Well it is getting close to Christmas and it is almost Black Friday, so I decided to check out Lenox to see if there is anything to add to my Lenox Holiday China Collection.

I guess I must have bought it all (except the reallllllyyyyy expensive pieces) as they was NOTHING on sale that I did not already had. I really must do an inventory of what I have so I can figure out if I am missing anything. I did find a couple of nice to have items that I went ahead and bought for Christmas

I got this little bowl that has a tree that your perch on the edge. It is too small for anything much, but may be good for a dip or some candies. I got the tree and the snowman bowls.

I also got the annual snowman figurine. I really liked this one. The snowman with cocoa and cookies is very cute. I read online that they have been doing these snowman for 12 years. It is the first time I have noticed. I do have some other lenox figurines.

Most of my figurines are stored away in boxes. I wish to display them but have way too much clutter in my house. Maybe after I sell off some crap I will have more room. I have the snowman below. I also have one where all the snowman are having thanksgiving or some sort of party. I also have the monthly snowmen, each in a monthly theme I could only find a picture of the snowman, but you get the idea. These snowmen are made from Lynn Bywaters and are just adorable. They stopped making them in 2019. I prefer these textured type of snowmen versus the smooth china ones they do now. But that is why this are called collectables.

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog.

I finished part three of the Little Women SAL. I was hoping to catch up on the book but I have been kinda dragging lately.

This part has the dates and names down on the bottom. In an effort to catch up I immediately started Part Four so I can catch up.

I saw someone on Instagram who made a project bag out of the finished project. I am not sure what I want to do with this sampler. I am leaning towards frame art, but framing is so expensive. I can try to frame this myself, but I doubt I can do it justice.

What do you think? What should I do with it.

I was not expecting a new SAL so soon. We have not even finished the Bats and Boos Mystery SAL.

But I am game. My sister Janice is even participating. As soon as I saw the items on the New Items page I snatched it up. I am always concerned about the items running out. My sister told me the cloth was already gone.

I was able to snag the Red Project Bag, the Fancy Floss package, the needle minder and the Aida cloth.

Of course this picture shows DMC, but I got the other thread pack.

This time the project goes over 5 weeks. I already went and bought the chalkboard easel from Hobby Lobby so I am prepared. My sister said that her store did not have it. I personally think they do not know their inventory as I have been able to find every item and she never can. But maybe they really dont have it. Who knows.

Again I was tempted to do the quilt but decided not too do it. It will be too much pressure on me.

Besides September is Sunflower September Stitch-a-long where we focus on Sunflower cross stitch projects. I only have two but that is just enough. I cannot do what these professionals accomplish.

So at least count me in for the All The Trimmings Stitch-a-Long.

Part three was a breeze and I finished it on Sunday! It was the star in the middle and took no time at all to finish. Now that allows me a whole week to finish the Little Women SAL. Or at least get a lot done on the sampler.

OK so I am weak. I bought two more cute patterns on Etsy.

I saw this one made up by Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shop. It was a video from last year and was sadden to see she no longer sells it. But I checked Etsy and there it was. I think this cutie will be framed.

And one little one from Real Housewives of Stitching. This one is called Hello Fall. Very cute fox in a mug. I think I will make it into a small decoration that I can either put on a tiered tray or on an autumn decorative piece if I can find one I like.

Well I need to get back to my chores as no one else will do them for me. Darn it!

I finished my Dad’s memory book in time for all of us to go to Colorado and have a nice little memorial service.

I enjoyed spending time with my family and seeing my cousin Scott. It was a shame to not see cousin Sandy and Scott’s wife Sunita. Sunita had a emergency with a friend and Sandy did not want to come out because the Delta variant was running high in Colorado. I have no idea when I will be in Colorado again so I may not have a chance to see her again. Afterall I am old! LOL.

I ended up mailing a book to Sandy and also sending a book to Toni (Paulines daughter) for taking care of our Dad’s estate.

I hope you enjoy the book.

I strted to watch Floss Tube on youtube to learn more about cross stitching when I stumbled across videos from The Fat Quarter Shop. This is a great quilting shop that I have bought tons of fabric from. Well I guess they do cross-stitch too. Oh the glory!

They provide project bags, fancy floss, great patterns and a ton of inspiration

Fat Quarter Shop, who is known for thier generosity (Once they sent me a $100 gift certificate because I was such a good customer) decided to do a free stitch-a-long with a Halloween theme. WHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTT

Halloween, be still my heart.

This time I was able to convince my sister Janice to do it with me. We both bought the fancy threads.

They are also doing a quilt kit but I decided to skip it. I am downloading the pattern should I decide later to do the quilt.

Because they are so cool, I bought the halloween project bag, the ghost zipper pull and a needle minder.

These people think like me, do stuff with cute accessories

and anyone who knows me, knows I love Halloween. How fun! I think I can show this without getting in trouble. I am not sure how long the stitch a long pattern will be free, so go now and get the different parts (click on picture)

Part One was hard as I stitched the bat wing wrong and had to pull out the stitches. The webbing in the background was a bit meandering. But otherwise an easy pattern.

Part two was much easier!

I have started part three so I will have more to post later!

Recently I decided to take up cross-stitch again. I ordered a few kits online that were full coverage and felt a little overwhelmed. Full coverage….gee will that take me a 100 years to finish. I am not known for finishing these projects.

So I decided to try a small piece to warm up the old skills I use to have

I started with a little pumpkin. Lordy I made so many mistakes. Missed stitches. Stitches going the wrong way, misreading the chart. Lordy when did this get so hard. Or was I just getting old. I can do it, I know I can.

I then did a small piece called “Not all Witches Live in Salem” Sorry I do not have a picture, but you can find a pattern at Etsy from the WitchyStitcher.

I started to get my rhythm back. I did make a mistake but it was minor.

But what I was missing is the joy of stitching with friends. Why oh Why am I surrounded by people who do not do crafts. I need a wider circle of friends.

So I decided to see if I can find a Stitch-a-long (SAL) on Etsy or another place so at least I can join others on a group event.

I found this fun SAL/Book Club from Sapphire Mountain Handicrafts. WHAT!!! a book club and a mystery cross stitch event. I have never read the book but always wanted to, so this was a win-win for me.

I joined a bit late and have had to catch up.

I ended up doing this on linen so it was more old-fashioned. By the way, I do not like linen. It looks great but ugh! So hard to count and keep the linen straight.

Part One was easy. When I took this picture I realized that my phone case was Little Women. I photographed this on some of my Great Grandmothers linens I inherited from my Grandmother.

Part two was hard. The gray house was hard to see. My eyes are old and this was really hard to see. But loved how it turned out.

I keep plugging along when I got bit by another Stitch-a-long.

Sadly my father passed away late 2019 and as the family historian I always make a memory book of my departed relatives. You can check out my Mother’s book on this blog if you have an interest in reviewing it. I am about half way done making the memory book and usually keep it a surprise until the family receive the book.

I really hate to release a sneek peek but decided for the sake of National Scrapbooking Day and the chance to win $100 from Simon Says Stamp I will release this one page of my father in the Navy. I think my brother is the only one who looks at my blog anyways so I think it will remain a mystery to the rest of the family.

For my memory books, I ask the family a series of questions and then take their answers and add it to the book. It usually takes quite a while to create a whole life in pictures, but I consider it a labor of love.

Thank you for taking a peek at my scrapbook page.

Every once in a while SSS will come out with a card kit that just blows me away. Between the papers and the stamps, it quickly ends up in my shopping cart.

The January 2021 card kit was definitely one of those kits. At first I fought the urge and the I started to see the beautiful cards designers were posting. I was sold. Send me that kit please, and hurry.

The Whimsy Stamps papers are so beautiful and when I saw the embossing folder was the clincher. Give me…give me.. give me.

I ended up making 12 cards, using all 12 papers. I could have continued, but since I bought I February Kit (hee hee) I needed to stop.

I started making snowflakes on the pretty background papers. They were either die cut or embossed using the stamp set.

The I used the embossing folder to create texture. Such a pretty embossing folder with beautiful snowflakes.

The I made some shaker cards

The I decided to use the Honey Bee Stamps Thin Frames die so I could see both sides of the paper.

And finally I used the Simon Says Stamp Shimmer Snowflake Die. This was one of my favorites.

This was a good kit, looking forward to the February kit,

I have a nice collection of Lenox Holiday China that I just love. Wish I used it more but I did host a nice Christmas dinner once using my beautiful china.

I tried to get a few pieces each year when they are on sale to add to the overall collection.

I also try to post on my blog so I have a visual reference on what I bought previous years.

This is what I got myself for Christmas 2020

I usually buy the new pieces that are released each year.