And a Happy New Year

Any parent of small children knows how tempting it is to take pictures of the little ones sleeping. They look so sweet, so quiet, so innocent. Here's my little Boo taking a nap in my felting supplies on Christmas. Awwww...

I just finished my first Make Do kit for 2010, and wanted to share a picture of it here, first. The kit will come with a light rose colored linen, hand-dyed silks and cottons, and the graph. The Make-Do part of it, is you have to find a button or charm to put in the lower right corner. Each kit will be "missing" one part, and you have to go through your stash to "make do." You can sign up to get these as they come out -- they will be limited edition kits and only available through my shop.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve and 2010. We're pretty laid back, so we'll most likely watch a movie or two together, eat a good meal, and just enjoy each other. Hope there's much of the same in store for you!

Merry Christmas everybody!

I can't believe we're so close to Christmas already. It's sunshiny today in Hattiesburg, and after a few days of rain and gloom, it's nice to look out the window at the blue sky. I have been stitching off and on this week. I finished stitching two Brightneedle ornaments from 2007 over-one (they were in the Just Cross Stitch pre-ornament and ornament issues). I stitched them on white opalescent Belfast, so the sparkles will be so pretty on the tree. I'll probably finish them this weekend and post a picture soon. But in the meantime, here's a picture of my family taken on Thanksgiving outside. That's Harrison (my college freshman) on the left, me, Graham (he's 13 and holding our 2-year-old cat, "Kitty"), and Steve. I've got a nice big hammock stretched between two pines out back, and you can see, we all fit.

The exciting news this week is I get to spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday with my local friends stitching. We're having our own holiday stitching retreat. It'll be at my house on Saturday, so I'm deciding what to make for food. I'll probably work on the Carriage House Samplings Quaker stocking I started this week. I'm stitching it over-one on cream Belfast with Au Ver a Soie in navy, blue and gold. And then I plan on antiquing it. It's going to be gorgeous! And I feel like I can hang it all year, because it's not Christmas, per se.

I hope whatever you're doing to celebrate the season this year, you're having FUN and not doing things just because you "have to." We'll soon be making cookies, listening to holiday music, lighting candles, spending the day in our slippers, and just enjoying each other. Blessings!

Walking in a winter wonderland

When we moved to the south, we were told it snowed down here once every five or six years or so. Last night was our third snow "storm" here in Hattiesburg. I woke up to white, but it's almost gone. I quick snapped a picture of a Christmas sampler of mine in a snowy bush, while wet slush was falling off the roof above me. This is my Christmas Colors (MD's Sampler) that I released about a year ago. It's not a Christmas sampler, per se, but the colors and motifs, I think, are Christmassy.

We went and saw the Fantastic Mr. Fox last night. VERY good movie (not just for kids...in fact, I think grownups would get more from it.) Lots of great actors and actresses, and the animation was incredible (I love stop-motion photography.)

With all of the white stuff outside this morning, I started to really feel the spirit of the season. I think I'll go home and turn on Sting's new Christmas album (sooo good.) We need to put our ornaments on the tree, too. Have a great weekend!

Sketchy details

I don't usually sketch a design out before I start designing. I typically have something in my mind, and just start going. But earlier this year, I was doodling some ideas, and actually hung onto the doodle. I thought I'd share it here. You can kind of see the process. The finished product was Measure by Measure.

Haven't been stitching much the last ten days or so. Thanksgiving was busy, and work has been busy, and it's just...well, busy. And I kind of got a little burned out with all of the designing/stitching that I did up to and immediately after market this fall. Jenny Bean needs to get started on some new projects for spring, and I will also be designing another series for Crescent Colours. Am also talking to Sharon about doing a thread pack series with her for a band sampler (kind of reproduction style, but an original design.) Hope all is well out there -- stay in touch!