Fall Findings Swap

Karen of Some Days are Diamonds sponsored a "Fall Findings Swap."  This was great fun for me.  Our partners were to be kept secret until they received their box in the mail.  We were to take a cigar box, decorate it and fill it with Fall things that our swap partner would like.  We had a few hints about their favorite color, decorating style and what type of crafts they might enjoy.  The rest we learned from visiting their blog.  My box arrived before I had mailed the one I made.  I was thrilled with what Marsha of

 Sassy Mini Dolls sent me.

The picture on the box was taken from one of my blog posts.  It took me a second to figure out why it was so familiar, don't laugh, it was really only a second.

Look at all of the great things inside.

I am so excited about everything.

I love the little pumpkin and the harvest sign and will decorate soon and show pictures later.

We were encouraged to put a homemade item and here is what Marsha made for me, I love it.

Another  view of the inside

I love the padded inside top!

Everything is just perfect, Thank You Marsha!

 Now I will show you a few pictures of the box I sent to Barb at Dogmom Diva

I had a great time putting this box together. 

It was a fun swap to participate in.

Visit Karen at Some Days Are Diamonds to see what the other swap partners sent and received.

Two Packages In One Week

A few days ago I received a package in the mail.  Tammy at 

 I want to do one more stitch was celebrating her 2nd Bloggoversary and I won her drawing. She sent me this needlework pattern and the materials to create it.

I enjoy doing needlework, it is so relaxing for me.  This will be fun because it has several different stitches and drawn thread in the design.  If you enjoy doing cross stitch or just enjoy looking at projects done by others you will have a great time looking at Tammy's blog.

Today I received a package from Cortney at Living and Loving in California.  She had a link party in late September called "Five Fall Favorites."  I participated and enjoyed writing my post about fall.  I am also excited that I was the winner of her giveaway to one of the participants. 

This package arrived today.

A cozy white blanket was on top.

Inside there was all of these wonderful things.

My husband and I both had so much fun opening each treasure.

Thank you Cortney for your generous giveaway and the fun

Fall Party.

Fun Finds at Goodwill and a "New" Island

I haven't written lately about the fun things I bought at my last visit to Goodwill.  I stopped by there some time before going to California for my nieces wedding.  I did take pictures right away so that I wouldn't forget share what I found.

Here it is all together

8 plates to add to the dishes I bought a Goodwill a couple of months ago, pictured here.

They cost $4.99

The remaining items had pink tags so all were half off,

pottery $1.50

Tablecloth, long oval, perfect for my table was $3.50 and napkins $1.50

Two fall colored place mats $1.00

Total cost for all the fun things I found, about $12.00

I just noticed that my new refrigerator is in this picture, I just love it!

Now I want to show you what my husband found on Craigslist.  We had been looking for an island for our kitchen, something with more workspace and storage space than the tiny one we had.  My husband found this perfect island after persistently searching Craigslist for less than 1/3rd of the cost of many we had been thinking about.  We are very happy with it.

We will be doing some thinking about how we will transform it to match the rest of our kitchen but in the mean time we are making good use of it.  I think we might wrap it in bead board and paint it. 

Our cabinets are in need of paint also so we will have to do some planning.  We have also talked about needing a new sink and faucet.  It could go on and on.

I do want to let you know that we are very content with our kitchen as it is so we won't be rushing out to spend lots of money, actually we don't have lots of money so that won't be happening.  It will be fun to keep plugging away and fix things up as we can.  I am glad that my husband likes searching Craigslist, I will stick with Goodwill, and we'll work together to make our home special with thrifty finds.

I will be linking with A La Carte for Junkin Finds

Blooms from Wisconsin Early October

I had planned to post these pictures from my daughter Julie's gardens when we first returned from our trip.  After being distracted by many different events mentioned in earlier posts I am finally getting to it.

Sedum and Asters in the side yard, the sun was shining, it was a beautiful day.

The Zinnias were full and beautiful.

Julie's rose bush was so pretty, the leaves look so perfect.

I don't know if my roses ever look like that here in Washington State.

Brad built this raised bed for their tomatoes and peppers with a few marigolds.

I took a picture of this tree at the park on Lake Michigan to show that Fall had arrived in Wisconsin and the house directly across the street had been decorated for fall.

The weather stayed nice in Milwaukee for a while longer but when I talked to Julie this weekend she said that colder temperatures had arrived.  Writing this post was a great reminder of the great time we all had together. 

Linking to Bloomin Tuesday at Green Thumb Jean's

Completed Embroidery Project

A couple of months back I was visiting Michelle May at The Raspberry Rabbits and saw this pattern she had just completed. I like her needlework designs and very much enjoy visiting her blog.  I decided right  then that I would buy this particular pattern.  A few days later I received this package. 

There is a raspberry chocolate and a needle and Valdani thread attached to the package

Inside the package was this pattern

 I made this with some cotton fabric, one of my favorites to use when doing embroidery.  I used three different colors of DMC thread combined, color 597, 598, and 807.  Michelle likes to use Valdani thread and linen as her fabric.  I like the way my project turned out but I think I will try my next project of this type with the Valdani thread and Linen.

The design is transferred to the fabric and it is ready to begin, it is a little hard to see in the picture.

Here it is framed in a bright blue frame.  We are not sure that the frame is right so we are on the lookout for just the right one.  The picture may be moving to our living room at a later date, after the room is painted.  If so we will find a new frame and I will share pictures then. 

For now the picture hangs in the corner of our dining room, I didn't want to wait any longer to share this project with you.

Take the time to visit Michelle's blog and see her designs, I know you will enjoy your visit.

Linking to Make it For Monday at Cottage Instincts.