A little pretty, just for me.

 

Most of my stitching and sewing lately has been for gifts so I can't post them here but I stitched up this cute little bag just for me. :)

It is a kit from Shepherd's Bush and the bag is about 5"x7". The thing I'm wondering is I should iron some stuff on the inside to cover the stitching - I'm afraid something my get caught and pull our some stitches. On the other hand, I have it stuffed with some extra fabric and I could just leave it that way and use it 'just for pretty'.



A little sneak peek

 

 

First you cut it all up, then you sew it all back together.



A late get-a-way post

So, if have been around here long, you know the girlfriends and I go to an annual retreat with

 3 stitches

It usually happen in March - and this year was no different except that it was cooler than usual and I'm just now getting around to showing pictures. They aren't great pictures because I took them with my iPhone. And, all of these are pictures of the finished samples at the retreat - I have finished two of my pieces and will show them later.

 

We have a nice sized needleroll - or I could see this finished as a nice pillow

I couldn't get both the boy and the girl gingerbreads in the same shot but there is another picture where the girl shows up.

 

My pictures are kind of out of order and I'm too tired to move them around - this is some of the 'loot' I came home with. The clear tote with 3 Stitches on it has most of our projects in it. I love sock monkeys and the one I have here that my grandmother made for one of the boys is in terrible shape (hint, they aren't fond of the washer and dryer) Anyway - the big one came from the retreat but I paired him up with the smaller one hubby gave me for Valentine's Day.

 

This was a little pin cushion- we got all the stuff in a little box then we could either finish them there or take them home. I really didn't know what I was going to do with mine so it came home unfinished.

 

Cute potholder

Felted wool pincushion with a couple of pins in it (and I bought some extras)

Here is a better picture of the ginger girl - she left off the border on this one and made it into a shaped stand up - looks good both ways!

And a stocking - cute!

Last but not least I came home with both the small framed stitching lady and the pillow (door prizes/gift exchange) I sat them on the bench with the one I had stitched years ago but there is such a reflection in the glass I don't know if you can really see it.

 

I'll be back with my two finished projects in a few days.

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Pink it is!

Remember the pictures from my last post?  Well, it seems the plants are coming back to life faster than I am if you scroll back to the last post or click on the link you can see what they looked like then  and here is what they looked like a couple of days ago. (couldn't take pics yesterday or today - takes all your effort to stay upright in this wind!

I still haven't spent enough time on here to figure this new interface out (and I hear they are pulling the plug on reader too - I really need to take the time to get that moved) but anyway - my Hydrangea is coming back nicely. Despite the fact that I put a hefty dose of the make it blue stuff on it they are blooming pink so I'm just going with it. I mean, I love pink but for some reason I love blue Hydrangeas.

 

 Oh well - as long as it keeps getting bigger, I'll take it. It is already bigger than it was when we bought it last year.

And take a look at my hosta! Last week it was barely starting to come back to life and now it already has a but on it!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Spring

Things are slowly coming back to life around here. This is on one of the two trees hubby planted last spring. They looked pretty pitiful during the winter but they are coming back! This picture is from a couple of weeks ago - now they both have leaves coming out and are starting too look like they might  it after all!

 

This picture was from last week - I can't believe how well my hydrangea is coming back I put enough of that stuff turn the blooms blue in it to color everything out there but I guess this one wants to be pink and as long as it blooms, I'm okay with that.

While I was gone to the stitching retreat (I may not have told about that yet - I will, I'm just so far behind on everything!

Anyway, he laid pavers for the glider and bench to sit on - they look good but he was trying to make his mowing easier! The grass is already greener than in this picture;

 

 This last one is of the lantana I planted last year,. I wasn't sure what it was going to do. It was so lifeless and ugly during the winter I was afraid they wouldn't come back either but they are already bigger than last year and are getting a few buds on them too!

I've been getting a little bit of stitchng and sewing lately but they are either incomplete or for gifts and even though I don't think the recipients read here, I'll save those for later. I don't even have pictures of them yet.

I've had a really hard few months which is part of the reason I haven't been posting. I'm starting to feel a little better but it is slow going. I'm going to try to get back in the habit of blogging a couple of times a week.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

 excuse the pitiful spacing - I'm still learning the 'new' blogger and I am at the bottom of the learning curve!

I'm not lost

Or am I?

Anyway - I thought I would show you the little bit of Easter decorating I did this year.

 

 

 This is my little feather tree that is in the guest room. I have Christmas, Valentine and Easter decorations for it. The rest of the time it sits there with just the bow on top. One of these days I might get around to either making or buying something I can put on between holidays.

This is the downstairs Easter decor. I don't have a lot but when you put it all on this 1 table it looks pretty full. That's it.
I have been doing a little stitching and sewing so maybe I'll have something crafty to show you.

Hope you are having a great week!

Dee-nied, again.

This is kinda long so I totally understand if you just want to move on to a blog that has a more positive thing to say, or a cute project to share.

 

 

So, this is what we had to work with when we moved in.

 

We have not modified the size or shape of the bed, but we went along the original border

We put my 'porch house' there - most;y to figure out where we wanted it. 20 days after we received a letter from the HOA stating that we had not requested permission for the large wood and glass structure on the porch. We filled out the paper work but I think they already stamped NOPE on it and were just waiting for it to come back across their desk. 

So we moved the 'offending' structure to the back yard and tried to make something out of nothing. I don't think the bed had ever been tended to at all. To fill in some blank spots until we could something planted - I used my blue bottles as a make-shift bottle bush. I took special care that they not be taller than the bushes. I also have some 'tinkling toad stools - I just love those little things but apparently doesn't and we got a letter stating that we hadn't asked permission for modification. So we printed the property modification off the website, filled it out and took pictures. They replied with a letter saying we hadn't used the correct form (it was the one from their own website. So, we used the form they sent and turned it back in - denied again. (yes. I know the lantana needs to be pruned but it is already putting pretty leaves)

Where do you stand on garden art? I love it a and think it helps add individual character that can otherwise look just like every street. I'm not talking about 'modifying' anything structural - I'm just planting a thing in my flower bed to tide over to planting season - though at the moment I'm thinking I won't be planting anything.

 

 

This is the front view when we got the latest letter.

 This is the front view today. Hey didn't mention the gazing ball, mini flag or shepherds hook so the are staying until I hear differently.(nothing hanging on them at the moment)

here is my temporary mushroom garden - I pulled those babies up and put them on the back side where you can't see them at all from the street - the only way you can see them is to standing on my front porch.

Take that, HOA.

 

I promise next time I post it will be something fun.

enjoy the rest of your week!