Chickies and Aliens and Stitchies...OH MY!!

 And this is the ugliness that the gusty winds blew in!  Yikes, I opened my front door to see how frosty it was out and I was quite literally, horrified!  I was up sick a good deal of last night and to tell you the truth I would have preferred a very balmy 70° out there this morning.  The girls have snuggled in the house, which is unusual.  They prefer the backyard, especially April, even when it is cold. 

Stitching? Did I hear that?  I printed off all the parts to the AAN "A Christmas Tree" sal only to discover that the color printer cartridge was petering out.  I thought I would still be able to piece it together and still use it.  But no!  Disgusted I sat and watched a movie called "The 4th Kind".  It is supposed to be based on true events, aliens stealing humans away and then bringing them back only to have the humans go nutz and kill family and themselves.  This is supposed to have happened in Nome, Alaska.  Now some of you folks of the liberal persuasion may want to blame Sarah Palin, I happen to love Sarah, I do, I read her book and watch her with great pleasure on political shows, but c'mon, I don't think she knows how to drive a UFO!  Besides where would she park it?  You know I got a little off topic here. 

So this morning I printed the same pattern pieces again and put them together with tape.

 I feel like I have done a jigsaw puzzle.  And I was missing a piece and it took me several minutes to find it in the pdf file of my computer.  Alas, fine friends I am ready to start this piece at long last.

The above image is the progress I have made on "Un Tour Dans Mon Sac" from C Mon Monde (http://cmonmonde.over-blog.com/). The name of the design translates to "A Ride in My Bag". I love the elements of the design in particular the umbrella and the handbag...way cute. I am using WDW pea coat for the black and I am using a fabric from "Color Blooms" Enchanted Night 32count. This is a brilliant French designer. I bought this through the Violarium web site (http://www.violarium.com/), she is delightfully quick in shipping too! The photo right above that is the the leaflet itself. 

http://chouettalors.over-blog.com/ext/http://boutique.chouettalors.com/

Such a cute free design that I saved. I was thinking it would make a cute header for a calender, with pages printed from Microsoft Office. It's getting that time of year when I need to think about a unique calendar to use at work. It would be neat to turn the pink birds to blue birds of happiness! At the above site she also has a chickie of the month stitch along. There are way cute chickies to stitch. Thinking they would be fun little door knob hangers for the kitchen in particular. Be sure to check out the link on the left (when you follow the above link) that says "Projet commun: l'annee des Poulettes". That is where the chicks are! Did you hear Connie Francis singing "Where the chicks are, chickies wait for you?", I did and will be singing it loudly to my poohs! LOL!!!


Oh yes, I did find that January Challenge Stitch Along I mentioned in a previous entry. http://minnanharrastukset.blogspot.com/2010/11/ristipistohassutus2011.html
You start one project a day for the first 15 days of January and then see how many you can finish.  Check it out. 

So once again it is time for yours truly to venture forth for  warmth from the December winds here in the midst of the Lilac Thicket.  May all your stitches be blessed.

Stashurday!!

 It has turned cold and windy here in the Kansas City area.  The wind is whipping around, leaves swirling down the streets, my hair flying wildly around my face.  I swear I even saw a small white poodle fly by.  LOL!!  I saw poor little birds clinging for their lives on power lines as the wind whipped their feathers around.



 So I decided to go out to Blue Springs to C. C. & Company this morning.  The above pic is over the Blue Springs lake looking off to the north.  Clouds were moving in and the sun was behind me.  The water in the lake looked black, no Canadian Snow Geese were seen but there was a lost seagull circling the water.  Yes we do get seagulls here in land locked Kansas City, they migrate and stop here. 

 They always have such cute little outdoors displayed at C.C.'s to greet us as we get out of our cars.

 Santa sat right by the door greeting us as we got to the door.  I went in and wandered around and found plenty to keep me busy.  I will share my purchases with you a little further down. 

 I hate going to the grocery store on Saturdays.  The parking lot was packed but it wasn't too bad inside.  No screaming children but I did hear one child singing some song quite loudly in the next aisle and that made me smile.  I do not like children, yes I was one at one time but there is something definitely different about lots of children today.  I would have had my rear blistered if I misbehaved as a lot of children do in public today and then we have the parents which seem total oblivious to the bad behavior of their virulent off spring.  Pretty scary thinking I am going to be a step mother, huh!  Anyway as usual my girls were extremely helpful to me as I carried in the groceries as pictured above.  I don't think I could properly muscle in the 40 pound bags of dog food without the two of them supervising me. 

 This is the floss, fabric and beads for Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks "A Christmas Tree" 2010 stitch along.  I chose Zweigart's Lugana Metallic 28 count in gold/mushroom.  I think the mushroom color will give the piece a bit of a vintage look.  LOVE IT!

 For the Alessandra Adelaide "Champagne" design.  I bought Cashel White Opalescent 28 count.  I LOVE IT!

The rest of my purchases, an 11" by " Q Snap, 3 packages of Piecemaker needles in size 24, La-D-Da's designs Lazy Alphabet and Pumpkins Three.  And I got for FREE a key chain flash light with C. C's address and phone # on it!  BONUS!!!!

So the rest of my day?  C'mon now do you really need to ask?  If you said "stitching"...wrong!  Napping is the correct answer!  LOL!!  Just teasing!  Floss and needles will be flying around here at the Lilac Thicket, not because I will be feverishly stitching but from the wind I hear outside!    God Bless us everyone! 

PS:  This was a sign outside a church I saw today "If you love me, you will obey my 10 commandments." 

Santa's Elf Alerting Us to a Christmas Full Moon this Year!!

Surprise! Door Prize!

I won a door prize from Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks (http://aaneedleworks.altervista.org/naturalgloom/AAN/AANindex.html) when I visited the Online Needlework Show in October.  It was the only vendor that I entered for a door prize.  My goodness, imagine my surprise when I was one of several winners to receive 3 designs from her.  She sent me one of my favorite designs, a new design entitled "Champagne" which I want to stitch as a wedding sampler for my upcoming marriage.  I thought on the label there is enough room for me to stitch over one my name and Robert's and the date of our marriage.  I went up and bought the DMC for it and it looked nice on the 30count hand dyed linen in the color "gold" which was the November selection of the Stitches 'n Things (http://www.stitchesnthings.com) Fabric of the Month selection. Then I decided that it wasn't festive enough for such a piece celebrating a blessed event like my marriage so I want to get the "Reflections" fabric from Silk-weaver's (http://www.silkweaverfabrics.com/home/reflections) because it has opalescent fibers in it and would be perfect. The other 2 designs I received as my door prize were "Bridal Bouquet" and "Chiocciola".  Such a generous gift that I love.   I also want to encourage you to go to AA Needleworks as she has a SAL which is a beautiful Christmas tree but it is only available until December 31st and then all 10 parts will be gone forever.  I hope she has a SAL for 2011 because I love her designs.

I got an e-mail this morning from Violarium that my chart has shipped ALREADY!!!!  (See yesterday's pic.) Wow such great service!  Well I have a great 3 day weekend starting tomorrow, I just have to get thru today!  God will give me the strength.

I have a new pair of Denim & Co jeans on.  I purchased them from QVC.   They are grey in color.  The sweater that I bought is tight and I don't feel comfortable in it.  I will hold onto it because it will fit better soon.  It's funny how these sizes vary so.  I hate to see overweight people wearing skin tight clothes that show every roll of fat.  I would rather have something a little too big then too tight!

I have been searching because I saw someone post somewhere a link to a proposed stitch along where one starts one new project each day starting January 1st and continuing to do so thru January 15th.  The goal is to see how many you can finish.  Well darn it, I can't find that link and I didn't save it.  Darn it!!!

Well off to spend some cash on a something at Hobby Lobby.  Have a wonderful Thursday from the Lilac Thicket!  God Bless us Everyone!

What a difference 6 months makes!

And so life has changed so much from my last post.  God really has a way of surprising us.  I continue to lose weight, down as much as 3 sizes in my undergarments.  I actually have bought real blue jeans 2 sizes smaller than the elastic waist pants I had.  I can see definition in my shoulders and can actually encircle my wrist with the fingers of my left hand.  My tummy doesn't touch the steering wheel of my car, and I DID NOT push the seat back, LOL!  My back doesn't hurt any longer and I can actually bend over and pick things up off the floor.  Life is good and getting better.


I met an amazing man and we have plans for a future together.  I never imagined getting married again but with him, I do.  I could go on and on about him but I won't bore you.


Stitching has been very spotty.  Sometimes I work on stuff and sometimes I don't.  The above picture is a darling design from Lilipoints entitled "Merry Christmas".  I ordered it on-line from Violarium (http://www.violarium.com), and I have ordered from them once before and had terrific service.  When I get home I will take a picture of the C Mon Monde Halloween design I am stitching.  I love those French designers, don't you?  Plus today I sent off for two darling free designs which two different designers offered with an e-mail, of course both Christmas designs.  I also noticed that LagattaC (http://lagattac.blogspot.com/) is once again up and updating which greatly enhances my stashing capacity with freebies.  Love it!

It is cold here in Kansas City.  It is going to warm to 53° or 54° which will be great so I can clean the Stuffed Spud soup that escaped the crock-pot as it sat in the trunk of my car and tipped over on that wild tea cup ride to work Sunday.  I want to get the hose out to wash down the carpet, yes OUTSIDE the trunk! LOL!

I would also encourage all of you who love to craft to visit my favorite daily stop Craft Gossip.  Crafty gals post entries about stuff going on at their blogs.  I have found tons of cute ideas and patterns for knitting, crocheting AND cross stitch.  It is definitely worth a visit! http://craftgossip.com/

I will work to do a better job of blogging, if only to bore you with gory details about the love of my life, cross stitch, doggies and of course that cute Italian man I am going to marry!  Ciao for now from the frozen reaches of a bare Lilac Thicket!

Happy Mothers Day!

Ginger, Mom and Lillian all hoping they are cute enough to snag us a table at Cracker Barrel on Mothers Day.

Well the same 3 ladies as above, plus me. My brother took this photo...I am definately the better photographer.

Jason, Mom and Jeff. We sure did miss my brother Rick at breakfast.

Ginger telling Jeffery to do bad things at the table. I wish Mom was able to control her children.

Jeff pouring all the little bottles of syrup into one so he could stick it in his shirt and take it home. I hope the lid unscrews and the syrup gets out and gums up all his chest hair.

All of us at the Lilac Thicket wish Mom's everywhere to have a beautiful day.

Hopping & Hopeless Stashing

' Tis the season of the airplanes. Yes they are everywhere, I even found them in my laundry basket, maybe one of the girls dragged it in the house. It makes me marvel at how God makes sure new little trees get made. I think I am the Sandi Mapleseed of the world, I could easily plant thousands of Maple tree forests. LOL!

Well this is the sad state of the stashing I did on the Shop Hop. I was really hoping for the new Cross Eyed Cricket but since I only make it to one shop, chances were I wouldn't find them. I did come away with one free design and ring full of coupons for June thru December at C.C. & Co, plus a Sue Hillis "Homecoming" that was on my Wish List and my Little House monthly that I have on my automatic program at C.C.

I ran into 2 lovely ladies whose names escaped me, and I was embarrassed. I remember their lovely faces but the names might as well have been a word whispered into the wind. I am certain it was from one of the shop stitch groups I went to. I miss them and I miss having a cross stitch friend close by to do stitching activities with.

I spent the morning searching for free designs on the Internet. I found some nice ones too. I posted links to them on my Stitchers Antics group. If you are looking for freebies consider joining my Yahoo Group. There is a link to it on the right at the top.

I did look through a nice Italian blog, spend several hours doing that this morning. She had lots of different ideas and I enjoyed adding her ideas to my folder. I would suggest translating it with a Google language tool, or something similar. http://www.il-mondo-di-ezechiele.com/

I spent yesterday even going through my 4-3 ring binders which are each 2"-3" thick, 2 having clear plastic sleeves with multiple free designs in them. I pulled out my Just Nan freebies, some being 20 years old or older, I think I am going to look for the Charland freebies, I have a Collaboration freebie, her, Nan and someone else that I think I may start.

I am almost done with my Mother's Day Card. I never figured out how to do the twisted bar stitch but I made up a stitch. I am thinking I will make the bottom bar eyelets. It needs to be washed and pressed and then it is ready to give.

Well we are almost out of Diet Pepsi here at the Lilac Thicket, this is NOT a good thing. Brent was over today and has cut the lawn thus enabling the girls and I to peer out of the thicket to check out the outside world and we quickly pull back because there is scary stuff going on out there. We remain hidden here in our fragrant and wonderful Lilac Thicket. God Bless each of you!