New Ornie

The February ornament, plus its friends. I've (hopefully) purchased more of the vintage buttons for the centre, but they're still on the way, so they're not really finished yet.

Pattern - Floss Box Mini Biscornu Pack 1 with zig-zag border
Floss - DMC Blanc
Fabric - Christmas Red evenweave.

Giveaways!

I posted a giveaway of some silk thread and lampwork buttons at the start of the week, and Erica, Jo, Kathy and Stitcher entered. Since there were only 4, and I didn't want to dissapoint any of them, I thought I'd make-up 4 packages instead.

So, without further delay, here are the four colours schemes are: Vikki Clayton's Earth Dragon (on its way to Jo), Week's Dye Works Celebration (on its way to Erica), Vikki Clayton's Midnight Rainbow (on its way to Kathy) and Vikki Clayton's Slate. I'm looking forward to seeing what they all make!

Sigh - Another LNS Gone...

I stopped by my local cross-stitch shop to learn that they were closing at the end of the day for good. They were the last shop left in town, although there is a mail-order store that ships out of the city, as well as another shop in the next small town up the road. I'm not that surprised, as every time I went in, their inventory looked dated, and they didn't really have many classes and projects to keep people coming in.

Still, I will miss having a LNS nearby. It was nice to pick up one or two things, and know that if I ran out of something, I could get it reasonably quickly. Or, like my errand today, be able to pick up a few things to match what I have already in my stash. And it's sad to think that this will be the 6th shop closing that I can think of in the city - maybe we just can't support a LNS after all.

So - goodbye to the local needlework shop - I guess it's online shopping only from now on.

Feb BJP - On the wild side

Welcome to this month's BJP - I'd been doing a monochromatic colour scheme for the past 13 months, and figured it was time for a departure! This colour combination was put together by my favourite bead store. They have an awesome staff member who's excellent with colour, and this was a mix of colours that came in a package. I substituted out the bronze beads for a similar shade, so I'd have enough to do the background, and added the matte white delicas to compliment the matte square beads. The buttons are from a charity shop not far from my house.

Blog Candy - with a twist!

I have to admit that I love making exchange packages, pay-it-forward gifts and putting together blog candy. There's something about putting together a package in and hearing their reaction to the package that I really enjoy. I used to do quite a few stitching exchanges for this reason, but it seems like the energy has gone out of the exchange boards in the last few years. I've also been inspired by the BJP project as a chance to use colour, try new things and just generally think outside the box when it comes to making new things.

So... here's what I'm proposing. I'm putting together a blog candy package, which will contain at least the skein of Vikki Clayton's "Slate" thread, plus 5 tiny (and unique) buttons, which should fit perfectly in the centre of a biscornu. By the time I put the package in the mail, there might be other goodies in there too. I'll pick someone who comments on this post by the end of tomorrow (Feb 14th) at midnight MST.

Within 3 months of receving the package, the person getting the package agrees to use some (or all) of what's in there to stitch something of their choosing, and then send me (or post) a picture of what you've made from it. You get to keep whatever you make, plus all of the extras in the package.

New Stuff

Made for an upcoming charity sale....

TUSAL and new earings

I'm participating in the "Totally Useless Stitch-a-long" hosted by Daffycat this year, and have my February progress to post. I also have a cute pair of earings - the local bead stores have been having sales in advance of the big Tucson market later in the month, so it's been a good time to pick up some new beads and findings.

Since this is intended to be a monthly post, it's also probably a good time for goals!

1) BJP January - Complete!
2) One ornament - Complete, except for the buttons, which are ordered
3) Part 4/5 of St. Petes - I did stitch on this, so complete!
4) Finish Egyptian Garden - I also stitched, although perhaps not as much as I would have liked.