Joy

This was my design for the Just Cross Stitch annual Christmas Ornament issue this year. Now I'm trying to think of ideas for next year. If you have any, just leave a comment, thanks!

I found this and am not sure who stitched it but it's my design from the 2008 issue, I love how Deb finished this piece.

Vintage needlework graphics

I love these.

Antique Sampler Verses

I've collected sampler verses for quite a while now and thought I'd share a few. Do I know where they came from or what year or what sampler, no I don't. I just collect the verses and not the particulars. Enjoy!

"Fragrant the rose is but it fades in time. The violet sweet but quickly past the prime. White lilies hang their heads and soon decay and whiter snow in minutes melts away. You whose fond wishes do to heaven aspire who make those blest abodes your sole desire. If you are wise and hope that blest to gain...use well your time live not an hour in vain. Let not the morrow your vain thoughts employ...But think this day the last you shall enjoy."

"His Purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour,
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower."

"The Lord is just in all his ways
And holy is his works each one
He is near to all that on him call
Who call in truth on him alone"

"All our gaity is vain
All our laughter is but pain
Lasting only and divine
Is an innocence like thine."

"Do you wish to be rich: be industrious and frugal
Do you wish to be healthy: be active, sober, and temperate
Do you wish to be happy both here and hereafter: study
your Bible and do what it teaches you. God is my friend
My son if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

Sampler theme box of drawers

This is an idea I was excited to try though in the end my execution of it is only so-so.

This is a Countdown Calendar from Karen Foster Design You can do a google search to find a place to buy one if you are at all interested in doing something like this. They are about $20 but I've seen them a bit lower on some websites. I have seen these made for with Christmas and Halloween themes to help children countdown to the holiday. You can insert little treats and trinkets in the drawers.

I thought I'd make one with a sampler theme and maybe keep charms and buttons and any other small item in the drawers. So here are my warnings if you decide to try this yourself.

First, the box is made of slick white cardboard. It took me 3 days to get the piece painted because unlike regular flat cardboard, the paint needed many layers of coverage. Very frustrating when you want to get onto the fun part. The tiny edges in between the drawers do not take paint well at all and I finally said "enough with this, it will have to do". Thus the coverage isn't perfect.

Second you need to paint the drawer fronts or else have a bit bigger template for the paper coverings as the white will show if you don't paint them. The drawers are equally as frustrating to paint as the box.

Third, you need to notch the paper to bend it around the half circle drawer pulls. I was advised to buy a circle punch but unfortunately it is very, very difficult to figure out where exactly to place the punch so that a half circle forms rather than a full circle so I ditched the punch and did the notching. However, gluing the little ends of paper to the back proved difficult as there wasn't much to work with. I would cut the top of the paper larger next time in order to have more to work with in order to make the half circles more regular.

I plan to try another little box piece but using small matchboxes, 8 sets of 3 stacked in a pattern and I will post it when/if I get it done. I do know the regular cheap matchboxes take the paint much, much better than the slick surface of the countdown calendar. My other thought for the calendar is to cover the side and back surfaces with paper instead of paint but that could present a whole new set of problems.
Good luck, I would love to see any that you might produce!

Teach Me Samplers

I love comparing antique samplers that have the same verse. The samplers above all are stitched with "Teach me to feel another's woe To hide the fault I see That mercy I to others show That mercy show to me".

It's interesting to see how each stitcher illustrated a verse to their own liking. If you like looking at old samplers be sure and visit Needlework Antiques where they have a gallery of antique samplers.

~Good luck Nick~

Just wanted to say good luck to my son who has gone to Savannah to finish up his BFA as a transfer student at Savannah College of Art and Design. We are so proud of him but will miss him very much. He thinks he'll like the humidity after years of the Arizona "dry heat" but I think the next picture makes me wonder about that assertion, he looks a tad bit miserable,lol.





On another note, how would you like to have an historic lighthouse in your backyard? This is the front of the house, you can see the base of the lighthouse through the trees.


And look what you see going around to the back of the house. Those trees are in their backyard. Unfortunately, it is not a lighthouse open to the public and is surrounded by a fence on US Coast Guard property. This is Amelia Island in Florida and we stayed there a couple days for a little getaway. It's a lovely little place with an historic downtown.

A small preview

I thought I'd show you a small piece (and the only over one part) of my new Family Record Sampler. I've done it all in pale greens/browns with a hint of pale pink, purple and yellow. It has a house, a willow tree, birds, some flowers and of course an area to write in all your family info, names, birth dates etc. I've made it without an elaborate border so that it can be adjusted to fit as many names and dates as you wish. I have a very small amount left to stitch and then I plan to release it. Thanks for looking!

Blessed Harvest

Here's another new release, Blessed Harvest. Well, as you can see by the date, it's not THAT new, in fact, I've had nothing but problems releasing this in a timely manner the past few years. I couldn't seem to coordinate it with a fall release or else I'd forget about having it on hold. So finally, it's out with a corrected date on the actual chart.

We've been busy this past month taking DD to Seattle to start her freshman year of college. She seems to be adjusting very well (knock on wood) and we were impressed with the city, it was gorgeous and we loved the fact that getting into a car didn't involve getting burned on a steering wheel or driving miles before it would get cool inside.


Nest week it's Savannah to deposit our son and then empty nest reigns! So far, so good.