And again. . . . . .

The last person did not claim their chart so today we have one person in the drawing.  It's Kaye!  Your bio reads:  "I'm a 40 something year old,single mom".

Please email me at littlehouseneedleworks@msn.com and also, reply to this message on the blog.

Diane

More snippets!

The Family Sampler Snippets

This is the last snippet view of The Family Sampler until the reveal of the actual piece in mid-August. It shows you some of the details in the design, the coloring, and elements.  The pretty berry colors are beautiful in this design.  :)  See the box with our family surname initial?  That's where you'll put yours!

OK. . . . so the last person has not claimed their chart!  Do we have another drawing for the fifth winner?  What?  I can't hear you. . . . . lol. . . . . of course we will draw again.  So tomorrow at 6:00 am we will draw again if the last person doesn't respond by then.  It's the contest that never ends!

News to report. . . . . .the supply list for "Under the Tree", the 10th ornament is on our web site.  Sorry. . . . no picture just yet.  :(  I have also uploaded pics of the upcoming thread packs in the months of the year series.  Those can be found on the cotton packs page.

Was there confusion yesterday when I posted Curly Q Ewe (a pattern of ours) and the Jenny Bean announcement?  Yes, I think there was!  Theresa and I both looked at it and didn't see a problem but then we are in on the information behind it and I think that's why.  So here's the scoop. . . . . Theresa came up with this awesome idea to include other designers in her Jenny Bean series.  We've created samplers for "The Friends of Jenny Bean".  They are all little garden girls like Jenny Bean and my sampler is called "Be Merry" which features "Belle Pepper".  This patterns ships in September around market time.

Happy Stitching!
Diane

Jenny Bean and Friends!

Just a note. . . . . . ."Curly Q Ewe" is merely the announcer and not involved in the Jenny Bean and Friends design.  You can find that design on our web site under "Just for Fun".

A Second Drawing!!!!

Only one of the five previous winners responded to our contest so we drew 4 new names! 

Lynn is one of our winners and the following will take the place of the other four who did not respond by the deadline:
1. Lisa V
2. Natalie - bio: I married my sweetheart in 1995.
3.  Faye R.
4.  Nemjit

The four of you need to respond to this post so I can check your Follower ID and also email me at littlehouseneedleworks@msn.com with your address.

Now I hope we have our winners this time!

What is the Family Sampler?

I'm glad you asked!  The Family Sampler is one part do-it-yourself sampler and nine parts Diane did most of the work for you! 

The snippet on the left is Nikki and me. . . . of course many years ago but that's how I chose to portray our family.  See the dog?  That's one of three in the design and we do have a few different breeds for you. 

We provide the people, dogs, cats, alphabet, large surname initial and the entire background (and it's big!).  You supply the family, your personal color choices for skin and hair and a bit of lay-out know-how.  You don't need much but you do need to be able to cut and paste or graph the elements we provide for you in the chart pack.  Let this be a warning to anyone who says "can't".  You will need to find someone who "can" so you will be able to finish this chart.  I was just talking to my local LNS owner today and she is going to have a class there so we can teach you how to do it if you feel a bit unsure (or if you just want to come and eat snacks with us).  So call Susan at The Busy Needle in Tucson and tell her if you are interested in a get-together some Saturday in September (I think).  Right Susan? 

So that's snippet one. . . . . . .a few more will come out in the days ahead.  And would you believe that not one winner has contacted me yet?  You may be a winner yet!

Diane

Our winners are. . . . . .

Two winners didn't seem like a lot considering the number of followers here so I have upped the drawing to FIVE winners!

1.  ChristineH - icon is a purple and yellow flower.
2.  Katherine - "Over 50, wife, mother and grandmother" (your short bio).
3. The Olde Weeping Cedar
4.  Simplysewhappy
5.  Lynn - "empty nest mom to three boys" (your short bio).

The five of you have until Monday morning my time at 6:00 am to email me at littlehouseneedleworks@msn.com AND very importantly, reply to this post so I can verify your icon and match it to the ones I have here.

If any of the winners don't claim their chart I will go back and draw one or more to fill their spots! 

Diane

Look at what I found!

I was at Barnes and Noble this morning and came across this in the magazine section . . . .Country Home!  The title caught my eye because they folded the magazine in 2009 and finished my subscription to it with a magazine I never would have ordered on my own.  Anyway. . . . . I peeked inside and sure enough, it's back in publication. . . . .sort of.  It looks like they'll put out a quarterly issue and the theme will change a bit in each one.  This appears to be the first issue so if you are a keeper of that type of thing you better find your copy.  I really missed this magazine and  I'll bet I'm not the only one.  :)

The week begins. . . . . . .

Thank you to those of you who have left messages here and sent emails concerning the new original girl's sampler, Sarah Street.  Since it isn't a reproduction I didn't know what to expect. I'm glad you like it which means I am going to go ahead with the others like I had mentioned in an earlier post.  Sarah's pattern and the other two arrive this week at our distributors.

I am just putting the finishing touches on the last ornament of the year.  I'll send it off to Vonna (Twisted Stitcher) next week who returns them with lightening speed.  The last two were back in the blink of an eye and both are soooooo sweet.  She really does a nice job on them.  ;)

Just a reminder that on the 23rd we will be drawing two names from the registered members of this blog.  You don't have to leave messages on the original post (but I love it when you do!).  I am using Google Reader to stay in touch with some of my blogs and it makes keeping current so easy!

The weather reports tell us each and every day that we're going to get rain and yet we don't.  The heat in Tucson is as hot as ever and we have the humidity to go along with it without the benefit of water which we need desperately.  I hope this won't be one of these "be careful what you wish for" moments!

Dog Days of Summer

I always say it's a 3-ring circus around here and now we have the actual rings to prove it!  Anyway. . . . . when it's this hot (108) there is only one thing for a pup to do and that's get wet.  And why not?  Gracie has a kiddie pool but sometimes we just turn on the sprinklers and let her cool down that way. 

We puppy-sat Luke so his family could take a little vacation with the kids this last week.  One day we dressed them up (that's what dog owners without any kids at home do) and took them to Petsmart for new toys.  Lot's of fun taking two Goldens to the pet store!  They picked out two matching (of course) tires with attached ropes.

And here she is with the tire.  Happy and wet but missing Luke!

"The Family Sampler"

Watercolor rendering of "The Family Sampler"

A quick note. . . . . On July 23rd  you'll have a chance to win our not-yet-released, "Family Sampler" chart.  Two winners will be chosen from the blog followers that are registered to follow.  I'll ship anywhere you live!

The good news is that if you follow you see all of the news in your reader when we post updates.  The winners will be notified here on my blog!

Happy Stitching ~
Diane

Pattern Previews

"Sarah Street - Faithfulness" is the first "girl's sampler" to be released from Little House.  More will follow in 2011.  It was really fun for me as a designer to incorporate an old look with my spin.  My mom stitched this one and she said she loved working on it.  I hope you will too.

"Peppermint Twist" looks good enough to eat thanks to the

button from Just Another Button Company! These color combinations

are my favorite holiday colors and they just pop off of the fabric.

This is the 9th ornament in the series.

And for you woodland stitchers, "Tall Pines"

which includes a short verse written by me and stitched by Evie. 

This pattern is packaged in our small line called "A Piece of Cake!"

All of these patterns are shipping is week to our distributors. 

There is something here for everyone! 

Details on these patterns (fabric, thread, etc.) will be available on our web site.

A Tribute

Today I pay tribute to all of the people you never see but play such an important role in Little House designs.  I didn't know how to start, who should go first and so on so I decided to do this alphabetically.

Carol

This is my mom, Carol who many of you know just started model stitching a bit for both Nikki and me.  She does an awesome job and I can always count on seeing it again, stitched, shortly after she takes it home.  Thanks mom!  You know how much your help has meant to me!

Evie

This is Evie who is one of my model stitchers.  Evie is always up for something whenever I ask.  If it's during a sporting season she particularly likes, the work gets done really fast.  The more nervous her teams make her, the faster she stitches!  Thank you so much for helping me with so many models Evie!

Milly

Next is my friend Milly who is not only a model stitcher for both Nikki and me but also moderates the LHN/CCN Yahoo group.  She is always there for me, whatever I need and whenever I need it.  Thank you so much Milly for ALL that you do.  Milly and I were able to get together a few years ago when she was in Arizona making our relationship far more than business only.

Renee

Then there is Renee who has tackled some of the largest model stitching that comes from LHN.  Just wait until you see what she has stitched for me (and you!) this fall.  Renee also model stitches for Nikki.  Thank you Renee for never saying "it's too big!" and stitching some really nice pieces for us both.

This is Rita and she really helped me out this year when I needed her.  Thank you Rita for stitching a model for me and doing a beautiful job on it! 

Veronica

Veronica was the owner/moderator of the very first LHN Yahoo group.  She lives in Italy and is still very connected to us through a web site that features LHN and CCN finishes.  Veronica and I are very good friends and keep in touch on a regular basis.  Thank you Veronica for EVERYTHING!

Vonna

And last but not least is Vonna.  Vonna is a fantastic finisher who I have used on a few pieces up until now but just wait!  All of the 2011 ornaments will be stitched AND finished by her!  Thank you so much for taking this on.  What more can I say?






So you might be thinking, does Diane even stitch any more?  Well the answer is yes I do!  I guess after the quantity of designs I had been stitching in the early years of LHN I really needed to get breaks now and then so that I could actually have a life.  Those that know me know I spend a lot of time working and not much time playing!  So the next time you pick up one of our patterns and see that name, put one of these faces right along side of it.  These ladies have lives apart from what it is they do for Nikki and me and we do alternate the stitching a bit so they have time for their own work (except Renee who seems to always be working on something for LHN or CCN!)

I also want to mention that there are quite a few friends and supporters who have become backbones to me throughout the years.  Thank you too (read on)!  I'm talking about our suppliers, shop owners, distributors, stitchers, and so on and so on. 

OK, so before I have to get a tissue and mop up the keyboard, I'll finish this post by saying. . . . . . . .

I am happy to have the best group of people behind me who are not only related to me by business but are my friends too!

Happy Stitching,

Diane

A Girl's Sampler

I love reproduction samplers but I have never been too sure as to whether they were "right" for LHN as a company.  Since I love the creative process, I always felt they might not allow me the creative expression I love to have with each and every design we release.  So instead of buying an old sampler and painstakingly reproducing every stitch (which looks VERY hard), I decided to try to create a girl's sampler in LHN style.  No, it isn't old, not a reproduction, but rather a compilation of all of the things I love about old samplers.

The design is called "Sarah Street - Faithfulness".  The surname "Street" is a very old name that dates back to the early founding of this country.  I am sure there are many descendants by this day and time.   I had considered releasing these designs in the "Dear Diary" line of patterns we currently have but instead thought to release them individually.  I have ideas for more so I'll definitely be releasing a few in 2011.

 "Sarah Street" will ship this month.

Weekend Fun!

Who says parks are for kids only? If we had had the ability and stamina, we should have put Gracie into agility training and entered her into competition. She loves the playscape at the park and can do it all except climb the stairs!

See the ball????

Watch out!  Here I come!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Gracie - 32 Weeks!

Here is our 32 week Gracie update photo!  I know many of you wait to see her!  For those who have wondered, Gracie and baby Andrew get along just fine.    His crying makes her nervous so she just leaves the area when he fusses.  She likes to give his little feet a few kisses then she's on her way to play with Luke or chase down one of the older grandchildren. 

She looks like she's smiling. . . . . .don't you think so???

Happy Birthay Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! 

I thought I'd share a picture of you I always thought was so beautiful.  I am so happy to celebrate this day with you!  We're all wishing you a year of good health and happiness!

Love you mom!!!!

(My mom is still very much on the go and even does model stitching for both Nikki and me!)

Peppermint Twist Supplies

You will find a supply list for "Peppermint Twist" under "Ornament of the Month" on our web site!  I am so happy to have had such a positive response to the continuation of our ornaments.  Thank you everyone!