Stitching N Cleaning

I don't clean often. Oh oh .. that doesn't sound good, but talking about going into walk-in closets that have been used primarily for storage is the qualifier here! In my office .. bookshelves with more books than will fit on them, cross stitch storage areas that you no longer have any idea what could be in them .. under all that other stuff. Basically, a human could no longer 'walk-in' to that space! Mocha and Padme had trouble too.

But .. it's enter-able now! Two days of intensive re-arranging, throwing stuff out, sorting books to take to the used book store and to take to a goodwill type center. I still have to 'organize' the stitching stuffs .. books are done .. but that's for another day! What can I say .. I'm a pack rat ... I stash A LOT!!! (the design is my stitched version of Moonflower Designs' "I Stitch" .. I did it on 30ct St.Valentines Day Blend linen from R&R mainly as I didn't have the color linen the designer used and wanted to stitch it NOW.! I did use the fiber colors called for, and thought my fabric was an incredibly close color substitute.)

I have to take a shower - I feel incredibly icky (probably has a lot to do with my finding a huge mouse nest under and in the back of one of my bookshelves and having to dispose of that), and then get my butt in gear to go see my mom. Cleaning was the important item on my agenda today.

But before I do that, I'd promised I'd share some of my most current completed projects with you, and today's the day for that. I'm currently working on Carriage House Sampling's "Happy Hallowe'en" I'd mentioned last time I blogged .. the one on 32ct Black silk gauze. It 'will' look cool .. but I don't like stitching on black anything!

This is "Random Threads" from Erica Michaels .. mounted on a tiny Treasure Dowry Box from Olde Colonial Designs. And yes, it's a 40ct Silk Gauze design .. the box design opening is only 2" x 2"!

And the design at right is from Noveau Encore Designs ... I found this company during the online Needlework show. She has 'name trees' with state motifs for every state and a bunch of hobbies/professions too. Of course I can get you whatever you want from her! Can you see it says "Michigan" on the side? And incorporates our state bird, flower, fruit and tree into the design (although our Robin was depicted as a Bluebird .. I had to change the body color to brown/grey from the blue she had.)

OK .. so maybe I won't go see mom today ... I can call her and tell her I'll stop by tomorrow morning instead. Not that I don't want to see her, but I don't think I'm in the mood for sitting and staring at her while she doesn't want to talk to me as I don't agree with her these days. (deep sigh)

I think I should take my shower, put on clean comfy clothes, and stitch! What do you think? Sounds like a game plan to me! Dave's cooking tonight .. that would make it kind of like a little deb holiday,

byeeeeee!

Reading N Stitching ...

.. Reading ..
I'm hooked on a new series now .. actually it's Dave's fault, but it started with my friend Diana .. by David Balducci. Diana turned me onto his series starting with "The Camel Club". I, in turn, introduced Dave to them, and had to download the 4th in that series to my Kindle as soon as it was released (and then in turn had to share my Kindle with the David). Dave wanted more of his books, so next door to Lizz's Used Books I go (it's hell having a source right next to my shop - with it's stitching addictions - for my reading addictions!!) and Lizz gave me books 1-3 in another series by Balducci: Split Second, Hour Game & Simple Genius. And then as soon as his 4th in that series was released, had it immediately downloaded to my Kindle. Can't wait .. must read now! Only problem with that is ... since the first 3 books were actual 'books', I let Dave have control of my Kindle so he could read "First Family" while I began the series. Now, since I'm still reading the paperbacks (I'm on book 3), he's still reading the Kindle. He's on "The Host" by the author of Twilight .. one I HAVE to read!! Kindle lets you download a couple of chapters for free to see 'if' you want to purchase the 'book' or not, and I was hooked on what I was able to read! I also have the 9th Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire book that was just released this week downloaded and waiting for me too!
Now I have to find Dave something NEW to read so I can regain control of my toy!!

... N Stitching ...
One of the ways I deal with stress, other than to make a lot of jokes, is to hide myself away. That's what I've been doing lately ... reading like a madman and stitching to beat the band! I've stitched more in the past month and half (or has it been longer??) than I have in a year I'm sure!
Finishing up "Picasso's Rooster" on 40ct silk gauze, and then will either start Handblessing's "Hooked On Reading" or Carriage House Samplings' "A Happy Hallowe'en". I had taken that one with me on my last flight to San Diego and found out that despite a good magnifier, airplane lighting is just not conducive to stitching well on 32ct Black Silk gauze. sigh I was going to post pictures of my completed works, but since I left my camera at the shop, that will have to wait until another day!
Since this is Mother's Day, and since I've been under such stress and yet able to complete so many stitched projects, I'll give credit and say (humor, arr arr) .. Thanks Mom!!!

SNT Guest Blogger

Good Morning to my mom's blog followers.

My name is Eddie's Frosty St. Nicholas, but you can call me Nick. I'm a 4-year old Golden Retriever and if you know about us Goldens, you'll know that we're usually too busy having fun to do anything else but this issue demands that I speak! (woof)

Everyone is concerned about this Swine Flu thingy and since no one else has spoken up for us dogs yet, the mantle has fallen on me and I'll gladly wear it. Wait! Mantle?? That isn't that thing they tie around your neck when you get your haircuts and they make you all nice smelly, is it? 'Cause if it is, I will NOT wear the mantle 'cause I hate those things! It makes me look like a sissy to all my posse .. I'd rather just have my collar with jingles on it, if it's alright with you! (oh .. that's called a neckerchief .. dumb sissy name .. OK, one mantle wearing dog right now I'll be then!)

First there was Mad Cow disease and all you humans got all upset about that. Those cows weren't mad .. they were just dizzy. Well, maybe some got mad when they fell down a bunch of times, but my mom falls down all the time and SHE doesn't get mad! (dad says she has low blood sugar/low blood pressure and should know better than to jump up out of her chair, but I think she watches me and I jump up all the time and I don't fall down! )

Now all you humans talk about is Swine Flu.

Have you ever seen a pig sneeze? Have you ever seen a pig with a thermometer? I don't think so! Swines do not get the flu!! Even when there was all that uproar about that about Bird Flu and that the birds all got it from the pigs .. have you ever seen a bird and pig talking together and sneezing and shaking hands without that goop you humans put all over your hands? I think not!

Pandemic .. shamdemic! It's People Flu and that's that!!!

If you want to talk about potential pandemics .. have you seen the amount of squirrels around lately? Now there's an epidemic!

First there were just those little chippymunks .. the cats should have kept those under control, but apparently those fuzzy mices mom gives them that smell so funky are distracting them. And those suckers are quick .. have you seen how fast they run? Once big brown squirrels were all we had .. now there are black squirrels. And then some of them stayed out in the sun too long and bleached out to grey, so you see those all over the place now too. And don't get me started on those ground squirrels .. I think those are the result of the big brown squirrels and the chippymunks getting together. I don't know for sure, 'cause that would be a result of S.E.X, and dad says I don't know anything about that 'cause I'm neutered (whatever that means!)

I digress (quickly licking self)

Those squirrels are everywhere ... whenever you look out of those see-thru doors .. there they are! Trying to take over the NW corner of Oakland County and it would appear, it's all up to me to control them in my yard .. no talk on the big grey box about squirrel pandemics .. not yet anyway!I try! I really do! I can almost climb the apple tree when they run up there, and if that oak tree was lower, I could try to climb it too. (I really don't mean to run into it from time to time, I just run so fast I can't help it!)

Mom and dad DID put in a 'squirrel dispenser' for me a few years back, but they don't keep it filled like they do the bird feeders. If you chase the squirrels just right, they'll run up the bird feeder and hide under that big black thingy. Then .. when you peek under the black thingy thing, and if you bump it upwards with your nose .. sometimes a squirrel falls out!! It's really cool .. but they SHOULD keep it filled more often for me.

OK .. Big Chocolate Lab is at the see-thru door and I have to go sniff him and then we have to run around and pee on things. Important Stuff (woof woof)

So .. dogs of stitcher's unite .. together we can fight off this squirrel pandemic!

Writing N Felting N ..

And here it is .. nearly the end of April! I LOVE this warm weather .. slept with my window partway open last night for some fresh air but why do those damn birds have to start chirping so incredibly loudly so early in the morning? I swear I heard a rooster crow a hour and a half after the birdies started .. they must have woken him up! Grass is green .. dandelions are out (those are the flowers that I can grow with no problems) .. leaves are appearing .. kitties are digging it out in their pen too!

I finally am getting around to showing you the scarf I Nuno Felted at my class last weekend .. this is a premade silk scarf (started out 72" x 15") that I've added wool to, yarns, other silk fabrics, and some silk threads. (I suppose I could have had a pic taken of 'me' actually wearing it .. but that wasn't going to happen!)

It was a really fun class and I plan on doing some further Nuno felting this summer .. when I can work outside (it takes a larger working area than I have in my kitchen or laundry room .. and can get pretty drippy-wet too!). I was thinking of table coverings .. maybe even a runner for the top of my entertainment center.

Days 2 and 3 of the weekend class were spent doing animals .. sculpture. For some reason my pics didn't come through here at the shop, so I'll have to post those perhaps this weekend. I started with a Golden Retriever .. and had some of Nick's 'actual golden coat' to use for some realism. I don't know what happened to me .. but I got really frustrated really fast! Now, I've done sculpture .. quite a few pieces actually .. and have no idea WHY I was stressing out so! I was in such a mood I wasn't going to go back and complete the class, but Dave talked me into it.

And I'm so glad I did! I apologized to everyone there for being in that mood .. but since none of them knew who I was, they didn't know I had been in a mood! (LOL) I not only completed the dog sculpture during the morning of Day 2 (and loved it!), but I started and finished a woolly sheep that day as well! So .. 3 days of felting = 3 completed projects + one happy Deb!

Then this past Thursday, I had some spare time with nothing to do (other than housework, bills, paperwork, etc) .. so I thought I'd try my hand at 'painting with wool'. You start by making a wool background and then place more wools (or whatever) onto the background .. like you were using a paintbrush on canvas. I've never done this before .. heck, I've never tried painting before, and I certainly cannot draw beyond stick figures .. but had fun! The design appeared in my brain on Wednesday and this is what came out:

I used the Art Felt paper and wet felted the entire thing. You can do the background and needle felt .. then wet felt for stability, but .. maybe my next project I'll try to elaborate/embellish with the needle. Even just wet felted, you can actually see ripples in the river water! During the fulling process it shrunk by about 30%, but it's still a nice sized piece .. about 18" high x maybe 11" wide. And .. it's currently hanging on the wall above my mother's bed at Crestmont!

LouAnn says I have to get back to work now .. if she has to work, so do I!
Wait a minute .. I'm the boss .. why should I have to work too?????

sigh

Reading N ..

I can't believe that 10 days have passed since I've last rambled! Way too much stuff going on in too short of a time period and it's wearing me down.
Last night I just couldn't get to sleep .. so finished off one book, (don't bother reading "Max", the latest by James Patterson - it's just not worth it; methinks he's trying to jump on the "Twilight" bandwagon by rushing out another in his Maximum Ride series (the first book is by far THE BEST!), then got about 1/2 way through another (an older Nora Roberts that I've read before, but most books are my oldest bestest friends!) before I forced myself to turn the light off around 1:40am. Then .. tossed, turned, and did not even get one wink in before I finally gave up at 3:45am and got up to 'begin' my day! Hate when that happens! Too many thoughts of mom, I guess .. going round and round and round.
So here I am .. it's 6:03pm on a Thursday and I've been AWAKE since 7:37am on Wednesday. And .. I'm still awake, killer headache, but still awake. I should probably check into Guinness World Records and see how long .... no, forget it - I really don't care!

Anyway, I've had too few days at my shop for the past three weeks, what with my mother, me and the flu, and my mother again. I think I've been there at the most only 3 days in one week!
Arranged with Debbie to work for me on Friday and Saturday so that I could attend the felting classes with Sharon Costello that I've so been looking forward to. Stopped and picked up a dish to pass at the deli this afternoon (students bring lunch each day to share) and then called to get directions to where the class will be held (can't find the directions from last year .. go figure!).
Told Lana "cool .. I'll see you tomorrow" and she says .. "Saturday, not tomorrow"!
WHAT????
The first day of class is 'Nuno Scarves & Wraps' ... then, the next two days are 'Needle Felted Animals, part 1 and part 2'. And of course, once again who knows where my brain was and when I arranged all this at the shop I wrote down the wrong dates!!! The classes are NOT on Fri, Sat and Sun .. they're Saturday, Sunday AND Monday!!!!
Considering all that is going on .. more that can go wrong is normal I guess.

So .. the plan is this. I'll go into the shop tomorrow morning, and Dave will take mom in for the 1st stage of another bone scan. Then, early early afternoon, I'll go with her for the more involved 2nd stage of the scan .. this time it's 'full body' looking for cancer I assume.
Then, Saturday I'll take the Nuno Felting class ... and on Sunday, the entire day of sculptural animal felting part 1. Monday I'll go for 1/2 the day to work on part 2, so I can be back at the shop by around noon. My sister Patsy will be coming through town on her way back to Cheboygan and wants, of course, to see ME (oh ... and her step-mom, my mom, too!)! On Monday I'll have both Louann and Debbie working till 3pm, so should be able to spring for a cup of coffee with my sister with no worries.
Last time I saw Patsy was last August when I went to Cheboygan to 'sort used underwear' for the Humane Society White Elephant/Garage Sales.

I sure do hate to miss the entire class time .. specially since I've spent the money on it .. but I've been doing felted figures and have the basics down .. just wanted to see what Sharon could have us come up with! So .. no terrible biggie. Actually, still have not figured out WHAT animal I want to create - we're supposed to bring several pictures of the chosen animal from different angles with us to class. Dave has been a 'great help' to me ... suggesting the likes of armadillo, duck-billed platypus, wallaby, ant eater, humptyback whale!

Stitching N Things

April Fools on the 1st? I don't think so! Today HAS To Be April Fool's Day!!!!

Views from my back and side yard .. and through the windshield on the drive into the shop this morning! Went to bed after taking Nick out for his nightly 'pee walk' wearing a heavy shawl .. woke up to 6" on the ground and still falling!!!
And .. HOW can they tell you that you are under a WINTER Storm Warning when it's officially SPRING?????
So very wrong!

I did want to share a couple of finishes with you ... I really 'should' have taken this one OFF the wall of the shop to photograph it rather than stand on a stool and shoot up, but ... !
At right is My Big Toe Designs' "Quaker Harmony". The frame is a deep green, almost marbled look with a dark gold brushed outer edge.

And here at left is Moonflower Designs' "I Stitch" prior to being framed. I'm going with a Pearl frame from Eastside Moulding .. it has the brown with a greenish tinge to it and also picks up the rusty peach colors in the design. That frame will be ordered today.

Well, I 'should' be working since I 'am' at the shop right now (even though the shop is not yet open) ... going to be cutting the fabric for Blackbird Design's Loose Feathers .. their first in their new stitching accessories series. As soon as the fibers arrive on Wednesday, we can get the full auto out of here! LouAnn is ringing through the 'chart only' autos right now as I type (slave driver that I am!).

Going to run over to Crestmont and see mom for a few minutes today too .. I didn't get over there yesterday (bad daughter that I am!).

Later!!!!

Writing N Complaining Part Deux

Since my blog has decided to NOT let me post a comment reply to my own blog comment section .. I'll post it here. (I will not be thwarted by technology)

To Anonymous .. you had written "Like I said, we all have bad days, but when it happens everytime I'm there, I go elsewhere. Sorry!"

PLEASE!! *I* am the one who NEEDS to know this .. when it happens or shortly after. I would have commented, if this had happened only in the old store, that the problem has now been taken care of. But .. happening in the Fenton location too? The only way a problem can be addressed is "IF" the problem is known. And believe me, IF something is brought to our attention, it is addressed. I would hope that in the future, no matter where you are when something happens like that, you would either ask to speak to the manager/owner, you would make a call to the manager/owner, you would send an email to that company or, even send a letter. Customer service is what it is all about and I know from places where I felt I 'had' to speak up .. even a few days later .. it was much appreciated by the company and the problem was rectified, for the most part.

Now .. that the complaining part is over .. here's some more of the writing part!

Trying to finish a project that I decided to start after I'd already pulled all the materials for another project. And today, my back ordered Homespun Elegance pincushion arrived .. and I was up front looking at fabric for that too. NO Deb NO
I don't know .. fear of finishing? eyes bigger than my stitching time? short attention span? I am a 'dead ringer' for Dory from "Finding Nemo" ... going about my business just fine and then instantly being distracted and forgetting all about what I was doing or going to do. Sometimes there's 'bliss' in that though .. at least until those forgotten brain cells fire again and you remember what you were about and feel guilty.

Maybe I just want whomever goes through my home after I die to wonder out loud .. 'who in the heck was this woman and why did she never finish anything'!!! Maybe I should contact the Guinness Book people .. there may be a category I could shoot for!

And one last thing to share .. my niece sent me a photo of the felted bowl/vessel I'd given her for Christmas .. I guess it's safe to assume she really liked it!