secret stitching sweetheart blog hop 2024

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

This post is all about the L O V E!  Jo, from Serendipitous Stitching, hosts the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop every year, and it's such good fun, I couldn't resist.

Here's how it works: all of the participants send Jo a photo of a stitched Valentine . . . and then once she's collected them all, she mixes them all up and sends you someone else's Valentine to post ... and that's your Secret Stitching Sweetheart! Doesn't that sound like fun?! Here's the Valentine from my Secret Stitching Sweetheart:

Awwww!  Be still my Valentine heart!  Such a beautiful piece!

Now I'll go visit the list of hop participants (posted on Jo's blog, here), and check in with the recipient of *my* stitched Valentine!  Plus see all the other beautiful Valentine love out there!

You should definitely check it out, too ... see if you can find my Valentine! ♥

:)

santa baby . . .

Hello, I'm so glad you're here!  (Who am I kidding??  I'm so glad *I'M* here!  Hahaha!)  

Welcome, welcome to the first post of the annual Online Advent Calendar, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching! Each day she'll update the source post to reveal the day's guest poster!  It's loads of fun and a wonderful way to count down to Christmas, stitchingly!  Every year, Jo chooses a theme—this year it's Santas—and asks her bloggers to share a theme-related tidbit, and a Christmas stitching! And this year, I'm very honored to be December 1; Day ONE!  So on to it!

I've been a Santa-lover my whole life.  In other words, I still believe.  :)  I used to have an extensive collection of Santas of all sorts, shapes, and sizes, but when we moved from the house to the RV, I pared down a lot, and have continued to do so over the last fourteen years that we've been fulltime RVers.  Still, I have my very first Santa, who's nearly as old (aka "vintage") as I am . . .

Isn't he beautiful?! I also have two beautiful Jim Shore Santas, but would you believe, I haven't decorated yet?  I'm saving that for this weekend!  So they're not out to take a photo of, to share.

We also have lots of Santa traditions in our family.  For example, there's the visit to go see Santa.  Joc has done that with her kiddos from Ellie's first year . . .

Ellie and Santa 2012

Ellie (with Sawyer) and Santa 2013. Love Sawyer's holding his ears!

Merkel Girls and Santa 2014

Merkel Girls and Santa 2015

Merkel Girls and Santa 2016

These just get more hilarious as they go. My-oh-my, what a handful they were with him!  And he was the best, most patient, and hilarious Santa ever!  This year they took everyone including Ezra, and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't this . . .

Merkel Family and Santa 2023

All I can think of is that Ezra equates men with dark beards to his dad, and men with white beards to his Pawpaw!  LOL!

On Christmas Eve, one of our favorite traditions is to go down to the main circle through Joc's community, and catch Santa coming through on the fire truck!!  

The kids (and this adult, as well) are delighted by this charming service (check out Edith's rapt little face)!

Then there's always the Galaxy of Lights tour at our local Botanical Gardens.  I've done the walking tour the last couple of years, and it's so much FUN to see all the lights and special effects!  But my favorite display is—yeah, you guessed it—Santa and his sleigh!

I think an elf is holding the reigns while Santa slips down the chimney!!

I gave a lot of thought to what I'd share Christmas stitching-wise in this post.  To be honest, other than this cross-stitched tree I shared in August . . .

And this 2008 BOM Christmas Quilt that I finished and shared last December . . .

I haven't done a lot of Christmas stitching over the past two years.  So I decided to share this darling ornament that fits the theme . . .

I loved creating this little fellow! I didn't use a pattern (so I don't have one to share).  He's based off of a tin Santa ornament I had and wanted to replicate in felt.

Such fun!

Glad tidings to you, dear reader!  I wish you a Merry Christmas and a joy-filled New Year!  Don't forget to check in with Jo at Serendipitous Stitching each day, to count down the days until Christmas!  Thank you, Jo, for always doing such a lovely job with your blog hops!

And to all, a good night.  :)

hop hop hoppin . . .

Hello!! Welcome to my contribution to the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Mystery Phrase Hop, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!  I'll scare...errrr....share some spooky stitching with you, along with a letter, and a link to the next blog!  You collect all the letters and guess the mystery phrase!!  Doesn't that sound like fun?

Fall has definitely found its way to the camp . . . 

I love the changing leaves!  We have such a variety of trees, we get all kinds of color when the season arrives!

I love to decorate seasonally, and this is my favorite time of year for it.  I've gotten to the point where most of my decor is hand made!  And while I'm not really into scary stuff, a tad of Hallowe'en "fright" can be fun . . .

This hexi table topper is spooky enough with the owl and the black cats and spider webs!  But stars and candy corn temper the ring of fire!

Full moon . . . adds to the spookiness of the season!

Tell me though, how spooky can a jack-o-lantern really be, with a great big grin like this one is wearing?!

This was a fun wool felt project that I really enjoyed stitching up!

I haven't done a lot of stitching this fall . . . my Nook is a mess (and needs a dedicated week of tending), and what with Todd's treatments and retiring, life has been crazy!!  I did get over to visit the grands last week for a paint day . . .

We had a hauntingly good time painting spooky little touches on pre-printed pictures!!  Of course, any day with the grands is going to be the best!

Okay, okay . . . enough of all that and let's get to the alphabet!

My letter was "G" (just in case it was hard to tell).   Now be off with you and hurry on over to Beth's Needlework Stash for your next clue!  And be sure to stop by Jo's blog — she's such a fantastic hostess!!

I'll be back soon with a proper update!  Happy Hallowe'en!!

:)

stitching friends summer blog hop . . .

Welcome!  I'm happily participating with the Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop, put on by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching! Jo does several blog hops through the year, and I really enjoy participating.  The theme of this summer hop is . . .

That's right!  Stitching Friends Are Friends Who COUNT!  Love it!

My stitching friend is a very prolific stitcher.  And eclectic!  But it was the title of her blog that first caught my eye . . . it makes me smile *every* time I see it!

She does a lot (a LOT) of amazing cross stitch work . . . 

She also does some lovely, fun work with yarn!

And beading . . .

Just very accomplished!  To be honest, I wasn't sure what of my finishes would appeal to her . . . I don't do near the cross stitch she does!  I thought perhaps this blackwork piece (that I never finished):

Or maybe this embroidered pumpkin?!  I do know she likes to stitch for the holidays!

Have you figured it out yet?  It might have been easier if I'd shared some of her later finishes/projects . . . but I didn't want to make it too easy!  If you're still having a hard time figuring it out, check her out HERE!

And be sure to hop over to Jo's blog and check out all of the hop participants!!

:)

secret stitching sweetheart blog hop . . .

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

I know, I know ... it's been a hot minute (or would it make more sense to say 'a cold minute'?) since I posted . . . I'll get into that in another post.  

This post is all about the L O V E!  Jo, from Serendipitous Stitching, hosts the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop every year, and when she asked if I wanted to participate, I knew it was the nudge I needed!

Here's how it works: all of the participants send Jo a photo of a stitched Valentine . . . and then once she's collected them all, she mixes them all up and sends you someone else's Valentine to post ... and that's your Secret Stitching Sweetheart! Doesn't that sound like fun?! Here's the Valentine from my Secret Stitching Sweetheart:

Isn't that darling?!

Now I'll go visit the list of hop participants (posted on Jo's blog, here), and check in with the recipient of *my* stitched Valentine!  Plus see all the other beautiful Valentine love out there!  You should definitely check it out, too ... see if you can find my Valentine! ♥

:)

advent time . . .

Once upon a time there was a blogger who was participating in an online Advent calendar blog hop with Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, but she got her dates mixed up and didn't realize her date was the 20th (instead of the 22nd) until she hopped over to check out today's feature.  

It was me. I'm that blogger. Glad I made the realization before noon (CST)!

This year, Jo, who so graciously hosts this annual hop, has asked participants to share about their Christmas tree traditions!  This is an easy one for me!

Growing up, and even well into adulthood, I always enjoyed a real tree!  I love the trudging out to get it, setting it up, stringing the lights, bringing out the ornaments and enjoying all the memories that they evoked, and then enjoying the tree's grandeur all through the season.  Even though they're work, a live tree just smelled good and made me happy.

Trees of Christmas past.

But when we made the move from the sticks & bricks house to the RV in 2009, we realized there was no bringing a live tree into our living space.  There simply wasn't room. So we purchased a small, artificial tree . . . 

I adore this tree.  We've had it for every year we've been in the RV except one.  But paring down on the tree meant paring down on the ornaments I'd collected over the years, too--though you wouldn't know it, seeing how packed it is! I kept the ones with the most poignant memories (that weren't huge/too big for the tree) and gave my son and daughter their pick from the remainder.  It's fun to visit their homes during the Christmas season and see ornaments I purchased over the years, on their trees! But I know the origin/story/gifter of every single ornament on my RV tree.  It almost makes me a little teary-eyed thinking about it!

I also have a little quilted tree in my mini stand that makes me smile . . .

Ellie saw this one yesterday and decided she'd like to make a Christmas pillow similar to it.  She liked all the beaded 'ornaments' on it!

Our family's favorite Christmas tree story involves a cat.  Gwenevere was full of cattitude.  I'd been holding her in my lap, playing with her, and evidently she got tired of me messing with her.  She escaped from my lap, ran over to the Christmas tree, gave me a look over her shoulder as if to say, "I'll show you," and turned around and BIT a light off the Christmas tree.  I was horrified!  I mean, she could have electrified herself or short circuited the whole house ... or at the very least, cut her mouth! But no, she just ate glass ... kind of like the Grinch ... and sulked under the tree for the rest of the day.

I think we retell that story every year, with more and more hilarity! :)

This season, my stitching has looked very different.  I mentioned in the prior post about the paper ornaments I've been making.  They are hand-stitched down the center.

I think these are so pretty!  The angel is my very favorite.

And I learned how to make these cute little canvas poppers, too . . . 

I taught Ellie to make one yesterday.  They're cute, easy to make, quick to put together, and house a sweet little surprise!

The mouth is just big enough to tuck a Hershey's kiss inside.  Fun!

So there you have it. Just in the (St.) nick of time!  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out Jo's page to see all the wonderful participants!

Merry, merry!

:)

trick or treat . . .

. . . and Happy Halloween!  I am participating in the Trick or Treat blog hop, offered by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!!  If you haven't visited her blog yet, head over there and definitely check it out.  She's got a list of participating blogs, and at each blog you'll find a clue to the mystery Halloween phrase!  You'll find my clue at the bottom of this post!

You know how there's spooky fun and spooky scary?  For the most part, I'm definitely a fan of spooky fun! When I was trying to figure out something new to 'brew up' for this stitchy hop, I kept coming up short.  Until I did a search for the word "Halloween" in my saved embroidery patterns, and pulled up this:

This was a cute coloring page I'd saved from holiday-crafts-and-creations.com. I've found that coloring pages make great embroidery, applique, and wool applique patterns!

So I edited the image to get just the frame I wanted . . .

Super easy! Then I needed to decide how to "color" my selection! I decided to go with wool on wool applique.

It was a fast an easy little piece to put together.  It fits perfectly in my mini stand, too!

I love how the yellow face pieces really glow!!!  Spooky fun, right?? I also did something new (to me, at least) with the outline blanket stitch around the background.  I skipped the corners and did a French knot in the center of the open block. I like the way it looks! Linking up also with the slow Sunday stitching post at Kathy's Quilts.  :)

This guy is spooky scary . . .

Todd found him wrapped up cozily in a box of tarps. Trying to stay warm I guess.  Todd said he was not quite as big as the palm of his hand. You'd have heard me from WHEREVER you are if I'd been the one to find him! I'm not even sure how Todd could get that close to snap a photo. <shudder>

Thanks for dropping by!!  My clue for the mystery Halloween phrase is . . .

Yup .. O!  Now head back to Jo's blog Serendipitous Stitching for the final clue.  Have a spooky fun day!!! 

:)