A Little Valentine Stitching and finishes, and my first Giveaway

Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day! Sorry for not posting last week! It was a family and fun filled week. My oldest daughter came for a visit on Wednesday, her birthday was Valentine's Day, and my youngest daughter Lindsay's Birthday was the 10th, so we celebrated both of their birthday's on Wednesday. My oldest daughter stayed until Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday I had a bowling tournament and surprised myself with a score of 170! After the tournament, I drove to visit my family who lives about now 3 hours North of me in Prescott, Arizona for a visit, since my girls had Monday off, and got back home last night.

With all of that going on, I was able to finish Lizzie Kate's 'Be Mine Valentine'. 

28ct. Antique White Cashel

The heart is stitched with WDW 'Love', the Be Mine is WDW 'Blackberry', 

the ribbon is WDW 'Blue Jeans', the Green border is CC 'Beansprout', and the Valentine is

a Purple varigated silk from GumNuts I had in my stash.

Yesterday, I finished my February Brooke's Books SAL,

Merry Christmas Grumpy Kitty

which is a freebie and you can find it HERE

28 ct. Ice Blue Cashel

I substituted Gold Treasure Braid #4 for the star, and instead of french knots

for the snowflake, I added some sparkly crystals!

I've been working on my CCN 'Gingerbread House 1', and I'll post an updated picture of it as

well as I'm hoping to finish the corner motif on my TW Egyptian Sampler.

Onto the fun stuff, I reached 100 Followers on Instagram also this Valentine's Weekend!

To show my LOVE, I'm giving away not only

the LK 'Be Mine Valentine' chart, but 3 of the WDW flosses

Love, Blackberry and Blue Jeans, too!

All you need to do to qualify for an entry is to Follow me on Instagram, and like the photo there!

You can find me on Instagram @atthecrossrhodes , or click HERE. The contest will run from

now 2/16, until Sunday 2/20 at 11:59 p.m MST. I will announce the winner on Monday, 2/21! 

Wishing you all a lovely stitching day!

 Until next time!

xo, Christine

WIP Wedndesday 'Queen Mermaid' and Update

Happy Friday! Whoa!! Where did the week go! I meant to post yesterday, but it seems that there is this cold bug that is being shared around our house. Thankfully, I haven't caught it yet, but my dear husband, son and daughters each in turn have got it all week. On top of that my youngest felt she needed glasses, when actually the optometrist said she most likely only needs visual exercises to strengthen her eye muscles, so we have an appointment tomorrow for her.

Last week I mentioned that my husband and I were going to try and eat heathier. I'm taking a 30 day challenge to give up refined sugar. I already sweeten my cuppa hot tea with honey, so I'll just add it to my coffee as well. Also, I am only using 1/2 tsp for a daily total of 4 tsp. Over the course of my day I drink 4 cups of coffee 2 in the morning and 2 in the early evening, and then 2 cups of tea in the afternoon and at night. For last night's dinner, I tried something new, and I was pleasantly surprised. One of the foods, {which aren't many} that I have a strong dislike for is cauliflower. The last couple of years, I've seen it as a replacement for rice, so I gave it a go, and grated a cauliflower to make a stir fry. I have to say it was absolutely delicious.

Here is what I've been stitching on for 

\WIP Wednesday Mirabilias 'Queen Mermaid'.

I stitched more of her skin for her neck, arm, and back. For next week, I hope to work on her face.

Here is more progress on the Country Cottage Needlework's Gingerbread Cottage #1, and

Brooke's Books 'Merry Christmas Grumpy Kitty'. 

Today I'm working more on the center octagon in Chatelaine's Desert Mandala!

Oh, and I am beyond thrilled and excited to find out the Nora Corbett has a new Pixie Fairy for the New Just Cross Stich Magazine. 

If you haven't already seen her, 'Queen Anne's Lace' it's a Free download pattern Here. I've got some fabric that I want to try my hand at dyeing. And even though last month I started 8 new starts, I'm adding this as my +1. The colors are gorgeous and fun I just can't wait to get started on her!

Until next time!

Have a lovely stitching weekend!

xo, Christine