Our "almost forgotten" Boxer kit

It's a RARE occurrence when we get a new product ready a month ahead of time at L*K. When we release new designs every 2 months, our new inventory is usually ready "just in time". And often while we're packing orders, we run out of new stuff, and have to stop and assemble more.

And that's my excuse for why I forgot to mention our upcoming Inspiration Boxer in the previous 2 blog posts. It's been ready to go for a month - gasp - and collecting dust on the L*K shelves. I think it got lost in the holiday shuffle going on in my mind.

I'm excited about this one! The saying is "Life is better with stitching friends". It's a great stitch to share with a special friend who shares your passion for stitching, or keep it for yourself and smile.

Inspiration Boxer kit (B52) includes 30 ct. Lambswool linen (great inbetween thread count), dark blue buttons, and BONUS design. I LOVE this little BONUS (pictured below)!  Ever since it returned from Mona, my magical finisher, it's been sitting on my very crowded desk.

Check out my newly restored terrarium behind the BONUS project. I cleaned out a couple overgrown terrariums last week, and replanted with tiny new plants and newly pruned remnants of terrariums past.  . Sometimes those plants are so happy they outgrow their glassy spaces, not to mention get the glass all gooey and icky. Clean and happy again...these terrariums make me smile...and no watering!

We'll be having a working weekend at L*K, and get all 5 of new releases shipped to shops everywhere next Tuesday, February 2. Can you believe February is just around the corner?

Happy Stitching!

2 new kits coming soon!

We're shipping new goodies on Tuesday, February 2 to needlework shops everywhere. Check out our previous blog post for our other 2 new releases. One design has great empowering words for 2016, and the other is just plain "undergarment" fun!

Meanwhile, here are our 2 kits coming SOON! We're busy cutting/folding linen and finishing fabric, sacking buttons/embellishments, and doing all those pesky assembly tasks. I expect when our friends gather at our house to watch basketball games in the weeks ahead, there will be some kit sacking stations in the TV room. 

A Little Baby Kit (K85) will join the "Little" kit club. This one is a cutie, and has space for easy personalization. It's a quickie gift that will last a lifetime. The colors are also easy to tweak for girls or boys. Just change the color on the baby booties! Kit includes 28 ct. Lambswool linen, antique gold charm, and alphabet/numbers for personalization. The personalization with name and date is stitched over one linen thread - thank goodness for magnifiers!

Hello Spring Kit (K86) is a companion to our recent Very Merry Santa Kit. I just adored doing the little purse/pocket/whatever you want to call it finish, so I'm doing a series for 2016. We're including some yummy vintage looking fabric, burlap-y ribbon, 2 mother-of-pearl flower buttons and a baby pink button. And, of course, complete finishing instructions. This is a real spring cutie - I just love the sweet colors and cheery flowers on this one.

I enjoyed my Very Merry Santa model so much, he found a place in my holiday decor. Now I'm plotting where to display the Hello Spring Purse as soon as spring is in the air. It's freezing outside today...I'm hoping for our first snow, or (alternatively) some 60 degree weather!

***Missing Big Girl Panties update. No sightings to date. We'll keep our eyes open, but I'm thinking this missing model crime will remain unsolved, just like the runaway bunny. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see previous post.)

Enjoy your week, everyone!

What's coming in 2016

It's been over a month since I blogged! What happened??? The holidays, of course!

So now I'm trying to get back to my desk, and return to the daily groove of running a cross stitch biz. I'm making lists, and even starting to cross things off. I'm trying to pull everything together for a new bunch of designs coming in early February. These designs were all stitched before Christmas, but somehow the publishing part is taking longer than usual, due to some unusual setbacks ***see details below!!

Here's what's on my desk for 2016:

175 Bras and Panties
The Big Girl Panties are back!!! Many years ago I did a kit with the saying "Pull up your big panties and deal with it!". I still remember trying to explain this saying to an Italian customer at Nashville Market. Anyway, it sold out in a couple hours and had the shortest life of an L*K kit to date. (I only made a small number because I had no idea if anyone would like this phrase...who knew?) Since then I've had numerous requests for more Big Girl Panties! I've tweaked the original design a bit, and added a second design about Bras.  Now we will have an underwear duo, both packaged as a chartpak. We're including some hand-dyed buttons in orange and pink to add to the "unmentionable" fun! Ask for #175 Bras and Panties.

***Regarding the above mentioned "unusual setbacks"....I have a really funny story to tell about the Big Girl Panties. Before Christmas, I stitched the design at home. Then it went to the L*K office to have my husband mail it to my finisher, Mona, in nearby Oklahoma. A couple days later she told me it still hadn't arrived. Panic and dismay! The Big Girl Panties had gone missing! And...long story short...they have never resurfaced. The Big Girl Panties model is now officially MIA. We can't find a record of it on the shipping log, can't find it in the L*K office or at home, the UPS man isn't confessing, and it certainly isn't at the Magic by Mona headquarters. After mourning it's loss for a few days, I realized my release deadline was approaching and I reluctantly (argh!!!) restitched the model.

Mona says the Big Girl Panties have absconded with the "Runaway Bunny" (pictured above before he went AWOL) - another model that went missing in spring 2015. We thought we might find the missing bunny model when we moved last summer, but alas, no :"wascally wabbit" resurfaced. It's a truly sad day when your panties are missing!

#174 Be Bold and Brave
Everyone keeps requesting inspirational sayings, so I've combined 2 favorites in this chartpak, plus a bonus coordinating pin cushion design. I just love both of these empowering phrases. They're great words to begin the New Year! I used a darling little Shaker pin cushion from Lone Elm Lane.

Instead of making resolutions, I have friends that select a "word" or "phrase" for the New Year, and try to live the year with intention through their selected words. Wouldn't the 2 phrases above be great for a 2016?

What else is coming in February?
I've urgently pulling together a couple more kits. I'll share pics and info on the next post. I'm really excited about both of these. Stay tuned for our next blog post - soon, I promise.

Meanwhile, keep an eye out for those missing Big Girl Panties!