April 23, 2014 Blessings

Blessings are not something we earn. They are freely given just because we are loved.

In place of a quote I want to share how the needle work image in the last post came to be. In the mid 70's I had found this image in Better Homes and Gardens of a needle work kit that I fell in love with. It was titled "The Prophet." I had tried for some time to find this kit but to no avail. I finally gave up because I was told it was not being offered any more. I was really bummed out. I REALLY wanted this kit.

My DW, Jill, and her close friend at the time went to Allentown, Pa to a shop her friend knew about that had all sorts of craft stuff. It was a birthday present to Jill. Jill said when she saw the shop it was wall to wall to ceiling with everything crafty you could imagine. They were greeted at the door by a lady that said, "Welcome! Looking for something special? You name it! We have it!" Jill immediately thought of the kit I wanted and thought "we'll see about that and described it to the lady. She went somewhere in the back and came out with a kit but it wasn't the one she knew I wanted. The Lady then went to an area where clearance items were piled high and dug out another item and handed it to Jill. Jill said it stunned her. In her hands was "The Prophet." The last one, discontinued and on sale for a fraction of the original cost. She purchase it brought it home and gave it to me. To say I was excited would be an understatement. Remember, she did this on HER birthday with some of HER birthday money. I went right to work on it. The gold thread gave me fits and had to purchase more to finish it. We had it framed and it has hung on a wall somewhere in the house since that time. It is a prized gift From God and my dear wife that will always be displayed as long as I am around. Blessings come in small and large portions. What may seem insignificant is not. In fact, ALL blessings are significant. Be thankful for them. They are free. You can't earn them.

A few of you have asked if I still do that sort of thing and I can say yes but not that large a project. I do however pick up the needle and thread once in awhile. Today I have my last cross card for awhile to post. The cross is completely hand done. There is no coloring anywhere on the card.

This was a challenge but fun card to do.  The pattern is from
Craft Creation Magazine, Winter 2008/2009, Issue 52. I pre-punched the holes for the thread and fussy cut the oval to the size I wanted. The cross is done with DMC metallic gold braid and Dritz blue cotton thread. The card edge is done with Martha Stewart String Lace edge and corner punch set. The cross background is Old world Mat Stock Paper and the edge punched with Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace edge and corner punch set. The flowers in the cross are fussy cut from old return address labels and arranged in the cross arms. Sorry ladies no coloring on something this small. Smile. I used a pink brad for the center of the cross. The edge of the card stock is laced with Wright's Creative Classics Metallic Scroll Braid. Everything is held to the card with Scor-Tape of 1/4" and 1/8". I hope you like what I did and leave me a comment. 

The only thing I would do differently with this type of card would be to use the next heavier weight in card stock. It would bend less but would probably be tough to punch. Th stitching would be a bit straighter too. OH well, next time!
That's it for now. Remember to always pay attention to and LOVE THE DETAILS>