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My Needle's Song – Neulani laulu

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Tag Archives: ornaments

Input Needed!

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Many of you know that I do make small gift items (like magnets) and Christmas ornaments for sale in my various shops. My husband and I decided that we will now be donating at least 50% of the sales price to no-kill animal shelters. I will be doing a couple of special sets that will have 100% of the sales price donated to these shelters. I cleared out all of the ornaments I had on hand and am starting fresh.

What kinds of items do you look for when buying small gifts? I do try to keep my prices down to between $5 and 10 before shipping so that it is always affordable. Some of my ideas have been refrigerator magnets, mug mats, bookmarks, blank greeting cards, and of course Christmas ornaments. I also have some designs for small pictures that would be a little more expensive, but not terribly.

But what to stitch? Just in Christmas ornaments alone, I have snowmen, Santas, angels, animals, primitives, folk-art, vintage… well, you get the idea. I do collect cat ornaments as well. I have fallen in love with the tonttu designs and begun collecting those as well.

I would love some feedback. Drop on over to my Facebook Page and leave me some ideas, please. (The ornaments above were done for family, but I would be happy to do them again and sell them for $6 each. The tonttu fits into a nice 5″ greeting card, but he can be finished as an ornament too. I like the idea of making him into a removable ornament so that you can take the ornament off the card and hang it on your tree year after year. Though I now have a die-cutter to make these cards, I also like attaching the ornament right to the card, so it becomes the design itself.)

Lots of ideas, and lots of directions we can go…

Posted in Orts | Tagged animal shelters, Christmas ornaments, ornaments

The Writing on the Wall

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Every once in a while, it is great to pause and read the writing on the wall. I try to do that every few months to see if I am still moving in the direction I want to go. When I did that in January, the writing on the wall said, “Over Committed”. Wow.. yeah. How did they know? I stitch for 4 charity groups and love it. I get to try my hand at custom designs and I get a great excuse to shop for more stash. But.. Over Committed. It rang in my ears. Then it hit home.

Find the Beauty - Butterfly Wings from Stoney Creek

My husband’s beloved aunt and godmother turned 70 in December. Between school and all of my charity promises, I failed to stitch anything for this very important birthday. I was so very crushed. She is always so very interested in everything I am stitching and here I could not make time to do anything for her.

Fortunately, my husband and I had picked out the pattern last year but I just hadn’t had a chance to stitch it. I quickly kitted it up and stitched like a fool for 2 weeks. My in-laws rushed it to the framer who did this gorgeous work (and it is perfectly stretched!). I had it done just in time because they were going to go visit her the following week. (Find the Beauty, Butterfly Wings, Stoney Creek. Stitched on white 28 count linen from DMC). The worst part for me was I was feeling guilty over not working on my charity stitching during this time. What? Yeah. I had a full drawer of pieces that I had promised to stitch. I felt rotten and evil for pausing to do this once-in-a-lifetime piece for a beloved aunt. That writing on the wall was screaming at me now.

I went through the same guilt feelings when I worked on this small piece momdonefor my mother for Christmas last year. I could hear that voice in my ear the entire time, “How dare you! You ungrateful thing you!” It was my mother’s 89th Christmas. We needed to not only have it stitched, but framed and then shipped back to the US, all before Christmas and I did not get a chance to start it until NOVEMBER. (Feathered Friend, Laurel Burch by Mill Hill). Why? Because between school and the other charity stitching I was working on, I didn’t have time. How can you not have time for your own mother?

She didn’t have it for Christmas, but it wasn’t terribly late, and she knew something was coming. We also had a postal strike about the time we should have shipped it, so there was some delay.

ornaments2015

I also had to rush to do these small ornaments. The round ones were given to my teachers at language school as a small Christmas gift and a thank you. They constantly admired my stitching and enjoyed seeing the progress. I did not have these done for the last day of school, but I did get to deliver them the following week.

My husband has a new family member and it was important to do a First Christmas ornament for her, too. These really did not take me that much time to do and finish. Still, that voice nagged me. I had pieces I had to stitch and I dared to take time out to do ones I needed to do. Mind you, none of the ones in my queue had a time deadline, either. They were just all “Get them done so we can see how many more we need to make” kind of things. When did it happen that I let charity pieces become more important than my own family and friends?

eilaOne piece I started well in advance was this one for my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday. These are huge events here in Finland. We do celebrate each birthday as well as name-day but, the decade birthdays are extra special. My husband and my father-in-law helped me pick this design nearly a year in advance. We had it done plenty early to get it framed.

Still, I knew something had to change. When I made my New Years’ Resolutions I said I was going to do 1 piece a month for my charities. I am already well past that point for this year. Who really keeps their Resolutions anyway? In the past 18 months or so, I have done well over 50 pieces for charities, but only 3 pieces and 6 ornaments for my family. I used to do a collection of ornaments for family and friends every year but those spare hours I had for stitching were now spent learning Finnish. It means that I have had no time to do anything for the shop in over a year.

There is also the matter of the cost of materials. In January, when I finished kitting up the pieces I had promised to do I realized I was short on fabric. Fabric is very expensive here compared to the US. We could not afford to buy more until this past week. A yard of this special Aida cloth we use runs about $25 US here. I get 9 squares from each yard. I was also out of some colors of thread. Sigh…

Half-way into April and I already have 15 charity pieces completed for the year and 6 more in progress. I need to stop and read the writing on the wall… “Over Committed” and stop making promises. That doesn’t mean I will ever stop doing charity pieces. It means I will have to be a lot more selective about who and what I stitch for. I need to step away from the world for a while and just focus on what I have promised to do….

I will update my progress on the pieces in progress over the weekend. Right now, I just need to go stitch… and read the writing on the wall again.

The Holiday Wind-Down

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Wow.. I made it through my first Christmas with online shops. The last day for shipping to the US and Canada was December 13th, and I needed to have anything for friends and family here in Finland to the Posti by the 16th. I only had one last minute crisis with running out of braid. We had to go into town for more. Then we had a winter storm hit and we lost our power. I did make it through, and found out I *can* stitch by candlelight if I have to! Whew!! I can breathe again!!

On the horizon for the shops…. spring, Easter, some items for Valentine’s Day. I do have some charts in the works for more Finnish magnets. The shops will all get a new banner shortly, and new items. Christmas ornaments will be retired from some of the shops, but will be available year round in others. I do work on Christmas pretty much year round, I just don’t always put things in the shops! I do plan on having goodies for Halloween next year too. Just know you will see a lot more of my work, and in more places than before.

I do hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. Please do drop by the Facebook Page often. I will try to update a bit more frequently as I add things.

Happy Stitching!

Where Does Time Go?

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

Hard to believe this is already mid-November! No snow yet here in Western Finland, but it won’t be too much longer. Yes, I know, I have been too quiet lately. That just means I am getting some things done.

feliz

The shops have had new ornaments added since the last posting. My collection of Christmas greetings is growing – Finnish, Swedish/Norwegian, Italian, French, Spanish. I still have more to stitch. If the collection isn’t done this year, it may be done for next! Ornaments will be available year round at the Headquarters, Galleria, and Showcase shops. You are always welcome to message me and request something special for next year. I already had one smart shopper do just that, and her custom ornament is already on its way to her.

One huge note — the last recommended day to order if you are in the US or Canada is DECEMBER 13th! Because most of my items can be shipped as letters, you have just a few extra days to order. You can still place your order after that date of course, but I cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas. 

The shop also has a new mascot — that pretty silvery reindeer. We have named him Perttu mainly because when anything happens around the house, my husband always says that Perttu did it. You will see him holding my ornaments in the latest pictures.  The reindeer is almost a national symbol here in Finland as we have so many in Lapland. You will see a lot more of Perttu in the months to come. And yes, he is not just a holiday decoration here either!

So… stay warm and dry. Get your shopping done early… and until next time,

HAPPY STITCHING!

Location Location Location

My Needle's Song - Neulani laulu

joulua2How about shop news without the views? Let’s just say it has gotten pretty intense behind the scenes lately. I do have lot of new treats for everyone. Most  are still trying to think of what they are going to do for Halloween, and have no clue about Christmas yet. Well.. I try to have things available early for those that like to avoid the rush. This is a new design that is available in all of the shops. It’s also one of my own. I will probably not be selling this chart due to the number of fractional stitches. If you want this chart, leave a comment for me on Facebook, and I may be persuaded.

tonttu-2My Finnish tonttu is also stitched and in the shops. He was so much fun to do. I have released the chart for this one, but fair warning – it is not for the faint of heart. Just about every single row has some sort of fractional stitch! I will have an easier one out too.

I have other Christmas designs filtering into the shops as I get the stitching and finishing done. So far, it is the Finnish, French, and Italian greetings that are completed. I will have more before November 1st.

I do have more than one place to find my pieces now, each has their own features and strengths. The first 3 shops also have a promo going on through 10/31. If you use the coupon code HOMEATLAST when you check out, you will get 20% off your order entire order.

  • The Boutique has the most current releases and offers instant downloads of PDF files. This shop is in a huge marketplace, so if I don’t have what you are looking for, you do have lots of other choices. Be careful though – not everyone is handmade there.  You will see your selling price in the currency you set.
  • The Galleria has the full range of my items. This marketplace is clearly marked as to what is handmade and what is not. PDF Downloads are by email at the moment (instant to come soon). Selling prices here are in US dollars only.
  • The Showcase also has everything, much like the Galleria shop. The difference here is that if you don’t find what you want in my shop, there are very few other stitchers in that marketplace. Selling prices are in US dollars only. PDF downloads are by email only.
  • The Bazaar is the newest shop and not fully stocked yet. This one is based in Germany. The marketplace is geared a bit more towards fashion and accessories. I do have the Christmas ornaments there currently and will add more very soon. Selling prices are in the currency you set. PDF downloads are by email only.
  • Headquarters has all the products all the time. There is no marketplace here – this is the main location. If you don’t find what you want in my shop, there are no other shops you can visit. On the other hand, this is the only shop with everything I have stocked that is priced in Euros. PDF downloads are by email only.

 

So you see, I have been very busy. It is time for my little fingers to get back to flying on the fabric instead of across the keys.

Until next time, Happy Stitching!

 

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