I adore watching the Olympics, summer, winter, doesn’t matter. Do I stitch when watching?! YES! There are few spans of time where I have a perfect excuse to plop down in front of the telly with a project and just that! My son and husband like watching too, so I don’t have to worry about them. The cats have even taken part in our viewing party. Bingo likes watching the figure skaters zip around the ice. I am pretty sure he is plotting his course for a catch!
This week I have been felting, and listing some of my stash threads on etsy. IF you pop over to www.ETSY.com/monsterbubbles you will find hand dyed 6 strand threads from now defunct companies that I put up for sale. Lovely threads, but if I designed with it, you guys would revolt en mass! Seriously. SO, I give them up to make room for new threads from The Gentle Art, Thread Gatherer, Crescent Colors, Kreinik, and Weeks. IF I make anything worthy in felt I will post pictures next time around. I am thinking I will expieriment & make a cover for my netbook.
It is Nashville time too! I am as excited as you are to see the new stuff. Look for new monsterbubbles stuff @ the time of the ONLINE NEEDLEWORK SHOW.
Until next time; sit & stitch and try not too throw your needle in the air when Apollo Ono wins his next short track race! Those races make me wanna jump up and down and scream! And I am NOT that passionate sports fan. He & the nature of the short track speed skate race bring out my inner fanatic~! GO APOLLO!
Last night. The second loved Kittie in our house since January died. I don’t know HOW much more I can take! seriously. But, this isn’t about me, this is about Dottie. She died here at home. She didn’t suffer, thought I know she didn’t feel well. She was purring when I pet her and talked to her, up to to the last. We may never really know what happened to her.
Dottie came to us in a fairly nontraditional way.
We acquired Dottie when we lived in Riverside, CA. There were loads of Ferrel cats in the area, and before I thought about it, I befriended a tiny girl cat, who I couldn’t get close enough to pet, but got closer and closer to all the time. Now, most of you know what happens in an urban setting when you start feeding one outside homeless cat. DUH. Now I do. So about 50 cats later, this original little grey cat had a littler of kittens. (DUH) Since I had befriended her I took it upon myself to find homes for them, 9 of them. And then immediately started “fixing” every cat I could catch. That too is another story. So, one of our colorful neighbors took three. Two went to friends of theirs and one they kept. I say these neighbors were colorful because I don’t know another nice way of describing them. They had four children who were under the age of 10, 2 boys two girls, the youngest was 3. Of which, the parents didn’t seem to know (read *care*) what they were doing at any given time. Though, really they were just kids with no guidance, no guidance leads to mischief. They routinely were caught starting fires in the neighborhood, something Southern Californians’ don’t take lightly. They through eggs at our house from their unscreened bedroom windows on more than one occasion. Broke into our neighbors garage…stuff like that. The father was in and out of the city jail. Don’t know why, exactly but have my suspicions. The mom, I wanted to help her, and sometimes I did, but I really didn’t want to get too involved either. She would often be found vacuuming her porch, and 10 at night. I had the kids help me pick up pecans, plant flowers, anything to keep them busy to stop throwing eggs at my house! When the father was home, my husband and I had taken to sitting out on the porch to watch, or listen to what we called the fireworks. He and his wife had epic battles that sometimes I would see the the kids recreate the next day. But those kids, especially the two girls doted on this kitten. And as far as I could tell, treated her well. They dressed her up, played tag with her. Good cat, great kid cat. Mellow, and smart enough to play a sort of tag. Eventually, the family got kicked out. It was inevitable probably. I have to admit I felt a guilty gladness they were leaving. However the reality of it was sad, and a hard one for the mom, who was at the time being a single mom, again. I knew they had gotten kicked out because the landlord of the house they lived in visited me very frequently, one; to check up on the neighbors and get a feel from me how the other neighbors (who often called the police on the house) were taking it, and two; coincidentally he to was a Southern Illinois boy transplanted in Southern Cali.
knock, knock, cat in hand, “heather, we are getting evicted. Can you watch our cat?” the mom said “we are at the hotel and I am afraid if they find out we have a cat we will get kicked out and I can’t have a cat gettin’ my kids kicked out of the only place we have now” valid. Naturally, I reply: Come get her anytime, we will take real good care of her. Since I already had three cats, this was a bad move on my part, but what could ya’ do? So, I scooped up Dottie, (which is what I had always called her since she had a little grey spot on her muzzle that looked like it was supposed to be her nose) and took her straight to the vet. Got shots, all the stuff I wasn’t sure for sure had already been done and brought her home.
They never came back. I can’t say that I blame them, or that I was suprised. So Dottie just became part of our family. Could not have asked for a better cat to have Myles the infant, then toddler, now pre-schooler around. She tolerated a lot, and gave lots (LOTS) of fair warning before she had had it!And was smart enough to just get up and move. She chased Myles around while he was dragging a big string off the back of his tricycle. Ran around the yard with him, sat with us in the shade, and was generally easy to be with. A rare quality in cats or humans. Delightful. Lots of laughs with this one, for all of us. Thanks Dottie.
She will be missed.
Until next time, love your animals, and learn to appriciate the “specialty fibers” they add to your projects!
I am grumpy. There is seems to be such an emphasis on reflection at this time of year that I never really appreciate. I really think it would be better if we all took time to reflect, improve, respect, apologize, ease up, whatever…on a more frequent basis. This takes time and effort, and believe me, I am no role model here, so don’t count this as a sermon. I simply thing that simply because the year ticker advances we are forced to recall all things 2008. 2008 sucked and I am not afraid to say it! Thus, this forced reflection makes me grumpy. Though I am generally hopeful to a fault, I believe it is ok to call a spade a spade once in awhile. ha! nothing like a bitter blog to set the year right?! right?! Happy 2009 all. I look forward to all things crafty, stitchy and beady in this coming year. AND through gritted teeth I declare my thankfulness for all that was good in 2008, and all the good things to come. I will get over it. I promise.
I must warn you now that I have devoured a series of books. Sookie Stackhouse books. Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series. I took them down in record time and now the world of Sookie seems to be occupying a part of my brain that will surely ooze out some designs. Not sure what form they will take yet, but I am just warning you of the inevitable. I watched the Golden Globes the other night and they kept speaking of the word as suddenly Vampire crazy…with Twilight and True Blood being such hits. True Blood is Alan Balls HBO series version of Charlaine Harris’ books. Vampire crazy isn’t exactly it with me. Not sure yet what it is, but it IS. There is There There for me somewhere.
Another mention at the Golden Globes that has been on my mind for awhile is the making of a Grey Gardens movie. I have been fiddling with a Grey Gardens-ish design all year. One my fears, though scant, is that it will be far to obscure. So, maybe I was wrong. Never underestimate your audience, right?
So, until next time, stitch like the snow is so high that you can not exit your home and you are stuck inside with your favorite food (already prepared and ready to go!), your favorite people (if you require company in our little fantasy), and all the supplies to stitch your current favorite project. Doesn’t that sound nice? oh, and please post your crafty, stitchy beady resolutions for 2009.
in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon…dah dat dahdah.
I think I dreamed about a hot air balloon last night. Hmmm. Just remembered.
bubbles in fuschia & chocolate
I put up the kits, so that they can be easily purchased, for all 3 Just Cross Stitch 2008 Ornaments. I keep thinking the actual christmas issue will be here…but haven’t seen it yet anywhere. Have you? Maybe today. You will see the cover of each magazine that “batty’, or “dotty”, or “tres” is in. I will see what other things I can get up there today.
I am in prep mode big time. I am doing Art shows the next two weekends. BOTH are in the Southern Illinois, or St Louis Metro area. The one this weekend will be right along the Great River Road in Grafton Illinois, in their Memorial Park. Should be a great weekend for it weather wise. I love outdoor shows at this time of the year. It is from 10-5 Saturday and Sunday, and there will be lots of artists, stuff for kids to do, music, good food, monsterbubbles, who could ask for anything more. I will have needlework kits, jewelry, reading glass lanyards and funky glasses, and all the fobs. If you are in the area…do come! Tell me you came because of reading about it here and I will give you a present! ok?!
This is the fair, Strange Folk Festival, that is the following weekend. The last weekend in September in Ofallon, IL. I will fill you in on more details after I get myself through this weekend. HA!
There are still a few more Ornament charts that I will be sending out with orders as a freebie!
Until next time, stitch like their are no sticks in the yard left from the storm that need to be picked up.
The annual Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue should be shipping ANY DAY! There is still time to pr-order too I am sure. I love pouring over this issue. Not that I have time to actually stitch any of the these ornaments anymore…but a girl can dream, right? My “dotty” ornament has the distinction of being on the cover! yay! I really enjoyed how this one turned out. I like all my stuff. I am supposed to, right? However, all models don’t turn out the way you imagined all of the time. Often they turn out better (or worse…ick) than your original plan, like this one did! Hope you like it. Know that you can get the waste canvas and copper mesh in a kit from me. OK? I will work on getting a button up so you can shop with one click, until then just contact me via email.
I spoke at the St Louis Embroiders Guild of America meetings this week. What a great experience. IF you have the the time, and a chapter available to you, you should really consider becoming a member. They show off each others projects, have speakers and teachers & different projects planned for each meeting. Some of the member had just gotten back from the National Conference and had lots of things to share. In short, it was a really great experience that has got me kinda fired up about needlework. I mean, how often do you get to sit around for a few hours with a bunch of folks who love doing some of the same things you do? And you can say, “one strand over two” and you don’t have to explain what you are talking about?! ha~! A delightful group of St Louisans.
I made a chart for them that has 6 different holiday ornaments on it to stitch on screen. I brought supplies for them all to stitch their own ornament on screen so that I could walk em’ through it (not that ANY of them needed that). SO, I have some left that I would be happy to share with anyone who places an order here this month. Place an order, get a free ornament chart & some screen to get you started! yay!
OK, that is it for now.
until next time, stitch as though your house is perfectly clean and organized!
I went with a completely different shopping cart to try to streamline everything. Look around, kick the tires, and if you run into trouble, send a note to my webmaster! That’s Brotha C. My brother in law. The cute guy I told my sister she should kiss. And……..hero for a day here at the monster cave.
I hope to get my new chart, Barack the Votemodel up. It is bright and happy, and just in time. I have new jewels to post too. Plus, I am in learn mode here at this new Cadillac of a site. Or should I compare it to a Hummer? What ever your dream car. Mine is probably a Cooper Mini (a real one) but that doesn’t sound very “newly redesigned, spanky, sparkley” nor better to most people, so let us stick with the Cadillac analogy. In theory we could set this thing up so that you can buy a chart instantly so you can print it out at home. Saving money for you and time for me, everyone wins…thoughts? Plus, I think for you everything is going to be easier to find. Send feedback to me personally or to my webmaster! This site is for you and me…so we need to know what is working and what is chaos to you.
OK, for the moment, that is all. Have a look around, and
So about 50 cats later, this original little grey cat had a littler of kittens. (DUH) Since I had befriended her I took it upon myself to find homes for them, 9 of them. And then immediately started “fixing” every cat I could catch. That too is another story. So, one of our colorful neighbors took three. Two went to friends of theirs and one they kept. I say these neighbors were colorful because I don’t know another nice way of describing them. They had four children who were under the age of 10, 2 boys two girls, the youngest was 3. Of which, the parents didn’t seem to know (read *care*) what they were doing at any given time. Though, really they were just kids with no guidance, no guidance leads to mischief. They routinely were caught starting fires in the neighborhood, something Southern Californians’ don’t take lightly. They through eggs at our house from their unscreened bedroom windows on more than one occasion. Broke into our neighbors garage…stuff like that. The father was in and out of the city jail. Don’t know why, exactly but have my suspicions. The mom, I wanted to help her, and sometimes I did, but I really didn’t want to get too involved either. She would often be found vacuuming her porch, and 10 at night. I had the kids help me pick up pecans, plant flowers, anything to keep them busy to stop throwing eggs at my house! When the father was home, my husband and I had taken to sitting out on the porch to watch, or listen to what we called the fireworks. He and his wife had epic battles that sometimes I would see the the kids recreate the next day. But those kids, especially the two girls doted on this kitten. And as far as I could tell, treated her well. They dressed her up, played tag with her. Good cat, great kid cat. Mellow, and smart enough to play a sort of tag. Eventually, the family got kicked out. It was inevitable probably. I have to admit I felt a guilty gladness they were leaving. However the reality of it was sad, and a hard one for the mom, who was at the time being a single mom, again. I knew they had gotten kicked out because the landlord of the house they lived in visited me very frequently, one; to check up on the neighbors and get a feel from me how the other neighbors (who often called the police on the house) were taking it, and two; coincidentally he to was a Southern Illinois boy transplanted in Southern Cali.
