Mostly Sewing

Dear Stitchy Friends,

I thought to share two of my sewing projects with you. I learned about making ORT keepers from another blog. Here is the link: Instructions for Ort Bag Basically, its a triangular shaped container made of out fabric. I cut two pieces of fabric 9.5" on all three sides, sewed the two sides right sides together, turned it inside out, closed the opening, and then sewed the sides together only half way so that I could turn the points down, and tacked with a button. I made  a bunch (about 5) and have given them all away. Here is a pic of the one that I kept for myself.

Here is a pic of a little pillow that I made...I've got another two turkey designs waiting to be turned into pillows. This was a new way of finishing a pillow for me. I liked how it turned out but I thought it was too long.

OK, please be forewarned, this next pic is of a dead hamster...just kidding!!! Its a pic of a very happy, content and peaceful hamster. Aahhhh...the good life. Who knew a hamster could have it so good, huh?

On the family side, the girls' last day of school was today and they are feeling a bit blue about being away from their friends. Now comes the pressure of finding them something to do all summer and keeping their brains from turning into mush. When I was a kid, we spent the summer running around the neighborhood, being fed by neighbors and running errands for them. Back then, the city (Brooklyn) didn't hassle folks for opening up the johnny pumps and we kids would spend hours running and splashing in the streets! The ice cream would come at the same time every day and we were always assured a treat by a generous neighbor willing to pay for all of the kids' ice creams. The cute Italian guys in their muscle shirts would wash and wax their TransAms and we girls would just swoon as we would watch them. At night, the parents would pull out lawn chairs onto the street or sit on the stoop and tell stories. Sometimes, the Puerto Rican boys would bring out their congo drums and the rhythms of drums and timbale would fill the hot, steamy night air. The little ones would fall asleep on a lap to  the soothing clicking of dominoes. The 70's in Brooklyn were hard times, we never went on vacation, but they were good times, too. Filled with friends, real neighbors and the assurance that we weren't alone and could always find a helping hand.

Anyway, hope your summer is filled with not just the old memories, but also the magic times that will make for new memories and stories to tell.

Hugs,

Christina

Barbara's Give away

If you haven't guessed yet, I've been visiting the blogs today. Here is a lovely give away by Barbara...she is very talented and finishes up her projects in such a lovely way (half the battle, if you ask me!).

Please check out her blog and join the fun!

http://44mamawsfinishedcrossstitchitems.blogspot.com/2012/05/stitchers-giveaway.html

Hugs,
Chris G

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Today's lucky winners and a new gift certificate give-away

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Today's lucky winners and a new gift certificate give-away

And the winner is.......

Meari! Yay!!! I put the names of interested followers into a hat, and my kid pulled out Meari's name. I am very happy it was her because she always leaves a comment and has been following me for a long time.

Congratulations Meari and thank you for playing!

Hugs,

Christina

My First Give-away

Hello to all my stitchy friends out there,

I am sponsoring my first stash give-away just in time to celebrate Independence day for the good ole US of A. I am keeping it simple, nothing to do but be a follower and leave a comment that you would like to be entered into the drawing. Leave a contact address or check this blog for an announcement of the winner on May 30th.

Here is what the give-away includes:

•  LizzieKate Snippet, "Land That I Love" chart. The finished stitched area is 3" by 5.25"
• 9" x 12" piece of 25 count Dublin Linen in Driftwood.  
•  and three little star shaped charms. I used these to substitute for the heart charm  called for in the chart with very good results.

I won't be including the threads as I substituted with what I had on hand and you may wish to do the same.

Here is pic:

Thank you for following me and leaving comments along the way. Good luck to all (does that even make sense?)

Christina

Stash for Sale and other tales

Greetings to all, Hope everyone has had a good week so far. Thank you to the followers that keep track of my little blog and special thanks to those of that leave comments.

For starters, I've added a Stash for For Sale Page (you should see the tab above on the title). It's a few things that I have had laying about that I thought someone else would like to have. Its mostly kits and leaflets. I invite you to browse.

On the stitching front, I have been working like a fiend to finish "As the Crow Flies". As is typical of me, I am bored with it already and just want done with it. I am plotting along and it won't be too many days until it is all stitched up. Here is a pic of it to date.

This next pic is one I started just about the same time I started As the Crow Flies and its called Berry Patch Rabbit by Cedar Hill. It calls for R&R Sea Fog but I've put it on Charles  Craft Light Sea Foam 14 ct Aida. It's turning out rather interesting, don't you agree? (Interesting is the adjective I use when I don't want to say STRANGE.) It is a rather handsome rabbit, however. Wish I could get better pics but can't with the camera that I have. Soon, I shall get myself one that can zoom all the way in.

We've got cows in my town that stay on undeveloped land to protect the agricultural designation of the property. I thought to share a few pics of them. We like to feed them apples and carrots but they prefer the carrots. They have different personalities and preferences and are just so lovable. The reason why we Miami Lakers are so enamored of our cows is that this is one of the last places in the entire county where one can find cows.We had lots of cows all over the town on agricultural land but as developers purchased these for building homes, the number of cows has decreased. Miami Lakes is on property that was owned by the Graham Family and they used to be dairy farmers, so its part of the town history, as well. One of the roads is called Graham  Diary Road. The Graham family still owns bits of land, I believe. We urbanites are just tickled pink by these cows.

I took the cow pics in the hopes of charting one but then I thought, gee, there must be at least a gazillion charts of cows out there...I am sure I can tweak one to better match the background of my town.

OK, now on to my hamsters, which I haven't discussed in a long time. Well, they are just as much fun as a barrel of monkeys...NOT. Sure, they are cute and all, but what a racket they make on those gosh-darned wheels in the middle of the night. Of the three I have, one has become an escape artist and has managed to be able to open the top of their tower...yes, she pushes it around with her snout until it's lose and then she pushes up and off it comes and out she goes...aahhh, freedom at last, sweet freedom. Of course, I find her again right quick cause of the racket and pop, back in she goes. Today, I found her and the other one breaking out. Seems she taught her sister how to escape. I finally used tape to keep the top on - a weight won't work as the top is dome-shaped and a weight falls.  They are also fighting, well, the one sister and the mommy are. Vicious horrible fights wherein they must be separated, so...yep, you guessed it, I have purchased yet more habitats and trails for them to live in and be able to escape each other if need be.

Here is a pic of one of the hamsters....aw, isn't she cute all sleepy, sleepy and peaceful. This one actually burps and passes a lot of gas so it doesn't get held too often, poor little mite.

Well, that's it for now! I have to go to bed but really really would rather stitch until the sun came up!

Comments are welcomed and enjoyed! Hugs to all. xoxoxoxo Chris G

Another Pet Peeve

My last pet peeve was about disembodied greetings one encounters when walking into some shops. Today's pet peeve is about insurance commercials that try to convince you that they care about you. REALLY...are we so stupid as to believe the drivel put out by these commercials?..."You're in good hands" claims one. Another tells you that their wonderful little umbrella will keep you nice and dry when the rains and flooding come.  Others claim to give you peace of mind...try getting your claim paid by any of these folks, its just arbitrary what they will pay and what they won't. I have a friend who has been paying home insurance for 50 years. She put in one claim on her roof and they refused to pay her the claim cause the roof was older than 10 years...since when is that a criteria? A little old lady like that (she's 92) had to pay for a new roof. She thinks that the insurance was hoping she would die before they paid out the claim but she wouldn't die so then they just refused to pay it.

Sell the product, quote the savings but PUHLEASE don't make it sound like you actually care about me or my loved ones, just stop it already.