You call this work?

I just returned from a FAB weekend in El Paso! The fun gals from the Counted Thread invited me to their annual Camp Stitchmore event to be the guest designer, so it was a "working" weekend. But really...does this look like WORK?

Really...we DID work...but we also played...A LOT! Above photo shows the event hostesses Nancy and Libby (from the Counted Thread) and their angel helpers Terri and Bonnie. They were dressed for nighttime stitching in matching holiday nightshirts. Can you tell we had a Christmas theme?

We met at a beautiful hotel and the elves set up an amazing portable needlework shop. Boy...were the gals eager to shop! Above is the L*K area of the shop, but there were lots of trunk shows from other designers and all sorts of needlework goodies. 

In between all that stitching and chatting, we did a bit of eating! Above is a photo from our "English tea". We all wore hats and had a fun parade of hats, admiring each other and nearly laughing our hats right off our heads. Check out Libby's "fascinator" hat (second from left), inspired by the recent royal wedding!

This clever lady had a cross stitch themed hat complete with floss, scissors, needle and buttons. All she needs is an L*K Flip-it to complete her ensemble!

I left on Sunday morning, but the faithful gang stayed on to stitch through the day. Before I left for the airport, we posed for a group photo. I'm in the middle front, happily sitting between the camp hostesses.

A lot of these ladies have been coming to camp for many years, so camp wasn't only a chance to shop, stitch and get new projects. It was a time to catch up on each other's lives and tell (crazy) stories from past camps. Libby and Nancy weren't only hosting a needlework event, they were dispensing "extreme hospitality". Every one felt like they were special, and I was treated like Queen for a Day. (Does anyone remember that old TV show?)  

Now I'm back in Wichita and working like CRAZY to get our new releases shipped. We're shipping new designs on Wednesday to needlework shops all over the US and around the world. Alan is a wonderful shipping helper, and Carmen is here this AM to help with assembly, but once again...we need some elves!!!