Drawing Threads

New releases ... new snow ....

2012-02-02T08:58:00.006-07:00

Just as I'm getting used to the wonderful spring-like weather we've been having the past two weeks, I hear this morning that 12" of snow is heading our way this evening. The weather here in Denver is so flakey (no pun intended :-) and so different from what we had in the mountains. There we would get our first snow around Halloween and then it was snow, snow, snow from there on out until late May. Never melted off ... and I mean FEET of snow, not inches.

Here we get four or five days of spring, then two or three days of winter, two or three inches of snow. Then winter passes, the snow melts away and we get a little spring again. I have to admit, I like this a lot better but the little reprieves between the snow storms are tricksters. You think "Ahhh, spring has sprung. I won't have to get those boots out again" and then ... you get zapped by another snow storm. Though the weather report calls for 12" of snow starting tonight, next Thursday is supposed to be sunny and close to 50. A little of this, a little of that. Flakey once in a while ... but nice.

Meanwhile we got the new designs out and they have, for the most part been packed up and shipped. There is always a little delay, I'm afraid, between releasing the "new releases" and getting them posted here. We are always so busy getting the emails out and printing and packing and shipping that the last thing on my mind is updating my blog. Then it slows down a bit and I can finally get a chance to chatter away here.

At any rate, I have posted them, as usual at right. Butterfly Garden is a return to "gardening on linen" as is "Year of Flowers" come to think of it. The model for Butterfly Garden was stitched by Nataly Koplovsky in Massachusetts. I have to say that when I opened the package, it took my breath away. Looking at the "real thing" is always so different from trying to visualize it with drawings and computer images. Nataly did an incredible job of bringing those drawings and images to life. Every stitch was absolutely perfect. Thank you Nataly.

A Year of Flowers portfolio was stitched by my friend Anne-Catherine Seres in Bordeaux, France and the cushion was done by Darlene Dunat in Florida. Again, both incredible stitchers who I am so grateful to for taking my imaginings into reality. I don't think I've ever come across anyone who can stitch so quickly (and so accurately) as Darlene. I am super glad to add her to the roster of model stitchers that I have been so fortunate to work with this past year. I literally can't keep up with Darlene. She is patiently waiting for the next package and has been for a while. Sorry Darlene :-( Even on a computer, I don't work as fast as you :-)

And ... I stitched "B My Valentine". Yes, I do still stitch some of my own designs :-)

Got to visit a lovely little cross stitch shop here in Denver. Fanci Mats and More in the "old town" section of Littleton is hosting a trunk show for us. Bright, cheerful and well-stocked shop with lots and lots of beautiful models to get those stitching juices flowing. We delivered the trunk show and couldn't resist spending some extra time perusing all there was to see and (we admit it) touch. Cindy, the owner of the shop, will have the show through the weekend so if you live anywhere near the Denver area try to get over and see the new things. Yes, she has the Butterfly Garden along with the Year of Flowers cushion and folio and B My Valentine. An extra bonus ... on the left side of the shop is a yarn store, on the right, an antique shop. What more can you ask for folks?

Oliver was 1 year old on January 29th. How time flies! We spent the morning at the dog park then stopped by the local pet store on the walk home. He got to pick out several treats and a little toy. He doesn't care much about the toys and treats but loves the store because it's always full of people and other dogs. He's turned into a wonderful companion with a sweet temperament and clownish personality. I am sure that Beaupierre is probably around the same age, though we don't know exactly when he was born, so I decided to celebrate his birthday the same day. Though he didn't get to go to the dog park with us :-) he got a few special treats and a new toy.

He's now about 30 or so pounds ... about 22" tall at the hips ... so that's going to be it I think. Right on target for a Beardie. They tell me his coat can continue to change (drastically) in color until he's about 3 years old and will get much longer as he matures but I sure hope he's going to be a "stay black. You never know with this breed. He has beautiful big brown eyes which you never get to see unless you know him very, very well.

So enough bragging mom. Back to the drawing board so I can get new things out to those wonderful, patiently still waiting model stitchers. It's a long road from conception to completion.

And as I glance out the window I can see that Mr. Squirrel is waiting for me to fill the bird feeder so he can knock it down and eat all the seeds before the birds get to it. Better get out there and get it filled before the snow starts to fly :-)

Have a great day ... Enjoy! Sit and stitch a bit.

Cynthia

Happy New Year and a Big Thank You!

2012-01-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to all of you who purchased "The Menagerie" this year and made our contributions to "Best Friends" possible. I received this "thank you" email from them this morning but it really belongs to all of you who contributed by buying the chart and enabling me to send the donations to them.

Thank you all for helping me help these angels.

Enjoy the photos and video:

Dear Cynthia,

I just wanted to thank you again for your love and support. Because you made miracles happen for so many animals in 2011.

For some – like Rhubarb,who came to Best Friends with a serious condition – your gifts provided the miracle of love. For others – like Snowy, a cat who was adopted from Best Friends after being rescued from sickness in the freezing outdoors – it was the miracle of lifeand love.

In fact, you made so many miracles happen over the past year, that we wanted share with you a video tribute to your kindness. So please enjoy this special video, highlighting many of the animals living happily ever after because of you.

Plus please take a moment to enjoy the2011 Guardian Angel album online, spotlighting some of the most special stories of all.

And remember, these are just some of the animals whose lives you’ve touched this year. All around the country, your support of Best Friends saves lives every single day.

All of these triumphs, all of the stories you enjoy on the Best Friends website, and so many more happened only because of your caring. For that, I am deeply appreciative. Thank you for your continued support … and for helping us all move closer to a time when there are No More Homeless Pets.

I've never had a Christmas Tree ....

2011-12-07T12:17:00.007-07:00

AND a cat before. I've found this requires rehanging all the lower ornaments at least once each day. Usually more often. That is if the ornaments that Beaupierre has removed from the tree and scattered around the house are not found by Oliver ... in which case they can't be rehung because they are pretty much destroyed.

I'm glad my animals are getting so much "joy" from my holiday decorations :-)

Tried twisting the wire hangers several times around the branches so Beau couldn't get them off. Doesn't seem to work. When thwarted from batting them off the tree, he has somehow found a way to remove them entirely from the hanging thingies (you know, the little cap that goes on the top).

I love my animal friends ... so I've decided the only solution is to do a "search, retrieve and replace" mission several times a day to offset Beaupierre's "search and destroy" missions.

Some new charts added to the side bar ... released mid-November. A little late getting them up here but I am a major procrastinator when it comes to updating the blog. Maybe if I can figure out how to do it on the iPad ... I'll get better at it.

Book of Days was in response to those of you who told me you couldn\'t stand the thought of putting those little pocket calendars in your purse after you spent so much time and care stitching them. Voila! A desk calendar cover. It is sized to fit Exaclair's Quo Vadis Note 27 Desk Diary refill, which I personally use and love. You can purchase it on our web site along with the chart and stitching supplies or it is available from many good stationary stores. Even with all our iPads and iPhones and other ways of keeping calendars, I still find it comforting and lovely to keep a desk calendar in my own unique handwriting. For those of you who also like to do this, the Book of Days will give you a way to show off your stitching skills on your (literal not virtual) desk top.

The holidays are fast approaching and .... most of my shopping and ALL of my decorating (except whatever Beaupierre "un-decorates" each day) is finished.

Just need to wrap all those packages and put them under the tree. On second thought, maybe not. I think I'll wait till Christmas Eve. I don't have any experience with cats and brightly wrapped packages with ribbons and bows and sparklies all over them but the ornament thing has given me a pretty good idea what could happen. After the trip to Costco for all the dinner "fix ins" I'm set. I get to enjoy the rest of it. (I actually enjoy the cooking Christmas dinner part).

My new neighborhood goes all out for the decorating thing .... not only for Christmas but for Halloween which was a kick. The guy down the street had an assortment of mummies, ghouls and even a man hung from the gallows (life size mind you) in his front yard along with fog and sound effects. He hasn't gotten his Christmas decorations up but I can hardly wait to see them ... or not? Perhaps he only does Halloween? At any rate Ollie and I are planning a "Twighlight Light Walk" in the next few weeks to get a look at them up close and personal.

It's nice to be in my new home with my new and old families for the season. Lots going on in Denver. My son and I are thinking of doing the "Zoolights". He didn't want to do the "Blossom Lights" at the Botanic Garden so Zoolights was the compromise (quote ... "the Botanic Gardens are soooooo boring"). Both Ollie and Beaupierre will be having their first Christmas. I can't help but get a little sad thinking that this is my first Christmas without Sami. He was a champion package opener. Too bad they don't give an AKC Pedigree Performance Title for that, cause he would have had one. He could have been "Iamsamiam, CPO (champion package opener :-). Just loved to open packages. My daughter and I were wondering how Ollie will do with them. We will see if he gets to be "Riverwood's Oliver Twist and Shout, CPO.

My best wishes for the happiest of holidays for all of you and all of your loved ones. Enjoy! Savor the moments! We are allotted so precious few.

Cynthia

Please help if you can ...

2011-10-12T13:48:00.001-07:00

This just in from "Best Friends in Utah:

Zorah's Story

She is so beautiful. Please help if you can! I wish I could take her but I live in a rental right now with a tiny, tiny yard and don't think she would do well here. Anyone out there with a farm or large yard or ? Please contact:

lindanovitski@gmail.com

419-575-3820

I totally forgot ....

2011-09-26T09:06:00.001-07:00

... to update this blog with the new charts which were available at the beginning of September.

My apologies. I have been so busy designing and trying to get new designs to model stitchers that I accidentally left out this important step in the "new release" process.

Check them out at right.

Otherwise .... just very, very busy. Having a fun time planning new things, drawing new things, charting new things, enjoying my new neighborhood and the new additions to my family.

As predicted by many, Ollie and Beaupierre have become best of friends. It's really a joy to see them together. Ollie, such a gentle soul, lets Beaupierre use his tail for a cat toy. Beaupierre courageously puts up with Ollie's attempts to pick him up and carry him around the house. Ollie has decided that Beaupierre gets first shot at any "floor food" and first drink from the fresh water bowl in the morning. I absolutely love this delightful little dog. What a sweet-tempered personality he has! He is now a favorite at the local dog park for his playful spirit and ability to get along with even the most aggressive dogs. Beau is just beautiful, funny and affectionate. I am blessed to have these animals in my life. They bring me smiles and laughter each and every day. My thanks to whoever, up there, arranges these things.

And my thanks to the many of you who offered your stitching services. Rest assured they will be disbursed as soon as they are off the computer and on to the printer. One is going out today ... four more to go. Anne-Catherine and Evelyne ... your packages WILL arrive but am holding onto them until I have some special things completed for you.

Life is good. I read something the other day that struck a cord, supposedly a quote from Rodin:

"The more simple I am, the more complete I become"

Life is short. Enjoy ... everything,

Cynthia

Sneak Peak

2011-08-27T21:44:00.002-07:00

Our final Calendar Covers are finished and waiting for photography. We apologize for the delay in getting them out but ....

The move, the move, the move!

How aggravating certain aspects of moving are! There are always some things that mistakenly get shipped to the old address and, as Murphy's law would have it, this is exactly what happened. We have two other pieces in addition to the Calendar covers that we want to release at the same time and the frame and mat for one and the finishing fabric for the other are waiting for me on my old doorstep in Steamboat. So I will leave early Monday to make the drive to pick them up. Back on Tuesday so we can finish the final pieces and get the photography done. After photography, thanks to our wonderful new digital world, it is only a few hours of work to insert the photos into the charts and print. It looks like it will probably be after Labor Day when we can start shipping. We will get the photos posted to the web site as soon as they are downloaded from the camera.

In the meantime, while you wait for me to get back from Steamboat and get our new releases back on track, I have a sneak peak of the Calendar Covers in a special format. I know that many of you are stitching them all together on one piece of linen instead of making them into calendar/check book covers. (One customer mentioned that she was horrified by the idea of putting one in her pocket book after all the time it took to stitch and finish.) I thought it would be fun to take all my original drawings for each month and photoshop them into one piece. The result:

Click for a larger version. If you are stitching them all together or have considered doing so, this is pretty much what they will look like.

Be back soon. Until then .... happy trails,

Cynthia

On a happier note :-)

2011-08-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

My little family ... playing in my office while I work. They share toys, a water bowl ... and romps around the house. Ollie is starting to use his paws like a cat though. Funny to see this big-footed fur ball playing like a kitten. I think I know who is going to be the "Alpha" in the house ... and it isn't me and it isn't the big furry guy.

Sad ....

2011-08-20T09:44:00.009-07:00

commentary ....

I woke up this morning to find an email informing me of yet another cross stitch "sharing" site. A little "members only" site run by a large Chinese conglomerate. You can join by simply entering a user name and your email address and then .... you can upload cross stitch charts so that everyone else who is a member can download them.

There I found that just by posting enough comments I could earn "gold coins". And what could I do with these "gold coins"? I could download almost all of my charts for free. I could also earn even more "gold coins" by uploading any chart in my collection.

Trouble is ... I can't pay my rent or buy groceries with these "gold" coins. And I'm going to have trouble paying my rent and buying groceries if my charts continue to be pirated on these kinds of sites.

They call it "sharing". On this board people are actually thanking each other for "sharing". They are posting comments like "thank you for sharing this beautiful chart". Sharing? Strange new definition for "sharing". Stealing is what it is actually.

I don't know about you but I don't think I would enjoy stitching a chart that I know I had stolen. It would nag at me constantly with each stitch I took. Same reason I don't steal movies or music over the internet. Something would just bother me about listening to that music or watching that movie.

Everyone says ... "Hey, you're just taking from a big multinational corporation.... Sony Pictures, Universal, NBC. They make millions of dollars. You're just taking one song, one movie ... and times are tough. What difference will it make?"

It will make a big karmic difference! Because then that attitude starts to seep down into everything we do. We justify downloading free cross stitch patterns over the internet to save $8.00. We justify stealing from a fellow stitcher who earns her living designing the charts that give us so many hours of pleasure. Pretty soon we're justifying not returning that extra change that the cashier gave us by mistake. Pretty soon we don't bother to return that wallet we found on the sidewalk. Pretty soon every thing we do is about "us" and what "we" want or feel entitled to. Pretty soon we don't care about what happens to others anymore.

Karmic quicksand.

And it's not just me. There were thousands of charts there. Everyone from Lizzie Kate to Miribilia. All your favorite designers .... available for download .... for FREE!! Yahoo!!! They'll never miss that little bit of income you stole from them .... right? Right?

As I'm getting ready to release new charts, this was particularly discouraging. I began to think "what's the point?" Months and months of work and then people will just upload them to these sites. It really doesn't seem worth it anymore. It's too difficult to try to keep up with these "pirates". A few weeks, sometimes just a few days, after the new designs are released they are available for free download on the internet. I'm a very, very small enterprise. One person. I don't have the strength or endurance or resources to hunt down and fight these "pirates".

So what to do? Perhaps look for a job where people can't freely and easily steal part of my paycheck each month.

I am not so much angry as I am discouraged. I have this talent for designing these patterns and I love doing it but it is time consuming and tedious work. There comes a point when you have to decide if working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week is worth it. If I'm not earning enough to pay the rent or buy groceries, then I need to find a job where I will.

I wish these people would stop and think for just a moment before they hit the "download" button. Do they understand that what they are doing is stealing? Do they realize they are stealing part of someone's monthly paycheck? Do they realize that they are contributing to the demise of their own favorite hobby. This kind of pirating does not hurt just one designer. It hurts hundreds. It hurts the entire industry. Each time someone downloads an illegal copy of a chart a designer loses part of their income, a distributor loses part of their income and a shop owner loses part of their income. It adds up quickly.

Why are so many shops closing and why are so many good designers quitting the business and moving on to other occupations?

Because so many thieves are shoplifting from them that they can't afford to stay in business any longer.

What goes around comes around,

Cynthia

Quick Update

2011-08-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were rooting for Beau, he now has a new home with us here on Quitman Street ... and sort of a new name.

I decided to keep the name he came with, much as I did with Mister Oliver, but when I got him home my son started calling him "Pierre". Go figure. At any rate I call him Beau. My son calls him Pierre and it just sort of naturally melded into "Beaupierre".

Been a very, very long time since I've had a cat but I've always wanted to have both a dog and kitty living with me. So far so good with Oliver and Monsieur Beaupierre. Oliver is still learning to restrain himself with the little guy. He likes to lick and clean him but sometimes that big furry mouth opens up just a bit. Luckily he has what is know as a "soft mouth" (or soft bite) and is a very gentle soul with little prey drive. Monsieur Beaupierre, on the other hand, knows no fear and is already running around the house, perching on bookshelves and tables and tauting Mr. Twist. I think he is going to be pretty darn good at taking care of himself and won't need me to watch over him for long. As soon as I can get them both to sit still together ... a few minutes a day Ollie decides to lay down with him and clean him up ... I'll try to get some pix of them together. Meanwhile, may I introduce Monsieur Beaupierre:

All in all it's quite wonderful to have these two lounging around in my office as I work ... or scampering around the office while I try to work, depending on the time of day and the energy level of one or both. Beaupierre has a love of the desktop and, just as many of you warned me, is frequently draped across the keyboard. Good excuse for not getting much work done this week.

I can't stop watching them. So cute! So funny!

Happy little family :-) Now if I can just teach Beaupierre to run along side the bicycle with Ollie ..... :-)

Cynthia

Has it been ...

2011-07-26T19:59:00.001-07:00

more than two months since I've posted? How time flies when you are NOT having fun!

The move is, for the most part, completed. What an undertaking. I'm having trouble reorienting myself to a normal life right now. No boxes to pack? No boxes to upack? What????

Almost everything is in it's place and we are functioning quite well given that we only had two weeks to get this thing done. There are a few items we can't find yet but I know from experience that they will turn up eventually, a few weeks or a few years from now ... or not ... but all the little necessities and knicks and knacks are settled. One more trip up to Steamboat in August to have a garage sale and do the final cleaning and then I am ready to leave that part of my life behind and fully concentrate on this part.

And it is sooooo good to have a little free time that isn't taken up by packing or unpacking something.

This weekend I had a few spare hours to get the old Bianchi fired up and ready to go. Two nice sized panniers for the back. Was considering a front basket but someone recommended these and they will be perfect for my errands. They snap on and off the bike rack and open up into nice size shopping bags. Sturdy lock ("I don't think we're in Steamboat any more Oliver" :-) and a pump. I'm ready to roll:

Decided to try to train Mr. Twist (Oliver) to run beside the bike as there is a lovely, large park with a bike path running around a lake just a few blocks from here. A little run every evening could burn up some of that crazy excess energy that seems to pop up around 9 or 10 pm. He took to it like a champ. Beardies are bred for agility and herding and it really came out when I gave him a task to focus on that required quick thinking and concentration. Only six months old and he worked it like a pro! Never once stopped to look up at me (a big problem when you need to keep the momentum going) and never once ran in front of the bike. I was very proud of him ... especially given the lack of attention he shows in all other activities. He is definitely NOT going to be a fetcher :-) But he's going to be a great bike dog.

Oliver before and after bike training :-)

So, we are both adapting to this urban life-style quite well. I spent most of my young adult life in Los Angeles and San Francisco so I'm no stranger to this. Will miss the beauty of the mountains but I know it will lessen with time ... especially when the snow starts to fly. Love the close proximity of EVERYTHING. Can walk or bike to food, shopping and entertainment not to mention the dog groomer and a really, really cool pet store :-) In fact we walked up there today to get some new "chewies". They have the sweetest kitten up for adoption (they are working with a homeless pet shelter so NOT a mill cat) named Bo ... and it was great to see that Oliver likes cats. No prey drive whatsoever ... and Bo ... well I've always wanted a puppy and kitten that could grow up together. Bo is thin, petite and long legged. A real cutie pie. Hmmmmm ... you'll have to wait and see what happens. I don't even know yet :-)

But, I digress. This blog is supposed to be about Needlework, at least some of the time.

Just before the move I received some lovely new charts from Marie Thérèse Saint-Aubin. If you're a fan, check out the designs on our web site.

At the same time I received another package from France with some stitched models. Lovely job Anne-Catherine and Evelyne! I finally got my spare bedroom (also known as the "finishing department") set up yesterday so I can finish what my friends have started. October, November and December calendar covers are being stitched now which should give me enough time to get them finished and out by the end of August. Couldn't resist another little Halloween piece which I managed to stitch when not packing or unpacking boxes. New christmas piece is being worked on in Massachusetts. Thank you Nataly for taking that one on! So, between the four of us, we should have some pretty interesting things to release in August and then again in October.

And many more on the horizon. Going back to the garden, both literally and figuratively, with a new series and working slowly and lovingly on a teaching piece as when the dust settles here, I hope to get out there and meet some of you in person. The Denver Airport is now just a 25 minute drive instead of 3.5 hours (or up to 10 when the pass was snowed under) and I have loving siblings close by to look after Oliver when I leave.

We are busily preparing for the Rocky Mountain Regional Seminar's Merchandise Night on August 5th. Hope to meet and greet many of you there so please stop by and say hello if you're attending!

RMR Seminar 2011, Denver, Colorado

Lots to look forward to.

We are busy. We are content.

Off to the park so Oliver can practice being a bike dog :-)

Then maybe walk to Parisi's for Pizza and gelato????

TTYS,

Cynthia

At last ...

2011-05-15T15:47:00.001-07:00

Spring time in the Rockies.

I am so grateful that the glacier in my back yard has finally melted. Now of course, I have mostly mud instead of ice but there are a few little green strands coming up here and there through the muck. The Iris are just peeking out of the mulch in the flower bed and we've had three or four sunny days in a row. Though I would never discount the possibility of snow in May in Steamboat ... I'm beginning to think Spring has arrived. This has been the roughest, coldest, longest winter I remember in a long time but it gave me the extra push I needed to move without too many regrets. There are many things I will miss about this beautiful, quiet place ... but another winter is not one of them. Maybe this past year was nature's way of telling me it really IS time to move on.

At any rate, it seems petty to vetch and moan about ice and snow when so many of you in other parts of the country are dealing with much bigger issues. My heart goes out to all of you dealing with flooding, tornadoes and of course the other storms life brings. The loss of loved ones, the economy, unemployment. My prayer today is that we all find the strength and purpose to forge ahead. I was listening to the sound track from "Parenthood" recently and the words to one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs struck a chord (no pun intended) so I'm keeping it on instant replay in my head ... and in my heart:

May you build a ladder to the stars

and climb on every rung

and may you stay

forever young

It has not been all gray and snow and rain here. A very special little light came into my life in April and ... for the most part ... he is a brilliant one. The antidote to a long, cold winter. Makes me laugh. Makes me exercise. Relieves stress. Well maybe causes a little stress too. Okay, a lot of stress. No one told me that having a puppy was sort of like having an infant. Only difference seems to be mopping up instead of changing diapers. And of course babies don't jump on you, chew on your hands and then the legs of the dining room table. Nor do they try to make off with bulk skeins of Waterlilies. He bites. He chews. He barks when I put him in his crate. He drags all the mud from the back yard into the kitchen. He is also the cutest little cuddle monster I've ever seen.

Oliver Twist - 12 Weeks

Found a house to rent in Denver. A great place with plenty of room for The Drawn Thread, a fenced yard for Oliver and within walking distance of Sunflower Market and Parisi's (my favorite restaurant, deli, pizzeria, gelatoria). I'm very relieved to know I have a place and have set a moving date. July 1 - 7 will be moving week ... so fair warning. We will probably shut down operations here at the end of June ... start packing up my personal stuff and The Drawn Thread ... and hand it over to the movers on July 7. I figure it's going to take a couple of weeks for us to get everything put away so we will be closed for orders from July 1 through the 15th. I know that seems like a long time ... but to move, personally, and at the same time dismantle an entire business, move it 100 miles and then reassemble it in a new location is going to be a daunting task so please bear with us during this time and get any orders you feel you will need before the end of July in before the end of June.

Speaking of orders, in between selling a house, trying to raise a puppy and spending most of my time in Denver searching for new digs, I've only managed to come up with 3 new designs for this quarter ... and that only because of those wonderful ladies in France. I didn't want to cause anyone working on the Calendar series get behind in their project so we managed to get those out on time. You can view the photos at right. The web site will be updated shortly and we will begin shipping next week.

Wanted to also note that we will be at the Rocky Mountain Regional 2011 EGA Seminar Merchandise night - August 5th from 7-9 pm with a table full of goodies. If you are attending or are in the area, please stop by and visit. More information available at:

www.rmga.org

Many more things on the drawing board, sitting by my stitching chair and in France ... so we hope to start (or finish) August with quite a few new surprises. For those of you who just couldn't bear to put those pocket calendar covers in your purse, we are working on desk calendar covers, a stitching journal, a sampler tribute to "My Little Town" that I will soon be leaving, and many other little surprises. Stay tuned and have patience while we make this move and .....

Stay forever young,

Cynthia

It's all good ...

2011-03-08T10:28:00.003-07:00

Good news, that is.

Thanks to the generosity of stitchers, we have begun our sponsorship of some "friends" at "Best Friends". Since it is your dollars that are providing these sponsorships, I wanted to share with you what we have been able to do with the funds from "The Menagerie" so far ... I say so far because we are hoping we will be able to continue these sponsorships with the profits from this chart.

Here are our three new "best friends":

Candy/Sandy

Gregory

And last but not least ... for all the cat fanciers that bought "The Menagerie" ...

the loveliest kitty we've seen in a long time ... just look at those eyes!

Big Snow

You can read their stories by clicking on their names ... then scroll down the page to find them.

One other special photo:

There is a litter of these little cuties being born in Loveland, Colorado on March 21 or 22 and I am trying to think of a name for mine. Any suggestions? There will be 5 to 7 puppies in this litter. The mom is a beautiful black and white beardie. The dad is brown and white. I have requested a black and white male ... for obvious reasons. I'll keep you posted.

And last, but not least, I have sold my home. Unfortunately, part of the deal is that I rent it back for six months. Okay. Nice slow move. So I will also keep you all posted as to when the move will occur and if we will have to shut down operations for a few weeks to accomplish this task.

I promised good news. I delivered :-)

My thanks to all of you for your support of "The Menagerie". You are a very generous group of people.

Love and peace,

Cynthia

... but the show must go on

2011-02-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

And so today I am releasing 8 new designs. I hope you enjoy them. You can click on the photos at right which will take you to their respective pages on our web site.

I did want to note this special release:

The Menagerie

In Sami's memory I am donating profits from the sale of this chart to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. They have a wonderful program where you can sponsor an animal, or many animals, so Sami is going to sponsor as many friends as he can, to make sure they also have a chance for a quality life and a "forever" home.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

I thank you so much for your continued support of our efforts and hope to be back here soon ... with happier chit chat and/or better news.

Cynthia

Thank You

2011-02-05T09:12:00.001-07:00

I want to thank all of you for expressing your sympathy and support. My Sam was a blessing ... and a gift. He never held a grudge, never regretted the past and did not fear the future. He was never mean or spiteful, never felt sorry for himself and forgave quickly. He never passed judgement. He just noted what worked and what didn't and then moved on. His mind was unencumbered by hate, prejudice or stereotype. His heart was open to the potentials and possibilities of each person, place or thing he encountered (a porcupine encounter comes to mind here :-). Each day was a gift to him. He was just as happy to respond to an invitation to play a bit of catch or take a long hike along Fish Creek as he was to sleep beside my chair for hours while I stitched.

Though I miss his physical presence every day, following his example by living life happily in the moment and loving unconditionally will keep his spirit alive and serve to honor his memory more than tears and grieving. That was my promise to him as we parted and I will do my best to keep it. I'm sure I will never be as good at it as he was.

Thank you all for your beautiful words. Hug your pet today. If you don't have one, think about going out and rescuing one. You'll be amazed at what they bring into your life ... literally and figuratively :-)

Cynthia and Sam

2011-02-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Iamsamiam

1996 - 2011

Loyal friend and faithful companion.

You will be missed.

Thanks and Giving

2010-11-29T22:26:00.003-07:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays ... made up of two of my favorite words. This year I witnessed an amazing demonstration of the second word, "giving", as I watched a young chef spend an entire day in the kitchen making a dinner for a group of us that I won't soon forget. Amazing meal that took weeks to plan and prep and then an entire day to prepare and serve. That was the "giving". Since I have been the "giver" of the meal for more than 20 years, I was grateful to be able to sit back, relax and watch someone else prepare it. That was the "thanks". Watching and feeling grateful for the effort made by our chef was my only job. How nice to be given an opportunity to be truly grateful. Thanks and Giving. Two things we should probably make an effort to practice more than once a year.

And what a year. Rough year ... for many of us. And yet, I find if I take the time and open my eyes and search my heart, I can always find things to be thankful for, even in the toughest times. So after a bad day, or a stressful week, or a few dark hours, I always try to spend a few moments in the evening doing a little gratitude meditation so I don't get carried away by troubles and tribulations and end up going to bed with them (yuck! Who wants to sleep with those guys :-) It's amazing what a little "gratitude" meditation can do for your mood.

Not to mention your sleep :-)

Meanwhile, more thanks are in order. I want to thank my friend Evelyne Kaczmarek for the beautiful job she did stitching the model for "Alphabets" which is due to start shipping .... let's see ... tomorrow! A few new projects to help ring in the New Year. You can see the photos at right and of course, please visit the web site for more details. This was not an easy piece to stitch and Evelyne did an amazing job. I was so impressed that I did as many "close-up" photos as I could but they still don't really do it justice. Thank you my friend for a spectacular job ... on a difficult piece. Your help and support are worth more than you'll ever know.

After running out of wall space, I have been giving a lot of thought to designing things that are a bit more useful ... common, day to day items that can be made beautiful with a touch of embroidery. Why not show off our needlework on the little everyday objects in our lives and make them as "personal" and "special" as we can? The little calendar covers are the first of this group. They are made to cover the small, inexpensive promotional calendars given out by many companies this time of year. I've always carried one in my purse, but never liked the plastic covers that came with them and so, voila, something a little more attractive without too much work involved.

Am working on a cover for my large weekly desk calendar, for my journal, for note pads, shopping lists, coupon organizers, etc. etc. We also have another large sampler stitched (thank you Anne-Catherine) and almost ready to go and many other little objects and projects in the works. Some being stitched, some still on the drawing board and some still in my head. So, keep watching to see what turns up.

Meanwhile, it's late. Been a very long day. I need to go do some of that "gratitude" meditation so I can fall into bed and sleep like a grateful baby.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

2010-09-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

After my last post ... about crossing my fingers and hoping everything kept working ....

More bad juju. All programs crashed again. Computer wouldn't recognize printers. Talked to Adobe (for hours). Talked to Apple (for hours). I seemed to be spending most of my time making new friends in technical support everywhere in the world ... but getting little or no other work done. I love making new friends but my career was starting to suffer ...

So, the decision was made. Return the new computer with the new operating system to Apple. Try to replicate my old computer and system by buying a used one. Wait a week for new computer to arrive. Wait a week for new software to arrive then start over again from scratch. Load all new software, print drivers, etc. etc. and pray that it all works.

Prayers answered. All working. Big sigh.

This week, I re-built the web-site using the new program. Got the web-site uploaded and the email program working. Now, the last on the list "update blog".

It's been a heck of a month ... so far one that I never want to repeat. But I'm grateful to be back up and operating ... grateful to be once again functioning in cyberspace ... and able to update this blog and

MOVE ON!!!

You can see photos of the new releases for September on the right side. I am too tired and too brain dead to try to get the "slide show" working and besides, I've lost all my passwords for almost every on-line service I use so it would be just too stressful to attempt that this morning. Please visit the website where you can see large photos and get all the information.

Some major "thanks" are in order here. First to my daughter for putting up with a very hysterical and depressed mother for the past 3 weeks. No excuses but it has not been easy to deal with disaster after disaster while trying to keep the house clean and be "out of it" for 2 hours at a time roughly 15 times this month. Without your support through the computer crisis, I think I would have given up.

Thanks to my dear friend Anne-Catherine Seres for stitching our beautiful model of "To Everything A Season". Perfectly executed in an amazingly short time and delivered to into my hands way before deadline. Thanks in advance to Evelyne Kaczmarek .... for the soon to be released "Alphabets". These two friends have given me so much of their time ... time that I didn't foresee that I would desperately need once the computer crashed. They made it possible for me to focus on the computer issues I needed to focus on ... and still get design ideas onto linen and into chart form. Thank you both for your love, generosity, friendship and support. There is no one else quite like you two!

And to all others who lent their ears and sympathy when I thought I really wanted to give up. Thanks for not allowing me to!

Now ... onward ... to the next challenge ... or maybe a reward? I could use a little reward :-)

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

What a month ....

2010-08-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

so far :-(

Last Friday my entire hard drive crashed. I couldn't believe it.

My daughter raced over to the Apple Store in Denver and brought a new one up on Wednesday. Meanwhile I took the old one in to a place here in Steamboat called "MacRanch" and a very patient, persistent and bright young man named Chris retrieved all my files from the hard drive ... and we thought all was well.

We got the accounting program and all its data back up and running on the new computer... retrieved the software for the mailing list, though I had to rebuild most of the data files ... and we thought all was well. All the data files for the new and archived charts, as well as the web site were rescued and in their proper places and I breathed a big sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, none of my Adobe application files would load on the new computer. So, though I had retrieved all my data, I couldn't access any of it :-(

Apparently the new computer also has a new operating system that the Adobe programs haven't quite caught up with. After a very, very long, stressful week and many hours on the phone with Adobe Support, it still wasn't working. I had really pretty much given up. Went to bed last night saying to myself, I'll just deal with it tomorrow.

This morning I got up and gave it one last try. Inserted the Adobe CS4 disk in the new computer's drive and tried loading a few programs. They loaded!!! Then a few more ... and they loaded too! And now, knock on wood, they all seem to be functioning and stable.

Whewwwwwww.

The only glitch ... the old program I used to build and upload my website will not function on the new operating system, so I need to convert the web site into a new program this weekend and I will be back to normal. It will be a long weekend. It was a long week.

So, if your orders were a little slower going out than usual, you will know that we were struggling to salvage a whole computer system and all the data that accompanies a small company at the same time we were trying to keep up with orders, keep inventory stocked and keep kit manufacturing on target.

I think we did an okay job of getting through this. I have a great big hard drive sitting on my desk and an automatic backup program is doing its thing every hour on the hour. I have learned what is critical to back up and what is not. I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about computer operating systems and programs and how and where data is stored.

I want to thank my daughter for her help and support while all this was going on. She went above and beyond ... traveling to Steamboat from Denver with a new computer, sitting for hours on hold with Adobe Support systems ... filling orders and cutting fabric and making runs to the post office while I struggled with programs that wouldn't load and data I couldn't find. Without her, I would have been inclined to give up the ship ... but she kept it steadily moving forward in very turbulent waters. Thank you Hana.

Wish me luck this weekend getting that website converted! It's the last thing that needs to be done to get us back up to "pre-crash" speed.

Cynthia

I hope everyone ....

2010-07-07T16:41:00.001-07:00

had a fun and festive fourth! It was cool and rainy here but that didn't stop us from celebrating with our annual Steamboat Springs 4th of July parade and, of course, a giant fireworks display. Was it my imagination or was it just a bit shorter than last year ... the parade and the display?

Still, it was lovely with lots of sparkly explosions and a massive finale. We watched from high up on a hill at the Colorado Mountain College, which was a bit of a change for us. Usually we're down in the park with a picnic and wine, looking up at all the lights. This year it was just too rainy to do the picnic thing, so we had the fried chicken and salad and strawberries at home and then, just as we knew they were about to begin (almost missed the "begin") we made our way up the hill to see the display.

And now, finally, no more snow. I need to replace that dreary May picture with a lovelier view ... of my Siberian Iris blooming in the garden:

Much nicer than snow, don't you think? I've always planted these beauties in every garden I've owned for the past 30 years and, though I now live in a Townhome and have few formal gardening areas, I still found a space for them. I can't imagine a summer without the pleasure of watching them bloom so I was thinking ... when and if this place ever sells, perhaps I should dig up a few bulbs and carry them with me to the next nesting place.

And, just in case I don't, or can't or for some reason never plant another garden (god forbid) I was happy to find a chart of these same treasured blooms by one of my favorite designers:

Iris de Siberie by Marie Thérèse Saint-Aubin

and decided I had to add it to my stash ... and so I did, along with a few other designs ... and now I've also added them to the web site so you can enjoy them too. If you love stitching flowers as much as I do, check out the new ones by Marie Thérèse that we've just added to her page:

http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitsmtsa.html

We've also added some new designs by Sampler Cove:

http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitssc.html

and some "new to us" Beardie Designs charts:

http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitsbrd.html

and I bet you think I've forgotten all about our "Christmas in July" ornament, but I haven't. It is sitting right here on my desk just waiting for it's final photograph. The kits are almost ready to go, the chart is just waiting for the photograph and then we can print it. Unfortunately, we have been backordered on the beautiful bell pull hardware that we ordered for it and need to put those in the kits before we can begin shipping. No word from Germany yet on their status but we will keep you updated. Hopefully we will still be able to do this "Christmas" thing in July. If not, think Christmas in August. Christmas in September? We've got our fingers crossed.

In the meantime I am honored to be the "featured" designer in the "Gift of Stitching" in August and I can't wait to see how they photograph the project we sent. We are also moving along on new releases for September. Two nice samplers and a small calendar cover to go along with one of them ... and who knows what else we might come up with by then. I'm getting some very strong "Halloween" vibes right now so perhaps I should say adieu and get back to the drawing board.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

2010-05-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 9:30 a.m., May 15, 2010

Yikes! Tired of snow. Can you believe this?

It's been a while ...

2010-05-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

... since I've been here. It's been a very busy couple of months and I have no excuses for not keeping in touch other than that the blog kept being pushed down a very long list of things that needed to be done.

But now, with a few quiet moments this morning, and new releases to tell you about, I have taken it from the bottom of the list and put it at the top. Other things can wait a few moments while I take some time to get back in touch.

First of all, new releases are on the slide show at right. "When I Am Sewing" also took a while to get to the top of the list but when it did, I enjoyed every minute of it ... and the little saying on the back of the portfolio seemed so ... appropriate? The days DO pass quickly when I am sewing. And the seasons have changed from cold, windy February to the beginning of May gardens ... at least in most places. Here? Well, here we had snow again last night as we have had 4 or 5 nights out of every week for all of April.

Snow is so lovely when the first flakes begin to drift down in November (or October if you live in the Colorado mountains), but by May it's lost most of it's charm and is just "not appreciated" any longer. And I can't seem to tamp down the urge to plant something ... vegetables, flowers .... anything. I am having these incredible urges to dig in some dirt ... but when there is still snow to shovel off the back deck ... well ...

Just one of the many reasons I have been spending a good amount of my time trying to get the house reorganized and "de-cluttered" so I can put it on the market next month. Time to move to a slightly less snowy environment I think. Some place with a growing season of more than two months. You know, somewhere where we're not getting hard freezes the first week in June.

The real estate industry tells us that in order to make the house ready for sale and to appeal to potential buyers, we need to make it look as if "no one lives there". Good concept but have you ever tried to actually live, day to day, in a house that needs to look like no one lives there ... when you actually do ... live AND work there? Hmmm. It's a struggle, and I do miss the huge collection of framed personal photos that I built a bookshelf around (all packed away in boxes in the garage now) ...

but I just keep telling myself it's only temporary and, with some good karma and lots of prayers, it will sell quickly and I will be nesting again somewhere else before too long. Somewhere I can grow little lettuces and carrots and a few flowers for the table.

In the meantime, in between stitching and drawing and packing away all my personal effects, I have attended a very special graduation ceremony ... an especially important event for me and all those involved. My daughter graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, this month with a degree in Political Science. Four years of hard work and dedication on her part made the celebration possible ... and we had a wonderful time. I cried at her high school graduation and I cried at this one too. I suppose I will cry at the wedding whenever that occurs, and have the same kind of happy tears in my eyes when I look at my first grandchild, but then I am a sentimental old fool and take these milestones very seriously. She was lovely. I was proud. I never cease to be amazed at her strength, resilience and drive. She always finishes what she starts. She always keeps her promises. She always does her very best and she always manages to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing. So, she is graduated from college now. Onward and upward. Enough bragging for one blog.

Now that "When I am Sewing" and "Button Boxes" are on the press and ready to ship, I am working on our July releases which should come out in July (ideally) unless of course the house sells in the meantime, in which case I will be in the middle of packing and moving. One can only hope, but I am proceeding as if that happy event won't occur for a while, so ..... planning another limited edition Christmas ornament for "Christmas in July" and there are some lovely, skilled fingers both here and abroad, stitching some samplers that I am pretty excited about. Some things have been on the drawing board for a long time and would never have gotten to the "stitching" stage without all of you who offered to become "professional" stitchers. It's working out rather well. I still work on things that need to be "worked out" little by little, but those things that come to me "whole" and can be drawn and charted complete, are slowly but surely going out to stronger, steadier hands. For those of you who wrote, and haven't received a project yet, I ask your patience as it takes time to work out the colors and fabrics and of course the stitch diagrams and charts. But they will arrive eventually (Candace, I promise :-) I have all of you who offered to stitch on a list and as projects become available, I am contacting each of you. I can't tell you how thrilled and appreciative I was by your response to my request. It's just a long road from conception to completion ... as all of you who have children know :-)

I am also working on several special "teaching" pieces, as when the dust of my life settles, I hope to be able to travel more and teach and meet as many of you as possible. So far, my experiences with those in the stitching community, have shown me that it is a wonderful little "village" of kind and generous women (and men, let's not forget our male stitchers!) with a shared passion that somehow spreads beyond and overflows just the actual stitching part. I am happy and grateful to be a part of that "village".

So, I will try not to push this blog to the bottom of the ever growing "to do" list from now on. Perhaps just a little "I'm here and still kicking folks" once in a while instead of a full blog will be all I can manage, but I will try to keep up with it and keep in touch with you all and hope you all keep in touch with me too.

Cynthia

Interesting Weekend ...

2010-02-10T19:35:00.008-07:00

helping my son rent his first apartment .... and stocking it with food, pots and pans, toaster, microwave, etc. It was bittersweet nudging the last little duckling out of my nest and into his own. Now I'm just hoping that all those vast quantities of bagels and hamburger patties and frozen chicken nuggets don't perish from not being stored in the freezer (as I kept reminding him over and over on the way back to the new apartment ..... puleeezzze remember to put these things in the freezer! Puleeeeezzzzzeeee!). Hopefully it will get him through the next month or at least till he gets his first paycheck. I'm not an advocate of frozen chicken nuggets and burger patties and boxed pancake mix ... but, hey, that's what he wanted and I figured that's what he'd eat. I know if I had bought fresh veggies and fruit and free-range chicken .... those, for sure, would still be sitting on the counter going bad. I know that the huge case of instant mac and cheese, though not particularly healthy, will be zapped in the new microwave and eaten. He won't be hungry.

Mother hen .... doing the best she can long distance.

Sigh.

Missing him today. It seems like just yesterday he was running down the stairs to show me the lego model of the space shuttle he had built Christmas morning. It's an oft-told family story ... about how, excitedly running down the stairs to show us his master piece, he tripped and ....

yup, you know the rest.

I want to thank all of you for your enthusiastic orders of the new designs. We have had many, many requests and were a little behind in the shipping department for a while (especially with the little break for the apartment move in) but seem to be catching up now. So, if you haven't received yours yet, a whole pile of them went out this afternoon. They should be on your doorsteps by early next week.

Since I doubt I'll have the time to get back here before Sunday ... I wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day. May your day be filled with love .... all kinds of love ... brotherly love, romantic love, a mother's love, filial love ... sibling love (does that actually happen sometimes .... maybe later in life?) and, of course, don't forget to love your pets.

I heard the funniest song yesterday. It's from a Norah Jones CD. Obviously she has a dog (cute St. Bernard on the cover .... wonder if that's him?) ... and well, I just laughed and laughed when I heard it because .... I sure know where she's coming from :-)

Man of the Hour - Norah Jones

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

Is it too late ....

2010-01-25T22:38:00.001-07:00

to wish everyone a very happy new year?

I have been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and think for even a few moments. Seems like since Thanksgiving I have had house guests of one sort or another and I am grateful for them, but once things settled down and everyone went back to their respective lives, I had so much work backed up that I've had to keep my nose pretty much to the grindstone every minute since.

But, all the 12 and 14 hour days have paid off and we are ready to release three new designs ... all printed up, packaged and all the supplies for the stitching and finishing kits and thread packs and bead packs are neatly stacked in the shipping room. In addition to our own new patterns, we are happy to be offering a selection of designs from cross stitch artist Marie-Thérèse Saint-Aubin .... AND ... Friendly Embroidery finally arrived to join his companion Tiny embroidery. Now I am just working on getting the website updated and plan to upload that on Wednesday evening ... so check it out Thursday ... or Friday ... or over the weekend.

whew .....

.... on to the next round.

It never ends. Glad that I love what I do. I find I am happiest when I'm busiest ... when I'm designing, when I'm stitching even when I'm just putting beads into little plastic bags ... I love what I do and when I do it, it leaves little room for worries and ruminations. I go to bed tired and happy. I wake up eager to get back to it. My thanks to the career gods. My thanks to all of you who stitch my designs. I am blessed.

I should note that I had to cancel my classes at Celebration of Needlework this year. I found out several weeks ago that my daughter's graduation from college is the same weekend. Sorry folks, but graduation from college trumps all other events. Though I will really miss the fun and games and friendships of Celebrations, I am so very proud of her and wouldn't miss it for the world. I can't wait to see her smiling face in that cap and gown!

Good place to mention that I am also actively recruiting model stitchers. If you are interested in stitching Drawn Thread Designs for not many $$$, please send an email and I can give you details. You need to be a fairly advanced stitcher, very deadline and detail oriented and ... of course ... not too concerned about earning a living :-) We pay industry standards for model stitching but suffice it to say .... you won't be able to quit your day job.

Not too much else to report. Snow, snow and more snow and lots of sub-zero temperatures here. The snow is beautiful ... but gosh I am tired of shoveling that front walk and the back deck. You have no idea how much snow we get here. We average over 300 inches a year. I think most of it has settled on the back deck. There is no where left to shovel it, so now I am just sort of arranging walls of it around the deck ... building a large igloo of sorts.

That's all for now folks. I hope your new year has started off well and my best, though a little late, wishes for a happy, healthy 2010.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,
Cynthia

Merry Christmas to all ...

2009-12-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

and to all a good night ... :-)

Wishing all of you a very joyous holiday ...

Eat lots of goodies (never mind the diet till after the first), hug your kids, if you have them, hug someone else if you don't, put your feet up for a while and relax. Take a nap this afternoon .... you deserve it. All the regular stuff will be still be there waiting for you when you get back.

This year I am in Denver with my children but I will be back to the drawing board on Monday to answer emails, fill orders, etc. Meanwhile ... I'm going to go put on another pot of coffee and warm up some croissants ... waiting for the rest of the crew to get up.

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Vrolijk kerstfeest
Cynthia

I am thankful ...

2009-11-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

... that the turkey is in the oven. I've already made the cranberry sauce ... the potatoes are boiling ... two bottles of Chianti are sitting on the table, pumpkin pie is baked and cooling on the counter and a big, home made bottle of limoncello :-) is icing up in the freezer for after dinner in front of the fireplace. My two beautiful children and several of their friends will be at the table this year ... though they are all off to the mountain for some skiing right now ... or I should say snowboarding since none of them ski anymore.

Somehow I always end up at home with the cooking but I have never minded that job. Every year it gives me a little quiet time to reflect on the year past and the year to come while I peel potatoes and baste the turkey and sneak in a little stitching time between chores.

This year has been interesting. Full of ups and downs for all of us but for the most part, as I look back, I don't think there is much I would change.

And so I make my traditional mental list of what I am thankful for while I chop and baste (turkey, not linen, for a change :-) and stitch:

I am thankful for healthy, happy children who bring youth and joy and laughter into my life each day I am with them.

I am thankful for kind, supportive friends who lend their ears and hands and hearts to me when I least expect it and need it most.

I am thankful that I have been given a job that I love, that brings me pleasure each time I sit down to do it and that hopefully brings others equal pleasure.

I am thankful for all of you who support me in this endeavor, both my customers for purchasing what I dream up and my suppliers who make those dreams a reality.

I am thankful for my home, for the serenity of the mountains it sits in, for the opportunities I have been given to visit other beautiful places, to experience other cultures, to make new friends far and wide.

I am thankful to have this venue to wish all of you many, many things to be thankful for this coming year. May your days be warm and bright and filled with love, friends and family.

And I am thankful that the kids will be coming home from the mountain in a few hours so I can set the table and we can sit to eat together on this day of Thanksgiving ... for that, I am so very thankful.

Peace and Joy, Paix et Joie, Pace e di giolia, Vrede en Vreugde,

Cynthia

Sleeping Giant ...

2009-11-02T18:20:00.005-07:00

... sleeping peacefully in the late afternoon sun. It was a spring-like day here in the Rockies so it seemed like a good idea to get out into it and give the new camera a work out (the old one having finally been retired after many years of diligent service). It's supposed to be just this lovely all week which, when you live in a ski town and it's November 2nd, is NOT a good thing:

No Snow :-(

The ski area opens in just 3 weeks. Doesn't look like the first day is going to be a deep powder day. Then again, you never know. Living in the mountains you learn to expect the unexpected from the weather. So we took a few more photos, just to remind ourselves that it IS early Winter, not early Spring .... and give us hope for a couple of runs on opening day.

No leaves either

Most of the last week was spent updating the website and finishing up our little "Peace and Joy" kits. If you already ordered one, rest assured, it is now on it's way to you. We were only able to make up a limited number of them and have gone through about half that number already, so if you were considering him for your Christmas tree this year, don't delay. When they are gone, they're gone.

Unfortunately, we won't be releasing the large Christmas Sampler, Good Yule, that we were hoping to release for the holidays. The "lost in the mail" debacle in addition to major revisions that need to be made, took it too close to the wire. I would always rather delay a release than release something I'm not happy with. We've decided to keep it until our planned "Christmas in July" when we will release another Limited Edition Ornament and ..... I'm leaning towards a stocking, which I haven't done in many years. Better to start your Christmas stitching in July anyhow, right? At least that way you'll have some hope of getting your projects finished by Christmas Eve.

We are planning on releasing several new things right after the first of the year ... but think "Valentines" and "Spring" as opposed to Christmas. If you're at all like me, you'll be very tired of the decorations by then and ready for a change of pace.

So, now I'm ready to to have a bite to eat and then plan to stitch all evening .... maybe even all night. Who knows. The large doses of oxygen I get from those hikes always seem to give me a second wind (no pun intended :-)

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

In keeping with my promise to myself ...

2009-10-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

to not work on anything of my own or do anything that "has" to be done on Sunday, this morning I worked on a chart that I received from my friend Karin, via Marie-Thérèse Saint-Aubin, that is so dear to my heart that I am having trouble keeping myself away from it during the week.

L' Adieu by Marie-Thérèse Saint-Aubin

But so far, so good as you can see from what little I've accomplished:

The picture makes it look so small! To give you an idea of the size of the finished design, the fabric I am working it on is cut to 20" x 20" (Natural Undyed Belfast). Stitch count is 208 X 222. I already have a spot picked out for it on the wall of my living room and constantly visualize it framed and hanging there .... simply mounted on another piece of linen with no hemstitching, etc. just raw edges, surrounded by a mat and a simple wood frame. Can you tell how much I dearly love this beautiful design? I wish you could see the flowers. I wish I had a bigger picture, but you can see one here, along with some other exceptional works by this true artist of cross stitch.

The poem, by Guillaume Apollinaire, (my translation unfortunately) reads:

I have picked this sprig of heather

Autumn is dead you must remember

We will not see each other again on earth

Scent of time sprig of heather

Remember that I wait for you

If I have totally mis-translated this poem, please reprimand. But this is how I read it and how I love it. If ever it is finished, and framed, I promise to post a photograph.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hana (or my "slave labor" as she calls herself) is coming home this next weekend to put together all the kits for our special little Christmas ornament kit and I am working on Good Yule, moving some things around and changing some things I was unhappy with on the stitched model. It's very difficult to draw a piece, chart it and then send it off to someone to be stitched. Quite often it comes back looking very different from what you had envisioned. Not the fault of the stitcher. Just the difference between paper and linen, pencil and silk. This one has a few little areas that need tweaked, and so I will spend a good part of next week ripping out and re-stitching things that could use a bit of refinement.

It's cold and wet here today and I have been debating all day if I should go take the normal Sunday hike with the dog. I've been trying to talk myself out of it with various excuses, but I have to remember that the weather is just downhill from here and I have to get used to spending some time getting bundled up and braving less than perfect weather if Sami and myself are to get any exercise this winter. I do have a treadmill, but use it grudgingly, only in the worst sort of weather, simply because it's mind-numbingly boring. I'm not much of a TV watcher and I find it difficult to read on one of those things. I'm an "in bed with a big bowl of popcorn" reader. But I do resort to the treadmill every so often. We have two of them. Side by side. One for me and one for Sami. Don't ask :-) But my daughter does wonder frequently what I am going to do when that old dog finally has to leave for what ever heaven waits for him. She keeps saying "we have to get mom a new one before he dies" but I don't think so. Not yet. Not yet.

So, down we go to dig out the raincoat and find a hat in the pile stashed away in the "winter" closet. It is a good thing .... to get away from this computer and out into it all.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

Yaaaaahooooo!

2009-10-07T16:24:00.001-07:00

It's here! Thanks to the wonderful people at our small town post office and all of your prayers and crossed fingers, Good Yule was retrieved from the people it was delivered to originally (unopened) and re-delivered to my post office box this afternoon. Thank you Teri for the beautiful stitching job .... now if we can just get you out of Le p'tit monde de la blonde, where you live with my friend Evelyne ..... :-) Oh, never mind. You are a beautiful stitcher. Maybe I'll just come to live with you two there :-)

Big sigh of relief and back to work. We need to get it framed and photographed now.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

2009-10-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

Steamboat Springs, Colorado • October 5 • 4:45 pm

I haven't been good ...

2009-10-05T15:03:00.004-07:00

about keeping up with the blog lately. We've just been too, too busy, busy, busy. I'm always pleasantly surprised and grateful at how well our new releases are received .... and it keeps us running, trying to keep up with orders ... so there has been little time to sit and think and write, but finally I've found a few moments of calm before the On-line Needlework storm on Wednesday and wanted to use it to catch up a bit with friends and followers.

On the stitching/design front ... well ... my big Christmas sampler scheduled to be released next month (Good Yule) is now officially lost in the mail. I am heartbroken. The woman who stitched it is heartbroken. This design is 110 stitches wide by 350 stitches long and was not an easy stitch ... lots of over one, beads, specialty stitches. It was mistakenly sent to the wrong address. We contacted the people at that address and they say they have not received the package. The post office said it was delivered there on September 30th. No one seems to know where it is. It was insured, of course, but no amount of insurance can cover this kind of loss. We haven't given up. We hope it can be found, but it may not be released this year if it is not found soon. It takes quite a while to stitch a piece of that size, as you all know. I'm trying not to think about it and just praying it will turn up. Karma.

We have other things in the works that can be released instead, but we will have to work double time to try to bump them up the schedule. I do truly believe that everything happens for a reason. I live by that philosophy. It will be interesting to see, eventually, what the reason for this glitch is.

Meanwhile, a little sneak peak at our first biannual limited edition Christmas Ornament kit. Luckily I was working on this little guy even before I found out that Good Yule was lost, so he will still be coming to town even if Good Yule doesn't make it. We plan on doing two different ornament kits a year in a limited quantity, one for November release and one for "Christmas in July". Why limit the quantity of the kits? Everyone is always curious about that. We don't do it to drive up the price. We try to keep the price of our kits as reasonable as possible. Limiting the quantity of kits we manufacture allows us to use unique or "limited availability" supplies in the kits .... things that we love and would like to see on a design but know we can get only get limited quantities of .... i.e. special buttons or ribbons or trims. We buy up what ever quantity is available and make as many kits as we can from that inventory ... and then ... when it's gone, it's gone.

I made a rule for myself, earlier this year, that I would never again use a Sunday to do anything I "had" to do or that "needed" to be done. So, I took Sunday to relax with my daughter who was visiting and to pursue some things I've been wanting to do. I don't have much time to knit anymore. I use most of my crafting time to stitch, but I always like to have a winter knitting project on hand for cold evenings in front of the fireplace (or TV) and I spent a few hours on Sunday going through the yarn stash and planning a project. Over the past few years I seem to have collected a plethora of small balls of hand spun yarn. I love the way it looks, the complex textures and mixtures of colors, but there is never enough to make anything substantial. Still, I buy a few ounces here and a few ounces there because it is impossible to resist. So Sunday I got all the balls of hand spun together, picked a group that would go together and finally found a pattern I thought would work with my potpourri of different yarns.

The pattern is a free pattern and I think I'm in love with it ... it is so adaptable to so many different yarns and sizes. Since you start by making a triangle (increasing each side) until the piece is the width you want, and then continue, on the diagonal with a decrease on one side and an increase on the other, you can make it as wide and as long as you like .... depending on how much yarn you have. You don't even have to worry much about gauge ... perfect for my collection of hand spun since I can just keep knitting until I run out. Of course, you have to make sure you leave enough yarn to finish the corner but I kept track of how much I used to make the beginning corner, so I know exactly how much I need to finish. Now I'm thinking about those 12 balls of a discontinued color of Noro Silk Garden I have stashed away for a shawl/stole out of the same pattern.

Meanwhile, back to the search for Good Yule. I have been calling the post office a few times a day. I will not despair. If it's gone, it was meant to be gone. If it is found, then we will release it on schedule. (sob sob :-( Maybe if everyone out there crosses their fingers for me ... it will turn up.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

He woke up ...

2009-09-27T22:51:00.001-07:00

in India I think. Long story. At any rate, the server is back up and running, at least for the time being. Tomorrow ... new web hosting service for sure.

Server still down ...

2009-09-27T17:13:00.005-07:00

Sorry folks. The servers are still down. Perhaps the person who maintains the server is having a little nap. Keep trying ... and have a great Sunday evening. I think it's time for Sam and I to take a long walk.

Server issues ...

2009-09-27T15:05:00.002-07:00

We are having trouble with our web server. It keeps going up and down and has been doing this since Friday ... so sometimes the links to the new things are working ... and sometimes they are not. I have been told "they are working on it". Hmmmmmm. At any rate, if you can't connect, please try again ... "they are working on it:-)".

She's back .....

2009-09-25T16:59:00.009-07:00

... after a brief hiatus to get the new charts printed, the new kits put together and the web site updated. We have added some fun new books ... some new designs and designers, buttons, beads, gemstones, etc. ... so check it out.

And check this out:

Anne-Catherine does it again. I've ditched the knock-off Gucci in favor of this wild and wonderful creation and boy am I getting questions and comments everywhere I take it. De nouveau, merci, Anne-Catherine. Did I get that right or was it my usual garbled version of French? I'm studying. I really am ... Est-ce que vous voulez un cafe? Oui, merci, et de l'eau, un verre de vin, un peu de pain et fromage. So, at least I can order a coffee, some water, a glass of wine, bread, cheese ... all of life's little necessities :-) I promise I will soon learn words that don't relate to food or drink :-)

Took last weekend off to drive to Denver and spend some time with my dear daughter. It was lovely to be with my sweet offspring again, who is always entertaining, intelligent and well-informed ... just an all-round great person to hang out with.

Oh, and be sure to visit The On-line Needlework Show October 7-12. Yes, you can "shop", even if you are not a "shop". Just take a look at what is offered and if you find something you like you can "partner" with one of the "buyer" shops and they will purchase your items for you and see that you get them. It should be fun. Lots and lots of designers and manufacturers and new things, plus, there really is nothing like shopping barefoot in your pajamas first thing in the morning .... or last thing at night.

So, now that the three newest designs are "up and running" it's time to get on with the next round. The show must go on!

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

A day off

2009-08-30T10:38:00.005-07:00

The new web site is finished and uploaded. The new kits are neatly stacked in bins in the shipping room. I'm heading out to the Yampa Core Trail with my best friend for a hike. After that ... a bit of stitching, chicken piccata, I think, with some sliced home grown tomatoes, "Hung" and a tiny glass of Limoncello before bed.

La vita è bella!

Best Friend

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

A quiet Sunday

2009-08-23T11:02:00.017-07:00

Maybe a little too quiet. My daughter left Friday to move back to Denver. She's a senior at the University of Colorado and starts classes tomorrow.

It has always been our habit to spend at least a part of our Sundays together and this Sunday feels a little empty somehow. Besides being my daughter, she is one of my best friends, a helpful, kind, delightful person and always there for me. Best of all, she keeps me young at heart.

I took her to Italy with me in June and I did things I never would have done if she hadn't been there to make me do them ... including renting a tiny, manual Fiat and driving it all over Tuscany, even on the autostrada which I highly recommend if you're looking for a heart-stopping experience. I hadn't driven a stick in 20 years so she was very understanding when she had to push it out of the parking lot because I was having a little trouble finding reverse. Figured out how to get the Italian GPS lady to speak English and stop screaming "gelati, gelati" at us (which turned out to be girare or "turn"). We thought she wanted us to stop for a gelato, which we were happy to do but it was getting difficult to consume all that gelato and still fit into the Fiat. Talked me into splurging on that Gucci purse I've always wanted and didn't get too embarrassed in Dolce and Gabanna when I bought some totally inappropriate (for someone over 50) lingere. Insisted I drive into Florence and PARK there. If you've ever been to Florence you'll understand the sheer lunacy of that endeavor. I only avoided the disaster of doing the same thing in Rome because an Italian friend advised her that it wasn't such a good idea to drive into Rome. Planned a day trip to the Ligurian sea ... just when we needed a "nature" day. She was never afraid to go anywhere or do anything that seemed like it might be an adventure. I don't think that trip would have been quite the same without her.

At any rate, it is very quiet here today. I think I might have to drive down to Denver one of these weekends very soon.

Julie and Julia was wonderful. Go see it. Funny, upbeat, inspirational. Just the kind of movie we need these days.

Still on target for two new releases at the end of the month.

This week yet another package arrived from France. Thank you, merci, my dear French friend Evelyne. It is lovely and now on my "stitching" table beside my "stitching" chair ... holding my favorite project of the moment. Lovely birthday gifts from lovely friends. La vie est belle. I have corrected the blog reference. I must have been in "le p'tit monde de la blonde". In this country we have the same concept but we call them "blonde moments". Not being blonde, I should have never made this kind of mistake :-)

Off to clean up the studio. Since I can't play with my daughter today, I might as well get some work done. Later, when the house is too clean and too quiet :-( I will probably work on my "Heart Song" ... which seems appropriate ... a good project to lift my mood.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

The dreaded stem stitch ....

2009-08-15T21:30:00.014-07:00

finally mastered! All these years designing and stitching and I could never master the stem stitch. A wonderful chart by Un chat dans L'aiguille (Histoire de coeurs), some very nice stitch diagrams and one cool, quiet evening on the front deck and I finally did it. I am quite proud of them:

My stem stitches (I need to get a life. I really do.)

Histoire de coeurs by Un Chat dans L'aiguille. I can't wait to start the next heart!

For the past year I have been fascinated with free-style (sometimes known as "traditional") embroidery. Some of it has been quite a challenge since I'm used to all those little "squares" to keep my stitches in line. But I've fallen in love with the "look" of it and with the teeny tiny linen you use. You can't count those threads. Forget it. No magnifier in the world is going to make it possible to count those threads. Really sets you free in a needlewonky kind of way.

And these lovelies just arrived today in the mail. A birthday gift from my friend Anne-Catherine. Je les aime, Anne Catherine! Merci!

I met Anne-Catherine and her friend (and now also mine) Evelyne when I traveled to France for the first time. Since many of you have asked about the lovely "sewing dish" that is on my website on the "events" page, and some of you even wanted to purchase the pattern, I can now blog that it was made by these two talented ladies and, no, you can't buy the pattern from me but perhaps Anne-Catherine and Evelyne would be willing to share it. Their creativity and finishing skills never cease to amaze me. For those of you who missed it on the site:

Gift made by Anne-Catherine Seres and Evelyne Kaczmarek

You can visit their blogs to see more of the lovely stitching and finishing they do and a few photos of a delightful afternoon that I will never forget spent stitching, eating and drinking in a little apartment in the Monmartre.

Why are we not smiling? This was before we opened the wine.

BTW, Anne-Catherine, Lavender DOES grow in Colorado. I have tons of it in my garden sooooooo, I'm going to need directions for making those lavender reels. In English :-)

I stand corrected by Mathilda, who stitched Toccata Number Five. She is NOT from Arnhem, Netherlands. She is from Zevenhuizen. Perhaps she will forgive me for not knowing this city. I now remember it by thinking "Mathilda is from seventh heaven". Certainly her stitching speed and skills make me think she is from "seventh heaven". My apologies Mathilda. You are one of my favorite people right now. You and Karin (Kersten, my dear friend and hard working distributor in Europe) for introducing us. Beautiful job on Toccata Number Five.

This week, in the kitchen ... yes we are now moving into the kitchen. Sorry. I warned you:-) Since I turned my first hobby (needlework) into a profession, I've had to find something without a deadline to keep me entertained. This is "the month of the lemon" around here. Last week it was homemade lemon chocolate chip biscotti and lemon sorbet. And now, Limoncello! My daughter's comment: "God help us. She's distilling liquor!" The zest of 25 lemons are steeping in 90 proof alcohol on the back shelf of my pantry and will be for another week .... or 40 days. I'm not sure which. No one seems to agree on that part. What they do agree on is that later, after you add some sugar, water, bottle it, and put it away again for a while, you drink it very, very cold, in very, very small glasses con molto ghiaccio ... I'm thinking maybe with a little cream floating on top? It's a wonderful thing. I'll keep you posted ... or maybe you'll just be able to figure out, by the free-spirited tone of my blogs, when the Limoncello is finished:-)

I'm growing tomatoes on my front deck this summer. After noticing that every spare speck of dirt anyone could rake up is used to grow "il pomodoro" (or olives, or grapes) in Italy, I thought, why not? I was having a heck of a time getting them to turn red but someone finally told me to STOP watering them and they will turn. Now there is one rather enormous, organic, homegrown, very RED tomato on the vine that I'm looking forward to doing "something" with this weekend, though I don't know how much can be done with one tomato no matter how enormous it is.

In the meantime, I'm having much fun working on my "Pumpkin Pocket" and "Heart Song". They are supposed to ship out to Europe for the fall shows next month and it's going to be hard to say goodbye. I'm not good at goodbyes. Dear little heart song. Sweet pumpkin pocket. I guess I'll have to stitch another one ... and another ... and another, just so I can always have one around to keep me company. Heart pocket? Button pocket? Pocket full of stitches? Swan song? :-) I could keep going but ....

It's getting late and I must be really tired. How can I tell? I'm not one of those people who gets grumpy when they're tired .... just really silly and stupid. Time to sign off.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

Another day, another ....

2009-08-11T19:58:00.005-07:00

... twenty-five cents according to my retirement account statement that arrived this week. Yikes! Going to have to work a little harder the next 20 years if I want to retire by 85.

We are moving right along on the stitching and photography of the new designs. The Carnelian Rose Biscornu and Cottage Garden Scissors case have now passed through photography and we will start printing next week. We're hoping for a late August release for these two designs. I decided I finally had to try the Biscornu thing. Better late than never. I think it turned out pretty well.

Then, moving into late September, we will be releasing Toccata Number Five, which you might guess from the little sneak peak on the right-hand side of this blog, is a darning sampler. I need to thank the model stitcher, Mathilda Liebregt in Arnhem, Netherlands, who did a spectacular job of whipping out that piece in just a few weeks. Amazing really and a lovely job. My thanks to Mathilda. If she hadn't been available, Toccata Five could have sat on the back burner a lot longer than it did.

Along with Toccata Five will come two smaller and less serious designs (since we've been getting many request to do a few smaller, quicker items), "The Pumpkin Pocket" and "Heart Song". And that's all I'll commit to at this point. We have many, many things in the works and on the drawing board but the release dates always depend on stitching time and printing time and finishing time and all the other little things that need to be tied up before they can actually be put on the schedule. When it looks like a project is ready to be printed, I'll move it from the "Under the Needle" column to the "On the Press" column and give it a release date.

It's official. I will be teaching at Celebration of Needlework again this year in the Spring. I'm very pleased since the Celebration is always just that .... a celebration. I look forward to seeing old friends and, of course, making some new ones and I'm very excited about the projects I have on the drawing board. I have decided to focus on specific techniques since, truth be told, I really loath finishing little "smalls" and am not exceptionally good at it. My passion has always been learning new stitches and new techniques so I have decided on reticello lace, pulled thread work and hemstitching as the focus for this year. Three separate classes, three little learning samplers, but have some ideas about mounting them all on one piece of linen with decorative motifs to showcase them (see sidebar drawing at right).

Meanwhile, back to work. Shoulder to the plow. I need to build up that retirement fund :-) Today was my birthday. I won't mention how old I am, but it's getting to be a pretty big number. Older than my dog, younger than the Parthenon. Bigger than a breadbox, smaller than a planet.

Till next time, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia

Buzzy, buzzy, buzzy ...

2009-08-04T11:20:00.019-07:00

I've given this blog thing a lot of thought. At first I was against having one. For one thing, I always seem to bite off more than I can chew and I was worried that it would be another one of those things I struggle to keep up with ... which may prove to be the case. We'll have to wait and see. For another, the whole concept of a blog seemed a bit weird to me. Posting a journal on the internet for everyone to read? What a concept. I couldn't quite get past feeling that it was a bit egocentric to make the assumption that people would be interested in the minute details of my life. But after following many of your blogs for some time I realized that blogs really aren't just another "virtual" self-promotional tool. They are actually a very nice, efficient and fun, albeit a bit impersonal, way to keep in touch. They are a 21st century letter to a friend ... a way to connect with those you know ... and some you don't.

So this blog will be my attempt to "keep in touch" with you, keep you up to date on what is going on at The Drawn Thread, get your feedback and input and exchange ideas and thoughts about this fine craft we all love so much. I promise I'll try not to bore you with my day-to-day stuff. I won't discuss what I had for dinner last night or analyze what's happening on "Hung", though my passion for food, wine and cooking (and "Hung") may make that promise difficult to keep. Okay, okay so I WILL discuss food and wine and cooking and "Julia and Julia" (but not "Hung") and our new farmer's market and sustainable eating and Italian pizza and gelato and the locally made sheep cheese every once in a while along with stitching and design. I love to eat, I love to cook and I love to drink almost as much as I love designing and stitching. These things are not the minute details of my life. They are my life.

(And BTW, don't you just LOVE that guy on "Hung"? :-)

The past four months have been an amazing source of inspiration for me. A delightful week in May at the Celebration of Needlework in New Hampshire (thank you "sisters"), an amazing trip to Italy for Casa Cenina's annual "Festa del Ricamo" (mille grazie Casa Cenina) and the incredible enthusiasm, passion and talent of the people I encountered (not to mention the all beautiful things I got to see and touch .... and purchase :-) really fired up the old creative furnace.

So, stay tuned. Right now we are doing a major overhaul of the web site while still finding time to stitch all the new things we are planning to release in the next quarter. The site should be ready to upload about the same time the new designs are ready to be released. At least that's the plan. It has been a very busy Spring and Summer and it looks like we're going to have a very ambitious new release schedule starting in late August and continuing through the new year and into next Spring. We're going to be buzzy, buzzy, buzzy. I love it.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia