Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of Jake's Halloween Costume. He is not a painter. I know the hat makes him look like he is. I will give you a hint - he is going to be a vegetable. I have not posted pictures of Jake in awhile and thought you would like to see how he has grown. He is now seven months old, weights 20 pounds and is crawling.
He is the light of my life and that is why I am not getting a lot of stitching accomplished.

Linda

Jake Is In The Box and Progress on Dr. A

The Jake canvas is finished and is now in the Lee Photo Album Box. Denise, my stitching sister, gave me the canvas and Lee Photo Album for my birthday. I finally finished the canvas about a week ago and immediately placed it into the Photo Album Box. It really looks great on my coffee table in the family room. Now anyone who visits can entertain themselves with pictures of Jake from birth to present day.

Dr. A is progressing slower than I would like but I do not get a lot of time to stitch now that I have a full time job watching Jake. Amy has done a really amazing job on Dr. A. The thread and stitches she chose for Dr. A's coffin actually make it look likes it curves. Every time I do a home study canvas, I am reminded of how talented Amy is. I hope to finish up the main part of the canvas this week. I always stitch in the order of the directions. I find stitching that way works best for me. Once you get the background and borders done the rest seems to go a lot faster. Off to work on Dr. A.

Linda

Meet Rhett and Scarlett O'Hare

I have been looking for bunnies for Easter for a long time and have finally found the perfect ones I just love them. The canvases are by Needle Deeva and the stitch guides are by Debbie Bowers of Needle Orts in Altamonte Springs, Flordia. Debbie's stitch guides are just spectacular. They are beautifully done and the directions are clear and easy to read. Debbie's choice of stitches, threads and accessories are absolutely perfect Rhett and Scarlett. I knew just by the presentation of the stitch guides that Debbie takes a great pride in her work and it certainly shows in everything she chose for these pieces. I am so happy with Rhett and Scarlett. I cannot wait to start stitching them. I would love to have them for this Easter. I am already planning on how the mantel will look. Just have to find the time. Maybe during the month of November and December.

Linda

How Stunning Is This!!!!

What a wonderful surprise I got in the mail today. My finished NYC Santa!! What a magnificent job Ruth did on this piece. I am totally speechless. I cannot believe how great it came out. I always say it but it is the absolute truth Ruth does the most magnificent finishing. I am never disappointed and am always blown away. Between Amy's stitch guide and Ruth's finishing I have a wonderful masterpiece that I am so very proud of.

Jake is calling have to run.

Linda

What Have I Been Doing?

Just wanted to let you know that I have been very busy with Nana Day Care. The first two weeks were wonderful. Jake took about a 45 minute nap in the morning and a 2 hour plus nap in the afternoon. Jake is a very good little man but he requires a lot of attention. It has taken me a while to realize that I just cannot do everything I use to do before him. I have to do a lot of my work after he leaves for the day and that is cutting into my stitching. Stitching has been going very slow. Only get about two maybe three hours, if I am lucky, to stitch at night. I have finished the bottom borders on Dr. A and am working on the background. During the day I try to work on something mindless while siting on the floor with Jake. Denise, my stitching sister, gave me a canvas with "Jake" on it for the Lee Photo Album and I am working on the background for that. Hope to get the background for Dr. A done by the end of the week and then I will do my homework on Hermina Batwings.

Will try to post pictures of my progress on Dr. A and Hermina soon.

Linda

Tiger's Done, & Now, Back to Ponza

I just finished my insert for my new Lee handbag. I am a handbag hound, & when Linda & I saw the Italian leather bags, my homeland called to me. So I concentrated, & did this tiger for the first of the two inserts I will make for this bag. I did the whole canvas in tent stitch, for wearability reasons. I used one of my favorite threads, Vineyard Silk, for everything except the eyes. Those I did in Silk Lame, so the eyes would glitter.

I love using Vineyard Silk, as I can avoid my laying tool and there's no plying. I have always loved it, especially for things that will be worn, like handbags & belts. I have a little complaint this time, though: for the first time, I found that it would sometimes pill. I mentioned this to our LNS last week, & this was not the first time they've heard that comment recently. It was a little bit annoying, but not serious enough for me to consider a wearability issue. I will pay attention the next time I use Vineyard Silk again, though. Has anyone else had this problem?

I am now on to my last of the Ponza canvases, the green door. I have a Tony Minieri stitch guide from my spring canvas embellishment class with him. I had to take some time this afternoon to reacquaint myself with the guide & the canvas. I am excited to get back to this canvas; this is one of my favorites, which is why I saved it for last. I would like to finish this before my next Tony embellishment canvas this coming November. Let's see how I do!

Linda is swamped with Nana Day Care & trying to keep up with her life & her chores. Suffice it to say that her two full time jobs are not easy. But I am jealous that she gets to spend time with Jake, while I spend time in my office. At least we had dinner together this week with Karen, where they gave me more details of their trip to Maryland. I tried not to show my jealousy ;)

Denise

Finished Baby Pram and Thank You Melinda

Jake's baby pram was finished at 1:30 AM today. I had to get it to our store so that I would make the finishing deadline for Christmas. Now all my projects for Christmas are done and at the finishers. What pressure!! I am having the pram finished as a stand-up. It will be gusseted on the sides with bun feet and a music box will be placed inside. Cannot wait to get this back.

Several people have asked where I got my tree. I ordered it from Lenox. I believe it was Dept. 56. If it is not 56 then it is 59. I did it online but you can always call Lenox and ask for it. A friend gave me the orange lights. I know she got them from CVS and they come in either orange or purple.

I want to thank Melinda of Living the Good Life. Thank you for inspiring me to be more creative in displaying Stirha and Frank. I never thought of putting them on my mantel since I always decorate it with gourds and pumpkins that I got from Pottery Barn. I then have it decorated for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. After seeing the absolutely beautiful display you did, I realized that I really did not do Stirha and Frank justice. So off I went in search of a fitting display for them. The first thing I had to do was to make sure my tree fit on the mantel. Then I knew exactly what I had to do. It is not complete yet still needs a few little treats but I think that it now does justice to the masterpieces created by Kelly Clark and Amy Bunger.

Linda