Valentine's Day

I was too tired and annoyed at the end of the day yesterday to do my blog post.  BF said but you have to.  You've gone all this time doing a post every day.  He is right.  The only day I missed this year was the one day we did not have electricity.  Oh, well.  Two days missed so far this year.

Day 14, and the last day of the 14 days of Valentine's with Parsley, brought me a pack of ladybug buttons and a ladybug magnet.  I LOVE ladybugs just like I love bunnies.  Thanks, P!  And thanks so much for doing this swap with me.  It was lots of fun.

Valentine's Day gifts from BF brought me a bear dressed as a ladybug, Rainblo gumballs (he knows I love gum but don't usually buy it for myself) and a Pandora charm for my bracelet.  It may be hard to tell, but the charm is silver and has little hearts all over it, and the hearts are a sparkly purple.  LOVE IT!!!

And here is a shot of just the charm.  I tried to get as close as I could to it with my camera.

 
My birthday is coming up in May and I am taking all of my birthday money to buy Pandora charms, especially some glass beads.  But considering that all of the prices have increased, I will be able to buy less than I thought!  And I am going to ask BF to get me the cupcake or the celebration cake charm as his present to me to represent my birthday.  He made a point of telling me yesterday that all of the charms I have so far have a meaning.  Okaayyyy.  It is cute, though.  So, I have to continue that, right??

I really love the boxes the charms come in.  I am saving them, but I don't know what I am going to use them for.  Mill Hill beads perhaps??

I did work on Time For God yesterday and this morning, but have not gotten done as much as I would have liked.  For a smallish pattern this seems to be slow going.

I ordered some Q-snap covers (11 by 11 and 11 by 17) from Yarn Tree last week and they shipped yesterday!  Yay!  I hope to have them soon.

The Daughter is really sick with a stomach bug, so I am sending her well wishes and prayers for fast healing!

I hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

In peace, love and stitches,
Danielle

Day 11

Day 11 brings me lip gloss! Signature Vanillas Lemon lip gloss from Bath & Body Works. I didn't even know they had lip gloss! It smells and tastes like lemon/vanilla. Wonderful! Thanks, P!







More on Time For God. Moving right along on this one...







Happy Friday!

In peace, love and stitches,
Danielle

Day 7

I was able to start Lizzie Kate's Time For God using the DMC conversion and 28 count Toasted Almond Cashel.




Day 7's present is a key chain light. Those things always come in handy! Thanks, P!

I hope you have had a marvelous Monday.

In peace, love and stitches,

Danielle

Day 5 and The Lying Game

I just finished a great book!!!  The Lying Game by Sara Shepard.  I love young adult books, especially mysteries.  The Lying Game totally fits that bill.  This is the first book in the series.  The second book does not come out until August 2 of this year!!!

I also read the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard, which were also fantastic.  However, I discovered those books once they had all come out, so I read one after the other after the other.  There were 7 in all and I probably read them within two weeks.  I was reading all the time, at breakfast, lunch, before bed, wherever I could.  Ah, the joys of finding a great book. 

Day 5 brings me a bottle of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Purple Potion nail polish!  Purple is my favorite color.  LOVE IT!  Thanks, P!

Last night we went to Ollie's Bargain Outlet to look around and I spotted this vacuum cleaner.  We have been looking for one to keep upstairs for quick vacuuming.  This one is awesome!  It is a Bissell Easy Vac.  The store model was a bright blue one.  I did not care what color it was.  But when I opened the box this morning, I discovered our version was pink!!!  Awesome!!!

I hope to finish Mr. Snowman today!  Have a smashing good Saturday!

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

Day 4 and Mr. Snowman

My Day 4 gift is a bottle of this wonderful Moonlight Path lotion from Bath & Body Works!  I love lotion, have it all over the house in various places.  This scent is wonderful!  Thanks, P!

I worked on Mr. Snowman (my new name for him) this morning while watching the most odd and disturbing movie, Catfish.  It keeps you guessing, and then you find out, and I was just...wow is all I can say.  You have to watch it.   Only a tree and a half to go and I'll be finished!

It's Friday, thankfully.  A busy weekend ahead.

I hope you all enjoy your Friday and the upcoming weekend!

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

Day 3, TUSAL, More Snowman!

Today is Day 3 of the 14 days of Valentine's Day with the dear Parsley.  My gift today was a pack of Archer Farms Cinnamon Vanilla Nut coffee and two Lindt truffles.  I am so going to have that coffee this morning, as my Keurig came with a filter where you don't have to use the K-cups.  And I am sure I will be enjoying the candy later once I start work.  LOL.  Cinnamon is my favorite flavor and smell. Thanks, P!

This being the new moon and all, it is time for another TUSAL!  I do have to say that this month's looks a lot better than last month's, given that I had just started January 1 and the new moon was only a few days after that!

And, finally, I was able to work on Snowman Snippet yesterday and all I have left to do now are the three trees at the bottom!  I will work on this again tonight during American Idol.

Have a terrific Thursday!

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

Day 2 and An Update!

Day 2 of the 14 days of Valentine's Day brought me two heart-shaped Post-It Notes pads.  I LOVE them!!!!  I use Post-Its every single day.  Thank you, P!  They are perfect.

And an update on LK Snowman Snippet. Let me tell you, that blue part I am working on now is tricky.  I am counting, recounting, and counting again to make sure I get it right. 

I just bought this Vera Bradley tote on Ebay for $25, including shipping.   I don't mind buying used at all, given that Vera Bradley bags new are very expensive.  And I don't even care that the tag is frayed.  I'll just take my needlework scissors and carefully cut it out.  I bought this so when I take my stitching with me and I use my larger Q-snaps, everything can fit in the bag.  And who doesn't love Vera Bradley???
 
Have a wonderful Wednesday!  And to my stitching blogger friends who are receiving the brutal end of this storm, stay safe and warm. 

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

Day 1

Parsley and I are doing a 14 days of Valentine's Day private swap where we bought 14 gifts for each other ranging from $1 to $3 each, wrapped them, and mailed them to the other person.  From February 1 through February 14 we each open a gift and post it on our blog.  Today is Day 1.

And here is what I opened (the biggest one, of course!!!)

I have not read this one!!!  And I love mystery/suspense stories.  Thank you, Parsley!!

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

The Clapper

 
I am pretty sure I mentioned on here that I bought BF The Clapper as one of his Christmas gifts.  The Clapper was for our bedroom.  Well, BF is like most men, in that he does not like to read ANY directions that come with anything.  I don't get this.  I read the whole manual on my new digital camera and my iPad so I could know everything about each item.

So, Christmas night before bed we decide to hook it up.  I pull out the manual, which only includes FIVE steps, and no sooner do I read "Step 1, take the Clapper out of the box," than BF has it plugged in and is clapping!!!!!  WTF?!??!  So, of course, it doesn't work.  So, we unplug it and I actually go through all five steps, and it still doesn't work.  And by this time I'm so mad that I say I can't deal with this now.  We need to let The Clapper reset.  I'll do this later.  And I'm thinking to myself I will hook The Clapper up myself tomorrow when BF is busy.

Well, the next day it's hooked up, and it works, and then I tell him how I really felt the night before, and we have a good laugh, and we still laugh about it now, but the lesson here:  READ THE MANUAL.  READ THE MANUAL.  READ THE MANUAL.

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

What I received from Santa

Needless to say no stitching has occurred since Thursday, but I had a wonderful Christmas and I hope all of you did also.  I received lots of FANTASTIC gifts!!!!  I will show you the BEST gift last.  Here they are all, in no particular order.

First is a Nikon Coolpix S3000 digital camera.  LOVE IT!!!  I am still learning how to use it.   Obviously I am not able to take a picture of the camera with the camera.  So, there is the link.

Here is a pic of BF with his biggest present from me, Mirabilia's Mermaid of the Pearls framed by Jill Rensel.  Isn't it awesome?  This one is my favorite mermaid.  He loved it!!!

Here is the candy I received:  Hershey bar with almonds, Toffifay (BEST CANDY EVER!!), and a two-pound candy cane!!!  I don't know how I'm going to eat that!  LOL.

From my brother I received a Granny Apple Yankee Candle jar and candle topper, and as part of my gift from my mom I received a Sparkling Cinnamon Yankee Candle SPF 15 lip balm.  I love lip balm.  

Here is a closer shot of the jar topper.  I just love it.  And the jar topper allows the ENTIRE candle to burn and not to hollow out, as some candles do.

I also received from BF a pair of warm wintry gloves, two tubes of Bath & Body Works antibacterial hand cream, a gingerbread mug candle, and three Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie car jars.  Christmas Cookie is my favorite Yankee Candle.  I also received a snow globe.  I told BF I would like to start collecting them, so this is my first one!

I also received a Christmas Cookie Yankee Candle jar candle and Christmas topper from BF and The Daughter. 

BF and I received a $50 gift certificate to Double T Diner from my dad and stepmom.  We always go to this restaurant, so a good gift.  And I received warm, fuzzy socks from BF and as my other part of my gift from my mom the new Michael Jackson dance game for Wii.  You can dance as Michael Jackson in his many music videos.  I have tried it.  It's hard, but fun being able to dance to Thriller or Beat It like Michael Jackson did in the videos.

From BF I also received a pair of Skechers Shape Ups tennis shoes, as I needed a new pair badly, and a gorgeous heated throw.  LOVE IT!!  I am always cold in the winter.

More great gifts from BF, the entire season of the HBO show The Sopranos on DVD and The Office 2011 desk calendar, where you can read a scene from the show every day.  The Office is my all-time favorite show ever.

One of the best gifts from BF was this Pandora charm bracelet.  Now I can ask for charms for Valentine's Day, my birthday, and Christmas and build up the bracelet.  My favorite charm was the ladybug charm, as BF knows I LOVE ladybugs.  I also received this cool mood watch with a glittery cupcake in the center, and this Pandora Christmas ornament came free with the bracelet.

I also received $100 in gift cards to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, my favorite restaurant, which BF and I are going to on New Year's Eve, and I also received some more socks (love socks!!), lottery scratch-offs, and an Apple Cinnamon reed diffuser.

I received a set of pajamas and a pair of fluffy pajama pants from BF.  LOVE pajamas!!!

From The Daughter I received this Christmas mug.  I love coffee mugs.  And I also received this sign from the show The Office.  I saw this online and HAD to have it for my office door, which it is already hanging on.

Now for the BEST GIFT, an Apple Ipad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the most AWESOME gift I have ever received.  I have my calendar on it, can check e-mail, read blogs, listen to my iTunes music, do ANYTHING!!!!  I listed my Kindle on Ebay the same day, as I can read all of my books with the Kindle app.  Oh, my God, can't say enough about this.  Every day I find something new and awesome about it.  I immediately bought a case, camera kit, and headphones for it.

I hope all of you have a good Sunday!  Hopefully with some stitching involved.  I hope to start stitching again tomorrow morning and have a progress pic of Where's The Party?

In peace, love, and stitches,
Danielle

Framing

I have had Lizzie Kate's Christmas Rules finished for a while.  I have decided to frame it myself.  I just cannot justify any longer paying the professional framing prices, and I know if I take my time, I can do it myself.  I found a great site online, Franken Frames, that will cut your frame to any size.  I ordered a frame for Christmas Rules and the Last Minute Christmas Kit and the total came to $60 with adding foamcore and a hanging kit.  All I have to get further are sequin pins, batting, and double sided sticky tape.  I also ordered acid free dust cover sheets and a dust cover trimmer.  I mean serious business!!!  So, stay tuned and wish me luck!

Just a tiny bit more done on Where's The Party? This picture looks nothing like what the actual stitching does in real life. 

As one of my Christmas gifts from BF I asked for a Nikon Coolpix S80 digital camera.  My current camera is about five years old, so I am hoping that a newer camera will take better pics.

My routine is off for the next few days as we have The Daughter staying with us until Christmas morning and BF is also off work.

I received The Silver Needle's newsletter today about their New Year Eve's sale and they mentioned a new Lizzie Kate coming out, but no pics. If anyone has heard anything or has a pic, please let me know!  You all know Lizzie Kate is my favorite designer.

Have a great Thursday!  Now just TWO days until Christmas!!

In peace, love and stitches,
Danielle

A Bit More...

A bit more on Where's The Party?

I finished Neighborhood Watch (so great!), so I am in search of another book to read.

I also watched Extraordinary Measures this morning with Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell.  Very inspirational.

I went to Kohl's yesterday and found a few new clothing items.  I could not even remember the last time I shopped for clothes.  I am not a shopper at all, except for stitching items!  It seems every time I go in there and look at shoes, the ones I want are always out of my size.  I found these great black leather clogs.  9 must be a popular size.  Passing by the men's section I noticed a stand of wallets and remembered that that was the first item BF talked about wanting and which I had not gotten, so I picked that up and The Clapper for him as two last-minute gifts.  We see the commercial all the time and laugh and BF says he wants that for our bedroom, as we both get in bed and the light is still on and then we look at each other like who is going to get up and turn off the light?  LOL.  I think he will laugh and be pleasantly surprised.

I have a massage tonight at 7pm.  Ahhh, can't wait!  It's been almost a month since I've had one!

And a stitching question for all of my readers:  Have you ever NOT stitched a pattern, even though you loved it, because of the way the pattern looked, i.e., small print, color chart on another page, etc.?  If the print is too small on a pattern, I have to admit that I will not stitch it.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!  Only FOUR days until Christmas!

In peace, love and stitches,
Danielle

I love Lizzie*Kate!

I love Lizzie*Kate patterns, the fun colors, the different fonts, and usually a fairly quick stitch.  BF had his work Christmas party last night, so I was able to stitch most of the night.

He came home with a $15 Dunkin Donuts gift card for me!  They do a Yankee Swap or White Elephant or whatever you may call it in your part of the world where they set a limit for a gift, and then draw names to see who goes in what order, and then the first person picks a gift, and then the second person can either steal the first person's gift or pick a new gift, and if the second person steals the first person's gift, then the first person gets to pick a new gift, and so on until all of the gifts have been opened.  

I have a Saturday ahead of me with no definitive plans.  I LIKE that!  Only 7 days until Christmas!

In peace, love and stitches,
Danielle