For women everywhere...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there will be over 200,000 new cases of breast cancer this year in the U.S. Breast cancer is the second deadliest cancer in women (behind lung cancer). Women can  and do survive breast cancer but early detection, awareness and treatment is important. More information can be found on this sites.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

National Cancer Institute

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

BreastCancer.org

Pink for October

Neighborhood update...

I am actually making some progress on Little House Neighborhood by Little House Needleworks and I'm really enjoying it. My first house is almost complete as you can see. I substituted Wood Smoke by GAST for DMC 3032 and Maple Syrup by GAST for DMC 3790.

New from CCN

New from Country Cottage Needleworks...the Garden Party Thread Packs. Each pack contains the chart and cotton floss from Crescent Colours.

September - Ladybug

October - Dragonfly

November - Bumblebee

December - Butterfly

This says it all...

While shopping at Cross My Heart - Columbus Ohio  I spotted this piece. Guess a picture is really worth a thousand words. I took the picture with my cellphone camera and forgot I had it.

WIPs update

This weekend I was able to add the latest installments to two of my mystery samplers.

Spanish Sampler

http://www.periphaeria.com/

Papillon Creations

Papillon Créations - Page d'accueil

Quilted Bellpull

I originally stitched these Lizzie*Kate Stamps back in 2005 and finally got around to having them finished. As you can see my friend Liz did a spectacular job finishing them into a gorgeous quilted bell pull. She chose the fabrics to highlight the floss colors I used and did a wonderful job matching them up. I am just thrilled beyond words with what she accomplished. THANK YOU Liz, you rock girl!

Small finishes

Merry Autumn

by JBW Designs

God Bless You

by Bent Creek

New from LHN

From Sea to Shining Sea Silk Thread Pack

To be released in six parts starting in October

Holly & Berries 

to be released this month

Gingerbread Trio 

to be released this month

Finishes

I didn't get as much stitching done during my vacation as I anticipated but I think I made a good dent in it since we arrived home on Wednesday. I am totally in an ornament mood at the moment so these were fun to to.

Joyful Blessings by Blue Ribbon Designs

Dove (Christmas Past) by Prairie Schooler

Snappy Sampler by Bent Creek

The Pez Queen

b.a. Sweetie Candy Company - Welcome!

Prior to our trip I discovered the b.a. Sweetie Candy Company in Cleveland. It claimed to be the largest candy store in the USA so I knew I just had to check it out. It was indeed an incredible store and I was able to buy some sugar-free candy. As you can see my daughter was quite thrilled to see their PEZ display, she's been collecting them for a long time.

Flat Rita

"Flat Rita" was the creation of the Ohio gals who wanted our friend Rita to be part of our get together on Saturday, August 30th. Afterwards it was decided I should take Flat Rita on the road with me. 

Check out her adventures at:

Rita’s Travels

My special birthday

I celebrated my 53rd birthday while on vacation. It all started with some beautiful cards and gifts from the gals in Ohio...Renee, Nancy and Lauren. I got a beautiful photo album, a cute floss ring, and some gorgeous fabrics (no pictures yet as I had the items shipped).

While in Cleveland I had dinner with my best friends from high school who treated us to a great meal at the Texas Roadhouse. The following evening I was surprised by my siblings with a small party with more gifts and the most delicious cake. Pictures of that evening are posted to:

Birthday

Family Get Together

We had the first reunion for our branch of the family on Sunday, August 31st. It was the first time in almost 8 years that we were all together in one place. My sister flew in from Florida while we came in from California. If you'd like to see more pictures than please go to.

Cleveland, OHio

Friends and shopping...

Milly, Lauren, Nancy & Renee

We met up with the gals in Ohio for a wonderful breakfast at a restaurant called First Watch. Afterwards we did a bit of stashing at Cross My Heart in Columbus.

My stashing...

USA Squared by Lizzie Kate

Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle by Lizzie Kate

Autumn Harvest by JBW

A Very Merry Autumn by JBW

French Country Bunny by JBW

God Bless You by Bent Creek

Ocean Treasures by Who Knew

Come Gather by Katidad Designs

Gifts for Renee, Nancy, and Lauren (aka Sassy)

PS Santa Exchange

My Santa to Janet

I participated in a Santa exchange in the Prairie Schooler group and was partnered with Janet. This was a lot of fun and I love the Santa she stitched for me.

Santa received from Janet

We're home!

Hubby and I are finally home from our trip to the Midwest. It's always great visiting family and doing fun things but after almost two weeks away it sure is nice to be back in our own home. We left Columbus, Ohio at 6:40 AM (that's 3:40AM California time!). The plane ride from Minneapolis was bumpy and sometimes downright scary that I wanted to kiss the ground at the San Jose Airport. LOL! 

We got home and barely put the luggage down and then ran out to Safeway to restock the fridge and cupboards. Don't think we're going to venture very far till we have to return to work on Monday.

I have plenty of pictures and stories to share so come back and visit my blog if you're interested.

Checking in...

Hubby and I arrived in Indiana last night after spending a week with my family in Cleveland. I have tons of pictures and stories and look forward to sharing a few when we are back in California.