December - Winter?

Hey, Friends! 

It’s not winter, but it sure has been feeling like it is!  At almost 11:00 a.m. and only 32~.  So… what’s better to do on these cold, December days than stitch?

Yesterday was the SC Stitch-In at The French Hens in Manning, coordinated by Amy (Down Sunshine Lane).  Typical for me, I arrived late (not last), but it was a great day with good stitching, good food, and great fun chatting and laughing with the other folks! 

 We had an ornament exchange, and I got this very pretty ornament from Hildit.  She said it was her first, but I don’t know that I believe that.  It’s hanging on my little stitched ornaments’ tree now!  Great job, Hildit, and Thank you! 

Yvonne got the one I made, the cardinal from BBD, Tis the Season.  Ladies, you were correct.  The red is CC Cupid. 

Amy had a surprise gift bag for each of us, too.  There's a pretty fabric that will be perfect for backing ornaments, one of everyones favorite DMC - 115, and several nice goodies for treats.  My pics aren't the best, but you can see more at Amy’s Stitching blog.

I’ve made a few other ornaments since Thanksgiving.  The tree is from a Just Cross Stitch Ornament edition.  The little hearts with snowmen are Heartstruck Friends.   

Just so happens that today is the New Moon, which means it’s TUSAL day!  I will finish stuffing the month of December, then begin a new ornament in January.  If you’re interested in becoming a TuSAL participant, visit Bonny’s Bits. She mentioned recently that she was going to try to give the project a jump start.

Do you remember a while ago that I won a gift from Pat at Gatherings?  Well, I finally decided what to use it for.  It's a paper trimmer to use for cutting mat board for finishing ornaments, etc.  I've wanted one for a long while, but didn't want to pay as much as needed for the heavy-duty model.  Thanks to Pat's prize from CSN Stores, I didn't have to! 

Planning for next year?  Karen mentioned over Thanksgiving that she uses holiday time to inventory stash and plan for the coming year.    I decided to do something similar and have been going through a box of graphs that need to be filed or organized in some way.  I’ve found things that I loved and had forgotten, didn’t remember at all, and thought ‘what possessed me to buy that?’  One thing I plan to do for sure.  I joined a new Blackbird Designs yahoo group, and they plan to have a SAL with the Anniversary of the Heart series.  I showed you the fabric I’d chosen in the last post, I think.  What else?  I haven’t nailed it down – probably whatever strikes my fancy at the time! 

Thanks for taking time to stop by today for a visit – and I always love your Needler’s Point comments!   I especially appreciate all your concern and well wishes for my health over the past month.  I’m feeling fit as a fiddle – better than I have in a very long time. 

Peace♥Love♥Joy
and Happy Stitching

Charlene♥SC