Saving the best for last - My final excuse!

 So my ultimate excuse for not blogging?
Packing, storing, moving, and then packing, unpacking and moving again!
After many years of dreaming, planning, and saving, we moved out of our home September 2013, to move into a rental property for what turned out to be one year and one month. During that time, we had our house torn down, waited on county permits, and then had it rebuilt. 
I'd never really had a craft room before, just a desk with craft stuff in various parts of the house. But because we decided not to have a formal dining room, I was able to have a craft room.
So here it is, from start to finish.  

Yes, I'm a big kid, I love my toys! Nathan tries to tell me they're his, but I promise, they're mine!

Here are my mermaids, plenty of room to grow.

This is my latest piece, I bought her for $.25 at our church white elephant - I know she's a little dated, but I love her!

I didn't have any more room in my cabinet for dragons, so I put the fun ones on top. I'm so happy to have found Astrid and Stormfly!

And my favourite part? Spending time with friends! My stitching buddy, DJ, is a regular and I'm always happy when she joins me!

So enough excuses, back to the real world of a busy life, stitching/crafting, and blogging!

Fun excuses!

Excuse #10

The annual stitching retreat at St Michaels!

You never show what you'll see on the road - poor kitty.

Too bad it wasn't the TARDIS!

Cool cow

Oh, I was loving this store!

I just HAD to get a little something...

Our evening view

Love the colours

How cute are these?! Wendy's lucky they didn't "run" away!

Hunter's adorable

The owner showed us a baby bunny they found, so soft!

Love the heron in the water

He caught his dinner!

A peek at our stitching area - there's DJ!

We gave gifts to each other and this is what I made, a needle minder box with their initial on it and a needle frogger. 

But I wanted a dragon and mermaid!

Excuse #11
My birthday!

DJ treated Nathan and I to see Jurassic World, it was great! 

It was at a new theatre which had reclining seats, but I could have used a blanket - 
which she gave me for a birthday present AFTER the movie! Great way to celebrate my birthday!

And finally, another Garden Journal finish, November. I don't really like the lettering, but not enough to change it.

Excuses con't

Excuse #9
My third year helping out at the SHINEfm Sharathon!

I normally help out by answering the phone, but this year I was more behind the scenes. This was my partner in crime and we had to sort out all the donations as they came in. In the beginning it was slow, but it got pretty busy at the end of the week.

And one of the perks? The view of the DJ's at work!
The morning crew - Mike, Tracey and Dave.

Tracey is the sunshine in the morning!

This was Tiffanie and John in the afternoon.

Another sweetheart!

Erin is writing thank you notes before going on the air.

Here she is with Jack.

Christina in the evenings did her share of thank you notes too, and Tara was busy all day!

I did get to spend a little bit of time helping out on the phones, sitting next to Pastor Jim - always fun!

A great group of people to be volunteering with!

And if you'd like to listen... SHINEfm

I did get more months finished, here's September. I used the colours I had for the flowers, but I think they're a little too bright. But not bright enough to change! 

For October, I tried to stitch a glow in the dark ghost next to the pumpkins but didn't like the ghost pattern I found. So until something comes up, the ghost button will do.

More excuses to come...

Excuses, excuses...

 No way has it been over four months since my last post! I meant to update my blog, but life seems to have gotten in the way.
Ready for the excuses?...

#1
We celebrated our 20th anniversary a little early in Dubai. What a trip of a lifetime, we were totally spoiled - beautiful hotels, camel ride in the desert, helicopter tour of Dubai, and even the World Cup Races!

 I was able to stitch a little bit and even shopped for fabric in Old Dubai.

 Our last evening was a soiree at Sheikh Mohammed's beach palace, just beautiful.

#2
Baseball season - he loved it!

#3
Celebrating birthdays!
The gmen's, Cori, and Nana.

#4

Bring your child to work day, I helped out.

#5
Prom!
The boys didn't realize they picked out the exact same colour shirt and vest, but one wore a tie and the other a bow tie!

#6
Nathan's 1st Communion

#7
Mother's Day

#8
2nd grade goes to the zoo

to be continued... more excuses

BUT wait, I did get some stitching done!

Nathan's piece for the 1st Communion Quilt.

My gift to Cori for her bday, I made it into a mason jar lid.

My 20th anniversary gift to DH (not quite finished). He likes pandas and 20th is supposed to be China!

The card I made for Nathan's baseball team to give the coach.  

There's more, but I don't have pictures yet.