2.27.2009

See what's in my stitchin' basket....

Coming soon... A NEW series of itty bitty cross stitched sampler patterns, all to fit the Twisted Threads tin frames. The above sampler measures 2" x 2 1/4". The sampler in the above photo is tied around a bundle of grubby candles...what a unique way to display your work! Keep an eye on our blog for other sampler designs & what other "things" we tie these samplers too! We will letcha know when this series of cross stitched designs is complete!

With thy needle & thread,
brenda

2.24.2009

Introducing Easter Peep!


"Easter Peep" cross stitch pattern is now printed & ready to ship! Pattern can be found at http://www.countrystitchesonline.com/, under the NEW ITEMS category.
Keep stitchin,
Brenda Gervais


2.23.2009

Growing so fast....

If your baby is..."beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time," you must be the grandma. ~Theresa Bloomingdale~

I thoroughly enjoyed the past 4 days that I spent with this little guy! He is growing so fast & is just a "lump of sugar"! Isn't he cute in his little furry bear hat? What once was a very loose fitting hat is now snug and almost too small to get under & around those plump little cheeks. I had to get just one last picture of Beckham in this hat....before he outgrows it. I then played with the photo in Photoshop, applying the watercolor filter to the photo. I like the "twinkle in the eyes" effect that the filter gave this photo.

Beckham has now found his hands and spends lots & lots of time looking at his right hand...so cute. His daddy was hoping for a left handed pitcher, but currently he looks to be a "righty"! He learned to blow spit bubbles while he was at Grandma's house. No, grandma didn't teach him how to do that!

Well after a fun filled 4-day weekend it is back to reality...it is back to work. Can I just retire & become a fun-time grandma?

Have a good week,
brenda

2.16.2009

Sneak peek at a work in progress...

Little Peep is sporting her Easter bonnet with the blue ribbon on it & is marching in the annual Easter parade. Should be a beautiful parade...the tulips are in full bloom.

Here is a snippet of a new cross stitch design, called "Easter Bonnet". Did you ever get the Easter Peeps candies in your Easter Baskets when you were young? I loved those sweet marshmallowy candies in the shapes of small yellow chicks. I'm not sure why I liked them as a child, but I cannot make myself eat them in my adult life...too squeaky & gritty on my teeth! What was your favorite Easter candy? It was this childhood favorite that was the inspiration for this design.


The stitching is about done on this design and then I will have the fun task of deciding on its finish. I'm hoping to do a fun & different finish...we shall see! This design is worked on 32 ct linen over 1 thread. Size is somewhat smaller, at just 2 7/8" x 2 3/4".
keep stitchin,
brenda

2.14.2009

Cookies for my Valentine!

I spoke to both of my adult children yesterday, it isn't uncommon that one calls while I am on the phone with the other (love it...makes me feel SO important)! They were both busy preparing for the big day...Valentines Day!

Daughter Erin ventured out in 8" of wet snow to do her shopping. Took her an hour and a half to drive the 2o minute drive home from the mall. She was white knuckled and nearly in tears by the time she got home. She bought her "love" a sweater and said it was too much money, but bought it anyway. Erin isn't participating in the recession, she is stimulating the economy!

Son Matthew has been planning a meal of marinated beef tenderloin & the trimmings for his "love" for several weeks now. He's called me several times for recipes & then followed by recipe questions. One call was to ask me if tenderloin is really $23.oo per pound. I proceeded to tell him he had probably picked the most expensive cut of meat...Matthew is stimulating the butcher shop economy as well! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that butcher shop! Another phone call... "Is there really 2 Tablespoons of salt in this marinade?" I got him set straight & said it was teaspoons not tablespoons...just a minor detail! Another phone call...I don't feel like going to the grocery store AGAIN, can I substitute white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar? I reassured him that it could be substituted as long as you are not a wine connoisseur!

I hung up the phone and began to feel somewhat guilty that I had only bought my "love" a Valentines card...I was being out-done by my children! You see, I get hit hard in February...first there is our anniversary, then it's Valentines and then a few days later it is his birthday. Any good gift ideas that I had for him for the year were all used up at Christmas time! Then I remembered a saying my mother would say..."The fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach". It was with that thought that I knew the perfect gift for my "sweet heart"...a batch of his favorite frosted cut-out sugar cookies. I awoke early this morning and they were freshly baked & just frosted when he arose for the day. Today there was no need for Cream of Wheat...he had cookies to eat for breakfast on this Valentines Day!




CREAM CHEESE CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES
"Deliciously thin, crispy & buttery cookies to tease your taste buds!"
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond & vanilla extracts and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. On floured pastry cloth, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8" thick. Cut into desired shapes.
4. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet & bake for 7 - 10 minutes, or until light & golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

DECORATOR FROSTING
2/3 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 drops of red food coloring
1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, powdered sugar & milk until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and food coloring. Frost your cookies & enjoy!
happy valentines day,
brenda

2.11.2009

14% off at Country Stitches on the 14th!







SAVE 14% ON THE 14TH FOR 14 HOURS!


Join us on Valentines Day for sweet savings at




Between the hours of 7:00 AM - 9:00 PM Central Standard Time on February 14th all online purchases will be discounted 14%. This sale runs just 14 hours...so don't shop too early or too late!


Offer valid for online purchases made on the 14th, during the above hours only, no exceptions!




Happy Valentines,


Brenda






2.06.2009

COMING SOON!

HOPPIN' ALONG SAMPLER cross stitch pattern will be ready for your stitching pleasure in just a few days! This design is worked on 32 ct over 2 threads. Finished pillow size is approximately 10" from bunnies bottom to the tops of his ears.

2.04.2009

The start of each day....

My day begins around 6 AM. I stumble out of bed, put my glasses on, visit the little girls room and then make my way downstairs and into the kitchen. And I must stress, this always happens in this exact order, ALWAYS! A creature of habit, that is for sure! It is here were I meet up with this.....

my little orange bag of my favorite coffee...dunkin donuts! Nope, no Starbucks for this girl! I would have to drive 1 1/2 hours to the nearest Starbucks. I brew my morning pot and then it is off to.....
enjoy my morning cup or two or three, and sit and do some needlework in the quietness of the early morning hours. My coffee pot has a cute little buzzer that goes off in 2 hours and I stitch until the timer goes off. It is then time to get ready for the day... and then it is off to Country Stitches to begin processing, filling & shipping orders to all our wonderful stitching customers.

What time of day to you stitch? Please share your stitching stories with us...we'd love to hear!

happy stitchin,
brenda gervais

P.S. One of our customers shared her stitching story with us, it is funny & I must share! She is a Valdani thread user and must lock herself in the bathroom when she stitches so her kitties can't get at those cute little balls of Valdani floss. I can totally relate....my cat LOVES the Valdani thread as much as I and I have fished several of them out of his water dish!

2.01.2009

A NEW HOBBY...









I have been totally consumed this weekend with a new hobby....I'm asking myself, do I really need another hobby??!!! Wow, where was digital scrap booking when I had my babies? You see my photos aren't all in those darling little albums, no many of them are in Nike shoe boxes, I'm embarrassed to say!






I keep telling myself I am going to do better with pictures of our new little grandson, Beckham....so I've decided that digital scrap booking is the route I will take. You can still have all the cute little do-dads on the pages without all of the work of cutting, pasting & stamping. You simply download the pages and drag in your photos and then print the pages...piece of cake, right?



However....I must learn the layering proccess of Adobe Photo Shop first and that isn't a piece of cake at the moment! I have used the outdated Microgrx graphics program for years and keep telling myself I really need to start using that Photo Shop program I purchased a few years ago. After much persistence & a couple of days of experimenting I now have things figured out and am printing off pages....yippee!!! I am sharing a couple of the pics here on the blog...aren't they fun? These are actually teeny tiny (just 2.5" x 3.25") when printed and then you put the pictures in those plastic name badge holders, tie them all together with a ribbon and you have a sweet little photo album to tuck into your purse.





I began by doing a Google search for digital scrap booking. There are lots & lots of websites for downloading scrap booking pages. Some are free, some are for purchase.




A couple of my favorite sites are www.theshabbyshoppe.com and www.designerdigitals.com. The shabbyshoppe also has a blog that offers free calender downloads that you drag in a photo and save it as the background for your computer. My computer now has the darling February calendar (thanks to the shabby shoppe) with a photo of Beckham as the screen saver & I'm loving it!






enjoy your day,



brenda