Bummer week here....

Well this has been a bummer of a week. I am now once again among the ranks of the unemployed having been dismissed from a job I really liked. They claimed my parts were not up to quality nor was I making enough of them in a day/hour to meet their needs. Funny tho that my parts were totally fine and so was my speed until a former employee came back from maternity leave in July and they hired another trainee (claiming they have enough work for 3 full time and 1 part time person when they did so). So now I fight for UC and hope I can qualify for something until I can land another job. Hubby isn't too happy now that we are back to only his income and is pushing me to get another job ASAP. Well that is easier said than done in the current market and economy (last time was nearly a year of not working before I got this job) but I am trying, which I hope will be enough to keep him quiet for now. You know how it is supposed to be the woman who is the nag but in our house it is him. LOL
This has left me with more time to work on a couple boxes a client ordered tho. :-) I won't be able to post any pics for now as they are meant as Christmas gifts and I can't spoil the surprise. But maybe after then. I'm also working on a couple stitchery projects to fill in my time. One is an angel ornament from 14 count plastic canvas. The original was from a kit and done on perforated paper but I think this one is coming out just as nice. I'll have to get some pretty lace for her wings as all I have is too narrow. Hmmmm............. Sounds like stash shopping time doesn't it?! LOL
I tried to put in son's bi-weekly UC claim but the online site won't let me enter it until after 9/12 yet it is due this week. So I tried to call the automated line and it said his case is inactive? I then tried to go online to the unemployment job placement website and it says my ID and/or password is invalid. I think it has something to do with the state's web pages not working right as it told me the same for my husband's ID as well. Probably affecting the UC pages too. Can't figure out what's up but will try again tomorrow and if still getting stonewalled, I'll have to call them to get it straight.
Finally my son has his SSI court hearing scheduled in November. It has been a long 2 years of delays and frustration but I hope he can make it through and get it. He wants to work but just can't find anything that will fit his restrictions and still keep him on long term. Last one laid him off before he had much time in and no one else we've found seems to be able to meet his needs. ......Sigh....... But we keep trying and plugging away anyhow.
I'll close with some pics of an older project I did using the Dragon Dreams elemental dragon freebies of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. This project ended up as a gift to a friend who loves dragons. Guess I'll have to make one for myself now. LOL Enjoy!

Hey all. Time just flies by, especially when you are busy it seems. LOL Been advancing at work slowly, adding new skills and parts to my can now do list. I was told the more parts you know how to do the more valuable you can become to the company. So I've added some practice on a 3rd part (not quite good on it yet as it is a bit more complex than the others but it's a start) plus learned some prep work on several more parts. I sure hope this helps me keep this job for the long run as I really like doing it. They also give bonuses to the employees when they have a good month and over the past couple months I've gotten almost $250 extra. Plus last Thursday the boss said everyone could leave an hour early and still be paid for it because they were having a good month. How cool is that!
We've been working on getting son's car issues. We have a bid in on a car for him but now must wait for DPA to approve his purchase allowance. But this dealer is trying to work with us, which is great because it has been hard to find someone who would. So we should hear back from DPA in the next 8-9 days as they have to give an answer in that time frame now.
Finally finished my EMS Rose Sampler but have to take a pic of it to post. I plan to check out getting it framed for granddaughter this weekend if I can. Moved on to some miscellaneous kits I'd bought at a local thrift store to have something to do when I need to wait to pick up my husband after work.
Looked at etsy over a weekend but didn't create an account just yet. I want to tread lightly until I know what I'm getting into. But it is promising.
I need to look for some photos that will make good cross stitch patterns for a project someone requested. Will have to do that after I post this blog entry. But I wanted to post some pics of a sewing box project I made for a friend as a gift. (I also make these custom painted sewing boxes and accessories to sell in a variety of themes.) Boxes start at $20 for the smallest size and go up from there. They are all felt or cloth lined and include a magnet in the lid to hold pins and needles. Accessories are $2.50 for the thimbles, $3.50 and $5.00 for the needles cases. I can also make counted cross stitch scissor fobs, scissors cases and needle books to match the sewing boxes. So if any of this looks or sounds good to you, drop me an email and I'll see what we can work out.

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. Been a little busy with life as usual but who isn't. LOL I am nearly finished with the EMS Rose Sampler I've been working on, less than one page left to do. I hope to finish and frame it to give to my grand daughter for her B-day in late July. She'll only be 5 years old but I think she'll like it.
I've been working more hours since we got word that the bank wasn't going to repo my car as part of the bankruptcy after all. We put my car back on the road and have lessened the miles on my husbands car. We were putting between 80 and 100 miles per DAY on his car when all 3 of us were working that day. Now we are working on getting son a car, both so he can keep working and to help establish his credit. He is a bit delayed in getting these things started (He's 22 years old) because he has a mild form of autism that affects his central nervous system. (He can't tolerate a lot of vibration and strong chemical smells so most manufacturing is out, and freaks out over conflicts and can't work with customers so retail is out too.) But he's trying and we support him all that we can.
I haven't had the time to check out etsy yet but maybe I can squeeze some time for that soon. Tho once I go for that I am wondering when I'll find the time to make up the things that people decide to order. Hmm..... There is always the weekends tho and I always have 3 day weekends since I only work Mon-Thurs (10 hour days).

recent projects update

Okay, so I had to go in and figure out how to move the EMS picture to be with the correct paragraph but I did it. YIPEE!! I really am getting the hang of this. LOL

Pam B.

recent projects

Today I thought I'd try to post a pic of my recent projects. This is Quaker Welcome from The Stitcherhood (who also has a blog here at blogspot) that I stitched in a variegated oranges. I would like to try to tweek the design just a bit to make myself a set of placemats. All I want to do is spread the elements apart a bit and maybe repeat the the top and bottom ones to get the proper size. Anyone know if this is still a violation of copyright if I'm only doing it for myself and not to resell?


The next one is an older design from EMS that was their free SAL in 2008. I am doing it a bit different tho in that I'm using 14 count aida but stitching it as a 28 count project. Am I nuts? Maybe, but I didn't have the 28 count fabric and wanted a smaller finished size. I'm doing this one in red because when most people think roses, they think red. I wanted to make this for my grand daughter Rosa's room (Rosa=Rose) and also thought this would be appropriate. This is only the top half of it (parts 1 thru 6) tho I have parts 7-9 done since then and am working on part 10 now. Slow going since I'm now working again (was unemployed when I started this) but I usually manage to get in a few stitches every day/evening.

Well I'm going to see how this comes out and if my pictures show up where and how I want them to. I'll get the hang of this eventually, I think?. LOL

Well here goes......

Hello out there in blog land. Please bear with me as this is my first ever attempt at blogs and blogging so I hope I don't mess this up too badly and bore everyone to death. LOL
I guess a brief background on me and why I am doing this is a place to start. I am Pam B, a late 40 something artist, amateur cross-stitch designer and crafter. I'm a country and farm type person tho I currently live in the city. I have been married to a good farming man for 30 years and we have 2 adult children (girl and boy) and one granddaughter. Our son has a mild form of Autism and still lives with us at age 22 but we are working with him to help him become more independent. We are all 3 working full time right now and trying to juggle 3 different work schedules with only one car which is a big challenge.
As to why I'm trying this blogging, I used to have a website and sell my crafts online but with moving, job changes and the poor economy I had to close that site because I could no longer afford to keep it paid for when my client base almost dried up. Farmers were my main clients and like the rest of us, they don't buy "pretties" when they can barely keep their farm going. I am hoping this blog will help me to showcase my work and maybe I can begin to make a little side money once again with my talents.
I specialize in counted cross stitch and hand painted wood items right now but since I have a number of other crafting talents, I could expand out into other areas. I do specialize mostly in farm and country themes as well as animals and Native American themes but am willing to do almost any theme a client would want except x-rated stuff, logos and licensed characters. (Those last 2 can only be done with special permission because of copyright laws anyway.) Once I figure out how to post pictures on this blog, I'll add some to show what I do and give more info on contacting me if anyone sees something they would like to have.
That's about all I can think of to write for now. I'll be back once I figure out more about how this blogging stuff works.