Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016 was held at Jody's this year and we were lucky we had good weather for our travel eastbound.  If there is going to be any snow in the week, it often tends to fall on our Wednesday night meetings.  Clear skies all the way with stars as bright as the lights on Jody's tree!   One of these days, I should post ALL our Christmas photos from years' gone past so you can see how we've all changed these past 20 some odd years.  Sometimes we surprise ourselves at how well we colour coordinate for our pictures without even consulting with each other in advance.  I just happened to notice now that Tracey and I are in blue tones, while Jody and Anita are in black & grey.  In fact, we had quite a chuckle when we were looking at a photo from 'a few years back' and Jody realized she was wearing the same shirt then that she was that night.  We realized a couple of things after Jody commented that she better go shopping after Christmas for some sales on new shirts!   Some items of clothing are just too comfy to get rid of and some things are classics that never go out of style; much like our friendship! 

It's always exciting when we do our gift exchange because one of us almost always makes something for the others and this year Tracey blew us all away with the surprise of her unique gift.  She created a project bag and the material she used was a print of two photographs she had taken at our yearly retreat at Brentwood on the Beach.  The second I opened the box and saw the sunset on the material, I knew what she had done.  So beautifully crafted! Tracey has opened up her own Etsy shop with all her unique bags, called Bags She Built; click on the link to read Tracey's story and how she came up with the one-of-a-kind name. 

One of the many beautiful sunsets at Brentwood on the Beach
captured for us to enjoy every single time we open up our project bag.

These stunning red poppies are almost always in bloom the week we are at Brentwood. Often closed up upon arrival, they are sure to be in full bloom before we leave 4 days later. They enjoy our company so much that they wait for us. :-) 

Tracy lined each of our bags with a design that suited each of our personalities. She laid them out on the table and asked her husband if he could tell which one was for each of us and he was spot on with the answers. He knows us well!  Each bag is finished off with a charm on the zipper pull along with a button from Tracey's Nana's button box. 

Jody always finds the most unique and decorative friendship blocks. 

Anita and Jody filled their gift bags with oodles of goodies.  Lucky for us this year, Anita found the Christmas spatulas that she bought for us last year. LOL.  She included beautiful decorative tea towels, napkins and a scented pot holder and a gift card.  Jody found a notepad with each of our initials, but she couldn't find hers at the time of the photo so I had to decide if I should take the photo with BAT or TAB.  The bat won.  Along with our notepad, we got a beautiful scented candle, friendship block and friendship charm.  

For the past few years, I have been making desk calendars for everyone with a collection of our projects over the years.  With four of us creating so many different things, I should be good to go for a few more years with this item. 

Along with the desk calendar, I gave everyone a Satin Hands Pampering set in a key lime scent.  You have to have silky hands for crafting don't you?  Each card was given to Anita, Jody and Tracey to suit their personalities.  I wonder if there is anyone out there who may be able to figure which card was given to whom.  (perhaps Jayne with a Y can take a guess...? -- she seems to know us pretty well.) 

This past week we started our cross stitching year at Tracey's and we were greeted with the sight of her beautiful mantel.  I swear there are enough pictures of her mantels over the years  to create a book of its own!  Winter is upon us, and Tracey captured it beautifully. 

This mantel has just a little piece of everyone on it.  One year for Christmas, I gave everyone the snowflake made of buttons that is hanging on the front of the mantel.  

Tracey's joyful little snowman cross stitch sits beside a unique frame that Tracey found and it just so happened to perfectly fit one of the handmade cards that Anita made.  And Anita had given us all the pretty little snowflake lantern;  my granddaughter Scarlet loves to play with mine all the time and carries it around with her all day. 

This picture is a tad blurry, but we'll just pretend it's a little foggy outside.  I love this little cross stitch.  The dog looks just like Tracey and Paul's dog Heidi.  She was a such a beautiful sheltie and always a joy to be around.  

As noted before, here is Jody's pretty little friendship block.
And the cute little sign at the back was made my Tracey's son Mitchell when he was quite young and she commented how fitting it is right now as it's so much the style now.  It has made it's comeback. 

Happy New Year to all our followers!   We would all like to offer our warm wishes to you and your families for the best of everything in 2017.  Peace, joy and love to all. 

Bonnie 

Meet Ewan McKillop (post #2)

This past year seemed to just fly right by; but isn't that what everyone says particularly when it comes to watching children grow up?   As promised, here is the remainder of Ewan's "Here I Grow" photo shoots. 

Feeling a little under the weather today, but still managed a smile!

11 months old already!  He's been walking for over a month now. 

It's almost like he KNOWS it's his birthday! 

Ewan's reaction when he arrived at his dad's curling bonspiel. He is one of the happiest babies ever, and it appears he's going to be quite sociable as well.   This was taken just before St. Patrick's day
and he just reminded me of a little Leprechaun! 

This picture is one of my all-time faves!
Ewan was almost 7 months old and he went with
mom and dad and Aunt Holly to P.E.I.
Shawn had to go to a convention so they all decided to make a trip of it.
This photo was taken just before they went to a 'meet & greet' cocktail hour.  It's almost like he knew he was going to be a chick-magnet!  

I saved the best for last.  Without a doubt, this was the best purchase of my life.  I found a perfect outfit and gave it to Niki and Shawn for Ewan to be baptised in. 

Now... how perfect is this? 
I got a few shots of the top picture with the kilt positioned just so you could see what Scotsmen really DO wear under their kilts, but I'm afraid I would be put in jail if I had published it. :-) 

As promised in my last post, I mentioned that Shawn was working on a special photo shoot surprise.  He compiled over 80 photos of 'blooper' shots from Ewan's "Here I Grow" Facebook post.  Here are just a few pics of what it's like to try and capture those special moments.   Enjoy! 

Thanks for letting me brag share these precious moments. 

'Til we meet again, 

Bonnie

Meet Ewan Michael McKillop

Meet Ewan Michael McKillop.  I'm so very late posting this precious announcement.  2015 was not a very kind year to me, but it did provide me with a most precious gift; my second grandchild.  And we are so grateful for his safe and healthy arrival after a very long wait. Ewan was born on March 30th - just one day before his father's birthday and Shawn is adamant that there WILL be two separate birthday parties each year.  Can't wait for that! 

Shawn also decided he wanted to do a growth chart as I had done with Scarlet and I'd like to share them with you.  So let's ring in 2016 with Ewan wishing everyone a wonderfully Happy New Year and health, wealth and abundance for all.  

Happy New Year, 

Bonnie

p.s. At Ewan's one year mark, Shawn has a little surprise planned for a photo shoot which I will also share with you. 

Long Time No See !!

Dear Followers, 

There are many reasons why we have not been able to post to our blog this past year and for that, we apologize.  We hope we have not lost you .... 

A lot of things have happened since we last met; the loss of dear pets, the loss of dear loved ones in both family and dear friends, the birth of new life, and of course many new projects.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.  

Bonnie and Tracey 

For those of you faithful followers who remember dear Sushi and the growth chart of her and my grand daughter, it makes me sad to say that Sushi is no longer with us.  Stricken with illness and suffering greatly, it was necessary to put her to rest. 

 

Sushi was a most unique cat!  Extremely comical and very entertaining.  Each time my daughter would call home she would ask what I was doing and I would always reply 'Watching the cat' - finally she said, "Why don't you just cancel your cable and save some money then?" 

Sushi loved to help in the kitchen.  Anytime I opened the cupboards she was there to inspect that everything was in its rightful place.  Whenever I cleaned the fridge and took out the vegetable drawers to clean them and turned around to put them back, she was there to make sure the inside of the fridge was cleaned first.

She loved to play Hide & Seek!

She loved to help me sew. 

She loved to relax and chill.  Sometimes we would catch her in our bed and she would greet you with a smarty pants look.  She loved to read and she particularly loved the sunshine.

A few of her favourite spots ...  she liked to sit by the 'faux fire', and I often wondered if she sat there wondering why there was no added warmth to the room.  When I remodeled my bathroom and set it up for particular baskets for everyone's needs, Sushi was sure to claim hers immediately.  She loved to sit on the staircase - always on watch to see who would come to the door; if she was in the other room, she came running - just like a dog to see who it was. As long as she sat high on the staircase, she felt safe to run quickly if a visitor stopped by with their dog. 

At Christmas she took it upon herself to claim her gifts.  If there was a bag lying around, she was sure to find herself tangled up in it. 

These next few pictures are the last ones I took of Sushi.  During my kitchen remodeling (another blog post to follow ...) Sushi lost her favourite place of all to hang out.  She loved lying on the table every day and looking out the window and scratching her face on the blinds.  She loved to lay on towels for some reason so I always kept one on the table for her at all times.  The remodeling took 6 months and she was somewhat lost.  When we were near to finishing the room, I walked in one day and noticed her sitting pissed off patiently on a step stool that was near the window and it tugged at my heart how much she had missed the window.  It was only 3 days later she left us, but I was so glad she got to spend them in her favourite spot.

Sushi touched all our hearts and I swear sometimes she makes me think she was my pet monkey reincarnated.  When she would look up at me, I swear it was the monkey looking back at me and communicating to me.  As you all have experienced the loss of a dear pet, you understand how much they touch your very heart and sole and how dearly they are missed. 

But alas .... life goes on and as I mentioned earlier, new life was born this past year and I will be posting new growth charts for your amusement.  

stay tuned....

Bonnie 

Jane - one of our dear 'Stitching Sisters' friends loves to collect snowmen.  And as Jane would put it she has “Well over 500 dear little frosty friends in our Henley Landing.”

So when her grandchild was on the way, she of course decided a snowman blanket would be necessary for the many winter cuddles they would enjoy together.  To make the blanket even more special, Jane decided to have the 'Stitching Sisters' and the 'Four from Forest' each stitch a square.  We all had a time frame in which to complete our square and pass the blanket on to the next person.  Nothing like a good timeline to force you to sit down and stitch !!

Jane had no idea what pattern anyone chose to stitch, so when the blanket finally made it's way back to her - she would be completely surprised.  Any empty squares were completed by Jane herself.  When she told us of her plan to include everyone in the making of this blanket, we were thrilled and honoured that we would be part of such a special keepsake.  Let's take a look.... 

Jane - showing off the blanket at Brentwood.

Wow !

Jane surprised us with the names of all the
people who stitched a square.

In memory of our dear Stitching Sister
Patti who loved to knit!

A is for Alexis
(it's also for Angel)

Unto us a child is born, and that definitely means
There's Snow Place Like Home

As much as we love you Jane - I really hope
there isn't as much snow as last year !!!

Hey wait a minute... 

this blanket was done for LAST WINTER.  

So all that snow was your fault !!!

 

Awwww... that's OK  "Jayne with a Y" - we love you anyway, but don't let that happen again! 

Many many many  precious hours of blanket cuddling. 

And to end things off, how appropriate to have a picture of Alexis on her first birthday with one of her frosty friends. 

Happy Birthday Alexis !!!

 

Bonnie