TUSAL Update and Other Assorted Stash'n Stitch Updates

Hello and Happy Saturday! I don't know about you, but DH and I are enjoying a lazy morning. Some of us are net-surfing, stitching and drinking tea while others are playing video games and drinking beer (recall that he is on night-shift, so early morning is DH's late evening...). Oh, and there are yet others, who are sitting on my head, squawking and eating carefully peeled sunflower seeds. Happy family time!

Speaking of family, this morning I got a happy surprise when I called my mom's and dad's and my Little Sister answered! She told me that our parents are at the summer house so Sis and kiddies moved in at their resident over the weekend. Sis' family bought a new and larger apartment and they wanted to repaint all the walls, so the kids are out breathing fresh air in the suburbs while everything is getting a touch up in their new home.

I have also had the immense pleasure to chat with my Littlest Sister a few mornings this week. So much fun! I usually jump on-line before I jump into the shower in the mornings. We both have Skype, so we have just happened to meet. We really have a lot of very interesting things to talk about, so it has been great! She and I work in completely different areas and I am so excited to learn from her. She does, among other things, profiling on interviewees for companies during hiring processes. Sweden has some very strict laws on how companies can lay off or fire their personnel, so it is really hard to get rid of people - even if they show up drunk at work! In other words, it is really important to know who you are hiring on or you may set yourself up for disaster!

And of course I got all the comments from all of you, dear readers! It is always so much fun to hear what you are thinking! I have been meaning to thank all of you who gave me great advice about helpful beading tools, by the way. I think that Diane mentioned the Tacky Bob and as soon as I read her tip I thought "Duh, I have one of those!". Thanks for the reminder, Diane!
Jo mentioned the "vacuum up beads with a pantyhose" trick, which I will probably have to use on my couch one of these days! Thanks for the tips, ladies! We got some beading done! After a number of hours, I can introduce the finished Crowjackers and Moonroders - Tadaah!

Well, what else do I have to share today? Oh, the TUSAL, of course! Here we go:

Here is a photo showing the surroundings - I started stitching on the Noel Quadrielle yesterday evening - I think that it'll be a quickie!

I also have a confession to make. I am a Binge Stasher. Lots of goodies came in the mail this week. A lot of them came because I am not smart enough to stop browsing... Since I had so much fun with the Sweetheart Tree Designs, I picked up a bunch more on eBay - most of the are about 50% of what they cost in the stores!
And since I have been on a "Heather Ross ride" here lately, I could not pass up on this adorable pattern wallet from Madbird's shop at Etsy:

Isn't this just the best idea!? The wallet is made from HR's line Mendocino fabric line (OOP, of course...)

I may not have mentioned this before, but I collect old Scandinavian charts. I am especially fond of Fremme, even though their charts are easy to get hold of, and of Clara Waever. CW is a whole other ball-game... This company did not seem to be real popular here in the US, so the charts are quite a challenge to find. Sometimes I find old used charts "Swedish eBay", but I am not allowed to bid there for some reason (I have no clue why - I mean, I do have a Swedish SS# and everything...).
I generally, and shamelessly, call my dad and ask him to bid for me (tack pappa!!!). We have not been real lucky so far. Scandinavian designs are very popular in Japan and one of my Japanese stitching friends has informed me that this one Japanese lady vacuums the market from all old CW/ER charts. She pays astronomical amounts of $$ for these charts and then turns around and sells them for even higher prices from her on-line store in Japan. I guess you can't get too angry - it is obviously a working business, but I would still prefer that someone who is actually planning on stitching them would get them instead. Sigh...
Anyway, CW was bought up by Eva Rosenstand, who in turn was bought up by Permin pretty recently.
I have contacted Rosenstand on several occasions in the past, trying to convince them to reprint some of their old CW charts, but got a very friendly but very assertive "no" every time. Very sad! :-(
So, enough with the whining and on to my very exciting eBay find:

Isn't it pretty!?

And finally, I would recommend that if you have never browsed Country Stitches - stay away, stay away, stay away!!!! I can almost grantee that it'll be a very expensive experience! Yet, somehow, I find myself ending up at this sweet market over and over...

(The latest issue of SANQ ended up in this pic too - love Jackie's piece!)

What is up in the right hand corner!? Well, it is some Jewelry findings from Patera. These small frames and charms are used to make really neat jewelry. This is what I got to get me started:

This is an example of a finished piece that I got from Country Stitches a year ago or so - I really like it a lot!

(The dark wool will be used to make crows from, by the way...)
The coolest thing is that Brenda Gervais has posted a tutorial on her blog that shows exactly how to make these pretty things; check this out!

Did I deserve all these goodies? Mmmm, my "excuse" this week is that I think that I did pretty well this week. I stuck it out with my "finishing only" goal and I have some finished finishes to show off (keep in mind that the Just Nan ornies were finished this week too). I am planning on finishing off the Sweetheart Tree "There is a Birthday Here Today" piece before the week is over, which means that I, technically speaking, am pulling ahead (yeah, I know - totally lame excuse and not true in the least! ;-))
Here are the Bird pictures with the finished picot-edging copied from a Japanese stitcher:

The SHT Welcomes were slapped together yesterday (when I say "slapped", note that no glue was used - I am too much of a stitch snob to finish anything with glue.. LOL)

I decided to make them into small pictures instead of ornaments. My favorite tin easels from Twisted Threads work perfectly. Now I feel the urge to stitch all the seasons, a few additional ones AND make a cute stitched box placed on the mantle , where they can all rest while waiting for their turn to go on display.
Isn't it great that a stitcher's work is never done?!

Well, time to get going. There are walks to be taken and groceries to be bought.
Have a fabulous weekend and see you soon!

Happy Stitching,