Come See Me!

I will have a small booth set up at the Harvest Faire in the Valley in Stephens City VA on September 9th from 10am to 5pm. You can find out more information about this fabulous day at www.themillerhouse.net. Brenda is putting together a fun filled day with the likes of Kathy Barrick-Dieter (carriagehousesamplings.com), Barb Stein (www.steinscountrycollectibles.com), Penn Woods Pottery (www.pennwoodspottery.com) and more. There will be food, a blue grass band, flowers and herbs from Sunflower Cottage, jewelry and other fabulous goodies. I can't wait. Brenda plans to do this every September and already is working on her artist list for next year. So if you plan on being in the area, stop by to say hello. It will be worth the drive!
You can call Brenda at 540-869-2148 for more details and directions.

This and That

I am working for Social Security this week and I have to tell you all, I like working from home much better. Getting up, dressed, make up on and being totally responsible all day is just not for me! I have to work again next week so I'm sure by September I will be exhausted. LOL! I know, I know, I'm a whimp.
Anyway, I've gotten everything shipped out from the Charlotte market and am up to date AND have charted TWO repro samplers. One is being stitched now and I'm waiting on Lakeside Linen for the second. I also have a great design in my head. If I can just get it onto paper, I'm sure it will be magnificent!
I was visiting Carol Sims last weekend and while there admiring all of her samplers, asked if she knew how many she has hanging on her walls. I got an email from her the other day as she had to count them. 213 plus one at the framer, three ready to go to the framers and two at a friends for finishing. WOW! I am sure next time I am there that I could slip a few little ones in my purse and she wouldn't notice for a while. She is one amazing woman!
I'm off to the back yard to water my crunchy grass and perrenials. I'm trying to salvage some of my flowers. It's so very dry here. Many of the trees are dropping their leaves already. Wish I knew a rain dance...
Have a good week!

Scrapbooks and Samplers

I have a new obsession. Anyone that knows me knows that my obsessions run the gamut of the crafting spectrum! And now it's journaling/scrapbooking. I took a fabulous class from Barb and Alma (Blackbird Designs) at Liberty Gathering in June and after years of avoiding paper and stickers and inks and stamps I got sucked right in! Then while in Charlotte for the Charlotte Needlework Market, I visited two super fantastic scrapbooking stores and handed over a big chunk of change. LOL, change! Dollars...lots and lots of them. But I got to thinking about what we do, we stitchers. We love fibers and color and just handling our charts. And then after spending time and money and thougt on picking just the right pieces, we put it all together to make a precious heirloom. It's our form of scrapbooking. Don't we each know what was happening in our lives while we stitched our piece? And what about our baby samplers, memorial samplers and even our little fun stitches. We put our names, the date and initials of our loved ones on the fabric to be framed to last we hope for generations. Do we remember to write these things down? Even if it's a scrap of paper adhered to the back of our stitching. That way when our great granddaughter is thrilled to be handed Great Grandmother Tracy's sampler, she will feel even closer to the past when she discovers that I was mourning the loss of my family member, celebrating a wedding or just agonizing over my life at the moment. Think about it and let me know how you save your memories for the future!

YIKES!!!!!!

Bonnie Olson just called to let me know that I made a huge mistake in one of my charts. Dang it! In Forbeare Not Sowing, I put in a chart showing the over one section of the lettering. But the symbols are completely different. Well, go by the symbols in the full chart. Geesh! I will be happy to replace any charts that have gotten out so far. So sorry.

Thanks!

I want to thank all the shopowners and other designers that took the time and money to travel to Charlotte and participate in the Charlotte cash and carry market. It was quite small this year but still worth every minute of work! It is so good for the industry to have these shows. It gives the shop owner a chance to see models, find out what is new, what is up and coming. And it gives the designer a chance to talk to shop owners about what they want, what customers have been asking for and what direction the market is going. I am always amazed at these shows to see the incredible talent that is out there.
I have much to do now that I'm home. Orders to fill, class projects to work on and new designs to finish. Happy day!

one more picture

Courtney's neice Sara came for a visit today. She loved Howard and Norman (the bunnies)! I thought this was such a sweet picture that I had to share!

a bit of thanks

I have so many friends and well wishers and nice aquaintances. But this is true friendship. Two girls from church...Linda and Jan....came to my house tonight and helped me stuff a million charts. Okay, not a million but a LOT. And I still had my pjs on! They did appreciate that I had a on a bra! But my hair is yukky, I have a stain on the shirt that I slept in and am generally a SKANK. Not a problem for them. They plopped right down on my living room floor and worked until 10! Am I lucky or what?!
Okay, here is one more picture. It's not a good one and I'm going to retake tomorrow. It's called Spring Violets and I wish you could see it in person...the frame from Colleen at Hog River really makes the design! This is it for my new designs but I have some ideas swimming around in my head. Hope I don't loose them in all the other flotsam that's in there!!!

One Flag

A sampler with the verse, One Flag one land one heart one hand one nation evermore. Stitched on 40 count Korty's Special Blend from R&R Reproductions using Needlepoint Silk. The frame is by Hog River.
I know, I know...the fabric isn't centered. That's because UPS only delivered the frames to me TODAY and I quickly stretched it this evening between stuffing charts. I could not stretch fabric for a living....YUK!

Hark!

Here is my very first punch needle design. What fun! I used Weeks Dye Works #5 Perle Cotton. I loved using it....no strands to fool with.

Forbeare Not Sowing

This is another of my designs that I'm releasing this weekend. Ugh, it hurts to say this weekend as I have about two weeks worth of work to do before this weekend. Anyway, this is a teeny tiny little sampler that I've shown mounted on a paper covered box and as an ornament. And I give you the instructions on covering your box with paper. The verse reads Forbeare not sowing because of birds.
Every once in a while I come across something that I love and have to share. I recently read The Other Boleyn Girl by Philipa Gregory and I highly recommend it! I was disappointed when it finished. I've read some of her other books but this one is by far the best!
Off to print more charts!

Daughters

Here is a picture of my two daughters Elisabeth and Courtney with Courtney's nephew Will. Elisabeth is thinking of moving back to our hometown in WV as she is in such a rut here. She broke up with her long time boyfriend and can't seem to bounce back. I'm trying sooooo hard to be supportive but there is only so much moping a mother can take! So think good thoughts for my little Elisabeth and me too!

Could it be any more fun????

Than to spend a day with four other crazy women??? Sue McLaughlin, Kathy Barrick-D, Carol Sims, Siobhan (geesh, sorry Soybean but I can't remember your last name!!! Everyone knows you anyway :0)and I spent the day together yesterday. I was exhausted by the time I got home. We laughed, snorted, laughed some more. It was if we had known each other forever! What a special day.
You can see a picture on Kathy's site www.carriagehousesamplings.com I forgot my camera. I'm the tall dorky one!

Look!

Carmen Sutton sent me a picture of a draw string bag that she put together for me. It's a fully lined bag with my logo on the front. I love it! She will also be doing the zippered bags for me. It's so wonderful to be buddies with someone that can finish!