How to get more color in your life.

For reference, when left to my own devices, these are the kinds of fabrics I tend to pick for my stash:

And these are the ones the kids picked out for birthday presents to me:

I need to find a way to use more stripes!

Eskimimi's fossils

I have been out of town a few days (more on this later) but I was so pleased to come back and see eskimimi's versions of my trilobite freebies!  Well done! 

And the winner is...

Random number generator says:

Comment #8.....Antaresia!  Lucky girl! 

Thank you all who entered and I encourage you to try your hand at something out-of-the-box.  Or, to stay in the box, if that's your pleasure.  Or stitch the box itself....just go enjoy making *something* and have a great day!    

Weekend thoughts

First: I'm going to pick a winner of the giveaway on Monday, so if you are interested, enter soon!

I have only a few minutes to post, because the SUN came OUT!  Wonders never cease. So we are planning an expedition out and around the sound today.  I plan to use my camera a lot today, because dear husband got me Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 for my birthday so I am excited to learn how to use it and turn my fair-to-good photos into good-to-great.  I've played with it only briefly so far, there is really a lot to learn to use it properly, but I like what I have been able to do already.

Before:

After:

What a subtle but wonderful difference, huh?

And I'll stitch if I want to

It's my birthday!  Alas it is a lame-o Thursday.  Oh well.  How old am I?  Not so old, but old enough that I better stop saying I'm 29.  I will say that the year of my birth, this song was a huge hit in the USA:

Also in that year, the "Star Wars" movie phenomenon began (my kids now love it too) and according to Wikipedia, other notable events from this year included the catch of a 44-lb lobster in Nova Scotia (four feet long!), the sale of the first Apple II computers, and Fonzie jumped the shark on Happy Days.

So *shhh, don't tell* I am going to work from home today and do only the minimal amount of work I can get away with, and spend the rest of the time stitching and dreaming of summer travel.  Want to see my birthday gift to myself?

Cute little scalloped gold-handle Dovo scissors and an adorable magnetic mouse needle keeper that looks like the little mouse friends in The Tailor of Gloucester.  Both were on sale from the Silver Needle Superbowl sale!  Score!

Moss is taking over

So I think I'm done with making these for a while.  I still need to finish mounting them, but there turned out to be five.  In the meantime, you get to see this one because I love the tiny brown seed beads:

And this one, because it is DH's favorite:

Here's hoping for better lighting when they are all ready for their close-ups!

Blog-o-versary GIVEAWAY!

So as of today, March 1, this blog is six months old!  Oh the time flies. 

A couple weeks ago rooting through my books I realized I have two copies of A Complete Guide to Creative Embroidery: Designs * Textures * Stitches by Jan Beaney & Jean Littlejohn. I guess I liked it so much I bought it twice.

This is a great book, filled with inspiring photographs and unique techniques.  I will say, this is not a "project book" and if you are looking for a book of specific patterns, this is not the book you want.  However, if you are interested in learning how to approach designing your own creative embroideries, and get some ideas for techniques you might try in addition to hand embroidery, this is a fantastic choice. 

It is really two books in one.  The first, "Design to Embroider" includes chapters on 'learning to look' and 'exploring ideas', which I found really valuable.  The second, "Stitched Images" includes chapters on techniques that can really enhance hand embroidery, including applique and paint, and my favorite chapter, 'stitch themes' which talks about incorporating various techniques to achieve different effects. 

So, obviously, what a great choice for my first giveaway!  In addition to a very good condition copy of this book, the winner will also get 5 skeins of DMC "Color Variations" floss in a few of my favorite colors, which you can see below, and a small vial of various beads (includes seed beads, swarovski crystals, and stone chips) from my own collection in complementary colors:

So this giveaway is open to any readers who have a hankering to try your own stitchy experiments and give creative, freestyle embroidery a try.  I will by no means call myself an expert on this stuff, but education and reading books like this one really took away the fear for me and helped me realize "it's just thread" and there is no reason I can't try to make my own art in this medium. 

How to enter?  Just leave a comment to this post.  I'll announce the winner in a week, March 7, so come back here then to see who's name was pulled out of the hat.  Feel free to publicize this giveaway on your own blog or forum-of-choice, and just for fun, name your favorite color in the comment.  Green!

UPDATE: A winner was picked on monday.  Thanks to all who entered!