Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the mothers out there who happen to see this blog have a truly wonderful Mother's Day!! May all of your kids be a blessing to you, I KNOW you love them as much as I do mine!

What's in a name?

I have really been pondering what to call my new business venture. I am terrible at making up names, which is how I got stuck with Annie Beez Folk Art for my doll business. My husband suggested it when we first got email, and I couldn't think of anything better for my business. Isn't that pathetic? It's not a horrible name by any means, and has a cetain catchiness which is good, but I have always thought it a little too cutesy and unimaginative.
So here are some thing I have come up with so far:

Anne Elizabeth Samplings- this is another play off of my name, and I thought I could shorten it to AnneE for emails and such. Also Anne is my patron saint and Elizabeth is my confirmation name. (my middle name is Marie, so with 3 famous bible mothers as my namesake is it any wonder I have so many children? LOL!)

Stolen Moments Needleart-this is just a sentiment of how I feel whenever I am stitching. I always feel like I should be doing something else. In a household this size there is an endless stream of things to be done-I'm sure you can all relate!

Mustard House - this is a nod to my primitive style, and my house is an old farmhouse painted mustard. Also the first sampler I ever designed myself was called Mustard house.

This is all I have so far, please ANY suggestions, comments, etc. are MOST welcome. I told you I'm not good at making up names!!!LOL!

Secret revealed!!

In a much earlier post I alluded to a secret that I was stitching on. Well, as so often in the world of needlework, the final "reveal" can take FOREVER!! I am ready to tell you! I have been a publisher of doll and craft patterns for nearly 8 years now, a business that has been both fun and a lot of hard work. I have decided to turn my designing to needlework, as it has always been my first love, and something I always come back to, no matter where else I seem to go creatively.
I have finished up the stitching on my first model, and I am about 1/2 way through my second. My first piece is a brides box with a colonial theme. I am finishing up the charting now. I cannot say when it will be ready for release, as I still have to send it to the photographer, and finalize the business paperwork. I am so excited, and I hope you are excited too! I have so many ideas and designs floating around in my head, I can't help but feel really envigorated by this new venture! Here is a small sampling of my bride box, just a small teaser to give you an idea!!

Dorothy is released and ready to ship!

This pattern includes a color photo on the cover and an extra bonus photo close-up of her face! Enjoy!

My focus piece

I've decided to work up some kind of rotation to deal with all of my wips!! :) I have decided to take one of my BAP's and make it my focus piece, and then rotate some of the smaller projects in between. So far I have decided on my focus piece, but I still have to decide on which of the smaller pieces I want to work on. So here is a pic of Days of Advent. I have been working on block 2. After I finished block 1, I was considering restitching the whole thing on a different fabric, something softer, like a Lakeside linen. But I decided I will just continue on, mainly because I don't want to restitch block 1! LOL!

A finish!

Beautiful, beautiful day!!

We had a gorgeous sunny day for my little daughter's First Holy Communion! It was so special! She is my youngest of four, and it is getting bittersweet to see them all growing up so fast! Here is a wonderful picture of my oldest and my youngest! My heart just swells whenever I look at this picture!