Pins and Fobs

I love things that sparkle. Doesn't every girl...

You may have noticed the display at the shop of scissor fobs and pins. The pins can be used to attach your pattern to your work as you stitch. Used as a counting pin. Look cute in a pin cushion or adorn a finished piece. Each is made of glass beads and metal findings. The pins are not just your everyday pin. They are extra long and have a wonderful pewter patina to them. Very vintage looking. With a fob on your scissors there is no confusion which pair are your. Our stitching table gets quite crowded, but everyone know which scissors are theirs when it is time to pack up and go home. I just love the whole display.

Dragonfly bag..

This was a busy weekend. I finished my gardens and then planted the stores beds. In the down time I beaded. If you have stitched our "Dragonfly Dreams" designed by Carolyn you will recognize this fabric . We designed it so that when it is drawn together it looks like a flower and the ties are adorned with crystal dragonflies. They are just beautiful. I think that they will go fast, and when they are gone they are gone forever....

Happy 50th!

Joy and her husband (my in-laws) just celebrated 50 years together! Can you believe it. We had a nice quiet family celebration, because Jim likes things low key. This picture however was 4 feet by 3 feet and posted at the entrance to their neighborhood and then showed up for our dinner reservations. I don't think Jim enjoyed that very much. Congratulations!

We have some great customers

We love all of our customers, but this couple I just have to share with you. As they shopped the store their dog was very comfortable to be packed around in the bag his owner wore. In visiting with them they asked if we knew where they could find goggles for the dog. Okay, now we just had to know more...The dog rides everywhere with them in the bag on the front of a Harley! What a great couple! We hope to see them again soon.

scissor storage

I have so many pair of wonderful scissors they need to set out on display. A fun way to display them is in a flower frog. Carolyn was kind enough to give me one for my birthday this last year. I love to go on frog hunts. You usually find them in antique shops or second hand stores. Hunting them can become an obsession, and then there is the fact that you have to have the scissors to fill them. I think I can do that...

Pin heads in every color...

Have you ever stitched something that you wanted pins in and didn't know where to find the pin heads that would match. The secret is nail polish. You can surely find the right shade in nail polish, just like Carolyn did for her creepy crawly Halloween set. Just put your pins in a Styrofoam block and coat them with at least 2 coats of paint (depending on the color that you need). Just be sure to let them dry for about a week before you use them. They stay a little tacky and you don't want to run the risk of getting it on your work.

Is this MY mom..

I have to share this with you...My mom has started coming to our Wednesday stitching group. We really enjoy her. She usually brings knitting to work on, but last week she brought her stitching. She sat at the table and brought out a Ziploc bag with a 10 year old project inside. That is about how often my mom does stitchery. She zipped open her bag and took out her thread snarl and began to pull out the needed color....everyone at the tables mouths fell open. Is this MY mom? Who taught her the best way to organize her thread. I think I have forgotten a very important lesson. After five minutes of uncontrollable laughter (even my mom laughed) we let her in on how much easier it would be if it were sorted and bagged. Well, we didn't get that far because then she realized that she hadn't worked on the tea towels for so long that the iron on pattern had disappeared. What a fun day we had! Now I have to give my mom credit, she is a wonderful artist and writer, stitching is just not her thing...

Nothing says summer like oil cloth

I love the cheerful patterns of oil cloth. We brought in bags, book covers, zipper pouches and drink cup cozies. Each is lined in a co-ordinating print, usually a checkered design. Oil cloth is very reasonable priced. I think that you will love these.

Aren't these cute!

I picked these up at a local boutique. Aren't they darling. This isn't the only ones that I bought, I have given a few of them away. I even had one done in a doll shoe. That one went to Pat at Lakeside Linens. I think they are wonderful.

Carriage House Samplings

We are sad to hear that Carriage House Samplings will be discontinuing their pattern line. They have some of our favorite designs. We are ordering like mad to make sure that we have in stock some of the most popular at the shop. If there are any of their designs that you still need to add to your collection, let us know and we will get them in for you so that you don't miss out. You can view them on http://www.hoffmandis.com/ under the designer name "Carriage House Samplings"

Gingerbread day...

Monday was a creative day at the shop. Carolyn thought that since they would be working on a gingerbread house, we should eat gingerbread cookies! Have you started on your Victoria Sampler "Gingerbread House" yet? This pattern came out just before the holiday season last year. Lynn is working on hers and making notes and writting ideas to make your stitching easier. Lynn is the architect and Carolyn is the builder. We are lucky to have such a great team. We will offer a class for the stitching and layout, then on this blog we will keep you on task with a timeline, and then Carolyn will hold a finishing class so that you will have yours all finished in time for this next Christmas season.They will help you with all you need to know to make you gingerbread house build a success. My favorite gadget "The Tacky Bob" works really well for the beading on this piece. It is a must have!

When it rained, it poured!

We really need to have the raingutters moved! We have discovered that if there is enough rainfall to float the ark, the planter boxes fill with water and emty out into the shop....Thank goodness with the help of some good friends, we didn't have any damage. Customers all pitched in and help out. Lucas bailed water out of the planter boxes and caught the rain in buckets as it came out of the raingutters. The first bucket he accidently poured in his shoe! The girls in the store swept out the water, moved fixtures and models and helped us see the humor. Thanks everyone!!!