"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller
or more specifically cross stitch. I learned to cross stitch in college. I think it was my sophomore year. There were a bunch of people in my dorm who stitched and one of my friends offered to teach me. Of course, I could line up all the people in my dorm who stitched and you would never, ever guess who taught me. Bobby was this big burly guy...half Japanese. He had the build of a football player (a little short though), somehow managed to get the university to allow him to keep two katanas over his bed, and he stitched the most beautiful things.
I quickly fell in love with stitching and my interest just grew and grew. I always have had the tendency to put my own spin on pieces I've stitched. I changed colors, altered design parts to make it into something I liked more, and eventually started designing my own pieces. Here are a few of the pieces I've done over the years (all pics are clickable for close up viewing)...
All of you who are crafters of any sort will get a good giggle out of this. Crafting has a way of taking over your life and your house. If you do something other than cross stitch, just substitute in your craft of choice.
The 10 Promises Of A Stitcher (with thanks to Robin for posting this list on Facebook)
* I will not stuff embroidery supplies in every corner of my house. I fail at this.
* I will not keep 14 projects going at one time. I do not fail at this. I have many, many more than 14.
* I will not buy more threads, patterns, or books when I have a ton at home. I fail at this.
* I will not let my stitching space look like a condemned area. I fail at this.
* I will not relegate the kitchen table to needlework. I fail at this.
* I will not stock up on more stitching supplies just because they are on sale. I fail at this.
* I will not let my embroidery distract me from making dinner. I fail at this.
* I will not stay up all night stitching. I fail at this.
* I will not buy every embroidery magazine I see. I fail at this.
* I should not make promises I cannot keep.
So, tell me, do your crafts take over your life and your house? Have your supplies morphed into a stash and your stash morphed into *S.A.B.L.E. ? It's confession time...come on, it's good for the soul.
*S.A.B.L.E. = Stash Above and Beyond Life Expectancy
Welcome to our weekly expedition into the land of Show and Tell. Y'all know Show and Tell is wasted on the elementary schoolers. Join us weekly to show off an item, tell a story, and get the attention of the class. In other words, this is Show and Tell 2.0.
Earlier this week, I got a surprise in the mail that made me incredibly happy and made me cry at the same time. My wonderful friends from the cross stitch board, led by the indomitable Velda, started stitching a gorgeous piece called Angel Heart Sampler in memory of all my precious angels. Due to various occurrences, including Velda's illness, the piece isn't quite done...but, that actually thrills me because I will be able to contribute to this memory piece. The first picture is the front of the design leaflet and the second picture is the piece they started for me. Please, please click on the bottom picture so you can actually see the gorgeous work they did for me.
The words on the piece are a quote from Longfellow and they read, “Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels”
Thank you my friends from the bottom of my heart. This means more to me than I can ever express.
Right before the end of 2009, I finished up a massive craft project. I know most of my regular readers remember me talking about my friend Velda being diagnosed with cancer. Well, Velda is the wonderful woman who built the group of cross stitchers I have been a part of for 10 years now. These ladies are from all over the world and, yet, it feels like we are friends who live just around the corner from each other. We have celebrated so many things with each other. More importantly, these women have also banded together to support each other through births, deaths, pregnancy losses, and illnesses. Many times, we have combined our love of stitching with the need to provide tangible evidence of our love and support and many beautiful cross stitch quilts have been produced and mailed to all corners of the world. When we heard about Velda's diagnosis, we knew what had to be done. I had the privilege and honor of being the person who got to put together Velda's quilt. In less than two months time, 37 cross stitch squares from all over the world (38 counting mine) and various kinds of purple fabric converged on my house. Many people generously donated funds to help with the costs of fabric and shipping (holy hell is International Express Mail expensive) and Velda recieved her quilt on Monday the 11th.
Please take a moment to click on each of these pics and see a close up of the exquisite stitching work all these ladies did
I am honored to have been a part of a project that carries so much love and so many prayers and positive thoughts in it.
I've been doing all kinds of stitching lately. I finished one small cross stitch project...
I've started another small cross stitch project...
I made the cutest little crocheted dragon...
and, I've started a hat for one of my boys...
I'm also trying to finish up that star afghan I showed y'all ages ago. All in all, I've been pretty productive. The state of my house reflects my productive crafty time.
I've got two wonderful projects to show y'all this week. First of all, I designed and stitched a biscornu which is basically an eight sided pincushion. In this case, I reduced the side and made it into a Christmas ornament. When I joined the two sides together, I added red and green Mill Hill seed beads to every other stitch. And, now, a warning for one person... IF YOU ARE THE PERSON I AM MAKING THE MEMORY QUILT FOR, CLICK AWAY NOW... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I am so excited because I put the very last stitches into the memory quilt and I HAVE to show it to you. I can't stand to not show it off. As with the pictures above, click on this to see a close up.
I am very happy with how it turned out. I hope she likes it too.
Since, like Missy, I ended up seeing this giveaway twice in a short, short time, I'm giving in and participating. I hereby declare it Christmas in August at Dragondreamer's Lair.
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me, especially for you. I have absolutely no clue what I will make but I promise I'll make it worth your while!
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1) I make no guarantees that you will like what I make but I hope you will. 2) What I create will be just for you. 3) They say I have a year to get it to you. But I promise it will NOT take that long (11 months and 29 days maybe, but NOT twelve months...LOL) 4) You have no clue what it's going to be. It’s a surprise to both of us at this point.
The catch? You must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. Since I know not everyone who reads my blog is crafty, I'm going to add the caveat that baked goods and things like hand written notes of support will be acceptable things to pass on to your readers.
So, the first five people who post, and are willing to pass it along, will get a handmade gift in the mail from me.
*PS...I have to admit I was totally lazy and copied this info from Missy and Katie.
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While we are talking about giveaways, check out the incredible 8 yr/1000 post giveaway over at The Daily Mel. What an amazing collection of goodies!
I'm participating in the the world's easiest stitchalong, the Totally Useless Stitchathon. The whole purpose of this is to collect all the orts (small pieces of floss, thread, yarn, or other fibers) that you trim off your stitching projects over the year. You can collect them in the see through container of your choice and, by the end of the year, you have a colorful and possibly artistic representation of your year's activity. I still think that when we get closer to the end of the year, I will buy some clear glass ornaments to put the orts in.
I finally found a decent container to keep my orts in. Its amazing how far they expand when freed from the little containers they were crammed into.
Aren't those colors gorgeous?
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And, this is the start of a present for someone very special...
I am almost 100% done with the modified Dragon of Air for Dee's All About Me Round Robin. Not only did I change teh colors, but I changed some of the Xs to specialty stitches. I think it kind of looks like scales on the dragon's chest and I love the satin stitching on the wing. I ran out of one of the colors and got a replacement skein last night so it will be 100% done tonight. Wooohooooo!
And, I got back my All About Me RR. I absolutely LOVE everything that has been done so far but there is still a lot of area to fill in. Any volunteers?
Two fabulous surprise giveaways on two fabulous blogs...Kathy's Stitching and Other Comments and Stitcher's Anon. Both Kathy and Gaynor do such beautiful work so, even if you don't win, its worth stopping by and checking it out.
My WIP (work in progress for you non-stitchers)
I have finally made progress on Dragon of Air by Dragon Dreams. I'm stitching this on my friend Dee's All About Me Round Robin. I don't know why I've had such a mental block on this cute little dragon. Its one of my favorite things to stitch and I'm stitching it in my favorite color. I've gone from this...
to this...
One or two more nights and I should have it done. Woohooo!
I know I've been teasing y'all about this but I am just so damned excited about it. I know most of y'all were around here when my friend Christa and I launched our cross stitch design company, Cuppa Joe Designs. Well, Christa and I were talking and we decided that in addition to marketing our designs, we wanted to use our company to promote causes and groups we believe in. And, that's when inspiration struck.
I have been amazed at the work Cara has done forming Share Southern Vermont and organizing it's First Annual Walk for Hope and Remembrance. I remember thinking how much I wished I had known about Share when I was going through all my losses. I decided the first group we would use our design company to promote would be Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc. Their stated mission is to serve those whose lives are touched by the tragic death of a baby through early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life. I think this is something all of us in the ALI community can get behind. So, without further ado and in honor of Adam Michael Seip, Bridgett Kelly, and Emma Grace Tyrell, I present Cuppa Joe Designs newest patterns...
The national office for Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc is going to do Cuppa Joe Designs the honor of linking to our site from the national home page. Please take a moment to hop on over to our design site so its stat counter reflects the exposure and please, please pass the word on about this wonderful organization and pass on the link to Cuppa Joe Designs so this pattern will be available to a wide audience.
Like I said last month, I'm participating in the Totally Useless Stitchathon. The whole purpose of this is to collect all the orts (small pieces of floss, thread, yarn, or other fibers) that you trim off your stitching projects over the year. You can collect them in the see through container of your choice and, by the end of the year, you have a colorful and possibly artistic representation of your year's activity. I still think that when we get closer to the end of the year, I will buy some clear glass ornaments to put the orts in.
I filled up the first jar and started on a a second one...
And I also made this cute little love bird, It only took about 4 hours...
My mom was such a cool mom while I was growing up and she is an equally cool grandma to my kids. She was the mom who didn't freak out when a gingerbread house building turned into a frosting fight at a birthday party of mine. And, she was the mom who let me invite all 12 girls in my 2nd grade class to a sleepover (and, yes, they all came). You seen her playing with "volcanoes" with Gabe and this week you get another treat. You get to her an original Karin O'Donnell song. Many years ago, my niece went through a stage where she wanted you to sing with her whenever you took her on a long car trip. However, it couldn't be any random song. Bri would want you to sing the same song over and over and over again for the whole car trip. One day, my mom and dad were making the then 2 hour drive to our house and Bri had her singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Well, about halfway there, my mom snapped and started singing this version of it...
Twinkle twinkle little bat How I wonder where you're at? Did you pee pee in my eye? Did you poot in the sky? Twinkle twinkle little bat Give me back my furry hat!
I was able to get it on video for you because I told her that was the only way I would let her teach it to Gabe.
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I also wanted to share the gorgeous present my friend Henny brought me when she came for her surprise visit. Click on the picture so you can see a close up. It is amazing.
Finally, to help Kym and all future Sock-It-To-Me participants, I am going to set up a sock site database. It will probably just be in a post here but the info will be available to all. Please EMAIL ME (yes, use that link...not any other email address you have for me...using this link will keep all the emails together) and give me a link to the site you bought the socks from and any review of the site you might have.
I'm participating in the Totally Useless Stitchathon. The whole purpose of this is to collect all the orts (small pieces of floss, thread, yarn, or other fibers) that you trim off your stitching projects over the year. You can collect them in the see through container of your choice and, by the end of the year, you have a colorful and possibly artistic representation of your year's activity. I think that when we get closer to the end of the year, I will buy some clear glass ornaments to put the orts in.
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I also have to show you how much my veggies grew over the weekend. This is what I came home to find...
Yay, yay, yay...it's small but it's a finish. I finally finished the second part of my contribution to MiPa's All About Me RR. I stitched the Romanian flag...
to go along with the racehorse I already finished. Here is a pic of her entire project...
Hopefully, I'll have a lot more to share next week.
Once again, I don't have nearly as much done as I wanted to get done. There always seems to be something else screaming to get taken care of. If you click on the pics below, you can see larger versions of most of them.
I have finished the racehorse I was stitching...
and I got started on the Romanian flag...
I pieced the one side of a tote bag and got the other side cut out and pinned... The completed side is a design called a friendship star. The other side will be the same size but the pins prevent me from spreading it out.
