Ornament Swap

I participated in an ornament swap hosted by Amy of Bumble Bee Lane. Here is the adorable gingerbread ornament I received from Theresa! He smells soooo good too!

Thank you so much Theresa, and thank you Amy for hosting another swap. :-)

Michelle

New Threads, Local Shop

Hi all. Yep, I rolled off the face of the earth again. I never really leave blogland, just my blog. : )


I hope everyone is safe, dry, and warm. We got a bit of the storm Monday evening and Tuesday all of the local schools were closed, mainly due to the wind. I think it got to be about 50 mph, but that is nothing compared to what the coast got. My heart aches for everyone who lost their homes and unfortunately those who have lost a family member.

I haven't been doing much crafting lately. I finished a punch needle ornament for a swap that Amy of Bumble Bee Lane coordinated.

I had talked about using over-dyed floss in a previous post here and I found a local shop, Blueberry Hill Stitchery in Akron, Ohio, that sells Weeks Dye Works, Crescent Colours, and The Gentle Art. Alas, no Valdani there so I ordered a few balls from Snowflake Memories (check them out - free shipping on 3-strand floss!) in two different sizes to see which I liked the best since I've never worked with it - heck, I've never even seen it! I do believe over-dyed floss by any company is simply beautiful and worth every penny.... I just wish I had more pennies. : ) 

So about Blueberry Hill Stitchery shop....you would drive right by if you didn't know it was there. I sure did. It's not in a traditional shop location and I was quite surprised when I walked inside. Full of all of my favorite stitchers, many of whose blogs I follow! It was so neat to see so many familiar names. My goal was to check out the threads. Drawers and drawers. I had no plan and since it was nearing fall I figured I would get some autumn colors to maybe do some kind of a pumpkin. So I chose a few from each of the three companies and wiped the drool from my face. They are gorgeous! For about 20 minutes all you could hear in the shop was the sound of little drawers opening and closing, opening and closing, lol. I could not decide! : )  I behaved myself and walked out with only seven hanks (3 of one to do a pumpkin and 2 of another for the background, with absolutely no pattern in mind).

Aren't they just beautiful!

From L-R: Weeks Dye Works 2238 - Sweet Potato. Crescent Colours Polliwog and German Chocolate. The Gentle Art 7088 - Baked Clay.

 

 

And here are the balls from Valdani from Snowflake Memories.

Pearl Cotton Size 12  O 196, 3-strand O 532, 3-strand O 217

I also ordered 2 threaders for my Cameo punch from Snowflake Memories because making my own threaders didn't really work out too well, lol, but it got me through my crisis desire to punch. Do you get that way? I just *had* to punch and nothing could get in my way, lol. A little OCD maybe? Eh, guess there are worse things I could be doing, right?

If you use Valdani in your punching, what is your favorite thread weight? The pearl cotton is definitely a better "buy" I think as it comes in 100m where as the 3-strand is in 27m. I will have to punch something up and see which I like the best as I'm sure they will look a bit different when punched. I also love that I can buy 3-strand from Valdani as I absolutely go crazy trying to separate 6-strand floss. For a while I was punching with 6 strands, but got a little "cheap" I guess. I did find that I had to be careful not to leave any spaces when punching with only 3 strands. Maybe I better go back to 6. Hmm...so many decisions, so little crafting time.

This girl needs to get ready for work. I've rambled on about floss long enough.

Stay safe and warm my friends.

~michelle

Homecoming

Proud mom moment! I had to share my son's Homecoming photo with you all. Jacob and Alyssa looked adorable together. I'm told they are just friends, but she is the sweetest thing. I hope they are having fun. They are only Sophomores so I have a few more years to enjoy all of this fun. Plus it's easier with boys. :-)

New Salt Dough

I've been up to my elbows in salt dough again. I participated in a local barn sale at Portage Trail Barn. I've been going to the barn sales for a little while, but this was my first time participating. Mary Beth does all of the hard work so all of the success of the event goes to her. And she does it all with two little ones and a newborn. I bought a few things for myself too. : )



Fall Salt Dough Bowl Fillers

Halloween Salt Dough Bowl Fillers

 

I made Halloween, Fall, and Button sets. I have a few left over that are available for purchase.

 

Fall: 2 leaves, 2 red sunflowers, 2 pumpkins, 3 mini stars.

Halloween: 2 ghosts, 2 black cats, 2 pumpkins, 3 mini stars.

 

Each set is $8 plus shipping.

 

 

 

~michelle

 

 

 



Favorite Embroidery Floss

Hi all. I feel like I fell off the face of the earth for a few days. I have been rolling, baking, and painting salt dough like a crazy lady, lol. I have them for sale on a Facebook group, Primitives for Sale. I am so thankful for the orders, but I have salt dough coming out of my ears. : )

I have a question regarding embroidery floss.  I've been using DMC for ever, but want to get a more variegated look when doing punch needle. I started researching and it seems Valdani and Weeks Dye Works are the most popular outside of DMC. They are both beautiful, but neither is sold at a shop near me so I would have to order online. Also, the price is higher. While those are both cons, they are completely understandable. Hand-dyed floss is worth the price I'm sure. I also like to use 6 strands when punching and they both offer 6-ply so that's a plus.



Valdani Embroidery Floss



Weeks Dye Works Embroidery Floss

So what is your favorite floss to use? Do you know of an online shop that has good prices? Feel free to email me at info (at) sugarhousecreations (dot) com if you don't want to post here.



~Michelle

Housework?

This was hung on the porch of a hooker who was demonstrating in Zoar, Ohio, during their Harvest Festival. It fits me quite well. :-)

~Michelle

Punching!

I got some wire from Joann's the other day to try and make a threader for my Cameo. For just $2 it was worth it to try and get some punching done since I had the urge. Isn't that always the way? Its not perfect, but it will work. I sat on the couch with hubs and the animals, and did some punching while watching Grimm.

I'm trying a different punching technique. I ran out of one of the orange colors so moved on to the background. I have to pick out colors for the tongues yet. I would have done more, but holding the Cameo really hurts my hand. I think I need to get one of those rubber grip things for pencils. That might help.

Oops, sending pics from my phone is always dangerous. Yes, it's a pumpkin. : )


~Michelle