More than just Cross Stitchin': Valentine's Day

Showing posts with label Valentine's Day. Show all posts

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Where Did January Go?

While flipping over my calendar pages to February yesterday, I thought to myself... where did January go?? It sure went by in a flash! But then again, so do all of the months... especially the ~~older~~ more mature I get. The month of hearts and love and mushy stuff is now upon us, but we are also still in the white of winter and actually getting some fresh snow here today. I always feel like I'm in a tug of war when it comes to decorating my mantle this time of year... I'm never sure what route to go.

Until about a week ago, my poor mantle had sat pretty bare once the Christmas stuff came down. Then I decided to try my hand at making one of those pom-pom garlands that you are seeing all over Blogland and Pinterest these days. I was pleased with the end result, so I hung it up. Earlier this week, I was looking at the sad, lonely garland hanging there all by itself, so I dug out my Valentine bin and got busy.

I've been thinking for a while now about moving the clock that I've had hanging over the mantle for the past 3 years, to somewhere else in the room. I thought it would open up the space and give more area to work with when changing up the mantle. That's the fun of decorating... you can always change it back... but for now I like the look.

I decided to go ahead and make the mantle a Valentine's Day/Winter combination, so I mixed in some white with the reds and pinks. As you can see, I did get out my Nana's knitting needles like I talked about in my last post. I have started ~~ripping out~~ knitting again, but we'll leave that post for another day :-)

There... all done until next month. Then it will be time to replace the reds and pinks with the greens to celebrate all things Irish. Until next time...

Tracey

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Little Bit Late

Valentine's Day is over for another year, but I finally got around to framing this cute little freebie that was designed by Jennifer over at Feathers in the Nest.

Stitched with variegated DMC #115, and framed by myself with a pretty little $4.00 frame from Winners.

Can't get much easier than that!

Tracey

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Will You Be My Valentine?

The big day of Love is just around the corner, so time to bring out the pink and red decor to dress up the mantle.

Stitching Friends was a group gift to us all from Jody in December 2003, as was the little white shabby chic frame that I stitched the little heart for. The Happy Valentine's Day I did myself, and you can read about it here in a previous post.

The white heart ring bearer pillow belonged to my Aunt when she married in 1960. Some buttons from my Nana's button jar, along with some other treasures from Jody over the years. Love the angel picture my hubby gave to me for Christmas in 1997.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day with those you love.

Tracey

Saturday, February 13, 2010

It's All About The LOVE...

Here's another pic with a Valentine theme that I wanted to share.

As you can see from the date stitched on it I finished it in 2001, but I have to admit that I didn't get around to framing it until just recently. (I'm sure a lot of you fellow stitchers can relate; our completed pieces don't always get framed/finished the same year they are stitched :^)

I got the frame for this one at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago when our group made a trip over to the states for a weekend of shopping. (O.K., what's the deal... I've had the frame for this for over 2 years and it still takes me until now to get it put together!! ) Oh well, better late than never!!

Tracey

Thursday, February 11, 2010

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

This was one of those times (that Bonnie talked about) where one of us unexpectedly stitched something as a surprise for the other 3 girls.

It was January 19th 2008, and I had just received my San-Man Originals newsletter with this pattern in it as the freebie for the month. I thought, what a quick stitch... so quick that I decided to stitch it 4 times. Since I was hosting the Feb. meeting, it was perfect! I stitched them all on the same 28 ct. Lavender Quaker fabric, using the same floss colours for each. The only thing I switched up a bit with mine was I omitted one of the stitched hearts in the bottom left-hand corner and replaced it with the pink birthstone heart from a necklace I had worn as a little girl. I managed to get them finished by Feb. 9th... all washed and pressed and ready to hand out!

As our Wed. meeting day approached, the weather forecast did not look good. We tried for the following week... same thing again.

At this point we decided to cancel February's meeting all together considering we were all going to be together at our stitching retreat on Feb. 21st. I was disappointed that the girls wouldn't be getting their stitchy gifts until after Valentine's Day, but it's the thought that counts, right? On an upbeat note; they would really be prepared by having it well in advance for Valentine's day of the next year! :^)

Fast forward to 2009, when I finally got around to framing this Valentine cross stitch. I found this pre-made frame at the Thread & Eye when Jody and I had one of our rare shopping days together last October.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! :^)

Tracey

Charlie Brown

Growing up, I had a pet monkey named Charlie Brown. Actually, he belonged to my sister and he came to live with us in 1966. You were actually allowed to have monkeys as pets then and if you can beleive it, he was ordered from an ad in the back of a magazine. Charlie Brown was a squirrel monkey (just like the ones in the Telus commericials).

Everyone in school loved when it was my turn for 'show and tell'. You will see in some of the photos (if the slide show downloads for me...) that he used to wear diapers. Eventually, he learned how to take them off. We had a rope strung across the kitchen from end to the other. We kept a piece of papertowel on the floor at the end of one rope and that's where he did his business. His rope provided many hours of entertainment. At bedtime, if mom and dad were not home when it was bedtime, he would sit on his roap and cry out until they returned.

If I was crying, Dad would put him up to my face to lick away my tears. He would dangle from my hair and lick from one eye to the next. It alwyays made me stop crying. He would play outside and every once in awhile he would swing from tree to tree and end up down the street at the neighbours.

Often you would find the monkey lying in the cast iron pan on the stove. The pilot light from the gas stove provided him a warm and comfy spot. He would also sit on top of the lamp shade for warmth, and if you ever heard a 'pop' - you knew he peed on the lightbulb. It happens...

Charlie Brown used to sit on the wall phone.... until it rang. That was always funny. He brought many years of amusement to us all and I miss him and his antics.

Bonnie

Warm hearts ... and warm toes!

Well since we are talking winter, let's talk about warm hearts ... and warm toes.

A few years ago at Christmas we had a gift exchange. Ironically, both Anita and myself had the exact same idea for a present. We always open our gift bags at the same time, and it was really hard for me to keep a straight face when I saw that Anita had had the same gift idea as me and while she explained that she thought slippers would be a good idea, that way we could carry them in our bag with us at all times. Anita had knit slipppers for everyone and made a little draw-string pouch, with our names embroidered on it, to keep the socks in.

Then they all opened my gift bag and we burst out laughing. I knew how much everyone loved snowmen, so I had stitched faces on white slippers and added a carrot button for the nose. Well we weren't finished with the laughter because I thought we should get a picture with our slippers on. So then we were all sitting on the floor trying to get different positions in order to get everyone in the picture at the same time. We tried sitting up against the wall and taking the picture of our toes all pointing up to the ceiling and then I said, nooooo - that will show the snowman's face upside down. Someone said... (and I won't say who...) "Good point, let's think of something else. What if we lay on our back with our feet in the air - you know... like if our feet were ON the ceiling"

Well then the faces would still be upside down wouldn't they. Spontanious Laughter.

We had to think of something else. It was decided that we would just stand toe to toe in a huddle and we would take the picture from above in order to get everyone in the picture. Sounded like a good plan right?

Well... not if you have a protruding belly and/or big boobs. After the inital light-headedness subsided from sucking in our bellies, we had to deal with the shadow from the boobs.

So we stood in our huddle, adjusting, wiggling and laughing with our arms around each other while we tried not to tip over. It was about that moment when Anita's daughter walked in on us, which of course added to the laughter when we saw the look on her face.

Finally the photo was taken and our toes are doubly warm.

Bonnie

It all started with a tea towel...

Quite some time ago when I was perusing the Dollarama, I came across the cutest autumn tea towel with a teddy bear dressed up like a scarecrow. It immediately reminded me of Jody and I thought 'I'm going to get that for her', and then I thought... why not get one for everybody? And so I did and it was a hit.

From that point on, it's no surprise to any of us if there just happens to be an occasional 'mini gift' exchange on Cross Stitch night. Once when Jody hosted in February, she gave us all a tiny picture frame with a 1" x 1" opening. I had no idea what to do with mine, but Tracey knew immediately. Because it was Valentines day, Tracey stitched a heart.

Mine sat for a good number of months before I could figure out what I could stitch in such a tiny area and not copy Tracey's idea. And then one day it hit me; Jody loves snowmen. I would do a snowman in the frame that Jody gave me. But.... do they make snowman patterns for less than 1" x 1"? I couldn't be bothered looking, so I winged it. And voila! A happy smiley snowman face. I think it took longer to write this posting than it did to stitch that happy face.

We'll have to get a picture of Tracey's heart posted after her renovations are complete as I expect it's packed away for now.

p.s. I wasn't allowed to Blog today unless I cleaned my house. It's half cleaned; consider this half a blog.
Bonnie