Another one bites the dust

For years, our only local craft store provided supplies for our valley, with choices for just about any and all crafts and art.  They expanded several years ago into an adjoining space and added framing, fabrics, bridal, home decorating and furniture, while increasing their paint and artist department.  Their prices were always low, no coupons needed, comparable to Michael's and Hobby Lobby when a coupon is used.  Everyone is very upset to see these headlines.  We have a small Jo-Ann's, not the super store, and it is very limited.  Glues, beads, craft paint, standard yarns, and sewing supplies.

 

 

I knew something would happen when Michael's purchased the Catan stores a few years ago.  They are closing all 36 stores and reopening a maximum of 12 as Michael's.  Damn.  Could go two ways.  Either corporate will realize we are lacking such a store (or anything close) in this area and it will be beneficial to them, or they will see that all the other local stores are closed and there is not much to draw people in.  They did a really good business here, and I hope the decision is made to continue in this location but with a Michael's about 40 minutes away and only keeping 12 Catan stores, I don't see much hope. We'll know late summer. 

 

My husband went for his six month dental cleaning and a front tooth veneer broke into two pieces and came off.  He ended up with close to a $1000 charge which was not what he expected.  Me either!  Isn't it terrible what it costs to maintain your mouth?  I mentioned a while back about Costco members having the option to join a dental plan for very little cost, but there are very few dentists locally that accept the plan, or any other individual plan.  My cousin joined and got 5 back teeth pulled, a partial bridge, plus follow up, xray and initial exam for $150 total.  TOTAL.  I paid $675 for Carole's partial with no other work and it was lower end!!  Her tooth that recently broke off at the gum line was filled two months prior for $185, and it will cost $325 for the extraction.

Around every corner ….. there he is ….. staring at me.

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Thinking of Santa

Hello all.  I have a mess of excess in my tiny parlor, now the inventory room, and that is where the totes filled with Christmas stitchery still reside.  Along with that massive wooden bowl that does not fit most places.

 

 I finally packed them neatly and decided that the older Aida ornaments are some I would like to stitch again on a high count linen.   Did I sell the Prairie Schooler charts?  Yepper I did.  But I kept a few that were my favorites (duplicates from my SIL) and hope I have what I need.

 

 

I visited Meg's blog post from last year http://livetostitch.blogspot.com/2018/02/hello-february.html to read about her treasured gift for her birthday and saw this....

 I caught up with current posts and she has great ideas and sources for goodies.

Meg I hope you don't mind my sharing your photo.  He is one of the large Santas in the Leisure Art hardcover series.  I of course, gave all of mine away, but I could never stitch something like this.  Samplers are so much easier than the color changes and fine details of such projects.  My Santas are small and simple, the Postman that you see at Christmas was a gift from my SIL.

She also mentioned using Mary Ellen's Best Press to remove severe creases in her new linen.  I use my 50% off coupons at JoAnn's and have several bottles on hand.  Most of my linens are rolled but a few still have creases from the shop so I will attempt removal with the spray.

 

Still cold today and 50 next week.  Yippee!  Those damn brats are so bored inside and were crying at the door to go out at 11:30pm.  Thinking they will not use the litter box (and they are spending nights inside) I opened the door.  They started running up trees, attacking each other, blitzing around the snow drifts, and had a heck of a good time.  Guess they just needed to expel some energy and then return to their warm room for the night.  I have a huge litter box in their garage condo complex and a regular size in the house.  Because all three were inside, I brought the large one in and laid carpets and cardboard around it because they dig as if they are hiding a body.  This morning, I awoke to litter all over the floor.  They squeezed beside the chair and used the little one instead of their usual large one!  Why?  WHY???  When I removed the small one (rarely ever used) I put their large (always used) one in its place.  Yet they went on a search for the little one and found it.  They drive me nuts. Nitzy sits and stares at me all day.  He is so goofy.

 

I diced a huge bag of carrots and celery and onion and bagged/froze them for future soups.  That prep is always time consuming so this will make it easy to grab the College Inn and a bag from the freezer for a quick start.  Today is Pioneer Woman's cauliflower soup which I adore.  I use a lot more carrots and onion than is called for.  It reminds me of my mom's creamed chicken made with broth and cream and lots of carrots.  SO love that dish. 

 

This cat is freaking me out so I'm going back upstairs to finish the purge.  And I'm closing the door.

Hope all is well with you folks.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Purge finds

Hi.  I'm almost afraid to ask how cold it is in your state.  We are in the deep freeze but the temps experienced are not as bad as other states.  I hope there are enough shelters for those in need and you know how I ache for the animals.

 

During the craft room closet purge, I found a few things that tickled me.  I love tiny tools and I kept my dad's smalls, came across a brass checkered handle screwdriver that I kept just because it was different.  To my surprise, the end unscrewed and out came several others, each smaller in size. The last one is the tiniest ever!  I was so excited! 

 

I also found two more fans.  The first is very thin decorative wood ribs. 

 

The fine material's design is pronounced white on one side, and metallic on the other.  

 

 

 

 

It's much larger than the second one I found, similar to one I keep in my purse.  I should check, maybe it's the same!  These folding fans are so handy and really do a wonderful job during a flash.  So much better than those large flopping menus and brochures and credit applications I'm always removing from the nearest counter.  This one will stay in the family room by my chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister dated a military man stationed overseas when I was a little girl (over 55 years ago!) and he brought back many gifts from there, I think these were a few.

 

Not very interesting to you but I lead a boring life and it doesn't take much.  And when I find something that makes me smile, I like to share with my blog buds!!

 

Stay safe.

 

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Just in case

you love Sharon Cohen designs and don't want to stitch them, I thought I would mention the two completed works for sale on Ebay.  Click on the titles to see the listings.  Starting at a low price for the pieces, I'm sure it will rise considerably.  Or will it?

Tree of Life with Dragon

English Pyn Pillow

 

 

If you're interested in seeing other completed pieces, click this

https://www.ebay.com/sch/flxstitcher/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

There are several really nice samplers including a very large Permin. 

 

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Going down the Tube

OK.  Overload!  I got lost in time!  I visited Linda's recommendations, and also caught up with Marlene and I didn't realize how much time had passed.    I was looking back at older posts that were missed because I didn't ring that damn bell and before I knew it, it was bedtime.  But I didn't eat during that time which was a perk.  If I could figure out what technology items will transfer the laptop to the TV, allow me to remotely control it, use headphones to hear while drowning out the treadmill …. oh hell that's too much trouble.  Never mind.

 

I watched a few of Vonna's tutorials (excellent!) including the large drum, and wondered where mine is.  I must have sold it, which is fine, but as I go through the smalls I am remembering some that are not here.  I gave quite a few away and also sold a few, no, I don't regret it!   My regret is that I did not journal the finishes and who received them as I had planned.  Those notebooks purchased for that specific task were off to a good start but as with many things, I failed to follow through.  Maybe constructing a journal that I love (inspired by the Primitive Stitcher) would entice me to use it. 

 

When I did my large drum I lined it with Mylar which made it really smooth and gave it stability to stand on its own.  I've used that material in smalls too, sandwiched between quilt batting.  I forgot all about it until the video jogged my memory.  I did come across one of the my favorite backings, mainly because it lined up perfectly!

 

I am trying to come up with a plan to hang the unframed samplers on the newly painted wall.  I don't want to put nails in right now and would like to use those 3M Command strips.  Problem is, they do not stick to the coarse linen.  There is a huge vertical hump in the wall from workers without levels (a common group around here) and I cannot hang anything rigid, it will not lay flat.  The unframed pieces will curve over the hump and they are the best solution for hiding the defect.  I'll figure something out.  I really like the light bare walls and may not want them covered.  I have a large wall where we were planning to construct a very long rack for all the wooden bowls, but I am hesitating on that too.

Tomorrow before the frigid temps come, I am going with Chris to get his new insulin pump, the latest model.  I sure hope this helps him.  He just cannot focus and I understand that it is more automatic and hopefully will prevent the sudden drops during sleep.  Mark had to go over there last week again and this time Chris was combative, which happens when glucose levels are extremely low.

 

 Maybe February will bring a change in the weather.  Either way, we're getting closer to summer!

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Watching ....

From that website listing I showed in the prior post, I found a few of the Tubers I was missing.  One of them was the Primitive Stitcher who has been sharing for a few years.  I browsed the many videos on her page and watched three that sounded interesting.  And then I felt inadequate.  Talk about organized!  She is lucky to have several great pieces to accommodate supplies and I saw these at the now gone antique mall, never considered a purchase.  Damn.  The other video of her handmade stitching journals made me want to search for images and construct a few, whether I stitch or not.  The journals can be daily life and thoughts and it would be fun to collage images to make them reflect yourself.  My cover would be something like this ..

 

With this on the back....

 

Her voice is soft and I must increase my laptop volume when watching, but I did enjoy these.  Many of the items she features are unknown to stitchers without shops and I learned quite a bit from #50.

 

Floss Tube #24 stitching journal and floss management

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q909I1zuIA

you can skip the first four minutes if you're impatient

 

Floss Tube #25 fabric storage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-L2-5u3TpU

 

Floss Tube #50 A few favorite tools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAo_XRW4ETk

 

Pizza tonight.  I took a break from pitching and purging for online viewing but now it's time to return to the mess.  I think that list and the number of videos within each should keep me occupied until summer.

 

Have a good week!

 

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