More than just Cross Stitchin': favourite things

Showing posts with label favourite things. Show all posts

Saturday, August 13, 2011

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things

While rearranging my 'new room' this past week, I decided to move objects around a little - just to enhance the new look.

While purging this week, I discovered that I have trouble parting with gifts that people give me, especially if it is hand crafted. One friend had made this shelf for me years ago, and it's a little outdated now, but I'm not ready to part with it. On the top shelf - I have a vase that Paige decoupaged for me when she was about 6 years old. Can't part with it - I love it. When Jody had once given us all a gift bag, in it was a little pot of greenery. I slipped it into the vase and it has lived there ever since. Funny... when I was at Anita's once I noticed she has a little greenery in a clay pot that her daughter had made for her and I commented on how cute it was. She laughed and said, I was gathering things up when we moved and I had the greenery in my hand and I didn't know where to put it when I was grabbing a box and I saw the clay pot and I just quickly put it in there to be safe and I thought 'hmmmm - that looks quite nice.' So now, it too, has a permanent home.

The bottom shelf has a unique picture frame that Tracey came across (she found 4 of course - we always have to shop in 4's) and she stitched our initial and gave it to each one of us. Then of course there is the 'Four from Forest'. This picture was taken a few years ago in this very room at Christmas time; thinking about it now - I guess since I'm hosting Christmas this year and we alternate each year, that means this picture was taken in 2007. Outdated shelf, outdated picture - at least I'm consistent. Who cares though, right? These are the small things we aren't allowed to sweat about. Moving on...


Made by Paige when she was six with a little help from Aunt Deb. Remember... I love Vintage, Victorian style... anything!

I have had some peacock feathers for several years now and I've never really displayed them where you can see them nicely. I love them, but I just never found the right spot. Paige gathered them up from one of our adventures at Story Book Gardens (Gee... there's a thought for a posting sometime... - someone remind me). So I decided they would look nice beside the Willow Tree Angel that Anita gave me.

Anita gave me this angel a few years ago.
I think she gave me an angel because I remind her of one..
ya...that's it.

This next picture is what I have set up in my 'cross stitch' corner. The table is an antique that used to belong to my grandparents. On the table is one of her old crocheted doilies and I laid out a pair of my gramma's evening gloves and her pearl necklace. If you zoom in on the pearls, you can see the unique diamond studded clasp. LOVE IT! The lamp ... too funny. I made that lamp years ago in ceramics class for my former in-laws. When they purged, it was handed down to my daughter, now handed it back to me because it really doesn't suit her 'Ikea' style decor. Now my favourite part... the two little Critter Cross Stitchers sitting beside the cross stitched "B" - that was given to me as a gift from our Brentwood retreat this year.

Ok, so the story of the Little Critter Cross Stitchers. Many years ago, Jody had found a Hallmark Collectable Cross Stitch ornament with a little critter stitching and since she had Anita's name for Christmas - what better gift could she give her. When Anita opened it and we all gasped, Jody had said "I don't for the life of me know why I didn't buy four of them!!!:" So ever since then, we buy in fours.

So as a professional shopper, I decided to scour eBay to find four little Critter Cross Stitchers. I found only one, a tiny chipmunk sitting in a rocking chair stitching, but I just couldn't find anymore - so I just had to keep it. A few months later I tried again and I was able to find 4 of the same ornament of a rabbit sitting and stitching the word Joy. How appropriate because when I finally found four of the same ornaments, it brought me joy. So each of us four now has the same ornament.


If you notice the blooper in this posting - be the first to post about it and I'll send you a prize. ...and no...sorry... it will not be a Little Critter Cross Stitcher.

Bye for now... someone has invited me to come out and play.

I'll stitch later when it's dark.

Bonnie

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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

Saturday, August 13, 2011

These Are a Few of My Favourite Things

Christmas 2016