**A Little Help From Our Friends Stitching Circle Design** F is for Friend

So... that rather large order I spent a good portion of July and August working on? It was my contribution to The Silver Needle's A Little Help From Our Friends Stitching Circle.

This is an 18 month club with releases every 2 months, each one coming from a different designer. They have featured many of your favorite designers over the last few years. This year, I'm in very good company with The Scarlett House, Hands On Designs, Sam Sarah and Blackberry Lane each signed up for one of the kits.

I was thrilled at the chance to get the new club rotation started. So much so, that I offered to also create the additional gift that each club member gets with their chart and kit. Was I little bit crazy? Probably, but I think that when everyone starts receiving their packages in the mail today, they will be happy (I hope!) with what I've made for them... with a little help from MY friends!. I have two good friends that I relied on to help me with portions of this order. Everyone shout out a big thank you to Karen and Becky, who helped me immensely with finishing the gifts and folding the charts, and therefore, helped me to maintain my sanity.

The design is F is for Friend, which goes along with my Alphabet Series. This is exclusive in nature in that I've included instructions and my finishing technique for a thread board.

I do plan to release another F is for Friend in the future, but the color palette will be different and there will be adjustments made to the overall design, not to mention the fact that it will be a framed finish, so no thread board instructions will be included. If you're in love with this variation, then you should contact The Silver Needle to see if they can fit you into this year's club. Otherwise, once they're gone, they're gone.

And my little creation to go along with the chart? A scissor fob, bearing an image of the F is for Friend design... I'm a little fobbed out at the moment, so please don't ask me to make any more. :)

New Goodies for Sale

You all were so enthusiastic on Instagram about the fun things I was making for the retreat last month, that I decided to make up another batch to offer for sale. Just in case everyone else that didn't get to attend was feeling left out.

Now available in my etsy shop are:

Frog Stitch-Ripper Pins

We've all been there. Stitching away when suddenly we realize that we've done it all wrong; mis-counted, used the wrong stitch, the wrong color, you-name-it.

We call these mistakes "frogs". We call the process of taking the stitches out "frogging". Why? Because with every stitch the mantra repeats in our heads, "Rip-it, Rip-it".

I had the brilliant idea to make some pins with the specific purpose of helping such ripping to happen in a more entertaining way. So what did I do? Adorned them with frogs of course!

I start with pin blanks, to which I've added various shades of green for the bellies of the frogs along with metal alloy heads and legs. They are secured with the strongest jewelry glue I can find, so they should be able to live long lives and withstand much use and abuse. And they include a little cap to go on the sharp end to protect wayward fingers from being pricked during storage.

I currently have 3 different shades of green made up, which I refer to as: Light, Marbled, and Dark.

You will be able to select your desired shade from the drop-down menu before you check out.

These fun and very giftable pretties will arrive in a resealable cello bag on a card printed with the most perfect vintage image ever. It is titled, "As ye sew, sew shall ye rip" with the name "Alice" underneath.

And...


Cross Stitch Sampler Pendant or Thread Rings

With images from some of my all time most popular designs, the pendants can be worn as a necklace or used as a thread ring. Each pendant comes with a 24 inch nickel plated ball chain as well as a 2 inch book ring, making it easy for you to either wear around your neck or use to kit up new design threads for stitching.

The images in the pendants vary, but are all taken from my own designs or from antique samplers that I've reproduced. They are housed in a silver metal backing (not sterling; these are a costume-jewelry grade pendant made from a metal alloy) with a glass dome to protect the image. I currently have 16 images made up, but I am open to the idea of making a custom pendant for you, so please put in a request if you don't see one of your favorite Heartstring Samplery designs represented.

You will be able to select your design name from the drop-down menu before you check out.

These fun and very giftable pretties will arrive in a resealable cello bag.