It's Been A while

I know it seems that I've just dropped off the face of the earth but actually I've just made some major changes in my life. My husband and I fell in love with the country life and decided we were ready to move out of the city. We bought some property, sold our house and made the move. We live in a tiny little community just outside of a small town. We're so small we don't even have a zip code of our own. Fortunately there was a nice mobile home on the property for our immediate use. Our new home is nearly completed and it can't be soon enough for me.

I got busy raising chickens and now have 31 hens that give me a dozen or more eggs a day. I sell the eggs to the locals here and anyone else who's passing through. Each spring I buy new chicks to keep the flock growing and production up. right now I have 20 little Red Comet pullets that are a month old. It will be 4 more months before they are old enough to start laying eggs. In addition to raising chickens I have a fabulous vegetable garden. With 25 acres there is enough room for me to grow what ever I like. I grow more vegetables than we can possibly eat or put up. I also have a small fruit orchard with peach, plum, apple and cherry trees.

My husband decided he wanted to raise honey bees. We started learning all we could and then jumped in. We have 9 hives now and in spite of the dry weather last year we managed to harvest a small amount of honey. This spring we've had plenty of rain and everything is blooming so we are hopeful of having a good year and getting lots of honey.

Needless to say all this has kept me very busy. I haven't had time to do any stitching at all. When we moved I had to close my design studio and without the space here for a new one I haven't continued. I may decide to start designing again once the house is completed but that's for later.

I still have a large number of my canvases that I would like to sell. If you are interested you can look at them on my website and then email me to make sure I have the design you want in stock. All designs will be sold at the wholesale price, no terms. The wholesale price will include the cost of shipping. This seems easier than coming up with a discounted price and then adding shipping to each sale.


Happy Shopping.

Sneak Peek

I like to do what I call "Seasonal Stitching". This is when I stitch something for the current holiday without any thought of getting it done in time. Stitching a Halloween goblin during the month of October or a Christmas piece after the dreaded deadline has passed just seems to get me in the mood. I'm giving you a sneak peek at the two companion pieces I'm getting ready to stitch. You can always stitch just one but two is twice the fun! Shown is #200, Gingerbread Boy and #201, Gingerbread Girl. Yesterday I had to drive into Houston, braving the torrents of rain, to deliver some website information for my dear husband. Steve does lots of websites for needlepoint shops. After I dropped off the disk and memory card for Nancy of The Needle House I looked around admiring her shop improvements. The Needle House was closed while they repainted and put in new floors. Everything looked wonderful and I'm sure they were pleased too. I spent an hour looking over the large thread selection and finally made my decisions. You see here the two canvases with my selection of threads.

Bamboo Dragonfly

This little piece is a small insert that fits nicely into the leather checkbook (BAG09) by Lee's Needle Art. I designed three of them, the bluebird you've already seen. This one is #216, Bamboo Dragonfly. The stitched area is only 2.75 x 6 inches. I really like these because they stitch up quickly and now that I've done one, they seem easy to assemble. The checkbook and the small wallets make great gifts that anyone on your list would enjoy. Best of all, you don't have to worry about any Christmas finishing deadline.

No, I Have Not Disappeared

I've been getting a few comments on the lack of posts lately. Sorry about that. I sometimes feel that I've found the end of the earth and tipped over the edge. I guess I have too much on my plate right now. Piggy of me! Since we've bought property out in the country I've been spending all my weekends out there. During the week I'm back in town with my daughter but my mind is always thinking of the next project I want to get done out there. My daughter has actually decided that she wants to transfer to the high school out there instead of waiting to move after she graduates. If this comes to past I really will have my hands full. I've had very little time to stitch or paint but I wanted to share the little bit of Halloween painting I did last weekend. Our pumpkin sits just outside of our fenceline by the gate, ready to greet anyone who comes down our road. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween.

I Did It !!!

I finished stitching on my Bluebird of Happiness canvas last night. I took a deep breath this morning and trimmed the edges, worked the piece into place and applied the fabric glue.

Just like that I had a finished wallet. How fantastic is that? Fortunately for me the sticky layer is rather forgiving and let me align the piece more than once. For those of us who like instant gratification and hate waiting weeks for a finisher to return a piece these Lee's Leather projects are perfect.

Bluebird and Wallet

This picture shows the black wallet I ordered from Lee's Needle Art, Inc. They have a wide range of styles to chose from and Robin Clark was most helpful. My canvas measures 2.75 inches by 6 inches, 18 count canvas. This size will fit into Lee's Barrel Bag, the Zip-Top and Regular Wallets and also the Checkbook. The best part is that you, the stitcher, can finish it at home. Each piece from Lee's comes with instructions for finishing, all you add is a bit of courage!

Of course, if you are more like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz you can send it to your regular finisher. The Zip Wallet has lots of places for credit cards and money as well as a zippered compartment and a wrist strap. Each is well made in good quality leather.

Bluebird of Happiness

I've been taking it fairly easy this summer as you can tell by the lack of new posts. Sorry about that but sometimes you just have to wallow in slug mode. I decided to do something a bit on the fun side and this being a small piece, it should be a quick stitch. Using a piece of scrap canvas I painted a bluebird from my In My Garden series and added a pink flower with leaves. The area to be stitched is only 2.75 by 6 inches, 18 count canvas. When finished I will insert it into one of the Lee's Needle Art wallets. (see above post) At this point I have the background to finish and the brown center of the flower. I used threads from my overflowing stash so I didn't even have to make a trip to my LNS. The background is worked in a Mosaic stitch using Impressions. The bird's body is worked in a Criss-Cross Hungarian stitch using Splendor and Tiara for the shiny dots. The beak and tail are done using 2 shades of Soy Luster solids. The cheek is a Wound Cross stitched in Splendor and the wing is worked in Gold Rush 18 with Petite Sparkle Rays for the white Smyrna crosses. The flower is edged with Tiara and filled in with Splendor. And last but not least, the leaves and stem are worked in 3 shades of Splendor. All these stitches are rather basis and can be found in most needlepoint books.