Please don’t think for a moment that I am ignoring this blog. I have just been very busy lately. For the shop news, I did add several new magnets, including a really cute red squirrel and my first round magnets.These have all been done on a beautiful, soft antique white 28 count linen. I was so pleased with how the round magnets came out that I will be doing more (including Christmas ornaments) this way.

The squirrel really jumped out at me. I love squirrels for some unknown reason. When I lived in Texas, I had one resident in the oak trees in my yard. My cats loved watching them come over and steal the bird seed. We have resident squirrels here in Finland too, and yes, they are bird seed thieves!! This one won’t steal anything but your heart…

As you can also tell, I am playing with new backgrounds. The round ones were shot indoors on a paper that has glitter. Then we found a really neat handmade light blue-gray paper. The squirrel was shot outdoors on the new paper. I did not do any color correcting to it, and I think it is a much more accurate picture of the magnet. It is so important to try to get these pictures as close as possible to the real thing. People who are looking for these don’t have the chance to see these in person. All they have to go by is the picture.

We have family arriving on Sunday, and will be taking an overnight cruise on the new Viking Grace from Turku to Stockholm and back. We are all excited about this. Yeah, I know.. who gets excited about a ferry boat ride? Well, this is more of a cruise ship with the restaurants, nightclubs, and other facilities. Plus, it is brand new. We watched the christening of the ship live. Finns do these cruises as mini-holidays, and it is very reasonable. For me, it will be a test. I usually take my laptop when I leave home. This time, my computer stays here. I am taking only one small stitching project – another first for me. I am going to relax and enjoy some quality time with my husband. Two years ago this week, he proposed to me. It’s a special week for us, and I hope you have a special week as well.