July 2011 New Releases

I'm very glad to be able to post the pictures for these new designs and accessories today. The website has been updated, and through the grace of God and a very well written tutorial - I updated it myself!!! I'm a person who can't remember her own phone number half of the time, so this was a huge step for me. Woo hoo! Goodness, I almost broke my arm while patting myself on the back ;-) Orders have already started shipping out to the stores, but the bulk of them will be heading out Tuesday morning. Sooo, without further ado, here they are:

MBT-109 Revelation - From Revelation 21:4 - "and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." I stitch what I'm experiencing, and this has been of great comfort. With all fo the stress, strife, and struggle in our lives, we know that there is hope in an eternity with Him.

MBT-110 Count It All Joy - I can't tell you how much I ripped thread on this one. I was certainly not counting it JOY! There was more frogging on this design than in all of the last ten projects I've done. It was our camping project over Father's Day weekend, the munchkin had her play horses out, and the orts turned into their "food". Unfortunately none of them will be the same after the overfeeding. All kidding aside, I'm thrilled with how it turned out and love the colors. Even through the tough stuff we can find joy.

MBT-111 A Very Faint Line - "The line is very faint between hobby and mental illness" Now y'all have to agree with me that some days we can take our hobby to an extreme that no sane person would recognize as healthy. For some it's thread, others fabric, and then charts, and the most normal ones of us have our scissor collections. Of course we always need scissors, so I think I am completely justified in this one. Yep. That's what I'm sticking to. I was stitching this one outside during some of the more moderate weather we had, and it was a challenge. The design was an easy stitch, but finding the single lost needle in the needing-to-be-mowed grass just about drove me crazy! I understand "needle in a haystack" now more than I had ever wanted. I though finding a needle in carpet was hard! This design is adorned with five JABC buttons, one of which is a rubber duckie. I can't even look at a duckie and not go into a fit of giggles, so this kind of fit. Also coming out this release are some new accessories. We have a 2011 Summer needle threader set, which is the set of five threaders you see in the picture. There are new colors of teapot mini fobs as well. These are now available individually, or boxed with a thread picker or matching needle threader. Details for all of the charts can be viewed at http://www.mybigtoedesigns.com/

That's pretty much all of our MBT stuff. Today our house is torn apart and I'm trying to stay calm while the dust settles. It makes sense that since the siding has to be replaced next week (see earlier post on micro burst) we go ahead and replace the windows that have cracked seals. Hubby is blessed with a handy streak that makes most house projects a joy for him to do himself, and I'm blessed by one of his friends who came over to help lug the heavy things around. The munckin is happily using the vacuum to suck up all of the dust bunnies and dry wall chunks. As of now, 3 windows are done, 4 to go. My office window is one of the ones being replaced and I have to start clearing out access through my incredibly well organized piles of random stitchy stuff (it's a good thing it's a clear day or I'd be afraid of being hit by lightening for the misuse of the word organized). Have a wonderful week to all and enjoy your x's!

Summer, wind, and upcoming new releases

Here we are in the middle of July and we are so far enjoying the weather. We've had a few hot days, but nothing like what some of our country is suffering through. Overall our year so far has been cool, with a very late warm up for the garden. My tomatoes and peppers are not happy for that. The pumpkin, however, is taking over everything! If anyone has any good pumpkin recipes I welcome them. The munchkin was fascinated with the "Giant Pumpkin" seeds and I can definitely say there was truth in advertising on that packet of seeds.

This past month we went to northern Idaho for time with family and a new friend. We met Deb, from Tempting Tangles, and had a great evening with her and her husband. It was neat to meet a fellow stitcher, and see all of the lovely projects she is working on. My plan for the vacation was to get in lots of stitching. That failed. This was for the best because we spent lots of time with family and out in the gorgeous nature that surrounds us. Honestly, who can get much work done when there is this to look at:

We went riding through the hills, seeing deer everytime we went out, and enjoying the beauty of His creation. It's humbling to think that scenes like this were created for us to treasure. The munchkin picked wild strawberries, chased butterflies, and hiked the mountain with a curiousity and boundless energy that only a child could fully experience.

I did find some designing stitching time over these past months and have three new designs coming out in a couple of weeks. All that is left to do is format, print, package, market, stuff envelopes, send out newsletters, and then hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I have. Hubby will be able to help with some of it and the munchkin will take seriously her job of sticking stamps to the 300+ newsletter envelopes. One project that I can share today is "Be Not Forgetful", stitched over one, for the 2012 trunk shows. My scissors are in the picture to show the scale, it's pretty small!

The other three pictures will be released in a week or so. Then it's time to start stitching on designs for late September. I found so much joy in the treasure hunt of the last Building Block that I will have another one coming out at that time.

This past April we learned a new weather term: micro burst. It is what happens when there is a localized downburst of wind. We were driving home from running errands, being hailed on, and joking that it was a good thing we weren't in Texas because this was tornado weather! We pulled up to the house just in time to see a swirl of leaves, and then a good chunk of our roof and siding blow off and into the neighboring properties. Our siding was found over an acre away, some stuck in trees, and the shingles were just about everywhere. Bright side - insurance has been wonderful to work with and our adjuster has been very understanding. Down side - the "thunk, thunk, thunk" of the nail gun. Our roof is now rated to 160mph and I can only pray that it is never tested. Siding should be replaced in the next couple of weeks and I look forward to having the house put back to normal.

That's most of our updates on this end. The munchkin is still good, loves to read, devouring books, and as energetic as ever. She is struggling with allergies and ear infections, both of which we're trying to get under control, but loves to run, play, and is blessedly an active child. She is enjoying lead-line time on the horses at a neighbor's farm and finding new ways each day to surprise and challenge me. Life is good. Stressful at times, hard, and a genuine struggle some days, but still good.