Look What I Found!

Guess what? It's Fabulous Friday again. I know...I missed last week. But I'm back now and ready with more cool needlework finds on Etsy.

This is one mouse you won't jump up on a chair and scream at! Precious mouse pincushion from Nancym4. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24683313

The elegance of this thread puller from anxious1 is stunning. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23989029

This turtle wall art quilt from CinfulArt is just so bright and cheerful it makes you smile. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21792630

It would almost be a shame to cover up these bobbins from NeoVamp with embroidery floss. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25203552

Well, there you have it. Now, LET'S GO SHOPPING!

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Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day. Please remember to honor those who have sacrificed so much to make our country free and safe. It is such a privilege to live in a country where we are free to live, worship, speak, and prosper as we wish, but that freedom comes with a price. I want to personally thank all the brave men and women who serve in our armed services.

On a less serious note, unless you're a cross stitch addict, I'm still working on Grace Mason. The four-sided alphabet, numbers and dividing bands are my current focus. And I'm not a big fan of four-sided stitch. So the sooner I can move on, the better. Unfortunately, there's a lot of over one stuff near the bottom. Apparently, I've already done most of the fun stuff. Oh well.

I've also been working on my needlework accessory sets. Ever since I created that set for a friend, I've been kicking myself for not doing it all along. My only excuse is that I usually make scissor fobs one day, counting pins another day, etc. So the creative process wasn't coordinated. I guess that's the price I pay for being left-brained and organized. Anyway, I worked up eight sets this weekend. I'm still in the process of photographing them. The blue set and the lime green set I show last week are now available on my Etsy shop and I listed this teal, purple, and silver set today.

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I am a MORON!

You will not believe what I've done now.

We had to make a quick trip to my mom's house and I was looking at her collection of miniature samplers that I have stitched for her over the years. And lo and behold, there are two of the Beehive Sampler that I stitched this year! I stitched it for her in 2007. How dumb can I get?

The good news is now I'll have one. The bad news is I have to stitch her another one!

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Stitching accesories in sets!

Well, I finally got a few color coordinated sets of scissor fob, large and small counting pins assembled and photographed. Each listing shows a photo of the set, but that they can be purchased individually or all together.

This is the only one I have actually listed so far, but you guys get a preview here of what is coming. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19689547

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Just another day ...

Another day is almost gone and I'm still trying to figure out what I've accomplished. A lot of little things actually. Lester and I went for a longer walk than usual because apparently winter is back. At least it feels like it. Temps in the sixties in May is almost unheard of and that's what we're looking at all week. Ych.

I remembered to photograph Grace Mason. I'm working on the four-sided alphabet and numbers now. The numbers go up into the teens...kinda weird for a sampler. And miracle of miracles, no counting mistakes yesterday. Woohoo! I may have to have a party.

I also generated a new banner for the Etsy shop. Well, I had to because I sold the fob that was pictured in my old banner. And apparently it's really bad juju to show something in your banner that you don't have in your shop. Anyway, I used bannersketch.com and it was pretty easy. I'm going to work on a new banner for the blog sometime soon. Maybe one with a little more color. Although I really like whitework.

I took pictures of a custom order of scissor fob, needlepoint counting pins, cross stitch counting pins and needle threader. I think I'm going to incorporate coordinating sets like this in my Etsy inventory.

So, after a little housework, a little Etsy work, a little Tweeting, and some blogging I'm ready to sit down and stitch. Oh wait, I have to fix dinner. Well, as usual, I won't get to stitch until after dinner.

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Beehive Sampler Framed

Well, I finally painted the frame for the miniature Beehive sampler that I stitched for mom for Mother's Day. It's a completely handmade frame from poplar. The opening is 1.5"x2". I painted the top with a faux finish. The inner and outer edges are painted black. Of course, Mama loves it. Does she really have a choice? That makes five in her silk gauze miniature sampler collection.

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Grace Mason is coming right along

Except for some unstitching last night, I feel like Grace Mason is moving right along. I even put in one of the "over one" birds last night. And let me tell you, doing that on 40 count is not a quickie. Doing a reproduction takes even more concentration, I think, because you have to reproduce all the mistakes or idiosyncracies of the original. For instance, the leaves on the fruit baskets are not symmetrical and neither are the horizontal parts of the vine. So you have to pay particular attention to exactly where you are on the chart. You cannot assume that the left side is the same as the right side.

Right now, I have to go paint the frame for my mom's "Beehive Sampler". I've procrastinated all week and she's going home tomorrow, so I guess I better get to it.

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