December 1st

Happy December 1st. I saw this advent calendar peeking out behind a picture today as I was cleaning up. I was so happy to find it on the first of December and not the 31st like I usually do. I love opening the little windows and I really liked this one because it looked older and European. How nice that an angel is the behind the first window. I love it.

A few weeks ago I went to a local craft show and didn't really see a whole lot that was new and interesting. That is, until I found Glitter House Girl. It was glittery. It was sparkly. It was fun and it was shiny. I love sparkly, glittery things. So, I bought a house and hope to buy a few more in the future. This is not a good picture but it will give you the idea. She has an etsy shop - glitterhousegirl.

Before I forget, I have one more Thanksgiving glimpse. I got a gift from my secret stitcher the day before Thanksgiving. A surprise box with a card, a small pattern called Autumn Snapperland by Bent Creek, a nice pad of paper with a sampler motif on it and a cute turkey decoration. I really like everything and it was a great surprise.

Marsha

Happy Thanksgiving - Late

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner a day early at my daughter Dana's. She made all the traditional things we like and a few of her own touches. We had a wonderful meal and Dana did a great job.

The only small glitch happened to the sweet potatoes. It was realized that the marshmallows had been forgotten to be put on top. No fear! Ryan came to the rescue. Just put them on and then broil them for a minute or two. Brilliant. Only you have to watch carefully. Too late, they came out flaming. No problem - they're called Sweet Potatoes Flambe! They were actually quite good.

Here's Dana with her first ever Thanksgiving turkey. It was delicious.

Have you ever noticed that when you tell a child to 'just smile normal' it can't be accomplished. You get a tight, crooked sad/smile look. So, I gave up. Here's Evan excited, to have some family at his house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Hopefully, some stitchy pictures next time.

Marsha

This is the latest picture of Joyeux Noel from BBD. I have the A done on the next line down. I also decided to quit holding in hand and have it on my lap stand now. The row I'm stitching on now is in Algerian Eye stitch. Very fun to stitch. I really, REALLY have to quit stitching on it and start putting together ornaments and sew an apron for a friend. But it's too much fun and colorful.

I just really like this picture. What can I say. These are my Mill Hill beads. You use a few beads for a cross stitch project and are left with a couple hundred beads. (You know what I mean.) I found this great tin at the Flower Factory. I thought I was buying a set with larger tins but ended up with the smaller tins. But, these are perfect for a pack of beads.

Here is the basket of swap items I received in the Ohio Soapmakers midyear swap. We sent in 14 items we had made, the swap hostess got all the boxes, divided everything up and sent them back to us. So far, I've opened the soap on the upper left. It's a shea butter base soap with green tea and raspberry. It is yummy with creamy bubbles. They all smell great.

Marsha

I got my fall stitching back well in time to enjoy on my walls. Carol, of Decorative Designs, did an excellent job of framing for me.

Our out-of-town niece and family were visiting and we had fun trying out glasses with noses.

Evan and his trick-or-treat loot.

Halloween party fun and decorations.

Here's Rich in his second place winning costume 'Eddie Munster'. I'm the 'OctoMom' with all 8 of my babies.

Marsha

I am really enjoying this stitch from Black Bird Designs. Since I took this picture, I have stitched up to the large 'H' on the next row down. I love the colors and it's moving pretty quickly, however, I have lots of things I should be stitching for the holidays and all those ornaments to finish. Oh well.

These are Halloween cards I made and sent last week to family and friends. They make up really quickly when you have lots of handy stickers to use. (Don't mind the ironing board.)

Here are two more Christmas ornaments, stitched and ready to be finished. I will be keeping the Festive Red Bird. I will have a Christmas tree in our sun room that I decorate with bird and nature ornaments. The tree ornament is a JBW Design. I eliminated the bow on top and the animals around the bottom to keep it in a symmetrical shape for finishing.

Marsha

Sunday was a beautiful day. It was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch at Blooms and Berries farm. It was lots of fun.

Marsha

What do I do on my days off?

A friend at work this weekend asked me ' Marsha, what do you do on the days you don't work?' Hmmmm........well, I try to swim 3 days a week, I watch my grandson on Tuesdays, the usual minor cleaning, laundry etc., guild stitch ins and coming up to lots of publicity and fundraising activity for the guild, and oh, I don't know, but here is some other stuff I do.

My daughter, Dana, and I went to a Stampin' Up 'Stamp A Stack' on a Friday night not long ago. We made two of each of the cards shown below. It's a fun evening. We learn new techniques, someone has everything ready to go, the paper isn't spread out at our house and we walk away with a new bunch of pretty cards. I need to get busy and make some fun Halloween cards.

Then here is one of two batches of 'Triple Gifts' soap I made. It has gold mica sprinkled on top for extra special sparkle. I belong to the OhioSoapers yahoo group. Most years there is a swap in the fall. We have no theme this year so I decided on a Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh soap made with three butters (cocoa, mango and shea). Double the triple gifts. Should be awesome for winter dryness.

Then here is a Christmas ornament I finished stitching. I can't decide which backing to use. The one on the left has a delicate, subtle, leaf pattern and the one on the right is a white on white pattern. Have any comments?

I've been looking at laying tools for a while, but they seemed expensive. Then I saw on mainely stitching's blog, http://mainelystitching.wordpress.com/, her new laying tool. Went to Etsy and voila! Perfect. I used it on this Christmas ornament to get the ribbon to lay right. So visit, silverWares at etsy.com if you are interested too.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23899471

I'm not showing the whole ornaments yet, as someone may be peeking.
So, that's some of what I do. Course, this blog fits in there too. And have you noticed that I like sparkle? Emily, the Stampin' Up friend knows that almost every card I make has to have glitter or something shiny on it. What's up with that???

So that's what I do on my days off and even the days I do work since I don't clock in until 2:30. You can get a lot done before 2!

Marsha