A New Camera

So I got a new camera, for several reasons. I am hoping it will produce better pictures. We'll see.

Today I made some cards: a birthday card and a couple of thank-you cards. These are not my very first cards--I forgot to take pictures of those. They are my second batch. I think I did OK on the layout, could use some improvement on technical points. Like, what is the best way to glue down ribbon? (Hint: it apparently isn't glue dots.) And I was thinking I should maybe have colored in the stamp on the birthday card. It's a fairy princess, in case you can't see it. I do have a full set of prismacolors that could have done the job.



And this is what I have been working on. It's "Not For Us Alone" by Amy Mitten. The name comes from the motto of the Sieberling family of Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio. It's a mystery sampler. Amy Mitten writes a mystery to go along with the stitching, using fictional descendants of the family as characters. I have wanted it for years! I first saw it at a Shepherd's Retreat but could not afford it. "I'll save up and get it next time around," I thought. But then I could not find it. Anywhere. Finally, I found a store selling it as a stitch-along and I snapped it up. Here you can see it in its q-snaps. That was not my first choice for a frame because I was trying to avoid wrinkling the fabric--the thread is hand-dyed silk and not colorfast, so I cannot steam iron it when I am finished. My first choice for frame was a scroll frame, but I was surprised to find that I didn't have an unused one in the right size.

Here you can see the work I've done--that is about 8 hours worth of work.

I am a slow stitcher, and that is all rice stitch. And here is a close-up.

I think if you click on the picture you can get an enlargement and see the stitches.

Because it is a stitch-along, I have felt a little obligated to work on it, at the expense of finishing up the angels. But I think I'm going to try to focus a little more on the angels. I really want to get those done. It does seem I am a process stitcher (meaning I focus more on stitching than finishing), but I need to get some of these projects done!