Chopper

I made this bear for Jim for Christmas - his name is Chopper. He was made from a kit from Vivianne Galli of Hug Me Again.

Chopper is only about 4.25 inches tall! He was so much fun to make! He has German glass eyes, and his head is on a disc, so it can turn. All hand stitched. It is the softest peach Mohair. I did not age mine as much as she does, and I added a little flower to his paw.

You can visit Vivianne at her beautiful blog, Gotta Share This, where she shows more of her amazing creations! I would love to purchase one of the bears she has made -- someday... :o)

Thanks for visiting!

some sewing... :o)

Here are the two wallhanging quilts that I finished the tops for, over the last few weeks... I think I will be hand-quilting them both... :o)

Carol (Cornfield Quilter) got me hooked on hexagons, and I found this Patriot's Home quilt in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of McCall's Quilting... I left off the outer border, so it would fit on my quilt rack/shelf above my embroidery machine... :o)Beatrice (A Needle In A Haystack) sent me the Schnibbles *Picnic* pattern for Christmas, and this is my version. I had a couple of charm packs of *A Beautiful Time* by RJR Fabrics that I was saving for a special project, and this was the right project! I *LOVE* this - it is SO me!
And everyone has been talking about all the snow... We got our first snow of the season, starting Christmas Day... I took this photo the next morning... :o)

By the way, ignore the dates on my photos - the little knob on our camera is broken that allows you to change the date, or take it off there... Hopefully we will be getting a new camera sometime in the New Year... :o)

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas 2009

This was a really fun Christmas! Jimmy will be 3 in January, so it is the first year he has really gotten into it - like asking him, who is coming tonite? *SANTA!*
He wasn't too sure what to think when he got up and saw all the presents! His first instinct was too start unwrapping - but it was a present for Daddy! HA!
He was a big help! Passing out presents to his brother and sisters!

Here is the aftermath - fairly cleaned up! :o) We got a *family gift* this year, a Wii! Jimmy's favorite present has to be his *Buzz Woody* table - you can use markers on it and it wipes clean! :o) *Yes, David is sitting in one of the chairs! :o)

Jim got me 5 roses... These are a *delayed* gift from our anniversary in August. Each anniversary, he has gotten me the number of roses for the number of years, so this year would be five. But August was not a good month, money wise, with Jim just being off work for 5 weeks, laid off... So I didn't get my flowers then, but he surprised me and had them delivered Christmas Eve... Aaawww! They smell SO good!

And all in all, here is what Jimmy thought of Christmas! I think Santa did good this year! :o)

Oh! And I almost forgot the best Christmas present! HA! We have been binky-free for 48 hours now! Jimmy has a *favorite* binky and won't take any others, but he is always just dropping it out of his mouth, and then we all have to go looking all over the house to see where he has left it! (Always a CHORE!) On Christmas Day, he couldn't find it, we ended up telling him, this is it, you just don't have one anymore. He cried a little at nap time, but by bed time, he didn't even care! So 48 hours binky free! Merry Christmas to me!!! (BTW, I did find it later, but hid it so he wouldn't find it. I think it is safe to throw it out now!)

Thanks for visiting! I have gotten a little sewing done over the last 10 days and will have some more pics tomorrow... :o)

a few of my favorite ~Christmas~ things

I thought I would show a few of my favorite ~Christmas~ things! This is besides the wonderful gifts that I have received (and posted about) this year... :o)

This pink Santa bell was a small gift to myself this Christmas... :o)
This is one of the few glass Christmas ornaments that are left from when I was a kid...

This is a beaded Christmas ornament that I made many years ago. (Before kids!) I wish I could find the company that I ordered the kit from, I would love to make more! I also have a green one, that just has stripes on it.

This is the blown glass tree topper that Jim got me a few years ago... Sorry the picture is blurry, our tree is really tall and I had to stand on the coffee table to take this!!

And last but not least, this is a Santa candy cane holder that was my Dad's. :o)

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends! I would love to see some of your favorite ~Christmas~ things, too! :o)

for me...?!

Sometimes this whole internet thing still just blows me away! I am just a small-town girl (hometown population 500!) and to *meet* folks from all over the world thru this computer, is just amazing to me! I have met some of the nicest people thru blogs and groups online!

Which leads me to Laurie! :o) I *met* Laurie of Indulge Your Shelf when I had her as my partner for a pincushion swap this summer, and we have many similar interests, so have kept in touch via blog posts and emails ever since... Jim even ordered Christmas ornaments from Laurie's Etsy shop, back in August, for my birthday! Well, yesterday, when the mail lady knocked on our door, I was greeted with a HUGE box -- from Laurie! What could this be?!?! Laurie and I often *drool* over the same vintage things and awhile back, we had been chatting about these Christmas wreaths on a blog, made from vintage Christmas ornaments! So apparently, Laurie decided to try her hand at making one, and SHE SENT IT TO ME!!! It is absolutely gorgeous! Am I lucky or what?!?! Be sure to click on the photo, to see it better! It even has the cutest little Santa tucked in there! (I do still believe in Santa!) Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Laurie! This was so sweet of you! (I will surprise you when you least expect it...!)

And here is a photo of the kids the other night. They are in Chorus, and we went to their Winter Concert. (Whatever happened to Christmas programs with CHRISTMAS songs?!?!? Public schools, ggrrr!) They enjoyed dressing up and singing... Jimmy behaved fairly well, except for tumbling down the bottom two bleacher rows! OOPS! He is alright - was running around again two minutes later! :o)

Thanks so much for visiting! And do make sure to go visit Laurie and tell her hi too! :o)

cookies and flannel... :o)

This weekend we baked our Christmas cookies....
I think Jimmy liked the cookies! :o) He even helped with the sprinkles this year! He had alot of fun! :o)

Lots and lots of sugar cookies.... Some peppermint candy cane cookies, too! :o)

And I finished up my little flannel quilt - this used Kiddie Christmas charm squares from Moda.

It is YUMMY! (Even if I do say so myself!)

Thanks for visiting!

gifts from Beatrice

I was lucky enough to be paired up with Beatrice in a FRIENDS swap this summer, and we have emailed back and forth ever since. She lives in France, which makes it even more interesting for me, coming from such a small town in the middle of the USA!

Yesterday, I received a lovely package from Beatrice for Christmas! She sent us each a Pennie Pocket that she made! They are just lovely. She told me that the green one for DH, the paisley one is mine, the two red ones are for the girls (they are still discussing who gets which one), green with snowmen for David, and snowmen for Jimmy. They are just lovely!

And yes, those are chocolates you see! There are still a few pieces left! :o)

Thank you so much for the gifts, Beatrice! The Pockets will be cherished Christmas decorations for years to come! Merry Christmas to you, dear friend!

Be sure and go visit Beatrice's blog: A Needle In A Haystack :o)

Boy Scouts and quilt finish

I finally remembered to take a photo of David in his full Boy Scout uniform the other night. Gotta love a guy in uniform! He was going to a City Council meeting, where one of our local scouts was receiving an award. David has 7 merit badges on his sash, with 3 more badges coming. He has been in Scouts since first grade, and still loves it. (For those that are not familiar with Scouts, you start as a Cub Scout in first grade, then during fifth grade, they *cross over* to Boy Scouts. David crossed over to Boy Scouts in February 2009.) I am proud of him! (Oh and he got a much-needed hair cut the day after this pic! HA!) This was a quilt that I just finished up for a customer, she is giving it as a Christmas gift. It was alot easier than it looks, and has 5 borders, which added to the size quickly, with alot of visual interest. I love the way the blocks create a secondary pattern. :o)

I am working on a little flannel quilt for us now. I had a couple of *Kiddie Christmas* flannel charm packs, and found some additional yardage, and am making a little throw for on the couch. It is going to be yummy - I love flannel! :o) Hopefully I will have a picture to show soon. We are baking Christmas cookies over the weekend, so that may delay the quilt some... :o)

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas Tree and more...

As promised, here is our Christmas tree this year! See, the story is, the first year that I was divorced, the kids and I got an artificial tree. I HATED it! (I cried!) So the next year, Jim and I were together, and I said how much I hated that artificial tree and we went to get a real tree. (Which has always been what I have had, forever.) So then, our tree always ends up HUGE! And Jim always said, well, you said you wanted a nice big real tree... :o))) Thank you, honey! :o) So here it is lit:
And here it is without the Christmas lights on, so you can see the ornaments. LOTS of special ornaments on there. :o) Jimmy even helped put the ornaments around the bottom. (Notice the clusters of ornaments! HA!)

And here is Jimmy and Lizzie putting sugar water in the tree stand:

Here is Jimmy earlier this week - he plays hard, and then he crashes... :o)

And I thought I would show the Explorers Belt Pouch I made for David for Christmas. (The second one is for Jim.) It has two pouches for a little flashlight and knife, or compass... :o) These have a loop on the back to go on your belt.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I have been working on alot of Christmas projects, but not much to show you, since some of the items are for a certain someone that reads my blog... :o) Have a great week everyone! :o)