Gift Certificate giveaway continues and a New Site

I decided to lift the restriction for the contest, so that anyone can enter.
Entering contests is fun and I love doing it myself, but sometimes the site that is sponsoring them, is just not for me.
So, if you want to enter the CSN contest, you can do so, without being a follower, but I would still love to know what you would buy, if you win. You can use your gift certificate for their Wall Art and Decor or any other wonderful CSN stores.

I have decided to join CSN with the opening of their new site, Josh & Main.
It's an exclusive private sale site that CSN Stores recently launched. It offers exclusive sales on top brands and designers for the home at up to 70% off retail. Sales only last 72 hours, but new ones are launched daily and all are backed by the high levels of customer service and quality that CSN Stores is known for.

I took a look and found this fun lunch box. It is so cute and it even comes with chop sticks and the holder.
What fun this would be to have for a school lunch box, wish I were a kid again, lol. I was thinking it would make a fun needle and supply box.



I love this chair set, what a unique set. I can't wait to see what else they have, the items change every few days and sell out fast. If you would like to see what they have to offer, you can click on the link above, or use the one in my links to the left.

Wall art for the winter blues: CSN Giveaway

CSN online stores, an online superstore, selling wall art and decor, as well as many other fine items, is sponsoring another giveaway, to my readers. One lucky winner will win a 50.00$ gift certificate, to use in any of their sites.

I know many of you are into the winter blues, with all of this snow. Wouldn't it be fun to do some new decorating for free?
You can shop for wall art and decor or any home store that they host. I am amazed at all of the wonderful products that they offer and quality brand names.

You can order wonderful wall art stickies, the kids would love this or an inspirational saying to put in your craft room.



Lots of great prints too, love this Giclee art.



To enter, leave a comment, letting me know what you would buy would buy with your CSN gift certificate, to redecorate your home. Just visit their wall art and decor to see all the wonderful items.
Entries will be taken until february 4th, 12:00 pm, EST.
The lucky winner will be announced on February 5th.
This contest is open to all, but if you would like to follow my blog, I always love new friends.

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.

Blast from the Past!

Today I started cleaning, I say starting because I do that a lot. I start cleaning and never finish, lol.
I went into my storage drawer to see what was in there and found a few surprises.

One item I pulled out was my wool applique quilt, that I started last year. I want to finish it, so the pieces are all out and ready to sew the details and then I have to remember how I was going to piece it;)

Another item I dug out, was this vintage piece, lol. Yes, I made this ugly thing, years ago, in the 80's.
That was when I got my fabric from discount stores and used felt.
It was all done up like this, just needed the border to be sewed to the back, so today I did that.
Have no idea what I am going to do with it, definitely doesn't match my house and definitely cock eyed.
I have been staring at it and wondering if there is something I can do to improve it, but I think it is a lost cause.




And for those of you who need a dose of Moki, here her is in one of his rare moments, sleeping.
I finally moved the christmas things off the chest and the minute I put the kitty rug, my friend Kelley made me, he was on it.
Moki needs space to sleep, that boy is really long. Behind him is another ugly piece I did in the 80's. Had no idea what I was doing, just wanted to make a quilt. And tomorrow is the big day, another great contest, sponsored by CNS.

Valentine Mini Quilt!

Today was a lazy day. We got a lot of snow overnight, so I woke up to a world, blanketed in even more snow.
Sometimes I just can't get motivated, so I thought about what I could do and everything seemed to much to bother with, lol.
I need something that motivates me to begin a new project, so thinking of ideas.

I need to make patterns and finish quilts, but sometimes it seems easier to start something new that I can finish quickly.
I don't decorate much for valentines, but I thought it would be fun to make a mini quilt for my rack.

I used my go cutter and scraps of fabrics and cut out a bunch of squares and triangles.
Then I sewed them together, badly, lol. The cutter cuts off the dog ears, so I have to get used to lining them up.
I usually sew and cut squares, to make my triangles.

As you can see, I sewed them any which way, then added some appliques. The kitty is from a whimsicals book and the bird is from a Cheri Saffiote book. I added my own touches and hearts and now I have a Valentines piece.

I have been asked to do another giveaway for CSN, so that will be coming next.
I have a choice of that or a review, but I like the idea of being able to have a giveaway with a nice price for my visitors.

A Blue Day

We are getting storms again and were told a few flurries this afternoon, but it snowed for hours and dumped a few more inches.
And the real storm hasn't hit yet. The winds are picking up now, so it won't be long.

I took a photo of my backyard with the snow falling and made it into art. I think it has a haunted surreal look to it.
Why am I blue? A dear friend is going through a tough time right now and my heart breaks that I cannot be there for her.

Look for a new piece tomorrow and a new contest coming this weekend.

Wash-N-Gone Test

I was at our Walmart and they still carry things in their fabric department.
I found some Wash-N-Gone on sale, so I bought what was left.

I like to do stitcheries and wanted something that I could use on darker and thick fabrics or wools.
I decided to try my horse, something quick and easy.
I cut out pieces of the Wash-N-Gone to fit the pattern design and drew the design on, with my black artist pen.

I did not find it easy to draw with that and I found it hard to see with the shiny surface of the paper.
I pinned it on and started stitching. I found it harder to make my stitches line up and the paper moved a bit while I sewed, so it came out all cockeyed, lol. I was rushing, so I am sure that had something to do with it;)

I made up three, one on thin wool, one thick wool and one heavy weight ticking.
Here are the pieces with the paper still on.



Next I put them under water. It says any water temperature, but I found I needed warm water to melt off the paper.
The warm water melted the paper away. After that, I put them in my front loader to dry and when they came out, I saw no paper, but I noticed the stitches were stiff, like they had glue on them.



I didn't bother with the dark, heavy piece, you can hardly see the stitches. Next time I need to use more strands or thicker floss. Even with the stiff stitches, it still comes out nicely. I did not have any extra paper to pull off, it all came off in the warm water. So, if you want an inexpensive paper for stitchery, the Wash-N-Gone is a good one to try.

Next time I will try and use some spray adhesive to hold the paper closer to the piece. I also got a new book for felting and it uses this type of paper, so it will be fun to try it for that, too.

Cross Stitch Horse!

I finished the cross stitch piece, with a horse to match the other two pieces.
I wanted it to be simple and it is larger than I planned. I used variegated thread on the horse and a mix, so I had to do single stitches to get a nice look with the variations, so took a lot longer to fill. I would like to do it in a mini version, so I will try one this week.

Now I will work up the patterns and make them into a pdf file, so you can get all three patterns in one file.
I hope you like this newest piece for the set and I will try and get the pattern done before the end of the week.