Thanks to the wonderful blog over at Pintangle, I am often informed of what is happening in the textile world. Today I read about this exhibition, happening in the States. How I wish I could go along to attend. When I first moved to Europe in 1997, I was stitching a Mirabilia or Lavender and Lace birth sampler for my son, and dreaming of stitching a Teresa Wentzler one day. Well, the sampler is finished, and I am still dreaming of doing a TW, but not long afterwards, I was introduced to the amazing world of historic needlework, in particular samplers. My love of this style of needlework was not immediate, but with repeated exposure to samplers, through the Merkwaardig exhibition in 1998, and my close association with my good friends Candy and Annemiek, this slowly changed. Over the following years I regularly indulged in my love of historic needlework, attending several Sampler Gatherings and wishing I could attend other such wonderful events. Although I have loved being home for the last 5 years, the one thing I have missed is the opportunity to continue to indulge. So it was with great sadness that I read about the exhibition, wishing that I could afford the trip, both financially and time wise, to the States, especially to Connecticut, one of my favourite areas of the US. Oh well. I hope that many other sampler lovers are able to attend, and pass on their reports through the various avenues available to us on the net.
Exhibitions
August 23rd, 2010Sit and sew
August 16th, 2010Once a month I go up into the bills for a fun, relaxing evening at Mrs Martin’s. So often I take my cross stitch with me because I am always model stitching for the shop, but tonight I decided to focus on a quilt that I am making – Leanne’s House’s In My Garden. I think I have mentioned it before as I am making it in the French General’s Rural Jardin range. Tonight I finally finished cutting out the pieces for the first block. Mow to sew it together before completing the embroidery on it.
I have included two photos to show some of the fabrics I am using for this block.
Where Bloggers Create
August 15th, 2010
Remember when I participated in the Where Bloggers Create Blog party? Well, Karen from Valentines Designs has moved all the links into their permanent home over at Where Bloggers Create. I created a link in my side bar yesterday for this site. Go an visit – there are literally hundreds of gorgeous studios on display. And this weekend, I came across a new one … over at Pozy gets Cozy.
Makeup…
August 14th, 2010Generally I try to keep my posts themed around needlework or family stuff, but today I decided to write a post about something that has concerned me for far too long – cleaning my make up brushes. You see, I was never sure about how to clean my make up brushes, so they were left to gather more excess makeup, more skin cells and grow more bacteria. Today I had finally had enough and googled “how to clean makeup brushes”. It was dead simple! I just took my brushes, put a little bit of shampoo in my cupped left hand, load the brush with the shampoo and lathered it up on my hand. I then rinsed out the suds. Naturally, not all of the old makeup is removed on the first wash, so I repeated the process until the water ran clear! Voila – 15 minutes later and all my brushes were clean. But that time led me to think about something else. You see, I used to do parties for the direct selling company Nutrimetics. This basic information was never passed on to me! (and most of my friends don’t wear makeup, my mother wears little makeup, so I had no one to learn from!) Now, wouldn’t it be a good idea for Nutrimetics, Mary Kay, Avon and other direct selling companies to encourage their consultants to keep blogs where this sort of good advice is readily accessible? Like Imogen at Inside Out Style does with dressing stylishly! Maybe there are some who do, but then why was the first item in my google search for ehow and not a blog?
Now back to google to see if I can find a solution for the algae that grows in bathroom pipes due to the damp, nutrient rich environment.
Blackbird Designs
August 7th, 2010Now that the show is over, I have been able to start setting the shop back up in the bungalow. Before the show I ordered some new products from one of my distributors. This morning I created a ‘What is New’ display. I have already decided that I will be purchasing the Blackbird Designs ‘Threads of Time’ 2011 Engagement Calendar and the Blackbird Designs ‘Anniversaries of the Heart’ series will be perfect for my oldest daughter’s room.
Time..
August 5th, 2010What is that? Since the Craft and Quilt Fair time has been a precious commodity. Most nights have been either so busy with kids activities or school activities, that I have generally crashed on the so called quiet nights. Add to that the fact that we have a visitor from Japan for this week and I am sure you can understand why I have been so quiet. Hopefully by Saturday I can get back into stitching and develop some sort of blogging routine. Until later
At the fair
July 22nd, 2010Because of work yesterday, I did not get to the Melbourne Exhibition Centre until after 6pm. Although 3 hours were spent on the set up, this morning I had several more hours of work to do. After a busy day catching up with regular customers and meeting new ones, I think I have it almost right. I will photograph the stand tomorrow. Don’ forget to come and see me (and Ellen Myerscough) at D07.
Craft & Quilt Fair
July 21st, 2010This year’s craft and quilt fair opens it’s doors in just under 24 hours. Be sure to come and check out The Needlework Boutique at D07. We have loads of threads, fabrics and patterns available. This year we are introducing thread packs for specific designs. Come to the MECC from Thursday 22nd – Sunday 25th July 2010.
She progresses…
July 18th, 2010Have I mentioned how much I love Le Tour de France? I am getting a lot done on Ellen. Tonight’s progress
Stocktake
July 17th, 2010With the Australian financial year finished and the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair starting on Thursday, today is all about counting… Charts , threads, fabrics and embellishments. So why have I spent the morning on these?
