~ The Best Birthday ~

Thursday already? really?....these holiday shortened weeks always confuse me! I just wanted to do a quick post to say THANK YOU to all who wished me a Happy Birthday the other day! Thanks to facebook for letting many know it was my birthday and to a couple of very sweet bloggers, I got more birthday wishes than I've ever had before and it was fun! I heard from friends both old and new and even got a birthday wish from my high school sweetheart on facebook, how fun is that! I have never announced my birthday to anyone so it has always come and gone without any fan fare but I must say that receiving so many Happy Birthdays did indeed bring me joy! Also, I received a very special surprise in the mail! Kris gifted me with a pinkeep made by her hand!! I was really surprised!! Isn't it lovely? There was also a very nice birthday card included, Thank You ever so much Kris!! What a special special surprise!!
And my dear friend Karen from across the pond sent me gifts of lovely English chocolates, yum!!, a magazine with loads of pictures taken around where she lives which is fun to see!, a lovely birthday card with well wishes from her family, so sweet!, a wonderful rag ball she made, and a beautiful pea fowl made by her hand as well!! wow! Stunning aren't they? Thank You so very much Karen!!
I even received a gift from my boys which is quite rare as they are much like their father and don't posses the art of gift giving shall we say, LOL
They gave me the 24 scale die cast car of Dale Jr.'s # 88 NASCAR. It is one that has been missing from my Earnhardt collection. My oldest son Robert also picked out a lovely card for me. He always picks the best cards! A great card picker he is! My husband also gave me a card and the smaller version of this car so now my collection is up to date! Thank you guys!

I also wanted to share with you a picture of my very first handmade! But first I need to thank Jenny for all of her help! She is the one who encouraged me to try my hand and sent me everything I needed to begin out of the kindness of her heart! She also was so kind to answer all of my beginner type questions and basically taught me how to cross stitch through email and even a phone call so Thank You Jenny!! Yep, I did it! I started this cross stitch back in December, and was hoping to have it completed to display for Valentines Day but procrastinated. I bought an inexpensive sewing machine thinking that I might possibly start making things to sell and was so intimidated by the thing that it sat in it's box for months until last week when I finally decided that I was going to figure out the thing come hell or high water so I sat myself down with the instruction book and proceeded to successfully thread the bobbin, thread the machine, and began sewing up my first ever pinkeep! A few days prior, I experimented with some walnut ink crystals I purchased from Wendy and am pleased with how the fabrics took the stain so voila! here is my first attempt at cross stitch and a completed pinkeep!
It is rag stuffed, I bought some muslin to cut into pieces and boy let me tell you that I am amazed at how much fabric it takes to stuff something so small!! I have always loved the feel of rag stuffed handmades and now have a new appreciation for it! I still haven't figured out how the heck do some of you get things to feel so solid? As much fabric as I have stuffed in there it still feels cushy and I would like for it to feel firm like many of the handmades that I have purchased! So any and all tips would be much appreciated and welcomed!

Well so much for the quick post, LOL It turned out to be longer than I thought! Over the long weekend I accomplished putting away my spring decorations and have begun my summer decorating and I'll be sure to post when I'm done! Enjoy the rest of the week and have a great weekend!