Dear Friends:

Here is the important information that we have all been waiting for:

THE RETREAT BROCHURE AND REGISTRATION FORM WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEB SITE ON MONDAY, MARCH 29, AROUND 3:00 pm--in the afternoon. We are very excited and hope that you will be as well. We have such fun plans already well in the works and the teachers are very very excited. We all got together last month and had such a great time sharing ideas and getting revved up. So...heads up watch the web site on Monday and be ready to go. We want to see you here in September. When you see the brochure on the website, you need to copy off the registration form, fill it out and fax it back to us. Seriously, I don't think there will be time for you to mail it back to us.

We are hoping for no glitches like last time, so keep your fingers crossed. Hooray!!!!

In the meantime--we have been busy here at the shop. Retreat preparations are in full swing and we are happily anticipating warm weather when we can go out in the backyard behind the shop and work on more projects. We are not going out there today since there is a full-blown blizzard happening outside our windows today. Oh well, we'll take them when we get them this year. Teri has been busy with her new tall shoes. She bought new shoes recently and when she brought them in we thought they were quite tall. Sometimes we all worry that she will fall off of them. They are very cute, but after about 14 minutes, she is sort of hobbling. Each day we ask if they are more comfortable and she always says the same thing--no, not at all. She always perseveres in everything she does, so I'm sure you will see her in September still breaking them in. I think they are a little like Dutch wooden shoes because I can always here her coming from anywhere in the shop. It is handy.

I know this is a little late, but we have 3 darling new patterns stitched for this Spring season. Teri found them in Nashville and has been working on them ever since, and now we have them finished and back. First of all is Briar Rabbit from La-D-Da. This is such a darling little piece with a sweet bunny and alphabet as well as a tulip border. And don't you think that Jill did such a wonderful job framing it with its perfect mat. I love it because it isn't Eastery at all and would work all year round. Darling!

Then there is this sweet pillow by Sam Sarah--Hip Hop Hare. I love this piece as a pillow and I think that the colours and backing fabrics are just so pretty. I think that Teri did a great joy figuring out colours and threads for it as well.

And finally, we both fell in love with Uber Egg by Bent Creek. Our friend, Judy stitched it on the big Jute fabric for a wall hanging and it is fabulous. We have it hanging up over our center display and it is so adorable you can't keep your eyes off of it. So if you are still in the mood--there is plenty to choose from.

Well that was to get you in the mood for the beginning of Spring and the start of Easter week. Have a fun and safe holiday next week, don't forget to take a peek at the Retreat Brochure and I'll write sometime next week.
Until then,
fondly, Tina

Last days of February, 2010

Hi friends,

I'm back from Nashville and we had a great time! Mostly, I am not a very good traveler. I love being other places...I just don't necessarily enjoy getting there. I think I would like a good road trip, but living in Utah, we just never take the time to go by car unless it is Las Vegas or California. Then my Peter was dreadfully car sick as a child so that put paid to long car trips. So Teri has to put up with my crankiness on airplanes. I don't like going through security, and I don't really want to sit by anyone on the plane. I always try to get a window seat and then I just watch the maintenance crew outside the window and ignore everything else. Of course this time, we watched them loading luggage in Phoenix and saw that one of our suitcases --filled with kits and models--didn't make it on. Oh joy! Teri wanted to tell someone, but I restrained her. Lucky us--it didn't make it to Nashville until 2:00 the next morning...but at least it made it. Did I mention... Oh well, the rest of the trip was great. I love the most getting to the hotel and all our friends are waiting for us. We were so busy talking and laughing and going to little parties that it was after midnight when we faced setting up our room. So...waiting for an errant suitcase wasn't such a big deal. And, really, who needs to sleep anyway. Then, the time we are there is very busy and how fast it all goes by so now we are home missing everyone else.

NASHVILLE NEWS:

Well, here goes the first chapter in Fabulous Finds from the Market:

Now, don't think that I am omitting our own designs. We have them up on the home page of our website as well as the link to all the new things. I'm not going to put the pictures here so just go onto the link for new things to see them. We were very busy the whole time, but on the first day we were really too busy for Teri to go out shopping for the shop, and she was rather anxious. About 4:00 in the afternoon of Saturday, I noticed that she was helping customers with her purse over her shoulder. I guess she was ready to get out of our room. Sunday, she rarely returned to me. I think she was afraid I was going to make her stay and work. When she does make a very brief appearance during the day she always pretends to be out of breath to make me think she has been working hard, but I know that there is a lot of visiting as she goes along.

Now, just to entice you, we have a new group of patriotic things--My Land, a darling sampler with the words to My Country Tis of Thee around the border, and the Liberty pin cushion and fob are very old looking and wonderful. I think they look like they came out of a sewing box from the Civil War era. Our new Blue Snowman might just be my favorite, and Lucky Sheep is a sweet offering for St. Patrick's Day. My friend, Pat from R & R, stitched it in 3 hours on Sunday morning. Let Your Light Shine is fun and quick on 10 count fabric--very cheerful. And don't forget to look at the 2 new 9-pane pillows--Snow Blows and Spring Blooms. These come as leaflets or full kits, whichever you yearn for.

Now for some very fun things from other friends:

Barb and Alma from Blackbird Designs were darling as always and brought fantastic things for stitching and enjoying. Honeysuckle Manor is a wonderful new big book brimming with beautiful projects. Two of the samplers are reproduced from antique ones and then it is full of smaller, wonderful projects to tempt us. How on earth to choose what to begin with. There are several patterns in this book to go along with their darling wooden pin cushion bases which they have hand made. Very sweet. They also have 2 additional new books. Snow Garden and Valentine Rose are the first two patterns in a series of 12 called Anniversaries of the Heart. They would be wonderful as individual pieces, but they also suggest stitching them together on one large piece of fabric. At market, Pat showed us the piece that she is stitching them on and it is quite lovely. Teri is finding out all the particulars so that you can do it this way as well. (Did I mention that there is space to be left on the fabric for bonus patterns to be completed near the end of the year. How exciting!) Oh, I almost forgot--they also have 2 adorable little bird pin cushion patterns--Bluebird and Bird in Hand.

Carriage House released their new Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow at Nashville and it is fantastic.

This also has 12 squares--like their other Hawk Runs--but it is laid out in a vertical piece. It is in rich fall colours and each little square is more darling than the last. The whole thing is topped with pumpkins and birds. How can you resist the witch flying, the little cemetery, the splendid Tom turkey, or the trip to grandma's house? We definitely have to stitch this one.

The Workbasket always has great designs, but this year Teri was so so excited about their new Memory Keeper. She came back to our room thrilled with this beautiful envelope stitched with various Quaker motifs, alphabets, and sayings. It is to keep your treasured papers--love letters--in and is very cleverly constructed. I know that you will love it.

Our room is always right next to Charland and Sydney, and our hours together are just too short. We spend every minute together, and are still never ready to leave at the end of the weekend. We dragged them back into old Franklin with us for a stolen hour of shopping before our plane home on Monday. We had been waiting all weekend to go to a cupcake store there and ended up with the last few cupcakes for the day. Hence we were labeled cupcake stealers by others.

Leaving them each time is truly my soul's sadness. They, too, had lovely new things for the market. I could spend hours just looking at the silver charms and anticipating the beauties that they will bring to the Retreat. Her new Quaker Heart Needle Case is just fantastic. The silk threads and ribbons are in quiet shades of rose and greens and complement perfectly the sampler lining fabrics. It all folds out in sections and then comes back together again to form a simple and lovely heart. It runs $75.00 for the kit, but it is filled with everything wonderful to finish this project.

Another fun implement case to stitch and cherish is new from Little House. Needle and Thread

comes with the pattern and threads to make a darling scissor fob which Teri stitched on the way home from market. It also comes with the pattern and threads to stitch a little sampler to wrap around a little premade pillow and pin cushion. When completed it provides a place to tuck your scissors and rest your pins. The fabric is a sweet ,very old fashioned deep blue floral and dot that also looks like it came from a long ago time. The whole set runs $36.00 and is as sweet as pie.

Now I want to mention a few fabulous books and charts that we brought back and are getting ready to stitch. Teri has already chosen threads and fabrics for Little by Little's Bee Story. This darling little sampler has a bee skep and bees in a meadow with words and unending charm. And their Quaker Faith in a very odd little sampler with alphabets and numbers and Quaker motifs. I just love it and want to stitch it as a wedding sampler for myself. I know that is a little after the fact, but I love it so much.

We also love the samplers from Shakespeare's Peddler. Their new Love the Spring is quite wonderful with a sweet saying that seems like it came right from Shakespeare himself. We also love her Jenny Bean samplers. The newest one--Humble Servant Sampler--is very beautiful. It is worked in grayed, soft hues and is just sweet. I know Teri will want to be stitching this one. It has bees on it of course.

O gosh, there is just still so much more. I am going to have to tell you more things later this week. But this is a good start leaving still so much to relate in a few days. I am facing the end of the Olympics with mixed emotions. I have spent quite a bit of time watching and I seem to get drawn into every event--well, except hockey. But the good thing is that I have stitched like crazy. But I am ready for them to be over so that my household can go to bed at a decent time and get back to a more productive life. I hope that you have gotten lots of stitching done as well, and if you need a wonderful new project, just let us know. Have a safe and blessed week.
ever fondly, Tina

17. February, 2001

Hi friends,

Unlike the rest of the country, Utah is trying hard to turn into spring. We have had a lot of snow this year, but not nearly as much as we need to propel our desert reality through the hot, arid summer. We have been slogging through our grey, drizzly days watching the snow blanket the East knowing that it ought to be us, but still a little relieved it isn't. Our house sits on the north side of the street under many trees, so our front yard has melted down to the bare, winter grass while my neighbors across the street still have a foot of snow. One late afternoon last week I was outside cleaning up the lawn after several months of the joys of a dog in the winter, and across the street, my friend was shoveling her walks. That's Utah. For the past six weeks, we have had a little pack of deer who have migrated down from the mountains living in our neighborhood. Many times lately we have found them clustered in our front yard or ambling up the street and then Lindbergh barks for hours as soon as he goes outside. The other night, Christian was coming home when they walked out in front of the car and just stopped and stared at him. THANK GOODNESS he was going slowly and could stop. He thought they were very large dogs so he had stopped to look at them and then one of them put his face in front of the windshield. (Now I don't want him to drive for fear of hitting one and ruining the car. Bob and I have already done that one.) Ah...the joys of the season.

Time has gone by so quickly since New Year's that in a way I can't believe that it is mid-February. We are leaving for Nashville the end of the week so everyone here at the shop has been going like crazy getting ready for it. We have shipped 14 huge boxes and I am a little worried about getting into our room when we get there. I have tried to talk Teri into going in early and getting it all set up, but she isn't so enthusiastic about that. I am wishing for good weather for all those who are traveling and an uneventful flight for us. I hate flying. We do have lots of great things for the market, and in spite of everything we have finished and sent, we are still waiting for printing to return to us. I think Teri is still stitching on something, but I am ignoring it because I want to be done. It will be so much fun when we get there. The problem is that we should spend all of Friday night setting up our room, but what we will really do is visit forever with friends and then zombie through the wee hours of the night. I am going to have to get lots of sleep on the plane to power through. Teri seems to need no sleep and runs on random excess energy flowing through the cosmos. So.... next week we will have lots of things to tell you about. Watch our web site for all of our new designs, and we will tell you all of the fun things that we have brought back for the shop. It will be fun. (once it's over),

Oh--I am supposed to tell you that on Tuesday the 23rd we are going to have a Nashville Afternoon. Come by in the afternoon and share some yummy treats with us and take a look at all the fun things we have brought back from the market. Of course we will have our new things ready and lots of other treasures that Teri finds back there. So come by for the fun.

In the meantime, we do have some fun pieces that we have stitched for spring. Lizzie Kate's Time for God quite lovely and calm for a busy year. We haven't sent it over to Jill yet for framing, so it is just perched on our front counter.

We added a few buttons and have stitched it on a fun fabric with grays, blues and mauves.

Another darling new design of hers is Easter Sampling. We have made it into a darling pillow, and I think it looks very charming. The backing fabric matches the stitching perfectly. It will make you think spring is around the corner.

This is Lizzie Kate's newest Quick-it, "Easter Sampling." We have stitched it on 10 count Buttermilk and finished it with a darling fabric that just matches. We added a few buttons and have all the supplies available--just in time for Easter stitching.

This is one of our Spring Displays--brimming with sweet and cheerful pieces!

Teri has been rearranging quite a bit lately keeping up the the seasons and holidays and I thought it might be fun to show you a new spring display she just finished. We have been working at finding wonderful little spring pictures that are sweet, but not so cute. I think you will agree that these seem to fit the bill. I hope you are most inspired.

And finally, in the spirit of Vancouver, we have pulled out our own Shepherd's Bush Olympic pin. It makes me wish I were there and could see all of the fun pins they have for 2010.

We have Olympic fever here. We love to watch the skaters and the skiers. It reminds us of our Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City. We have a few of our official Olympic pins from the 2002 Winter Games. It looks like a cross stitch sampler and comes with a chart to stitch. Each pin is numbered.

Well, I have to go. Everyone is lined up for the computer, and I think my time has expired. I hope you are having fun watching the Olympics. I am. But mostly I am totally enjoying having the excuse to stitch, stitch, stitch. A warm blanket, great television and a wonderful project. What more could you ask for. OK--a diet coke. Perfect.

Have a great rest of February. I'll write next week. Stay warm and safe.
fondly, Tina

Wednesday, January, 13, 2010

Hi Friends,

I had to put the whole date in because this is the first time this year that I have gotten it right, and it felt really fine. (Mostly because I can backspace and correct.) I am sure that I have written a hundred checks so far this year at work, and I am beginning to get a complex because I just can't get the 2010. The first day, I complained and complained at work to Lynnette and Sue, and they just stared at me and remarked that they rarely even write checks. Oh, great! I have discovered that the first thing I do when I write a check is write the 0 in 01, 02, 03....09. Everyone was laughing when every pay check had the 09 crossed out and 10 written in. This week I have been a little better at stopping at the 0 and then squishing in the 1 in front of it. Oh well, maybe by February.

2010---Can you even believe it. It seems like a year ago that we were in a huge panic over the turn of the century. Remember Y2K, computers crashing, mountains falling, the world collapsing? And here we are a whole decade later. Actually a decade and 2 weeks. Time certainly must be speeding up. Perhaps it's all those growth hormones in our food. I always used to tease my boys that I was going to have to put bricks on their heads to stop them from growing. Now I am going to have to put bricks on the year. Well, Happy New Year to all of you. For me, the holidays went by too quickly, but they usually do. By the time we lock the door of the shop on Christmas Eve, I am ready for the great day itself to arrive. Peter was home for almost the whole 2 weeks and it was so much fun. This past 9 months he has been so busy at school that we just sort of see him in passing now and then on a Sunday. Mostly for groceries and clean clothes. I think for him it was sort of nice--though he won't probably admit it--to come home for a bit. He cooked with us, he put up Christmas lights, he fixed my vacuum and several other things, played music, and even went to Christmas Village with us. One night he drove Teri, her friend Joanne, and me around looking at Christmas lights and even let us play carols on the radio when we weren't humming the song from Driving Miss Daisy. If it weren't for the fact that he could still bring Christian to tears in 30 seconds, I began to wonder if he was a Stepford child. When he packed up to go home after New Years, I cried and was reminded of a line from Pride and Prejudice about " nothing so sad as parting from one's children."

But now, we are headlong into January and a new year. We have the new engraved Gingher Scissors and 2010 Fob ready--the one thing that I accomplished for work during the holidays. I love them! The scissors--Elena-- are pretty and vibrant and remind me of an Impressionist painting. I really had to think about how to design the fob to go with them. Finally, I chose the old-fashioned flower basket because I think it worked so well with all the lovely, rich colours. I had the front part drawn and stitched by mid-December, but I was just so stuck on the words. I had been making a list all through last year in anticipation, but when it came right down to it, I just couldn't decide. I had several of you write or call in with suggestions, which was fun, and I had all the girls at work with their favorite they were pushing for. My sister even called me every day for a week with her suggestions--some quite interesting. The favorite at work was: Swearing off men in 2010, which was tempting, but then we would have to hide it from husbands and male children which is pretty much my household. I even stitched one that I quite liked: Let worries end in 2010, but then every time I worked on it, it reminded me of things to worry about. So...I pulled it out. I finally--on New Year's Eve--settled on my personal favorite: Find your Zen in 2010 because it just made me happy. Teri and I are always laughing about our Zen from our past Yoga classes, and when Kari mentioned it, it just seemed right. I hope you like them. The fob is one of the favorite things I design all year, and I just love having it and the matching scissors, so I hope you do too. If you are thinking of getting a pair of the scissors, remember that this year Gingher has manufactured only a limited number of them, and I think we won't have them throughout the whole year. So don't procrastinate. Scissors: $43.00 (with engraving), 2010 Fob: $14.00.

Find your Zen in 2010 is our new scissors fob for this year. It is a perfect match with the beautiful scissors from Gingher. Do not wait too long to get a pair of the scissors, they are already sold out around the country, but we have a small supply. The Fob will be available all year, and the scissors for as long as they last.

I did a lot of drawing for next year over Christmas, but not really very much stitching. There just never seemed to be time. But I am making up for it now. It is like I missed it so much during December, that I just can't get enough of it now. I am working on the new Snowman, and it is very, very fun. I love it. Then our local needlework guild is starting a Quaker Sampler project that Teri and I are spearheading--a word?--and I have suddenly taken off and I am having a hard time putting it down. So I have just been alternating between my 2 projects and watching movies: Glee, Julie and Julia, Cranford and Larkrise. OK, I thought last night--I have found my Zen for this week.

Even though I have been a bit of a slacker, others have not. Our friend, Nancy, from Nevada dropped by with her fantastic Quaker Virtues picture finished and framed. It was so beautiful, it has inspired me to really stick to my quaker project.

Our dear friend Nancy Stokes brought in this amazing picture. "Quaker Virtues" is so gorgeous! Thanks Nancy!

Teri has been crazy, busy in the shop changing it over from Christmas to not-Christmas. You have to come by and see. It all looks very clean and simple and inspiring. I love having our Christmas decorations up at the shop and hate taking them down. But now it all looks so fresh and lovely, that she deserves a pat on the back. She has darling Valentine things, spring things, and just quiet, sweet pieces on display. On Saturday I just kept finding things that I wanted to stitch.

This is our Valentine display, full of hearts, flowers and sweet things. Isn't the "Hearts For Thee" sampler by Midsummer on the top left great? "The Token" next to it is one of our favorites!

This wall is full of samplers that make me happy. Please notice our newest addition on the far right The A & E sampler. It is a darling version of an Adam and Eve sampler. The beautiful "S" on the bottom left, is available in all 26 letters, Nancy has stitched them for everyone in her family. (lucky family).

I am starting Easter and spring early.... I love these darling pieces. More spring will be coming later. Top left to right: "Easter Peep," "Ah tis Spring," and "Whimsical Heart" Bottom left to right: Spring egg kits $ 14.00 each, "Hide and Seek" chart and egg button, "Spring is Blooming" kit, $12.00, " Eggs" chart. "The Beehive Wooden Puzzle" is available in a very limited quantity $36.00.

OK, I forgot to mention the new Jenny Bean Christmas Sampler which we just received back from Marilyn, who stitched it for us. Isn't it fantastic? We have had it on our front counter in Q-Snaps waiting to go out to Jill, and everyone has flipped over it.

Finally, I need to mention some housekeeping information. Because it is cold, and snowy, and icy, we are continuing to close at 5:00 during January. We all like it, but it kind of drives Teri crazy, so I'm sure we will be back to 6:00 by February. Of course she is having to put up with me begging to take every day off so I can just sit home and stitch. Also, everyone has been calling about the Retreat. No it isn't up yet. Honestly it won't be up until later in March, hopefully. But we are busily making wonderful plans for the very best one ever. I will keep you updated every couple of weeks, so you don't have to worry about missing out. The dates are definitely: September 23-25, 2010 with our shop openhouse on the 22nd.

And finally here is the chex mix recipe I promised before Christmas:

1 1/2 cups Lt. Karo

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1 1/2 sticks Butter

1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

Mix above ingredients and bring to boil stirring. Boil for 2 minutes. Pour hot mixture over a 16 ounce box of Chex cereal. I use either Rice or Corn and sometimes mix them together. I am sure Wheat would be healthier, but no one in my family likes them. Oh, well. Add 1/2 package of coconut and 1 cup of slivered almonds. (Sometimes I toast both of these items before adding.) Let cool and then store in airtight containers or Ziplock bags. This is the basic recipe that we use all the time. You could experiment and add anything you like or think sounds good such as dried cranberries or M & Ms. Enjoy.

Sorry, I have to go and pick up Christian from the swimming pool before his hair flash freezes. May 2010 be the best year ever for each of us. May it be filled with great love and joy, simple pleasures and peace, quiet moments and laughter.
fondly, Tina

Christmas Week, 2009

Dear Friends,

Here we are to the final week, and Christmas seems to be rushing towards us. To some, December seems endlessly long, but to me it just flies by. I never really seem to be ready, and I never have taken enough time to just enjoy the moment. LIke the rest of the country, December weather never seems to cooperate with our needs to be out and about shopping and working and partying. Here in Utah we had a week or more of frigid weather hovering near the 0 mark in the mornings and evenings, and my soul longed for blankets and books. Teri and I chose this time to take wreaths and wire stands to the cemetery. Truly could there be a more bleak time to be there than in mid-December? We arrived on a Sunday evening about five o'clock, abandoned the car at the turn of the road and headed off across the frozen snowy ground. There seemed to be a brisk canyon wind tunneling down the cemetery as we set out causing a wind chill of at least 50 below-- (Teri says 250 below)--and reminding me not a little of a scene from Doctor Zhivago. We were part laughing and part crying as we made our way to the first set of graves, little thinking that in this cold the ground beneath the snow was harder than a rock. We hammered, pushed, dug and jammed trying to get the wire stand into the earth at least an inch. No way. So we set the evergreen wreath on the rickety stand--Teri even apologized to heaven and air--and started to run across the ground to the next spot. When we got there we saw the the stand and wreath had blown over, so we ran back and set it back up then returning to our final destination where we had to guess the approximate place to set up our pitiful offerings. By then we really were sort of crying--and laughing--and headed back to the road to make our way around and back to the car. By the time we got there all wreaths and stands were flat out on the ground. Teri's suggestion was that next year we get to the cemetery before Thanksgiving. Good idea.

This past week we have had a little break from the cold, but lots and lots of snow. Still not that conducive to shopping, so I am still no further ahead. We have cooked a lot, which is sort of unusual for us. Normally, we just think about cooking a lot and never actually do it. This week we have been making snack mixes --chex, cheerios, etc.--for all the delivery guys who come to us. Every night Teri gets busy and makes a new boat load of munchies and then packages them up into big and little bags to give away. We have to give large bags to the UPS guys and the Post men, and little bags to give to customers on Saturday as well as for our family party. Peter came home this week from school and was happy, but a little bored, so she has enlisted him in her cooking projects which is sort of nice for me, because it lets me off the hook. She and Peter have made many successful things, and I can just hang out and watch without having to help much. She really does have a large number of darling gift bags filled and ready riding around in her car with her. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up to the gas station window to get her bi-daily diet coke and she pulls out a large bag of treats and hands it to the folks inside. Well,OK then.

Here is a recipe for the sweet Chex mix that we made. It is a little soft and very yummy. Just make a big bowl full of it and munch your way through the holidays. OK, sorry, I have to send you this next week. I keep forgetting to bring it from home. Oh well, perfect for January.

Now you might think that we haven't been stitching, but that is not exactly true. I have been working on a tiny tiny fob for New Year's. I should have had it done in 2 evenings, but it has taken me most of December. Maybe that tells you the quality of the piece. Teri has been stitching ornaments. The one that I think is so darling is a new one from Homespun Elegance. She is giving them to friends and has them all finished with darling red silk ribbon. They are very, very sweet! Now she is working on a little snowman one that is a companion. It is so darling.

Well, as you can see, Christmas week has overtaken me. I fully intended to get this off on Christmas Eve, but we've been slammed at work and at home and Christmas arrived. So I am hoping that your holidays have been filled with peace and joy. As the New Year approaches, my wish is for you to have a safe, healthy, and happy new year. We are frantically getting ready for our New Year's Day sale on Friday from 1:00 to 3:00. It will be a blast. I am also frantically working on the new scissors and fob for 2010. I am just finishing packaging the fobs and need to be at the engraver's before he closes. It has turned out so darling. Next week I will include a picture just to tempt you.

Happy New Year!!! If I don't see you tomorrow, I'll write next week.
many hugs,
Tina

December 7th, 2009

Dear Friends,

Happy Advent! I love December. I love seeing Christmas lights in people's yards and homes. I love little lighted candles in windows. I love Christmas music and movies. I love having time to enjoy all of these things and still squeeze in a little shopping. Cheryl and I were just talking about this and wondering what it is about it all that is so comforting. I am not nearly in shopping panic mode yet, so I am perfectly happy to just sit back and enjoy all of these things. Teri and I have actually been doing a fair bit of cooking, and we have had a lot of fun. It sort of started with the shop open house. Normally we just buy everything that we serve, but this year we were just in the mood to look up old recipes of our mom's and nana's and try them out again. So--for more than a week, we have spent a few evenings making toffee, fudge, date balls, Christmas bread, and cookies. We turn on the Christmas lights, and find a movie to put on in the kitchen and get going. I mostly watch the TV and read Teri the recipes--some things never change--but I do have to pitch in in moments of distress when hot candy is cascading off of our inordinately tiny marble slab. The boys usually drift by: Bob to disparage whatever movie happens to be on, Chris to linger and catch a bit of Elf, but mostly we ignore them and continue with our project. No one comes in when we watch the Muppets' Christmas because we like to sing along and they just roll their eyes. In a moment of complete insanity, we even tried making fondant for chocolates that we had learned several years ago from Judy, the candy master. Of course we started just minutes after completely ruining a batch of toffee, so that should tell you something. But undaunted, Teri forged forward. I have to admit there were a few dicey moments when it became truly apparent that we had no idea what we were doing. But Teri, in her unfailing optimism, continued on and may have salvaged the lot. I was extremely busy following her around the room cleaning up unbelievable amounts of sugar sloshes when she announced that: "a good 2 weeks in the freezer ought to remedy this." I am only a little worried that she will want to try another batch. Actually, I think the food for the open house was a stirring success, so it seems that the downward spiral happened after that.

OK--now I am including an old recipe of my mom's that is very delicious--if you like the flavour of dates. It sounds extremely weird, but try it. I think they are quite yummy in an old fashioned way. We made these last year when Charland and Sydney were visiting us, but they seemed sort of stunned that we cooked them in an electric frying pan and had to run to the store at least 4 times to gather supplies.

Date Crispies

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups dates chopped---just buy them that way

2 eggs--well-beaten

2 TBS milk

1 teas. salt

2 teas. vanilla

4 cups Rice Crispies

Now here is the thing: use an electric frying pan. ( I suppose a pan on the stove would work, but I have never done it that way.) Melt butter, sugar and dates. Before they are very hot, add eggs and stir well. Add milk, salt and vanilla and cook until mixture leaves the sides of the pan. This takes a while--10-15 minutes? My mom writes: "this is very obvious," but for us--not so much. When you think this has been accomplished, turn off the heat and add the rice crispies. Stir well. Scoop out little balls and roll them in coconut or powdered sugar. They might also be good rolled in chopped, toasted nuts. Eat right away, or store in the fridge. Enjoy, Let us know how you like them.

If we cook something else successful, I'll send on the recipe next week.

We had a very fun surprise this week. As you know we are sort of food network junkies here at the shop, and the Ace of Cakes is one of our favourites. Well they aired a Christmas episode where they made a cake like one of our stockings. A woman had stitched over fifty of them for her family, and her husband had commissioned them to make a cake like Teri's Stocking. It was so much fun to see the painstaking process--the cake looked cross stitched--as well as the darling finished product. So watch for it on your TV. Teri spent most of the next day corresponding with Mary Alice, and all in all it was very fun.

Who would have thought...

Now, back to the shop. Everything is decorated and lighted and it all looks very lovely. It is super cold and snowy here, so the shop looks especially inviting. Our temps have been down in the teens, but taking wreaths to the cemetery yesterday with a bleak wind blowing, it seemed about 40 below. Oh well, the perfect time to snug up and stitch.

Finally, I think we have the picture of our new 10-count kit: Seek and Ye Shall Find

I think it is very sweet and certainly still do-able for the big day.

Teri has had several darling ornaments stitched and finished and I think that they are very sweet. The Stitching Santa by Homespun Elegance is very old-fashioned and adorable. I love the little things he is holding.

And another darling ornament/pin cushion from the same designer is this little Reindeer Joy. I just love all the little parts of this piece: the stars, the bird, the reindeer and the joy. It is in my pile to do this season. I even think the odd colours are quite sweet. This is actually just a small part of a larger sampler--not too large, which is also very sweet. I haven't decided whether to do the bigger piece which has a great holly sprig and very cool ABC on it. Hmm.... I'll let you know.

And finally, Teri has taken pictures of our 3 main Christmas displays in the shop to give you some holiday inspiration. The shop really does look very festive and nice and inspiring. I might have to leave off my recipe reading and stitch, stitch, stitch.

I actually have designed quite a lot, but they are going to have to wait for next year now. Besides the new Christmas things I have been drawing, I am just getting ready to stitch the scissor fob for 2010 to go with the Gingher Elena scissors. Oh boy, we are in a bit of a state here trying to decide what it will say. I'm not even sure myself. The new scissors are very pretty and very different from last year's. Remember, if you haven't gotten your Roberta scissors or the 2009 fob yet, the time is drawing short. Let us know if you need them for Christmas. We do a fabulous wrap job and can always help out a weary

husband.

Well, I guess I have to go. It is almost time to close here and we will soon have to face the bitter cold. We are closing around 5:00 for the rest of the month, so if you are coming to us, drop by early. Until next week--stay warm. fondly, Tina

Merry Christmas from Shepherd's Bush!!!

Merry Christmas from
Tina, Lynnette, Sue, Chryl
Nancy, Sophie, Teri, Jillian, Kari
Elisabeth, Kristin and Reed