• Family,  Good Things

    Pink Papaya!

    December 13, 2012

    I'm a sucker for good cosmetics and skin care. What can I say? I got it honestly, as my mother is quite the cosmetics fiend herself, often hiding in a closet somewhere with her laptop, adding things to her virtual shopping cart and checking out faster than you can cry Uncle-wears-mascara. So imagine my excitement when Bre announced to me that she's discovered a new line of products that she loves and has decided to sell!

    I immediately headed straight to her website and began browsing, and oh my, I was in love! I told Bre I'd love to share it here with you all, just in case you'd like to give any of the products a try for yourself. I have to say, I'm impressed with what I've ordered so far, and it arrived on my doorstep in a very timely manner.

    Pink Papaya-1

    My hands get very dry in the winter, so I love a good hand scrub. This stuff smells so natural and good – actually, it reminds me of grapefruit. Very clean!

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    You just wet your hands a little and scoop some out of the jar. Then you scrub your hands together, rinse, and voila! Smooth, smooth, smooth.

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    The cranberry seeds make it so pretty, too. 😉

    And what would a Paulette order be without this:

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    Now you knew I couldn't resist something with a name like that. 😉 I expected this to smell just like coffee beans, but in fact, it's more like a sweet coffee drink. It's very pleasant, and the scrub is much finer than the Cranberry Orange Hand Scrub. The only downside is that I have the urge for a Frappuccino every time I use it.

    And finally, this is probably some of the best body cream I've ever used. It's non-greasy and very silky, and I really love the smell! (I actually keep it by the kitchen sink and use it on my hands after I've washed them.)

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    If you'd like to treat yourself to one of Pink Papaya's products, or maybe get a last-minute Christmas present for anyone, you can click here: Bre's Pink Papaya Website. I appreciate your taking the time to stop by my blog, even when I'm not talking about stitching! I just really wanted to show you all these things, just in case you like fun, new cosmetics and skin care products like I do. Not to mention like my mom does. 😉

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    ETA: I've updated the Pink Papaya link bc some of you were having trouble with error messages. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! Thank you so much for your patience! 🙂

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  • Stitching

    Late in Posting

    December 11, 2012

    It was at the Shepherd's Bush retreat in October that I discovered Jeanette Douglas' charming little Quaker Pincushions and their accompanying pins and buttons. I visited the Shepherd's Boutique every day and always found myself at Jeanette's table, eyeing the models and playing, playing with those little colorful pillows. Finally, on the last day, I said to her, "Jeanette, I can't stand it any more. I need one of those patterns and the kit that goes with it."

    I know it's a little late to show-and-tell the Hallowe'en pincushion, but it's the one I chose to make, and I wanted to share it with you all! I used The Gentle Art's wool for it, as well as some lovely linen by R&R (18th Century Gold, I believe it was?)

    Quaker Pincushion-1

    I have to say, these JABC pins make me smile. 😉

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    This large button came in the kit as well, and is sewn to the bottom of the cushion. The pattern says to use a piece of matching wool for the fabric on the bottom, but I used an old piece of homespun I had on hand, and I like how it turned out.

    Quaker Pincushion-3

    Quaker Pincushion-4

    Thanks for bearing with me in my sharing of out-of-season-but-still-fun smalls. I'm very much looking forward to next fall, however, so I can pull this out of my box of Halloween decorations – and remember once again how much fun I had in Utah. If you've never had the pleasure of meeting Jeanette, you're missing out. What a sweetheart she is!

    P.S. She's got Christmas pincushions as well. 😉

    P.P.S. I just realized that while it may no longer be Halloween, it is still technically fall. 🙂

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  • New Designs

    Coming Soon…

    December 7, 2012

    Farmstead Christmas tp

    This is my last release for the year, and it will be out some time in the middle of this month. I hope you all like it! Because I'm always sending out my patterns to model stitchers at the eleventh hour, there is often too little time to have things framed. But I do love this as a little pillow, as the model stitcher suggested it be made into (thank you, Rindy!), along with its charming rusty bells sewn along the bottom. (My mother has decided she'll still be framing her piece, however, as soon as she's finished stitching it!)

    Here is some information you'll need, should you choose to stitch Farmstead Christmas:

    Stitch count: 132 x 116

    Fabric used: Lakeside Linens' 36 ct. Vintage Wood Smoke

    Threads: Needlepoint Inc. silks in 993, 966, 334, 208, 203, 346, 974, and 991.

    I hope you're enjoying the Christmas season so far. I'm usually just beginning my shopping at about this time, but believe it or not, I'm finished! This is a first for me, and I can't believe it! But knowing how I am, I'll spend the month basking in my own glory for having finished my shopping early, so that by the time Christmas Eve rolls around, I'll suddenly remember that it all still needs to be wrapped!

    An early Merry Christmas to you all!

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  • Crazy Kids,  Family,  Holidays

    Fall Behind

    December 6, 2012

    I was sorting through some photos on the computer and thought I'd share a few moments from the fall season. With my older girls away from home, sometimes the only way they can catch up with what's going on around here is through my blog, bc there really isn't time in their whirlwind trips back to Omaha to go through all of the pictures I've taken – even if the photos are of them! So I show some here, and the rest I email to them.. if they actually open their email. 😉

    On one beautiful, brisk afternoon back in October, we drove out to the pumpkin patch…

    My younger girls have never matched their socks, btw. I'm not sure why, but Bre is the only one of the three who can't stand mismatched socks. Sabrina and Sophie think it's the only way to go.

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    These chili dogs and root beer are a highlight of mine every October!

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    We decided to go through the corn maze, but when I expressed a concern for getting lost (which happened one year), Sophie said that she'd be the leader by holding up the bag of remaining kettle corn as a spot to focus on. If any of us were to get lost, just look for the bag held high over the corn.

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    That's when it occurred to me that Sophie's arm should be too short to be seen over the cornstalks, and then it dawned on all of us that the corn had already been cut for the season. Doh.

    But she continued to hold it up anyway, as a beacon of hope.

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    Moving into November… Thanksgiving was completely wonderful, as usual. The only thing missing was the rest of the family: Audrey, Shaun, Natalie, and my brother Paul.

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    We hauled lots of food over to Mom and Dad's house, but I ended up forgetting the Honeybaked Ham. Not at my house, but at the store. What a disappointment that was! But all was forgiven when I explained that I'd pick one up for Christmas Eve this year. (Thank goodness one doesn't pay for their ham until it's picked up, or I'm not sure the Christmas Eve white flag would have worked on Big Papa.)

    Bre picks up my camera once in a while to snap photos, and I love it when she does this bc it's always when I'm not around, and I can see what I missed. I love these moments… In the kitchen commotion of getting all the food wrapped and ready to load into the car, Sabrina cleared a space and painted her nails. Bre took her picture, and even though the focus is a bit soft, I love it anyway… (Bre is going to be mad at me for posting this with the soft focus, bc she really does know how to take an amazing photo!)

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    One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving this year is that Josh joined us!

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    Have I mentioned that Josh is a very patient man?

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    Only once in a while does he break his silence.

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    I just love these two.

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    And now we've come to December, and I can't wait to see what the month brings. I love this time of year… all the comings and goings, gift-shopping and wrapping, and mostly family members coming back home.

    May this season bring you much joy!

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  • Family,  Holidays,  Stitching

    Winter Sampler Exchange!

    December 4, 2012

    Oh my goodness, you have no idea how giddy Mom and I have been about our annual sampler exchange, and it finally happened yesterday! We were only waiting for the boxes from Jill's studio to arrive, and as soon as they did, my plan was to run every red light bw here and Mom's house in my excitement to swap samplers at last!

    As soon as the UPS man rang the doorbell, I knew it was time. I felt like that Target lady from past Black Friday television ads…

    With brute strength I snatched the box off the front porch, yanked the phone up to my ear, then dialed Mom's number, informing her in a breathless burst that she needed to immediately stop watching tv and eating petit fours working and open the front door with her Jill-box in hand, bc I'd be there in a single bound or less.

    After squealing insanely and having a supersonic conversation that I can no longer remember the words to, I loaded up the package and headed out. When I arrived, I found that Mom had the same wild-eyed look in her eyes that I had, so we decided it was best to begin the exchange posthaste.

    I'm laughing in the photo below bc I was trying to scramble back in time before the timer clicked the camera shutter…

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    Mom had the fun idea to exchange boxes rather than the opened samplers (which we usually wrap in Christmas paper… except for the year I didn't know she was wrapping hers, and mine was just in wrinkly brown kraft paper).  Those of you who order from Jill know that unwrapping one of her packages can take a few hours, so when we finally got to the sampler inside, we removed the packing paper without looking at it, and turned it so that it was facing away from us. This way, Mom could see what she had stitched for me before I saw it, and I could see what I'd stitched for her.

    (See how much effort goes into this process? It takes a very clean diet and weeks of steady gym workouts to prepare for.)

    Then it was time to turn the samplers around, and after a brief, suspensful silence, our reactions were identical:

    Gasp.

    Gasp again.

    Say "OH MY GOSH" in unison.

    Cover our mouths with one hand while holding our samplers with the other.

    Crawl across the floor and give each other big hugs.

    Here's what my wonderful mom stitched for me:

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    (The verse is amazing!)

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    Hannah Cummins, 1828
    Reproduced by Ellen Chester of With My Needle

    Mom said she chose it for me bc she loved the verse on it. I couldn't be more thrilled with it, and it now proudly hangs in my George & Martha Suite! (And is that moulding not absolutely amazing?)

    Here is what I stitched for my mom…

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    I stitched my name and the year in place of what was originally charted, bc this is not a reproduction sampler.

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    Sarah Spurr
    Carriage House Samplings 

    I chose this sampler for Mom because of the red bird, and because she had mentioned in the past wanting to stitch it for herself. I absolutely loved every stitch of it, and fondly remember working on it with my coffee in the early mornings during the Shepherd's Bush retreat, while Pat from R&R worked on her sampler on the couch next to me. We'd have long chats in the peace and quiet, and I loved watching the sampler slowly come together. I have no idea what linen I used to stitch it (although I suspect it's by Lakeside Linens), and I used my own AVAS conversion because I didn't have the NPI on hand that it called for.  

    Jill, you did an outstanding job on our framed pieces, as usual, and we can't thank you enough!  I think this was our most fun exchange so far, and I'm already looking forward to next year's. 

    Mom, you are the most perfect mother in the world, and I thank the Lord that you're mine. And not just because I got this amazing sampler.


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    Merry Christmas!

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  • Critters

    Bed Hog.

    November 29, 2012

    Recently I bought the hooligans a new bed. They used to have a blue one that Frieda and Jimmy bought for them, but the Yorkie wouldn't quit behaving inappropriately with it, so I tossed it. You just can't unsee some things. Even Frieda used to gasp in shock and say, "You're a naughty fraulein! That is very unladylike!"

    Tasha was the first one to take to the new bed. I figured she would, bc she will literally lay on anything, hoping to make a snoozing spot out of it. It can be a piece of lint, and she'll sniff it, turn circles, and faint dead away in slumber on top of it.

    She looked so cozy, I thought I'd take her picture.

     
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    And then the typical thing happened when I started snapping photos of Tasha.

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    By the way, see that look? It says, "The brown doesn't do it for me."

    And I'm totally okay with that, fraulein.

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  • Stitching

    Finishes

    November 19, 2012

    I got a few more emails recently from those of you who have finished some PSS designs.. thank you again for sharing them! It's always fun to see the color changes you make, or the different ways you finish them.

    First, I've never seen a finishing technique quite like this one, and I think it's fabulous! These are from Marielle fom France…

    This one is Hares' Halloween (available from your local needlework shop):

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    And this one is Hares' Haunting (available under the "freebie" link on the right-hand sidebar here on my blog, along with all of my other freebies):

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    Next is a sweet finish from someone whose email I've lost, so now I don't know who sent it to me! I am sincerely sorry, but I'd like to thank you for taking the time to show me your Hares' Haunting pillow! I love how it turned out:

    IMG_2859

    Here is Cindy's completed Christmas Tea, stitched on Pearl Grey Belfast, with Belle Soie silk – very pretty  linen choice, Cindy!

    11112012 PSS and CMM finishes 002

    And lastly, I asked Katrina's permission to post this here, bc it's too beautiful not to share with you all. Katrina is the assistant to the VP of Programs for the Sampler Guild of the Rockies, and she came up with this project for the guild members for next year. She did a gorgeous job on it (as she does with everything, I might add), and I can't wait to see it in person when I attend their retreat next June!

    Elsmere-20121107-00100

    This design is a variation of the "Trifle for a Friend" complimentary pattern (again, located under the "freebie" category in the sidebar to your right). The original was charted for a single color, but Katrina added a few different colors and the result is wonderful!

    And take a look at what's inside the box…

    Elsmere-20121107-00099

    (She stitched the scissors fob over-one!) Katrina, you've done an outstanding job, and I know the ladies in your guild must be very pleased with your dedication to finding the perfect year-long project. And I'm extremely flattered that you liked the pattern enough to work with it!

    Thank you all so much for sharing your finishes with me.. it's always a huge pleasure, and a dream come true for me to know that there are stitchers out there who like my designs. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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  • Home

    Eliza Scattergood

    November 14, 2012

    I truly enjoyed designing my next release, coming out this week.. the name is probably my favorite part, which was suggested to me by my dear friend Katrina (who keeps me in a steady supply of sampler names.. other than Olga, she's named all of the "Russian friends" I've designed. What can I say? She charms me, and I can't say no!). I have, however, included an alphabet chart for your own name, if you decide you'd like to stitch it.

     
    ES-2

    Rindy Richards stitched the model to perfection for me. I can't thank you enough, Rindy! Your stitching is so beautiful, and I appreciate everything you've done to help me get these patterns out in a decent time frame. 🙂

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    Here are the materials you'll need for Eliza:

    Fabric: 36 ct. Vintage Pecan Butter by Lakeside Linens

    Threads: Needlepoint Inc. silks in 998, 622, 725, 903, 963, 344, 346, 695, 767, 985, 973, 127, and 992. Or, if you'd prefer to use DMC, the threads you'll need are 310, 352, 355, 435, 646, 730, 830, 832, 975, 3023, 3781, 3858, and Ecru.

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    Miss Rindy is currently working on a Christmas sampler for me called Farmstead Christmas, which will be out some time in December. And if I can get myself in gear, I may have a second December release. Only time will tell if I can get it stitched up quickly enough, but if not, then be on the lookout for it in January. It's more of a winter-themed piece than a Christmas one. (Unless I make more changes to it.) (Which I tend to do.) (But maybe I won't this time.)

    ES-5

    When I survey this work of mine,
    I'm filled with joy and dread.
    May Christ my life with His entwine
    before my days' last thread. 

    I hope you all are having a beautiful fall season, filled with your favorite stitching projects. See you soon!

    ETA: The stitch count for this sampler is 317 x 137. And yes, Diane, the verse is a "Paulette original." LOL – that made me laugh!

     

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  • Crazy Kids,  Critters

    XOXO

    November 12, 2012

    Sophie loves the Yorkie.

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    And the Yorkie loves her back.

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    Sophie also loves Tasha.

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    And Tasha loves her back.

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    Yorkie love can be a little persistant sometimes…

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    But Tasha love comes at you in all at once…

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    (I wouldn't do that if I were you…)

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