• Family

    Wings

    Sabrina will officially be moving out on her own this weekend. No more college dorms in which one can barely move, no more parking permits, and no more mom telling her to keep her room picked up when she's at home. My girl is finally at the point in her life I never thought she'd be… not because I didn't have confidence in her; but because when she was my little thumb-sucking Bean, she would always say to me, "Mom, I'm nevuh going to gwo up and move out becuth I awayth want to thtay home and wiv wif you. Okay Mom?"

    BW Bean-1tp

  • Crazy Kids

    Homework.

    Sabrina was home last weekend, and got her baby sister to help her with an assignment for her Environmental Communications class. The class was split up into teams, and each team needed to come up with a campaign ad to encourage others to be more aware of what we're doing to God's green earth. So Sabrina's team came up with a fun slogan for reducing and reusing all the plastic things that most of us are guilty of accumulating:

    "Unplasticize UNL."

    I loved the little 30-second video Sabrina and Sophie did to help out the team. And the professor loved it as well!

     

     

    I hope you all have a great week ahead! I leave for Dallas on Friday, and I finally got all the charts mailed out last week. And just so you know, all those plastic bags that Tasha was sitting in came to good use: I always use them in lieu of bubble wrap when sending out anything that needs extra padding. So take that, Environmental Communications class! 😉

  • Retreats,  Stitching

    Big D

    One more week and I'll be in Dallas! I'm very excited to be presenting a workshop at the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild there, and I'm hoping to meet a few familiar names. 😉 One name in particular has volunteered to chauffeur me around, so I'll be having a fun time for sure. Thank you, Michelle!

    I've been working since January on the project, and I hope you all like what I've come up with.

    TRSG Label

    All of the kits have finally been shipped, along with charts and tutorials and supplies and trunk show. I can't wait to meet you all!

    And thank you, Mom, for always encouraging me when it comes to my design efforts. I love you.

  • New Designs

    Coming Soon…

    Hi there! I've been so madly getting things prepared for the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild in early May that I almost forgot I've got a new release coming on the first!

    Hopefully this is being released in time for those of you who would like to stitch it for Memorial Day or Flag Day or Independence Day. Here is Betsy's House:


    Betsy's House tp

    Stitch Count: 98w x 90h
    Fabric: 36 ct. Vintage Examplar by Lakeside Linens
    Threads: GAST
    Shaker White
    Old Covered Bridge
    Wood Trail
    Aged Pewter
    Grecian Gold
    Endive
    Espresso Bean
    Brethren Blue
    Cherry Bark
    and
    WDW Baked Apple


    Betsy tp 2

    I made an embarrassing omission on the back of the chart and forgot to give credit to the fabulous Sherri at Total Framing in Fairfax, Virgina for her perfect framing of Betsy! She used a gorgeous combination of moulding to create a double frame, and I'm in love with it! If you'd like this frame for your Betsy (or any other type of moulding), give her a call at (703) 426-0660. Total Framing has a very fast turnaround time, and they do hundreds of cross stitched pieces each month. (I was shocked at how quickly I received Spring Jack back from them as well!)

    Another important bit of information I left off of the chart (I'm forgetting so many things lately!) is the stitch count. As you can see above, it is 98 x 90, so it's not an overwhelming project at all. Rindy Richards did a gorgeous job stitching the model, and I can't thank her enough!

    Today I'll be giving things the final inspection for packing and mailing off to Dallas for the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild retreat. I'm very excited to be teaching there this year, and it's a huge relief to know that my head is attached to my body so it doesn't get left behind.

    Enjoy your day!


    Betsy tp 1


  • Crazy Kids,  Family

    Duet

    Any time a song comes on the radio (or pops into Sophie's head), Sophie and I usually start singing to it together. She will belt out the lead to any song, and I usually take on a background singer's role, which seems to work well for us.

    It doesn't, however, work as well for others in the house; on a recent visit home, Bre finally had to ask, "Do you two always break out in song?"

    Why yes, we do. And usually for no good reason other than to pretend we're famous singers.

     

    You should see us when we break out in dance.

    ETA: The song is by Bruno Mars, and these are the lyrics:

    I shoulda brought you flowers,
    and held your hand.
    Shoulda gave you all my hours
    when I had the chance.
    Take you to every party cuz all you
    wanted to do was dance.
    Now my baby's dancin',
    Now she's dancin' with another man.

  • Crazy Kids,  Family

    It’s Been a While!

    I've missed sitting here and "chatting" with you guys! I guess it's not really chatting, since I'm the one doing all the talking, but it feels like we're chatting sometimes. 🙂 I've been wanting to sit here and post something for a long time now, but I've been extremely busy with getting class pieces designed and releases organized, and have not had many chances to update this poor neglected blog of mine.

    And since my older girls are away, and my Sophie doesn't like to be photographed very much, there isn't a whole lot to post about except for the animals that live here. 😉 But I did manage to find a few pictures I took over the Easter weekend, which made me smile.

    My silly girls.. it was so nice having them all home again for a day or two.

    Bre and Bean tp 5

    Tilly-Roux loves Bre's soft voice, and if you could have heard the purring going on here!  But then, Sabrina came into the room, and Bre turned into a different creature.

    Bre and Bean tp 4

    Don't you just love it when a photo would have been so sweet, if not for one person with ideas of their own?

    Bre and Bean tp 3

    Bre and Bean tp 2

    We love to flex our muscles around here.

    Tp 1

    That one was actually taken a few weeks ago on one of Bean's visits home, but I thought I'd include it.

    Tp 2

    Bre and Bean tp 1

    I love my girls. And it's possible that, since they've spent so much time apart, they may actually kind of love each other a bit as well. 😉

    I may have just jinxed myself.

    Thanks for checking in here, even though more often than not, there's not much new to read. I sure have missed you all though!