Tuesday, July 26, 2016

So cute, fun to stitch and a breeze to finish.  A must do for Christmas.  I'm celebrating Christmas in July by stitching Shepherd's Bush, "Noel Sheep Sled".  I'm trying to get back to my stitching and putting aside working on the POS every minute of the day.  I'm restitching (gave the first one as a gift) the tape measure from Needlework Press and while it's no big deal, I've stitched it once already so not really thrilled to have to do it again, but Sara loves it so that's reason enough.  While it isn't a hard stitch, to get it to truly measure a yard you need to measure yourself as you go along because according to the directions they assumed they measured correctly and just counted threads from the first inch.  And it doesn't work that way apparently , so you have to measure each quarter inch, half inch and inch as you stitch.  Not a big deal, just time consuming.  But I'm on inch 27 so I'm almost done and hopefully today will be the end of it.  Since it's an easy finish I'm not dreading that part.  Then I finished Part 1 of the latest Lizzie Kate Halloween Mystery Sampler.  Not a hard stitch either, and Part 2 just arrived last week in the shop so I'm moving on to Part 2.  But last night as I was sitting on the sofa I wanted to start something new and fast.  Fortunately when I was working on getting the Shepherd's Bush kits into the new POS I ran across the Noel Sheep Sled (along with 4 other kits that came home with me) and knew I had to stitch it.  It really is a fast stitch, thank God, I needed that.  But....why is there always a but for me...they didn't fill in the sky or background (I made it a sky because you put stars on it) and just left the perforated paper showing.  I know it's alright to do that but the design calls for stars in the sky which I really  felt needed a dark background.  At first I used a dark blue, navy, to resemble night sky, but you couldn't see the sheeps legs well enough so then I tried Americana blue, but again too dark.  When I tried Week's Sky and I think that did the trick.  I really think it's cute and Shepherd's Bush put a cute tag in with the kit for you to use as a hanger so you didn't have to purchase a sled, but I intend to use it for a 2nd ornament..nothing will go to waste here.  Anyway,  cute, fast and perfect for a secret santa gift.  Update on the web site, well, it's not good.  The designer doesn't seem to be able to make the corrections I want made, which they have always done in the past after they upgrade and when she passed along the  message from the person she gave the job to, I said that's it...I'm moving on (what I asked them to do is page the What's New or Just Arrived so as each new item is added it doesn't drop off the previous items into the catalog but just adds pages so you can go back easily to look at something there you saw a month ago for instance.  The person who was asked by Julie to do that sent back a message basically saying "NO because those pieces on pages wouldn't be new."  Like that's their call?   So while I'm still using the web site, I'm also working on a new one that will replace it.  My life has not become easier and retirement is definitely off the table.  But at least I am back to stitching so there is still fun to be had.  Hope you are also finding time in this heat.  Actually the only place to be is at home, in the a/c with a cold drink (tea) and stitching.   Yes, the perfect day!  Or visiting your local needlework shop to find more stuff to work on.  Have a great day Stitchings.  Talk to you soon.

Monday, July 4, 2016

New model.....getting back on track.................


   
"Button Posies", a pinkeep and scissor weight by The Scarlett House was a somewhat fast stitch, considering the fact that I waited over a year to start it.  Originally part of club piece, I put it in a to-do bag and there it sat.  I was amazed that I finished it about 1 month before it's release for resale.  But also thrilled because it meant a model was done just in time.  Stitched on 36 ct. Espresso linen from R & R and stitched with Gentle Art fibers.  I used a medium sized black button for the middle of the flowers, but you can stitch the center  as shown on the chart.  The original piece showed rick rack as the scissor leash so I also used the small rick rack for that.  I did change a couple of things....the blue flowers to the left of the center flower was changed as the Gentle Arts fiber called for was soot and I wanted blue like the picture.  (with overdyed thread it's not always going to look like the picture as the threads are so multicolored).  I didn't change the center flower and wish I had since I think the white doesn't really show up and would use a shade a little darker or lighter than the Country Redwood used as the second color.  I love the bowl colors and think it's probably my favorite part of the piece.  Anyway, a cute new addition to my pin cushion and fob collection. It's been a while since I have had the energy to stitch.  Working day and night on the POS is draining my energy (which doesn't take much), so by the time I get home from the office or shops I'm really too tired to do anything but lay down and hope tomorrow's better.  But I have to say, Judy, Elaine, Sara, Pat and I have pulled this together very well and are managing to get the merchandise in the system.  When I'm not in the office or working the shop I'm home working on the system as I can access it from anywhere.  That is a mixed blessing for Sara and as I'm constantly texting her to tell her how she's doing compared to the other shops, or commenting on what has sold.  It's like Big Brother or in this case Big Momma is always watching.  I've tried to let up on this since it was driving her crazy, but I sit with my IPad so I can check it every few minutes and then the minute the stores close I'm in the system correcting anything that needs fixing.   Some of the items didn't have costs put on them so the reporting isn't quite what it should be so that is my main focus at night.  Since it doesn't shown up on anything the ladies are doing they really aren't concerned with that part.  But all in all, we've done an unbelievable job.  At the beginning of June I never thought we'd be where we are today thanks to the hard work everyone has put in.  I originally figured we would use the old system for a great part of the summer but when Judy had hers up and running in two days and was able to function, we all said, What the hell let's go live with it and we did.  And Judy, still our rock....she was taking things home and while she couldn't sleep was working on the system til the wee hours of the morning.  And still brought in homemade blueberry muffins and fruit salad for me.  Man you have got to love an employee like Judy.  But like me, she has been unable to get her stitch on.  Two night ago I told Sara I was brain dead from all this and really needed to get back to stitching when I'm at home.  So I put about 25 stitches in before I said , "Crap I'm too tired to do this."  Oh, I forgot to mention, Mary and Brian are making the boys spend about 1 1/2 hours every day working on school work.  I felt it would be more focused if I gave them worksheets, so now I'm also getting worksheets from the internet for the 5 children (Mary's 2, the step daughter and then the babysitter's 2 children) 4 different ages.  So that occupies my weekends since I hand them over on Sunday night.  But last night when I got home, and realized I had a full 2 days off (unless there is an emergency and I told them not to have one), I became determined to get my stitch on (which I did although I struggled) and today I'm working on the web site and the blog.  So the only thing I'm not working on....cleaning the apartment...and it looks it.  But perhaps I can get to that before I go to work on Wednesday (although I doubt it).  I did finish the pastoral sampler pocket, but haven't put it together...surprise surprise.  I also finished the Block pin cushion, of course also not finished but at least it made it to the ironing board.  And now I'm working on multiple pieces all at once as always.  I'm doing another Needlework Press stitched tape measure as I gave the last one to Renee for her birthday because she loved it so much.  Then I pulled out some large count to stitch a Shepherd's Bush santa on...love the large count.  I've also pulled out the Shores of Hawk Run which I was stitching a few years ago, took it to a retreat to show it to the ladies and stuck it in a bag and didn't find it for a few years, and then once I found it the chart wasn't with it so then I had to find it.  So now I have to find the fibers and then I'm ready to get back on that horse.  In the meantime I'm trying not to look at anything new, however with the new Lizzie Kate Halloween Mystery Sampler part 1 in house, well I pulled that out, along with the fabric, and embellishment pack and started that.  So I'm working on a full load of projects, just not often enough.  Hoping that changes as I start to let go of my POS obsession.  The worst part of this is as we unload racks to get the inventory in the computer I'm finding charts I like and starting taking them home....like I don't have enough.  Sara is having the same problem.  When I did the Shepherd's Bush rack I really had to contain myself.  But it was a sure sign of determination...I should have that same determination when I'm in front of the refrigerator. Anyway, just letting you know we are on track and moving forward at a great rate of speed.  So I hopefully will be able to get the web site and the blog moving again.  Thank you all for your patience and understanding.  I hope your summer is fabulous and you are able to fit your stitching in around all the outdoor activities.  Hope to talk again soon.