It's June Already?

Well this year is certainly flying by...I have caught several friends joining me in saying, "is it really June??" I took three days off work this week and spent the week puttering around the house getting some projects done that I wanted to do. I cleaned out my stitching closets and drawers and pulled out all the things I knew I would never use. I set up an Etsy shop to offer them to other stitchers very reasonably priced (i.e., cheap!). For some reason, I hate to see these things to go to Goodwill, probably because I halfway think they would probably get tossed as unsellable! So I hope you will stop by Lacey Thread's Etsy and see if you find something that interests you. I still have about 20 more items sitting here on my table that I need to list, and I also plan on listing all my leaflets too.

I also finished up my newest design, got the models finished and photographed, and I am about 2/3 done with writing the leaflet! I hope to get it sent off to the printer this weekend, if life cooperates! I am very excited about Hearts and Flowers, it was very fun to stitch. Here's a peek of my photography set up yesterday.
So it's back to work tomorrow for one day, then I have the weekend to continue plugging away on these projects. I spent one evening completely rearranging my floss boxes...my DMC has been put into my boxes in numerical order for ease of pulling threads for designs by other designers. I realized this month that it was completely wrong for me now that I design, because when I want to choose a pink floss, I had to pull out all 4 boxes and open them all and make sure I looked at all the pinks. So I rearranged all the floss by color families, so when I want, say a pink floss, I pull out just one box and they are all there from dark to light. This would be a very tedious way to find floss numbers for anyone else, but I think it will work well for designing!


The last four weekends Lizzie and I, and sometimes John, have tried to get outside and take a "nature walk" every weekend. Nothing too strenuous or long, but we are just making an effort to get outside and enjoy the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. This last weekend we didn't make it to a true nature trail, but we did end up in downtown Tacoma, and walked around the outside of the Museum of Glass...the displays are very nice. On the bridge that goes over the freeway there are lots of displays, and one of them is in the ceiling...what a great view! Of course I had forgotten my camera, so these are taken only with my cell phone and are not as good as I would like, but I think you can get the idea of the man made beauty out for everyone to enjoy!


This one reminds me of coral, sea urchins, jelly fish and sea stars! One day soon I want to go back and take some really good pictures of this glass ceiling...it is so incredible in person!

Two New Releases!

I am so pleased to announce two new leaflet releases!


In Honey Romance, Hardanger and Silk Ribbon embroidery combine to create this beautiful and delicate design. The leaflet contains patterns for the framed piece and the thread pocket. Also included are completely illustrated directions for constructing the thread pocket.


And in An Elegant Occasion, you can commemorate a very special occasion with this elegant and rich design. Designed with a wedding in mind, An Elegant Occasion can also celebrate a baby christening, first communion, or a special anniversary. Pictures are easily exchanged with unique corner picture holders whenever desired. Combines silk ribbon embroidery, beads and sparkly Kreinik braid.


Visit our website at Lacey Thread Designs for more information!

I Love Spring!

It has been a busy few weeks since my last post. After getting (somewhat) settled into the apartment, it was time to knuckle down and study really, really hard for the third test in my General Insurance Designation. This section covered Commercial Insurance, which was all new material for me, and it seemed so much harder to learn because it was so unfamiliar. I was cramming for that test every spare moment, and really sweating whether I would pass, but....I DID! Wooo Hooo! I did a big happy dance for sure! I was so thankful to get it all done!

The day after the test, I hopped on the plane and flew down to Phoenix, Arizona to spend some time relaxing with my parents at their winter home. It was so nice to get away for a few days, and not have to worry about anything but having fun and resting.
I had a wonderful view of the Grand Canyon as we flew over.


We went up into the hills one day to Tortilla Flats to have lunch. Here is a picture of Mom and Dad in the restaurant. All the walls and ceiling are covered with dollar bills...it's a pretty interesting place. Then on the way home we stopped at a lake that has a paddle wheel boat tour....a beautiful 90 minute cruise on a gorgeous lake...here is some of the scenery.


The next day we went to a "ghost town" that has been turned into a tourist town, the buildings are now used for shops and restaurants...it was kind of fun.


Since returning home I have been spending most of my time and energy in getting two new leaflets ready to publish. "An Elegant Occasion" is finished and ready to go to the printer. It is done entirely in white and ecru and sparkles and glistens with Kreinik's fine braid encircling silk ribbon flowers.




"Honey Romance" is nearly ready for printing, I have to write a few more directions...it is a delicate and beautiful stitching pocket and picture in Hardanger and silk ribbon embroidery.


We had an early spring this year, and our mild winter produced incredibly beautiful blossoms this year. We were all in awe of the flowering plums and cherry trees...how gorgeous!


I became a great-aunt again last month...my sister Nancy has a new granddaughter, Taylor Marie...she is so pretty, and I can hardly wait to see her in person! Congratulations Sarah and Chris!
Well, this has turned out to be a photo heavy post...so I will close for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter tomorrow...we are planning on getting together for dinner with everyone in the family who can come. Should be lots of fun!

Downsizing...

Well, I don't care what anyone says, it's hard to downsize!

From this.....

To this....

From this.....

To this....

From this...

To this....

Yes, we moved a couple of weeks ago into an apartment after 10 years in the house. No, as of today, the house still has not sold, but we were offered such a good deal on the lease for the apartment we decided we needed to take advantage of it. We have about 700 sq. ft less here in the apartment, and I thought I had done such a good job of getting rid of stuff, until we moved it all here and realized it still wouldn't all fit!!! So we began the job again, sorting stuff to give to Goodwill and a few more things to the dump...and we are still not finished. We have a very full apartment and the garage is still full of things we don't really know what to do with! Maybe we should have gotten that three bedroom place, even though we didn't like the floor plan, LOL!

It has been incredibly busy, getting us moved, and a week later Amy (DD#1) moved into her new apartment (which is fantastic by the way). So between trying to get us settled, working full time, helping John job search, doing our taxes, trying to study for my Insurance Designation test in March, working on my next designs to be published...I am feeling overwhelmed. Anything I decide to work on leaves me feeling guilty because there are so many other important things that need to be done at the same time! Whew! I am looking forward to getting this all done and then heading to Hawaii for a week in April!!! I'm gonna need it!

But we are finding the apartment was a good choice...though trying to get used to the noise of the upstairs neighbors hasn't been easy, we do not hear our side neighbors at all. The building is so well built that we have not had to turn on our heat at all since we moved in, we are staying cozy. The kitchen and our bedroom face south, so I have sunshine coming in all day long (when the sun shines that is!). I have situated my stitching chair right next to the window so I can enjoy the warmth and vitamin D! I have really loved having a fireplace, and we have enjoyed several evenings with the fire.

So, there is my life this month. We have been enjoying unseasonably warm and sunny days this week, all the plum trees are gloriously bloomed out, (about 3 weeks early) so spring is definitely in the air....my favorite season!!! Until next time...

Saying Goodbye to Another January!

It continues to amaze me how quickly the days are flying by! I can sense Spring coming, just around the corner, not that it means our lousy weather is over yet though! We planted two whole flats of primroses and narcissus yesterday out front by the street, and I was encouraged to see that last years daffodils and irises are about an inch tall already. I love spring flowers and I know I've said it before, spring is my favorite season. It offers hope that the world will go on when the winters in my life are about to become overwhelming.

My legs are very sore today from bending over and pulling weeds and planting...a casualty of winter inactivity. But I am really pleased how pretty and "springful" it looks now in the front flower bed!

For those who don't remember, we have our house up for sale. November and December were pretty dismal, we only showed the house a couple of times...we worked hard at not becoming discouraged over it. But two weeks ago we had an open house, then showed the house 4 times. This last week we have had 2 people come and look. We are hopeful that it won't be much longer now! Yesterday while we were waiting for an agent to show the house, we wandered around a local furniture store to look at new living room furniture...we kind of liked this set, it's very comfy. We haven't made a final decision...

But while we wandering around we found a back room with clearance items and found this treasure...


What a surprise to find a gorgeous old stained glass window in amongst the sale items! (Note the lamp with a sale sign on it in front of the window!!! LOL!

It was so wonderful to be able to get up close enough to touch and get a good look at the construction. I only had the camera from my cell phone so the pictures aren't the greatest...I may go back with my good camera to get some good close ups. This window was constructed in about 1904 with many others and came from a church in Boston that was torn down 30 years ago. The pictures depict the Nativity. I thought it was so gorgeous!

I am almost finished stitching my newest design model...about 2 more hours to go! Stay tuned later this week for some teaser pictures!

Stitch Needlebook Free Design from Lacey Thread Designs

Stitch Needlebook Free Design

It is my pleasure to bring to you a free design from Lacey Thread Designs. I hope you enjoy stitching it as much as I did! It is for a needle book to be folded in thirds and tied with ribbon. I stitched it with Caron Waterlilies #124 Sunglow, but it will be lovely in any variegated thread you choose.

Clicking on the picture above will take you to my Flickr page where you can download and save the file. Happy stitching!

A couple more pictures from Victoria

Here are a couple more pictures that Thea took while I was at her house this weekend. I love the one of the two of us stitching together...


Happy stitches everyone!

Weekend Getaway in Victoria, BC

I had a great weekend in Victoria. The sun broke through just for a few hours, and Thea (of The Victoria Sampler) and I enjoyed a great stroll through downtown, even stopping to enjoy Darth Vader playing the violin! Quite exciting, LOL! We did a lot of walking, visiting, stitching, a bit of shopping at Murchie's and The Button Boutique, more visiting and eating and stitching to our hearts content. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend! Here's an aerial view of Seattle as I was flying over to Victoria...it was a lovely morning! I hope to have more pictures to share in the next couple of days!

It's been a very busy two months here at our house. Rather than explain too much in detail, here is a quick pictorial history of our lives in the past couple of months:

In October, Lizzie attended her first formal homecoming dance with Josiah Tognazzini. They made quite the gorgeous couple.

On Halloween my granddaughters dressed as a duck and a dinosaur! (Gracie on left, Alana on right.November found John still working on getting the house ready to sell. Here he is drying paint with a hair dryer on a cold day.In November Amy and I took the girls to Disney on Ice. We had a spectacular time!

November was also Gracie and Alana's birthdays, so we celebrated with a joint party this year.


December was Silas' first birthday.

He REALLY liked his birthday cake!
Silas and his mommy Alli. I love this picture!

We took the kids to my office Christmas party, and they got to visit with Santa. Silas seems quite comfortable with him!
We celebrated an early Christmas as a family because the granddaughters were going to be with their daddy on Christmas. Here we are after cracking open the poppers and ready to have dinner. From left to right, Allison, me, Lizzie, Josiah (Lizzie's friend), John, Chad (Amy's friend), Gracie, Alana and Amy. Christopher took the picture.
On Christmas Day my whole family gathered at my parents house for dinner (except for Amy's girls). We make quite a group now.

With all the activity around here, the holidays, and getting ready to sell the house, I haven't gotten as much stitching done as I would have liked, but I am almost finished with stitching of another design and then I can get a couple more leaflets ready for publication.

John is doing much better these days, and seems to be back to being himself except for some intermittent memory problems, such as remembering a name or a word he wants to use. I am thankful that his personality has returned to the "old John" and we are hopeful that the memory problems will heal themselves with time also. We are so pleased with his recovery from the stroke and thankful that he has made the progress that he has.

I am studying for the final portion of my General Insurance Designation exam this winter, it will be so good to have it all finished. This is something I am doing for my personal development at work, and not a work requirement. I have a great employer who puts a high value on personal development!

I hope everyone has a blessed New Year.

*****I spend so much time on Facebook now that I often forget to update this blog. I must get better at that! If anyone is interested and would like to friend me on Facebook, my user name is Connie Kirkman Dunton.*****

Recovery

Well, this has been quite the week. We had made arrangements for some friends to come in and help us paint last weekend, and wouldn't ya' know, I come down with swine flu on Friday night! It has been alot of years since I have been so sick and for so long. I was down in bed for 6 days straight, and finally ventured out to the doctor yesterday. The flu had turned into bronchitis, so with some antibiotics and better cough medicine I am finally starting to feel better. Thankfully, the painting happened without my help. John and a couple of friends are working on the last two rooms as I write, and then it will be all done. Wow, what an ordeal! I know John was counting on me being a lot more help than I was able to be. We hope to sign the listing papers this week, hurray!

The weather has turned decidedly into autumn, and I was amazed when I went out to the doctor yesterday how the wind and rain has knocked all the leaves off the big trees. My little trees around the house are still valiantly hanging on to those leaves.

I don't have any pictures or much other news to share after my hibernation...I know I was really sick when I didn't even feel like stitching!!! But for a closer, here is a picture of my granddaughters Alana and Gracie at the pumpkin patch last Saturday....

Huge Changes!

This has been quite the 6 weeks at our house since my last post. Big changes are in store for us. We have decided to sell our house. John has been physically unable to work full days at work due to his stroke, which has meant much smaller paychecks. We have been weekly struggling to stay on top of the bills, especially with the extra medical bills that our insurance did not cover. So rather than continue the struggle and risk falling behind, we decided to get out from underneath the mortgage and rent a smaller place. We will be able to get along on my salary alone then, it will actually be a huge relief for me not to be worried about the money any longer, and a burden lifted off of John as he works to recover. The whole family is in agreement and feels it is the best option.

To that end, we have rented a two bedroom apartment for Amy and the girls, directly below Chris and Alli's apartment. It will be wonderful for her to have family and protection so close. This weekend we are going to be moving her things over, and then regrouping ourselves to get ready for our own move. The texture repair guys and painters will be here in about 10 days, then we will get new flooring and carpet laid down before we actually get it listed. There is alot to do, since we have 10 years of accumulation that needs to be sorted through and given or thrown away. A fresh start is very appealing to me!

John and I spent Labor Day up at the cabin, and had a very restful time. We went into Bellingham one afternoon and visited the old neighborhood and spent some time in Cornwall Park near where I grew up. Whatcom Creek was very low, and it made for some very pretty pools and waterfalls.
I am continuing to design these days, tho it has been a lot more sporadic due to all the packing and work going on around here. I finished a small "frame" that is done in whites and ecru and will be perfect for surrounding a wedding or christening picture. I am currently working on a hardanger and silk ribbon embroidery piece that will be a stitching pocket and a picture/box inset. I hope to have more time soon to get it finished!