New Christmas models....

We have been so busy that even our Lizzie Kate fat men hasn't been framed yet. We have it wrapped on foam core and on display. When we got in the frame for Silent Night we knew we had to have a model. This frame is beautiful! Betsy of course added more bling to the stitchery with beads and metallic. She makes everything even better.....Isn't it gorgeous? One of the hits of open house was our Hares Christmas by Plum Street. We painted the frame ourselves and aged it with tinted wax. I also antiqued the fabric before I started stitching. It is stitched on 36 count, but can be stitched on any count.

The winter wall is great, and the old ice skates that I have add just the right touch...

Open house was a blast!

Our annual Christmas Open House was soooo much fun! We had a line at the door and we drew straws to see who would be the one to unlock and let them in.... We love seeing everyone that day, and watching everyone with list in hand fill their baskets. Thank you for your business through the years and sharing your friendship with us. We really appreciate each of you....

I didn't take one picture at the party. I can't believe it! But I will share some snapshots of some of the new items we have. This is a very vintage banner stitched on perforated paper. The kit comes with everything but thread, even the paper banner is assembled and ready to have the stitchery mounted to it. The blocks were a hit again this year. We had 5 new designs. The snowman blocks have a wooden snowman that goes on the front. These kits come with everything but the thread, and can be finished in a couple of nights of stitching. Every young girl needs a sewing box, and we brought these in because we thought the prints were so much fun. They are filled with goodies and have room to add more in the layer beneath. Be sure to come in even if you missed open house. This is the time for last minute gifts, or gift certificates.....

A finished Blackbird box.....

Lynn has been kind enough to take some beautiful pictures of her latest finished project. This is a box from the book A Schoolgirls's Work by Blackbird designs. The design is called Polly's Sewing Box. Lynn changed the threads to silk, but she used the same fabrics and paint colors as shown in the book. The tiny box is actually topped with a photo of the stitchery that is stitched in the big box. It is reduced in size and really does look like a tiny little stitchery. If you haven't taken a look through this book, you really should. Blackbird books are always full of wonderful designs and ideas.

More Halloween at the shop...

Love the hat Carolyn!!!! She is great at all things artistic....her hat was over the top!

A scary dessert.....

We had our annual pumpkin decorating party this weekend. We had a ball! I wanted to show you the dessert that I made. It is a Martha Stewart idea, but I used a different recipe for the glass. Taylor thought it was really glass and that even if we took the shards out they wouldn't be safe to eat..... pretty convincing!

Is it Halloween yet?

Our Wednesday group had a little Halloween party this week. It was just the usual party until Russ brought in the cupcakes! He is so much fun... Of course I had to spoil the sugar fest and brought in the veggie plate. But as you can tell, it wasn't the most popular dish on the table. I put together a few new Halloween displays, as the cabinet is quite bare this week. The frogs seem to sell faster than I can find them and I needed to fill in the cabinet. The glass box looks cute displaying a few festive things don't you think? We also thought that a couple of the pretty little things pin cushions looked good in here. Check out the finished spider on the fabric Thunderstorm. This fabric is perfect!

Too pretty not to share.....

We framed such a beautiful piece this week, I wanted to show it to you. I know that Lisa was worried about putting on the ribbons and she did a wonderful job. My close up picture just doesn't do it justice. This is "Angel Proclamation" by Mirabilia.

A little bit blurry....

The last newsletter that was released had a wonderful new design by Carolyn pictured. But no, that wasn't your eyes, the picture was horrible. Thought you might like to see what this design really looks like..... This is the "Sisters through time" by Carolyn Standing Webb. It is in stock and the cost is $14.00.

My week of framing....

Framing is wonderful! We love to see your finished work. We frame lots and lots each week, and want to thank you for letting us do this for you. We understand that needlework is not an inexpensive thing to do, and framing adds to the overall cost. We want to keep you stitching, that keeps our shop going, so we offer very reasonable prices in our framing department. Most of the work we do is needlework, and we know the hours (sometimes years) that have been put into your piece. We know needlework and want to make sure that yours is finished beautifully.

Beautiful pictures.....

Lynn sent me some beautiful pictures of her Tulip Box I wanted to share with you. She is a terrific photographer.

Tulip box finishing kit....

The finishing kits are ready for the Tulip Box in Blackbird's book Stitcher's Journey. The kits have many of the necessities to finish yours like our shop model. The cost is $10.00 and there will be a limited number of them available.....Hurry in for yours.

New frogs....

We are on a roll...We were lucky enough to have brought in 3 new scissor frogs this week. Well, it was really 4 but one sold before I could post it on the blog! I think this weeks catch is beautiful!

Treasures from the sewing box....

Lynn brought in some fun treasures today. I wanted to share them with you. I think the pins in the tiny little bottle are just great. I think I need a little bottle of pins to display at my house.

A really cool spider.....

Is there such a thing as a really cool spider? I think this one is the coolest! He is stitched on a 32 count over 2 and finishes up to be about 24" x 6". Of course if you don't have enough room, you can always stitch him over one..... Ours is stitched on a hand dyed 32 count Thunderstorm linen. It really adds to the design....Karen did a great job stitching this up for us, and did it in record time. Thank you Karen! If you like this one, you might like these also...Each of these are by Alessandre Adelaide, we carry her work at the shop...

Never idle hands....

Can there ever be too much of a good thing? In this case there couldn't be....One of our wonderful friends/customers has been very busy. This is a collection of her more than 5 dozen towels, each hand stitched by her very own hands. Can you believe it! Joy and I were lucky enough to be the recipient of a set of our own. Thank you Penny, we love them!

Cute little thing....

How cute is this! The Pretty Little Things girls brought this in today. He is tempting me to take him home. They always find such fun things. You have got to check out their cabinet each time you come into the store. There is always new things inside....

Blackbird boxes...

This is our latest finishing....It is the box "tulip stitching box" from the book Stitcher's Journal by Blackbird Designs. Didn't it turn out great? This is Lynn's box. I will put together somewhat of a kit with a few of the finishing supplies to finish yours in the same fabric print if you would like. I just need to finish up the instruction and remember what paint was used.....I need to keep better notes. I promise that I will have this together by the end of next week. You can fill yours with anything that you find useful or just decorative. This is Alice's box. Hers is finished with special treasures. The tatting around the box in worked by her grandmother and the buttons she embellished the inside with are from her grandmothers sewing box. That makes your box very special Alice... The stitching pallet for both boxes are the same, but changed a bit from the pattern. They wanted to use silks. I have a list of the changes at the shop. But look at the differences that you can make in your finishing. Both are just gorgeous. Good job girls!

Display cases...

We brought in some glass display cases. These are perfect for keeping the smalls that you want to have on display safe from dust and touchy feely hands. We think the scissors look great in the long box and the small box would look good displaying a stitched treasure or a collection of antique sewing supplies inside. We have a larger box on order also, it just hasn't made it's way to the shop yet...

Have you decorated yet...

I wanted to show you our cute/spooky apothecary jars up close. They are so fun. You might even think that they are really old. The stoppers in the top are glass and they are really thick glass. We had a pharmacist in that fell in love with them and had to have one to take back to work. The large amber bottles are very large. They would look great on a mantle. I think we all need these for our decorating....

Bright and bold....

Three new DMC floss that came in just can't be missed.....they jump out at you. Perfect for Halloween stitching. The white is a glow in the dark - yes - it really does glow. The other two glow in the light they are so bright!

New frogs....

What would a weekend be with out frog hunting. I have to say, it does make me weary when I hunt and hunt and come up with nothing. I found two beauties this weekend though. The green is so autumnal. I love it's size.

The red is a rich deep color with a touch of amber in the base. Both are gorgeous!