Progress pic on Chinese Garden and the Liebster Blog Award

Hi y'all!   I have been busy stitching on my Chinese Garden Mandala from Chatelaine, and recently finished part 7, so I thought I'd post a picture here!  I'm doing the WiP Killer SAL on the Yuku Chatelaine BB and trying to finish  this so I can get the new Serengeti mandala! Click on it and I think you will see it enlarged. I had some trouble with one of the silks being poorly dyed and had to go back with some DMC in the same coral color and replace it on the upper left spring garden. Upper right is the summer garden, then autumn below. Part 8 will be the winter garden in the final corner, plus a narrow border around the entire piece so far. The final parts go around the outside, and include 4 phoenix birds! I'm going to take a break with a small and then get on with this again!

Also, I've been stitching my next freebie, so watch for it in the near future!

In the meantime, I got a blog award from Rebekah! Thank you! I borrowed the info below from her blog.
She gave me one of the Liebster Blog Awards and this is what it means.....

Liebster is a German word, meaning favorite, dearest or beloved, and the Liebster is awarded by bloggers to other, newer bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to spread the word and help the new(er)bies gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:

1. Choose five up-and-coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

So, choosing 5 blogs that haven't already gotten this award is the tough part. Here we go.



1)Chronicles of a Cross Stitching Hockey Fanatic http://archangeldecker.blogspot.com/

2)Sue's Stitching  http://suesstitching.blogspot.com/

3)The Twilight Thread http://thetwilightthread.blogspot.com/

4)Nancy's Needle Notes http://ndmurdock.blogspot.com/

5)It's Geek to Me  http://lottloft.blogspot.com/

And the 5 random facts people don't know....yet!

1) I have a Masters in Library Science, circa 1989
2) I used to own a children's bookstore in the 90's
3) I own (along with DH and DD) approximately 9,000 books (noticing a trend?)
4) I surprise myself by being a crazy 'Caniac (ie hockey fanatic)....who knew?
5) I have wanted a pony or horse since age 5....it's an incurable disease I don't mind having!