GRAB A CUPPA and....

settle in. In fact, you might want to make another pot. I have a lot of catching up to do.

As some of you know, I've been away (physically and emotionally) for some time now. But it's a new year and a time for new beginnings. After much 'soul searching' I've come to realize that you can only get back what you put in to something. Life is certainly no different. So, I have to pick the battles I can win and walk away from the others.

Now, before we get started I would like to say, "THANK YOU" very much to each of you who have left comments and/or sent emails of encouragement. I thank you for your support and for your wisdom. You HAVE made a difference and I appreciate it.

Okay, enough said. Let's see pictures!!!!


FAMILY AND CHRISTMAS PHOTOS

Awe, the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for. LOL. Family photo time. I'm actually very excited about doing this. We haven't had a family photo taken in nearly a decade. I know, I can see the disbelief in your faces. But it's true.

Our DS was here over Christmas and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have it done. Besides, who knows when we'll have another chance. Anyway...here we are!


We decided to do something a little different (for DS and me) this year. We opened our presents on Christmas Eve. This has been a long standing tradition for DH and his family. Considering all that we've been through lately, we all agreed that something different might be just what we needed. I had to throw in a photo of the tree too, just because that was our only decoration this year. (It's tough to have a home on the market during the holidays. LOL.)


Anyway, here we are in action. And yes, DAD got a tie. Two of them actually but he asked for them.


I got new slippers, finally. I've had a hole chewed out of the toe for months now. I loved this photo because it looks like I'm opening the package at the speed of light. LOL.


But the best present of all was the one from our DS. He gave us the most amazing framed collection of photos. He looks so sharp in his 'cowboy' garb, complete with hat, vest, duster, boots and belt buckle. He even has a horse. I tease because that is so different from we were used to but it suits him. And he is handsome in it.


DS got a number of goodies. But this one I think he liked the best. It's a portable DVD player. It's really quite cool. It has a remote, swivel screen, and rechargeable battery. Of course, we didn't have anything like this when I was a kid. Heck, an Easy Bake Oven was State of the Art!

I love how he 'models' it. Maybe that could be a career choice for him. Hhmmmmm.....


Here he models his Letter Jacket for us. We're very proud of him for receiving this jacket for Academic Excellence.


Of course, we couldn't forget Fritz. He got a new rabbit toy, which he quickly named "Wascle". And BTW, he didn't chew the hole in my slipper.


In this photo he is sharing his victory with Fritz. We played Monopoly one night and he gave us a royal butt-kicking. Drove DH and I into bankruptcy early on. Maybe finance and real estate are his calling? Hhmmmmm..... We decided to try Yhatzee after that and he lost. Good thing that dice aren't his calling! LOL.


For the most part it was wonderful having DS home for the Christmas despite the fact that we were all walking on egg shells for the most part. And unfortunately, the night before he left the s**t hit the fan and we managed to create yet another wall that now has to be knocked down. Over the following few days I viewed it as a disaster but I've since come to believe that it's just something that happens in families sometimes. We still have many issues to work through. Those would be mostly me learning to keep my damn mouth shut and exercising a little more tact. And for DS to try and consider someone else's feelings - not just his own. That I'm sure will come in time.


SHOPPING SPREE

Just after New Years I decided to treat myself to a day of shopping. Believe it or not I really haven't been in the mood. Can you believe that? Well, it's true. Not that I haven't tried. DH even took me around to jewelry stores trying to entice me. I figured I was a goner when I couldn't find anything that I liked. How sick is that? LOL.

Anyway, I hit JoAnn's and had a ball. This is some of what I bought. Don't you just love these buttons? That might be my newest, most favorite thing to buy. The fabrics are remnants, except for the dragonfly. It's a sheer fabric. Pink with silver dragonflies. I thought of Pat Winter when I saw this. And I can't seem to go shopping without picking up a few charms. I really like the tiny butterfly charms. I ended up using them on the pillow I made.



MY NEWEST PROJECT

I haven't really had any desire what so ever to stitch for about 2 months now. And for whatever reason, I picked up my needle and thread, grabbed an unfinished heart and went to work. Then end result is this pillow. And with the exception of my cell phone pouch, this is the only other CQ'd item I've made for myself.

This is the completed pillow. I'm a little disappointed that it looks so BUSY in the photo. It really looks so pretty in person.


These are just some of the 'highlights' of the work on it. I must have taken a gazzilion photos during the time I was stitching on it and putting it together. I just love the little angel and the tiny butterflies.


The spider web turned out much larger than I had intended so I put a bead trail at the bottom to try and shrink it up a little. It also helped to balance out the upper left corner.


The corners not shown also have little charms on them. In all there is, "Dream", "Hope", "Believe", and of course, the angel watching over IT all.

These vines are my on-going attempt to learn to SRE. I really like the glass grape clusters added to them. The other flowers didn't turn out like "THE BOOK" pictured them but they are far better than I had hoped for.


I call these roses but they are actually more of a 'fantasy' flower. I'll keep working on them. The most productive part of this was getting more comfortable with the ribbon. Keeping it untwisted is quite the chore. I've found that using a small crochet hook really helps to keep the ribbon flat.


Making the stems and leaves was also a good learning experience. I might just try making a tree next time.

The heart is actually what got me going again. I had pieced it months ago and just set it aside. The day my creativity came back to me it all but jumped up and yelled at me to poke it. LOL.



STS - WINTER UPDATE

The completed blocks are starting to roll in and they are looking just lovely. I am working two blocks in this swap. One for Robin, which I posted earlier (see it here), and one for Sue.

Here is Sue's original, half worked block. She gave me so much to work with. The block really spoke to me!


This is her block after my work. BTW, Sue's SRE flowers were my inspiration for the work I did on my pillow. THANKS, SUE!






I wish that I had the photo space on Blogger to show all of the blocks but I don't. So, I've chosen just a couple that I found to be just too cute and very creative.

These are photos of Lauri's original, half worked block and a couple of close ups. She added the most wonderful beads, buttons and other embellishments to her block.






And this is Lauri's block after her partner, Helina's work. Isn't it just lovely?


This is photo of Faith's original, half worked block. She did such a nice job with the colors and pattern choices.


These are photos of her block after Carole's work. Don't you just love the penguins? She did a wonderful job with the buttons and beads here.




Our next Season Block Share will be SPRING. And as you can see, we have a few over-achievers (LOL) who are really getting a jump on things. I'm sure there are more of you out there. If so, chime in and let me know. I would love to see what you're working on.

The two I know of for sure are JK, one of our list Moms on CQForNewbies (CQN) has already pieced and started working her block. (BTW, JK I love that you posted a photo of you on your blog.)

And Rebecca also has hers ready to go. Hopefully, she'll get a photo up on her blog. I would love to see what she's done.


GIFTS

I've been very blessed to have received so many wonderful things in the mail recently. I thought I would share a couple of them with you.

Helina sent this darling postcard that she made. It came at a time when I really needed an angel.


Courtney sent me a pincushion she made. I love, love, love pincushions. It's small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and will be perfect for my little travel CQ bag.



And finally - A big thank you to Norma for nominating me for the

This You Make My Day award was originated by Laurence as a thank you to her blogland friends. She says to, "Use my small .jpg to give to give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times! :) Lots of good times to all !!!"

It's going to be difficult to narrow it down to just 10 people. And for that reason, I will end my post here. I'll be back with the names and blogs later.



Thanks so much for joining me today. And until Next time...Happy Needling!!!