So much stuff!

I'm back - finally. I feel like I have been held hostage by an overzealous internet security package that wouldn't let me post to countless blogs, read most of my RSS feeds or even visit countless completely "safe" sites. I've learned my lesson and I will be sticking with my tried and true software.

So, in the past month, I've had lots to say and no one to say it to so I'll try to catch up in the next few weeks. Plus, this past weekend was the Nashville Needlework show so there are tons of new releases to drool over.

Here's an update on my January project. This is Dizzy Busy Bees from The Sweetheart Tree. It was (at first) a quick stitch. But then, I miscounted and had to frog an entire bee skep. Then, I finished up all except the charm in the center. I had already decided to finish it as a needlebook. But then I received these wonderful counting pins - from DebBee's. I love the colors and I had been wanting a set of counting pins for months. So I decided that my needlebook would instead be a home for my counting pins. I took my stitching with me to the quilting shop to choose some fabrics and somehow during that trip, I decided that I didn't care for the red beads. So, out came the red beads. I still need to replace them - possibly with honey colored beads. Then, I must have been in a perfectionist mood, and I couldn't find the perfect fabrics. So this dragged on for a couple of weeks. I now have the perfect fabric and I'll be testing a few bead colors today. Hopefully, I get this finished in the next couple of days so I have a home for my counting pins.

Right now, my counting pins are getting lots of use. I have started Lizzie Kate's Boo Club and I plan to start the Living with Charm series and the Christmas Spirit with Charm series as well. The counting pins are coming in handy with that border.

I also have Nora Corbett's Letter J started from her Letters from Nora series. Unfortunately, I don't absolutely love either the letter J or the letter K (for myself), but that may be for the best. I may have to push myself a little more to finish up the letter J (for a gift) but at least I won't be tempted to do the letter K for myself. My boys have told me that I'm a little too old to have fairies in my room anyway. I really hope that the letter M knocks my socks off when it comes out because I'll be stitching it twice! (also for gifts)

As far as Nashville goes - I was unable to attend due to a family emergency, but I am still drooling over a number of new releases. I am in the process of adding them to the website, but here a few of the notable releases:
From Sue Hillis designs:

Stitchers Days of Christmas - really cute.

Harvest Gourds is one of a bunch of new Autumn designs from Glendon Place

Harvest Gourds

There are also some beautiful new designs from Just Nan, a new monthly series from Brittercup Designs, some great designs for stitcher's tools from Cat's Whiskers, a traveling stitcher's pocket from Little House Needleworks, and some fabulous new designs from Jeannette Douglas. These will all be up on the website in the next few days. Also, we are delighted to be carrying Seba Designs and Giulia Punti Antichi designs. The Seba designs are already on our website and the GPA Designs will be added this week.

So much to stitch - so little time!

Organization

Since it is January, and we've had lots of indoor time, we (mostly I) have been organizing the house. It started with organizing all of the Christmas decorations - then the toys (just so we could put away the new ones from Christmas) then it spread. The laundry room, the pantries, the linen closets. My family is praying for a thaw so that there is an excuse to spend the weekend outside instead of organizing something. They're worried that "organizing" might last all the way to "Spring cleaning".

My evening organizing has been stitching. I have found tons of charts that I purchased more than ten years ago. I absolutely love some of these. I'm really bummed that quite of few of the designers of these charts stopped designing needlework years ago.

I love this one. It is called Lunar Harvest from Danelle Marie Classics. The copyright is 1992. I can't even find more information on this designer. The stars are stitched with metallic blending filaments and braids. I'll be starting this design this month. It is stitched on Navy fabric, so it will be good practice for the dragon I plan to stitch on black fabric this summer.

I did start a quick little piece yesterday. This is a Teenie Tweenie from The Sweetheart Tree - Dizzy Busy Bees. If I had stitched it on a larger count fabric, it would have been larger and I probably could have made a nice biscornu from it. As it is, it will probably be a needlebook. Its really cute and is stitching up really fast.

Thanks for stopping by!

End of 2008 stitching

I hope everyone's holidays are progressing wonderfully.

I, for one, am happy to have some stitching time again - especially since I received some wonderful new stash for Christmas. I got a wonderful Permin chart called "Garden Tools". This chart has been discontinued and I have been looking for it for months. I can't wait to start on it. I also received the finishing instructions from Judy Odell for the Designing Ladies 2006 Stitching Leporello project. Now I just have to decide which design to stitch to finish into my leporello. I also received the finishing instructions for The Ultimated Needlebook, also from Judy Odell.

Here is one more heart that I finished for a gift for Christmas. This is another design from Christmas in My Heart from Cross n Patch.

I did finish some other pieces just before Christmas that were (and still are) intended for gifts. Unfortunately, due to some nasty winter weather, my get-together with the intended recipients had to be postponed. Hopefully we'll see each other soon. I'll post pics when my friends have received their goodies.

As part of the new year review, I've been looking through my various "stitched but not finished" pieces as well as my WIPs and my "I really want to stitch these designs" drawers. In my stitched but not finished piles I have Emerald Dragonfly from Nora Corbett, Christmas Biscornu from Just Nan and Rosebuds and Hardanger from The Sweetheart Tree. I'll have to think about those. In my WIP pile I have Indian Summer Reflections from Martina Weber, Fairy Idyll from Mirabilia, a couple of Celtic Knotwork designs from Teresa Wentzler, one of the Cherub freebies from Mirabilia Designs, and Witch Way from Just Nan.

Then there are the designs that I really want to start - Garden Stars or Sea Stars from Ink Circles (I can't even decide which), Barnabee's Quest from Just Nan, Mermaids of the Deep Blue or Mermaid of Atlantis (probably Mermaid of Atlantis) from Mirabilia, and, from Lizzie Kate, Christmas Double Flips and the Boo! club Double Flips. That's just the list of designs that have already been released are are in my stash (except for the Boo Club). There are always more wonderful designs released during the year that are completely unexpected as well as the ones that I am impatiently awaiting - like letters J, K and M in the Letters from Nora series. Plus, there are those designs that I've seen before but haven't jumped out at me - and then I see them all stitched up somewhere I just have to have them.

I'll have to think about my PLAN for the year. I've never been good at rotation stitching, but since all of these projects are large, I may give it a go again this year. I am taking pics of all of my WIPs this afternoon and hopefully I'll be able to see progress on all them in short order.

Happy Stitching everyone!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping for a new and prosperous new year for all of us.

As part of the new year goal setting process, I have my look back to last year's goals and the look forward for the coming year. Last year wasn't too bad as far as goals go - of course, I didn't explicitly set too many. Some expectations may have been a little too high (what made me think I could get everything in the house cleaned, repainted, updated and redecorated as well as work out and do the grocery shopping all while my son was in half-day kindergarten?). Some expectations may have been a little too low (we should have taken long family vacations much sooner - we were all able to handle it and enjoy it).

Reading the year-in-review from some famous stitching bloggers, I have incorporated some of their successes into my goals for the year. For instance, I recognize that I have lost the "pep in my step" as I have gained pounds. My first goal is to adjust my lifestyle to incorporate healthier habits. Hopefully, in the process, I will lose 10 of the pounds that I have found in the last five years by June. More importantly, I hope to have more energy and feel better about myself and the world around me.

Another goal is to be even more involved in the education process for my children. We started off with lots of ambition and activities and they dwindled as the year progressed. My plan is to really cultivate their observation skills and to promote more contemplation of the world around them.

I, myself, plan to read more - more often and greater variety. I need to incorporate a greater variety of opinions, genre and topics into my everyday life.

I need to remember to enjoy every single day. I need to revel in the wonder of small children. I need to regain their excitement about the world around them.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all behaved like 5 year olds? Do you remember when a box of crayons, some construction paper, glue and a bunch of old buttons, pom poms, macaroni or glitter would have kept you happily occupied for hours? Do you remember really concentrating on the snowflakes falling outside your window? When is the last time you were interested by moving around the magnets on your refrigerator for an entire hour? Have you really watched ants go about their business? (I have boys) How about the birds outside your window? Or even the people outside your window? Can you be perfectly content, if not thrilled, with a bowl of mac n cheese (from a box, of course) and a clementine to carry you through the afternoon? Can you happily read the same book for twentieth time and just be wonderfully comfortable with that repetition? I have all of these things on my list of possible activities this year - and I am looking forward to all of them.

Ornament from Ulla

Just in time to hang on my Christmas tree, I received this wonderful ornament exchange from Ulla. The ornament is beautiful and I love all the goodies as well - especially the little stocking buttons. Thank you so much!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays.

We are have pretty much recovered from all of the Christmas excitement - all of the wrapping, unwrapping, hugging and kissing relatives that we only see a couple of times each year, eating, playing in all the snow - followed by playing soccer outside in 60F only a few days later. Its turning out to be a wonderful holiday time for us. I hope that everyone else is enjoying the comfort and joy of family and friends as well.

I am, however, looking forward to the quiet of January to sit and stitch quietly wrapped up at home. I received lots of stash (pics next time) and I can't wait to pick up some unfinished pieces and start some new ones.

Have a safe, healthy and happy New Year!

Christmas Ornament Exchange

I heard last week that Goldie received the ornament I stitched for the Christmas Ornament Exchange.

Christmas in My Heart 2005

Cross 'N Patch

I hope she likes it. I really enjoyed stitching this. I also stitched a few more of the Christmas hearts as well as a couple of Angels.

By the time I was done with this fat quarter, I had filled it with various hearts and angel dresses and wings. Now, I just need a Saturday to finish them all up.

Need even more time to finish up the Christmas tree. So far, it has lots of lights but only a few ornaments. I'm waiting for everyone to be home at the same time (which could be weeks from now) to put the rest of the decorations on.

I hope everyone is finding their way to a wonderful holiday season.

Seasonal stitching

Well, the temperature has swung from above normal to way below average around here. The cold weather definitely makes it easier to get in the Christmas spirit. I don't know what I would do if I lived somewhere in the south. You know how some plants need a certain amount of darkness or light to do their thing? I need a certain amount of cold to get ready for Christmas.

My Christmas stitching and finishing have been progressing (no pics though since they're gifts). We've had more than our usual time at home due to various illnesses so I've been making the best of it.

I found a new trick to stitching the ornaments from the Christmas in My Heart leaflet. Since I kept finding myself mis-counting on my buttonhole edges, I tried stitching two ornament borders next to each other. Since they are pretty much the same size, it becomes evident pretty quickly if I have mis-counted and I can fix it before I get too far. Once I stitch the borders, I fill them in with all of the cross stitch and kloster blocks. I don't start any cutting until all of the stitching that requires a frame is completed.

These have stitched up pretty quickly - at least when I count correctly. I really like how they have come out.

I also started on one of the new Nora Corbett pixies, Holly. It would be nice to finish her before Christmas, but I don't think that's realistic. I really like her though.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Gingerbread Friends ornament

So, here's my Gingerbread Friend - the design from Brooke's Books. It is stitched on 14 count perforated paper. It stitched up relatively quickly. This is definitely one of those designs that benefits from the backstitching. I was a little concerned about some of the shading, but the backstitching really made a difference. Oddly enough - the toughest part of this one was cutting the paper around the outline around the stitching. Of course, I forgot to add a hanging loop when I put the backing on the ornament. It is really cute though. For the next one, I am planning to stitch Cherry on Top.










Here's our page for designs from Brooke's Books Publishing. The design that I stitched is Gingerbread Friend from the Elf Babies series which contains four patterns. The second design from Brooke's Books is Cherry on Top from the same series. Brooke's Books has a lot of cute designs for baby announcements, Easter and Halloween decorations, as well as Christmas decorations.

Happy stitching everyone!

Blank Canvas

Blank canvas! Look at this!

I've been working on a few of the ornaments from Emie Bishop's Christmas in My Heart. I just finished the buttonhole edge on another ornament and took a new look at the piece. What a great frame. I could fill this with all sorts of different designs. Motifs from countless different samplers would fit beautifully in this little heart. More hardanger fills. Anything.

I think I'll start with borders on more pieces. There are probably tons of possible combinations out there that I never even considered. Once I have a border to work with, I have a smaller canvas to work with. Somehow, that makes it so much easier to use my own creativity to fill the space. I can't wait!

More Gingerbread

Halloween Exchange for Becky

I have received word from Becky that she has received her Halloween Exchange. I stitched the Kreinik freebie, Happy Jack. The design uses lots and lots of #4 Very Fine braid in Vintage Colors. Somehow, I didn't notice that it was so full of #4 braid until I had already started. I was a little worried about the amount of metallic thread but I think it turned out OK. I finished it as a stand up for Becky. She has much better pictures on her blog. I really enjoyed this Halloween Exchange. Thank you so much Becky.

We are having the most beautiful Fall weather. The fall foliage is at its peak. The nights are clear and cool and the days have the most beautiful blue sky. I hope everyone is enjoying autumn.

Gingerbread Friend

Here's an update my Gingerbread Friend from Brooke's Books Publishing. I need to get the stitching completed before the weekend so that I can work on the finishing with the Girl Scouts. As you can see, he will definitely benefit from some backstitching which I'll do when the cross stitching is complete. When I've actually had the chance to work on him, the stitching has progressed pretty quickly. I should be able to finish the little girl before Saturday.

Rather than finish the back as instructed, I think I will embroider a name on a piece of felt and use it for backing the stitching. Then I'll have an ornament/gift tag.

How is everyone's holiday stitching going?

Autumn House Exchange for Susan

Susan has received the Autumn House Exchange that I sent to her. Here is the needlebook that I stitched for her. The design is the house part of Cider House Garden from Liz Turner Diehl.

Here is the whole piece from Liz Turner Diehl.

I have seen stitched models of this piece and it is really gorgeous. I am pretty sure that I have also seen it on a stitcher's blog as well. I have it in my stash to stitch the entire sampler someday.

Fall is really kicking in around here. The leaves are finally changing and we seeing some frost in the morning. Pumpkins and Halloween decorations are everywhere and we've been making lots of apple picking trips. I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather.

Autumn House Exchange from Joan

Look at this wonderful exchange I received from Joan. This is for the Autumn House Exchange. Beautiful cross stitching and sewing as well - Joan made the little chicken too. I love all the goodies too. Its hard to find ribbons and trims around here since we don't have a fabric store nearby anymore so the ribbons are doubly appreciated.

Sorry about all of the shadows on the picture. The sun is setting already.

Just wonderful. Thank you so much Joan.

Strawberry from Gaby

I received the cutest little strawberry emery from Gaby for a Make a Wish Exchange. Isn't this adorable? Thank you Gaby.

My Autumn House exchange is on its way and my Halloween Exchange for Becky will be on its way this weekend. Then it will be lots of projects for the holidays.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Halloween Exchange from Becky

I received my Halloween Exchange from Becky today. Isn't this just perfect! The inside of the box is lined as well. Thank you so much Becky.

It rained from Friday all the way through Sunday so I had lots of stitching time. Finished up my Halloween Exchange, made some progress on my Gingerbread Friend and I even worked on a near UFO - Mirabilia's Fairy Idyll. So, I'll have more pics as soon as the sun stays out long enough to take some pictures.

Thanks for stopping by.

Fuzzy Little Friend

No stitching pics today. One exchange going out tomorrow and another exchange going out the end of this week. Still have my happy gingerbread man too - he has a head and shoulders and a face. He just needs his little companions. I need to get moving on him to finish him up before the beginning of October - but first I need to finish up my Halloween Exchange.

I do have a pic of a fuzzy little friend. I'm not sure what variety this is, but I found him moving pretty quickly across my front steps.

Stitching pics next time. Happy Fall everyone.

Yuko's Birthday

I just found that Yuko has received her birthday gift for the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Exchange. Her birthday is on Sunday so it arrived just in time. Happy Birthday Yuko! I hope you like your Needlebook and needles and the JBW Designs.

Here's the cool needlebook design - this is the Folding Cross Needlebook from Indigo Rose. I changed the colors to pink for Yuko. The original design called for midnight blue. You can see (and purchase) the design here. We'll be adding more Indigo Rose designs to our website this weekend.

Each leaf of the needlebook has numbers to specify which needles are stored there and the center is a pincushion. Then the whole thing folds up neatly into this little square. Each leaf has button hole to button to the little tulip bead in the center.

The design was fun to stitch. I think I may join the cyberstitchers of the EGA just so I can take the reversible blackwork class. I had never done anything like this before and I am quite sure that there is a more correct way of starting and finishing and being sure that everything looks just so. But I am very happy with how this piece turned out. I will be stitching another one for myself when my holiday stitching is complete.

Have a good weekend everyone. Prayers for those who are in the path of Hurricane Ike.

No Gingerbread smile yet

Well, after Tropical Storm Hannah passed through Saturday night, Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. So, my little Gingerbread Friend still doesn't have a smile (or shoulders or a head for that matter). And given that today is absolutely gorgeous as well, things aren't looking to promising for him today either. Maybe he'll have better luck tomorrow; its supposed to be stormy. I do have to finish him up though because the new Sweetheart Tree biscornu kits are calling to me. I really love the Blackberries on Gingham Biscornu, so I'll do that one first. Followed by the Holiday Holly design.

Blackberries on Gingham Biscornu	Holiday Holly Biscornu

I mailed out a couple of pieces this weekend for gifts and exchanges so I'll be able to post pics soon. I really liked working on these pieces. Can't wait to show them.



















This is a pic of the piece I did with the Brownies this weekend. This is a VERY old Mill Hill kit. Each of the girls picked a kit from this Summer or Fall's releases and started work on them. The beading parts of their kits will be much easier - they won't have to manage loops of beads. This little pin turned out to be cute. I hope they enjoy finishing their kits.

Gingerbread bellybutton

Now, there's a title for a post. I'll bet you expected more crumbs!

This little guy is Gingerbread Friend from Brooke's Books. It is stitched on perforated paper which is sooo easy. I think he deserves to at least have a head by the end of the weekend. (With all the rain and wind to come, I don't think I'll be doing much else) I plan to stitch a few more of these cute little Brooke's Books designs and use them as gift tags at Christmas.

I pulled out the Brooke's Books designs because most, if not all, of them are stitched on perforated paper and I needed a refresher on the perforated paper. I'll be teaching a group of Brownies some cross stitch (this afternoon, in fact) and I thought that the little Mill Hill pin kits would be a great place for them to start. The kits include everything. They are stitched on perforated paper, which is remarkably sturdy. They include beads so the girls get to work with beads and floss (and they're sparkly which doesn't hurt). And they are small enough that they won't be too tough to finish. So, hopefully, I'll finish the Gingerbread Friend before the next meeting in October with the Brownies and I can show them what else they can do stitching on perforated paper. I get to work with the girls again in the spring and then I'll bring small projects on fabric for them.

By the way, if you ever get the chance to work with the Brownies, I highly recommend it. They get so excited over new things. They're a blast to watch. And, you'll always know for sure when its time to order those Thin Mint cookies.

If you're interested in the Brooke's Books designs, you can see them on our website.

Enjoy your weekend!

Little House Needleworks

We are happy to announce that we will now carry Little House Needleworks designs. These popular designs really celebrate simplicity. Check out the great variety of LHN samplers on our website - NeedleartsGallery.com.

To celebrate this new addition, we will offer 10% all Little House Needleworks designs for blog readers through September 15. Just enter code NEWLHN during checkout.

Stitching pics next time!

Have you seen...

Have you seen the Hawaiian Garden mandala design from Chatelaine Designs? It is really outstanding. I could send you to the picture on the Chatelaine Designs site, but it really doesn't do justice to it at all. It is just a computer mock-up so you don't get to see the texture of the beautiful stitches or sparkle of the braids and beads. I recommend you see the pics on the Yuku forum - here. Look at the detail - the volcanoes, the pineapples, the beaches, the waterfalls - and it isn't even finished yet.



For those who don't have experience with Martina Weber's designs (Chatelaine Designs), Martina generally releases her designs online over a period of time. Some of her designs are "mysteries", you get a piece each month and you won't know what the final piece will look like until the last month. Other designs are "online classes" in which you can see pics of the complete piece but the design is released in parts over the months. You download each part in an Adobe Acrobat file and you use a password to open the file. She releases her designs in chartpacks to shops approximately a year after the online period is completed. Her designs are truly impressive - lots of different fibers, embellishments and details.

We carry a number of charts from Chatelaine Designs and we will be adding more as they are released. We'd also be happy to special order other designs if you are interested.



I highly recommend going to the Chatelaine bulletin board on Yuku (the link is in my 'Important Links'). The bulletin board has sections for each of the current mysteries or online classes. Under each of these is a topic showing current Works in Progress. There is also a general topic with a gallery of completed pieces. These pics are really stunning. The next time you are in need of inspiration, I highly recommend checking out the Chatelaine forum.

Feels like Fall

It feels like Fall. The nights have been going all the way down to the fifties. The days are in the seventies. Clear blue sky - all day. And no humidity. Some of the leaves are even beginning to change. Summer flew by.

I have lots of stitching going on but nothing that I can show yet. Right now all of my stitching is for a few upcoming exchanges.

The new Just Nan designs should arrive today. And, of course, that just adds to my new dilemma. - When we were finally able to get Mirabilia Designs again and lots of stitchers were re-invigorated and inspired to finish their Mirabilia WIPs, we all had a chance to see lots of newly finished pieces. While I have really liked a few of the smaller fairies/pixies that Nora Corbett has released in the few months, I don't really have a place for them in my home. I also really don't have any little girls for whom to stitch. But, in addition to the pixies, I really love a few of the Mirabilia mermaids. Now that I've seen more and more of them recently, I soooo want to stitch them - specifically Mermaid of Atlantis and Mermaids of the Deep Blue. How many people stitch large designs knowing that they have no place for the finished pieces? I still have Fairy Idyll only partially completed and I have no place for that either. Will these pieces be an excuse to re-decorate my office? Will this mean that I will just simply have to have a room dedicated to stitching? (I rather like that last idea). Am I just crazy?

Keep stitching!

New Designs

Yay! New designs!

Mirabilia Designs has released its first large design since being acquired by Wichelt Imports. Athena - Goddess of Wisdom is now available.

Lavender & Lace has also release a new design - Fallen Roses.

Keep an eye out for new Just Nan designs at the the end of the month - including Christmas designs as well as the next installment of the Over the Top and In the Tin series.

Pinkeep for Vonna

Vonna has received her pinkeep for the Make a Wish Exchange so I can post a pic of it now. Vonna wished for a flatfold or pinkeep in a patriotic or Americana designs. I stitched the Liberty Heart Freebie from Trail Creek Farm and finished it as a pinkeep.



Trail Creek Farm is the company that makes those adorable pillows in different shapes. Here's an example of one of the pillows that they make in the shape of a star. They have a large selection of others including a bunny, a carrot and even the placemat for one of JBW Design's pieces from last Christmas. These pillows are a great way to quickly finish off your stitched pieces. They even come with coordinating covered buttons.






I am continuing work on one of my exchange pieces and while it is coming along well, I am beginning to see the need for counting pins. Gridding this fabric really wouldn't have worked very well, but the counting for this design is a bit tougher than usual. Time to look into some of those pretty counting pins. I always thought they were pretty but I wasn't sure how much use I would get from them - now I can see how helpful they would be.

Keep enjoying these last days of Summer. For those who have already returned to school or who have already sent their kids back to school, Welcome Back!

Twinklings I

Here is one of of the ornaments I finished last week. This is Twinklings I from the Twinklings pack from Just Nan. This was a quick stitch and I love how easy it is to finish them off in a WhimZi frame.

The Cherry Blossoms Biscornu and fob from my last post are from The Sweetheart Tree. This year, Sandie is releasing biscornu kits that coordinate with some of her most popular scissor fob designs. Over time, she has said that she will release designs for various other stitching smalls to coordinate with these designs and create whole sets of stitching goodies.

I have some other stitching in the works but it is all for exchanges. I can't wait for one particular exchange to be sent and received. I am really enjoying stitching this piece and I can't wait to show a picture of it.

Must be off before the thunderstorm causes another power outage. Have a great week.

Wow! I can't believe its been over a month since my last post. Its been a really busy month too!

My family and I had a wonderful trip down south. We took the Auto Train from Virginia down to Florida and it was wonderful. It was far cheaper than flying for the three of us and that doesn't even count what it would cost to rent a minivan while staying down there. Even better, you can bring all of your stuff - whatever you can pack in your car stays in your car. No limitations on bags to check, bottles of liquids or gels or whatever. We were able to travel with all of the comforts that we usually have in the car, (games and snacks and such) plus I was able to bring a huge amount of the most popular stitching supplies for filling orders while we were away.

We had beautiful weather while we were away and we spent most of it outside and sightseeing so I didn't complete a whole lot of stitching. I am just now (a week later) finishing all of the laundry and cleaning. I'm not sure how long it will take to finish the garden. Apparently three weeks with lots of rain is just long enough to grow the strongest, heartiest weeds ever.

I did manage some stitching and I have packaged up a few items to mail out today for exchanges (no pics yet). I also finished my travel stitching project which came out nicely. I originally finished the Cherry Blossoms fob with the beaded edge, but I found that threads kept becoming caught on the beads. So I removed the beaded edge. I did finish it with the twisted cord and tassel.


I am waiting on some specialty threads for nearly all of my other Works in Progress. Hopefully I'll have some more pics of those once my braids and silks arrive.

Happy Summer everyone. Enjoy it while its here.

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Lots of summer activities - followed by lots more relaxation.

We're getting ready for our summer trip - taking the train all the way to Florida. Should be quite an adventure. My boys haven't been on a train before so even a short train ride would have been an adventure. Plus we get to take the car. The nice part of traveling this way is that I don't have to worry about all the limitations on liquids, gels, etc. for carry on luggage on an airline. There aren't as many limitations on my stitching projects either - so in honor of the trip, I am gifting myself a new project (both of my boys and my hubby have their birthdays within this week and I'm feeling left out). I'm deciding between Slicker Parade from Xs and Ohs and a design called "Magi" which is an old Janlynn chart that I have always loved but haven't had a chance to stitch.

I have made some progress on my 'travel project' - Cherry Blossoms fob. So far it is going more smoothly than I anticipated - possibly because it is such a small project. I have finished the stitching on one side and I have stitched all of the ThreadWorX thread for the second side. I wanted to start with the ThreadWorX on the second side just to be sure that I had enough. If I was going to come up short with the overdyed thread, I wanted to frog it without messing up any other stitching. Up until now, I haven't brought the beads with me. They would be way too easy to bump and knock over in the car.

On the shop front - stay tuned for the Christmas in July sale details. Lots of fun stuff!

Exchange Received!

I received a wonderful little package in the mail yesterday. Here is my needlebook from Terry for the Make A Wish Exchange. Isn't it wonderful! I love the colors. Now I have my own needlebook.



Thanks Terry for your beautiful work!

New Additions

We have lots of new additions up on the website. Here are just a few of them.

The new Gilded Dragonfly Scissor Purse from Just Nan is on its way here. This design is only available as a kit and it is a very limited edition. We only have a few that weren't pre-ordered so if this is one of those designs that you just have to have, you definitely want to order now because we won't get any more of these.
There are some new designs from Rosewood Manor. And a Garden Grew is a beautiful sampler with a large and varied collection of flower and animal motifs. The chart is a full 22 pages long and is in nice large print.
We also have a few new designs from Shepherd's Bush including Scatter Freedom and Scatter Sunshine. These are absolutely adorable with their cute little buttons from Just Another Button Company. Great Summer projects.

Be sure to stop by and pick up your Summer stitching goodies.

Cherry Blossoms

I was pulling together my materials for my new travel project, Cherry Blossoms Fob, and I decided to go back and check my pics of my Cherry Blossoms Biscornu. Strangely, I couldn't find the pics of the finished biscornu anywhere. I could have sworn I had some pictures up here but I can't find those either. So, new pics of my finished biscornu with the materials for the matching fob. The Cherry Blossom biscornu was a kit that included everything. The Cherry Blossoms Fob is a Teenie Tweenie chart that comes with the little pearls. The fob chart calls for Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss but the biscornu used ThreadWorX floss. I have a good length of the ThreadWorX floss left from the biscornu kit and I am hoping to substitute that for the WDW. Hopefully there will be enough and then the two pieces should match perfectly.






Of course, I took so long to get my materials together for this that I won't be able to start on the new biscornu kit right away. The new biscornu kits have arrived and I am looking forward to stitching the Baby Shamrocks Biscornu. And then, of course, I need to stitch the Baby Shamrocks Fob. The Cat Lover's biscornu is adorable too. I have a few cat lovers on my Christmas list who just might appreciate that cute little design.

Sandcastle birthday cake

So - I finally finished the sandcastle cake. There was a good deal of seaweed but no black bubbly things (I think those are egg cases for some sort of sand shark). The kids had a great time at the party and when it came time to have cake and ice cream - they ate all of the cake decorations. They weren't too interested in the actual cake. They were thrilled that they actually got to eat "rocks".

Lessons learned from this include:

Fruit roll ups dissolve into something that looks like swamp tar when the humidity level is high.
You CAN eat those realistic looking candy rocks.
Gummy fish stick together nicely when the humidity level is high.
Kids will even pass up chocolate if they think they can eat rocks instead.

Sandcastles

My young son will be having his birthday party this week. He has requested a sandcastle cake. I already had the sandcastle bundt pan and thought I could just make a sand-colored cake - Spice Cake - and it really wouldn't need too much decoration. The cake pan has quite a bit of detail. Of course, my son had a different idea - he feels that all cakes need to be decorated. So - I pictured a nice sandcastle like Mirabilia's Seaside Kingdom - nice bright sand, some sparkly beads, a few shiny shells, some ribbon flags. Yeah. That's what I thought. My son looked at it and said, "Yeah Mom, there isn't nearly enough seaweed and those bubbly black things that we find on the beach." So I drew some seaweed on the picture. Still not enough. Drew some more seaweed. Still not enough. Finally I got enough seaweed and "black bubbly things" on it. Now it looks a whole lot more like a mud pie. I'm thinking I might just make a huge batch of brownies and mash them up. This should be interesting.

Helen (Stitchingranny) commented on my last post about her method for taking projects with her when she's out and about. I'm going to take some of her suggestions and keep a project with me. I'll take something small - the Cherry Blossoms Fob that goes with the Cherry Blossoms biscornu. Its nice and small so I won't cry too much if I do get something on my fabric and have to start over. I have some of the over-dyed ThreadWorX floss from the biscornu kit left so I can make the two pieces match well. Thanks for telling me how you travel with your stitching, Helen.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads.

My Grand Plan

So here's my Grand Plan for Summer stitching. I need to get two name trees done for Christmas ornaments. I also want to finish 3 Twinklings WhimZi ornaments to keep on hand for those "surprise" gifts (you know, when you hadn't planned on shopping for a person and they arrive with a gift for you). I also need to do one of the Sweetheart Tree nutcracker ornaments as a Christmas gift (can't say here which one). I have an exchange due at the end of the Summer and I will probably sign up for one other exchange during the summer. I think that's all for obligation stitching. However, I do have a huge amount of obligation knitting.

Then - the items I would like to stitch just because I want to stitch them. First, the new Gilded Dragonfly Scissor Purse from Just Nan. Also, I really like Slicker Parade from Xs and Ohs. And I want to do one of the Mini Mandalas from Chatelaine. At some point, I would really like to try my hand at one of the HAED designs. AND, on top of all of that, an email from Mirabilia this week hinted that the company re-organization may be completed soon so the Mirabilia charts will be available again.

Baseball ends next week so I think I'll start off with stitching the Sweetheart Tree nutcracker. This week I'll get everything kitted up. How do people bring stitching with them when they're out and about? I can bring knitting and I have passed time waiting for practices or appointments knitting, but I don't think I could stitch. First, I'd be worried about getting something on my fabric. Second, how do you keep track of your threads and chart? How many places do you go that you can lay out your chart and pick through your threads to get any stitching done? I'm really curious how people achieve this. I would love to figure this out. Any thoughts?

Nora Corbett Designs

A new series of designs from Nora Corbett - Letters from Nora. The first three designs in this series have been release and they're really cute. These designs are all stitched on 32 ct Waterlily Linen with Crescent Colours threads. You can get more information on the materials for these designs on our Nora Corbett page.