Leaping Into The New Year

The clock is ticking down for 2010, and with 2011 in view, I've decided to make The Prairie Schooler's 12 Days of Santa my big stitching project for the year. I didn't actually decide this until I started stitching #10, shown below. I love all 12 of these designs and think they will make a wonderful wall hanging when all put together.

I am using a very striking red thread from Victorian Motto that was sent to me by the thoughtful Marie P. I plan to do all the santas with this thread. I've got a supply of my favorite needles handy thanks to my pal Vonna who sent a pack of my favorite brand and size. I even feel like I could stitch in a Parisian cafe thanks to my very special friend Arcadia who gave me the lovely scissor and fob you see in the picture below. She sent me some other lovely gifts which I plan to share with you in my next post.

Earlier last week, I found a package in my mailbox with this lovely ornament from Carol. It is from The Prairie Schooler's A Prairie Year. It is just the loveliest ornament and I can't stop admiring how elegant it is! Thanks again Carol. I look forward to having it on my tree for years to come.

This next lovely ornament came from the talented hands of Robin. It graced my doorstep on Christmas Eve and made me smile with its sweet simplicity, beautiful shape, and sparkly trim. Thank you again Robin!

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone! Here is a collection of the ornaments I've sent out as gifts this year. I'm so happy that they've all arrived to their respective recipients just in time for Christmas day. Click on the image below to see them in complete detail.



Thanks for stopping by, and have a Merry Christmas.

A Combined Effort

I put the final stitches into this piece just last week. I started this back in August when we were on vacation in the Philippines. I knew at that time that it would be for Justine's boyfriend's family. They enjoy skiing and what more of an excuse did I need to stitch the 2010 annual Prairie Scooler Santa?

Last night, Justine and her boyfriend stopped by for dinner. He's been visiting in the area but is soon on his way back to Southern California to join his family for the holidays. The time was NOW to do the finishing on my gift.

Justine is much better at sewing than I am and she wanted part of the gift to be her effort, so she did the finishing on it. By the time she was done I was already in bed, but she knew that I would want a picture of the finish. Here it is for you to enjoy too.


(click the picture for a closer view)
Thanks so much for visiting.

Gifts For and From

It was my friend Nicola's birthday the other day and we did a birthday exchange this year. Here is the gift that I
made for her.



This design is from The Prairie Schooler's alphabet series. I mounted it atop a wooden box which I stained.

I received a lovely e-mail from Nicola telling me she really liked the gift. I'm so happy that it got to her in time to add a little more joy to her special day!



This is the ornament that I stitched for her Christmas gift; it's another Prairie Schooler design. This one is from the Old World Santas Leaflet.

Besides sending gifts to my friends, I have also received some really sweet ones from special people.

This first sweet ornament is from the very talented Myra. I just loved the elegant Victorian look of this little skate. The blade is creatively fashioned from a piece of wire. I thought the way Myra shared it on her blog was beautiful. I was really touched when a little package appeared in my mailbox last week bearing this delicate little keepsake. Thanks again Myra! It is really a charmer and it will be treasured every year when I hang it up.



This next stitched beauty is from the sweetest lady I know, BeckySC
When Becky posted this little pillow to her blog, I commented how much I loved it because of the color combination of red and green. I was really touched when it came to my house last week.



Thank you everyone who has made my Christmas holiday a very special one this year!

Happy Holidays,

Catching A Glimpse of Santa

I remember when Thanksgiving Day marked the arrival of Santa. Do you remember waiting for him to make his grand appearance at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade? I do, and I feel a pang of sadness that everything has changed so much for the children of today. The anticipation made it all the more special.

I came home last week to a package on my doorstep. What a wonderful surprise to receive something from a friend when you had no idea that she was sending anything. Nicola had put together a lovely gift package for me that contained a beautiful calendar of a delightful destination that she and her husband enjoy visiting frequently. She also enclosed the ornament that I am sharing with you here. Isn't it just lovely? I am thrilled with it but even more so to have Nicola as a friend.

Thank you so much for stopping to visit with me. I appreciate your friendship. I wish all of you in the U.S. a very Blessed Thanksgiving.

Pac Man Does It Again!

We are celebrating the 8th world title of Manny Pacquiao in last night's fight against Margarito. My husband is a big boxing fan and the fact that he is Filipino makes him a HUGE Manny Pacquiao fan.

When we were in the Philippines late this summer, we had an opportunity to meet Pacquiao at the founder's day celebration of my husband's alma mater in Dumaguete City on the island of Negros. Andrea was really thrilled to be able to get his autograph and pose with him in a picture. I got to shake his hand.



You would definitely not assume that he is a world-class fighter just by looking at him. He is quite small but as showed his opponent last night; looks can be deceiving.

Thanks for stopping by. I should have some stitching to share soon.

A Pumpkin or An Apple?

I started stitching this design a couple of years ago. I dug it out of it's hiding place a couple of weeks ago and finished up the stitching on it.

It's from The Prairie Schooler leaflet "Pumpkins" I knew that I wanted to finish it in a pumpkin shape but I didn't want to sew it. Here is what I came up with. It's decidedly more apple shaped than pumpkin shaped. Oh well, I think my friend that I am sending it to will like it.






Thanks so much for stopping by to pay me a visit.

Lost In Cyberspace?

It's been too long since I've posted. Perhaps many of you had given up thinking I would ever post here again. I've never been a very consistent blogger but I greatly admire those of you who are.

Things are very quiet here. My husband and I are now officially empty nesters. We moved our youngest daughter off to college toward the end of last month. Perhaps the whole "empty nest" theme had me itching to stitch this little mama with her full nest.





Thank you for stopping by.

The Graduates

My youngest daughter, Andrea, graduated last Saturday with high honors from high school.



And this is my oldest daughter, Justine, who graduated at the Greek Theatre on the UC Berkeley campus back on May 15.

Congrats to my grads! I'm very proud of both of them.

Coeur est terminé

I stitched this as a gift for my oldest daughter who will be graduating from college this month. It is from the book Un petit fil rouge m'a dit... by Isabelle Vautier. It was a gift from my wonderful friend Arcadia.

An Oink Oink Here, and a Meow Meow There

It's been too long since I've posted here; I have been stitching but not posting about it.

I did manage to finish stitching my 7th animal (the pig) from the Prairie Schooler Barnyard Christmas leaflet and I've started the final one.



My oldest daughter will be graduating from college in a few short weeks. She asked me to stitch her a cat for her French professor. We both agreed that this one by Danybrod would be perfect. I stitched it up yesterday and she is going to sew it together and put some whiskers on it.



This spring break she went to New York City and had some fun adventures. She met Clifford the Big Red Dog and visited a store dedicated to trims. Can you imagine that, an entire store filled only with trims, most of them imported from France? She picked up several nice ones for me.





I sent my most recent Christmas Ornament Exchange to Edgar which he received this week. I'm always so happy to stitch for Edgar because we both share a love for Prairie Schooler designs. I thought this one was perfect for him because he is a very hospitable person, and pineapples are a symbol of hospitality.



Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you are enjoying springtime.

Two More Exchanges

I received delivery confirmation on two other exchanges that I mailed out on Monday. I thought I'd share pictures of them.

The first was for a mailart exchange that I was in. The theme was birdhouses. I stitched a portion of The Prairie Schooler's Birdhouse Sampler from the leaflet Garden Samplers.


This is the ornament that I sent to Meghan. It is from The Prairie Schooler's Cranberry Christmas leaflet.


Thanks for stopping by.

Spring Showers

We have been having our fair share of spring showers here in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was pouring when I drove my daughter to school this morning. I couldn't get Owen to go out in the stuff. Fortunately, when I got home the rain had stopped and I took the dogs on a long walk.

I heard from Becky K. that she received the Easter exchange that I sent to her. Here is a picture of the pinkeep that I made for her. It is one of the designs from The Prairie Schooler's new leaflet Signs of Spring.


Thanks so much for stopping by.

An Oily Situation

I had another Owen mishap this past Saturday. Owen is our adopted ex-racing greyhound. Here he is with his famous crocodile grin.


DH had used a frying pot to cook something and then he told me he was going out to the grocery store. Well, he didn't tell me that he didn't put the frying pot in a place where Owen couldn't reach it.

I was upstairs when I heard a crash and I went running downstairs to find that Owen had pulled the pot over. There was cooking oil running everywhere! I stripped off most of my clothes (what a sight!) and started to clean up the mess. There was no way that I was going to risk ruining my clothes with stains from cooking oil. So there I stood, working for what seemed like an eternity in my underwear, cleaning up oil that covered the floor, cabinets, and countertop.

I came away with some positive thoughts from the experience. Here is a list of them:

1) Owen was not injured because the oil was already cooled
2) The floor, cabinets and countertops received a deep conditioning from all of the oil
3) My old kitchen rugs were ruined so I was finally able to justify throwing them out.
4) I got some good exercise from all the bending and stooping
5) I'm really thankful for paper towels. They were invaluable for cleaning up the mess. Can you imagine life without them?

Pretty in Pink

I received a wonderful surprise in my mailbox on Tuesday. Mylene sent me this lovely scissor fob as a Valentine's Day gift. I'm just thrilled to have another beautifully stitched and finished piece from Mylene. What a sweetheart she is!



My baby turned 18 on Tuesday. This is a candid shot of Andrea taken by one of her friends. Is this a foreshadowing of things to come when she goes off to college this fall? With a major in Chemistry, I don't think she'll have too much time for partying.

Gifts from My Best Friend

It's been ages since I've posted to my blog. My mother became ill very suddenly in early November and came very close to saying goodbye to us. We are so thankful that she is getting stronger despite her acute kidney failure.

I received some lovely handmade gifts from good friends over Christmas. I will share pictures of all of them, but today I wanted to start off by showing you the gifts that my dear friend Arcadia made for me.

Here are the gifts that she made me for Christmas. The little bag with the sunbonnet girl with two dogs is all hand-appliqued by Arcadia. The other heart drawstring pouch is hand embroidered. I've given you a close-up of it below.



With this green shopping basket I'm all set to go to the outdoor market and do it in style as the European's do. This is a popular product in Europe.


This is actually a bag that Arcadia made me quite awhile ago but I never shared it on my blog. When I saw that many ladies in France were making these bags, I asked Arcadia is she could make me one as a birthday gift. Its creation was no small feat of sewing talent. I think it's assembly nearly drove her mad but she did an outstanding job! I love the pockets all around the exterior and the interior of this bag. They are wonderful pockets to use for storage of needles and other stitching necessities.

Thanks so much for paying me a visit. I promise I'll try to be a better blogger.