Monday, May 24, 2010

An Alpha Finish, Christmas Ornament, Flowers, Estate Finds and a Cake

GR&DF this past weekend was not as busy as other weekends - but I thoroughly enjoyed both days and did a bunch of fun things!!

Lets start off with the reveal of my Alpha Finish - Here is a snap of the entire piece -

Alpha Birds, Alpha Menagerie & Alpha Sheep - stitched as a single piece
by Sheepeish Designs
using my conversion on 36ct LL Vintage Exemplar
April 3 - May 23, 2010

This is such a long piece that getting a single snap was a bit odd so I also took separate snaps of each section.

Alpha Birds (with a lower band that I re-charted)


Alpha Menagerie (with a band that I charted)


Alpha Sheep (with the Alpha Menagerie Band)

This was such a fun piece to stitch!! I really like Sheepeish designs and now with my little pile of SD samplers I will have to get a stitching them up!! I have a couple of little pieces lined up to stitch next, but I am going to focus on my AEoL RR Piece this week and try to finish it up and get it back to Deb.

I heard from Mel that the ornament I stitched for her had arrived. It was a part of the HOE Early Christmas Ornament Exchange - here is a snap -

Prairie Schooler #117 - Prairie Stars - stitched on 30ct Angel Hair
using the recommended DMC floss.

On the way home on Friday we stopped off at the SF Flower Market to pick up some flowers for the house - we ended up with a couple of orchids and some Mexican tube roses - since I had my camera I got some shots of the flowers......

The orchid place we like has this great bromeliad tree - I have always like this thing - although I am not overly find of bromeliads - go figure.


Isn't this a beautiful orchid. Some of the flowers this guy has are just magnificent - and way less expensive than going to a florist of specialty shop.

some pretty flowers...


buckets of roses....

I look at these mounds of flowers and it looks like they mowed down a garden. I really enjoy visiting the market - especially in the Fall when all the Holiday stuff is out.

Rico and I also got to some Estate Sales on Saturday before his mom and nieces got into town. Here is a snap of my new bits and pieces -

I picked up some more frogs a couple of books a new flipper (I love the green handle) a great old frame and a super Weller vase. It would seem that I am cornering the market on frogs, but I picked up a couple of these for other stitchers that had asked me to if I ran into anymore. I asked Joan (one of the Estate sales worker that we always see) about these glass frogs and her take on it was that they are becoming harder and harder to find. She has been at this "sales" thing for about 30 years here in the Bay area so I kind of trust what she has to say.

Since Rico's Mom was coming up I made a coffee cake to eat on Sunday Morning -

The recipe made one gigantic pecan monster - but it was pretty tasty and there was plenty to take into the office this morning.

There you go sports fans - another week begins, but we are looking at an upcoming 3 Day weekend - so woohoo!!!!! Thanks you for stopping by, do come again.

Take care,
edgar

32 comments:

  1. Your stitching pieces are wonderful as always. I love the way the ornament was finished. That coffee cakes looks delicious!!! Will you post the recipe please??!!

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  2. Great finish! The alphabet is definitely a unique one.

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  3. Gorgeous stitching and lovely design. I love the way all three are stitched together as one. You certainly did hit the jackpot with all the frogs! I'm on the lookout for one myself. The cake looks fabulous...would love the recipe!

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  4. Love your finish, it's gorgeous. Flowers are pretty and coffee cake looks yummy :-).

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  5. Congratulations on the beautiful finish. It is stunning!

    And how lucky are you to get all those frogs - the good kind!

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  6. Tell me more about the Weller piece from the estate sale.
    Love the "alpha"complete set. The colors are wonderful. What a great finish to put them all together!

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  7. Wonderful finish!! I just love how they all look stitched as one piece. The ornament is lovely too. Wow, look at those frogs! I may have to ask you to keep an eye out for me also since I can never find any!

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  8. Nice finish. I know you are primarily a cross stitcher but did you know your name is in print? Coni Rich -Spinster Stitcher- mentioned your blog in Needlepoint Now.

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  9. Love the print/painting in the frame, it's gorgeous! Love your finish too, it's magnificent!

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  10. Your Alpha finish is gorgeous! Congratulations! Love all the flowers! And the estate finds -- that's interesting what the person said about flower frogs. We stitchers must be buying them all up! lol! You are an amazing baker -- that pasty looks so scrumptious!

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  11. Beautiful work and gret finds! I agree, share the recipe, please!! I love a good pecan anything! LOL!
    Hugs,
    Lisa

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  12. Congrats on a wonderful finish, Edgar. Your work is spectacular!

    I love your thrifty finds - I really love the picture and all those flower frogs (I'm green w/envy).

    Your coffee cake looks very yummy.

    Enjoy your day.

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  13. Oh that coffee cake looks yummy!! The flowers are beautiful as well is your stitching!! I found some finds this weekend at the sales, but I will be overhauling one of them to suit my needs/tastes. I saw your ornament on the exchange blog. How clever of the starburst felt background. Perfect for the stitching!

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  14. Edgar, your Alpha finish is wonderful, and what a great idea to combine all three designs onto one piece. You know your cakes look so delicious I'd pop round for coffee if only it were not for the big pond in the way!!

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  15. Love your Alpha finish! I've just got the fabric for mine (LL Vintage Buttercream) and am planning to start this week. Yours is great inspiration!

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  16. Great job on Alpha Sheep! Just love the colors!

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  17. What a wonderful post!! Such lovely pictures and descriptions - your blog never fails to make me smile - thanks for always sharing!! :)

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  18. Great finish!! It looks like it would be a fun piece to stitch!

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  19. The flowers and the cake - yummy!

    Your finish - love it!

    Flower frogs - wish I would find some! If I did, I'd get them all too!

    Did I mention the flowers and the cake? YUM!

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  20. Oh, man. I need to work in your office to scarf up the nice treats you take to work! Lucky co-workers! Lovely stitching finish!

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  21. Wow does it all look so good! Congrats on AlphaFinish, and I love that PS! Hadn't seen it before, or didn't notice it.

    I also am a fan of the green handle on your turner. :D

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  22. Beautiful finishes and flowers, and I love seeing all of the goodies gou find on your weekend outings!

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  23. Love the sampler nice work as always. Frogs are great, I hope to find some in Florida next week when I hit the anique market.
    And all I can say is YUMMY.

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  24. Oh wow, Edgar. The Alphabet came out awesome! My jaw dropped when I saw the finish. Of course, the other photos were great too. I can't wait to see the Alphabet framed.

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  25. Great stitching and love seeing what you pick up on the weekends at yard sales.
    Oh we have a 3 day weekend coming up June 7 - whoo hoo!!!

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  26. Great finish, I love it! The colors are wonderful!

    And great finds too! Love the frame and all the found frogs! They are plentiful here now, but maybe I need to buy some more before they become more scarce... I only have two glass ones, and one silver plated one that belonged to my grandmother... maybe I'll post a pic some time.

    That pastry looks delicious! It's making me hungry, lol!

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  27. I love your Alpha piece...every time I look at it I find a new little motif. It's really a beautiful piece!

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  28. Many congratulations on the beautiful finishes Edgar :-)
    Great finds as always, I love that flipper too!

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  29. The Alphabet is gorgeous. The flowers too and so is the cakes : )
    Bon appétit !

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  30. Your alpha finish is gorgeous! I love the birds. The coffee cake looks yummy.

    And your estate finds are fabulous. I have been trying to find one of the flower frogs too. With no luck yet. One of these days. :)

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  31. Beautiful photos as always. Congrats on finishing alphabet it looks great! Yum does that coffee cake look good!

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  32. Love how you've stitched the Alpha's all on one piece. What a great finish!

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