There Was Only One Done

Only one cross-stitch was completed last year, although I did start another which will be the subject of an upcoming post. The guy who maintains my World of Warcraft guild's web site married his long-time girlfriend on a hot June evening. I started the project in January on DMC's "Stardust" cross-stitch fabric. (To long-time readers, some of these photos will be familiar.)

I love this fabric. Glitter is embedded in the fabric so, with the right pattern, it adds a sparkle.

Over the next few months, I worked one week on the cross-stitch and one week reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. (I'm half-way through, which is going to be the subject of several upcoming posts.)

I knew exactly what I was going to do for them.

They needed a hand-made wedding sampler.

I had the pattern.

In fact, I'd made this pattern before.

I had to rip out the dark circle because I miscounted. Ripping out leaves such a bad taste in your mouth. You feel so inadequate. "I can't count!"

By day 10 of stitching, and, mind you, I don't stitch every day, even when I block off the time, the image was done and it was time to plan the writing.

I was doing really well, because this HAD to be at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts to be framed, by Mother's Day. That would give them a good month to get it done.

The wedding was at the end of June and, if I didn't like the finished result, there was time to make it right.

This is the unwashed and unframed but finished piece.

Yes, this is the same motto I made for Carole and Larry when they were married in March of 2015. For them, I gave them the washed and blocked, but unframed piece because they were going to be moving and they could then frame it to match their decor. I did their piece on black cloth, with white lettering. They have it framed in cream and, when you come in the front door, it's above the credenza where it's one of the first things you see when you walk in. The frame is almost the same color as the walls so the effect is one of seeing only the sampler and not the frame. It really came out well.

James is a huge Star Wars fan; Jill, not so much. I knew James when he was merely interested in this gal named "Jill". So, I really made the sampler more for him than her, but she's a crafter and I knew she would appreciate the time put into the creation of something unique for them.

I've said it before and I'll reiterate it. Debbie at Jo-Ann Fabrics in Bloomingdale is wonderful. She came up with the idea to double mat the piece.

That's a dark gray with a silver "marble-ize" mat under a black frame. I knew I wanted the black frame but wasn't sure about the other pieces. Here's how it turned out.

I get stuff framed and it looks so good, I almost don't want to give it away.

The pattern has been retired, officially. I tossed it in the recycling container. I'm not making this again for anyone. You can find it on Pinterest. I don't know that my not making it again gives the two pieces any additional value. I don't have a cult following and I don't cross-stitch all the time, as some crafters do. I just decided, for my son-in-law and James, who both love Star Wars, this was the perfect gift to commemorate their marriages.

Working every other week, alternating with reading a book, worked very well. I'm back to doing that with my next cross-stitch piece which does not have a wedding attached to it, which is good because I'm kind of meandering about finishing it.

Beverage: La Croix Berry Seltzer

Deb

More BCN

I hope you can stand another promo for Breaking Cat News. I just adore the drawing style and the humor of the comic. The artist, Georgia Dunn, also has an Etsy shop. It's not open all the time, but when it is, I am frantically pounding on the virtual doors, money held tightly in my grip, wanting something she's offering. I ran out of Christmas cards and ordered more the day before she offered cards in her shop. I have cards, exquisitely funny cards, ready for this Christmas.

Anyway, back in June, right after I'd received my book, she opened her shop for a week to sell prints. She'd done this picture in one of her comics of Puck scaling a pile of laundry and people clamored for her to make it into a print. The life of a cartoonist, particularly while raising two young children AND, at that time, moving from Rhode Island to California, was daunting. But, the cartoon funds their stability so she opened the shop with a few items; prints, posters, mugs, note cards. Some things were in limited quantity.

Of course I was at the virtual doors on the day they were unlocked. While the Puck climbing the laundry print is cute, my kids don't care about the laundry other than sheets and then only because Pilchard has discovered she can pee on them to register displeasure that the litter boxes may not be to her specifications. Hamlet is enamored with the laundry chute because he can go down it, go sideways, and wind up on top of the furnace where there is all the warms. There was another print, however, which caught my eye. One was left in the shop so I snatched it up posthaste.

I don't remember how long I had to wait for it to come. Georgia and "the man" personally package every sale and, if you write a note next to the item you're buying, she will respond, if she's not overwhelmed with how many people are throwing money at her. I came home from work one day and there was a sturdy, brown envelope between the door and the storm door. I looked at it and noticed I'm not the only one who likes stickers.

Mine, however, aren't custom. That's Tommy, by the way. He does video editing for BCN. I "met" him, I think 2 Christmases ago when, I think it was Elvis, accidentally got out and got lost. Tommy is something of a neighborhood cat, although he has a home. (See? See? These cats are completely relatable.) I was giddy with excitement. My print had arrived! I turned over the package to open it up.

Now THAT'S a sticker. Elvis, Lupin and Puck. I couldn't open the mailer without tearing the sticker, which made me a bit sad, but inside was my print.

This is my house; completely and totally, my house. While it's usually Pilchard who jumps or attempts to jump, into empty boxes; Mija also like the bigger ones. Hamlet isn't quite sure.

This print taps into two things. #1 - If you have cats, bags or boxes are immediate toys or houses. Any cat lover will tell you of the time they ordered some wonderful toys, cat house, scratching pads, whatever and the cat didn't care about the ordered stuff. All they wanted was the box. #2 - When I was a kid, my dad would bring home large boxes from friends who were getting appliances or from the grocery store. He would cut doors in them; essentially a side flap; and they became cars, trucks, trains, busses. I have such wonderful memories of the excitement I felt when we got a new box. We would play with it until it fell apart. This statement is completely true. Even toddlers will eschew the contents of a box to play with the box itself. Imagination is a wonderful thing.

The print came with a personal 'thank you'.

There was also a smaller card with the gang. My memory for all the cat names isn't good, but there's Sophia, who lives with Tommy and on whom he has a crush, but she's not all that interested in him; Baba Mouse, who had a great story line last year involving an owl (I will not give it away, except to say Edward Lear would have been proud. Now go to the comic or her web site and find it.); and the two anchors of the Spanish language cat news network who live upstairs in the house where the boys live.

I was so happy. I showed the girls what I'd received since they know that boxes and bags make me excited.

Mija sniffed and wandered away.

Pilchard sniffed it and rubbed her cheek against it. I'm taking that as tactic approval of this being in the house.

I haven't framed it yet. It's 11 x 17 so it needs a decent bit of wall space. I still have an 8x10 of my daughter and son-in-law's wedding that needs framing. I have some art I'm not enamored with any more, which I keep meaning to take down, but the photo and this print won't fit in the vacated spot. I would need to redo the whole wall. That means taking down everything, pulling the nails, patching the holes and repainting the wall. I'm not up to all that. Where I'd like this is in the living room and that's custom paint. If I repaint one wall, I'll have to redo all the walls because the paint has, I'm sure, faded since it was initially painted. So this sits with the daughter's photo.

But I have it and it fills me with happiness when I look at it. That's what art should do; make you happy you have it.

Beverage:  LaCroix Berry Seltzer

Deb

Finally Framed

I've had this print for a very long time. My late pen pal, Anne, gave it to me, possibly 10 years ago now. I was cleaning last year and found the tube it was in.

It's an amazing print. If you can't read the legend, this is a map showing all the clans in Scotland during the reign of Robert the Bruce, 1314. It's a reproduction of a map in the National Archives of Scotland. My particular branch of Clan Thomson is not on here. As far as the Thomson name goes, we started at the lower right, the southern edge, of Scotland. We were part of the "reivers", the men from Scotland who rode into England to steal cattle. I have not traced back beyond 1768, and, at that time, we lived northeast of Edinburgh, which is on the Firth of Forth, the indentation on the right side of the map, just a bit southwest of that viking long boat, For people like my family, tracing our ancestors back past the 1700's is going to be difficult. We're not royalty and there was really no reason to establish and hold bloodlines.

The print was unrolled from its tube and placed on my ironing board. From mid-summer last year, through September of this year, the biggest books I could find rested on top of the print in an effort to flatten it further. When September rolled around, the print wasn't completely flat but the sale at JoAnn Fabrics for framing was too strong to resist.

I am thrilled with the result. I had them put plastic as the "glass" because this is going to sit on the Clan Thom(p)son table at Highland Games. I didn't want someone to be horrified if they accidentally bumped it and it hit the ground. Likewise, I didn't want to have to clean up glass and risk damage to the print since I have not seen this anywhere to replace it. The addition of the gold trim on the inside makes the print pop. I wouldn't have thought of that on my own. The gal who framed it suggested it. It was worth the extra money.

So, I need to clean the room where the litter boxes are, repaint the walls and hang this up. So much art that I'd love to have on the walls. This is too pretty to hide, but it's going to have to sit in the closet until I can get around to redoing that room. At least it can be appreciated by my clan at the next games.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb

Perfectly Framed

Part of Saturday's running around consisted of heading up to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up the framed Eiffel Tower cross-stitch. When the wrappings were opened, I gasped.

This came out twice as good as I imagined it. I almost don't want to give it as a Christmas gift. I am beyond pleased. When you see things come out better than how you envision it, it makes all the work worth it.

JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts in Bloomingdale, Illinois. Ask for Debbie. She usually works weekends. She's incredible. 

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb