SHOW AND TELL: Its been a long time coming

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

No, wait a minute, that's the wrong tale. Many, many years ago a young girl picked up a needle,some fabric and some floss and relearned a craft she first tried out in Brownies (which was back in the dark ages). For years, she muddle along, not really knowing all the ins and outs of cross stitching (eek, I only left a 1.5 in border...not enough room for framing) and not realizing their was a whole world beyond the aida fabric and the plain cotton dmc floss available at Wal-Mart.

Then, almost 9 years ago, she discovered a cross stitch board on Parentsplace (part of iVillage) and the world of cross stitching opened up. The women she befriended there are still together and enabling each other's addictions on a yuku board called Cross Stitch Crazy. She discovered overdyed floss and hand-dyed fabrics and linens and evenweaves. She also discovered the wonders of cross stitch design software. Instead of having to hand graph designs she wanted but couldn't find for purchase anywhere, she was able to create designs with ease. And, she became addicted to creating designs.

Then a funny thing happened. The woman became brave enough to show her designs to her cross stitch friends and they liked them. In fact, they began urging her to start a design company. The woman kept saying, "Maybe one day." But, she never did it because the thought was always there...what if I design things and no one buys them. About 3 years ago, this woman discovered that her sister-by-choice, Christa, was a wonderful design partner. They could bounce ideas off each other and they really inspired each other's designs. So, instead of saying, "Maybe one day", that woman started saying, "When Christa and I finally open our design company..."

That some day and that finally have arrived. Christa and I have just barely dipped our toes into the design pool but we HAVE done it. Please, please click on the coffee cup pictured below and see the beginnings of Cuppa Joe Designs.



To see what everyone else in class is bringing to SHOW AND TELL, take a trip to visit the Miss Mel, Goddess of the Infertility Blogosphere.