More than just Cross Stitchin': Paydirt!!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Paydirt!!

Shopping this past Thursday was sure worth the trip!

My Mom and I went to the thrift store Value Village that day ... she headed to the clothes, I headed to the framed pictures and I am so glad I did!

For a grand total of just $31.56 I came home with all of these-

Now usually I am checking for frames I can re-use for my cross stitch pieces, but this time around I got a few that I will use as is in my home .

The first one I spotted was this beauty (and only $7.99!) released in 1983 by the talented Trisha Romance called "Home Again" . Who doesn't dream of having a home like this in the country in the wintertime ... lighting a fire, a pot of soup simmering on the stove and sitting down to stitch with your cup of tea while the snow gently falls outside... Such serenity!

The next one that went into my cart (for $4.99) was this pretty print of the waterfront in Toronto with the famous CN Tower in the background. When I originally saw this one, I wanted it for just the frame but at closer inspection I really liked the picture too. Perhaps it will find a new home with my daughter and son-in-law who live in Toronto?? :^)

The square frame on this next picture is what I first noticed ($5.99). Square frames seem hard to find. When I looked at the back of this one there was info about the artist Kathy Rath (who was born in the city of Sarnia not far from here). This picture is called "Loughead House" which I tried to find information about without much luck.

I'm really torn with this next one. Being a stitcher, I know the time and love we put into each piece we stitch, so it made me feel sad to see someone's needlepoint piece sitting on the shelf. I would probably re-use the frame on this one since needlepoint isn't really my taste. If there's someone out there that would be happy to give the needlepoint part of this picture a new home, send me an email!

The last three pictures I bought have quite old frames, so I was very drawn to them. They will definitely be re-used with stitched pieces of my own.

I'd better get busy stitching, so off to my chair I go!!

Tracey

4 comments:

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...: Great finds there Tracey.
Be always in stitches; November 13, 2011 at 9:11 AM
staci said...: You found some really awesome frames! Looks like you're going to be busy!; November 13, 2011 at 9:46 AM
Teresa said...: I'm always on the hunt for pretty old frames, too. You hit the jackpot, that's for sure!; November 14, 2011 at 11:00 PM
Anne said...: I'm always hunting for new frames, but even in our thrift stores here in BC, Canada, they are expensive. Like the large frame would be over $40!! Great finds though!!; November 15, 2011 at 11:04 AM

Charlie Brown

Growing up, I had a pet monkey named Charlie Brown. Actually, he belonged to my sister and he came to live with us in 1966. You were actually allowed to have monkeys as pets then and if you can beleive it, he was ordered from an ad in the back of a magazine. Charlie Brown was a squirrel monkey (just like the ones in the Telus commericials).

Everyone in school loved when it was my turn for 'show and tell'. You will see in some of the photos (if the slide show downloads for me...) that he used to wear diapers. Eventually, he learned how to take them off. We had a rope strung across the kitchen from end to the other. We kept a piece of papertowel on the floor at the end of one rope and that's where he did his business. His rope provided many hours of entertainment. At bedtime, if mom and dad were not home when it was bedtime, he would sit on his roap and cry out until they returned.

If I was crying, Dad would put him up to my face to lick away my tears. He would dangle from my hair and lick from one eye to the next. It alwyays made me stop crying. He would play outside and every once in awhile he would swing from tree to tree and end up down the street at the neighbours.

Often you would find the monkey lying in the cast iron pan on the stove. The pilot light from the gas stove provided him a warm and comfy spot. He would also sit on top of the lamp shade for warmth, and if you ever heard a 'pop' - you knew he peed on the lightbulb. It happens...

Charlie Brown used to sit on the wall phone.... until it rang. That was always funny. He brought many years of amusement to us all and I miss him and his antics.

Bonnie

Warm hearts ... and warm toes!

Well since we are talking winter, let's talk about warm hearts ... and warm toes.

A few years ago at Christmas we had a gift exchange. Ironically, both Anita and myself had the exact same idea for a present. We always open our gift bags at the same time, and it was really hard for me to keep a straight face when I saw that Anita had had the same gift idea as me and while she explained that she thought slippers would be a good idea, that way we could carry them in our bag with us at all times. Anita had knit slipppers for everyone and made a little draw-string pouch, with our names embroidered on it, to keep the socks in.

Then they all opened my gift bag and we burst out laughing. I knew how much everyone loved snowmen, so I had stitched faces on white slippers and added a carrot button for the nose. Well we weren't finished with the laughter because I thought we should get a picture with our slippers on. So then we were all sitting on the floor trying to get different positions in order to get everyone in the picture at the same time. We tried sitting up against the wall and taking the picture of our toes all pointing up to the ceiling and then I said, nooooo - that will show the snowman's face upside down. Someone said... (and I won't say who...) "Good point, let's think of something else. What if we lay on our back with our feet in the air - you know... like if our feet were ON the ceiling"

Well then the faces would still be upside down wouldn't they. Spontanious Laughter.

We had to think of something else. It was decided that we would just stand toe to toe in a huddle and we would take the picture from above in order to get everyone in the picture. Sounded like a good plan right?

Well... not if you have a protruding belly and/or big boobs. After the inital light-headedness subsided from sucking in our bellies, we had to deal with the shadow from the boobs.

So we stood in our huddle, adjusting, wiggling and laughing with our arms around each other while we tried not to tip over. It was about that moment when Anita's daughter walked in on us, which of course added to the laughter when we saw the look on her face.

Finally the photo was taken and our toes are doubly warm.

Bonnie

It all started with a tea towel...

Quite some time ago when I was perusing the Dollarama, I came across the cutest autumn tea towel with a teddy bear dressed up like a scarecrow. It immediately reminded me of Jody and I thought 'I'm going to get that for her', and then I thought... why not get one for everybody? And so I did and it was a hit.

From that point on, it's no surprise to any of us if there just happens to be an occasional 'mini gift' exchange on Cross Stitch night. Once when Jody hosted in February, she gave us all a tiny picture frame with a 1" x 1" opening. I had no idea what to do with mine, but Tracey knew immediately. Because it was Valentines day, Tracey stitched a heart.

Mine sat for a good number of months before I could figure out what I could stitch in such a tiny area and not copy Tracey's idea. And then one day it hit me; Jody loves snowmen. I would do a snowman in the frame that Jody gave me. But.... do they make snowman patterns for less than 1" x 1"? I couldn't be bothered looking, so I winged it. And voila! A happy smiley snowman face. I think it took longer to write this posting than it did to stitch that happy face.

We'll have to get a picture of Tracey's heart posted after her renovations are complete as I expect it's packed away for now.

p.s. I wasn't allowed to Blog today unless I cleaned my house. It's half cleaned; consider this half a blog.
Bonnie

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Paydirt!!

4 comments:

Christmas 2016