fairly well. I've been trying to find a part time job while the kids are in school. So far no luck. With my daughter having autism, I have to be home when she gets home. She is 16 now and it's not like she can go to after school care. So I can only be available for work while the kids are actually in school, unless my husband is off work, then I can work anytime on those days. I have applied at Michaels, Joanns, a few local stores. Nothing yet. There is a Hobby Lobby going to open up it's first location here where I live, but not until approximately the end of October. Another option, if they don't mind my schedule restrictions, is a seasonal store called Spirit Halloween. That one of course, if they hired me, would only be until maybe a few days after Halloween, of course. And it definitely would be a lot of work. It's so frustrating. I don't need much. Just 20-25 hrs a week would be great. It would be so helpful to our household income. That alone would cover enough bills to give us a little bit of breathing room. I have been given the suggestion of working at the schools so that I'm working only school time hours. And that is a great idea. But the school where my son goes, isn't hiring and there are all kinds of budget cuts in the school district that my daughter's school is a part of. Anyway, enough of that. 

As for stitching, I have taken part in a monthly coaster exchange, which I think will be fun. I have one finished and ready for the mail that will go out tomorrow. Found the pattern for the next one. And also I'm doing an ATC exchange. I have missed doing those so I thought I'd get back into it. Currently stitching up a cute pattern for that. It has a large number of french knots, which normally wouldn't bother me at all, except with this pattern, they are right in the middle of the square rather than the corners of the square. So it makes it a bit tedious. Stitching on 18ct with a 24 needle, makes it a lil bit hard to get the needle up thru the middle of the square and then back down thru it. Once it's finished, I'm sure it will look great tho. I don't want to post any pics of any of this as of yet bcuz anytime I post an entry to my blog, it posts an entry on Facebook, and they are on my friends list. So once they receive their goodies, I will post pictures. 

I haven't really had time to work on Hope lately. Once I get the ATC and coaster finished and mailed, then I'll work on it. I'm still working on adding all the grid lines with the fishing line. I really hope it helps make the stitching go at least a bit faster. 

On a side, and rather sad, note, today an amazing man and actor passed away today. Michael Clarke Duncan died at the very young age of 54. Two months ago, he suffered a massive heart attack and was in the hospital bcuz of it. It was said in an online article, that his fiance, Omarosa, left his hospital room for just a minute, and when she returned, he had passed away. So sad. Mr. Duncan was most known for his role as John Coffey in The Green Mile. He also had roles in Armageddon as Bear, Planet of the Apes as Attar, The Kingpin in Daredevil, Balthazar in The Scorpion King, as well as many other roles and voice roles for movies and video games. He grew up in Chicago's south side and resisted drugs and alcohol by constantly applying himself in his school work. He truly was a good man and will be missed by many. Whenever I watch The Green Mile, I always cry at the end. Now that sadness takes on a whole new meaning. My condolences go out to his family, friends and loved ones. RIP Michael. 

 

Well, time to get the kids ready for bed and then in bed and then get their lunches made for school tomorrow and get some laundry done. So that's all for this time! 

Happy Stitching, Crafting and Blogging Everyone! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

PS ~ I ALMOST FORGOT!!! My friends that I designed & stitched the Football Helmets Birth Announcement piece for are going to be in town this weekend for the baby's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! As soon as they told me this a few months ago, I decided to wait until they are here to give it to them so that I can see them faces in person when they open it. I'M SO EXCITED!!! I'll post pics of them opening it and with it after Saturday!!! :)

Where Does the Time Go?!

Hi Everyone! 

Wow! I can't believe that we're already about 2/3 of the way thru 2012 already! I don't know about all of you, but to me it just seems that time goes by faster and faster the older I get! I sure could use an extra couple of hours everyday. 

So I am still working on HAED's Hold on to Hope. I haven't gotten much actual stitching done. But I thought I'd give gridding a try. I see many others doing it. And it seems to me that it will make things go a little smoother when stitching. I posted in one of my Facebook groups, asking others what their favorite gridding methods are. There were several responses. Some said to use the already gridded fabric from DMC called Magic Guide. But to get that I would have to order from the UK, and I just can't afford that right now. Between shipping and the currency conversion, it would cost quite a pretty penny. A couple people said they just use regular floss to grid. I have tried that on smaller pieces, and I end up getting the gridded floss caught up in the stitching and it becomes a mess. Some use a quilting pencil that is supposed to wash out easily when the fabric is washed. This makes me a little bit nervous bcuz I worry that it will not actually wash out and all that stitching will go to waste. One person said they use the Crayola washable markers. She said it always washed out completely and works great. I do like this idea, however, just like with the quilting pencils, I am nervous about it not washing out completely. Another suggestion is to use fishing line to grid the fabric. Now this idea, I like. I don't have to worry about it not washing out or getting caught up in my stitches of the pattern. And once I am finished stitched the pattern, I just had to cut the fishing line knot and it will pull right out. So that is what I've decided to go with this time. I may try the other gridding methods later on. But for now, the fishing line seems to be the best method that will work for me. So that is what I am working on right now, is gridding the fabric for Hold on to Hope. I will admit, I had some difficulty threading the fishing line onto a needle. And not using the needle was more difficult. But I was able to finally get it on the needle and it's going along nicely now. It is a bit of a tedious task. But I do feel it will be worth the work. I bought the fishing line at Walmart. They didn't have much of a selection of color. I didn't want clear, bcuz I want to be able to see the grid lines easily. So I bought this transparent green. It's not too bad. But I think the next time I need to buy some, I will check the sporting goods stores instead of Walmart, so that I can find the red fishing line, or some other brighter, more visible color. 

Anyway, next topic. Do any of you use a method called "parking" when you stitch? I have seen several people using this method, and to be honest, it confuses the heck out of me. For one, I don't know how the floss colors don't get mixed up. I mean, there are so many floss colors that are so similar, so how do they not get mixed up? Also, if you do "park", how do you not keep from getting the "parked" strands of floss caught up in the strand of floss that you are stitching with? Please share your thoughts and feedback on this, as I would really like to know. 

Most of you have seen that my existing WIPs and UFOs are quite large patterns. So, I've decided that to break up working on these larger pieces, I am going to get back into doing the ATC exchanges that I used to do, as well as a coaster exchange. I am in groups for both on Facebook. And I think it will be fun to do the ATC exchanges again. And the coaster exchange I think will be lots of fun and exciting too. The first ATC exchange, is a fairy theme. And I must say, it is not easy finding a fairy pattern small enough for an ATC. The theme for the coaster this month is flowers. I came up with a cute idea for the flower, but I don't want to give it away here yet, as I don't know if the person receiving the coaster will see or read my blog. After she receives it, I will post a picture. 

Well that is all I have for now. I'm off to stitch and grid! Happy Stitching, Crafting and Blogging to all! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

Just a Little Finish ...

Hello Friends ~ 

I forgot to post this before but wanted to share with you my first finish of the year. It's just a small ATC, but at least it's something. I think it turned out pretty cute and I hope the recipient likes it. The theme was Irish for March. 

So what do you think? Think she'll like it? The backstitching of the letters is in DMC Light Effects to give it a little bit of flair. 

So that's it for now. 

Happy Stitching, my friends! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

A Great Surprise in the Mail for ME!

Hello My Friends! 

I hope you are all doing well and that the year so far has been very productive and fun for you. I myself haven't done any stitching since my last post. My bug has just disappeared completely. Well that's not completely true. I did do an ATC a couple nights ago. I can't believe it but it only took me 2 nights to do it. And it was a blackwork/backstitch design. It was a lot of fun. I used a variegated red. 

Here is how it turned out ... 

I put it on a foil/metallic card stock which I think really helped bring out all shades of red in the ATC. So what do you think? 

So ... my great surprise that came in the mail for me today! :~) You might remember a while back when I posted about my missing RR piece of the cute lil stitch devils. Well one of my online stitching friends that was part of that RR, who was also very upset that mine never made it back to me, she got three other ladies to help her out and together they stitched a new lil stitch devils RR piece for me! It made me feel so special and good inside. What a wonderful surprise and totally made my year. :~) 

Here's what they made for me ... 

How cute is this?!!! And you can't really see bcuz for some reason my scanner doesn't pick up on it, but the three other than the one with the basket all have sparkly floss in part of them. The blue floss has sparkles, the scissors have sparkles and the sewing machine too. And on the one with the sewing basket has 3D floss in the basket and real buttons just below it. Didn't they do an awesome job?!!! :~D I'm so excited about it and can't wait to get it framed and hung up. I have to measure it, but if it fits in a 12"x12" frame, there is a red metallic frame that I think it will look perfect in. :~) 

I am so thankful and lucky to have such wonderful stitchy friends like them. Thank you to Peggy, Cei, Carol and Kitty!!! 

Until Next Time,

♥ Margie ♥

... 2010 ...

~ 2010 ~

Wow. So here we are just 13 short days until the new year. For me 2010 has been both eventful and uneventful. It has been eventful in that so much has been happening with family and with friends. And uneventful in that all the eventful parts have kept me from being productive in my stitching, my sewing, my painting, my scrapbooking, etc. My only finishes for 2010 were ATCs.

My year started with the saddest of occasions. One of my best lifelong friend's son had died in a motorcycle accident and I attended the funeral just a few days into 2010. He was a good kid and so young. He was one of her twins who are the oldest of her kids. I've known him since he was born. It was a very hard time. The accident took place on Xmas eve and he passed on December 28th of last year. It was a terrible tragedy. I think of him often and I keep them all in my heart especially this time of year.

This time of year always makes me sad. This was my dad's favorite time of year. We had family traditions. Dad & I always went shopping together just him & I for Mom. We loved going shopping for the tree and there was a tradition to that too. But my Dad passed away 12 1/2 yrs ago. I know that is a long time. But this is the time of year when I miss him most. Lots of holiday movies bring tears to my eyes. And it seems that each year it takes me longer to "get in the spirit". Here we are six days till Xmas and I just don't feel excited about it. I think it's a combination of a few things, but I know missing my Dad is part of it.

Something very exciting that has happened is that my brother, who is a very talented artist, has been contracted with White Willow Stitching!!! :~) I'm very excited & happy about that. I emailed Jaime and asked her if she was interested in having a new artist to design patterns of and she wasn't looking for any new ones at the time, but she agreed to look at his artwork. Once she saw it, she absolutely wanted to sign him to a contract. As of right now, there are six patterns so far. But she's working on several more. Take a look at the patterns of his artwork HERE. There is also a red rose pattern, however she needs a model stitched of it first for the picture before she can post it up for sale. So as soon as I found out that she didn't have anyone to stitch the model, I quickly volunteered! :~)

Ok, so 2011 ... my main crafting goal is to have more finishes than just ATCs (including one of two pieces to enter into the county & state fairs), to at least ten aprons and stockings made and posted up for sale, and to get two more sections of my daughter's afghan crocheted. I think that I set my goal list for 2010 way to high. I mean of course I didn't expect so much chaos to take place. But honestly , do we ever. This time I'm going to plan for chaos and maybe it WON'T happen lol.

Well since it's nearly 2am, I am going to take myself off to bed for now.

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful holiday season and get everything you asked Santa for! And the very best wishes for an amazing 2011! :~)

Happy Stitching & Crafting!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

PS ~ I have a few more ATC pictures that I need to post so I'll get that up a little bit later on. :~)

September ATC Finishes & One Received ...

Hi Stitching Friends!

Yes it's me again, coming to you with my September ATC finishes and also a picture of the one that I have received so far.

So the themes for September were ...
Cross Stitch ATC's ~ Letter 'B' and Flower Power
Addicted to Cross Stitch ATC's ~ Pigs

For the Letter 'B' one, I wanted to do something different than just a pretty girly typical letter B. So I have this book with kids theme alphabets. And there is this one alphabet they call "Creepy Crawly". I saw that and thought to myself, "oh yeah this is the one".

So here is how it turned out ...



It was my husband's idea to add the "splat" stickers LOL. The lady that received it thought it was great and said that her son REALLY loved it! LOL!

Then for the next theme, Flower Power, I knew the second I read that theme exactly what I was going to do for it. The only problem was I knew the pattern was larger than normal. But it was such a perfect pattern that I HAD to make it work.

And here it is!



In order to make this design fit on the 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch card stock, I had to stitch this piece on 22 count aida. The smallest I have ever stitched on before was 18 count, so this was definitely different. I used only 1 strand of floss for each X. And the main green color called for 2 different colors of floss combined. So what I had to do for that was I did the first half of the X in one color and the other half of the X in the other color. The second color was a DMC Light Effect light green color. The silver on the piece was also a DMC Light Effects floss. I hadn't used that before, but believe me, my Thread Heaven came in very handy. So what do you think of it? I had to admit, I wanted to keep this one for myself LOL! A lot of the ones that I have been seeing others post are just of flowers, which are all very beautiful. But to me, "Flower Power" is best represented by stuff from the 60's. :~)

The other theme, Pigs, seemed simple enough. But when going through my leaflets and books, I was surprised to see that I had hardly any pigs patterns. But I went online and found a pig that I thought was both cute and different.

And here she is! ...



I think she turned out pretty cute, don't you? After stitching with 1 strand of floss on 22 count aida, switching back to 14 count aida with 2 strands was really weird lol! I wasn't sure at all how to embellish this one, so I just added the pink rhinestones. My husband said I should have mounted the piece on some "mud brown" cardstock, but I didn't have any, so this was the next best thing I think. What do you think?

So those were all the ones that I have done for September. My favorite out of all three is definitely the Flower Power one. But I did have fun stitching all of them.

So far, I have received the Flower Power one for the month of September. It is absolutely beautiful!



The lady that sent this one to me crocheted the flower in the top right corner herself! Isn't it cute?! I couldn't do that in a million years lol!

So I have still to receive the Letter B and Pig for September. And then the Pay It Forward exchange once it gets around to me. And then sadly, I have still yet to receive an Oriental theme ATC from back in May. Apparently there was some sort of a mix up when the emails were sent out and one lady received two Oriental theme ATC's and I received none. :~/ But it's ok. I really do love all the ones that I have received! :~)

So now I am all done with ATC's until Octobers themes come out. I am REALLY looking forward to those! :~) October is my favorite month of the year and Autumn is my favorite season!!! Should be lots of fun! :~) With this ATC break, I'm going to get busy on finishing Henry since I've had to put him off for so long with my MIA glasses issue and such. I can't wait to get him back home to his owner.

And with that I'm off to do some stitching!

Happy Stitching Everyone!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

August ATC Finishes & Ones Received ...

Hi there Stitching Friends!

Yes, I am still here, alive & kicking. I have been stitching away on the cute lil ATC's. And sadly, been neglecting my poor blog. But no more! I have A LOT to post for you! :~) First in this post I will add my August ATC pieces that I did and also the ones that I received. Then I'll add another post for September. Sound good? Well here we go then!

So August's theme was Mother's Day and Father's Day for the Facebook Cross Stitch ATC's group. And for the new ATC group on Facebook, Addicted to Cross Stitch ATC's (yes I definitely fit right into that group!), the theme was Birds of a Feather.

Ok, so for the Mother's Day and Father's Day themes, it could be anything that you would basically stitch for your own Mom and Dad, because not all the women or the one guy in the group are moms or a dad. So I found a couple of cute patterns and started stitching!

Here is what I stitched for the Mother's Day and Father's Day themes ...





After I had finished and mailed the Father's Day one off, it wasn't until after the person received it and I had the pic posted up on Facebook, that I realized ... uh duh, football season is not in June! Ok, so I had a blonde moment lol. The ladies that received both these pieces really liked them. Out of the two, the I ♥ Mom one was my favorite. I think I might have to stitch another one to send to my Mom next year for Mother's Day! :~)

For the Birds of a Feather theme, they said it could be any kind of bird, real or imaginary or cartoon. So, being the Looney Tunes type of girl that I am, the first thought in my head was, you guessed it, TWEETY BIRD!!! :~D I really had fun with this one and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out. As of today, the recipient still hasn't posted if they've received it, so I really hope this one isn't lost in the mail. It was going all the way to Australia, and I'm not sure how long first class mail takes to get there from here in the states.

Anyway, here's Tweety!



Isn't he just way too cute?! All the ones that I've seen people posting, all of them are real birds. I was surprised that I didn't see more people that did Tweety or any other cartoon birds for their ATC.

So those are the ATC's that I stitched for the month of August. And now I'll show you the ones that I received for all three themes ...









They're all very cute and I just love the way each person chose to embellish them! :~)

Oh and in case, any of you are wondering, the Pay It Forward ATC exchange is still going. Although no one seems to be admitting who has it at the moment. I haven't received any messages yet asking if I'm participating in it or not. But when I do, mine is all ready to be mailed out! :~)

So that's it for August ATC's! Thanks so much for reading my blog!

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Another ATC Finish & ATC Received ...

Hello Stitching Friends!

So happy to report that I finally got my new glasses last week & they are great! It's so nice having my eyes back. And I just love the purple frames!

Anywho, so last week I finished an ATC for a Pay It Forward theme the group is doing. This one won't be mailed out for a bit yet, as I have to wait until someone else sends me one. The group moderator put together a list of all of the people that have participated in the ATC exchange previously and picked one pattern. Then she selected someone to start this exchange off. She gave her the list of people and posted the link to the pattern. Then the person stitched and mailed off the PIF ATC to someone on the list. Then that person does the same, until everyone on the list (that wants to participate in this exchange) receives one of these PIF ATCs. No one has picked my name off the list yet, but I have my ATC all finished & ready to go. And here it is ...



What do you think? Again, everyone will stitch the same pattern, and then the only differences will be the cardstock it is mounted on and how it is embellished. It's a cute and simple pattern. I hope the person that receives mine likes it. :~)

Also, I wanted to share with you all the ATC that I received from the person that I did the private ATC swap with. It is just beautiful!!!



I just love the cardstock that she used to mount the pattern on. It fits the theme perfectly, I think. Don't you?

So for August, the group themes are Mother's Day or Father's Day. But then after a couple of people posted how they are not parents, the moderator posted that it could be something you would give to a woman and something you would give to a man. Lots of choices with those themes. It took me a couple days to decide on patterns. But I think I came up with a couple of good ones. Also, one of the members of this group started another ATC group so those of us that are really hooked on these ATCs can stitch and receive even more of them. To start off there is only one theme, and for August the theme is "Birds of a Feather", which basically is any bird ... real, cartoon or imaginary. :~) Should be fun. Still have to find which pattern to use for that one. But I have a couple in mind already. :~) Once I get them finished, I'll post pics! :~)

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful day & getting lots of stitching done!!!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Another ATC Finish

Hi there friends & fellow stitchers!

I haven't been doing a lot of stitching as you know from my previous post due to my MIA glasses. However, the ATCs are easy enough to at least do some stitching. And I am very happy to report that I have had my eye exam and will be ordering my new glasses on Thursday!!! And the best part ... I still have single vision! YAY! You know I really think that stitching helps strengthen the eye muscles rather than making them weaker. My eye doctor was actually very impressed at how healthy my eyes are and that I am no where close to needing bifocals. :~)

Anyway, I finished another ATC! There were no themes for the ATC group on Facebook this month, so I did a private exchange with one of the other ladies in the group. Each of us didn't receive one of our ATCs back in May. It's so disappointing when you take part in something and then someone else doesn't hold up their end. So I never received my oriental theme ATC and the other lady never received her letter C. So she is stitching an oriental themed ATC for me and I stitched a Letter C for her. :~) I really hope she likes it. The alphabet that I chose to stitch from is really pretty and very girly lol.

So here it is ...



I wasn't sure if the stickers go well with it or not. What do ya'll think?

Well time to finish up another ATC. The leaders of the ATC group decided since we weren't doing a theme for July that we would do a "Pay it Forward" thing where one person will get a list of all of the people that have participated in an ATC exchange in the past. She will stitch an ATC and then send it to one person on the list, as well as sending her the list. Then the next person will do the same. And this will continue until everyone on the list has received an ATC. Everyone will stitch the same pattern for the ATC. I have most of that finished. Just have to do the backstitching and then mount it on card stock and add any embellishments that I'm going to use. Then once I get the list, all I'll have to do is mail it off to someone on the list. :~)

Well that's all for now.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Two More ATC Finishes!

Hiya Stitching Friends!

I have finished 2 more ATC's! I'm really excited about them and love how they turned out. Can't wait to hear how the recipients like them. I'm putting them in the mail today and then they will make their way across the country and ocean over to the UK. I really hope they like them.

The first one is the theme Letter N. I wanted to pick a letter N that was sort of different and something fun. Here is what I came up with ...



Isn't it cute?! I think it falls in both the different and fun categories don't you? I love the bright colors.

The next theme was FIFA. This was a bit harder to find a pattern for. Although I wanted something more than just a soccer ball, it was what I ended up doing. But I still like how it turned out.



What do you think? I think the black cardstock background makes the rest of it really pop.

Here are the Letter N and FIFA ATC's that I received ...






Aren't they cute? I just love the Piglet Letter N! And the bear playing soccer is adorable!

Our ATC group on Facebook is not doing an exchange for July. But I'm really looking forward to August! I still haven't received my oriental theme ATC from May. Apparently there was a mix-up and it was unknowingly sent to the wrong person. Hopefully it will find it's way home to me soon. :~)

Now to get some work done on some of my WIPs! So much to stitch and so little time ...

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Another Finish!

Hello Fellow Stitchers and Friends!!! :~)

I have finished the Letter C ATC and I think it turned out really cute! :~) I hope the recipient loves it as much as I do. I have to admit though, that this pattern was not as easy as it looks. The Xs were fine but the backstitching on the pattern was very hard to read in a lot of spots, so I hope I didn't miss any.

Well here it is!



I love Eeyore so I knew that is the one I wanted to do for this theme. Although I must admit that Tigger is my favorite from the Winnie the Pooh & Friends bunch. :~)

My next two ATC themes are the letter N and FIFA either soccer or tennis. I have chosen soccer. And the letter N that I chose and have already started I think is a unique N and really cute. :~) I want to get these both done as quickly as I can bcuz I will be going out of town on Tuesday afternoon to Texas to visit family. And I know that most of the time that we will be there, there won't be much time for stitching.

That's all for now. Looking forward to posting more ATC's really soon!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

ATC Theme Letter C Received

Hello Stitching Friends ~

I just wanted to share with you the ATC that I have received so far. It's the one for the theme the letter C.



I think it's pretty. I'm looking forward to receiving the oriental theme ATC. Can't wait to see what the other person came up with for a pattern for that.

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

A New Finish!

Hiya Friends!

Hope you are all doing really well. I am doing pretty good. Both stitching and sewing have been very slow in happening, as my glasses have disappeared and have yet to reappear for about a month now. It's very frustrating. Without my glasses, my options are my prescription sunglasses, and of course even with my stitching light, stitching with sunglasses is not easy. The other option is my old pair of contacts. And although they are better for seeing than my sunglasses, there's a reason why I choose to no longer wear them. My eyes tend to dry out really bad with them, especially now with our ceiling fan going 24/7 bcuz of the heat. But I was able to get this piece finished, an ATC, a little bit at a time. And I am really happy with out it turned out!

The theme for this one was oriental. I had the hardest time finding a pattern for this theme. And after going through several of my stitching pattern books, I finally came across this one. And I loved it from the moment I saw it! I hope the recipient loves it just as much!

Here it is ...



The Kanji symbol means beauty. And I just love the kimono.

The next theme I'm working on is the letter C. It's nearly finished. Just have a bit more backstitching to do. Then I'll start on the next 2 themes, which are the letter N and FIFA, either soccer or tennis. The FIFA one, I'm not sure if I'm going to go with soccer or tennis. I found a cute tennis pattern. And the only one I've really found for soccer is just a plain old soccer ball. And I'm not sure I want to do just a plain old soccer ball. But we shall see.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time,
♥ Margie ♥

Cross Stitch ATCs!

Hello Stitching Friends!

Have any of you ever heard of Cross Stitch ATCs? If you have, have you ever participated in an ATC exchange? If you haven't heard of them, well let me explain! :~) I'm sure you have all have seen and maybe even collected sports or some other sort of trading cards right? Well, ATCs are Artist Trading Cards! How cool is that?!!! I had never heard of ATCs before until a few months ago on Facebook I was invited to join a stitching group called Cross Stitch ATCs. I checked out the group and it looked fun and very interesting. I didn't actually join in on any of the exchanges until this month however due to other projects that I needed to get done. But this month, I jumped in with both feet and am doing both themes as well as the birthday ones. So here's how it works. Each month two themes are selected by the group moderator. This month the themes are the letter C and Oriental. So each person that is signed up for the exchange will stitch small patterns that match the themes. They need to be mounted on 2.5" x 3.5" pieces of cardstock so that they will fit easily into trading card pages. Some people just stitch a design, however some embellish the piece with stickers or whatnot. They really are very cute. Then at the end of the month, each person mails off their stitched and mounted ATC to the person they are assigned to.

So I just wanted to share with all of you my new discovery & projects! :~) I don't think any of the people in the exchange or group read my blog. So once I've finished my pieces, I'll post pictures of them here on my blog. I can't post them on Facebook until after each person receives their piece so as not to ruin the surprise. I'm really glad that I decided to participate in the exchange this month as my stitching bug was somewhere here in my house, I could hear it, but I'll be darned if I could find it! And I think these cute little pieces were exactly what I needed to get that bug to come out of hiding! :~)

Happy Stitching!

Until Next Time
♥ Margie ♥

PS ~ One last thing, I don't know if any of you have noticed or not, but on the right side of my blog, I have posted a link to my new crafts business Facebook page! My business is Forever Treasured Keepsakes. It's still pretty new, so I'm working on getting it off the ground. But if you have a moment, please check it out & let me know what you think. And if you have a Facebook profile, be sure to "like" my page. Thank you! Have a great Tuesday!