november 29 - you say it's your birthday.....

it's my birthday too!....so happy birthday to me! My wonderful hubby gifted me with a brand new iPad...how fun! Grown-up toys are so cool! I even have a book, so maybe I can actually learn all the really fun things I can do with this toy. And when I came to work this morning, my boss (who is as much a friend as a boss) had left me a wonderful goodie bag full of all kinds of luscious smelly stuff for pampering. I see a long hot soak in the tub in my future! And then, hubby also sent me these beautiful flowers!


I feel really spoiled today!

It seems like a long time since I have posted much of anything here. My hand is still sore from that fall a month ago and so things have slowed down to a snail's pace. I did get all my exchange packages ready to go last night though and have gone to the post office to send them all on their merry way. Now I feel like I can relax with my stitching, since nothing is "due" anywhere for awhile. December is also the month when those of us in the "secret pen pal" adventure reveal ourselves, so I've sent that along too. I really tried to confuse my partner, and had friends from all over the country mail the letters for me so she wouldn't know where I lived. Sneaky, huh? I am looking forward to seeing who has been sending me such lovely letters each month.

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving? I hope so...ours was very nice. We had Asher stay with us for a few days which was a joy as always.


His mom and her boyfriend were able to join us for dinner before they had to head off to work...we skipped the traditional turkey and opted for steak and lobster instead. Yummy! And now I have to seriously think about Christmas...where did this year go?

I have some exchanges to share. I realized that I never posted a photo of this wonderful PIF that I received from Mouse awhile back. She stitched this beautiful pillow for me.


I love these pillows and keep a basket of them near my stitching chair so I can see them all the time.

This is the pillow I stitched for Jayne in the last round of our Blackbird Designs exchange. The design is Basket of Spells from the Casting Spells leaflet, but I changed the colors and made it un-Halloweeny! It is stitched with Vicky's silks in Dark Wisteria. Sorry, the photo makes it look kind of wonky!


And this is what Jayne sent me in exchange.


I think she said it was her first exchange, and wow! She really outdid herself. Any one of these would have made a wonderful exchange...but all three! I am still speechless!

The last of this year's blocks has been stitched for Stitcher's Timeout. The theme was "snow" and I stitched Snow Zone from Lizzie Kate, but I forgot to take a photo before I mailed it off :(

We also had an ornament exchange with the same group. Here is the beautiful ornie I received from Lynne. It is English Plum Pudding from JBW, and it is so pretty in person...the picture does not do it justice!


And here is the ornie I stitched and sent to Lavon. It is Noel from Log Cabin Needleworks. I stitched it on a Christmas Green jobelan with Weeks "Noel" floss.


There are another couple of ornaments floating out there that I will post once they have been received. Also, fair and square blocks from the latest round.

But now I have to try and put up a shower curtain so I must go!

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit!

nov. 26 - TUSAL

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

I know I'm a day late, but here is my TUSAL for November.


I managed to get a few small pieces done and finished so there are some ribbon and fabric bits in there as well!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!

november 8 - a fly-by posting

I wanted to make sure that my secret pen pal knows that I received her latest card in the mail yesterday. Next month is "reveal month"...I feel like I am on one of those decorating shows! This has been fun, but it's hard not being able to "tell all" to our partners. I can't wait to have a real conversation with my secret pals!

I'm trying to get little bits of stitching done. My hand is still really sore...I don't know how those football players get injured week after week and then go right back out to play! But I have lots of exchanges to get in the mail over the next few weeks so I'm plugging away!

I finished my December "snow" block for the Stitcher's Timeout exchange, but misplaced my camera so I'll have to wait to post a photo. I did take one with my phone but can't figure out how to get it from there to here. Did anyone say technologically challenged? I managed to finish Part 7 of Carol's SAL and just have the last little bit to do. I really love Carol's design and this SAL has been a joy to do. Hopefully, by the time I finish my other little projects I will have found my camera!

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit!