A Very Grumpy Christmas

I can finally post about a gift finish that I stitched.  Yes, it's Grumpy Cat, all ready for Christmas.  Just look at him.  Even the joyous Christmas season can't get a smile out of this guy.  He does look cute though.  I stitched him for a fellow stitcher who was having some surgery.  I'm happy to say that the surgery was a success and my stitcher friend was delighted with Grumpy!

The chart is a freebie from Brooke's Books.  Just go to the "Freebies" button on the left.  It's stitched on 28-count Jobelan, completely with DMC.  I used stiff felt for the backing.  This was such a fun design to stitch, I may even make another one!

Bead Show Marathon

One of the funniest things I said to my husband lately was, "We won't be there too long".  I was referring to Sheila and I attending the Intergalactic Bead Show at the nearby Gwinnett Center a couple of weeks ago.  We hadn't been to one in a while, but with my renewed interest in beading I felt the need to see what was up in the beading world.  The Intergalactic shows are an outstanding venue to do just that. 

They come to our area about four times a year and feature dozens of vendors displaying everything from beads made of glass and metal, natural stones, wire, findings, pearls, and stringing necessities.  We also met nice people and found some amazing bargains.

Assortment of glass pearls I got for an amazing price.

Nikki Thornburg-Lanigan from Thornburg Bead Studio was kind enough to give us an demonstration on how to bend wire in a creative way, and also gave us the finished wire!  The beads she creates are beautiful.

Check out Nikki's website to see her wonderful creations.

We enjoyed the bountiful selection of seed type beads from The Beadroom.  These were just what I was looking for in my quest for beads for bead weaving.

Some seed type beads from The Beadroom, along with some wire and thread I also purchased.

An assortment of toggles, findings and cute little snowflake charms rounded out my purchases for the day.  

Sheila also added to her bead stash quite nicely.  Now we both have enough supplies to fuel our need to bead.   And just how long did we stay at the bead show?  Not "too long"?  Nope.  If I remember correctly, we were there browsing the booths for approximately 4 hours.  If you like beads, then go to an Intergalactic Bead Show and you'll see what I mean. 

The Traveling Tote Bag Project

Facebook has turned out to be a wonderful source of cross stitch groups, where you can meet others who share your love of stitching.  I myself have joined several groups in which I can see what my fellow stitchers are working on, get recommendations for new products, and even get help with a stitching problem (or help someone else with their stitching issue).

Through one of the groups, the "Soul Stitchers", I've also become friends with ladies from other countries.  So interesting to see what they're working on and what kinds of stitchy supplies they have!  When one of our group members asked if we wanted to contribute to an interesting project, many of us enthusiastically signed up.  Tracey has a tote bag made up of many pieces of Aida.  She requested that we would stitch one of the squares (or rectangles), and then pass the bag to the next person.

I caught the bag just as it finished its European tour and marveled at the amazing stitching on it.  I chose a little purple and pink butterfly and stitched it at the bottom. 

I asked some of the stitchers who participated to share a few thoughts about this project.  Harriet from Sweden likes cranes, so that was her stitching contribution.  The crane is also a symbol for long life.  The little bee was stitched by Bianca from the UK.  It's her nickname!  Bianca also contributed the poppy. She enjoyed this project knowing that it would bring a smile to Tracey's face whenever she used the bag. Renate lives in Austria (but is originally from the Netherlands) and chose an owl to stitch.  She loved the bright color and hoped that Tracey would too!

Eva is originally from Latvia and now lives in the UK.  She stitched the All Our Yesterdays piece, which is the little girl by the sea.  She is a fan of these designs and thought that Tracey would especially like this one.  Eva also hopes that this completed bag will bring joy to Tracey each time she uses it.  Kirsten says that butterflies are special and beautiful to her, just like our friend Tracey is. Kirsten, from Denmark, is happy to be part of the group that contributed to the stitching on this bag.  She says it shows that we care and have Tracey in our hearts. 

This is a pretty awesome group of ladies, isn't it?  It makes me happy to be part of this group, with such caring and kind stitchers.  As I packed the tote bag to send it to Tracey, I thought about how many miles it had traveled to reach the talented hands of so many stitchers.  This indeed was a special project and I know that all of my fellow "Soul Stitchers" will agree with me when I say that I hope that Tracey happily uses the bag for many, many, many years.