Lately...

There has been Ribbons...

...and Reading...

...and Sunglasses...

...and Daisies...

...and Planting...

...and Sprouting...

...and Bicycles...

...and Puppies...

...and Blooming...

...and Sipping...

...and Campfires...

...and Coffee...

...and hour upon happy hour with the two sweetest kids in the Universe...

...please, Summer Break, stay with us forever?

Shearing the Sheep

Its an old tradition (well, at least 6 years old), one that may or may not last, based on the slight resistance I received this Summer and last (and the outright refusal the year before). But, as long as my powers of persuasion still hold sway, there will continue to be an annual Shearing of my Little Sheep. His hair is so thick and grows so very fast, its a relief to be able to keep it Summer-short for awhile.

I couldn't resist a "During"...

Mwah! Kiss-kiss-kiss. Love that face! That head! Those eyes!

The Supermoon

Overstock Sale!

Even though I will most likely never discontinue a design, from time to time one of my distributors makes the decision to no longer carry certain titles. When they do so, I ask that they send the pattern copies back to me.

I recently got a case full of patterns, and decided that I didn't want to hang onto that overstock for very long. So, I decided to create an OVERSTOCK SALE section in my etsy store. The patterns in this section are marked half off... for a limited time. I'm not sure how long... most likely until I feel my leaning tower of patterns is manageable.

Happy Shopping!

New Mug Design!

I added another design to my listing for mug graphics... the much-loved Harry Tyler's Lion.

As before, with the Baby, Its Cold Outside and Never Let You Go mugs, you can either purchase the graphic through my etsy shop for $5 and take it to your own place to have made into mugs, or you can order completed mugs by contacting me via email (beth@heartstringsamplery.com).

If you choose to order a finished mug directly through me, I will work up an invoice for you based on where you live, for accurate sales tax and shipping charges. Cost per mug will be $14 plus state tax, and shipping (within the US) is $4.95 for the first mug, $1.50 for each additional mug... don't worry, I'll do all the calculations for you and send an invoice to reflect the total... just wanted to give you the ability to guess a ballpark figure.

These would be perfect for Birthday gifts, or "Just-Because" gifts, or for YOURSELF, to enjoy while you stitch.

Attached

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature,

he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

- John Muir

First Birthdays

Remember my teenie little niece Clara? The one born 7 1/2 weeks early?

We just celebrated her First Birthday. She has continued to grow and thrive, with no forseeable problems from her early start in the world. I don't usually write much about my extended family, choosing to keep it a little closer to home for privacy reasons, but I know that many of you were following along in those first several weeks of her life, and thought you might like an update.

She had quite the papparazzi there recording every last possible second.

Including far-away cousins who were wishing they could eat some of that yummy cake too!

Thank you, sweet Baby Clara, for being such a good girl on the long, long drive to the Pacific Northwest. We were all so very happy to be a part of celebrating the first year of your life!

Might I Suggest...

Within the last year, not one, but THREE people I know have self-published their written work online. This summer, as you plan your vacation reading, I'm going to suggest you give one or all of them a try.

The first is our cousin, Michael Twist, master of the short-story. He has several collections available to download, all containing a very satisfying array of tales that you will find completely enjoyable and thought-provoking. Perfect for short stints of reading, but quite likely to get you hooked so you read an entire collection in one sitting. I have yet to read all of his collections, but plan to finish them this Summer and beg for more!

Secondly, you must check out my friend Colleen Sohn's novel, Polite Society.

She has done a fabulous job of crafting a story that is just whimsical and offbeat enough to stand out from the usual offerings of the day. The characters she has imagined up are very real, yet have quirks that made me wish they were real people that I could add to my own circle of friends. Her story contains classic cars, cross-generational friendships, overcoming-the-odds scenarios, not to mention the character that lives only in dreams (and will make you wish would arrive in your dreams!).

I'm not sure if she still has any hard copies left, but if she does, oh-my! you will not be disappointed with the quality of her first printing. Beautifully hard-covered with nice paper and fabulous illustrations. If she happens to be sold out, there's always the instant satisfaction of ordering it for your Kindle through amazon.

And last, but certainly not least, our family friend, James Swanson, who has worked in the field of Biblical Studies for more than three decades, has published a "conservative reconstitution of the original (King James Version of the Bible, published in 1611) into understandable language of our day. In the e-reader format you can read your original KJV, and at the touch of the screen, see the meaning in the language of our day. Or you can read the beautiful and understandable KJV401 and check it against the original KJV for accuracy. No other translation can do this. In the traditional verse-by-verse format, this unique “Red Letter Plus” edition has color-coding which adds to the traditional “red letters” for Jesus’ words. The words of God the Father and his heavenly creatures are in blue; and purple for direct quotations of the Holy Spirit; the wily words of Satan and his devils are in green."

I have had the pleasure of test-driving this fully interactive Bible in a study version, which has yet to be released, and let me tell you, its language is not only accurate, but is lovely to read, and being able to touch a great portion of the words to get study notes is so great. I've done plenty of cross-comparison and study in my day, being a Bible college and Christian school graduate, with multiple books and resources spread out around me. What I would give to be able to go back and have this resource!

These people did not ask me to put in a plug for them, I've done it of my own accord because I know that many of my blog readers are Bookworms, and that they/you might enjoy meeting some new authors. If you do check them out, will you please let me know?

The end.

Its Friday...

Wishing you the best seat in the house... wherever you go... no matter where you are.

Last Day of School!

These two kids are SO excited to be done with the routine for awhile. And so am I! I can hardly wait to have my Boy back with me every single day. Its been a long First Grade, with him away for seven hours out of every day. Lets not even think about the fact that my Baby Girl will be in Kindergarten next year. Sniff, sniff... ahem... pity party over... on to the task of ENJOYING SUMMER!

*NEW* Love Makes Everything Better

I spotted a quote on a vintage motto sampler once upon a time. It read, “Love Makes Everything Easy”. Well, I wasn’t so sure that was completely true, because don’t we find that loving someone unconditionally can actually be hard sometimes? But I put the words in my inspiration folder anyway. Then, a few months later, I was playing, and came up with the basket of flowers on this little piece, when suddenly, I knew what the phrase should say instead.

“Love Makes Everything Better”… Don’t you agree?

Stitch Count: 83 x 87
Model stitched on Picture This Plus 36ct. Ale
Using flosses from Weeks Dye Works: 1236 Mocha, 1259 Pamlico, 1272 Tatanka, 1330 Baked Apple, 1334 Merlot, 2108 Battleship, 2220 Curry, 2241 Chrysanthemum

This design is now available in my etsy shop, and will be going out to my distributors and the shops on my automatic shipments list soon. If you prefer to bypass etsy and order directly through me, you can send me an email: beth@heartstringsamplery.com

The Reason it Might be Quiet Around Here for Awhile

We have two litters of these little stinkers... born last Tuesday and Sunday... Keeping me on my toes and away from much of my other work. Still cute and innocent, but the shenanigans are about to start... I can tell by the way they twitch and growl when they dream.

First Strawberry

Is there anything sweeter than the first strawberry of the season?

Probably. But in that moment of tasting its sun-warmed juices, all else seems greatly diminished.

On a completely unrelated note, by request, I added a new widget to the sidebar that will allow you to subscribe to my posts via email. In case you like such things.