VIEWER MAIL!

Hi kids! I am HAPPY DANCING now that my little Autumn Sampler needlepoint canvas is done, but I can't photograph it at the moment. Silly me....forgot to re-charge the camera battery. Pics tomorrow, I promise.

I decided to answer/address some viewer mail/comments. Now just sit back and think of Wendy, the Snapple Lady:

Vonna asked if we have access to INCOLSA here in corn country, USA. Nope, sorry Vonna. I live in St. Joseph County, and our library system does not participate in this. Never fear, though, since I must say that we are blessed to have SEVERAL fabulous libraries at our disposal and I hope to visit them all more frequently.

Stitchy McFloss asked if I would post a pic of Stewey in his sweatshirt. Well, Stitchy, I'll sure try, but I can't make any commitments on this one. He can be rather tempermental about having his photo taken, and if the seams are off or if he feels it's not a good color on him he turns his back to the camera. He was sporting his little bath robe this morning (since there was a bit of a chill in the air), but I didn't catch him (see above re: camera battery being dead). I'll see if I can get a few ambush shots of him all dressed up and will share them asap.

DaffyCat, I use vinegar and water on my hardwood floors. The big burly guy that installed them took one look at me and said "Lady, if you put anything on these floors other than vinegar and water, don't call me to fix 'em". So I never have. Ahem. Anywhoose, the vinegar really does clean them quite nicely, and it only smells like pickles and salad dressing for an hour or so.

Yes, Magnolia, the ribollita was very good. I ended up filling eight containers and sent four home with Chrissy. I think she managed to get a few lunches out of them. As for me....I only had a few spoonfuls before stocking them in the freezer.

Cyn asked how I journal my finished projects. Well, I snap a photo and then fill out a little form that I made with all of the stitchy details like threads, fabric, stitches, start and end date, etc. And since I have tons of pretty papers and such, I tart up the photos and create a "page" for each so that it's kinda' purty like before I put it in a little album. I know....waaaaaay too much work for a hobby, right? Well, I only do it to get rid of the guilt for having all of this scrapbook stuff sitting up in the studio unused.

Karen/NYC: Yes, I've heard of Elizabeth Bradley and about a zillion years ago I bought a very small project to try. Alas....it languishes in my stash, so maybe I should break it out and get jiggy with it?

Crazee4books: Some painted canvases come with stitch guides. These guides tell you what threads/fibers to use, what stitches to use, and where to place them. In the case of my Autumn Sampler, I didn't have all of the threads that the designer/stitch guide author called for, so I just pulled DMC flosses and went to town. What was extra nice about this stitch guide was that is contained a color photograph of the finished piece that you could also use as a reference. Now, Lord knows that I am a needlework harlot and just LOVE all forms (counted cross stitch, canvas work, painted canvas, hardanger, crewel, etc.), but I particularly loved having a guide for this latest project.

Well, that's it for now. As always, thanks for tuning in! On tomorrow's show, we'll have pics of the finished Autumnal Sampler and our special guest will be Stewey Angus Rich, talking about his latest book "How My Mother Ruined My Life" or "Why I Can't Be a LadyBug For Halloween".