nativity and new year news

This is a pic of a nativity that I made a few years ago for my mother. I took a pic of it while I was at her house for the holiday. I don't remember the designer and unfortunately I was a dunderhead and didn't note it on the back of the frame. One more thing to add to my list of stitching resolutions for the new year! If you are thinking about new beginnings, like I am, go to my regular life blog and check out the Simple Steps that I am doing - I'm incorporating stitching into my new life for 2009!

Quick finish

Wow! I made this fleece blanket in just an hour! We own several of these, The kids' Snuggle Blankets, but I've never made one. I checked it out on the internet and found some simple directions, bought a chunk of fleece and just went for it! This is a christmas gift for my grandmother. The fleece is so soft and it turned out nice. Yea! I can cross it off my list and I can be proud of it too. Thank you whoever was the smarty that invented this craft! Well I'm off to stitch!

December Goings on

Crafty wise I'm taking it rather easy this year. LOL! That's what newborns will do to ya! I'm making my cookies of course, I make tins every year. I've got a few standby recipes that I include each year, my Magic Cookie bars, my perfect chocolate cookies, my favorite Egg Nog Snickerdoodles. Then I include a few different recipes that I try out that year. This year the kids are helping by making Easy Pretzel Turtles. If they turn out, they'll be included in the tins. Nothing like yummy treats at Christmas! Every year I help my older two girls make gifts to give to their Aunties. We've made some fun projects! This year we are making Beaded Key Chains. I bought some fun beads in Greens and Blues from Michaels and we are going to town on them. I will post pics when they're done. The only other crafty thing I'm making this year is a fleece blanket. My kids each have one of these (we call them snuggle blankets) but I've never actually made one, so this will be my first. They look pretty simple, so we'll see. Of course, I'm trying to stitch but it's hard to find the time. If I'm sitting I'm usually nursing. I haven't figured out how to stitch while doing that. LOL! I have been reading a lot and I have lots of ornaments kitted up and ready to go. I'm working on one of my favorites from this years JCS Ornament issue. I'll post it when I'm done!
Happy Holidays

November Finish

Here's that finish for the November Stitch Along Challenge!

Ornament finish and SAL

So I haven't been blogging - I've been stitching! I've joined Vonna's ornament SAL and for November we were challenged to stitch two ornaments: a christmas themed one and a Thanksgiving themed one. Well I finished the one above and am almost done stitching the autumn themed one, so I did it! Technically I'm supposed to be stitching for myself - the idea being that I end up with 24 ornaments at the end of the year, 12 for my tree and one to display for each month. The above ornament was for an exchange, so I didn't get to keep it, but I enjoyed stitching it so much that I will probably do it again for myself at some point. Regardless I am so happy that I was actually able to stitch enough this month to keep up - With a NEWBORN! Go Me!
LOL! When I finish the autumn one I'll add a pic and then move on to the December challenge: two Christmas ornies! That will be tough in the month of December, but I'm willing to try my best.

Stash enhancement and a finish

Lovely pile of stash from Lynn S in MN for a Christmas ornament exchange! A darling ornament, some yummy fabrics - perfect for finishing, a cute little set of snowman cards and some snowflake buttons! Thanks Lynn!


Another Stash addition - This from Amy B in NJ - also for an ornament exchange; A Super cute Snowman ornament - I LOVE Snowmen! two kits for snow folks, a Prairie Schooler Santa and a cute New Jersey Magnet. Thanks Amy!


LOL - My latest finish - Grace Kathryn! born October 13th - Isn't she cute