I have truly been blessed.

"Tell the Lord how thankful you are,

because He is kind and always merciful."

Psalm 118:1

I have truly been blessed with generous gifts from the blogging world. I am truly thankful not only for the gifts but the wonderful comments.

First I will show you the wonderful package I received in the Winter Wonderland Exchange. Tricia - The Stamper's Stitching sent me the most wonderful package.

Just receiving this box in the mail put a smile on my face.

Inside was all these beautiful wrapped gifts with the most wonderful handmade card.

Just look at all the fun and wonderful stuff I received. Tricia also included three extra handmade cards for me to send out. Two have already gone out to special people. I can't wait to add the pattern to my list of must do's this year. Can you see she also sent me a pair of scissors, you know my saying "A girl can't have too many scissors".

Her stitched pillow is just the cutiest. Love that it is in the pink tones.

Here is what I sent to Jennifer - Crafty Inaginings by Jen.

This last week I received a few surprise packages in the mail. All I can say is they came at a time I needed an extra cheering up.

First came this package from Ann (no blog). I sent to her in the Authum exchange. The threads are so lovely with a small gold thread in them. I will have to find something special to stitch when I use them. Love the heart buttons made out of shells. Thank you so much Ann.

Cucki - Cucki Stitching Cove sent this cheery envelope with a fun frame and some cute cards. I will have to find something special to stitch to put in the frame. Thank you Cucki.

If all that wasn't enough Belinda - Samplings from a Blue Ribbon Girl surprised me with this wonderful gift. I saw the beautiful snowflakes on her blog and never dreamed I would recieve one. They are even more beautiful in person. Look at the fun pin cushion she made and stuck in some fun pins. There was a lot more candies in the bag but they needed to be tested right away. She is so creative with all her scrapes of material.  Thank you Belinda for brighting my day.

Back in the summer when I had emailed Lainey I told her about a delicious treat I had in Scotland. She graciouly sent me the recipe but it was way too hot to do any baking. I did manage to make a couple of batches this week and they are wonderul. It is a shortbread bottom, a layer of homemade caramel and then topped off with chocolate. Boy do they bring back memories of my trip to Scotland.

I don't like ending on such a sad note but the reason these gifts all came as such a time when I needed it most is my SIL. I have told you she had been very ill. On Saturday she left of to be with the Lord and is no longer in pain. So many of you have sent me your prayers and I thank you so much. Please keep her family in your prayers.

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday just days after she was diagnosed with cancer. She was only 51 years old and leaves behind her husband and two daughters, ages 22 and 10.

Remember the reason we are celebrating his holiday season with the birth of Savior.

Always keep love in your stitches,

Teresa

The Joy of Family and Friends

"Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,

and the pleasantness of one's friend springs

from his earnest counsel."

Proverbs 27:9

Over the summer I mentioned I was looking for a pattern to make favors. You helped me find the pattern but it was in a old magazine I couldn't find but it lead to an even better pattern. I wanted to make favors for my table guests at our annual church "Women's Tea". Each year we hold a tea where different people host a table and the church provides the food. Each host is in charge of decorating her table any way she wants to. We have about 25 tables and what joy it is just to see how each are decorated. Every year I host a table of ten for family and friends. I plan my theme all year.  I like to stitch an item for my guests to take home as a reminder of our wonderful time together. Last year at this time I found plates and mugs that  either said Joy, Hope or Peace on them. I knew that would be my theme.

I decided to make scissor fobs this year and this was the pattern that I used. Here are my nine fobs. You can't tell but the red in the trees is beads. Each one went into a bag that also contained a box of tea and some sweet treats. Most of the ladies at my table do some kind of craft so I thought who can't use a pair of scissors.

Here is my table. The sugar cookie at each plate was their name tag to show where they would sit.



One of the guests at my table brought everyone a sleigh she made out of a square plastic cup she glued candy canes to to make a sleigh and then filled them with candies. She didn't even know my center piece was a sleigh filled with flowers.

What a wonderful time I had being with family and friends enjoying a cup or two of tea. This is one of favorite traditions I take part in each year. This is about the time I look around to see what I might use as my theme next year.

I hope everyone is enjoying this season of remembering the birth of our Savior.

Always keep love in your stitches,
Teresa



Long Over Due Hello !

"To us, family means putting your arms

around each other and being there."

Barbara Bush

A very long over due "HELLO" to everyone. I am usually very busy this time of year but throw a very sick family member and it seems like I am taking 2 steps back for every step I take. I am sorry I have not been reading as many blogs as I would like. When I started mine I had such great plans to change my blog to match every season. Well I am sorry to say that too has been put on the back burner. I will had that to my new year's list.

Thanksgiving weekend brought back many memories of when my children were growing up. I am not saying happy memories but memories. With my SIL's illness I went and got my niece for the weekend.  Well when I got her I also knew she had a science project due and to help out the family I said I would help her get it done. I really don't miss school projects. I called my teacher daughter and on Saturday we spent the whole day learning about the planet Venus.  We were able to sent her home with a finished report.

In November I got a nice card from my blog pen pal. It did really make my day to get a card. I can't wait until I find out this month who has been writing to me.

My pen pal already received my December package and now knows it was me writing to her. I had Michelle, "Mouse" at Tales of a Stitching Mouse. I sent her a little Christmas package that included this tote bag I made. I found the material on my retreat to New Hampshire and I knew just who to sent it to. I included a Christmas Mouse made with beads. I gave her a magnet and pin back and let her decide how she wanted it finished.

My mom's three granddaughter each have a different color hair, red, blond and dark brown. When I saw this pattern where the angels had their color hair I knew this was a piece to stitch for my mom.

The only other stitching I have managed to get done was for an exchange. We are not able to post pictures yet. I have received mine and I will say I was so spoiled.  Her kindness actually brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you all for hanging in there. I will try my best to get back to blog reading.

Always keep love in your stitches,
Teresa