I made this purse last fall using a free chart by Brenda Gervais.  You can find the chart on her blog With Thy Needle and Thread   Look for it on her post from Oct. 1, 2009.  Wasn't it nice for Sweetpea to pose for the picture?

Here's the back view, I used coordinating Debbie Mum fabrics and jumbo orange ric rac for the trim.

I used Valdani cotton floss for the design in these colors:  Honeycomb, Withered Green, Bronze, Rich Wine, Rusted Orange and Black Sea.  Thank you, Brenda, for the great chart!

A Rose is a Rose. . .

I believe this is a design from an old Just Cross Stitch magazine.  I know it's by Gail Bussi.   I love the pink lace I used around the edges, I'll tell you about it in a minute.

There were a few specialty stitches included.

I used an antique button towards the bottom and finished it off with a ribbon bow.

The lace is Wright's flexi-lace Hem Facing and I found it in these three antique looking shades the last time I went to Joann's and it is really inexpensive.  For the hanger at the top, I sewed on an old necklace that I don't wear any more.  Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog again!

Stash Report and Faucets

I got this stash in the mail yesterday from http://www.anitalittlestitches.com/.   Included are all the new Limited Edition Gentle Arts Sampler threads from the recent St. Charles market, two charts from LHN, plus the little holly buttons for All is Calm.  Then there are two mesh storage bags which you can never have enough of.  And see the four Valdani threads in the middle there?  After I had sent in my order for the other things, I saw that Anita had added these new colors, so I emailed her and asked her to add them to my order.  And being the sweet person that she is, she said that the Valdanis would be a free gift because I have ordered from her several times.  The fact that she is such a lovely person to do business with is just one of the reasons I keep going back to shop with her!

We got some new faucets for the bathroom sink the other day.  I love them.  I think they look just right for the bathroom in a 100 year old farm house.  And while we are in the bathroom, I'll show you one of my cross stitch pictures that's hanging in there--

It's a design by Helen Philipps and it was done with DMC and Waterlilies threads.

And last but not least, a picture of my Dad who is 89 when we were having lunch out today.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening!  And thank you again to my blog followers, both the "older" ones and the newer ones, and thanks so much for the kind and sweet comments that have been left.  They mean so much to me!

Kitty Pictures and Tree of Life

This is a painting that our daughter did of our oldest kitty, Sweetpea.  Jessie has a lot of artistic talent for painting, drawing and photography.  She doesn't have a blog but I keep hoping she will get one started, because she could show off a lot of her pictures.  We are very proud of you, Jessie!

Here's Miss Sweetpea herself.

Tree of Life sampler from the spring 2001 issue of Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly.  Phyllis Hoffman, one of my favorite designers designed this one.

I stitched this with DMC and Gentle Art Sampler threads and finished it into a fabric hanging for our bedroom wall.   Thanks for looking and I hope you are having a lovely evening!