Summer fun & Romantique Sampler

WHEW!! These last 2 parts of the Romantique were finished last night. The due date is today! Why am I always cutting it so close?

Part 13

Part 12-my favorite part so far!

Romantique Sampler in all it's glory. I get the next two parts today :o)

Summer has been so much fun. We have just been hanging out and having a blast. It's been great to just follow along with what the kids want to do! Here J is having fun building with his blocks. He spent a whole day on this.
This is a fun craft I have been wanting to do with the kids for awhile. Use oil pastels (crayons work just as well, I just had these lying around) and cover a sheet of paper completely with big blocks of different colors.
Use black acrylic paint and paint over the entire thing, then before it dries, use a popsicle stick and draw your design. If you make a mistake, not a problem! Just run your paint brush over the paper to "erase" your mistake a go at it again :o) We did this for almost an entire day they loved it so much!

13 year old saying. Pretty cool huh?!

Shrinky dinks

They never got tired of watching these shrink up in the oven! We did this on and off for three days straight - all of the kids - it's nice when everyone has fun doing the same things. Other than crafts, we have had so much fun camping, going to the beach and spending oodles of time at the library. I LOVE SUMMER!!

Fabulous Gift and Romantique update

A wonderfully generous friend on the Bits and Bobs2 Yahoo Group sent me all this cotton!! Isn't is great! And there is so much of it! I had made the off hand comment on one of my messages that I was starting to use other kinds of yarn for my fishes because I had run out of the bits and leftovers of my cotton. She contacted me and sent me hers! There is so much here!

Look at all that cotton - isn't it wonderful. And the best part....as I knit each and every fish with this yarn, I will be thinking of this wonderful and generous friend. Thank you so much, Peggy.

My newest update for the Romantique Sampler.

Part 11

Close up of the detail - it just changes the whole look.

Part 10 - love, love, love those roses!!

Another close up of the details. I can't wait for the next installment!

Romantique Sampler

This is as close as you can cut it - Parts 7 & 8 were due today in order to receive the next two parts. I finished part 7 this morning before I got the kids off to school. WHEW!! What a relief! Can you imagine getting this far and then missing the due date???
I really and truly enjoyed these two parts. Especially part 7 with the lighter shade of pink. It's just so pretty :o)

I wanted to show a closeup of this part for the backstitching. It just adds so much to the design.

The Romantique in all it's glory so far.

K with cutie pie. I actually think the cutie pie is K ;o)

Romantique Sampler update & more fishes

This sampler, when finished, will be beautiful. I simply cannot fathom how the designer came up with this. She must have an exquisite mind.
At the top, with the flowers is part 8. I did part 8 before part 7 for two reasons. The first reason is that part 8 has much more stitching to it and I thought if I did it first, part 7 would seem much more doable before the deadline! The second reason is that part 7 had a color of floss that I didn't have at the time. Of course this "problem" has been rectified.

A close up - this part was very fun to stitch and went relatively quickly.

9 more fish-WITH the ends all woven in.

Total fish to date = 105

Can you see the one with fun fur......

Did you see??

this beautiful shawl pattern from knitty?? Isn't it exquisite?? I love the way it looks. Not only that, but the way it is knit looks very interesting - a NEW to me technique!!! I have way too many things on the go right now, but I will keep it on the top of my to do list. We were away last week in Hawaii - we had such a wonderful and relaxing time. The kids did really well on the plane and the trip could not have gone better. Lots of beach time and hiking. It was too sad to come home to a regular schedule once again!! Above is my Easter Sampler after Part 6. I finished Part 7 on our trip and am now most of the way done with part 8. I just don't have any updated pictures yet.

Parts 1-6

I did manage to finish part 6 of the Romantique Sampler and get the photo to the designer before we left. Thanks so much for the encouragement Hakucho!!!

A close up just because I think it is so pretty!
Parts 1-6

Waves of Love Dishcloth from the Monthly Discloth Group.

I love this color and the design on this cloth.

I am now behind by two dishcloths!! I told myself I would make them all this year (I have not been able to do that in the past) - I better get cracking!!