Biscornu Finish

It has been a very long time since I stitched up a biscornu and I must say I missed it.  Some ladies on the Yahoo Group Stitch-n-Swap2 put together an exchange and I just had to join in.  I found the pattern on Pinterest, I was amazed my the number of biscornu patterns available on the site.  It was hard to choose one, but I finally went with a flower pattern and used two colors of variegated DMC to stitch it up. 

Flower Biscornu
16ct White Aida
DMC Variegated Floss

 

Enjoy!! CJ

It a Monday Update!!

Hello, Happy Valentine's and Happy Chinese New Year!!  All is well in our little patch of Texas.  We spent the weekend visiting my MIL in Amarillo.  It was so good to see her after missing Christmas with her due to the blizzard in North Texas and Oklahoma.  My hubby and I are not big on Valentine's, the most we exchange are cards.  I did make Valentine's for my kids teachers and classmates but that was it.  As for Chinese New Year we took the kids and MIL to eat Chinese, a family tradition.

Stitching Update

I managed to work on a few projects this week, but nothing to brag about except the lovely biscornu I recieved form JeanieBeanie in a Swap-Bot exchange.  It is so beautiful, I love the colors.  Thanks, Jeanie.

More Swap-Bot

I particpated in a Tea, Bookmark and Coaster Exchange and posted a picture of what I was sending in my last blog post.  Here is what I got from Renee in California.  A really cool handmade bookmark, three types of tea and two bar coasters.  I was very happy with this exchange. 

Basket Weaving

Here is a my latest basket weaving project.  This is a Friendship Basket.  I have made many of this basket with the ceramic base.  It is a very easy basket to weave and it makes a great gift.  This is the first one I have made with the Sunflower design.  This will be a teacher gift for the end of the school year.  Now I only need to make 5 more. 

Other Stuff
Tomorrow I start my temp sub job at a local elementary school. I am looking forward to working at this particular school and with this special group of kids.  Because of the job I have really backed off with my swaps and exchanges.  Plus I need a break there wer times I had a few too many crafty irons inthe fire, if you know what I mean. Not to mention we will be going see the Lippenzaner Stallions, a rodeo and Monster Jam next week.  With that schedule who has time to craft, thankfully I can stitch in the car--can't read in the car, I get violently ill, but I can stitch. Go figure!

Anyway, I am tired and the Olympic are on so I need to go. 

See ya!!

CJ

Biscornu Finish and a Few Other Things

WooHoo!! Finally, a finished piece of stitching is appearing on this blog. I have made another biscornu for a Swap-Bot exchange. This will be the last one I make for a while, I plan to concentrate in getting my UFOs finished and working a RR in late February with Stitch It Quick group. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to stitch in that RR.

Stitching

This biscornu is in honor of Valentines Day. It is stitched on Cameo Rose Zweigart 14ct Aida with DMC # 99 variegated floss and little tiny pinkish-red beads from Japan. This turned out to be the smallest Biscournu I have ever made and I just love the colors it will be hard to part with tomorrow. BooHoo!!


Papercrafts

I also completed a bookmark, coaster and tea exchange for Swap-Bot. The acrylic coaster is decorated with designer paper from K&Company and solid paper from Stampin Up!. I made a coordinating bookmark and tea packet holder. The idea of the swap is to have a cup of tea and enjoy a good book. Turned out pretty good, tomorrow they leave with the Postman as well.

Here are some cards I made for upcoming birthday and swaps. This particular layout was inspired by Dawn of Dawn's Stamping Studio. I love watching her videos, she has some great ideas. These are made with a combo of Stampin Up! and K&Company papers. The sentiments I printed on the computer onto Whisper White cardstock. Easy as pie!!

Other Stuff

If you want to help with the Fight Against Breast Cancer in a crafty way consider joining Nancy, Basketmasters Weavings, Think Pink effort. My friend and fellow weaver, Sue and I plan on participating, we would love to have your join us. BTW-Sue and I will be making that basket this spring. So excited!!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate all your comments.

See ya!!

CJ

Happy 2010!!

This is my first post for 2010 and the month is almost over. My life just gets in the way of my posting. I really should try to find more time to post or come up with a better system. On the home front, the family is good although hubby is a little disappointed with the Cowboys. Oh well!!

Stitching Update

Actually did a good bit of stitching this week. I have finished the grid for Blue Ribbon Design Stop and Smell the Flowers. I have one letter left to stitch on my Granny ornament, and I have almost finished a biscornu for an upcoming exchange. I received a Christmas packet from Pirjo for an ornament exchange we had on CSE. He stitching is superior as always and I just adore how she finishes her pieces. I am so lucky to have two ornaments from her now. She sent some metallic thread, a piece of hand dyed fabric and the snowman ornament with a sweet card.

2010 reading Olympics

I finished Hey Diddle, Diddle the Corpse and the Fiddle by Fran Rizer on 8 Jan and started Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. Thus far it is slow going in the new book, I am only on chapter three--that is what I get for only reading in bed.

Paper Crafts

Card making seems to be taking over my life. I am going to stop getting feeds and just checking for updates on my blog roll. It is just to tempting to start something new or buy more stash when I can read about it in e-mail. I entered a card in the Card Maker Weekly Challenge. This the category is Monochromatic. My card is shades of yellow. I used all Stampin Up! materials, even the button is made out of paper.

During the holidays I made Gift Tags and Gift Card holders for exchanges on Card Swap. The card holders and tags that I got back were fabulous and they came in very handy. I used up all the tags for my kids Christmas gifts. I managed to save a few to copy for next year. Here are pictures of my Gift Tags -- I had to make a dozen. They are folder like a match book with white paper inside for a note or sentiment.

I had to make six Gift Cards and they were pretty ordinary, but I got back some really nice ones. Unfortunately, they are all gone and I did not take any pictures of them. Bad me!! Here is a shot of some that I made. I used a pinwheel design that I got from Barb.

Recently, I started to cover some old bird houses with the designer papers I have collected and I am really pleased with the outcome. I got the idea from a card Maker magazine. So far I have two finished. One I kept for myself the other was a present for my baby girls teacher. The plan is to display them in my kitchen above the cabinets with greenery and lights. This is a picture of the one I kept. The box it is sitting on is also covered with paper. It is Washi paper from Japan, I have had that paper for many years and I love working with it.

Basket Weaving

Last week my friend and basket weaving mentor Sue came up and we did a little weaving. I was able to finish the trim on my Cherokee Market basket and weave the Ladybug kit I had bought last October. We plan to do it again on Tuesday this week. Making baskets leaves me with a really "green" feeling. These baskets will last almost forever, if they ever get tossed out they will not harm the environment. I have baskets around that I weaved over 20 years ago and I still use them today. I use the market basket to carry my weaving tools and the other is a gift. They are not perfect but I love them and they look even better in person.

For Christmas I made a few Nativity baskets for family members. Here is a picture of one.

Here's wishing all of you a very happy and healthy 2010. Thanks for stopping by I really appreciate all your comments.


See ya!!

CJ

Biscornu, Biscornu, Biscornu!!!

I have four Biscornu to share with you. One I stitched and three others I received in swaps. They are all so cute and fun to make.


First is a Halloween Biscornu I made for a Swap-Bot swap. I used hand dyed fabric from my friend Meari, Carrie's Threads and a free pattern.

This Biscornu was the first I ever received, so beautifully stitched by Libby from the UK. This was the Anything Summer Biscornu swap on Swap-Bot.

This little Biscornu is from Doreen, she is the organizer of all the Swap-Bot Biscornu exchanges. The theme was to stitch summer flowers. Very sweet.

Lastly, I have a great Halloween Biscornu from Peggy. It is the biggest Biscornu, measuring 4 x 4 inches, I have so far. I am just showing the front view in this picture. The back is black aida with Happy Halloween stitched in orange. Cute!!

Thanks for stopping by. If you want to learn more about Swap-Bot and our little Biscornu group just drop me a line at texdelch@sbcglobal.net. Some folks asked about the pattern for the biscornu I stitched in this blog entry it is from Kristen Schmidt, but I can no longer access it on line at the website on my pattern.

See ya!!

CJ

Biscornu and Book Challenge

Good Morning!!

During the summer I joined a swap-bot biscornu group. So far I have made and swapped two biscornus, while my first one did not turn out so great I was very happy with the second and I have a few photos to share. I stitched on hand-dyed 14ct aida from Enchanted Fabrics and floss from Carries Creation Thread.




Book Challenge Update

So far I have read one book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", and I am almost finished with a second. I have also edited my list a bit removing a book that I read before the challenge got started--couldn't help myself-- and added Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" and another by Elaine Viets.

What Else am I Stitching

I am ashamed to say that I have too many stitching projects going at once. I need to get them re-organized and put them in a rotation, then force my self to spend at least one solid hour per week on each or I may never have them finished. I have a Bent Creek Snapper, Gazette 94 SAL, Mausiemom SAL, BRD SAL and one Halloween Biscornu in the works. With the kids in school and hubby at work, I should be able to make this work. Just can't let my card making get in the way.

Speaking of card Making

Here are a few finished that I want to share with all of you. The first is a card I made for one of the CSE moderators birthday. It is a matchbook style card with a pocket inside. I got the idea from another card maker, but I can't remember her name or blog. The image is made with a technique called pulling pastels. You cover a piece of card stock with chalk and them stamp the image using a clear type of ink called Versamark. I put a little sparkle in the center of the flowers which is not showing up in the picture. Inside the card pocket I wrote a note and added some floss.


I used the same technique to make this butterfly card for a swap-bot exchange.

That is enough for today. Time for another cup of tea. Don't forget about my giveaway there is still a few days left to enter my PIF, if you are interested leave me a comment in that post.

See ya!

CJ

It' a Monday Update!!

Hi everyone hope you all are enjoying September. As usual I am running around like a headless chicken as I keep things running smoothly (at least I hope it is "smoothly) around this household. This year we have added soccer to our weekly routine, I am not used to having to keep up with all this after school stuff and this is only for one kid. Don't know what I will do when we all three in sports.

I made it through the second week of school with only one child getting into trouble for hitting, not once but three times--she likes to spread out during the week. I volunteered for Picture day, which kept me at the school until after 1pm on Friday. It was fun I got to meet all the teachers and see the students. I really like my kids new school the principal is just fantastic.

I do have some photos to share with you of cards I made and a great gift I received from Meari for guessing the correct amount she spent on her new stash cabinet. So here goes:

These are six Flower Pot cards I made for an exchange on Card Swap. Each month they have an exchange that requires you make cards in a certain pattern. This was my first time making this type card I really like it and I plan to make more. All you do is pull on the flowers which are attached to blank card for a personal message. Real neat and lots of fun.

This is a simple 3x3 card that I cased from Angie. She is one of Stampin Up's top demonstrators. Her site is full of how-to videos for everything she makes and I try to make all of them. So if you enjoy paper craft and need a little inspiration check out Chic'n Scratch.

This is the great gift I received from Meari. The fabric is hand-dyed by her, I just love it. I am planning to use it on a primitive pattern I have waiting in the wings. The stickers went to my kiddos who are always happy to have stickers and the lovely floss from Carrie's Creation went in my stash.

This week I plan to make more cards and finish a biscornu for a Swap-Bot exchange. Hey if you like to make biscornu's check out this biscornu group, perhaps you will want to join us.

Keep your eyes open for my next update it is a going to be about a PIF that I am very excited about. I just love PIFs.

Happy Labor Day!!

See ya!!

CJ

Hi Everyone--I am still here.

Hello, did you miss me?


Well, I have missed you!! It has been a busy summer as you can tell by my lack of posts. Things are starting to slow down, but only a little bit. The kids are back in school as of the 24th--hurray!! I won't bother getting into the fiasco I had with the District to get my three kids into the same school. It was nerve wracking, but now they are going to the elementary school on Sheppard AFB which happens to be where DH works.

We have had fun but they needed to get back to school, okay I needed them to get back to school. The two oldest attended local day camps for 4-weeks and the baby(she is 6, but in my eyes still a baby) went to Granny "camp" for 2-weeks. I must say I was impressed with the day camps provided by the city. Camp hours were 9-3, with snacks for a two-week period for only $50 per child. I thought that was a bargain . Other than going to my MIL's we have not taken any trips this summer because my husband retired from active duty in February and has no accumulated leave with his new job yet. We do have big plans for next year, we are going to Knoxville, Iowa for the 50th Anniversary of the World of Outlaws Race. Should be lots of fun.


What have I been doing?

Well, I have been busy stitching for swaps and making cards but I lost my camera the weekend of my nephews wedding so no pictures. That has me seriously bummed. I hate taking pictures with hubby's camera, so after weeks and I mean weeks of searching the net I finally bought a new camera. I purchased a Pentax Optio M40 from Overstock.com for a terrific price. After reading all the reviews I felt this one was too good to pass up. It is only 8 mega pixels, but who cares, I am taking picture for fun. It arrived yesterday so in the next few days I should have some pictures to share with you.

One other thing I have done this summer is collect lots (and I mean lots) of floss this summer. For some reason Mark Martin (NASCAR) has been winning. He one of the oldest racers on the track and he is acting like a twenty year old in that #5 car. I can tell you that practically everyone--including me is surprised by him. I mean I have been a fan of his for years, but I was not expecting all these wins. But he deserves it, he has to be one of the nicest guys in NASCAR and I am proud to be a fan.


Finally made my first biscornu which was far from perfect for a Swap-Bot.com swap. I've signed up for two more so surely the second will be much better than the first. The one I received came from a lady in the UK and it is just fabulous. Ahhh!! My second one will be much better for certain since I have taken the time to review several "How to" blogs. Thanks to all the girls that have taken the time to post great pictures and instruction for visual learners like me.

Pirjo selected me to receive one of her PIF's. My next post will be about the PIF and hopefully I can do something nice for one of you. I love these PIFs when they come up and I am so tickled to participate in a second. I am also looking for someone to start another stitch around the world project, if one does not come up soon I may do it myself.

I received a wonderful surprise from Meari for guessing the correct amount she paid for a piece of furniture that is now her well organized Stash Cabinet. I have been waiting for my camera to arrive to open the package, take a picture and post a proper "Thanks" to her for being so generous.

Anyhow, I am here, I am busy, and I am so ready to pick back up on this blogging thing now that the kiddos are back in school and I have new camera.


See ya!!





CJ