Ornaments, ornaments, ornaments!

I did it!  I have come up with twelve more ornament ideas for you holiday enthusists!  We will forge ahead with another year of snowflakes, holly and jingle bells for 2011.

Thank you for your comments, private emails and blogs that feature the small delights!  They have been really fun for me to design and it makes me really happy that you wanted more.

Peppermint Twist!

It's "time" for another ornament preview!  This is a yummy one.  The button I chose looks good enough to eat. The supply list to "Peppermint Twist" will be on the ornament page of the web site some time during the week.  I love red, white and green ornaments, don't you?  We are winding down now with only three more previews after this one.  Are you happy or sad that the ornaments are getting close to ending?

Traveling Stitcher Accessories

Look at what I found in my mailbox!  Mary Kathryn at Impie, Hattie and Bea mailed me a new set (and one extra pouch) of the new set of "Traveling Stitcher: Accessories.  They are simply beautiful.  A set includes a pouch and needlebook.  The fabrics are perfectly suited to the pattern (which is still available!).  They are out now so ask your shop owner if you are interested in a set.

Summer Buzz. . . . . .

Tomorrow is the first day of summer. . . . . . hot days and nights, family get-aways and re-runs on TV.  So what do you stitch?  Do you sit down with small projects, pull out larger ones, stitch for Christmas, or work on whatever your heart desires?

Before I became a designer, everything I stitched was huge.  I spent hundreds of hours stitching and then framing large pieces for my walls.  But since those days I've found a real love for small pieces that sit tucked into a bookshelf, or rest on a tabletop propped on an easel. 

Queen Bee was released a few years ago but I thought I'd bring her out to celebrate the start of summer.  However I do think the official start of summer in Arizona should be moved up since we've had 100 degree days for weeks now!

Relax and enjoy your summer stitching. . . . . . whatever it happens to be!
Diane

Gracie, 30 Weeks Old!

Miss Gracie is 30 weeks old today and looking more and more like the big girl she'll be some day.  Gone is the puppy face and body, and she is well into getting those feathers Golden Retrievers are so well known for.

I am happy to say she is a real sweet pup near our new grandson, Andrew.  In fact she is slightly afraid of him and the sounds he makes.  I don't mind, since I'd rather her stay away from him right now any way but she sure is curious!  And he smells different than the rest of the kids. . . . . . she noticed that right away!

Our new grandson is doing great and adding the ounces.  Our other three sweeties are out of school and busy with their own summer activities.  Everyone will be at the house today while we celebrate an early Father's Day with Ron and the boys. 

Have a nice weekend!

Diane

Just Cross Stitch Ornament

I've designed a LOT of ornaments this year! But when Just Cross Stitch asked both Nikki and I to do both the preview issue and the regular issue, I didn't want to say no.  Have you heard me mention before that I'll have done 15 ornaments this year?  YIKES!  This is a snapshot of mine.  Nikki suggested we coordinate our theme (which I loved) and so we did gingerbread for the preview issue. 

The magazine is available now from what I've heard so if you want it, you better start looking if you don't have a subscription. (Mine came in the mail).

Aside from the twelve I'll so for Little House, there are two for Just Cross Stitch and one not yet released for UNICEF.  I promise to update you when that one becomes available. 


Happy ornament stitching!

New Patterns!

This little bluebird is "Singing the Blues" in one of our newest releases.  I had it stitched in Belle Soie from Crescent Colours and the silk just pops off of the fabric.  Mom had a lot of fun shading the design with the silk. She found it to be an enjoyable challenge to place the dark and light colors here and there on the bird as she went along. 

Notice the swirls on the frame?  A perfect match to the song he is singing!  It's from Crescent Colours also.

"Liberty Belles" is a wonderful Americana project you can finish on the go.  If you don't sew, have your shop owner contact Impie, Hattie and Bea to order the little pillow for your finish.  If you live outside the U.S., remove the flags and you have a design that works wherever you live!  I love the little "belles"!

And last but not least is the newest ornament, "Frosty Flakes".  You have probably already seen him on the sidebar where I snuck him in a week or so ago.  I L-O-V-E the fabric he is stitched on and it has become one of my favorites.  It's Straw linen from Weeks Dye Works and white threads contrast really well with it.

The three new patterns featured above will begin the cross country journey tomorrow to our distributors.  So that's all for now. . . . . . we have an original girl's sampler releasing next month along with a pines/cabin design. Our ornament that releases at the same time is "Peppermint Twist" and will be a lot of fun to stitch.

I don't just design and cross stitch. . . . .

. . . . . .  I collect Cars from the Pixar movie too!  Toys aren't just for kids.  I fell in love with these precious metals as soon as they came out a few years ago.  Ron and I began collecting them immediately and found we had a lot of fun hunting them all down.  My favroites are the "girl cars" that are in the picture.  They remind me of an ice cream shop and colorful scoops of ice cream. 

Don't anyone tell me I ruined their value by taking them out of the box!  For us the value is in the enjoyment the grandkids have had playing with them!  Darn!  I still wish I had my old Barbie doll too!  lol. . . . . .

Our new family member!

Welcome to the world Andrew!  Our new grandson arrived in the very wee hours this morning.  Of course we think he is simply beautiful and according to his parents, he's a perfect baby.  My daughter-in-law allowed me the privilege of being at his birth, an experience I'll never forget.

Not sure how much work will get done in the weeks ahead!

Nikki has a blog!

Nikki has a brand new blog!  It took a wee bit of convincing to get her to add one more thing to her already busy schedule but I can tell already that she is glad she did.  Click on the photo above to take a look at her newest release.

Fruit Salad Thread Packs

I was looking around at all of the finishes in albums on the LHN/CCN Yahoo site and found this sweet little photo.  The finishes are by Rachel V. and she titled the picture, "Fruit Salad".  What an adorable display of some of the thread pack charts we did with Crescent Colours.  Thanks for letting me share the photo Rachel! 

Design Previews

I'm still waiting for that new grandbaby to arrive but when he does I'll  busy for a while  so that's why I decided to post the upcoming previews really early.  The first one is from "Singing the Blues".  My mom stitched it in Crescent Colours Belle Soie which is their line of silk.  The thread has beautiful color variation and the silk just seems to pop off of the fabric.  You can also stitch it in their cotton thread and we have provided a conversion for you.

 The second design is called "Liberty Belles" and has three sweet little ladies in it to stitch.  When we feature the full photo you'll see that there is a wonderful pillow that the design is mounted to.  Mary Kathryn at Impie, Hattie and Bea has made a mounting pillow for the finish just for those of you who don't really like to sew.  No preview is available just yet. . . . . .you'll have to wait until mid-month to see it. 

These two projects are just right for summer take-alongs and we have packaged them in our smalled format that we call "A Piece of Cake!"

Thanks for stopping by!

Frosty Flakes

I have put the supply list for "Frosty Flakes" on the LHN web site for anyone interested in making a list before we ship the ornament out.  I took this design and mounted it onto Weeks Dye Works Wool in Palomino Houndstooth to give it a real warm feel. I love this color of fabric as it gives white threads the "lift" off the fabric that make things like snowmen and snowflakes stand out.

Hope you like it!  This is ornament # 8 which means we're 2/3's of the way through our year of designs. 

Nikki and the dolphins

Nikki and Derrick have been is Las Vegas for a few days where Nikki has had the experience of a lifetime.  For her 30th birthday (which was last year) we gave her a gift that was to make her childhood dreams come true. . . . . . . a swim day with the dolphins.  This photo was taken by Derrick (who did not swim with the dolphins) on her cell phone.  I love it!  There she is, posing beside the dolphin on the deck beside the pool.  She tells us she even kissed one!  I can't wait to hear all about it and look at all of the photos they have from the day.  They also celebrated their tenth anniversary there too!