CYBERWORKSHOP IS HERE!

It's here, it's here, I'm about to burst!

Our very first CyberWorkshop, on our very own website, is ready to go! There are pieces I design that I love, there are those that I like, and there are those that I can live with, but I'm not too crazy about.


Then, I have designs that make me so proud. They feel so balanced. They make me want to sneak over and snatch another look. Cirque de Fleur belongs to this group.


So, on January 15th we will begin. Registration has started and will go on until December 31st. There are different package options to allow for every pocket. Take a look. Enjoy!

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. It's a night when we talk about miracles. Did you know why we celebrate Hanukkah for 8 nights? Yes, yes, the tiny drop of oil lasted way more than it should have, but why 8 nights?

Back in those times traveling from Jerusalem, where the Temple was, down to the coastline, took 4 days on foot or donkey. When the Temple was destroyed, and no oil was to be found anywhere in Jerusalem, they needed to travel down the mountains to the coastline of Israel to get oil, and then turn around and climb back to Jerusalem. Yes, you got it, 4 + 4 = 8.

May you have many miracles tonight and for many nights to come.

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Holiday Giveaway - finally!

YES! a giveaway in time for the Holidays.

A complete kit from Dimensions of my design CLASSIC from their Gold Collection. The kit contains the threads, ribbon, canvas, beads, needle and instructions.

Now I know how busy you all are. Who has time for yet another task? So all you have to do to enter this giveaway is post a comment about how you came upon this blog. You know, "best friend sent me a link", "took a class from you", "by mistake, I'm really into cars".

I will post the winners here, on the blog, so tune back on December 15th to find out if you are the one!

More to come very soon!

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Abba

Abba in Hebrew means father. The word is a combination of the two first letters in the Hebrew alphabet; aleph and beit. Transliteration to English, (coincidence?), it's a combination of the first two letters of the English language. It's very subjective, but when I hear the word Abba, I think of wisdom, unconditional love, kindness, safety. This was my father. This past Saturday it was 2 years since he passed away, since I lost him. I miss him. I miss him very much.

I remember sitting in the bathroom in the early morning hours watching him shave. We probably chatted but I don't remember those conversations. I just remember sitting on the bathtub rim, looking up at him as he meticulously shaved his face. It was always calm, I always felt safe.

Many mornings I step out of our bedroom and at the other end of our big loft I see Nina and her Abba sitting at breakfast and chatting. I don't know what they talk about but I see her looking at him as he makes her bowl of cereal. I see her swinging her legs under the table to a playful rhythm in her head and while I can't hear the words, I hear the love in the air. I stay away to give them this private time together. She, too, will remember her mornings with Abba.

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Key Matters and other matters...

They are here. The days leading up to the holidays with all the buying, preparing, partying. While Hanukkah is not really a holiday, (in Judaism it's considered a festival, a level below holiday), we still get caught up in all the craziness. But then, of all the things we could be going crazy over, holidays are not a bad thing!

So whether it's a stocking stuffer or a gift for the third night of Hanukkah or Kwanzaa... we wanted to offer a few goodies for you or a friend.

* Our key-chain project called Key Matters. It's a very pretty design, comes with instructions, chart, frame and key-chain. Best of all, you don't need more than 24" of any single color fiber, so this is definitely a stash project!

It comes gift wrapped as shown below, all ready to receive or give.

* New Ultrasuede packs are in the house! These are packs of five coordinating colors, each piece 5" x 5". These luscious color combinations can come gift wrapped as well.

* From now until December 24th, you will be able to purchase A Year in Cards kit at a 20% discount. (Just enter HOLIDAY as your coupon code at the check out.)

I find it so relaxing to sit in front of the TV at night with a small project in hand, peeking up every now and again to see the screen. A couple of nights hearing TV and I have a card that's a gift in itself.

* Last, (and certainly not least!), we are conducting a trial run for our cyberworkshop system. I know there will still be glitches, there always are, but you will be understanding, won't you? We will send out a formal announcement for our first class, Cirque du Fleur, early next week.

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Most beautiful veggie I've ever met!

Thanksgiving in Cleveland. Wonderful food, family and relaxation. For the first time in years I didn't get out of bed till 10 AM, how decadent! We got some shopping in, walks with Pooki (Nina's new buddy), saw a few movies and even visited the local farmer's market.

This is what we found there...

Romanesco Cauliflower

and this is Nina with Pooki. We hear she misses Nina quite a bit!

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Creatures of a third kind

This is the cover of the Winter 2010 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.
Back here they had my needlepoint jewelry.

and here you will find these creatures...

These rings are a bit wacky but really fun and there are endless varieties you can make.

We will be adding a How-To on our website for this project as well as the needlepoint cuffs (from here).

and in other news... almost done with the second version of Cirque du Fleur. I decided to go ahead with the new canvas colors. If you join us for the cyberworkshop, you will be able to make your own decision knowing that the new color canvases may be a bit more challenging.



I'll be back with more soon!

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A different life.

A week ago, on Thursday, we left for a long weekend to Lancaster county and Gettysburg.

The weather was magnificent. We rented a big, lovely farmhouse and had so much fun. Mostly we relaxed and moved at a different pace.

Nina was introduced to the Amish, for the first time. The first morning she peeked out her bedroom window and saw a horse and buggy trotting at quite a clip, so much faster and lighter than the horses we have right near our house, the ones that pull the carriages in the city for the tourists. Those horses always seem a bit tired and sad. The ones in Lancaster seemed young and proud.

We explained a bit about the Amish, (I'm embarrassed to say that most of our knowledge came from the movie "Witness"). Nina fell in love with the life we described.

"But Nina, there is no electricity in the homes, no computer, no television"
"That's OK, I love to read"
"Great, but you would have go to sleep very early, at sunset"
"Why?"
"Because, you need to get up with the sun and tend to the animals on the farm"
"COOL!!"
"But you don't like getting up early."
"But I LOVE animals"
"You won't be able to travel to far away beautiful places"
"That's OK, it's beautiful here!"

WOW, I thought, we have raised our little girl to have really good values! She has her priorities straight.

"Well Nina, why don't we arrange for a visit to an Amish farm so you can see what they do?"
"OK, but can we first drive to the doll outlet to buy some American Girl doll clothes?"

My child is normal.

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CIRQUE DU FLEUR

She is still on the stretcher bars, but I couldn't keep her to myself.

CIRQUE DU FLEUR

The first stitched version of a new design is always a mess. This one in particular because I didn't compromise on design and kept ripping and ripping, until I got it just the way I wanted. I am so very happy with Madame.

I hope to get this Cyberworkshop to you within the month. Clear off your needlepoint calendars because this one is sure to be a real treat!

I am now working on a second colorway. I am using one of the new Zweigart overdye 18 count canvases. The colors are magnificent. I'm not a big colored canvas designer. I mostly use brown, however, who could resist?

The unfortunate news is that I may have to resist. After speaking with the manufacturers, it turns out that the first step in the process of hand dying canvas is to take out the sizing so that the color will adhere. There is no way to bring the stiffness back to the canvas once it's been dyed. The result is that the canvas pulls, it's very flimsy and most of all, the holes expand with every stitch that's a bit more intricate.


What's a girl to do? Let me know what you think. Should I continue using the canvas for this and other designs, (says she, after ordering yards of various colors...)?

Dilemma!

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Stuff is good!

Being materialistic is not a nice way to be, I agree. But having stuff is getting a bad rap. I love stuff, not only for the beauty of the stuff but mostly for the memories. I have stuff I've collected over the years, through all the different times of my life, from all the fascinating places I've visited. Some of the stuff is really insignificant in terms of the value or aesthetics. Usually that's the stuff that means the most to me, otherwise why would I keep it?

I love stuff and I'm proud of it!

This little Pinocchio was purchased on our first trip to Italy with Nina. He's only a two inches tall but is quite charming.

Nina has four small shelves of stuff, most of which we collected before she came home to us. It made the months of waiting for her easier to cope with. I hope they become meaningful to her as she matures.

These Kosta Boda glass animals are part of her "stuff" shelves. We bought them for her the week we found out that she was waiting for us to bring her home.

Kosta Boda glassware has always been a favorite of mine.

These masks captured my heart years ago.

When Shiri went off to college at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor became a fun place for us to visit. This piece is from one of the many lovely galleries in this university town.

This enamel work was done by a lovely lady on a Kibbutz in Israel. For years we would go back to her studio to buy gifts for our friends.

Reid collects boxes, small treasure boxes. He puts coins in the boxes, each box with the coins of the country the particular box has come from.

For Hannukah I bring out my Menorah collection as well as my small ceramic dreidels.

These "finjans" are used to make strong Turkish coffee, the kind that you cook over a fire. After you pour the coffee into small cups, you wait until all the coffee grains sink to the bottom of the cup. It's usually a very sweet cup of coffee, black and syrupy. If you dare, when you're done drinking, turn the cup upside down onto a saucer and let the coffee grains slide down the sides of the cup. Turn your cup over again and find your future in the pattern of the coffee grains...








and when I want tea, these little kettles have been collecting on my shelves since I first came to the United States.

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