YLPS for Janet

I read that Janet had received the exchange I sent her for the first round of the Year Long Prairie Schooler exchange. I chose to do the March motif from a Prairie Year. Hopefully she like St. Patrick's Day. It's one of my favorite holidays to stitch and have stitched this one in the past for myself.

Shreveport photos

I can't believe it's been a week since I was in Shreveport, La. celebrating Mardi Gras. The bus ride was great. We were in a new bus, lots of leg room, comfy seats, and cup holders on the back of the seats. My traveling partner ended up getting the "crud" that is going around in these parts, so I went alone. Two of my sorority sisters were on the trip also, so I had someone to keep me out of trouble. Here's a few snaps of the trip.

First up is our tour guide, Hassie. She referred to herself as the hat lady because she wore a different hat each day. She was a hoot.



Our first stop was at the building where the old Louisiana Hayride radio program originated. Elvis greeted us as we drove up.















I'm standing on the stage in the very spot that Elvis stood taking a snap of the arena. The building is beautiful.




Next up is the parade and a couple of the floats.










Sunday we had a step on guide who toured us around the city. This is a snap of the back of the jacket she wore.















And last, the beads I came home with. Well, some of them, since I gave some away this week! It was a great trip. I'm ready for the next big one, Mount Rushmore in June.

Primitive kitty from Harmien

Earlier this month Harmien held a contest for one of her stitched primitive kitties by primitivebettys. Oh, they are so cute stitched up. To make a long story short, I entered, I won. Isn't it just darling? Thank you so much Harmien's able assistant for making my name fall to the floor. I love, love this little kitty.

YLPS exchange from Gwen L.

I joined the Year Long Prairie Schooler exchange since the SBEBB closed. My first exchange was from Gwen L. She did an absolutely perfect ornament for me. Isn't he's just gorgeous. Reindeer/deer are my ornament subjects for the 2009 Christmas Challenge. This handsome fellow was on my to stitch list, but thanks to Gwen he already done and hanging on a branch of honor on my tree. Thank you so much Gwen, I love him.

Valentines Day Monday

I hope everyone had a glorious VDay. My friend Lynn and I went to visit Mary Ann in Idabel. We had a great time visiting, eating and overall loafing. Mary Ann has a wonderful gift shop. We always lighten her inventory when we visit. I stitched floss tags for each of them for their VDay gifts. Here's a photo of them.

The were fun to do. I enjoyed stitching and giving them to the girls. The chart is from the Caron Collection. I decided to do a flat floss tag, rather than the one pictured. Call me lazy!

Hope everyone has a great week. I'm preparing for my bus trip to Cajun Mardi Gras later in the week. I can hardly wait. Sure hope it's a fun trip.

Valentine Exchange from KarenAz

I received a Valentine yesterday in the mail. KarenAz had my name for the HoE Valentine Exchange. She stitched a SanMan freebie. It is so pretty and has the most awesome ruched ribbon as a edge. I love it. Thank you so much Karen. She included some fantastic goodies also. I just love those little heart candies. Brings back thoughts of my childhood.

Tomorrow is a busy day for me. First thing in the morn I have a church council planning meeting. Soon as that's over I'll head to the Humane Society and help with the Valentine Bake Sale and Adoption day. Hope Saturday is as nice as today was. My van registered 71 degrees this afternoon. Perfect weather except the wind was terrible.

Enjoy your weekend.

SBEBB Frosty Friends from Jean

The mailman was good to me yesterday. He delivered my SBEBB Frosty Friends exchange from Jean. The design is a French freebie stitched on 32ct Tundra by Lakeside Linens. She used DMC and overdyed threads to stitch the piece. Also included in the exchange were two beautiful skeins of overdyed thread. I'm going to use the darker one on my next reindeer ornament. Jean wrote that this was her first flanged pillow. It is so pretty. She used covered buttons to finish it off. Thank you so much Jean. I love it! This exchange is the last one from SBEBB as BeckySC decided to close it.

Edited: I just heard from Jean that the overdyed threads are some of Anzia's. This makes them all the more special.

A couple of posts back I mentioned that my stitching table had collapsed, sending the contents to the floor. Since I've been suffering from some insomnia lately, I decided to put my inability to sleep to good use last night. I started the task of re-arranging THE ROOM. I made a small dent and plan to work on it again today. I have two exchanges pieces I need to finish, hence the clean up effort. Hope every one has a great day.

PIF

Mama Joan let me know I was selected for her PIF this year. If you would like to receive a stitched piece from me in the next 365 days, leave a comment on this post. I will select two stitchers, who will in turn offer a PIF on their blog. Here's hoping I have two to sign up. I'll randomly choose two on Sunday.

I've been stitching, but can't show because they are for exchanges. I love doing exchanges because they satisfy my desire to stitch. I find I can no longer concentrate on the larger projects, so the exchanges are just right for me.

I received my Frosty Friends exchange today. Will post a photo when I get to my camera and home computer.

Today I also received the itinerary for the Mardi Gras bus trip to Sheveport at the end of the month. So looking forward to going with my trip bud, Diane. She's a well traveled lady, so I plan to get some pointers from her.

HoE Valentine Exchange

I'm going to go ahead and post my HoE Valentine Exchange. My partner hasn't officially acknowledged receiving it, but I know she has. I stitched primitivebetty's "Oh Sweet Valentine" into a simple pillow that can be tucked into an area. I used DMC thread, and a mystery fabric from Silkweaver. Also included some ribbon, two battery operated tea lights and some candy.

On the stitching front I've been working on my HoE biscornu exchange and the year long Prairie Schooler exchange. Have to stitch them early because I'm taking a bus trip with the old folk to the Cajun Mardi Gras this month.

Yesterday was the first day I was able to leave the house. The main streets in town were clear, but my residential street was still ice packed as was my driveway. My friend Lynn and I drove to Tulsa to the Super Bowl sale at our LNShops. I was very good by not adding too much to my stash. We had lunch at Ted's, the best Mexican restaurant in the Tulsa area. There was a 30-45 minute wait, but well worth it. Needless to say, both of us enjoyed it. The portions are so large that Lynn was able to take her husband a to go box full of food. I didn't do too shabby either!

Hope everyone has a great stitching week.