My Sampler Roundy Pics

Hello!!

Gosh you guys didn't have to think at all to guess what my new start was! I'm impressed!

Finally went back to work today. Still trying to cough my lungs up but at least after my Dr. appt. on Tuesday I'm armed with the good cough medicine so I can sleep at night. I was given a different anti-biotic also and it seems to be loosening things up better than the other one was. My voice is still iffy, comes and goes and I kinda sound like a man . Dan is enjoying that as he has always liked Kathleen Turner's voice and I sound more like her now than I do me. He still has to close his eyes though cuz I certainly don't look anything like her!

Anyway, while I was at work I snapped some pics of my version of Shakespeare's Peddler's Sampler Roundy. I used my own selection of colors and I changed the placement of some colors and I moved a couple of letters up or down as I felt necessary. I'm thrilled with the results. This chart is so cute and the base makes the piece!

If anyone is interested in my color choices, please feel free to email and I will let you know what I used.

Got a call from Amy yesterday telling me that once again I was right. God I love hearing those words come out of her mouth! I just can't tell you how much I like to hear them especially from Amy. Earlier in the day she had told me about this boy that kept instant messaging her every time she got on Facebook. It was starting to bother her. I told her I thought perhaps he was interested in her and just hadn't gotten up the nerve to say something. She pooh-poohed that idea. Guys don't like me, she said. I agreed, in High School I think she scared a lot of them but I told her college is a whole new world. Turns out he was interested in her and was hoping to get her phone number. Someday, all of my kids will admit that I'm not dumb. Abby is still the holdout. She may think it, but she will never admit that I might know what I'm talking about.

Speaking of Abby, we had Halloween Costume drama around here the last week or so. She had ordered a costume back in August and needed it her by the 9th of October as she and a friend were renting a party bus and celebrating their birthdays with a costume party. The costume didn't show up or ship by the 25th of Sept. like they said so she called them. The costume was still in China. Not going to get here by the party date. Long story short....she threw a temper tantrum at the shop and was all upset until I suggested she call them back and ask if perhaps a costume she liked more but couldn't afford was available and would they maybe give her a discount since she had ordered way back in August. For $36.00 more she got the costume she really wanted and it arrived in just a couple days. I arrived home from work last week to see the costume on the floor in the entryway, not a good sign. Where's Abby I ask? In her room crying. The costume doesn't fit, she's fat and her life is over. I called her downstairs and asked her to try it on so I could see if it would stretch enough to close but she wouldn't do it. She held it up showed me how it wouldn't even come close to closing (and it was a medium, hence the I'm fat thought process, rolling my eyes here) threw it down and went back upstairs. I thought it best to let her pout and ponder overnight but in the morning I suggested perhaps she could call the tailor she's used in the past and maybe, just maybe she could help Abby with the costume. Muttering under her breath about how that was never going to happen she placed the call. The tailor returned her call Tuesday and asked her to bring the costume and she would look at it. I got a call later that day. The costume fits mom! The costume fits! Great I said, how did the tailor fix it so quickly? She didn't have to. She told me to put it on over my dress and then she just hooked it up in the back. Over my dress!! Oh, I said, you mean it's stretchy? Yes! It fits just fine! You mean you aren't fat??? Oh mom, don't be silly. Now I could have done the same thing with the costume but Abby would never have believed me if I said I thought it would stretch to fit so smart woman that I am, I saved myself some more drama, made Abby feel sheepish and once again proved that I am not as dumb as she thinks I am. I call that a win-win. Oh and guess what? Her bestie decided she didn't want to have to get a costume this early so she made Abby cancel the costume part of the party by saying everyone was complaining. Turns out it was only the bestie that didn't want to wear a costume. But what's done is done. Hopefully Abby will be able to attend some other parties so she can wear the dang thing since it caused so much trouble!

That's all for tonight folks. Thanks for visiting and commenting if you do.

Take care till next time!

Julie

Sick! and a New Start!

Good Morning!

I don't have too much to write about today. I'm still sick and when you spend your days laying around there isn't much interesting to talk about. But I'll give it my best shot.

Our open house on Saturday went very well. I think everyone found something they couldn't live without, with maybe the exception of 1 person. I was a bit surprised by the limited edition scissors we brought back from the Dinky Dyes booth. We brought 10 pairs of them home from market and I think we only had 1 pair left when we closed. Did not expect that! The charts by AuryTM sold very well also, along with Shakespeare's Peddler's Sampler Roundy. I was somewhat surprised that the Jennie Bean Friendship sampler did not sell at all as I think it's a wonderful chart. Her Halloween sampler however, sold out. But that's the nature of the business, it's hard to predict what will sell and what won't. All in all, it was a good day!

Market itself was good. I enjoyed seeing everything in person and meeting all the designers. There were a lot of needlepoint designers there but I never saw many people in those rooms. Doesn't mean there weren't any, I just didn't see them. It didn't seem very crowded to me in the counted stitch rooms either. Which for me was great, it was easier to see everything and to talk to the designers and such but I'm sure it must have disappointed the designers although I have heard from several that they were very happy with the turn out and sales. I was somewhat disappointed to see when we arrived home from Market that almost everything, with a few exceptions, we saw at Market was available already from Hoffmans. If you want more people to attend the Markets, might I suggest you make it worth their time and money by delaying the availability of Market Releases by a week or three to the general public, thus giving those that do make the effort an advantage over those that didn't. I'm just saying...

I had planned to show you my latest finish but I took it to the shop on Saturday and didn't take a picture of it beforehand. I've been home sick since then so I still haven't taken a picture of it. It'll have to wait. I did just get a call from the Dr. with a cancellation for today so hopefully I will be feeling better soon. The cough is gonna be the death of me.

In the meantime...here is a picture of my latest start. Can you guess what it is?

I'm still working on my Chatelaine piece also but haven't taken a picture of it.

In family news....

Amy was home from college this past weekend. She's doing well at school and is settling in quite nicely. She's discovered that she cannot do everything and still keep the 3.5 gpa she needs to keep her scholarship so she has backed off a bit on some extra curricular activities for the school paper but otherwise is managing to study and have a bit of a social life too.

Adam is well from what we hear. He is still super busy at work and as far as I know will still be headed to D.C. after the first of the year. That could still change but it's not looking like it will.

Abby is also doing well with school. She's been doing a lot of tailgating down in Lincoln on the weekends but sticking pretty close to home during the week.

That pretty much catches you up on the goings on in my world. I'm busy working on things for the spring retreat. We're halfway booked now which I think is fabulous. I was getting caught up with the framing at work before I got sick but imagine I will be behind again when I get back. I know I have a graduation collage to design when I get back as it came in Saturday. Oh well, it's better than not being busy at all!

Enjoy this first week of October everyone! We're having beautiful weather here, too bad I haven't been out to enjoy it!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Market Open House is Tomorrow!

Whew! What a week! Between catching up with framing, pricing all the new goodies, getting everything in the computer and being sick since Tuesday, I need a vacation! We finished putting things out for display at 5:45 this evening and I am working feverishly (literally) to finish up a shop model for tomorrows Open House. I had a hard time finding places to display everything but I think we managed to spread it out enough that browsers shouldn't have a problem with, well, browsing! LOL!

I still have 2 paintings to stretch and 2 more cross stitch pictures to frame, plus a golf layout and then I am officially caught up! Should get that finished Monday and then the rest of next week should be cake.

Don't have anything to share stitching wise as I don't want to post the shop model until it's finished and it still needs to be mounted.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and if you live in the area stop by between 10 and 4 tomorrow to see all the stash we brought home!

Take care till next time,

Julie

Back from Market

Happy Monday Everyone!

Got back from market last evening. Had a great time, met some wonderful designers, brought back some great new things! I even went out of my box and am going to give some different techniques a try. Gonna be a busy week getting everything priced and in the computer not to mention displayed so if you are in the neighborhood, we are having a Market Open House this coming Saturday. The shop opens at 10!

Have a great day everyone!

Take care till next time.

Julie

Retreat! Warning, long post lots of pics

Hello Everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I was extremely busy getting everything ready for our fall retreat which occurred this past weekend. Along with all the stuff to get ready I also had some family things come up so stitching and blogging got pushed down the list of things that needed doing. Retreat is over and some of the family stuff has been resolved so hopefully life will settle back down to a somewhat normal routine.

Retreat was awesome! I can't speak for everyone else but I had a great time. Well except for the last night and morning...my stomach and I weren't getting along at the time so it wasn't as much fun then. MaryAnn and I were to leave for retreat Thursday morning around 11:00 so we could get there in plenty of time to unload everything and get set up for the stitcher's who were to arrive after 3:00. As usual things didn't go quite the way they were supposed to. My phone rang about 8:30 Thursday morning. An unsuspecting me answered only to hear this tiny little voice saying, Mom, I'm dying. I hate phone calls that start out with that sentence. I've gotten quite a few of them in my 26 years of motherhood and by now I realize it's usually an exaggeration but it still causes my stomach to drop into my feet. Not as long a drop as it could be since I'm short but still enough to give me that sick feeling your get when you hear those words. That morning it was Amy that was dying. I asked her what the problem was and she responded by saying she had been throwing up all night. She had a fever, couldn't breathe, was shaky and wanted to come home. There are 2 things Amy likes to have when she is sick. Her dog and her mama. In that order. So the fact that I was going to be in Lincoln where she currently was didn't deter her from wanting to come home. Her dog was here. I told her I could come and get her and could be on my way shortly but she nixed that idea. She has a class at 2 in the afternoon on Thursdays with a no absentee policy. Let me tell you what I think of no absentee policies. Stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. Why on Gods green earth would you as a teacher want someone with the freaking stomach flu in your class room spreading the virus to all and sundry? Were you at the end of the line when common sense was handed out???? I know I as a fellow student wouldn't want you sitting next to me shedding virus. I asked Amy if she were to email the teacher and explain the situation whether she would make an exception. Apparently that was covered the first day. No absence means no absence. Period. You miss, you are out of the class. Okay then. Plan B. MaryAnn and I will drive down as scheduled with a slight detour to the college. I would bring with me the left over anti-nausea pills from Abby's tonsillectomy which would hopefully get Amy up off the floor of her dorm room, to the shower, to class, and finally through the drive home. We only had 2 pills. Timing was everything. Dan would pick her up at 4 and bring her home. After that her dog was going to have to take care of her. MaryAnn was called to make sure this would work for her and at 11:00 we were on our way. Amy looked pretty rough when I got there. No color in her face whatsoever. I gave her the pill (dissolves under the tongue) and after about 20 minutes she started to look a bit better. At 30 minutes she sat up and finally at 40 minutes she felt able to shower. This was a very good thing as she didn't have time to put her hair in a pony before throwing up the first time and she was smelling a bit nasty. I left her to it and headed out to the car where MaryAnn was waiting. We arrived at the B & B, got unloaded, set up chairs and even had time to relax on the front porch before our first stitcher arrived at 3:00 pm on the dot, followed shortly by everyone else. Retreat was officially in progress!


Upon their arrival, everyone was given a little present. I had been shopping at Hobby Lobby in August and had seen these small paper mache boxes and thought they would make a cute little gift to give to our stitcher's. Unfortunately, they only had 3. I needed 14. So I called Dan. Hey, can you check out the Millard HL store for these boxes I need? Not only did he check the Millard Store, but he also went to every other HL in the metro area. Sadly, we were still short several boxes. Lucky for me, he was picking up Amy from college that weekend and after I called the Lincoln HL to confirm that they had some he picked up a couple from there too. But still we were short. Enter Linda, one of our stitcher's. She lives in Iowa, not too far from Omaha and she said she would check her HL for boxes. She was able to pick up a couple too. But would you believe we still needed 1 more box???? Now it was MaryAnn's turn. She texted her niece in Sioux City who went to that HL and she got the last box that we needed. Actually she bought 3 so we ended up with 2 extras. MaryAnn already had a trip planned to Sioux City that week so she was able to bring the final boxes back. Now all I had to do was figure out what in the world I was going to do with them!! I searched and searched for a freebie pattern that was small enough to fit on the top of the 3" x 3" box but unless we stitched it over one it just wasn't going to happen. Not all of our ladies like over one on 36 count fabric so I rejected everything I found. Finally I came up with the idea to chart an initial for each person and put a border around it. After painting each box, then antiquing it, I applied the stitched piece to the top of the box and added a piece of trim to finish it off. Here's what mine looked like.

Here's a side view showing the embossing and antiquing.


I would have liked to get a picture of everyone with their box since they all finished them while at retreat but I was unable to do so.

Thursday night we all went out to Lonestar Steak House for dinner. We had a great time and then returned to the Roger's House and stitched till 11 or so. Some stayed up later but I was tired so I took myself off to bed.


Friday we enjoyed breakfast provided by the B & B and then everyone sat down and stitched the day away. Our last 3 retreaters arrived Friday afternoon.

We also had the pleasure of getting a massage Friday afternoon. MaryAnn and I wanted to see if this would be something people would be interested in for the spring retreat. The general consensus was Hell Yes!! Most everyone said they would pay twice what was charged for the massage. This was my first time getting a massage and all I can say is WOW!! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Supper that night was lasagna, ham, rolls and a veggie plate plus apple crisp for dessert. MaryAnn and I provided the meal this time. We were up stitching till almost midnight that night. I think it was also that night that we planned MaryAnn's wedding to Jim, her significant other. It was hilarious some of the ideas that were thrown out there. The laughter was flowing freely and loudly for quite some time that evening. In fact we were so loud for so long that when we did finally quiet down the night time inn keeper came out of the office to make sure we were okay. Guess we got too quiet and she was worried!! There is only one little hitch to the whole wedding plan thing, Jim has yet to propose to MaryAnn!! We're prepared though if he ever takes the big leap!

Saturday was a cool and rainy day, just perfect for staying inside and stitching. Breakfast was again provided by the B & B. We stitched until lunch and then I showed everyone how to finish their boxes. Later on, Nebraska had a football game on TV so some of the stitcher's went upstairs to watch the game while the rest of us stayed downstairs stitching. Ruby Tuesdays catered dinner Sat. night. It was not what we had been led to believe it was going to be so I was somewhat disappointed in the meal but I didn't eat anyway because my stomach was not feeling good at that time.




Sunday after breakfast, again provided by the B & B, we stitched for a while before it was time to pack up and head home. All in all I think it was a great time. We received several emails from the gals thanking us for hosting a wonderful retreat. We're already planning for next fall. We might try someplace new for a change of scenery. Or we might not. Only time will tell.

If you're wondering what it is that I stitched on for all those days, it wasn't what I had planned. I had chosen a new project to start but it didn't take me long to fling it aside in frustration and pick up an older WIP. Much less frustrating to work on and I quite enjoyed my stitching after that. Which WIP you say?
My Chatelaine! I got quite a bit done too all things considered. Here's a pic of it the last time I posted it.

And here it is now. I didn't stitch the whole thing this weekend, just the upper right corner. I love the colors in this piece. So bright and beautiful! Why have I not stitched on it in over a year??

Also have a finish to share with you...



This is the first pillow I have ever made all by myself. The pattern is a freebie that I found here
For my first attempt it turned out pretty good but I think I could have stuffed it a bit more.

This post is now a mile and a half long so I think I will call it done. Hopefully you enjoyed hearing about our retreat and remember, we are having a spring retreat next April. If you are interested in attending, check out my sidebar for more information.

Tomorrow MaryAnn and I leave for the St. Charles Market. I'll tell you all about it next week!

Take care till next time.

Julie

Stupid is as stupid does!

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

Hard to believe it's already Wednesday! Gotta love a short work week!

I'm glad everyone liked Hare's Christmas. Thanks for the compliments and thanks also for the lovely comments on Abby's art. I showed them to her and she was quite surprised that people liked them.

So I think I did a stupid thing Monday. I was browsing Craigslist when I spied a listing for 2 antique chairs. Clicked on the listing and up came the picture. The first chair is somewhat unique in my opinion and I knew Miss Abby would love the shape of it. The second chair was perfect! I've been looking for a chair to fit in the corner of my bedroom and I could see it in my minds eye all spruced up with a throw tossed carelessly over the arm. The price was great too, only $20.00 for both! I quickly emailed the person selling the chairs and got an answer back before too long, the chairs were still available and we could come look at them any time. I grabbed Dan and quick like a rabbit we hopped in the car and headed down the road to Bellevue. Arriving at our destination we rang the bell and were shown to the basement where these beauties were being stored. The young couple that was selling the chairs had just recently moved from Wyoming. With an infant and new jobs they just didn't have the time to clean the chairs up so they decided to sell them and get them out of their basement. Dan and I sat on them, turned them upside down, hemmed and hawed, discussed if we wanted one or both and the gal pipes up and says you can have them both for $15.00. Fifteen huh, well I guess if we can get them in the car we'll take them. I gave her the $15.00 and we carried them outside and lo and behold they fit just fine in the car. And that right there was where the stupid part came in. If I had a lick of sense in my head I would have pretended that they didn't fit, got my money back and got our happy asses out of there. But no....I brought these chairs home and chattered all the way about how awesome they were going to look re-done.





















I have to blame my friend Becca for thinking these chairs would be a good idea. Mostly because I don't really want to take the blame for being stupid but also because she just finished a chair similar to the red one and it turned out beautifully! But, and this is a big BUT...she has a friend that knows how to upholster and said friend was happy to help her learn how to do it. I do not have such a friend. Becca lives in Dayton. Ohio. She isn't going to come to Omaha anytime in the foreseeable future to teach me how to do it. So what in the sam hill was I thinking buying these chairs????? I certainly can't afford to pay someone to reupholster these beauties. I don't want them in my house the way they are and I would really like to park my car in my garage this winter instead of harboring this disreputable pair of chairs!! But the deed is done so I need to come up with a solution to the problem. Did I mention Abby wants Zebra stripes on the pink chair? Nothing like adding stripes to an already difficult project! I'll keep ya posted on their status but if you know anyone in my neck of the woods that would like to teach me the craft of re-upholstery, have them look me up. I'll be the one beating my head against the wall repeating Stupid stupid stupid over and over.

Take care till next time!

Julie

Hare's Christmas Pillowized!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

It's been a very relaxing weekend so far. All the kids are home, the weather has been awesome, the food good...can't ask for more than that! Amy has had tons of stories about college life, Adam has had tons of stories about work so most of our time together has been spent talking and catching up. Today Amy is upstairs doing homework, Adam is off at a Fantasy Football draft, Abby is working and Dan is in the garage working on Amy's headboard. I'm doing laundry, getting stuff ready for supper and even stitching a bit. We had to watch an action movie as part of Amy's homework so we sat and watched Die Hard this morning. Can't get much better than Bruce Willis in a die hard movie for action! Tonight the kids are all going bowling. This is a strange and unusual occurrence in this house. Never have the 3 chosen to do something together. Willingly. With no fighting. Still trying to wrap my mind around that one!

Stitching has been scarce this week. I've been busy working on a little project for our fall retreat. It does include stitching but it's not done yet and I couldn't share it right now anyway since it's for retreat and some of the ladies read the blog. Everyone will have to be patient for 2 weeks and then I can show you.

I did get my Hare's Christmas back from the "pillowizer". It's so darn cute I can hardly stand it! Those rabbits just make me smile! I backed it with the fabric it's laying on.

I wanted to share some of Abby's artwork with you. She's been bored at work lately. Last week she took her sketch pad and pencils with her and this was the result:

She volunteered to do the bulletin board at school too. The radiology students wear blue scrubs and they get to dress up for Halloween this year so they decided to be Smurfs. Abby took that idea and drew a Smurf for the bulletin board and then added the lead apron and thyroid cover that the patients use.


I think it turned out really cute but I'm her mama so I might be a bit biased. Just a little.

Guess that's about it for today. I hope you all are enjoying your weekend as much as I am!

Take care!

Julie