Now Available!

My two newest designs, Morning Star and Forget Me Not are now available for purchase in my etsy shop! Thank you for your patience, and for taking part in the online wholesale show through your needlework shops. By all accounts, it sounds like it was a success. This industry can take all the boosts of energy it can get, and you all came through. Thank you!

New Designs Coming Soon!

Norden's Fall Needlework Show is starting up on Monday! It is a wholesale only show that hopefully your favorite needlework shop has signed up for. All designs released during the show dates of August 10th - 19th are exclusive to Norden Crafts. That means you won't be able to order them from me or anyone else except a registered needlework shop until after the show closes. I have two designs that they'll be releasing for me.

They are... (drumroll please)...

"Forget Me Not"

This is a re-release of sorts. It was originally designed for The Gift of Stitching magazine back in the Spring of 2012. Anyone that subscribed to the magazine had access to the design, but it has never been officially distributed or available to my direct customers until now.

Stitch Count: 100 x 57
Model stitched with one thread over two on Weeks Dye Works’ 40ct. Tin Roof

Using threads from Weeks Dye Works: 1193 Guacamole, 1230 Havana, 2104 Deep Sea, 2201 Moss, 2219 Whiskey, 3960 Teal Frost

Additional Materials: Cotton fabric for backing, Cluny Lace Ric Rac in “Antique Caramel” from the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe, and Crushed Walnut shells for filler.


"Morning Star"

I once saw an antique sampler with a portion of a Christmas hymn that piqued my interest, having never heard the words before. After a little searching I found the lyrics and used some favorite parts of them to set the structure of this sampler.

The words were written by Reginald Heber (1783-1826), who was an English clergyman, traveler, and poet. He is best known today for his hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”.

The words are set to the tune “Morning Star”, composed by James Proctor Harding (1850-1911), who was an English organist and choir master.

Stitch Count: 301 x 129

Model stitched on Lakeside 32ct. Vintage Sand Dune
Mostly cross-stitched with one thread over two, also including eyelet stitch and French knots.

Using flosses from Classic Colorworks: Barn Door, Honeycomb
And from The Gentle Art: 0350 Mulberry, 7041 Apple Cider, 7080 Endive, 7082 Piney Woods

Frame by Valley House Primitives.


I'll put another announcement on my blog when these designs are available in my etsy shop. But for now, I encourage you to contact your favorite needlework shop and request it through them! This online show is a new experiment and I'm hoping it does well for Norden Crafts and for the shops that invest their time in shopping this sale. We are a hard-working industry and have to be supportive of each other if we want to continue to grow and have great new designs and materials available regularly.

For a list of retailers signed up to purchase from the show, click HERE.

Lately

The youngest had her tonsils and adenoids removed two and a half weeks ago. She is like a brand new person, now that she has healed. Energy levels, appetite, every part of her improved. She had a bout with something tonsil related back in January, and was never the same in the throat. Same thing happened to her brother at the same age. I know tonsillectomies aren't standard anymore, and most pediatricians will try to convince you to put them off, but for both of my kids it was the best possible solution, and I have seen the almost immediate benefits to their health.

Otherwise, much has been the same. School, errands, charting and stitching, filling orders, cooking meals, bathing dirty bodies, cleaning dirty dishes, washing dirty clothes. We are on the final countdown to the last day of school, which is June 5th in our district. None of us can wait! We all have plans and lists of things we want to do together and apart during our free months. Time will tell if we can squeeze it all in.

Grandma's Birdbath :: First S'more of Summer :: Surgery Bound :: Sunny Iris :: Planning Samplers :: Snowballs in May :: Sprouting Greenhouse :: Reflect :: Well Hello Neigh-bor :: Budding Sage :: Smell the Lilacs :: Best Place to Grow Up Ever :: Love in the Rearview Mirror :: Sunny Day at the Park :: Old Bouquet (Beatrice Godfrey) :: Mother's Day Selfie :: Coming Soon :: The Good Stuff :: BFF

Lovely May

Still cool and mostly damp, but with flowers bursting out in color all over and so much green everywhere.

Except for the front yard, which, after 15 years of moss, clover, and hard freezes, is going through a complete renovation. When I look out the front window, it looks like August, while everywhere else it is still lovely May.

Speckled :: Peek-a-Boo :: Wallflower :: Through My Window :: Bedazzled :: The Woman Made Me Do It :: A Kitty in the Middle :: Charting an Antique is not for the Faint of Heart :: Two Birds :: Fresh :: I Wish My Kids Loved Each Other More :: Coming Soon :: Marionberry Pie, Coming Right Up!