The Spirit of Giving Giveaway!

CSN online stores, an online superstore, offering Briefcases, Household goods, electronics and more, has made me an offer, to either review a product or offer a gift certificate to my followers. In keeping with the Spirit of Giving, I will be hosting a giveaway for a $55.00 certificate, good to use at any one of their 200 plus stores.

With the economy the way it is, many families are having hard times this year.
Many parents are out of work and looking for new jobs. What better gift to give than a new Briefcase, to carry their portfolio, giving them that professional appearance, to make an impression at their interview. The photo below is one of many, that you can buy with your certificate.



To enter, leave a comment, telling us a way in which you help others during the holiday. Or a quick and easy craft idea that would make a great gift for residents in a nursing home, shelters, etc. If you are not a crafter, then tell me, what you would buy with your CSN gift certificate.

This contest is open to all followers, new followers are welcome.
The winner can use the gift code to buy something for their family or use it as a gift for someone in need. If the winner would like to pass the gift onto someone in need, you can send them the gift code, or email me their address and I will send them the gift code with a note that it is a gift from a special santa or your name, whichever you prefer. So.... don't forgo this wonderful giveaway. If you are like most families, this is a great way to help out this Christmas and if you are doing well, you can enter and help someone else.

Contest is open until December 7'th, just in time for the holidays!
Winners will be chosen by a Random Number Generator.
Shipping for this prize is only available in the USA and Canada.
If you have any questions, please free free to email me.
If you are looking for an Easy way to shop, check out the CSN Stores for your holiday shopping.

Giveaway Tomorrow!

Hi, this is Moki. Mom asked me to do her blog since she is siCk.
She is stuck on the couch, so I am entertaining Dora and Izzy for her and have been enjoying, reArranging the rugs.
Thought she could use a laugh, what do you think of my panther impression?
Stay tuned, tomorrow their will be a giveaway for followers, new followers arT welcome to join in too!



She also wanted to show everyone her new goodies that she got from Ginger, for theiR ebay group, AAPG. I think they are winderful, and what fun we will have, when she hangs them:)



Forgive the typos, try tYping with these!

New Mini Santa Freebie!

I decided to make a smaller version of the santa, which I showed below.
Today I redid the original to match, as best as I could, so you can make a smaller version for your mini trees or as a gift for a friend.

Look for a new company sponsored giveaway, coming soon. Perfect timing for christmas.

Enjoy the new version of my pattern. Please, only use this for yourself or as gifts.
I could not get the stitch maker to do the stitches, like I did, but it is just straight stitches going out from the top of the hat, in different directions. I will need to get the upgrade to pro, to do better stitches, I think. My piece was done on 18 count aida.

New Christmas Stitcheries!

I am not having one of my better days. I went to antique a few pieces and one came out with dark, just in the middle.
So, I washed it out and then redried it, but the red from the wool had soaked through and turned the design into red blotches.
I rewashed it and letting it dry, so will see what happens. It was one that I put more work into, so hope I can fix it.

I decided to redo my santa into a smaller ornament and changed his arms to simplify it.
I was going to make two, but it took me three days to make him, I am a really slow cross stitcher. That and I cannot see what I am doing, as it is;) The other looks off to me and now I know why. It is a design by Tiffany of Primitive Blessings and there are supposed to be stars, stitched on the bucket. But I had another idea, to add two small jingle bells with jute. So, that will go on next.

Tomorrow I will be stuffing my face and sitting in a chair afterwards, lol.
My kids will be coming and we cook the main foods and they bring some side dishes, so that helps me out.
My wishes, for all of my visitors, have a Blessed Thanksgiving, filled with family, love and good food.

Doll Makers Wanted!

I was visiting Edyth O'neill's blog and found a truly touching request and wanted to pass it along to my readers.
I know a lot of you make dolls and this is such a sweet cause and would truly make a wonderful woman happy.
Edyth has known this woman for years and she has helped Edyth when her house burnt down and now she is at a point in her life, where a sharing of our gifts, would truly bring happiness to her life.

So, if you like to make dolls or would love to do something special for the holiday season, please visit Edyth's site and you can get details there.

If you do not have black doll patterns, you can easily modify any pattern by using dark fabrics.
Here are a few sites for free patterns, to make dolls, if you would like to join in. Many of these dolls would be wonderful gifts for little girls too, maybe for a local shelter.

Annie's Cupboard

Cloth Doll Collection

Doll Maker's Journey

Free Cloth Doll Patterns

For epatterns, there are some wonderful ladies who make patterns for dolls and often have specials on their patterns.



Threadbare Primitives has some wonderful doll patterns, and some are on special. I love the Tabitha doll, that is one I would love to make and it is only 4.99 for an epattern.

Another wonderful designer is Jackie Schmidt. She has some wonderful primitive black angel dolls that would be fun to make.

Kim Koehler has some wonderful black doll patterns, that are primitive and simple to make.

Winner and Free Christmas Cross Stitch!

As always, I hate having one winner, so I made up a new cross stitch, so everyone can have something tonight.
I decided to make a cross stitch out of the design I punched. I like how the cross stitch came out and I did change mine a bit.
This is for a gift and I wanted it more prim, so as I stitched I changed things, I tend to do that with my designs. I antiqued it and then wet it a bit, so you can see a bit more dark where it is damp still.



Here is the cross stitch version I made up for my visitors. You can use this for yourselves or as a gift, but please do not make prints to share or to sell. If you want to change it up to make it more prim, you can do that if you like. I added a border from my program for those who like fancier borders. If you have problems seeing the squares or printing, please let me know. I ran out of some colors in my printer, so I couldn't test it. The colors I use in the graphic are not what I use for stitching, I just like to use colors that are easy to see, for printing out.



And now onto the winner of my Birthday Contest! The winner of the prize package is....... Cat Haven Crafts!
Please email me with your snail mail, so I can send your prizes to you.
Look for more contests and freebies in the future.
And I want to thank everyone who left such wonderful comments and made me laugh, as well.

Birthday Giveaway Continues and Winner!

Today I decided to get out and treat myself to shopping.
Since I am on a tight budget and we are trying to pay off bills, I went to my favorite place, Savers, lol.
I was happy I did, I got some nice items and it came to under three dollars, you can't beat that, goodies for me and no guilt.

I found some beautiful batik fabric and a new stitchery book. The fabric looks hand dyed, have no idea, but it is beautiful in person and it is 2 yards, not bad for a 1.99. I have been buying batiks when I can and want to work on art quilts and free motion, so this will be a nice addition.



This is the fabric close up, you can see the puckers in it. Will definitely be interesting to work with.



The book is also wonderful, brand new condition. It has a nice intro section for threads and fabrics, etc. It has photos of flowers and the stitches she uses to make them. Some flowers are stitchery, some mixed with fabric, ribbons, crewel and even some cross stitch, so wonderful book to learn how to make and embellish flowers.



The back section has flower examples and nice diagrams for stitches. I have been wanting a nice stitch book, so was thrilled when I found this. I think I got myself some nice treats for myself;)



I like many of you, are struggling to pay bills and always looking for new ways to save money. The past few years, I have been stocking up on fabrics, wool and general supplies. I buy everything with coupons, so save even more. Now I can work on projects and not have to worry about running out. I buy from the sale racks and I make dinners that last. That saves money and time. I know many people use leftover chicken and bones to make soup. I do the opposite. I buy a large package of chicken breasts and make my broth with that. I use some of the chicken in the soup and the rest goes into a stir fry with brown rice. A nice healthy dinner plan for cold nights.

So for tonight, what do you do to save? Give me your best tips and you will get an extra entry into the giveaway, to be drawn on Sunday night. I finished stitching a new project tonight, so that will be revealed on sunday and a special freebie for all.

Now onto the winner, had to come back, since I forgot, lol. The winner is....... Prim2Pink!
Congratulations! Please email me with your pattern choice and I will email it to you.