Copyright

(c) 2009 - 2024 (MEM)

Please keep in mind that, unless otherwise noted, everything on my blog is copyright material of some sort. Either by me (as picture taker, writer, creator) or more importantly by the designer of the needlework pieces I present. If you promise to be copyright mindful, my promise to you is to do my best to provide you enough information in my post for you to obtain your own legal copy. Please be respectful of these copyrights and not take business away from our wonderful designers. Thank you.
............. . ."She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight" Proverbs 31:13 NAS


Friday, December 20, 2013

Fortune Cookie Friday

 
"Domestic conditions demand your attention."
 
hmm... must get ready for Christmas perhaps??

Saturday, December 14, 2013

I Have Been a Tad Preoccupied

I have been busy Paper Crafting to sell at a craft show and on etsy and ebay. If interested click HERE.

I hope to report out soon on the great time and gifts I received at my Foothills EGA Christmas Party and Sampler Guild of the Rockies Christmas Party!! This year is going by waaaaay too fast for me to keep up!!!!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Fortune Cookie Friday

"If you're riding ahead of the herd, look back once in a while to make sure it's still there."

Friday, November 29, 2013

Thursday, October 17, 2013

2013 Colorado Fall Papercraft Fest

Hello all!! If you will be in Loveland Colorado Oct. 18 -19, 2013 I will have a booth at the craft fair that is part of this Fall Papercraft Fest! Under the name of Orange Blossom Dreams.

Visit me if you can, the show hours are 10 am to 5 pm each day and the admission fee is $7.00 per person for the weekend. If you bring 2-3 unexpired canned or dried goods to the door you will get $2.00 off the admission.

I will be holding a make and take demo of the WR Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board. For $1.00 (cost covers supplies) you will make an A2 size envelope to take away with you!!

It will be nice to meet any of my Colorado Stitcher Followers that might stop by, so let me know!!!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Playing at Making Greeting Cards

Today I played around in my studio and made a few greeting cards. Two each for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Thought I'd share with you all.




I cut a scallop circle out of nice white paper and glued it inside the black card at right so there would be a place to write!  I also used some "glossy accents" around the orange scallop for this card. I am not sure I like how that came out. For the other three I cut out the card base from 8.5"x 11" off white paper (to get two cards out of a sheet).

That is about all, since I am still off work, I will be going to the day meeting of my Foothills EGA. Hubby, who retired on Oct. 1, (not the best timing considering, but it was of the mandatory type retirement) has zero plans for tomorrow will "hold down the fort" while I am gone. Miss Maddie is going to love, love that! Then I may run some errands, not sure.

This furlough stuff is giving me an idea what retirement might be like and I LIKE it!!!! Not counting the lack of money part. Well, my retirement day will come, I will just have to hang in there.

Happy Stitching All!!!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Too Busy to Post Much

It has been one of those months (or two or three), just not much in the mood to blog. I will try and get back to it and be better for my followers.

I was hoping to sell some of my crafts at a church craft show, so I have been busy making stuff, but the show was cancelled! I have been scrambling to find a new venue, but all are full or deadlines have passed.

So.... not sure what to do. Could put them on my Etsy shop, but not sure how well they would sell there. I have a bunch of altered comp books, mini note books, some sewing kits, gift card holders, greeting cards. Mostly paper crafting stuff. Lots of work to post on Etsy if they "might" sell.

I have not been stitching much, but since I have been furloughed, I guess I will make lemonade from the lemons and STITCH!!

That is about all for now. Take care all.


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Pumpkins for Cathey

Instead of my Friday Fortune Cookie I am participating in Pumpkins for Cathey. An idea started by Sharon of It's Daffy Cat to show Cathey of Pumpkin Patch & Co support from fellow bloggers while she fights cancer. Today is her blogoversary, so that is why it is now Pumpkins for Cathey Day!!

I wish here well and here is one of my favorite pumpkin pictures - A Pum-Turkey.


Sunday, August 18, 2013

Monday Quote

"I took a walk in the woods and
came back out
taller than the trees"
--Henry David Thoreau

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Anniversary Pillow

My sister-in-law and her hubby have been married 40 years. I stitched this pillow in honor of their anniversary. I used fabric from my stash. I used a few charts for ideas and threw in a few ideas of my own, including a beaded border around the square. You may have to blow the photo up to see it.

At any rate, I found the pretty tassel trim at JoAnn’s and bought some dark red satin fabric and turned it into a 14 inch square envelope backed pillow.

It took me a while to find a box to mail it in, but I did and off it went. Having arrived safe and sound I can now blog about it.
The recipients think it is FABULOUS!!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Monday Quote

 
"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with the problems longer."
--Albert Einstein
 

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Some Finish Finishes

I made this for my friend Sandra in the late 1990s because she had a black cat named Daisy and her favorite season is fall. It is about 4 inches square. At the time I was not sure how to finish it into something. So time went on and it moved with me to Nebraska, then Iowa, then North Carolina and now Colorado.

Fast forward to 2013 and my needlework skills and experience allowed me to make this into a flat fold and knowledge to add a button to cover up a spot where I accidentally started the black kitty and the threads left a mark.

Sandra emailed me how much she liked it, so now I can share it with the rest of you. I photographed it on top of the backing fabric.

 
Below is the strawberry pin cushion that was the second project of our June Sampler Guild Retreat which I last told you about here. It really is not that oragney - bad lighting on my part :(

 
That about covers it for now!
 
 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Monday Quote

 
" Useful and ornamental needlework, knitting, and netting are capable of being made, not only sources of personal gratification, but of high moral benefit, and the means of developing in surpassing loveliness and grace, some of the highest and noblest feelings of the soul."
 
 
--The Ladies' Work Table Book, 1845

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Sampler Needlebook Finish Finish

In April the Sampler Guild of the Rockies had their workshop. Ellen Chester of With My Needle taught us three classes (information can be found here). I only took two classes Long May She Wave which I showed you the finish finish of here, and mentioned the other class I took – A Sampler Needlebook.

 Well I finish finished the Needlebook. It was designed especially for our Guild’s 20th Anniversary. It is very pretty and was fun to make. Ellen’s instructions are very good, including the finishing instructions. She was a wonderful teacher and I would recommend a class from her if you have the chance. 

It is made with a double hinge so you can open it from the left or from the right. I am calling the Needles the front and the sampler the back.
  

Here it is opened from the right followed by a photo of it opened from the left.

 
 
It’s magic how the needle page switches sides!! A very cool Jacob ’s ladder configuration. In class we made a mock up of it to help us practice and get ready for the stitched pieces. Good thing because I don’t want all that handling of my stitching! I let folks see the stitching and then play with my mock up!

The photos of the stitched pieces have been reduced in size at the request of the designer in an attempt to prevent copy right infringement. So I am respecting her request - too bad she has to ask us to do that.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A Retreat Finish Finish!!

I last told you about the June Sampler Guild ofthe Rockies retreat on this blog post. I finished one of the projects, the Sewing Tray and here it is. The “tray” is a Sudberry House wooden coaster and the design is by Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers. It was very fun to do. The upper left corner is for my initials, but 2 M’s would not fit, so there is only 1. I wanted the year in it too, so I put 2013 in the base of the birdcage

 
Happy Stitching!!
 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Fortune Cookie Friday Continues!!

Poll results indicate that folks would like the Fortune Cookie Friday to continue...so here goes!!


"Never laugh at anyone's dream."
 
Some interesting information about fortune cookies sent to me by
Pamela who has a GREAT blog Hokkaido Kudasai
 
 
 
 

Friday, July 5, 2013

Fortune Cookie Friday -Yes or No?

I have been doing this Fortune Cookie Friday for a while now. Are you bored of it and I should stop, or do you want me to continue???

Please leave a comment with your preference and next Thursday (July 11) I will tally the poll and make a decision - there could be a surprise related to this, I am not sure yet. Thanks.

ZZZZZZZZZ !!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July

Today is independence day here in the United States. On July 4, 1776, we declared our independence from England. In honor of this day I will post some of my Red, White and Blue stitching.





Have a GREAT day, and if you are grilling out today, don't burn the burgers!!!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Monday Quote


“A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.”
--Ogden Nash

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Fortune Cookie Friday

 
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Sampler Guild of the Rockies June Retreat Report/RMR Seminar Update

Saturday June 8 was the Sampler Guild of the Rockies June retreat. A full day of fun, food, shopping and STITCHING!! This year was a tad different in that we had a teacher from out of state come and give us two projects. We did one before lunch and one after lunch.

There were tables reserved (in advance) for members to sell items, so we got to SHOP!! Food was provided by members as well. We had different salads and sandwiches and of course DESERT.

Our teacher was Paulette Stewart of Plum Street Samplers and the theme was “A Crowning Effort”. Part 1 is a miniature sewing tray (actually a Sudberry House wooden coaster). It is a very cute miniature sampler and will be fun to finish.
 





Part 2 was a pinberry makedo – a cute pincushion. Both came in boxes which were great to use to hold our threads while stitching. I have not started the makedo, but you can see a bit of my progress on the sewing tray in the third picture from the top. The bottom photo shows pictures of the two projects - makedo at upper left in the photo and the cute little sampler at right.
 
============================================
Now on to the Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) Seminar Update:
 
I came home to one casualty:



Also I forgot to post a photo of my cute class angel pin. We all had blue hardanger angels with the skirts of each being a little different. I really love my little angel!



Have a great day!!
 

Monday, June 17, 2013

EGA, Rocky Mountain Region Seminar Report

Warning - photo heavy, at least for me!

This past Thursday - Saturday was the Embroiderers Guild of America, Rocky Mountain Region Annual Seminar. It was in beautiful Grand Junction, CO - about a 4 hour drive west of Denver. Here is a photo I took out our room window of the Bookcliffs of Grand Junction. They are called the Bookcliffs because it looks like books lined up on a bookshelf. Hopefully you can see this if you click on the photo and get a larger picture. Although I imagine if you use your preferred Internet search engine and search for "Bookcliffs of Grand Junction" you will get some fantastic photos. I hear they are just beautiful when the sun sets and the light hits them.
 
 
The theme for the 2013 Seminar was Lucky Ladies since this was the year with 13 in it, they wanted to focus on how lucky we were to have our stitching and our stitching friends and to be at Seminar. Lots of ladylike things such as hats and decorated shoes were seen throughout, along with lucky things, like lady bugs and four leaf clovers.
 
Upon arrival we got our registration information and our choice of a handmade box. This is the one I chose.
 
 Inside was a thumb pin cushion and a heart shaped needle puller.
 
Our opening banquet favor was a chocolate sewing box.
 

Inside were scissors, needles, needle threader and spools of thread - all made of yummy chocolate, of course! I got dark chocolate and milk chocolate was also available. It was made by Enstrom of Grand Junction for our Seminar. I heard a few ladies mention how they got these at the last Seminar in Grand Junction (2005??) and they still had the sewing box, but this one they were going to eat!  I decided to take pictures of it and then eat it rather than save it. It seems wrong not to eat chocolate!!

 
Here are some photos of the decorations - shoes and hats. One of the members gave us a lovely talk and show of her collection of hats. Some from the early 1900s. It was fun.
 


 
On Friday our lunch favor consisted of a small bottle of Orvus fabric wash and a purse size package of tissue printed with shoes & purses.
 


On Saturday our lunch favor was a cute little hat pin cushion. Designs varied and this is the one at my place setting. Also in the photo is a pretty copper chain necklace that I got from my teacher as a thank you for being her class angel - which I will talk about more in a bit. I love copper, so it was perfect.


For the closing night banquet our favor was a chocolate shoe (dark or milk) and a post card inviting us to the 2014 Regional Seminar which will be in Albuquerque, NM.

 
Now on to my classes. I took two one day classes one on Friday the other on Saturday. I was the class angel for the class on Fridaycalled "Three for One" designed by Karla Gee of Virginia. I knew Karla when I was in the Carolina's Region and it was great fun to see her again. The class was called Three for One because you had three projects for one class. In this class we made two pendants using techniques we need to make the necklace (which would be the third project). We learned beading techniques and some wire work.

 
I finished the netted beaded bead (lower right) in class and bought some perle cotton so I could wear it during Seminar. The small bead and wire at top is our practice piece for making the loop. I finished the beaded bead at left about an hour after I got home, I only had the add the embellishments and make the loop in order to finish the pendant. Karla did the spriral for us, but showed us how to make it.

Our Saturday class was called "Two for One". We got two bracelets for one class. I finished about 3/4 of the spiral bracelet in class and did the rest when I got home, so I have that finished project to show off.

 
The other bracelet is a flat spiral with some fresh water pearls with small holes, so I decided to work on it at home with my better lighting and magnification.

Also in class each day they gave out door prizes and I was one of the winners. Inside the pretty box at left, was this mill hill kit.


I think that about covers the Rocky Mountain Region Annual Seminar Report for 2013.
In the next day or two I will report on the Sampler Guild's Annual Retreat.
 
Have a GREAT day!!
 

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Monday Quote

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside a dog it's too dark to read."
--Groucho Marx
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

What's Up? And Preview of Things to Come

So much to say, I will just start off with last Wednesday on the drive home my SUV was rear ended. I happened to look in the rear view mirror in time to see her coming, not slowing and attempting to change lanes. She did not make it. I would guess her car is totaled. Front end crumpled up, air bags deployed, fluids on the ground and my cars back end. Thanks to my Volvo's crumple zone and whip lash prevention system (you can google that for some cool videos), I am not in nearly as much pain as I would probably be otherwise. The collision shop estimates she hit me at 40 - 50 mph!

Now on to better topics..... Last Saturday was a very fun Sampler Guild of the Rockies Retreat. This year instead of about 4 little projects, we had two and we had Paulette Stewart from Plum Street Samplers. Both are very cute and small enough to finish in no time.

Today, I leave hubby and Miss Maddie behind to head out to the Rocky Mountain Region's Seminar. It starts Thursday evening, but I am rooming and traveling with a board member who must be at the board meeting on Thurs. I am taking two one day classes both beading, on page 6 when you click on the link.

I plan to provide photos and updates etc. on both the Retreat and Seminar when I get back!!

Have a GREAT week everyone.


Sunday, June 9, 2013

Monday Quotes

 
"Be thou comforted, little dog,
Thou too in Resurrection will have a little golden tail."
-- Martin Luther
 
 
On May 27 this year a very kind man and coworker of mine passed away. This quote makes me think he is in heaven with all his little dog friends that went before him and that cheers me.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Monday Quote

"Wag more, bark less"
 
 
-- Niall O' Donaill (1908 - 1995)
Irish language lexicographer and
editor of the 1977 Irish-English Dictionary
 
 
 
Reagy to wag, not woof!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Monday Quote


Today in the United States is Memorial Day. A day set aside to remember those who gave their life for their country. It was originally called "Decoration Day" and started after the American Civil War. It is one of the days of the year when flags are lowered to half staff until noon.


"And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died, 
who gave that right to me."

--Lee Greenwood


Thursday, May 23, 2013

Fortune Cookie Friday

"One who does nothing but wait for his ship to come 
has already missed the boat."

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Monday Quote


"Never under estimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us."
--Wilma Rudolph

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Handmade Greeting Cards & A Needlebook

I have been busy the last few weeks making greeting cards for friends - all designed by me.

First a birthday card for Nancy -


 Then a birthday card for Kerry.



Followed by a Get Well card for Kerry.  He could not have real flowers in his hospital room, so I make him some felt ones.

I also designed and made this little cowboy boot needle book for my friend Wendy. Who is always wearing cowboy boots and also raises chickens and sells the eggs!


I used wonder under to fuse the chicken and egg fabrics together and then cut out the boot shape for the back. I then sewed the felt needle page to the back, and then sewed the top to the back. The needle book opens at the top.


I love doing these types of projects since it gets my creative juices flowing!




Sunday, May 5, 2013

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Long May She Wave, Finish Finished

I last told you about this project on this blog post. I recently finish finished it following the instructions given which were very good! Here is how it came out.

This is the outside. Flag is the front cover and little label is on the back. I added the year in backstitch over one under the flag.

This is the inside. At left is a little pin keep flag and a place for needles. The little pocket on the right holds the scrimshaw thread winder. The scrimshaw ruler is under the pin keep and needle holder.
It was great fun. Took me all day Saturday and part of Sunday to finish, but I took my time and wanted it done right.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Monday Quote


"Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!"
--Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

Friday, April 26, 2013

Sampler Guild Mail Art

As I reported last September, I participated in the Sampler Guild of the Rockies mail art project this year. My birthday was in September and I received a beautiful mail art from Jean. I pulled a name of someone whose birthday was in March and now I can show you what I made for her.

On the front are motifs from a Sampler Book I have called, The Sampler Company's Book of Alphabets Motifs and Borders, by Brenda Keyes. It was published in 1999 and is now out of print. It is 28 pages packed full of motifs, so if you see it someplace check it out, you may want to grab it while you can.

Each person who wanted to participate filled out a form answering questions with things they like, favorite colors, favorite designers etc. so we'd have a good idea on what to stitch. My person liked red houses and birds so I put them on the front. I made the bird blue to represent the bluebird of happiness.


The rest of the designs are from Blackbird Designs Summer's Last Rose, which I think came out last fall sometime. Blackbird was one of her favorite disigners. The design I used on the back flap has more leaves to the left and right, but would not fit so I just left them off. I may also have changed the flower colors, but do not recall. I think I used the redder floss on these to coordinate with the red used on the pocket (next photo).

Under the flap I was able to fit this design on the pocket. You can also see the lining fabric I used. I put a small Blackbird Design chart inside the pocket as part of the birthday gift, I may have put in some needles too, but do not remember! I finished it in January and had to keep reminding myself not to forget to mail it in late March!
 This is a closer shot of the area under the flap.

It was a lot of fun to make and the person I sent it to really liked it.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Long May She Wave Class

Last week I took a class called Long May She Wave by Ellen Chester of With My Needle. She is a WONDERFUL instructor and her instructions are great too! Here is my progress so far, I am about done. I only have the small flag at upper right to complete. Then all the parts will be cut out and put together to form a needle keep. I purchased the optional scrimshaw pieces - ruler and thread holder- that have the girl holding the flag and her dog on them. You can find more information about the project here. It was the April 12-14 classes hosted by Sampler Guild of the Rockies. I also took the Sampler Needlebook class mentioned at this link, but not the huswife. I will blog about the needlebook when I get more done on it, but it was designed especially for the Guild's 20th anniversary.


The stripes on the bigger flag are all different stitches and we had our choice of making the Betsy Ross Flag or the current 50 star flag. She gave us a mini history lesson about the flag too, along with some information about hornbooks. All and all a very nice day!!

The picture is purposely somewhat unclear at the request of the designer to avoid copying by unscrupulous folks. Now I know my followers would never steal anything, but this is the public Internet, so I am respecting her request. Her website may have better pictures.