Snow, Sweet Surprises, SAL, Scroll Bars, Speedy Stitching, Stunning Framing, Snapperland, Super Date Night, Secret!

When trying to decide what title to use for this post, as it was Sunday I decided the letter "S" seemed a good way to go.  I don't know about the rest of you bloggers but a title is one of the hardest things for me to write sometimes.

SNOW

It seems like every 2 or 3 days we get hit with a couple of inches of snow and this week has been no exception.  I will say my drive to book club on Friday was a challenge.  It is normally a pleasant 30 minute drive but on Friday it took me double the time.  I go through 4 what I will call townships to get to this particular residence and only one of the 4 had done any pre-treating for the snow.  Thankfully after a couple of hours at book club the snow had stopped, sun was trying to peek through the clouds and snow removal had commenced.  The drive home was so much better.  Headed out early Saturday morning for haircuts and a trip to coffee shop only to get caught out in it again before we got home.  Another 2 inches.  We are not done yet - expecting freezing drizzle/sleet and YES another 2 inches of snow over the next 24 hours.

SWEET SURPRISES

It was a delight this week to receive a couple of surprises in the mail.  On the left my very clever and creative friend, Lois sent this adorable pin keep.  She used vintage dominos and wool felt to create this little treasure.  

On the right my dear friend, Belinda whose creativity seems to know no limits machine embroidered this little heart.  I have been gifted ones over the years in pinks and whites as well and added to the 2 large hearts I bought from her Etsy shop it made for a delightful Valentine's display this year.

Thank you ladies for brightening my days this week!

SAL

I finally got around to starting the La Pensee' Positive (the positive thought) designed by Nathalie (Jardine Prive').  It uses several of the same colors from the design by Nathalie that I stitched a few years ago (Sampler Aux Bouquet Trilogy) so I have pulled out the colors I used in that design and substituted some into this design.  It will make a nice complimentary piece.  I am stitching it on the same 25 count fabric (Floba) 1 thread over 1 thread and I plan on framing in the same frame as the previous one.  It is coming along quite quickly for only one evening of stitching (equates to about 2 hours).  

SCROLL BARS

This brings me to my new set of scroll bars.  I don't know about the rest of you but most of the scroll bars on the market I have not liked as they don't seem to hold my fabric taut enough for my liking.  I have had one set of scroll bars that I found at my LNS that had been sitting in there for years that have the fabric attached that you baste the cross stitch fabric to.  I bought them a couple of years ago and absolutely love them and wanted to have a set of them in several sizes.  My searches had not resulted in any success.  Vicki (owner of my LNS) knew of my desire and went on the "hunt" and she found a company that makes them to order.  You place your order and they are then made specifically based on your order.  I ended up with 5 different lengths of the rods and have 2 sets of the ends (each in a different size).  I can have 5 projects in all on the rods and then just have to share the ends amongst them.  THIS MAKES ME A HAPPY STITCHER!  

SPEEDY STITCHING

Isabella at Primitive Hare posted on her Facebook Page (Primitive Hare Stitching Group) that we had until Sunday to stitch her freebie Love Never Fails and send her a picture of the finish to be entered to win one of her designs.  Well, that is all I needed to pick up my needle and thread and get started on it Friday night.  I started, finished and had it on display in a record setting 19 hours.  

I used a scrap piece of 25 count floba and stitched it 1 over 1 using my favorite red DMC color which is 498.  When I went to finish it, I found this piece of striped piping that looked so good with the fabric and thread I decided to add a bit to the top and bottom.  

It also begged me to change the "1881" of the design to "1981" which is the year my husband and I were married.  I am very pleased with how it turned out. 

STUNNING FRAMING

My framer called on Thursday afternoon to let me know that Fond Hearts by Blackbird Designs was ready for pick up.  What a lovely thing to pick up on Valentine's Day.  I could not be happier with how it turned out.  The frame is a perfect match to the darker red in the piece.  That is not a flaw in the bottom right hand corner of the frame - the frame has such a hi gloss finish that is the fabric reflection you are seeing.  

SNAPPERLAND

I also picked up a WIP that I had started probably 4 years ago and considering it is almost half done I'm not sure why it was put aside.  This is Winter Snapperland by Bent Creek.  I think the fabric I'm using is called Quaker.  It shouldn't take long to finish it up and am looking forward to adding another to my finished pile.

SUPER DATE NIGHT

To end off the week hubby and I had our "date night" out.  We enjoyed a relaxing and delicious supper at our favorite restaurant for mexican food and then went to see Monument Men.  We both really enjoyed the movie.  It plays a bit like a documentary but was a very enjoyable and informative movie.

SECRET

Did you know that those of you who receive the printed version of Just Cross Stitch magazine can download it digitally onto your computer by logging into your account?!  I recently saw that you could now subscribe to the magazine digitally and when I contacted customer service about whether my printed version (which has almost a year left in the subscription ) could be changed to digital I was informed that it is part of my subscription with the printed version.  This was news to me so thought I would share the SECRET with the rest of you.