More than just Cross Stitchin': Just Had To Share!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Just Had To Share!

You know when you come across an idea that you get so excited about, you just have to share? Well, this is definitely one of those times!

Even though I wish I could take full credit for this idea, I can't. In fact I ~~stole~~ copied the idea from one of Denise's posts over at Country Stitcher.

I don't know about you, but I've been trying for years to find a neat and tidy way to store my specialty threads like Weeks and GAST other than hanging them on a ring, or keeping them in small ziploc bags. Denise came up with the perfect solution, and I spent last evening happily organizing my threads - alphabetically, of course.

Thanks to Anita and Bonnie for suggesting to leave a few empty slots here and there... that way each time you get a new colour, there is less shuffling around of threads.

Denise used a 3 ring binder and clear sheets with pockets that were made to hold business cards. While shopping in Walmart, I did find these pages... but in an aisle over by the photo albums I found these similar pages used to hold collection cards and they turned out to be the better deal!

They were both the same price ($3.97), but in the business card package you got enough pages with slots to hold 50 colours and the ones I ended up buying had enough pages in the package to hold 90 colours. I also really like that these ones open from the top.

I then took things one step further and printed off the full list of colours for each binder and highlighted the ones that I have. Now when I'm starting a new pattern and need to take inventory of what colours I need to buy, I can just have a quick glance at the list and I'm good to go!

Many thanks Denise for sharing this awesome organizing idea with your fellow stitchers!

Now, if only I could find out the perfect place to store the binders...

Tracey

4 comments:

Sweet Sue said...: Just got my DMC floss storage nicely squared away, this'll likely be my next storage project for those pesky overdyeds on rings. Thx for sharing the alternative card sheets at Walmart:); February 12, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Dirty Martini Queen said...: Oh my gosh! I've tried every method under the sun to get mine organized and nothing seemed to work very well. This is perfect and the only thing I love more than stitching is organizing....ok maybe Bon Jovi comes first on my list.; February 12, 2012 at 4:04 PM
Denise said...: I truely can't take all the credit for this idea, as I got the idea from a lady that attended a weekend retreat with us. But I do like passing on good ideas to other stitchers.
Also I tried the baseball card sheets that open from the top but my floss would stay in them for some reason and kept squeezing out. Then I tried the business card ones and they stay put better for me.
Glad you enjoyed the idea!
Happy Stitching
Denise; February 13, 2012 at 4:32 PM
Tracey said...: Well, we'll have to thank both you and the lady from the retreat for sharing the idea then! :^)

Since I just put mine all together the other night, I haven't really looked at them since to see if all the threads are "staying put". Sounds like maybe the business card slots are a tighter fit?; February 13, 2012 at 4:53 PM

Charlie Brown

Growing up, I had a pet monkey named Charlie Brown. Actually, he belonged to my sister and he came to live with us in 1966. You were actually allowed to have monkeys as pets then and if you can beleive it, he was ordered from an ad in the back of a magazine. Charlie Brown was a squirrel monkey (just like the ones in the Telus commericials).

Everyone in school loved when it was my turn for 'show and tell'. You will see in some of the photos (if the slide show downloads for me...) that he used to wear diapers. Eventually, he learned how to take them off. We had a rope strung across the kitchen from end to the other. We kept a piece of papertowel on the floor at the end of one rope and that's where he did his business. His rope provided many hours of entertainment. At bedtime, if mom and dad were not home when it was bedtime, he would sit on his roap and cry out until they returned.

If I was crying, Dad would put him up to my face to lick away my tears. He would dangle from my hair and lick from one eye to the next. It alwyays made me stop crying. He would play outside and every once in awhile he would swing from tree to tree and end up down the street at the neighbours.

Often you would find the monkey lying in the cast iron pan on the stove. The pilot light from the gas stove provided him a warm and comfy spot. He would also sit on top of the lamp shade for warmth, and if you ever heard a 'pop' - you knew he peed on the lightbulb. It happens...

Charlie Brown used to sit on the wall phone.... until it rang. That was always funny. He brought many years of amusement to us all and I miss him and his antics.

Bonnie

Warm hearts ... and warm toes!

Well since we are talking winter, let's talk about warm hearts ... and warm toes.

A few years ago at Christmas we had a gift exchange. Ironically, both Anita and myself had the exact same idea for a present. We always open our gift bags at the same time, and it was really hard for me to keep a straight face when I saw that Anita had had the same gift idea as me and while she explained that she thought slippers would be a good idea, that way we could carry them in our bag with us at all times. Anita had knit slipppers for everyone and made a little draw-string pouch, with our names embroidered on it, to keep the socks in.

Then they all opened my gift bag and we burst out laughing. I knew how much everyone loved snowmen, so I had stitched faces on white slippers and added a carrot button for the nose. Well we weren't finished with the laughter because I thought we should get a picture with our slippers on. So then we were all sitting on the floor trying to get different positions in order to get everyone in the picture at the same time. We tried sitting up against the wall and taking the picture of our toes all pointing up to the ceiling and then I said, nooooo - that will show the snowman's face upside down. Someone said... (and I won't say who...) "Good point, let's think of something else. What if we lay on our back with our feet in the air - you know... like if our feet were ON the ceiling"

Well then the faces would still be upside down wouldn't they. Spontanious Laughter.

We had to think of something else. It was decided that we would just stand toe to toe in a huddle and we would take the picture from above in order to get everyone in the picture. Sounded like a good plan right?

Well... not if you have a protruding belly and/or big boobs. After the inital light-headedness subsided from sucking in our bellies, we had to deal with the shadow from the boobs.

So we stood in our huddle, adjusting, wiggling and laughing with our arms around each other while we tried not to tip over. It was about that moment when Anita's daughter walked in on us, which of course added to the laughter when we saw the look on her face.

Finally the photo was taken and our toes are doubly warm.

Bonnie

It all started with a tea towel...

Quite some time ago when I was perusing the Dollarama, I came across the cutest autumn tea towel with a teddy bear dressed up like a scarecrow. It immediately reminded me of Jody and I thought 'I'm going to get that for her', and then I thought... why not get one for everybody? And so I did and it was a hit.

From that point on, it's no surprise to any of us if there just happens to be an occasional 'mini gift' exchange on Cross Stitch night. Once when Jody hosted in February, she gave us all a tiny picture frame with a 1" x 1" opening. I had no idea what to do with mine, but Tracey knew immediately. Because it was Valentines day, Tracey stitched a heart.

Mine sat for a good number of months before I could figure out what I could stitch in such a tiny area and not copy Tracey's idea. And then one day it hit me; Jody loves snowmen. I would do a snowman in the frame that Jody gave me. But.... do they make snowman patterns for less than 1" x 1"? I couldn't be bothered looking, so I winged it. And voila! A happy smiley snowman face. I think it took longer to write this posting than it did to stitch that happy face.

We'll have to get a picture of Tracey's heart posted after her renovations are complete as I expect it's packed away for now.

p.s. I wasn't allowed to Blog today unless I cleaned my house. It's half cleaned; consider this half a blog.
Bonnie

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Just Had To Share!

4 comments:

Christmas 2016