Cute Freebies!

I have recently discovered a designer by the name of CherryWood Design Studios.
I know that Owls are a big thing at the moment (I love them!)..and there is the perfect owl freebie on their internet site.
Whoooo can resist this cutie? I bet it will be so cute stitched up..I think it shall go into my "to do" pile!
:)

Here is the link if interested!
OWL FREEBIE!


Make sure to check out the other freebies on their page too..so cute!

Happy Stitching,

~Sweet Sixteen!~

Our daughter turned Sweet Sixteen! I wonder where the years have gone...
I remember what feels like yesterday sewing her Raggedy Ann dress...

Our little "Annie" is growing up so fast..I really did try hard to keep her little..but the years slipped through my fingers and she is now a beautiful young lady!
Her cake turned out perfect. Her party theme was "polka dots"..so, we saw to it that her special cake would be adorned with many dots too!

She also had a special "Cookie Cake"..I love these! They are so pretty, the kids loved it, and the shop did a great job at decorating:

The house was jam packed with many guests, family and friends. I prepared trays of many goodies to munch on, and also prepared all the food a day ahead of time:

I filled glass hurricanes with Skittles candy and placed a small tealight candle in a small glass holder inside the hurricane for a beautiful glow with candy "dots" around!
Dinner was delicious with baked ziti, sausage and peppers, cuban sandwiches, potato salad, garden salad, spanish rice, cocktail meatballs and many other things.
I dipped strawberries in chocolate and wrote in white chocolate on them for decoration:

Some guests traveled from other areas, as far as New York!
Our daughter received many lovely gifts..
An adorable stuffed Owl was one of her favorites!

 A pretty figurine...This was given to me when I was 16! I had forgotten about this until a relative gave it to our daughter for her special day....

 Special favors for the special guests...
Hershey chocolate bars wrapped in personalized wrappers:

Homemade lollies that I made ahead of time out of chocolate. Chocolate and vanilla pops wrapped with polka dot ribbons and personalized ribbons that say "Sweet 16"!

I had purchased polka dot fabric (2 yards) at Hobby Lobby to use as a table cloth..I will now cut it up to make some throw pillows for my daughter's bed, for a remembrance from her Special day!

So much fun with Friends!

Time for Cake!

We Love You Annie!

Happy Sweet 16 ~ Our Angel from Heaven!

Momma, Dad, and Big Brother :)

New Things

I decided to take a little drive today and treat myself. I was headed over to a local stitch shop, then decided to stop off at one of my favorite Antique Shops on the way called Enchanted Antiques . Oh my! This shop is absolutely filled to the brim with the most gorgeous things! I couldn't wait to see what they had put out for the Fall/Halloween season. I was not disappointed, the shop was beautifully decorated once again!
I found two little things that I could not leave without. A little "Prim" (as in primitive!) doll..isn't she ADORABLE! I love the little stitched saying on her dress..a simple little "Be You". Sweet!
Then, as I meandered around..look at the little bag of itty bitty candy corn! Are they not adorable? I believe they are made out of some sort of resin and are painted and sanded for that time worn look

...I could not do too much shopping for I knew if I wanted to get to the stitch shop and then to the church for my daughter's arrival from school I was short on time. I was busy before this food shopping and having lunch with my wonderful son.
Then..I headed over to the stitch shop and picked up two magazines I have been wanting. Just Cross Stitch Halloween Collection and Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments issue for this year. I have to say, they are both fantastic! Most recently I had seen this adorable chart by Bent Creek titled "Quaker Moon". I had picked that up also.
It was a very good day! I cannot wait to decorate for the Fall season. I am thinking I am done with the hot humid weather that Florida brings. Some new things happening on the home front..but will have to wait a bit to mention what they will be. They are of the good sort of things though :)
I am presently working on a Lorri Birmingham Design that must get finished before the end of October. It is for a darling baby that will turn one soon. We are invited to the birthday and look forward to giving this sweet little Angel something to hang in her room......my progress so far:

Many color changes in Lorri B. Designs...but well worth the effort. The designs usually end up being beautiful!
This design is from this leaflet:

While I was out shopping with my son, we came across some interesting packs of chewing gum. I think this is new, I have never seen it before..we decided to try it out. WOW! Tastes just like eating apple pie. (hee hee!) This will be very good for my diet..by the way, I have lost 10 pounds so far! :)

I came home from my little outing and was surprised to find a treat in my mailbox as well! My sweet stitching friend Kerri sent me a Raggedy Ann pattern by Gloria and Pat Designs. Thank you Kerri!!
Well, that's about all for now. I am going to go do a little stitching for tonight and go through my new magazines..I cannot wait to look at all the beautiful new designs the pages hold!
Blessings to each and everyone of you!
Louise

Pretty Butterfly

We are getting lots of butterflies coming into our yard. It is such a treat to watch them fluttering around!
Here is another picture I snapped:

Dragonflies

Stepped out front and snapped a couple of photos..
looks like baby dragonflies are plenty here in this part of town!

Backyard Visitor

Earlier today I heard a screaming outside...
I went to see what all the clatter was about.
There was this very large bird flying around, then landed in a tree. I ran to get my camera, and this is what I snapped:

I thought it to be an owl at first..it was up quite high, had to zoom in with my camera..
After looking at the photo, It didn't look like an owl to me anymore...I thought perhaps a hawk.
I am not so sure about either, if you look at the beak, it is straight and not hook billed.
It appears to be a young bird..although large in size.
It has the sweetest face!

Anyone know what type of bird this might be?
Louise
***Edited to add***
Thank you to Abbie for your comment...I looked at the photos of a Swainson Hawk..but not sure the markings on the chest are just alike or not..I did look up Red Shouldered Hawk and noticed the chest has the same color marking and horizontal lines as the bird in my picture. The straight beak stumps me though! Might just be the picture itself and it's beak really isn't straight at all...

Getting Back on Track!

I am feeling so good today! Hooray!
I was out shopping and look what I found...The cutest little canisters I have ever seen!

I found this at a Home Goods Store along with this:

Aren't they darling! I was hoping there would be more to the set..perhaps a picture, or bigger canisters for flour too..but there wasn't at this time. The tea, sugar and coffee canisters are small in size..but I just had to get them. My Dad was a big lover of chickens, he raised them for many years in his backyard. Although my Dad passed away, it is nice to have some chicken themed items to remind me of him.
I started making some comfort caps today. I have learned another friend has found out she has breast cancer. I have made one so far..and plan on making two more tonight to mail out to her.
I just LOVE sewing on my new Janome machine. What a difference from my older machine that I had for so many years. It really is such a joy to work with!
My hubby was away with his job again, but will be arriving home tonight. I cannot wait.
I am going to surprise him with one of his favorite meals. Spanish Rice! It is his Mother's recipe and we all love it so much. It is mighty tasty!

I have put the recipe on my recipe blog if you are interested...just click HERE!

Well, I am off to sew again.
Blessings to you!
Louise

Shopping Trip!

I must say, I really didn't want to go out yesterday on a shopping trip ..but my sweet daughter convinced me that we needed to go! I am glad we did..although my mouth was still bothering me, look what we spotted in Target!!
Raggedy Ann and Andy Tshirts!
My daughter and I just had to get them....
Cute right?!
Don't look at my messy hair, I didn't prepare for the picture too well! I think it is just about time for a haircut anyways :)
Louise

"Faith, Hope, Love"

"The Greatest of These is Love"
My newest finished stitched piece. Little House Needleworks design. Stitched on 28 Count Cashel Flax Linen over two with DMC threads.

Love this design! :)

I want to thank those of you that posted to me about my surgery mishap! I am still in pain..(a week and a half later)..but , I think it is a little better than it was. It has to get better right?! Lots of hot packs to my face and motrin. I did volunteer with my daughter yesterday..it was so hot outside, about 100 degrees here in Florida! We were under a big shade tree though, so it wasn't too bad. (trying to convince myself)! HA!
We had the easiest job I think..my daughter and I sat at the table and were the cashiers for the garage sale. I made sure I brought lots of cold water and snacks. They too had extra cold water if needed.
My daughter has now completed all her volunteer work for the entire school year already! She said that she wants to continue being as she enjoys doing things for the church. Makes me smile!
We will probably be decorating the church for Christmas time too.
I would like to get back on a proper eating plan again, the surgery has disturbed normal eating habits, although, I have been trying to eat properly, even if it is food that is all cut up.
I have lost about 8 pounds!
Instead of grabbing chips for snacks, I now grab grapes, apples and almonds :)
I haven't been tracking on Sparkpeople for a couple of days though, with my not feeling well, I let it go for now.
I was hoping to stay home and rest for this afternoon and evening..but it looks like the little lady of the house is preparing for a shopping trip. LOL!
I guess I will be taking her to a store or two. She is such a good girl and deserves all good things. As does our son. We are truly blessed with such wonderful kids!

I have taken notice that I am up to 100 followers!! WOOHOO!~ So exciting! I appreciate each and everyone of you that loves to visit my blog..I think this milestone calls for a giveaway! I will be coming up with something soon..so stay tuned! :)
I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday,
Louise

My husband...

is so very wonderful to me...he always does and says just what is needed.
he walked in the door late tonight from work, and this is what he gave to me.
I love him so much, he is always so thoughtful and caring.
Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky, I know it was in God's plan! :)

Friday's Post

Hello all...
Had an unexpected turn of events in the past week. I decided to have a wisdom tooth extracted. It was bothering me so much and thought it be best to have it removed. Now I am thinking twice about my decision as things had gone drastically wrong with the surgery!
All seemed fine when the dentist removed the tooth..but then within a matter of days my face swelled and bruised. The pain was something awful!
I went back to the dentist..he told me I developed a hematoma. Just what I did not want to hear! The needle used in the muscle of my mouth hit a blood vessel and cause a clot to form. I have never felt such pain in my life!
I am using moist warm compresses for over a week now, along with medications..oh, it gets worse....
They had me on antibiotics and then I noticed that I was having trouble swallowing. I developed esophagitis!
This is an inflammation and burning of the throat (damage from the antibiotics). I could barely eat food..I have been living on frozen yogurt, ice pops and soft foods for over a week now.
 I went to an oral surgeon for re-evaluation, and then off to the regular family doctor also.
I am now on more medication for my throat and was told the pain could last for another week more.
Ok, but, I am sorry, I do not want to go another whole week with this mess, I am so done with the pain!
So, I have been feeling pretty rotten.
Amidst all the pain and frustration, there was something positive I could do while healing..someone close to us is having a baby! Well, actually they had the baby today. A precious little girl.
I have decided to make another baby blanket of crochet (granny square style)!
Something to try and keep my mind off of my pain.
Here is the completed blanket in pink and speckled white.

I need to get better quickly, we will be volunteering this weekend at Divine Mercy House. Their big garage sale is tomorrow and we had previously committed ourselves to helping.
At this moment though, I feel like I cannot do it with feeling so miserable. I did commit though, so I plan to keep that commitment for tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!
Louise