Monday, November 29, 2010

Meet Sarah Elizabeth

Christmas has come a little early. I had been drooling, obsessing, ogling, and dreaming about this antique sampler since September. She arrived from England last week, and is now front and center and the focus of my craft room wall. To say that I'm one happy girl is putting it mildly. Thank you, Mr. B. She has everything I love about samplers including the big red house, birds, and four dogs. As a friend said, "it's definitely a Tanya sampler." Did I mention it has a big red house, lol? The verse is wonderful, too. I'm always amazed at the ages of these young girls. Sarah was 11 yrs. old when she stitched this in 1842. I will be reproducing her in the near future. I can already picture the linen and fibers in my head. I think I had that done before I even saw her in person. Here she proudly hangs:

I am finishing the model for Maria Tilley any day now. I hope to show pictures soon. When my eyes can't take any more of Maria's 45ct linen, I put a few stitches in Lady's Garden from Carriage House Samplings.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure went straight into Christmas, didn't we? I spent yesterday decorating the house. It's exhausting, but I love the results. My next adventure will be making cinnamon ornaments and drying orange slices for a small tree. Stay tuned to see how that turns out...

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Still playing with paper

As you can see, I'm still in the paper crafting mode. I had so much fun making the journals that I thought I'd give some note cards a try. Of course, they have a sampler theme. My husband would say "what else is new?" I can't help it. If one is going to make things, it should be what one enjoys, right? They come in a set of six with two of each design and are available through my Etsy shop. Email me if you have questions or would prefer one design only.

Have you seen the upcoming repro from
Shakespeare's Peddler? My friend Katrina, who is also THE Master Enabler couldn't wait to point it out, and all I can say is WOW. It is going to be fabulous and I'll be looking forward to that one. I've now reached the top portion of Maria Tilley which includes a brick house and a very cool cow. I hope to have it ready soon.

In unrelated news, the Midwest relatives are flocking to AZ. It's been a little warm for November, but it's making my garden grow. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is three weeks away and the stores are already promoting Christmas. The holidays all seem to blur into each other these days. It seems like only yesterday it was last December and I was thinking of stitching more tiny samplers for the feather tree. Have I started? No, I have not. I'll be lucky to have even one finished for this season.