Summer Giveaway Winner

There were a total of 35 entries in the Summer giveaway I was running.

The lucky winner was #21 -  Shaunterria O.  I'll be sending out her prize as soon as I receive her mailing address.

Keep an eye out as you never know when I might do another giveaway.  :)

July 2013 Summer Giveaway

It's been quite a long time since I've done a giveaway. I decided it was well past time and it needed to be a good one.  

Here's what the winner will receive...

The package, worth $30 will include:

• A hand-painted tote bag perfect for carrying a smaller cross stitch/craft project in
• A printed copy of my Sunsational Sunflowers pattern
• A piece of 14 count hand-dyed aida in #727 Light Topaz, perfect for stitching the sunflower piece on
• A hand-stitched sunflower key chain/fob

So, you're probably wondering what you have to do to win.  You can earn entries by liking my Facebook page, following me on Twitter, tweeting about the giveaway, or making a purchase.  Just click on the giveaway box below to start earning your entries.

The winner will be drawn and announced the afternoon of July 28th.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

A gorgeous finish!

I think one of the most important things in life, and especially in business, is to know your strengths and weaknesses. 

When it comes to stitching, I love to create my own designs and stitch them.  However, if you want to sell your patterns & pieces, it has to look nice when you're done.  When it comes to "finishing" an item into something other than a hoop is where I fail.  I don't have the expertise or the time to practice the beautiful finished pieces I'd like to present.  So what does any good business owner do....find someone that has that talent.

The only model I currently had that was waiting to be "finished" was my "Singles Awareness" pattern.   This is a picture of what it looked like before.  Just the plain, stitched piece.

Certainly nothing very exciting about this photo.  It's a clean picture of the stitched pattern so people will know what their finished stitching should look like.  But, I wasn't happy with it being a "professional" looking piece that someone would want to buy.

In steps Rita from Snowberry Needlearts.  I've been a fan of her work for sometime and have seen listings in her Etsy shop where she does custom finishing.  I contacted her, we worked out the details and I sent my stitched piece off to her giving her full creative freedom. This is what she created...

This is like 1,000 times better than anything I could have ever done!!!!  If you can't tell, I'm absolutely thrilled with it!  Here's a pic of the backside...

Gorgeous also!!!

Normally I sell all the models for my patterns, but I'm starting to think I just may need to keep them.  Heck, if I become a famous designer some day (chokes on coffee) I can use them as displays during trunk shows at various needlework shops around the country.

I'm just about finished with the last of my custom stitching orders, and I think it may be time to stop doing those and concentrate on all the patterns I've designed that need stitching just so I can have Rita do more beautiful finishes for them.  I may just even go back and restitch some of my other patterns just so I have a nicer piece to present.  

And with that final thought, I have stitching I must get to....

Ahoy thar mateys!

First, let me apologize (once again) for being absent from my blog so much.  Between jobs #1 and #2 I'm working almost 80 hrs/wk.  When I'm not working I'm trying to stay away from the computer to keep up with stitching custom pieces and dyeing fabric for the shop.  It seems I have no time for even the basics like doing laundry, washing dishes, dusting the house, etc.  However, with it being a long holiday weekend here in the U.S. and me being lucky enough to have Thursday & Friday off from job #1 (too bad I had to work long shifts at job #2!!!), I decided to actually go have some fun!!!  I know, shocking, right?

One of the things that has been on my unwritten bucket list is to attend the Tall Ships Festival they have nearby in Cleveland, OH once every few years.  The last time they held one was in 2010.  Since it doesn't come around very often, Zach and I decided it was a must do, as who knows when we could do it again.  I took lots of pics while I was there, and promised my fans that follow my Facebook page that I'd put them all in a blog post for everyone to see.  

Last summer we were dealing with severe drought in N.E. Ohio, this year it's the never-ending rains.  So we donned our ball caps & sunglasses (a girl can hope, right?) and off we went.  Hope you enjoy our little trip....

Proud Momma w/her son.  That's Lake Erie about 4 feet behind us.

Hmmm...what do I want to blow up????  Do you think it still works??

One of the small lighthouses along the break wall at Port of Cleveland

A couple of the tall ships sailing on Lake Erie

I guess if you don't have a rain poncho/coat for your kids you can always make one out of an old bag.  LOL!

Absolutely LOVED this stateroom!!

The only thing resembling a life boat I could find.  Do you think all the crew members can fit on there?

Found these plants tucked away beneath some stairs.  I guess when you're on the water for weeks/months at a time, you still want to see some greenery.  :)

Am fascinated w/all the ships bells

Neat storage for all the flags

The wheel house.  Loving all the wood and the skylights!

They had some beautiful stained glass panels on the lower level of the ship.  This is the one I liked best.  You know me and my bright, vibrant colors.  :)

You can see it really was raining.  We both went home with soggy shoes.  But as Zach said the minute we got out of the car and started walking in the rain....."If it ain't rainin', we ain't trainin'!"  Gotta love those Army sayings!

I have no clue what these directional thingys are called, but I thought they were fascinating, along with all the wooden wheels and beautiful brass bells.  I took several pics of them.  And yes, I know, I could Google it, but that's OK.

The closest we came to seeing a pirate flag on a ship, lol!

I found it rather ironic to see a jar of cigarette butts hanging below the emergency fuel shutoff!

An informational poster about the ship that most of these pictures are from.  We toured a total of 3 ships and I took almost all the pictures on just the Peacemaker.

We were both slightly disappointed as we were expecting more "Pirates of the Caribbean" type ships.  Some of them were wood ships w/fiberglass decks.  Very few of them actually had wooden decks.  They were also much smaller than we expected.  Either way, it was still a good time, and a nice break from the crazy work weeks I've had for the past 9 months.  Glad we took the time to go. :)