Much, much better!

Nina is feeling so much better!  Two full nights of sleep and antibiotics finally kicking in, pain is almost gone and color is coming back to that cute face!  I'm one delighted, relieved mother!  Thank you, all of you, for the get well wishes and kind words of encouragement.  It was very comforting!

NIGHTSHADE

FLOWER

My ETSY shop is replenished with some very pretty and affordable pieces...  all the Nature cuffs, The Flower Cuff, The Ocean Cuff, The Tree Cuff and The Nightshade Cuff are back in stock.  Each cuff kit which includes all the fibers, the canvas, the instructions, needles, wire and the beads is only $40.  

OCEAN

TREE

The other great purchase is the Philadelphia Journey piece.  All full silk skein kit with canvas, stretcher bars, and instructions for a great price of $45.

The extra perk for these kits and for my entire ETSY shop is free domestic shipping for a week.  Pop over to the site and see what calls your name, and it will be on it's way to you with free shipping.  Here is your coupon: FREESHIP.

FREESHIP!

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In Yiddish my mother says...

Der mentsh trakht un Got lakht, which means: Man plans and God laughs.  

We sometimes think too much of ourselves, we think we have it all mapped out and we can anticipate the future, no problem. So we make plans for this and that.  Meantime, God is looking upon us and laughing because he/she has a plan which trumps ours. 

Now I'm a great believer in making plans, I love the anticipation, the before is almost as wonderful as the actual happening.  But I try to remember that things happen, and I'm not "all that", I try to be flexible, and humble enough to know I can't control everything. I try to keep things together, even if they don't go my way.  

I love that expression, Der mentsh trakht un Got lakht, it says so much in just a few words.

The plan was to take Bella out to lunch on this beautiful spring day, meet with a few more friends and sit at a nice restaurant at Rittenhouse Square, overlooking the park.  Instead we need to go in to get a CT scan for Nina who is having some severe pain on one side of her face.  It started as an ear infection, but didn't seem to heal.  After spending hours at the hospital yesterday, they think this may be as a result of some jaw issue.  So today it's CT and Oral Surgeon, hopefully getting to the bottom of this and on to recovery.  I'm thankful we were able to get in today, they are amazing at CHOP, (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia).  We will do lunch some other time.  Bella is cooking, and will make lunches for us since it is most likely to be a long day in waiting rooms.  She will keep us company and along with a few books, we will be fine.

I was also going to come home and chart, write instructions, answer many of your emails, but I don't think that will happen.  Please be patient, I will get back to you this weekend.

I managed to get a little smile from my sweetie-pie.  Kisses, my baby!

Talk to you soon!

xo

Orna

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Not so good news, but on the bright side...

I got "the" phone call.  One of my three seminar classes did not make the cut, meaning not enough people signed up.   :(

The Village I Built will not be at Seminar.  I'm sad, I love this design, the petite images, the geometric quality.  But I must look on the bright side which means that I can offer it to all of you as soon as I get the final corrections from my pilot stitchers.

Chins up, Orna!

My new design, Victory Gardens, is being proofed by two of my favorite stitchers and friends.  Here's a little peek from one of them...

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One of my very favorite people of all times is visiting with us.  My aunt Bella, who has been a special person in my life through thick and thin, is visiting from Israel.  She is one of those people who makes you feel special and safe when she's around.  What a treasure!

I love you, Bella.

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It's all about me. (not really but sort of)

I am in love with silk gauze.

So poking around the internet to find someone who can do a top notch job blocking one of my silk gauze pieces, I came across a blog entry. On the Kreinik blog.  About me.  HERE

I love silk gauze and nice surprises!!

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Colour from Canada.

Recently, while cruising on Etsy, I came across this shop:

Of course I stopped to stare at the colors of these fabulous fibers, read about the owner and then felt compelled to write to her and ask about possibilities of using her threads in my designs.  We decided that she would send me a sampling of her different threads and I would get a chance to play with them and decide if they were right for me.  

Yummy!  Within a week I had a small package from Lorraine in Canada and in it were these lovely threads!

Just take a look at the colors, the combinations, the beauty of the contrasts.  Lorraine does mostly one-of-a-kind dying, your thread will be like no other.  I decided to try the fibers and establish my feelings for them.  

Here is some playing with one of the cotton blends on 40 count silk gauze.

Can I stay away from new threads that coming out these days and keep to what I'm playing with already?  I think not!

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57 is the new 57.

It's actually pretty cool that today is my 57th birthday and I was born in 1957!
It's been such a wonderful day and it's only 9am!

Here is what Reid got me for my birthday...

It's a painting by one of my favorite artists, who happens to be a friend as well, Ira Upin.  The painting is traveling in Europe at the moment, but will be here at the end of the month. I'm SO excited! (You've seen his work back in 2012 on my walls here).

Shiri wrote the most amazing birthday message for me on Facebook, (Imma is mother in Hebrew).

Reid woke me up with fresh orange juice and coffee, Nina came into bed with a funny card with a beautiful personal message in it, friends and family have been calling and writing and I'm so happy!


PS. here is photo of those turkey-loaves from here.

PPS. do you have a Silpat?  They are amazing!!

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What have I been up to, you ask?

Busy with this and that, organization in the studio, paperwork for some Cyberworkshops I'll tell you about very soon.

I bought a new/old mirror that works perfectly on a narrow strip of wall in the loft.  It's about 7 ft. tall and has the worn out look to match the other elements of the building.

Remember that new design I was telling you about back here and here? It hasn't disappeared.  It's in the computer stage.  I've been working on the Master Chart which is where I always start.  The individual charts stem from the main one.  

Next I sourced the AMAZING frames in orange, green and white. They are a heavy solid resin and painted in strong matte colors. I'm working on some ideas for a perfectly sized piece of needlepoint.

I've started cooking for Passover.  Yes, I know it's early, but freezing chicken soup for two weeks only makes it better!  Tonight I'll make a few of my turkey-loaves, which are, seriously, the bomb!  (Sauté chopped up mushrooms, onions and shallots, once they cool down add them to the ground turkey along with spices, some fine chopped fresh herbs and a couple of eggs. The mushrooms promise to prevent the turkey meat from being dry, it works like a charm.  Then shape the loaves, roll them in Panko if it's a regular day and in broken small pieces of Matzah if it's Passover. In a hot pan with a bit of oil sear the loaves on all sides.  It makes the outside crispy and keeps the inside moist.  Shove the lot in the oven and when the inside of the loaf is absolutely positively cooked thru and thru, take out and serve. Or freeze).

and then I'm also doing some mundane dusting.  I love this little guy, one of Shiri's past birthday gifts to me.  The glaze color is wonderful!

and that's what I've been up to.  And you?

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