Candle Wrap Freebie Graph

Hi Everyone!

Here is the "Freebie" I promised you!  I am
so excited about the positive
reaction to this idea, that I am now planning a
new publication with seasonal "Candle Wraps".
Stay tuned!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget that there will be a drawing to win the linen 

banding, the straw ribbon, and the waxed linen cording.

You have until Sunday evening and then I will draw

three winners of the project pack.  

Good luck to everyone!

"Many Happy Stitches",
Sandra

A Drawing

Good Morning Everyone!

Do you like candles as much as I do?  My absolute

favorite scent for several seasons of the year is "Citrus and 

Sage" by Yankee Candle and we all know how expensive 

Yankee Candles are.  But I pay the price because I

love it so.  I did sigh up for their email so I get

coupons occasionally.  

But, I have found a little treasure, in of all places.  -

Walmart.  They have a candle right now that is

called "Lemongrass and Verbena".  It is a much lighter

scent than my favorite but is really nice and it is a

lovely green which is great for decorating this time

of the year.  I liked it so much, I bought all they had at

 my local Walmart, (which wasn't many) so it is a good thing 

you don't live near me.  I'm afraid they will not restock it for

the rest of the season.  If you do take a chance and

get one, I hope you will like it.

Here it is on a cupboard on my back porch.  It

goes so well out there with the plants and other

touches of green on the porch.   I wrapped it in this

great straw type ribbon.  The stitching is done on

linen banding and tied on the candle.

This little candle wrap will be a free graph for all

of you, but you will have to wait until I get back

home later in the week.  I don't have access to

my graphing software and all the other things I

need to post it for you.  But I will get it done.

*****BUT*****

I AM DOING A DRAWING

You have to be a follower and send me a comment.

I will be sending THREE of you a little project pack

which will include the straw ribbon, the linen

banding, the waxed cording, and the graph

to make a candle wrap.  You have until Sunday

evening to make a comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did make great progress on all of my 2012

Annual Ornaments.  One is almost finished and 

I have to pick the colors for the other two and

start the stitching.  I'm very excited about how

they are turning out.
Plus, Cameron and I made a little more progress
on my new website.  So exciting!

Well, I am in Richmond, and Avery is taking a nap,

so I must go and get as much done as possible 

before the little crawling/almost walking person

wakes up.  No working for me after that. 

Have a great day.  Hope to hear from all of you.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

A Little Glimpse

A Good Afternoon To You!!

Today was set aside to work on my new website with

Cameron.  It is beginning to take shape now.  The boring

part is about to start and that is loading all of the images

and text.  I cannot imagine how long this is going to take.

It is tempting to open it before it is completely

uploaded, just to get it out there.  My old website

is so horrible it is embarrassing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

2012 Annual Snowman Ornament

"SNOWMEN ON PARADE"

A little glimpse of the Snowman ornament.

Hoping to get everyone in the Christmas

stitching spirit.  

The annual sampler has been graphed and

Santa is still just a drawing, but never fear,

I will get them done.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hollis, Paul and Avery are on the way home

from the beach.  I believe from all the pictures

and the fun texts, they had a wonderful

first family vacation.

One of their great memories from the first vacation

with him --  he began saying "Mama".  I bet I

know who is grinning from ear to ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Taking A Break

Good Afternoon!

My eyes are about to cross from graphing.  I have

to say that this is not my favorite part of the design

process.  I'm happy that I don't have to use rub

on symbols anymore (showing my age), but still

have to complain every now and then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Way To A Friend's House 

Is Never Far"

A long out-of-print publication prompted me to 

update a popular design from it.  I have changed

it a good bit and updated fibers and fabric.

I hope you will like it.  I have always loved

the sentiment and believe it is so true.  In our world

today, so many friends and family members live

so far away.

Let me know what you think.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANOTHER GRAMMIE REPORT

Can you believe this!  They were heading back to

the beach this morning in what looks like matching

sunglasses.  It is unbelievable that he is keeping

his hat and glasses on.  Usually he pulls off a 

hat within seconds of putting it on him.  I told

you yesterday that he is scared of the ocean, well

he still is, but he loves the pool.  Loves his bath, so

it was just a giant bath tub to him.  I hope Paul and

Hollis are making lots of videos.

Thanks for letting me share Avery with you --

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

Little Beach Bum

Good Evening Everyone!

Look at those sweet little rosy cheeks!!

Avery is at the beach for the first time, enjoying

his bottle in his own personal little tent, which is

is also under an umbrella.  Hopefully, they are protecting

 his tender skin from the sun.  Hollis called this morning to

share that he was scared of the ocean.  Had a total

melt down with the waves crashing.  It was the first

time that he had wrapped his arms around her neck.

He must have been terrified.  Liked the ocean from

a distance - just not too close.   I can't wait to hear

from her tomorrow.  Maybe he warmed up to it before

the day was over.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wish I was at the beach -  instead graphing is on my

plate.  Christmas ornaments are in the works.  I will 

share some little glimpses soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

  

Continuing A Series

Hi Everyone!

First of all I wanted to share with you a wonderful

gift I received from Hollis.  Bless her heart, she 

gave it to me just because she knew I would love it

and I do.  Sorry it isn't morning anymore, but I took

it this AM and couldn't get to the blog.  I think she

believes my memory needs some help.  

Unfortunately, she is right!

It has a scalloped tin back with the chalkboard 

painted on top of it.  It is hanging from a set of

shutters that covers the side of my frig.  Just perfect!

In another post, I want to show you a chalk board

that I made for Hollis.  This chalk board paint 

has opened a whole world of possibilities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, on to cross stitch.  I don't know if you have ever

seen these designs.  It was meant to be a seasonal

series and I just didn't get it finished in a timely

fashion.  Well, it is finally coming together, and

the next season, Summer, will be ready soon.  So,

to refresh your memory, here are the first two and

a glimpse of Summer.  

SCENES OF SUMMER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to wish all the Father's in your lives, a

wonderful Father's Day.  Paul will be having his

first Father's Day.  So special for him I am sure.

Lehmer has had many Father's Days, but we

try to make everyone of them more special

than the last.  He is so great, so special, and

so loved by all of us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you have a great weekend and can squeeze

in a few 

"Happy Stitches",

Sandra

NEW STUFF READY

Good Morning Everyone!

I am home on a Monday.  Seems so strange.  Hollis

and Paul's scheduled was unexpectedly changed, so 

mine was too.  I'll be there Tuesday and Wednesday.

I haven't seen Avery since last Tuesday which is the

longest period of time without holding that little guy.

Boy do I miss him.   I hate to complain because I know

some of you don't get to see your grandchildren as often

as I do.  In fact, my best friend's grandchildren live

in Belize and New York City, so she doesn't want

to hear me complain  -- ever.  

Today will be very busy.  I am going to be one of

the featured designers in Norden Craft's Needleworkers

series.  I have to get all of my questions answered and

do a free design for all of you guys.  I will let you

know when it goes up on their website so you can

get the "freebie".  Also, my 2012 Annual Christmas

Ornaments are on the drawing table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just wanted to let you know that my new things are ready

and will be shipped soon to my distributors and Auto Shoppes.

"Ewe Be Patriotic"

Scissor fob will be available separately!

"A Family Homestead"

Note the new frame which is available!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, wanted to share a little glimpse of something new

that will be coming later.  Don't you love the colors?

If you don't, there are only two main colors, so you can

easily make it your own.

If you are familiar with this series, they are all finished

as Cupboard Hangers or Pin Keeps.  A quick stitch for 

you or a needle friend.  

"Sampler Lady"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wishing you a great Monday with 

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

A Little Glimpse

Good Evening Everyone!

I hope you are all having a great week.  I had

a really special two days this week with our

sweet Avery.  He just started crawling a few

days ago and today he took his first steps

pushing his Radio Flyer wagon.  So cute!

Hollis was able to video part of it so Lehmer

and I got to see this milestone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"EWE BE PATRIOTIC"

If you have followed me for many years, you

know that I love to  paint.  I don't have much

time to devote to it, but periodically I need the

diversion.  I have decided to interpret some

of these little paintings into cross stitch and

then use the paintings to make wooden

scissor fobs.  This is the first one.  The design

will be sold separately from the fob, but I

hope you will find it fun to have the set for

your collection.  

Please let me know what you think.  This will

be ready in a few weeks (just in time for the

Columbus market) along with

"A FAMILY HOMESTEAD".

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Good Morning Everyone!

I am happily preparing for the arrival of our

  Mr. Avery.  

Unfortunately his Papa is

away on a golf trip, so he won't get to spend

any quality time with him on this visit.  Can you 

see what a ham this guy is turning into.  When Hollis

picked him up from daycare yesterday, his

teacher said he never cries.  He is such a happy

little thing.  Unless he is sick or over-tired,

he is just full of himself.  This has been a big

week for him.  He officially started crawling and

waving.  He was a little behind on the crawling

because of some minor surgery, but is making

up for lost time.  He has officially "found his

wings", and I am a little wary of keeping up with

him.  I think I need some more vitamins to

build up my stamina.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My new publications are ready and will be shipped

next week.  Here they are and so hope you like

them.

"TO STITCH IS BLISS"

The color is a little off in this picture.  Way too blue, much

better on the book cover.

"NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"

"LOVE THY COUNTRY"

I  hope these will all be in your shoppes in the 

near future.  I plan to ship to our AUTOS on

Tuesday - Wednesday at the latest.  If you do

not have access to a Shoppe, we will be happy to

help you.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I'm off to vacuum my dirty floors, thanks

to Zeus, the resident St. Bernard.  This needs to be

a daily event. So exhausting, but the floors need

to be spotless for little Avery.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I wish you a great weekend!

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

Big Mistake in Price

Good Morning Everyone!

Remember last night when I said I was 

PROCRASTINATING and tired, well I

should have gone to bed.

I made a huge mistake -- instead of

$20.00 each (includes shipping)
for the Project packs I typed

$29.00, hitting the 9 instead of the 0.

I am soooo sorry.  For those of you who

have ordered, I will make the adjustment.
If interested, go back to previous Blog entry
to get the names of each Project Pack.
Each includes the design, embellishment,
and grained frame.

This was suppose to be a "SPECIAL"price.

 HAHA

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Project Pack SPECIAL

Good Evening Everyone!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Memorial

Day.  We certainly did.  We had a small family

gathering, which is how I like it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have managed to get a little work done this week, 

but as you know it is never enough.  My plan was to have

my new publications totally finished by now, but

need I say more.  My other major deadline looming is my

2012 Annual Ornaments.  This one I cannot ignore

much longer.  I think I need to drink more coffee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what am I doing?  

PROCRASTINATING!

Not a good trait, I'm sure you will agree.

Oh, well, this seems like a lot more fun tonight.

I have three little Project Packs available to

you.  They all measure a wee 4" X 3 1/2"

(frame size).  I have grained these tiny frames

and have a limited amount of each.  

Each Project Pack includes the design, the

embellishment, and the frame.
$20.00 shipping included

The shipping is for one.  I'll need to

let you know for more than one.

If you are interested please refer to them as

follows:

"Sassy Feline"

"Pineapple Welcome"

"Welcome Home"

I will try to get these in my ETSY Shoppe soon,

but in the meantime I thought I would let you

have a chance at them first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also wanted to share with you all the nice things

Karen had to say after she received my 500 Followers

Celebration gift.  It was so sweet.  I'm so happy she

liked everything.  She has a wonderful Blog that I

hope you will all visit.  You won't be disappointed.

Here is one of the pictures she shared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I must say good night!  It has been a long day.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

Memorial Day Specials

Good Morning Everyone!

Is everyone getting ready for their Memorial Day

tributes?  What a special day this is.  A time to

remember all the wonderful people who have

and continue to make such sacrifices for all of us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

STITCHED PIN POKE

A couple years ago I designed and made blank Pin Pokes

for your stitching pleasure.  We still have these cute 

little things in stock, but I decided to stitch one 

in case someone just wanted one already done.  

We can do more of these if anyone is interested.

It measures 4 1/2" wide X 3 1/2" high and 

1/2" deep.  It is filled with combination of sawdust

and walnut shells, giving it a great weight and

the perfect place to "poke" your needles

$28.00 including shipping

*****SOLD*****
THANK YOU CAROL

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wanted to offer you a couple little things at great

prices.

Looking back through my mountains of frames that

I have been threatening to offer you, I came across

the last of my 

"FLAG SAMPLER" frames.

It measures a generous 12 1/2" Wide X 10 1/2" High.

The front opening is 9 1/2" X 7 1/2".
If you have a Patriotic display wall, this would even
look great with a mirror or as a chalk board.
Have you used that great chalk board paint?
It it really neat!

This is the discounted price

$32.00 including shipping

And last but not least, one of my patriotic themed

publications,

"PATRIOTIC TIMES"

$7.00 including shipping

Just in time for your July 4th stitching.

Sale on this book good through 

Memorial Day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sure I'll be back before the weekend

is over.  Have a great Friday.

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

Good Evening Everyone!

I'm back from Richmond.   Poor little Avery is

teething and recovering from a nasty Spring cold,

that he so kindly gave to me, Lehmer, and now

Hollis and Paul.  I think I need to start taking

Vitamin C or something.  This is the second cold

he has given me.  He is also back in day care

two days a week, hence the cold, and it has 

ruined his schedule.  A trying time for all,

especially for the little guy.  Today was a better

day, so I think he is recovering.  Of course,

he goes back to daycare Thursday and Friday.

Please don't let him catch something else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A FAMILY HOMESTEAD"

"Home Is The Nicest Word

There Is"

Laura Ingalls Wilder from

Little House On The Prairie

(One of  my favorite shows.  You can tell how

old and sentimental I am.  I am planning a

series of designs based on her wise and

funny quotes.)

I'm finally ready to show you my completed

sampler.  Note the surname under the quote and

the single initials to the left of the house - mine, Lehmer's, 

Hollis' and Cameron's.  If you need it there is plenty of

 space for more initials.  I have to paint the frame,

but it won't be long now.

"TO STITCH IS BLISS"

This is almost ready as well.  There is another

project in this publication - a "Needle Roll".

"NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I plan to have  all of these ready in about

two weeks.  I hope it has been worth the wait.

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

A Little Glimpse

Good Evening Everyone!

I'm gathering all of my stuff to head back to Richmond

in the morning.  I haven't seen Avery since Tuesday

so I am anxious to see that sweet little face.  

Sunday nights are always crazy though because I

have to decide what I am going to try to work on

when there, and since I cannot make a decision, I carry

two or three bags of projects.  Ask me how much I get

done when there.  Not much!  It is all about Avery, 

which is as it should be.

Anyway, since I don't get much blogging done when

away, I wanted to share a little glimpse of a new

design.  Hope you like it.  July 4th will be here

before we know it, so I have a few small designs

in the works for you.  

There will be two designs in this leaflet.  The one

on the right is a miniature "Patriotic Landscape",

a larger design that I did a few years ago.

I love doing miniature anything, painting as well as

stitching.  Trying to get as much as possible into a little  

space is so much fun.

Hope you are intrigued by the little glimpse.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra

DMC CONES 'A PLENTY

Good Evening Everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that I have listed a 

quantity of DMC six strand cotton floss cones

(approximately 450 yards on a cone) in

my ETSY Shoppe.  I do not kit the way I use

to, so I need to let these go.  They are only

$7.00 each + shipping.  If you don't shop ETSY,

that is fine, but you will need to go to my

ETSY Shoppe to see the listing of colors 

available.  I have varying amounts of each of

the colors.

If you do punch needle, like to dye your own

floss, or just like certain colors a lot, this is

the time to collect some cones.  Remember,

not all colors are available by any means, just

colors that I used in kitting.

With these cones of floss, you can certainly

make lots of 

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra

Happy Mother's Day

Good Afternoon!

Everybody has left now and the house is so quiet.

Hollis and I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  We 

are stuffed from all of the wonderful food.

Cameron and Lehmer cooked on the grill.  Very 

relaxing -- just what we wanted .  It was

so special to be able to celebrate with Hollis

as a new Mom and such a great little Mom she is.

I want to share with you what I made her for

Mother's Day.  She took this picture with her

cell phone so I didn't have much picture to work

with on the sides, but it is a favorite of hers, so I

had to make it work.  Found this frame a while ago

and it had Hollis' name written all over it.  Been

saving it for just the right picture.

Found the perfect letter from an old sampler and

added a heart for the "O" and stitched it over one

so it would fit.  She loved it.

Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Cameron took so many wonderful pictures.

So nice to have a photographer in the family.

I hope all Mothers had as great a day as I did.  Now,

I must go pack to go to Richmond for two days.

I promised pictures of new things, but that will

have to wait until Wednesday.  

Until then,

"Many Happy Stitches",

Sandra 

Good Morning Everyone!

I am home on Friday and this is because

Avery has started back to daycare on

Thursday and Friday.  I will still be taking care of

him on Monday and Tuesday.  Yesterday was his

first day and we were all a apprehensive

about how he would handle it after being

home for nine months.  Can you believe he

is nine months old!!  Well, he did really well

considering these were people he had never seen

before.  I think Hollis and Grammie

suffered more just worrying about him.  He

was off of his schedule by the evening, but

that will work itself out soon.  His care givers

all talked about what a happy baby he is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just have to share.  Being with him so much,

I get to take a lot of pictures.  I think these are

just priceless.  Hope you enjoy my little

Avery show.

I'm calling this one 

"DISCOVERY"

and you'll see why.

Who is that?

 I think that is me!!

 Can I get to me?

How about a kiss!  He loves kisses!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I handed Avery a mirror and this is what happened.

I took many, many pictures with all of his reactions.

He went from seeing himself with amazement, to

smiling at himself and laughing, to trying to get

to himself.  It was the cutest thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

?FUTURE SALES YOU ASK?

I want to thank you again for following my Blog

and I'm happy some you took advantage of

my "Celebration Sale and Giveaway".  You

all deserve it for listening to me "be a Grammie" and

just participating in my life and the happenings at

Homespun Elegance.  I have been getting some

inquiries about future sales.  This was a one time sale

to celebrate a big event.  I wanted to make it

special.  There may be some little specials, close outs

and things like that, but  not a repeat of this.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope to show you some new things in the works

later today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Many Happy Stitches,

Sandra