Is there enough room?

Here I am flitting from room to room!!! Packing my suitcases! We are headed home to Canada very early Tuesday morning to spend Christmas with our children and grandchildren. Excited!!!! You bet. But before I go, I should update my blog.

I have a few things to share in this post.

First,  Jill and I agreed on a personal exchange. I posted my gift to her in my last entry and here is the wonderful package that arrived in my mailbox this past week.

Obviously, this girl knows I like nutcrackers.

 Look at the wonderful nutcracker scissor holder with scissors she stitched for me. Isn't he a handsome fella!
Included was some lovely dark green linen, a little gift bag, some wonderful DMC variagated threads, a cut of Christmas fabric and a very cool thread counter with a delightful nutcracker hanging from it. And to top it all off, there is a new nutcracker to add to my collection. Thank you so much Jill for a wonderful exchange.

A little envelope arrived in my mail earlier in the week. I was a bit down and just didn't have much Christmas spirit at that time. In the card was a wonderful note and this little handmade ornament from Harmien. See our initials on the back. It made me smile and helped me pick my spirits up. Thanks Harmien.

 This little surprise package arrived in my mailbox from Michele. She was wandering her LNS and saw this pattern and thought of me. My other passion - lighthouses. Look at all the wonderful lighthouses in this booklet. And, she included a handmade scissor fob with a lighthouse hanging on the end. Thank you Michele for a wonderful surprise!

And this - remember the Friendship Sampler RR I participated in. Well, poor Lisa's first RR was stolen. She sent out a second one and it was delayed starting. Then, it got held up somewhere for months. The rest of us had all received ours back and many of us had finished them and Lisa's was still out there somewhere. Early in November her RR finally returned home but I had not stitched on it. So, Lisa and I braved USPS and she mailed her RR to me. I stitched it and it is on it's way home to stay. Finally, this RR is a successful wrap!

The surprise gift that I have been stitching on, and stitching on and stitching on is finally finished and is also in the hands of USPS. You will have to wait till late December for the seeing though.

Now, that all my other stitching is complete, I was able to pick up my own work and get back at it. Here is my nephew Ryan's Christmas stocking - maybe next Christmas?  Those big stars were all Kreinik thread and we all know how we love those threads. The brown blob is part of the hockey net!

And you know, I just couldn't stand not having some outside stitching to do and so I signed up for the Winter Round over at the Seasonal Exchange blog.

And, I've signed for another Mirabilia RR on the WWRBB.

Am I crazy?  Sometimes. So much for stitching just from my own stash this year.
My BFF is sure going to hassle me over this but hey, I love to stitch for others and it gives me the chance to stitch things I wouldn't normally stitch.

Okay, I'm off to finish packing those suitcases. I sure hope I can get it all in.

Oh, by the way, I have a 4 hour layover in Los Angeles and a 5 hour layover in Chicago. Any stitchers out there want to come of the airport and stitch with me LOL.

Until next time, I wish you all the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years. I hope Santa leaves you all some wonderful stitchy treats under the tree!!!!