Decorating the tree

LOL We are still debating the tree topper!

Until next time ^___^

Black Friday

Who would have thought....

...that I would go to a rock concert? Last night, I went to a David Cook concert at Mobile's Saenger Theatre with my friend and cousin.

I was pleasantly surprised by the bands that played. We heard songs by Green River Ordinance, The Script, and David Cook. While all the bands were great, I loved the GRO band. They are a rock band from Texas.

Only a few pictures came out decently from all the ones I took last night. I'm not an expert with my camera, especially when it comes to taking photos in low or changing lighting.


Green River Ordinance, lead singer and guitarist


Audience participation with The Script, an Irish rock band. (The audience thought the band was from Australia!?!?)


David Cook


Close-up


David Cook and guitarist rockin' out.


David Cook on the balcony of the Saegner.

I had a great time since it was my first 'rock' concert at the Saenger.

Until next time ^___^

Fall foliage

The weather has gotten cooler since the late tropical storm Ida came through the region. The maple trees are starting to change colors and drop their leaves. If only the fall season would last longer as it is my favorite time of year.

Until next time ^___^

Joyeux Noël

Designer: Joyeux Noël by De Fil en Aiguille
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28ct evenweave antique white by M.C.G. Textiles
Start/Finish: 11/13-16/2009

This design featuring a little girl holding a branch of holly is actually part of a bell-pull design, but I thought it would like lovely by itself. There is a companion piece with a little boy holding a bunch of snowdrops. I think I might stitch that design later this month.

Until next time ^____^

End of a great day!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Until next time ^___^

Forgotten arts

My family and I are going to see our great-aunt in Uriah today. As a surprise, my aunt brought some flowers, candles, etc. and made this lovely Thanksgiving centerpiece for our great-aunt. Isn't is lovely? I could never do something like this, it takes a talent to arrange flowers to their best advantage.

I woke early this morning to go by the Abba Temple in town. They were hosting a local crafters show. I brought several things (mostly Christmas gifts) and a beautiful something for myself.





Isn't it gorgeous! While I waiting for my other purchases to be boxed up, I walked around to see the other vendors. I kept passing by this lovely bear...and eventually lost the willpower to not buy it. I love the fabric used to construct this little bear.

Sadly, I can't show any photos of the other purchases I made at the craft show because they are Christmas gifts. I'll have photos after the holidays ;)

Though the craft show had less vendors than last year, it was great to see so many talented individuals selling their crafts. Be it handmade clothes/pillows, carved wood items, or painted porcelain, it is good to know that such arts are not completely forgotten in our technological-driven society.

I'll post later this weekend if I have any cross stitch goodies to show. I'm stitching another French design from De Fil en Aiguille. Once I finish that up, I hope to start stitching on some gifts for my anime club friends.

Until next time ^____^

Bunny finish ;)

Design: Snow Bunnies by Little House Needleworks, JCS 2007
Thread: DMC
Fabric: 28ct Quaker rue green
Start: 11/7-10/2009

Cute little snow bunnies! I love this design from LHN!

Until next time ^____^

Snow Bunnies

Hi! I started this design last evening. Look at those cute bunnies!


Design: Snow Bunnies by Little House Needleworks, JCS 2007
Thread: DMC
Fabric: 28ct Quaker rue green
Start: 11/7/2009

I hope to finish this design tomorrow if I can get around to stitching on it.

Until next time ^____^

Bonne année

I finally got a chance to finish this lovely design from De Fil en Aiguille a little while ago.


Designer: Bonne année by De Fil en Aiguille
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28ct evenweave antique white by M.C.G. Textiles
Start/Finish: 11/05-06/2009

Tomorrow I don't have any plans for stitching new ornaments. I think I'll be going to the Museum of Mobile to see their new exhibition on Greek Revival architecture and then (if I have time) I'll stop by Oakleigh.

Until next time ^____^ Have a great weekend everyone!

A lovely touch of London

My sister and I went by our local Target store this evening after work. We were oh-ing and ah-ing over the Christmas decorations that are out now. There are quite a lot of traditional decorations this year.

I found two things that I had to pick up while I was admiring everything.


A Big Ben ornament and New Moon chocolate!!

I can't wait to put the Big Ben ornament on our Christmas tree this year!! Isn't it lovely? It makes me miss the beautiful land of England.

Look at that chocolate! They are miniature Skybars with the three main characters of Twilight. Yummy!

Until next time ^____^

French holly

Hello again! I stitched this lovely design yesterday before and after work. It is from the French magazine De Fil en Aiguille.






Designer: Holly
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28ct evenweave antique white by M.C.G. Textiles
Start/Finish: 11-4-2009

I love the simplicity of this design with the added elegance of the French knots on the branches. I am currently stitching another design from the De Fil en Aiguille magazine. I hope to be finished with it tomorrow. I would have been further along with it today, but I miscounted my stitches and had to pull them out and start again on the lettering :*(

By the way, this little guy was hanging out with me this morning while I was stitching before going into work.



Until next time ^____^

Ange aux roses finish ;)

Design: Ange aux roses by Valerie Lejeune
Thread: GAST Midnight and Raspberry Parfait
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast
Start/Finish: 11/1-2/2009

What do you think? I'm second guessing my color choices. I like the raspberry parfait color, but I think I should have chosen a light blue for the angel.

I'll probably stitch up one more of these designs, but I think I'll go with gold and burgundy.

Until next time ^____^

Angelic start

Hi, everyone! I started stitching this angel earlier today after I got some laundry and other housework done.


Design: Ange aux roses by Valerie Lejeune
Thread: GAST Midnight
Fabric: 32ct cream Belfast
Start: 11-1-09

I bought this book earlier in the year, but haven't had a chance to stitch anything out of it until now with the holidays coming up.

I hope to finish this design tomorrow. I'm off to watch a couple of episodes of Glass Slipper, volume 2. I had watched the first 20 episodes of this Korean drama earlier in the summer. The second volume of the series was on sale recently so I grabbed it :)

Until next time ^____^

Holiday stash

Yesterday morning I stopped by All Strung Out, my LNS. I was looking for some nice fabrics to use for my holiday stitching.

I came away with some lovely fabrics and few other goodies.



Fabrics:
28ct. Quaker rue green
28ct. Misty blue
32ct. cream Belfast

Threads: (Don't you just love the names!)
Cottage Colours - Secondhand Rose
Gentle Art Sampler Threads - Midnight and Raspberry Parfait

30% off winter kits:
Tiny Treasured Diamond, Mill Hill kit - Poinsettia
Holiday Ornament, Mill Hill bead kit - Holly Leaves

I bought these little kits because they focus on two types of techniques that I have not tried before. Both kits feature beads as the main design element and the one little kit it stitched on perforated paper, which is new to me.

I can't rave enough about All Strung Out. It is a great store and the employees are very nice and willing to order anything that you need. While I was waiting for my fabric to be cut, I was telling one of the ladies about the texture of fabric and how great it was to have a LNS where I could feel the fabrics before buying them. She told me that she would be happy to order any fabric that I needed and that if the texture wasn't good, she would put it in the fabric section for someone else to pick up. How nice it that?!

If you live anywhere near Mobile and you are looking for a good cross stitch/knitting/needlepoint store, you should check out All Strung Out. I'm glad we finally have this store. It beats an hour and a half commute to Pensacola, which is the next nearest LNS.

I've just fray-checked my cream-colored fabric so I'm off to start something new!

Until next time ^____^ I hope everyone has a great Sunday and the upcoming work week.

A secret revealed

This morning I woke up early, relatively speaking. My brain hadn't adjusted to the time change and I woke up at 7:30 this morning. I got dressed to go by my local Target store to get some things for lunch this week.

As I drove up to the store at 8, there was a crowd of people outside the entrances clamoring to get inside. I decided to go on the side entrance where I knew the Halloween decor would be located.

I came away with several bags of spiderweb material, some window clings, some speciality candies (for a friend's Halloween package that I haven't sent out yet!) and a few Halloween yard decorations for next year.

I got the following items:



Two of these lanterns, which I thought would be great as decorations next year.



One of these little cuties. I can't wait to display this next year. Isn't it fun? I love holiday themed votive holders.

While I was going back to the other side of the store to see what speciality candy they had on sale, I noticed a lady with THREE carts FULL of bag candy!!! I'm not kidding. I wish I had a camera with me. I couldn't understand why she had so much candy. I saw several other people with one or two carts full of candy. By the time I got to the candy section, there were three aisles that were empty. That's a lot of candy.

I went around to the speciality candy and I stopped a lady and asked her about it. She said she had a friend who operated one of the Mardi Gras floats. She said that a lot of the organizations will wait until after a holiday and buy up all the candy to throw off the floats.

I never knew that. LOL That's what I get for only going to a Mardi Gras parade maybe three times in my whole life.

Well, now I know the secret to people with three carts full of candy. So beware Mobilians, you will be eating Halloween candy in February!!

Until next time! ^____^

Wow! Fun times ;)

Halloween was a blast. My sister and I were never allowed to participate in Halloween when we were growing up (long story, not worth going into) so this year we decided to decorate and give out candy to the neighborhood kids. It was so much fun! There were some amazing costumes out there.

Favorite costumes:

Cutest: A little girl as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Her dress was sparkly and she had the matching red glitter shoes!

Scariest: A father dressed as a very creepy clown with a bloody mask. I'm not a fan of clowns, never have been. This costume was worthy of nightmares and phobias!

Most amusing: Two teenage guys cross-dressing in historical women's costumes from Queen Elizabeth's time period. I was bending down to get candy out of our bowl for them and didn't realize they were two guys until I looked up when one of them said, "Happy Halloween!"

Most inventive: A father dressed as a beer can!

Most obsessed with sports: A cute little boy dressed in a NASCAR costume and driving one of those motorized NASCAR cars!


Craziest quotes of the night:

Teenage girl: "Can have enough for two? My friend is sick." To which my aunt, who was dressed as the guy from Scream, said, "That's a nice lie." The girl turned around and said, "It isn't a lie." LOL I didn't give her extra. She got the same amount everyone else did.

Little boy: He saw our graveyard scene with tiki torches lighting it and said, "The power of FIRE!" It was the weirdest thing I've ever heard a little kid say.

Teenage girl: "Wow! I know who you are. You're one of those women from the old times!" To which I replied, "Hmm....yes." If you're wandering what I wore, it was my costume from last year.



A couple of years ago my aunt Snowbird made the dress in the bottom left. She made it out of sky blue cotton satine and cream colored lace. After this year, I'm going to have to retire this costume. It was a bit tight last night, which means I need to lose weight (ugh!) to wear it again or find another pattern to make ;)

The only downers of the night were the teenage kids who weren't dressed up at all. My sister said that we should have made them sing for their candy! I think next year we should definitely do that. The other downer were two or three parents taken their kids around the neighborhood who were drinking beer. That isn't a good example to set for your kids. If you want to drink on Halloween, go to an adult party and not trick-or-treating with your kids.

Otherwise it was a great night. There were several parents that were taking pictures of our house decorations. We seemed to be the only house that had carved pumpkins. I thought that was a Halloween tradition. We also had cut-out lanterns lining the driveway. I was glad that a lot of parents decided to walk up the driveway instead of through the yard so their children could see the decorations.


A bugaboo and grinning pumpkin.


A cat in the moon and a pirate skull.

I can't wait for next year's Halloween.

Until next time ^____^