6.28.2012

New Charts...

  "HILDA'S ALPHABET BREW"
worked on 22 count Fine Ariosa over 2 threads...
yep, 11 count...
easy on the eyes,
and works up quick too!


"AUGUST WORD PLAY"
the 2nd to the last chart in this monthly series...
do you have all 10 stitched yet?
Are you keeping up....
huh, huh??
Printing of these new patterns is now under way
and will be ready for shipment early next week.

It's been a busy & long day...
off to bed,
Brenda

6.27.2012

Because you asked...

so here is a progress report on 
the Frances Pool 1832
reproduction...
This has been my "in between project"...
I pick it up and work on it
in between seasonal designs
that have critical deadlines.
This is what is so nice about a sampler...
it is non seasonal,
no deadlines,
no hurries,
just casual stitching...
 it is what I call an "everyday" piece,
one that can be kept out everyday of the year!

I have actually picked Frances Pool up again
and will put a few more stitches in it,
until I need to start the September Word Play,
the last in this monthly series.
Once the Word Play series is done 
I plan on finishing Frances
and hoping for August/September release
for this antique reproduction chart.
As you can see Frances came to me in pretty sad shape.
Dirty, stinky, holey, along with some stitch loss.
Like many antique samplers,
nails the size of Texas were used to secure it to a crude wooden frame.
The linen had darkened so badly
 that it some of the motifs on the antique
are hard to see.
  I knew that the linen as I see it,
 wasn't how it looked when it was stitched.
In looking closely at the edges of the sampler,
 my best guess was the linen
was closer in shade to the selvedge of the linen,
so this was my guide in matching up the linen.
The piece is being worked on 30 count Parchment linen
using Weeks & GAST flosses throughout.

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda




6.26.2012

Scissor Weakness..

I have a scissor weakness... 
I'm guessing a few of you do too...

New scissor arrivals
to tempt
your scissor weakness...




With thy Needle & Thread...
& scissors {sigh},
Brenda

6.24.2012

In the hoop...

and almost done!

~HILDA'S ALPHABET BREW~
Anticipating an early to mid July release date for this chart. 
 Design is worked on 
distressed 22 count fine Ariosa,
 over two threads. 
 I really enjoy stitching
 on this nubby & coarse cloth...
the end results 
are
 wickedly wonderful...
perfect for this piece!

And...

THANK YOU to everyone 
who purchased the Strawberry Hill Floss Keeps. 
They are now sold out.
 If you are one of the sad ones
 who didn't get in on
 the first lot of these,
 there will be more...
just as soon as I get more
 of the teensy tiny little heart charms
 back in stock.

Wishing everyone a good week,
Brenda

6.22.2012

LOOK, A NEW ARRIVAL...

 the
 Strawberry Hill floss keep!

 A perfect stitching companion
 to the
 Strawberry Hill
sewing box & needle roll!

Floss keeps are now available for purchase
on our website,
supply is limited.

We had a lovely visit in Denver with son, Matthew.  
Time always goes too quickly.
When the boys were busy biking and golfing,
I sat outside Matthew's little brick bungalow 
and stitched the August Word Play.  
 While I stitched
a song popped into my head,
that goes like this...
"we'll build a bungalow,
 big enough for two,
 big enough for two my honey,
 big enough for two...
then when we're married
 how happy we will be...
underneath the bamboo tree...
or sorta along those lines!
Anybody know the song?
Well, I sang this song
at a bridal shower
 when I was about 5 or 6 years old (are you laughing yet!)...
I sang and sister Linda was my accompanist.
Anyhoo,
 the coziness of Matthew's bungalow
 (which really is only big enough for 2),
made me think of the song 
and I couldn't seem to get it out of my head,
and was worth a chuckle or two!

   The photo shoot for the August pattern cover
 will take place this weekend
and then the printing/packaging begins.
 
See those pretty sunflowers?

They will be used in the photo shoot,
so,
 August Word Play hint...
think sunflowers!
 Hope you all have a sunny-type of day,
Brenda

6.14.2012

Road Work...

Later this afternoon we are heading west.
Planning on some of this...
but,
I'm prepared for it!
and,
with any luck
it won't be this sort of road work...
however,
 this sort of road work...
hours and hours of in-the-car-style-stitching...
or my road work,
as I'm calling it.
 I'll be spending the 10 hour drive
 stitching the August Word Play.

And maybe even put the first stitch or two in the below piece...
(for those of you who loved the House of Blues & Browns Sampler chart,
this is a spin off of it, only for Halloween...it's spooky fun!)
Where are we going?

We are heading to Denver, CO 
to visit our son, Matthew.
  I'm excited to see him,
it's been since Christmas.
 He's promised us
 a meal of his famous smoked pork! 
mmmmmmmm
On Sunday, Father's Day,
Matthew and the dh
 are riding in a 100 mile bike ride 
around the Denver area.
  Which includes peddling up Look Out Mountain, yikes!
I hyperventilate and get leg cramps just looking at the photo of
that winding mountain road.
  
   As for me,
 I'll be sitting in his backyard patio,
 enjoying the dry summertime air of Denver
while stitching, 
and worrying, hoping
that the males in the Gervais family
 will return without incident,
no biking for me.  


P.S....Linen update,
we now have the 35 count Abecedarian Linen used on the Word Plays back in stock.
  Our order of the 40 count Parchment linen, used on the thimble purse patterns, is in transit to us.  I'll post this for sale on our website when I get back from our quick little trip.

Toodle loo,
Brenda

6.13.2012

Wanted...

one pair of suspenders
 for a very hard working
 "cinnamon" truck driver!


(potty training isn't going too well, 
he's too busy making cement)...
The above photo was in my email box when I got home from 
work this afternoon...
totally made my day,
gotta love those khaki shorts dangling around
those little ankles! 

P.S.
When momma asks Beckham if he has to go potty,
his return comment is,
"no thank you, mommy".
What can you say?
He's got the polite thing down!
 
Have a good evening everyone,
Brenda
 


Little boys & trucks...


You all know from previous blog posts that Beckham loves trucks... 
Garbage Trucks...
UPS trucks...
At Easter time
 I had sent his Easter Basket
 to him
 and told him that,
 "tomorrow a brown truck is going to come to your house and bring you a present"...
UPS delivered the Easter basket
 and
 Beckham thought that was  pretty neat.
  Next morning he arose 
and asked momma 
if a brown truck
 was going to bring him a present today?
  He now thinks
 grandpa drives
 the UPS truck!

And then there are these,
Cement trucks...
"Cinnamon" trucks as Beckhams calls them.  They have a lot of building going on in their neighborhood and he loves watching them out the front door.  He told me, as the truck was leaving, "the cinnamon" truck will be back, he has to take his kids to school"...  yep, made me laugh too!  

A couple days ago we were at the gas station, and the dh poked his head in the car door and told me,
"we have a cinnamon truck behind us", yep, sure enough, I turned around to see a cement truck!  Grandpa said he'll never forget that and that is what we now call them!

A few day ago a new sort of truck came into Beckham's world...
the ice cream truck!
From the  photo,
 grandma B is guessing
 he was a little reserved
 about this pink polka dotted truck!
I'm willing to bet 
it will soon be another favorite truck
 and he'll soon be watching YouTube videos
 of ice cream trucks on momma's iphone!

Hope your day is a sweet one,
Brenda


6.07.2012

Hair...

I need a hair cut and color every 4 weeks.
 The key word is
 need...
 however, 
it only happens about every 8 weeks.
 Then,
 when I decide I can squeeze the 2 plus hour appointment in,
 I make it with some urgency.
  The kind little lady asks,
 "and when would you like this for?"
 and I always want to say,
 "like, today"...

   You are probably wondering why I just don't pre-book...
because, I'm afraid I'll forget.
You know,
 the memory
 just isn't as good as it used to be...
and I'm really bad at keeping a calendar,
and or,
 I loose the little appointment card in that amount of time...

So a few days ago,
 being almost blinded by the glitter of the grey hair patch,
that resides on the right side of my head,
 in my rear view mirror,
 I decided
 today was the day
 to make thee  hair appointment.
  The soonest I could get in for a hair cut, color & foil was July 20th...
I screamed, literally. 
The poor lady on the phone sensed the urgency,
 and said we could possibly squeeze me in for just a cut tomorrow (yesterday), 
but,
the color will have to be done at a later date.  
So, I opted for a 2-part deal...
Now, I would have to find another day
to squeeze this in.
{sigh}

Barb, my beautician,
 introduced me to something
 to hold me over until my color appointment...
Grey Free
 It will be my savior until my hair color appointment rolls around.
It is amazing and well worth the 12 bucks!
Have you ever tried this stuff?
It is a miracle on a wand!
Comes in all hair colors,
says it's even safe to use on mens beards...
now, that makes me laugh!
For some reason,
I'm having a hard time coming up with a visual
of my darling husband using such a thing...
You just simply apply like mascara to the grey hairs
and they are gone...
until you wash your hair,
and
 then you reapply.

Hair appointments used to be fun.
I'm just realizing that they have become work
and
are stressful.
Stressful?
Yes,
because when you are a "50 something year old" female,
 you just hope that while your head is wrapped in tin foil
and 
your torso is draped in plastic,
while sitting under a hair dryer
 you don't have a hot flash...
sucks to grow old!


And since we are on the topic of hair,
 or lack there of...
let me share a photo of the two grand darlings,
 and a cute little incident.
Their daddy was in Holland on business for 10 days,
 and during this time frame
 he celebrated his birthday. 
So,
 mommy wanted to send him a photo of the kids 
along with a birthday greeting.

  I was there when this little photo shoot took place. 
 See the sweet smile on big brothers face? 
 The baby sister started the photo session
in a more upright position in big brothers lap,
 which made him giggle...
her little fluff,
of what hairs she has,
 was tickling Beckham in the chin,
 thus,
 the sweet smile on his face!
It was such a cute moment 
and the photo now graces my computer screen,
and
i.love.it

Hoping you are all having a good "hair day",
Brenda

6.05.2012

New Patterns!

I'm happy to share with you
the new summer-time 
cross stitch pattern releases
for your stitching pleasure...

"Strawberry Hill Sampler"
A pattern that centers around re-purposing
a Whitman's Sampler Chocolate box (12 oz cardboard size).
 The box is painted, lined with old book pages,
and then topped off with a lovely cross stitch pinkeep...
a great little box to keep your stitching needfuls!
 
The pattern is filled with 4 fun-to-stitch projects...
A huswife for keeping your needles and scissors safe.
The needle roll folds up, bill-fold style,
and is secured with twill tape tie...
the back of the needle roll huswife
is adorned with a stitched sampler.
The 3rd project is the crow/strawberry pincushion
with antique lace edging and buttons...
And lastly, a little wool felt strawberry!  A little pocket on the front will hold your scissors
and the berry booklet opens up to secure your needle.
All the cross stitch projects in the "Strawberry Hill Sampler" are worked on 35 count Park City Blend linen over two threads.

X X X X X 

A NEW series,  
"Thimble Purses"

Tiny little purses worn around your neck
to keep your thimble safe! 
 These can be functional or just a fun accessory.

The pattern includes the mini purse frame.
  All designs are worked on 40 count linen over two threads.
...old buttons stitched to the purse
or slid on the hemp cording
adds extra charm!
Collect and stitch all 5!

X X X X X 

And last but not least,
JULY WORD PLAY 
July's Word Play has a nautical & 4th of July theme...
fish, sail boat, anchor and mermaid motifs worked in bright summertime
colored flosses!  The design is worked on 35 count linen over 2 threads.   Full and partial floss paks are available, as always!


With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda