Seeing Clearly

I got new

so now I can see my needlework better!  Hooray!

Back soon - hopefully - with more progress on the wedding sampler.

Shower Invitation

Here is the bridal shower invitation I have been working on.  This is the prototype - there were some blips that I cleaned up.

This monkey, a nod to our bride-to-be, is just above the fold line on the left edge of the inside.  Isn't he just the cutest?

All that remains to be done on the invitations is to attach the computer-generated who, where, when, etc. information sheet, then address the envelopes.  I hope Sarah will help me do those two things.  I was going to have her help with the other parts of the invitations, but I got on a roll and was able to finish everything on Tuesday.

Lest you think it strange that the mother-of-the-bride is making the invitations for her own daughter's bridal shower (or maybe you didn't?), I am helping out with a few things since two of the bridesmaids are seniors in high school and very busy and another is going to college, working, and volunteering, plus taking good care of her husband.  The fourth bridesmaid is my other daughter/Grace's sister. 

Another Sampler Update

This picture was taken before tonight's two hour stitching session, during which I finished up the horizontal blue stripe, and worked at filling in the left edge of the left triangle.  I also put in some other random stitches.

 For comparison, here is the picture from the cover of the kit.  I'm getting there!

This and That

Yes, I am still here.  Yes, I am still working on the infamous wedding sampler.  I'll have another good stitching session tonight while we watch Lost.  (We are secretly glad this is the last season!)

I have been doing a lot of what Callie is doing in this picture.  Over two weeks ago, I came down with a nasty cold, and I can't quite get over it.  I am so very tired, to the point that I can hardly drag myself out of bed, get dressed (and all that goes with that), shuffle downstairs, do a few chores, make dinner, and collapse.  This has to get better!

The bridal shower invitations that I mentioned in my last post are on the stamping table.  I am doing about 28 of them.  The die cuts (Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One) are finished - I discovered that I can cut three layers of thin cardstock at the same time with my Cuttlebug, and as an added bonus, they come out dry embossed!  There are two sizes, so 56 in all.  In order to stamp the words "Bridal Shower!" on the smaller of the die cuts, I made a template for positioning my StampaLiner (I don't even know if these are still available!), which worked very well.  Similarly, I made a positioning template for my scroll stamp.  Today, I hope to get a little monkey stamped on the inside - Grace loves monkeys, almost as much as she loves Anthony, and I thought it would be a cute addition to the otherwise formal invitation, something personal.  Then Sarah will help me assemble the invitations.  They need to be mailed by Saturday.

I do apologize for the lack of pictures.  I should put my camera somewhere that I can remember to take it downstairs with me.  You know how it is . . .

By the way, if you are not familiar with Pandora Internet Radio, you should be!  It allows you to create a custom radio station, playing music that you like.  I have created several stations, one that plays Christian music, and another that plays classical.  If you don't like a selection, you let them know.  There are brief commercials every ten or so songs, but they are unobtrusive.  The TV is on a lot less in the late evening, and I am filling my thoughts with the things of the Lord before I go to bed.  What a great way to go to sleep!

Invitation to Tea

We have enjoyed some warmer weather this week.  Warm enough, in fact, that I wore only a sweater when I went out on several afternoons.  It is wonderful to think that soon we'll be planting flowers and vegetables.  (Yes, I realize that the last frost date here is Memorial Day weekend, which is 11 weeks away.) 

I have spent some time sitting at the stamping desk.  I did a prototype for a bridal shower invitation; still waiting to hear from three of the bridesmaids, whether or not they like it.  On Wednesday evening, I made two identical invitations to tea.  I apologize that I don't have the information about the rubber stamps in front of me.  I used DSP from Linen Closet Mat Stack with Glitter from Die Cuts with a View, as well as Labels 1 and 2 Nestabilities. 

Here is the inside:

(My apologies for the sloppy job of whiting out the sensitive information; I am not versed in using the only software on my computer that could do this!)

Lighting

As any avid cross stitcher can tell you, proper lighting is essential to creating a beautiful work of art.  With the phasing out of incandescent bulbs in the United States, and the subsequent shift to CFL's (compact flourescent bulbs), illumination of our work has become more frustrating.  I simply cannot see well when working under a CFL; they don't emit enough light for me, even when using one comparable to the incandescent bulbs I'm used to.  Some time ago, I read that Ott Light had come out with bulbs that fit in a standard socket, so I purchased this   

to go in my floor lamp in the living room.  The very top of it is above the shade, but hopefully no one will notice.  What is most important is that I can see to do my stitching while watching TV.  Hooray!