New kits on the block

Q. What's new at L*K?
A. KITS!!! 4 of them!

We've been so busy kitting and shipping, these "new" kits may be "old news" to many of you. We're shipping these out every day, so if you haven't seen them in your needlework shop yet, have a look!

At Our House kit - this saying really has it all...swseet, silly, sentimental, bursting with family and love. Kit includes beautiful Crescent Colours threads. You supply your favorite fabric for this really fun project. This kit is NOT Limited Edition...it's here to stay, and hopefully find a place at your house!

We went to market a couple weeks ago and made 3 little Limited Edition kits to take with us. These 3 kits won't be here for long, so grab them while you can. In the spirit of "grab bag" we used assorted fabrics on these kits.  There are lots of neutral fabrics, but also some fun color and overdyes. You might even recognize some bits of fabric from retired L*K kits!

Chicks Limited Edition Kit - includes fabric and tiny chartreuse beads. This project is so quick, you'll have plenty of time to dye eggs and dig into that Easter candy.

Flowers Limited Edition Kit - Sweet little square design with vintage flower motifs. Kit includes muted red flower button, golden beads, and assorted fabric.

A Bee C Limited Edition Kit - Lots of "b's" in this design...3 buzzy bees and one letter "b"! Kitted with assorted fabrics and rusty beads.

These little kits have been SO fun for us, and the fabric scrap pile is definitely looking smaller. (I just can't bear to throw away the small stuff). Check back next week and we'll SNEAK PEEK some projects currently on my desk!

Whatever happened to Lizzie & Kate?

Most of you needlework fans know I named my biz after my daughters. That was 18 years ago, and they were younger...and so was I! They used to travel with me to shows, so when I go to market every year, lots of customers ask "what are Lizzie and Kate doing now?". They still remember the blond-haired youngsters helping write orders and pull inventory.

This year, I decided to be ready for those inevitable questions and made a little banner to hang in our showroom with a short summary of their lives and some pics. Thanks, Walgreens (love their one hour photo processing, even on a 16" x 20" poster!). What? You can't read this? I'll explain and ENLARGE the text and photos for you!

Sarah "Lizzie" is happily living in Chicago with her husband, Jeff. He is a techie working downtown. Really, we don't understand what he does, but he loves it and is happy to be employed after returning to school for his Masters the past few years.

Sarah teaches AP art history and Art Appreciation at a huge public high school. For those familiar with Chicago, it's Lane Tech College Prep school, with over 4200 students...and 11 art teachers. It's a beautiful, historic building...perfect for an art teacher because it's full of great artwork from the Chicago World's Fair and WPA projects. And she can go to the Chicago Art Institute on field trips (this makes my local art teacher friends very jealous!).

They live with their elusive cat, Penny, in a quintessential old Chicago brownstone duplex. Penny (above) is keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

They both love to travel, visiting Japan last summer. Jeff spent a semester there during his undergrad days, so he dusted off his Japanese minor and took Sarah for a visit.

When she's not busy preparing lessons, teaching, or grading, Sarah loves to paint! You can see more of her work at www.sarahewain.com.

Ali lives in downtown KC in a cool loft with her faithful (photogenic) companion, Henry. After many years as a musician and hobbyist food blogger, she recently changed roles. Now she blogs "full time" and teaches music one day a week. Some of her enthusiastic vocal students pose below. 

You can catch Ali's blog at gimmesomeoven.com. She cooks, photographs and posts all kinds of yummy foods. We wish we lived closer so we could enjoy those tasty samples! 

She recently got a little recipe included in Southern Living's March issue - check it out!

When she's not playing with her food, she free-lances at Hallmark (yes, the big card company) in their photo studio as a stylist's assistant. It's a completely random job (sometimes working with food, sometimes not), and she even managed to get doggie Henry hired for a shoot this year. Someday you'll be cruising down the card aisle and you'll see Henry's smiling face!

Ali also loves to travel, and had some interesting adventures this year. She snagged a free Mediterranean cruise (thanks to her blog)...

and also took her first trip to Africa, where she got to share music with some very enthusiastic singers and dancers.

And that completes the brief roundup of "where in the world are Lizzie and Kate?". It looks like they're in the kitchen!