One World One Heart 2009

Well, the time has come...to pick a winner. But first I want to say a huge Thank you first of all Lisa for hosting this wonderful event. I have visited so many wonderful new blogs, I started making a list and after about 100, I just could not keep up with all of them. Second of all, I would like to thank each one of you for stopping by and entering.
Now for the big announcement: My wonderful little cross stitch piece will go to...Art of Jan!! And the most amazing part, she also loved in Florida!! Out of all of the people who entered, I pick someone who is within driving distance from me!


So about the late posting, I drew the name early this morning, but with Hubby's birthday, we've had a busy day. We just had some birthday cake, and about to watch a movie.

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*~*I will take comments until the witching h our of Wednesday, February 11 and draw the names on the morning of the 12th. And I have a few extra goodies to giveaway, three to be exact. So I will draw for the grand prize, the cross stitch and then have three more names to draw for some extra surprises! *~*

And I want to thank each of you who have stopped by. I know this has been a busy time in blog land but I hope you will come back and visit again!

Well, I finally got something made for this wonderful event!! I know it's not as creative as some of the beautiful things out there, but since I still don't have all of my art supplies, I had to use what I could find. And this is it! So, without further adieu, Welcome to my OWOH Giveaway! Please leave a comment on this post to be entered in my giveaway. Anyone can win, just make sure I have a way of notifying you to tell you that "You Won!". I will draw the winners' name on February 12th (my Hubby's birthday!!) . Now, about what you are winning:

Every Good Tree Bears Good Fruit

This is a sweet little piece cross stitched by my own two little hands and blessed with my own good intentions that it brings happiness to it's new home! It measures 11" X 5.75". I have strayed from the original pattern by blending some of the thread colors and using some different stitches in place of the normal X stitches. The hearts are done with satin stitches and the bottom checkerboards are done with Algerian Eye stitches.




A beautiful Pear tree sits in the center, surrounded by two little black birds. At the bottom is a verse from Matthew: Every good tree bears good fruit. This piece can either be framed, made into a pillow or wall hanging, or you might have an even better idea! I toyed with the idea of framing, but realized that it would become very country style in a rustic frame while in a more sleek modern frame it would look contemporary. Upon winning, I will discuss what the best options are for that particular person!



I'm so happy to be a part of this wonderful event and I'm excited about meeting/making new friends-the overall reason for the event. And I would like to Thank each of you for stopping by. Good luck!

Vintage Heart Swap

Yeah, I finally made it into a swap before it was closed!! The wonderful Dolly at From My Cherry Heart is hosting her second annual Vintage Heart Swap. I know who my swap partner is & so far, I've picked up a few things. But man, it's still hard for me not to run up to the local crafts store to pick up any little old thing I need! I'm having to make a running "I Need" list for my day planner so that the next time I make it to Pensacola or Mobile, I can run into Michael's or Hobby Lobby & know what I'm looking for. If I don't write it down, I will never remember it, until I get back home that is!!! And in both stores, I get so distracted with all the goodies, I'll completely lose track of what I'm even doing there!!

But I did manage to get a little crafting done the other day. And Dane was right there with me!

And the final product-

Not your most traditional house, but when it's made by your own kid, it's still a masterpiece!!

I did get a book journal made for my reading list for 2009. I'll get some pictures of that. And I have a new friend at Shelfari that wants to trade some ATC's with me! I haven't traded any ATC's in a really long time. I love making & trading them. I am by no means good at making them, but I just find their size so satisfiying.I have a hard time with knowing when something is "completed". I always think it could use "just one more thing." I hosted a Halloween ATC Swap a few years ago. I'm thinking I would like to host another this year. Yes, I know, that's a long way off, but it is coming. Just like Christmas, and Christmas wasn't a joyful to me because I didn't feel ready for it. The move was one thing, but just the overall feel just felt...rushed. Hurried. So I've already picked up a few things. Yeap, that's right. I have a box inside my closet that is hading a few things for the kids & I have seen some beautiful things that I would like to pick up for some family members already. I know Christmas is coming & I'm going to be ready!! LOL!!

Safe & Sound

Finally, it's 2009! My oh my, I pray this year is better than 2008!! LOL!! And I hope all of my friends had a Happy New Year! At least I hope none of you were as sick as I was last week. We went to Mobile for New Year's Eve. Nana & Poppy babysat the two kids so Hubby & I had a nice evening out with some friends. It wasn't anything wild or crazy, just some friends hanging out and some good music, but it was nice to spend some adult time with the hubby! Something I need to try & do more of this year ;0)
Then on New Year's day, my nephew came back to Crestview with us. He is 15 & received a car to drive when he turns 16, but the car doesn't run. So he came home with us so he & Charlie could work on it together over the school holiday. Then that Friday, the 2nd, I became so ill, I spent the whole day either curled up in bed or being sick in the bathroom. Then Gracyn got it. Dane had been sick about a week earlier, so I thought everything was okay! Man, did I feel bad. At some point during the day that I was sick, my nephew (whose name is Charlie also) let the dogs out. Bless his heart, I know he was trying to help, but I don't think he's ever owned a dog before. At about 10:30 that night after my Charlie got home from work, we were talking & I asked he where the dogs were. He said " I haven't seen them since I've been home." Needless to say, we figured out what had happened & immediately rushed to get car keys & start looking. It was about 11 o'clock before we started looking and it was a foggy night. Thankfully, one of the two had gone to the neighbor's house & they were outside. She came straight to us, but the other one, Indy was gone. We stayed out until about 1 o'clock in the morning, & finally gave up. Then I came home & had to go to the bathroom & be sick!

Next morning, I made posters, called the animal shelter which was closed until Monday morning, called the police dispatch & gave them all of our information & even drove to a few businesses along the main road & handed out pictures of him. Nothing. That night we had a really bad thunder storm & I was so worried. Even Dane came to me saying how sad he was that Indy was lost. We actually prayed that Indy was safe somewhere & we would find him. Then on Sunday morning, I was sitting at the computer, looking for a car on Craigslist (long story, but I need a car). I had been sitting there for about an hour when it hit me that there is a posting for lost & found. I thought "No way." And the very second ad was a really bad, dark picture of Indy!!! I immediately called the lady but no answer. And to make the story short, after him escaping again from them, we finally brought him back home!! And he curled up in a little bowl & slept all day! I really think he was happy to be home!! I had been thinking the whole time that he was gone that someone needs to invent a GPS chip along with the mircochip so that you can locate the lost animal!! I know that most animal shelters search for the chip but when the dog (or cat) is lost, it would be nice to have a little becon that can lead you to the animal. Well, everything is better now. My virus-thing seemed to be only 24 house but Gracyn has still been a little sick. We had to take Nephew Charlie home on Tuesday and right now, my Charlie is in Orlando for his new company's End of Year meeting. He should be home later today. Indy-Back Home Safe

Did any of you make any New Year's resolutions? I try to give myself 10 goals to complete each year. Personal goals, things that either make me a better person or help/improve my life or my families life. Then I have a list of all the crafty projects I need to either complete or start. You might remember me talking about them, PUC's. Since turning 40, I think I will aim for 40 PUC's. I have a lot of cross stitch projects that I have started & haven't finished plus a few very special people that I want to stitch something for. I'm still working on the 10 goals. Tweaking them to make sure they are things that I believe I can really achieve this year. I know one is to lose some weight!! I feel that if I could get to a size that I am happy with, I will feel more confident & it would help with the other thing I mentioned about Hubby & me ;0) So, two goals down. Another one is some reading challenges I joined at Shelfari. It's going to be a stretch but I've committed myself to read 72 books this year!! I do have a number of classics & some biographies included in this list. One biography I have is for Abraham Lincoln. I believe he is an important character in our nations history yet I don't feel like I know enough about him. And with his birthday next month, I thought I would give it a try. I am reading book #2 so far, Violin by Anne Rice. It's for my Shelfari reading group play Book Tag and this month's tag is music. I will come back & make a post about all of my goals. Maybe by posting on here for all the world to see it might help me with achieving them!! Then everyone can encourage and/or pester me about getting them done!! LOL