Why I love my East Texas Town

• The families I babysit for are incredibly supportive. One adopts me for a semester, one sends the mechanic to fix my car, another wants to pay for the repairs, one sets me up with Pampered Chef, one took my graduation pictures and gave me her graduation gown, they team up and get me a Bernina and a Big Shot!
• Our donuts are the best, fluffiest sweetest, WARMEST rings of fried flubber anywhere. Just typing this makes me want to get up at 4am just to get a box of the first batch.... drool!
• I had some of my favorite life moments in a little red trailer by a lake with my two best gals and 21 cats.
• The Dollar General stays open till 10pm now!! YES!!
• I get free Yoga lessons from a fellow crafty diva.
• Anything in town is 5 minutes away so I'm rarely late! :)
• Did I mention I love the families I sit for?
• I have my eye on this adorable little gray house with a red door and white picket fence that has ivy creeping up the window. I will have it one day and make it a lovely little crafting cottage.
• I love the look on people's faces when I say "Van".

My First (successful) Embroidery Pupil!

My brother's bonnie lass, Miss Tamera, quite easily agreed to let me give her an embroidery lesson yesterday! Yip Yip! So, she found a pattern in my Doodle Stitching book. Here you see her working with my awesomely huge light board I got cheap at HobLob, "Apollo" (Greek god of light...get it?) ;)

She did very well figuring out the best way to draw on the fabric (a cheap-ol-flat sheet from Wal*Mart for $5, great way to get embroidery fabric without paying 8 bucks a yard). Is it easier to drag the pencil against the grain or push it with the grain? You must learn these things yourself young grasshopper.

Finally have it traced, threads picked out and snugly fitted in my Q-Snap frame, she starts stem stitching if only the needle would stay threaded. The Stem Stitch is a pretty way to do a simple line, its my fav stitch.

She's loving this.... so am I....

And voila'! She finished it in almost exactly 24 hours!!!! Isn't it good?!?!?! She even created a signature at the bottom by the tail and nest for Tamera J.

Now she is working on something for my brother...eager beaver that one! We did it Mom, we converted her to our side!!