Today I went to Michael's. Not unheard of at this time of the year, but going into the store and ONLY buying what is on my list. Definitely one for the books.

My sister and I are making Christmas Ball Wreaths next week. Sort of a bonding thing over crafts. She isn't very crafty and i like to get her involved in simple holiday crafts that she can do so that she feels like she can do something. It still makes me laugh when we talk about her first stitching project. A kit with Winnie the Pooh's Tigger in it and she said she ran out of floss and was barely halfway through it. I looked at it and I could see for all the laughing. She didn't know to separate the strands and Tigger was very "full" so to speak. She admits though that i got the craft gene and now that she has a daughter, she wants to do things with her. I can't wait to show her the joys of finding your favorite purse glued to the washing machine or painted windows. I really can't wait to share.

So back to Michael's. This is seriously one of my favorite stores. We have three craft stores sort of in the area. Michael's which is right down the street and A.C.Moore and Joann's about 30 minutes away. That's it. Nothing else. So i covet shopping and touching crafts. I also tend to spend WAY more than necessary on crafts, like they are going to be taken off the shelves. The holidays are particularly hard for me. So i try to not go anywhere near these stores. Today however, i bought my sister a glue gun, glue sticks, 2 small stray wreaths, 1 large straw wreath, 5 small garland wreaths (for our windows), some christmas glass gems for the hurricane lamps on the mantel, DMC 948 (for Villa Mirabilia), and two spools of ornamental Christmas ribbon for us to use on the wreaths. That's it. I was just not interested in anything else. This is not right. I must be sick?

Then when i got home and unpacked i remembered why i didn't buy a lot. My paycheck this month is 1/2 of what i normally get. *sigh* That really puts a damper on the buying. Plus i still have to finish buying the boys gifts, pay the van property tax and the homeowners dues which conveniently fall due in December every year. So unfair although that has never stopped me from buying much before.

Before i answer the SBQ for the week, I stitched on my Mirabilia piece today and ran out of 948. So right now she is complete up to her chin. It looks really odd since she has no face. Tomorrow i will work on her hair and whatnot until i can get out and buy another skein. I run out of this stuff fairly fast especially since it is a popular choice for skintone in Mirabilia.

On to the SBQ:

I recently attended a stash sale organized by friends of a stitcher who had passed away from ovarian cancer. I didn’t know the stitcher, but I quickly learned things about her, such as who her favorite designers were and that she was much better organized than I am (she had almost no duplicate charts!). In talking with her friends, plans were to donate the funds collected from the sale to the hospice which cared for her at the end of her life.

The friends had organized everything, from going through her stash right down to what they were doing the day of the sale, because her family really had no idea of the value of her stash or what to do with it.

It was a rather somber experience; I even felt tears in my eyes a few times thinking of the woman who had once bought these charts in her LNS with plans to stitch them someday, gone home and lovingly filed them away, and then been unable to complete everything she wished to do. I felt guilty I was benefiting from her death and her losses. I felt honored to be offered the opportunity to take care of some of the things she had once loved. I felt like I knew things about her from the kinds of things she liked to stitch.

I realized if something happened to me, most of my stash would languish in my home because it wouldn’t cross my husband’s mind that he should do anything with it, and he’d have no idea *what* to do with it, either.

This experience made me think of lots of questions which would probably be great for an SBQ …

* * *

What would your stash tell others about you?

My stash would show everyone that i was a collector. That i save virtually EVERYTHING down to the last scrap and empty cards of specialty floss because i liked that color and wanted to remember what it was. It would show them that i always had a lot going on and that i loved many different crafts, not just stitching.

Most of us stitchers joke about having reached SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy), but have you thought about what you’d like done with your stash after your death? Do you want it to reach other stitchers who will love it, too? Would your family know what to do with it or recognize its value?

I have, scarily enough, thought about this. When i lost the majority of my stash in a fire at my father's house, i had to give a price for what i lost. Unfortunately i didn't have any sort of a detailed account of what i had and therefore was given an amount WAY below what the stuff i lost was worth. This is typical though. Since then i have a detailed log along with what i paid for the item. I have it insured with our home owners insurance under separate policy that has a copy of the list that i am asked to verify or update every 6 months. This personally makes me happy because Chatelaine, Mirabilia, Teresa Wentzler, etc all of those pretty charts are expensive when kitted up and then you throw in specialty fibers and fabrics, it is a lot of money there. My husband knows where the list is and we have come up with several dear friends who are stitchers that my stash will be divided among and given to, at no cost. As for my other crafts, I have a few people who may like their choice at items and they will get that, the rest i told him just sell for what he thinks it is worth.

How well organized is your stash –would someone be able to come in and put together a sale easily, or would it require lots of organizing work ahead of time? What would you like to see done with the funds collected from such a sale, i.e., should funds go to your family, to a charity or charities of your choice, to a charity or charities of your family’s choice, etc.?

Ok, I think I answered that above.

Are there certain items in your stash which are rare and highly desired by stitchers that might make a much larger amount of money if sold on eBay? Have you done anything to designate which items these more valuable ones are to guide your family in how to handle them? Who would you tell your family should handle such a sale so that they don’t have to do it themselves? Have you done anything to make these thoughts known to others, either through discussions or through a codicil to your will?

I am sure that the Chatelaine charts that are fully kitted up or the Silkweaver fabrics would make money if sold on E-bay, but i love stitching and i want to give them to people that will cherish these items and stitch them (hopefully). My husband and i have a joint will and i have a separate one as I have had many surgeries and wanted to make sure he knew what to do. I don't like to think about it, but i feel confident things will be taken care of.

Have you ever attended a similar sale of a passed stitcher’s stash? How did it make you feel? Did it encourage you to make any changes in your stitching lifestyle?

The only experience with this that i have had, concerned a friend of a friend, whose husband at a loss for what to do with her stash threw it away. He had always thought of it as bits and pieces, never really knew its true worth.

I am so close to finishing Villa Mirabilia. Really close. When i am done i will post a picture of it.

I am trying to get together all the names for my Christmas Card list right now. I have signed up to be a part of the Mirabilia Holiday Card Exchange as it is always fun to meet new stitchers this way. I used to be a part of a Secret Stitcher Board and had several really fun rounds with that, but the last two i got were so disappointing that i stopped signing up. In any case, I should have my Christmas Card list together soon and then it will be time to mobilize the young'ens and take a photo to send to the family to prove that they are still living. After all the cards, then i am getting started on Christmas Cookie Chaos, in which i make more cookies that i ever want to see and make up platters and give them to people that we are too poor to buy gifts for.

Now that my Crazy Exchange Christmas Exchange piece is in the mail i will work on the Frosty Friends Exchange piece for the SBEBB, which doesn't mail out until Jan. Better to be early though as the holidays loom over me, i don't want to fall behind. I have all the goodies for the package and I know what to stitch, now i just have to stitch it.

I have sent my gift off to my partner in the Crazy Exchange Christmas Exchange and now i am working on finishing Villa Mirabilia for the Mira RR. She is coming along well. Although when i picked her i was unaware of just how much stitching there was to do. Goodness she is a lot of stitching, in just the bodice and face area too. I am hoping to finish her this week and get her in the mail to Jenn since my pieces seem to take a while to get to her. I would like to be early for once.

I still have not received any piece for the UFO RR. The mailing was on Nov 5 and i had sent my piece off a week or so before that since i wouldn't get a chance to stitch on it anymore. The mailing home for this round is Dec 17, so i hope to get Sarah's piece before then so i can put a few stitches in it before sending it home. It is getting close (how scary is that?) and i have a few other obligations that i need to do before christmas as well. So i am not sure. I think i have been in a UFO RR for the last 3 years and while there are sign-ups for another round beginning in Jan 2008, I am going to take a break from these for a little bit. I want to do different types of RR's and am hoping (fingers crossed) that maybe another Neighborhood RR group will start up. I have wanted to do one of these for some time, but everytime one would open i am either pregnant and due during the time the RR would be going on or i am unable to solidly commit. It isn't fair to commit and then back out, so i only like to commit to groups that i know i can follow through on. I have signed up for a Little House Needleworks RR that may take shape in Feb 2008, plus several exchanges. I would like to practice different methods of finishing as well.

Oh something cool, at least to me. Karen over at the Crazy Exchange has started a new thing where she will post every so often with a blog link. Mine was the first. Yeah me!

I hope that everyone had a fabulous turkey day. We did. All 23 people showed up, ate, were put into a turkey/pie coma and left with leftovers to prolong their enjoyment of the day. Because leftovers is what it is all about, right?

In the midst of all the cooking i didn't have a chance to stitch on anything at all. But i will say that i have been really on task for the last several months. The UFO RR i am in is winding down. I think there are two more mailings and the other UFO RR has ended. I need to get a photo of that piece and show it as well as maybe one or two other WIP that i have actually made a teensy bit of progress in.

I have signed up to do a fob exchange on the Hooked on Exchanging blog, although i still haven't seen my name added i do hope that i am still on the list for it. I know that Becky is stepping down and while that is sad, she has a ton of talented friends and i am excited to see who will step in to help her out. I love being a part of Becky's groups as they are very well organized and run.

I have finished my piece for the Crazy Exchange Christmas Exchange and am just doing the finishing on it before i send it out on Monday. I have never sent anything to this particular place before so i am making sure it gets there in time. I hope the person likes it.

Today is pie day. Long time readers will know what i mean. Today is the day that if you want a pie or dessert, drop by and pick up your pie!

I didn't get a lot done today in stitching terms. I just wasn't feeling it. I have drawn up some plans for some new jewelry to be made. I noticed today when i was getting ready to go to a school function for J that i didn't have what i wanted to wear with the outfit. Hopefully i will get a chance to make a few pieces up while off for Thanksgiving, but i don't know.

I am so excited. Sadly it doesn't really have to do with anything crafty, well maybe sort of crafty as it involves blogs. I was reading through some of the stitching blogs and found out that there is a addition to Firefox that scans pages for updates and alerts you to them. Now i do use Goggle Reader, but truthfully folks I broke it. Seriously, it apparently is not meant to handle the # of blogs i try to keep up with on a semi-weekly basis. I know it seems impossible, but seeing as how i have mommy blog friends, crafty friends and beading friends, well i have about 2,345 blogs in the google reader. Now even on my works' SUPER fast connection, google reader won't come up because it is bogged down. I have changed the options and whatnot, but it doesn't work. So i am excited to see there are other options.

I have a laptop, but everytime Firefox updates it deletes ALL of my bookmarks. No one can figure out why and they are completely gone from the laptop. This happens every two days, regardless of what we do. So keeping all the blogs i follow there is pointless because i wind up losing most of them. Not to mention some blogs don't have site feeds and therefore don't work in the reader. So now i have installed the Firefox Page Scanner and so far am SUPER happy with it.

I spent time on Villa Mirabilia tonight. She is halfway done now. I didn't realize how much solid stitching would be involved with her. Plus i didn't have two of the key colors in my stash and so i had to go to several different stores to find the colors. Sometimes that is just plain frustrating.

It is also frustrating that i don't have a way to get specialty fibers or fabrics in my area. I have the internet and treasure the stores that i use religiously online to buy many, many things. Sometimes though i like to see things in person. The colors aren't always what i want or expected or i don't like the feel of it and know i will hate stitching with it. It is simply frustrating to need a spool of Kreinik though and have to wait for it to come in the mail before i can finish something because no place carries it here!

Ok done with that. Things are a little hectic here lately, but that is on the mommy side of the fence. Occasionally that will spill over here. Sorry for that.

I have been working away at the Mirabilia RR i currently have. It is gorgeous. Everyone in this round (this is the second one i have done on the board) has picked such wonderful fabrics, colors and themes to work with. I am stitching "Villa Mirabilia" for this piece and i love how she looks on this purple/blueish fabric. I will post a picture when i am done. I may not be a fast stitcher, but i do try and do at least 4 hours of stitching a night until it is done.

I have figured out what i want to stitch for the Crazy Exchange Christmas Exchange and for the Frosty Friends Exchange (SBEBB). I have everything i need (thankfully) in my stash. I want to finish the Mirabilia RR first and then i will stitch these up. Since they are not as big as the Mirabilia design it won't take very long to do.

Finally a visual update of some of what i have been up to since July aside from my kids. For updates on my kids, i still have a mommy blog here.

This was Rose of Sharon by Mirabilia, done for the Mirabilia RR.


This is one of my most popular pieces that i sell for jewelry. I suck at photos, but it gives you an idea.


Even though this is terribly blurry it shows the colors of the necklace better.



This is the box i did for the Halloween Exchange on the USEBB for Terry. I am glad she liked it. I loved making it. This is part of a freebie chart offered by Whispered by the Wind called Happy Halloween.


This is the inside of the box and the reason it is called a "BOO" box.

Goodness, it has been a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time since i updated this blog. Trust me it isn't because i haven't been doing any stitching. I just have been very remiss on sharing it. I promise that there will be a couple of photo intense days coming up as i post pictures of all that i have been working on. I have been working away on the Mirabilia RR, UFO RR and UFO RR#2 which has finished. So i have photos to share. Plus i was in a Halloween Exchange on the USEBB and that was a super amount of fun. In fact it was my first exchange that went well. For both the USEBB and the SBEBB both of my exchange partners never let me know or the board if they received the goodies i stitched. For me i love giving and so putting work into something and not hearing if they liked it is rather like a bad first date. I know that the mod of the boards is a SUPER person so i just chaulked it up to bad luck and am happy that my 2nd one went better. I am happy that Becky is combining both the USEBB and the SBEBB as it will make it easier for her and me as well.

I just joined a new exchange group, the Crazy Exchange and am excited about this one. I like the idea of selecting someone and sending them something completely on a whim. How fun! I also like how small it still is and so it seems that everyone gets to know each other well.

Also since my sister has now had her baby i have to get cracking on the baby sampler for my niece. It will be hard though as my sister is VERY picky and wants one that matches the nursery and only has certain things in it. So i am hunting the perfect piece, but i may wind up mixing several together.