JOAN ELLIOTT CROSS STITCH COLLECTION BOOK UPDATED STATUS

I have a limited edition available for sale.  It is titled:  The Ultimate Joan Elliott Cross Stitch Collection.  Please email me at kodosmom423@yahoo.com if you are interested.

29 SEPT 2012 UPDATE:  THIS BOOK IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.  IT HAS BEEN SOLD.
THANK YOU!

Easter is here

THOUGH I HAVE TO WORK A 12 HR SHIFT THIS EASTER, I DID MANAGE TO GET AN EASTER TABLE SET.  I HOPE YOU HAVE A BLESSED EASTER AND REJOICE IN OUR SAVIOR IS RISEN!

THANK YOU FATHER GOD, FOR LOVING ME ENOUGH TO SEND YOUR ONLY BEGOTTEN SON AND FOR ACCEPTING HIS SACRIFICE FOR MY SINS TO BE ACCEPTABLE IN YOUR SIGHT.  THANK YOU JESUS FOR TAKING MY SINS AWAY AND FOR BEING MY SAVIOR!  I LOOK FORWARD TO REJOICING IN HEAVEN WITH YOU ONE DAY.

EASTER TABLE

EASTER CENTERPIECE

EASTER PLACE SETTING

BUTTERFLY NAPKIN RING

FOYER TABLE

THEN THERE ARE THESE MYSTERIOUS BUNNIES POPPING UP FROM SOMEWHERE.  SPRING MUST CERTAINLY BE HERE.

TALL BUNNY

SMALL BUNNY

MR AND MRS BUNNY

HERO PROJECT COMPLETED

It has taken such a long time to finish this project.  I never meant for it to take this long but life just kept getting in the way of what I wanted to accomplish.  Working two jobs, fixing up our old home to sell it, selling it, moving to the new home and still working two jobs did not leave much leisure time for stitching.  Now that I am "semi-retired" I managed to get it done.  Now I just need to get in contact with PO3 Dickerson's family and get it to them.

TOO CUTE TO IGNORE!

HOW COULD YOU IGNORE SUCH A FACE?  I JUST CAN'T!  BAILEY IS MY BUDDY, MY CUDDLEBUG AND SWEETHEART.

Beginnings of St. Patrick's Day Tablescape

I have not had time to make all the placemats but have begun to get the table ready for St. Patrick's Day.  I am not Catholic but I AM IRISH!  In fact, my English ancestor, Daniel Candler, was disowned by his family for marrying an Irish lass named, Hannah Fiske back somewhere about 1725.  They emigrated to America in 1735 arriving in Virginia.  Daniel was part of the "upper class" in England being related to the throne by blood and marriage.  As such, he was forbidden to marry outside his station.  I'm sure glad he did and had the temerity to not only do so, but to come to America and bring the Candler line to America. Now back to my table......it is a work in progress but a beginning..........

 Hannah Fiske (photo from Ancestry.com research.  Posted by the Rose Family Tree member)

Placemats I am making.  I could not find what I wanted so decided to make my own.
 I don't have them all finished yet but it is still a work in progress.

I can't decide yet if I like the table place setting with or without the placemat.
 I'm leaning towards with the placemat.

Loved this little plate and sweet dish.

I just could not resist the little planter with the green carnations or the little IRISH sign.  I added Mr. Leprechaun to the floral arrangement.  I was given the Irish cows (Mary's Moo Moo's) years ago.  Found the green candles on clearance after Christmas.

SEWING ROOM FINALLY ORGANIZED

We bought our current home just four years ago and in that time the bonus room above the garage has been a bedroom for our youngest son.......until he figured out that the room stays hot in the summer and cold in the winter.  It also does not have a bathroom near so he had to come downstairs and across the house to use "his" bathroom.  We have a guest bedroom on the far side of the house and "his" bathroom was just outside that room.  The bonus room is actually one of the largest rooms in the house running the entire length of the garage.  It has a small closet but with the angled ceiling, it is limited in what you can put up there.  Also, no tall items can go on the edges of the room due to the angle.  At the point where the ceiling meets the wall on the sides, the room is just 5 foot tall.  

Once our youngest son decided it was not worth the hassle to stay up there, he "lived" in the guest bedroom until he moved closer into town to avoid the fuel costs of traveling to and from his college courses.  After that, the bonus room became a storage area for things that we did not want in the garage.  Now mind you, I learned you cannot keep candles in the bonus room as I had a Christmas arrangement stored up there and the 8 inch pillar candle now looks like a shepherd's crook!  But......we continued to store lots of other things up there.

I have lots of sewing and stitching "stash" and it was the ideal place to store that since we use the smallest bedroom in the house as our computer room.  I also don't currently have a china cabinet so it is also a good place to store extra dishes for the holiday seasons, decorations, etc.  Our kids are grown and our only grandchildren so far are in Australia so we do not currently need a place for kids to sleep.  The bonus room might one day be that place but for now, it is re-purposed to be a combination room.

When my dear husband retired from the Dept of Energy, he cleaned out his office and brought home about 13 records storage boxes of "stuff".....his awards, his work records (personal not work related files), his military records, lots of reference material, etc.  Our goal since the New Year arrived has been to sort through our "stuff" and get rid of "stuff" not needed any longer.  We've done well and now have it more organized.  I don't have the messy before photos but here is what it looks like now!

Valentine's Day Dining Room

In continuing to make the house feel more like Valentine's Day for the month of February, here are my attempts in our Dining Room:

It is hard to get a good photo in our dining room as the walls are burgundy and the dining room is shaded from the afternoon sun so we don't get a great deal of sun light in this room.

These hearts shaped placemats were purchased from TJMAXX.  The square white plates, red square salad plate and white bowls were what we decided on for our everyday dishes.  I may change the salad plates for different occasions but since red is one of my favorite colors, they will probably get lots and lots of use.  The red iced tea glasses were purchased at Christmas time last year and really look great here.  The centerpiece is a round mirror plate with a pillar candle on it flanked by two turtledoves.  The turtledoves are hard to see behind the red glasses but there is a better photo of them further down in this post.

Here is a close up of the place setting.  The flatware is the same red flatware I purchased for Christmas this year.

With the candles lit, it really begins to look romantic.

Here is one of the two turtledoves flanking the center pillar candle.  I was in  the Christmas Tree Shoppe this year and he just flew into my basket.   He just had to come home with me.

This sign just HAD to go here.  This is our "temporary" china cabinet.  It is actually a stackable bookcase from Haverties that we have chosen to use as a china cabinet until we find the one we really want.  It currently holds the china dishes my paternal grandmother hand painted in the 1930's-1950's.  On top of the bookcase are our family photos.  Right behind the "L" is a small photo of my husband and I at our wedding so many years ago.  Next to that is the "Four Generations" photo of our family on our trip to Australia to visit with our oldest son, his lovely wife Liz and our two grandsons, Daniel and Michael.  There are four generations of Hastings guys in this photo.

Here are those turtledoves that flew into my basket.  There is also a sweet cherub candle a dear friend in Italy sent me one year for Christmas.  He just completes the setting so well.

The angel stitched above was a gift from another dear friend in Australia.  It is a JustNan design and I hope to stitch some of her other angels and frame them in a similar manner so I can have more angels in the house.  She is on one of our dining room walls but I want to do another one and maybe have them on either side of the big window in that room eventually.