A Finish of My Own, Another Exchange Received, Another Gift, & Good News

A very, very good morning to all of you!  It is a very, very, very good morning here because it is snowing   : )   Our street & our driveway are covered with the white stuff! Not so much the grass, but hopefully that will occur as well.  It is delightfully cold! Sophie is soaking up the heat from one of the heating vents, & I am resplendent in a comfy long sleeved shirt & furry slippers.  Life is good  : )

As you all must certainly know by now, I can't finish my way out of a paper bag. Without Myra having taken pity on me last year, all my ornaments would be unfinished in a box somewhere.  I may have even given up stitching them!  I will, however, give finishing a go if it's a primitive design.  Since primitive things aren't supposed to be perfect, I can kind of get away with finishing them.  Anyway, last year I stitched a few primitive things but never finished them.  I remembered a week or so ago that I had them & so I finished some for gifts.  This one, however, I finished for me.  It's a design by Niky's Creations from the 2011 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments ... Deer in a Forest.   I really like stockings, & I really like deer, so this was a perfect design for me  : )

Yesterday Marie informed me that she received the exchange package I sent to her so now I can share its contents with you.  A package of peppermint bark malted milk balls, some skeins of DMC, & another ornament choice from the 2011 JCS Christmas Ornaments issue ... Good Tidings to You by The Sampler Girl.  I love this ornament!  I've stitched it twice as a gift & next year I plan to stitch one for myself the same way I stitched this one for Marie ... using 1 strand over 2 on 40 count.  These are Marie's photos which I am borrowing from her blog post .  The finishing was done by Myra, of course   : )

 

I've also received another gift!  This one is from my dear friend Carol.  I saw this design on the Popular Posts section of her sidebar, clicked on the link to take a closer look at it, & then mentioned to her how very much I liked it.  Little did I know that this would prompt her to stitch one for me!  I love it! Thank you again my friend!

Good news!!!  A little over a week ago, I posted here about the poorly crafted Fontanini nativity set I bought from Fontanini Store.com.  You can view the details if you click the link.  I sent them an email before returning the nativity set telling them how disappointed I was, but I never received a reply.  After returning the nativity set, I checked the UPS website & they showed it being delivered, but I had not received my refund.  I checked my PayPal account for several days but still no refund was posted. I finally decided to file a dispute.  Yesterday I received an email from PayPal telling me that my dispute was closed because the store had issued me a full refund!!!  No 20% restocking fee!!!  Good news indeed   : )

A full refund, a thoughtful gift, a happy exchange recipient, & a finish done by me that doesn't look like something the cat would drag in.  I am truly blessed   : )