Christmas Bits and Pieces

Good morning, one and all, Y'all!!  I do pray that this morning finds everyone as chipper as a spring bird on a cold and frosty morn!  How's that for a greeting?  I was up a little late last night with inky and gluey fingers. hahaha  I thought I would show you what I was doin'.

In my last post, I showed you what I had done with some scraps that I probably would not have ever used.  Well, I was back at it.  I'm lovin' this new little picture card.  I used three new stamps. And I also tried something I haven't done much of before.  Using watercolor pencils and then a water pencil to blend the colors.  This is new, so, please view with kind and merciful eyes.  I am lovin' the watercolor pencils.  I finally found some that was what I liked.  I had gotten several different ones over the last little while and none of them worked as well as these.  Maybe, just maybe, I did not know how to make them work.  Hey, give me a little credit, I did say "maybe".  ggg  Anyway, I do hope you like them:

This is the back of my card pictures.  This little easel is affixed to the back with score tape

I bought a paper crafting mag at Michael's yesterday and this little bear stamp was a freebie with the magazine, along with some 5x5 sheets of designer paper, little chipboard images and gold glitter pen.  I love the little bear.  He makes me happy!

My cousin had sent me a card about three years ago with this stamp on it and I have been searching high and low for it ever since.  Jackpot!!  Michael's had it.  I snatched it up like a crazy person, I sure did! gggg

This is a shot of the happy trio.  I know they are not real fancy, but I really did enjoy making them and also trying my hand at watercolor pencils.  It never hurts to try something new.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, y'all!!!!   As I leave you this morning, I leave you with a simple question.  What are you Thankful for?  I could not even begin to tell you what all I am thankful for.  I am thankful for all of y'all, who take time to read my blog.  Thank you!!!  I am thankful for my family!!  I am thankful for my friends!!!  And, yes, I am thankful for all the material blessings that God has heaped upon me!!  And, I am most thankful for my wonderful, kind, loving, generous husband!  He is my number one supporter in life.  When all else around me fails, my husband is there to encourage me to take another breath, take another step, believe in yourself one more time.   For him, I am truly thankful!!  But, at the very top of my list, is Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior!!!  Thank you Jesus, for cleaning me up and giving me a new song to sing, a new word to speak, a new joy in my heart!  The reason I mentioned Jesus Christ last on my list, is because that is what I want you to remember about this visit.  Jesus Christ loves you so much, more than words could ever express!

Have a great day, and be blessed y'all, hugs, Patty

Christmas Cards

Good afternoon, Y'all.  I hope and pray this afternoon finds you snuggled up somewhere all cozy and comfy.  It is now and has been pretty chilly in "these here parts".  At 12:55 pm it is a whopping 44 degrees out side.  Now, I do realize that in places, that is a heat wave.  But, in the south, there's a lot of complainin' goin' on when the temp drops below 65 degree. gggg  In all reality, there's no pleasin' most of us any way, so it doesn't matter what the temp, we will still  be complainin'.  Do I here an "Amen" from anyone?

An update:  It is now 3:07 pm, 38 degrees and "snowin' to beat sixty"!  That's right, y'all, you heard me, "it's snowin' in the south"!  If you don't like it, just wait a few minutes, there'll be a heat wave comin" down the road.  gggg

Ok, enough about the weather. gggg  I have been busy as a little bee over the last few days.  Working on Christmas Cards!  I absolutely love inky, gluey, glittery hands!  It means I have been doin' what I enjoy.  I have gotten several of my Christmas Cards made.  And I must tell you, I am really happy about that.  In the process of making the nice cards with the boxes, I also made a few other cards with scraps that I may have tossed had I not had my thinking cap on.  So, I will show those to you first. 

 I don't know if you will recognize the shape of the first two cards or not.  They are the centers that I cut out to make my presentation boxes for the other cards I will show you.  It just so happened that I had another shape, that is a coaster, that I had cut several out of.  The coaster fit perfectly over the shape I cut out of the boxes, with just about  1/16" of an inch all the way around.  I ran them through my cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder.  For the red one, I pulled out a couple of different scraps of ribbon and wrapped the wide ribbon to the back side and taped it down and tied it in the center with the little piece of red grosgrain ribbon.   Then I had a couple of candy pieces I had cut and popped those on there along with a little pop of glitter.  Ohhh, glitter makes me so happy!!! gggg

For the blue one, pretty much the same as the red one.  The ribbon is metallic ric rac.  It's shiny!!!  Don't make any diff how it sparkles, it just makes me happy!!!
Then I glittered up my little reindeer cut out and popped him on there.  These two are really more like little pictures than they are cards, because on the back side there is an easel.  A flat strip about an inch wide attached to the back of the card with wings protruding from each side is what allows it to stand up perfectly.

This is an Iris fold card.  I do my Iris folding differently than most people do.  I do not actually fold my strips of paper.  I cut my strips to the width needed, not double the width and then fold.  So, a lot of people would not call mine Iris folding.  I don't know what they would call it, and don't really care.  ggg  The way I see, this is my way of doing it, and that's all that matters.  But, I do have another "fav" item to add to my list.  That is liquid pearls.  I used them on each corner of the white part of this card and on the bell on the toe of the elf shoe and on the little triangular parts making the cuff of the shoe.  Love that stuff!!

This was made from a scrap of card stock that I would have tossed most any other day.  But, today, I made a card front.  I used my flourished reindeer stamp and my Merry Christmas stamp.  I also used a couple of green glittery stickers.  Oh, did I happen to mention, glittery and sparkly makes me happy?

This is what all four of them looks like side by side.  Not bad for something I was gonna toss.

These next pics are all of the cards, with easels and boxes.  They are very time consuming.  But, it helped me to take a few weeks to work on all the pieces parts.  I have two of the plastic shoe-boxes from the Dollar Tree  that I have all the components in.  That make putting a card together go pretty quickly.

One last hint or idea about using what you would normally toss out.  The shapes cut from the top of my boxes, where the window is, these would make really neat and nice one time use coasters.  They could be decorated any way you want or leave them plain.  And if you really wanted too, you could use your laminating machine on them once you got them decorated, on both sides, to accommodate more than one occasion, and use them over and over.

Well, there you have it y'all.  This is what I have been up too for a little while.  I still have a few more to go.  But, they will go pretty quickly, since I have all the pieces parts ready to go.

If I don't get back on here before Thanksgiving, I pray that each and every one of you have a Happy Thanksgiving and will take the time to thank God for all He has given you.  For those of you that are not in the U.S. and celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, I do pray that you, too, will take the time to thank God for something in your life.  We all have so much to be thankful for every day.  I am thankful for Jesus Christ and all that He has done for me.  We can never thank Him enough.  For some inspirational reading, read Psalm 100.  It is just five verses long.  But, oooohhh the message in those five verses.  Ok, now get to reading, there will be a test later. gggg  Happy Thanksgiving, Yall!!!

My favorite quote for Thanksgiving, "Gobble till you Wobble, Y'all"!!!!! hahaha

hugs and blessings, y'all, Patty

Story Time "The Wagon Ride"

Good morning, y'all.  I do hope this cool morning finds each and every one of y'all doin' finer than frog hair!  How's that for a good ole' southern expression!  I guarantee you, if that frog spent the night out on my porch last night, he would have been wishing for a lot of hair! 

I thought it was about time to share another story.  I hope you enjoy this story that I wrote earlier this year.  It goes back to childhood, and into some of the great days of yesteryear for me.  I do hope you enjoy it.  It is a blessing from God to be able to remember some of the good stuff, now and again, and be able to put it on record as something for generations to come to be able to read and have fun in doing so.

"The Wagon Ride"

I may have mentioned earlier about the property my parents had and that my grandparents lived on the hill above us.   It was probably about a quarter mile from our house to theirs.  We walked up there all the time and they walked down to the mailbox everyday.  Their farm was about 20 acres or so.   Papaw put out tobacco and had corn crop to feed his animals and they always had a huge garden.  There was always something going on.  Something always needed to be done.

Papaw was not a modern day farmer.  He farmed the only way he knew.  He had a team of mules.  They were larger than the average mules and they were beautiful beasts of burden.  Papaw expected a lot from Jim and Red.  But, he was really good to those animals.

Someone had mentioned recently about traveling across the country in a wagon. Well, in the early 1960's that still was their mode of transportation, a wagon. With the wooden, steel wrapped wheels.  Their wagon looked like it came from the 1800's.  When it wasn't in use, it was always sitting under roof in the building that had the corn crib off to the side.   It was well cared for and maintained and ready at all times to haul whatever was needed.

I always wanted to ride in the wagon.  When they was running low on certain
kinds of chicken feed and some of the other feed for the cows and mules then
papaw would hitch the team up to the wagon and head out to Jessie's store.   It
was about four or five miles down the road from where we lived.  I wanted to go with them. In the past, some of my brothers would get to go, but I never had.

Mamaw told mom she would look after me if she would let me go with them.  All six of us kids got to go that day and it was amazing.  Mom spit shined all six
of us, and put on our Sunday best and we was ready to be picked up by our carriage, the wagon.

When the wagon came down the hill and I got a glimpse of it, I was amazed. As it came off the hill, it rattled and clanged, just like what you would have heard in the old movies or tv programs.  I had seen it before, but it was never as exciting as it was this time!   This time, I was gonna ride on it!  I was just five years old. So, it was stinkin' exciting to me!

My grandmother was a tall lady, hair white as snow, and it was so long she could sit on it but she wore it up in a braided twist on the back of her head.  That was just before she got her hair all cut off and a perm in it.   Her profile was really pronounced.  She wasn't as pretty as she was beautifully regal.  She always sat with her back as straight as a pin.  She had on high heels and a hat, she could have easily been off to see the president.   Papaw was setting beside her on the seat.  He had on a three piece suit.  He had shined his shoes till the sun glistened on them.  He had on his finest hat.  They were truly a beautiful couple.  Even at my age now, I can't get that image out of my head, nor do I want to.

Papaw stopped the wagon at the edge of the driveway to our house and mom was out with us, helping us all get on the wagon.   All the while she was telling the
older kids to look out for the younger ones.   Then she told all of us we better
behave and do as mamaw and papaw told us or there would be trouble and we knew momma meant business.

Dad knew we were all going that day, so before he left to go to work he gave mom some quarters for each one of us.   Scraping up six quarters back then was not easy to do, but he did it.   We were so excited to have money that we could
spend.

It was a most delightful ride to the store.   It was the first time I had ever
ridden in something like that.   It obviously was a slow ride.   Jim and Red had
blinders on, so they wouldn't be distracted by each other and any traffic that
may have been on the road.   We had to sit down on the bed of the wagon.   We
couldn't lean even a little bit to see over the side of the wagon.

When we got to the store, papaw pulled the wagon up and stopped the mules.  He
tied the reins to a little tree or something just outside the door.  My brothers all started jumping off one or two at a time.   Mamaw said to them, "mind your manners now", and one at a time they said, "yes mam".   Papaw then picked me up and twirled me around in the air before putting me down.   That was the most fun ever.  Then, mamaw stood up and leaned over into his hands and he twirled her around just like he did me.   She enjoyed it just as much as I did.   To see her standing up with her absolutely best clothes on was really something.  To see both of them together dressed to the top, was just breathtaking for a little child.

Papaw started getting all the feed that he needed.   I told him to make sure he
got some pretty feed sacks cause I wanted a new dress.    Mamaw was getting a few groceries and she was telling us to hurry up and pick out what we wanted to
spend our quarters on.   I don't remember what the guys got, but me, oh boy, I
got the most exciting toy I ever had in my life!  It was a frog with a bulb attached that you squeezed to make it jump.  I couldn't wait to get home to make my frog jump.

The ride home was a little different because we got to set on top of all the feed sacks and stuff so we were a little higher and got to see a different point of view,
so to speak.  When we got home it was really sad to get off the wagon and see
them go on up the road, to their drive way, up to the farm.  I stood their looking
up the hill as they went out of sight and then hearing the rattling and the
clanging of the wagon and tack until I could not here it anymore.  I just stood there with the biggest old tears running down my face.  Momma asked me why I was crying and I told her it was because I didn't want that trip to end.  It truly was a trip of a lifetime for me, but, after all, I did have a frog that needed to be jumped. (written by:pjg-8-2013)

I do hope you have enjoyed this trip down my memory lane.  I hope and pray that you have good stuff that you can think about and remember with fondness from time to time.   What ever your memories hold for you, give it all to God.  If we give our "yesterdays" to Him, we can give Him our "todays", and that makes it all together easier to give Him our "tomorrows".   There is a lot of stuff we will never be able to sort out on our own, but God can give us fresh, new, perspectives on it all.  I pray for your day to be filled with quiet moments to ponder, moments that make you laugh, and lots of joy.  And remember, if there is anything good in any of it, it came from God.  Thank Him for the good stuff!

Have a great day in the Lord, y'all.  Blessings and hugs, Patty

Ornament Swap

Good afternoon to Y'all!  I do pray that where ever you are that the sun is shining, at least in your heart.  The sun is not shining here and I think it may have forgotten how to shine.  Just a gloomy day.  A good day to craft.

I thought I would give you a quick update on my back issue.  It is much better, praise the Lord!!!  Still need to be a little watchful about how I do around, but it is sooooo much better.  Thank you for the prayers.

I do have an issue with the meds I was taking.  "Was" being the operative word here.  My face started getting warm and then just plain hot on Thursday afternoon.  By Friday, it was getting a real pinkish color and still warm to the touch.  This morning I looked like someone colored my face with a beet overnight!!!  Yes, you heard me right, a beet!!!  Certainly NOT my choice for a make up color.  gggg  My eye lids, nose and both cheeks clear around to my ears and down my neck.  It is warm and itches.  Kinda reminds me of the story I posted about my dear brother and me getting in to sumac.  I do hope this is short lived.  We'll see if vanity plays a very big role in my life in the morning, getting ready for church, if it is still beet red.  If I am not sick, I will be there, beet red face and all!  Anyway, this is the way it stands at the moment, y'all.

I am in another swap.  This is an ornament swap.  I really enjoyed making this one.  I used a black glitter cardstock for the base of the card.  It was to be a two sided ornament, so I cut two pieces of black glitter cardstock and glued them back to back.  Used a black marker around the edges to color the white that was showing.  Then I cut the fronts and backs, which was the same image, just flipped the image for the back.  I used glossy accents to glue the images to the glitter cardstock.  Then I got out some bling and blinged it up a little.  I put some ribbon through the holes I cut with my cropodile.  I did make a small little tag to put on the ribbon with my name and date on one side and the name of the swap on the other side.  The recipient can easily tear that off or leave it on.  I just like to put my name on what I do.  So, here is some pics:

Ok, so I really wish the glitter showed up better.  They are really glittery and look great in hand.  I also wish I had a better way of getting good pics.  I don't have great lighting and a flash washes out a lot of stuff, so I just piddle till I get something half way tolerable.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at my "not so fancy ornaments", but I really had a great time making them.

I want to thank you for stopping by.  I pray that you have a wonderful evening, a great night's rest and a wonderful Sunday.  Find time tomorrow to spend with your Creator.  He will enjoy it and so will you.  Time spent with God is time well invested.  You can only come away from that experience a better you!  While with Him, ask Him to let you see the world and those around you through His eyes!  Ask Him to break your heart for what breaks His heart!  Ask Him to give you the desire to live purposefully and thoughtfully!  Just these things alone, will make all the difference in the way you live the rest of your life. I pray for you to do it.  See for yourself, the difference that Jesus Christ can make in your life.  God loves y'all and so do I.

Be blessed and hugs, y'all, Patty

Sharing Swap pics

Good evening Y'all!!!  I am so very happy and grateful to tell you that I am on the uphill swing with my muscle spasm.  Praise the Lord!  I do appreciate all your prayers.

I had mentioned earlier, a post or so back, about some swaps for November.  Well, I do know that some of them have been received so I thought I would go ahead and post some pics.

I had already spoken about this in a previous post with pics, on Oct. 24th., I think.  So instead of re-hashing what I had already said, I will ask you to please find the post and read about this.  I will say, that I do hope and pray the swap receiver enjoys this.

This is a set of six gift tags for another swap.  I really enjoyed this little project.  It isn't anything fancy or elaborate, but it was fun.  As I look at this pic, I realized that I did not get pics of the completed project.  Well, shucks!!!  I do hope that the lady that receives these will be happy with them.  The little snowman makes me smile.

This is what the backs look like.

This is my ATC's, Artist Trading Cards.  The background paper had a very light mottled design on it with a hint of text.  Upon looking at it, it reminded me of the distance when it is snowing.  So, I stamped the pine tree, and highlighted it with a white Uniball marker.  Love it!  I then applied a light coat of Glossy Accents.  Then, I applied a thin coat of aurora bourealis glitter glue.  After that, I stamped the little sentiment.  I had used a Sizzix die to punch snowflakes and I glittered and layered them also.  I also used my Tim Holtz die and cut the cardinals.

 For a final touch, I put a sparkly jewel in the center of the snowflake.  The back of the ATC has all the personal info.

Since they were very dimensional with the snowflake, I made a small envelope to put them in for ease of shipping, I hope.  I made a little band to hold the envelope shut.  

Well, that's it.  Thanks for looking.  I do hope that you have enjoyed what you have seen.  I would love your thoughts and ideas, if you wish to share.  I look forward to the next swaps coming up.

I do pray you to have a great night's rest.  I pray that you have a wonderful Friday and weekend!  Find time in there somewhere to spend with the One who created you.  Thank God for all He's done for you.  Praise Him!!  Love to Y'all!!

Good Night.

Hugs and be blessed, till next time, Patty

Checkin' in

Hi Y'all!  Sure hope this finds everyone warm and cozy this afternoon.  If you don't like the weather here in the south, just wait 15 minutes and it will change.  Could be it will change to you likin'.  That's what everyone says anyway, so I thought it was very appropriate today, since it very well could be down in the teens in the morning.  Who, knows?  God does, so I will let Him surprise me. ggg

I have been busy.  Had groceries yesterday.  Carrying in a load and tweaked my back a little.  Nothing big, or so I thought.  Went on about my business, got a good nights sleep and rest. Yay for me!!  Was getting ready to run out town just before lunch and my back spasmed on me, twice.  Ok, I can get past this.  The third time it spasmed, I was down for the count!!!!  Y'all, I was yelling, screaming, and crying and my poor hubby came in to check on me.  We decided right then and there that I needed to go to the Dr.  He got me there and I got two shots and a couple of scripts.  As I am typing, I am in pain, but nothing like I was three hours ago.

It's never a good time to be down in your back or anything else for that matter, but, I guess right now is as good a time as any to be sidetracked for a little while. I am truly thankful to God that it is no worse than it is.  I am so thankful that it happened when it did, because if it would have been any later then I would not have been able to get myself to the Dr.  So, I really do believe that God is at work in all of my circumstances!

I do covet your prayers for this to be a minor blip in the road for me.  As I said, I do believe that God is working ahead of me in all of my circumstances.  His word says to give thanks in all things.  I thank God that this issue is no more than it is.  I know many people who are dealing with much worse than my minor back issue.  So I do praise God for His watch care and protection over me.  I thank Him that He will make this a short lived issue for me.  I thank God for the health that He has given me.  I thank God for the people He has put in my life that I can call on at a moments notice for prayer.  Thank you friends.  I thank God that my husband was able to get me to the Dr.s office.  So, I do praise God, my Father, for all He has done for me in the last three or four hours as well as my whole life!

If you have problems in your life, I pray that you, too, will call on God to help you through it all.  He surely will!!  Even if you don't have any known problems or issues, He wants you to call on Him.  Why?  Because He loves you!  Why?  Trust me when I tell you this.  It's not about who you are or what you have or have not done.  But it is all about who He is!  He is your creator!!  He is the One who breathed life into your body.  Every time your heart beats, every time you blink your eyes, every time your lungs fill with air, its all because God lets those things happen in your life.  Is that worth praising Him for?  You betcha!!! Praise Him, Y'all!!  You won't regret it!  There's some shoutin' up in the house tonight!!

God loves Y'all and so do I, be blessed in the name of Jesus Christ!  hugs, Patty

Swap Time

Good evening, Y'all!  Sure do hope you're having a great evening.  I can't believe how fast November is flying by.  I'm tellin' ya, I just may have to bungee jump after all.  If you have read my blog, you will remember me mentioning that.  If you haven't read much of it, then this is your challenge to find where I mentioned bungee jumping. ggg

I have been working on some swaps for this month.  Have also been working on trying to get some cards finished.  I can't show pics yet, but I will as soon as I can.  I have really been enjoying the swaps.  They have been challenging me to get out of the box and color outside the lines, so to speak.  It has been fun and I am looking forward to more in the future.

Just wanted to check in and let you know that I haven't forgotten my blog.  I have been busy, and then I get worn out from being busy and I have to let something go for a little bit.  I want to let you, my readers and supporters, know that I really appreciate you taking time out of you busy days and lives and spend a few minutes here, with me.  There are so many other places on the web that you could be, but you make a choice to be here from time to time.  For that, I am truly grateful.  So, thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart!!

As I leave you this evening, I leave you with a thankful heart.  I am thankful that you have chosen to spend a little time with me.  I am thankful that God has opened a door for me here.  I am thankful that I have the ability to get out of bed every day.  I am thankful that I can see and hear.  I am thankful for all That God has done in my life.  I am thankful for all the wonderful people that God has put in my life. 

Phil 4:6-8 says, "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and "thank" Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

If you find yourself having a hard time, don't worry about it, but pray about it.  Just as scripture says, Tell God what you need and THANK Him for all He has done.  Do you want peace in your life?  That comes from God.  We can't really even understand it.  Do you need your heart and mind guarded?  That comes from God's peace.  Are you troubled with things going on around you?  Situations you can't change.  Situations that really disturb you.  Scripture tells us to think on whats "true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable".  What is one thing that we can think about that meets that criteria?  Jesus Christ and what He means to you in your life!  Think about Jesus Christ!  What has He done for you?  Better yet, what have you LET Him do for you?  He wants to be your Salvation.  Let Him!  I am truly thankful to Him for what He has done for me in my life.  He wants to do the same for you.

I would love to hear from you if anything on my blog has inspired you.  I pray you have a blessed evening and night.  I pray that you greet the new morning with a new excitement in all the possibilities that the new day has to offer.  Good night, Y'all!

hugs, and be blessed, Patty

Happy November

Good evening to y'all.  I pray that this post finds each and every of you happy and thankful for all of your blessings.  It seems like time flies by between one post and the next.  I have been busy, working on cards and swaps and having a great time.

I did take a break last Friday evening, Nov.1st. and went to a local event  that is the official start of the Christmas shopping season.  It was a great time with one of my friends.  When we left the event, we went to a restaurant and had time to get caught up for a little bit.  I do so enjoy getting together with friends that make a difference in my life.

Then on Monday afternoon I was fortunate enough to be able to get together with another friend for a couple of hours to just hang out and catch up.  It is kinda like fuel for your vehicle when you have been running on fumes!  You just can't wait for the next time you get to re-fuel. ggg  It is always great to catch up with these ladies.

So, a lady on one of the Yahoo forums I am on was interested in seeing some of my embroidery that I used to do.  I don't have any digital files and I did not have any intention of scanning in all the pics, so I took pics of pics.  Before hand, they are not great, but, I hope that they are good enough, at least, to give a good idea of some of the stuff I've done.

The first four pics are of stuff I have in my kitchen.  I really enjoy them.  They are certainly not fancy, neither am I, so it's a perfect match. ggg  I also have some coffee cups and saucers in frame just like these.

This next pic is of a small baby quilt that I made.  I actually made two and then I have the sample ones that I made at the same time.  So, when I decide to make a baby quilt, I already have the blocks.  I made these in 1999.  I put buttons at each intersection and I tied them on with 1/8 inch gross grain ribbon.

I don't know why these pics loaded wonky, but they did.  At any rate, these are Old world Santa's.  They are embroidered on restaurant quality napkins.  These were a labor of love and each one has about 35 thread changes.

These are coasters and Christmas kitchen towels.  The coasters are what is called "in the hoop" projects.  They have fruits and veggies in the center.  The kitchen towels were also a labor of love.  I hand cut and sewed the topper to the towel and everyone always loved them.

This is a Christmas denim shirt that I decorated all over with diff snowmen.  I made this one for my brother.  I also made one for my hubby and me, and we love wearing at Christmas.  I have made many, many shirts.

This is a set of seasonal birdhouses that I cut and sewed the topper to the towels.  These were for my mother.  She always enjoys them.  The other pic is of a set of seasonal Overall Sam napkins.  They are also on the restaurant quality napkins.

These are the Southern Belle towels.  They were really whimsical.  Again, I hand cut and sewed the topper to the towel.  I believe I put a button hole at the top and sewed a button to the back so you could lap it over a drawer handle and button it.

These are my bird totes and my Indian totes.  I had several yards of the canvas material and I started making totes out of it.  The birds were a big hit with all the recipients.  I kept the Indian totes.  The one that is a full body designs took 24 hours of nothing but the embroidery machine running.  It was actually three separate design files with each one taking eight hours to sew.  With probably 100 to 125 thread changes in all.

This is another couple of sets of Christmas kitchen towels.  Both sets are of south west designs.  They were lots of fun to make, but again, labors of love.  Lots of thread changes.

This last pic is of my crock pot covers and then another set of kitchen towels with butterflies on the top and beautiful flowers on the bottom.  A friend I went to church with at the time, her daughter was getting married and this is what I gave her.  She said it was the perfect color for her kitchen.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing another part of my crafting experience.  I have always enjoyed working with my hands.  I have said I come from a long line of crafters.  If you will notice in the above photo, the one with the butterfly and flower towels, there is a crocheted spread on the back of the loveseat made by my mother.  When she wasn't cooking, she was crafting.

As I leave you today, I am reminded that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  I do hope and pray that as the days tick off and Thanksgiving gets closer, that you will evaluate all the reasons you have to be thankful.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "give thanks in all circumstances".  This is actually a command.  It does not say we get to pick and choose when we give thanks.  It say, "give thanks in ALL circumstances".  So, God is reminding me, that no matter what comes up, be joyful, pray continually, and thank Him all the time.  When times are good, thank God!  When times are not so good, thank God!  God is at work in all of our circumstances!  Circumstances change, God doesn't!!  Thank God He never changes!  So, what are you thankful for?  Praise Him for that.  God bless you.

hugs, y'all, Patty