flower basket

I have been kind of hibernating during summer months and as predicted I have not worked on the embroidery project during summer but in about a month the autumn course will commence so I have to start threading the needles and work on the on-going project, seriously.

I have made a little progress since June, but not much as you can see, and the peony petals as well as leaves still need a lot of work but it looks rather nicer, if I may say so myself, now that the centre of the flower is done.  I truly hope I would be able to make more progress before the course starts on 30th September.

*** shop update ***

This is just a reminder that tomorrow (Japan time) is the last day before you can shop at the current price at my shop although the new item (24 cards of silk thread) will remain the same price.

Share Your Thimbles 2010 August

This month we had four participants.  I would like thank Laura B. who said she now knew what she was doing, Dorian who participated in two month in a row, Debi who is one of my regulars, and Ludmila from Ukraine who chose to join us again after long absence, and of course all of you who visited Flickr and admired our works.  If you have not visited photo sharing yet, there is a link to Flickr on the right column.

Now, the winner of the lucky draw is Dorian who shared her lovely beads and thimbles with us.   Dorian, will you please send me an e-mail for shipping address, you can find my e-mail address in my profile page. 

Next week I am going to host another photo sharing at Flickr.  Details will follow on 1st of September.  If you make thimbles, or any other rings using the technique, please come join us there.


*** shop update ***

Bad news.....  As you know the currency exchange rate has been fluctuating drastically, in whose favor is depends on whose view point you are standing, but not mine for sure.  A dollar is always a dollar but when you live in a country which medium of circulation is not a dollar, it does not always hold the same value.  It fluctuated nearly 15% since I priced my merchandise and I cannot absorb the loss any more.    Therefore I am forced to reprice everything already listed at my shop with 13-15% increase.  New price will apply from 1st of September, Japan time.  If you are considering purchase,  it's best for you to buy it this month.  It may be a bit too early for thinking about winter holiday shopping, but perhaps you should start a shopping list now.  I am sorry I could not give you much warning about this unfortunate price hike but I hoped the intervention by Japanese government and bank of Japan would have some effect on the situation.

Share Your Thimbles -- August 2010

It's the first of August so you can start uploading your thimbles from here.  My contribution this month is the thimble shown above.  The design is called "blue wave" .  Actually it's just striped bi-coloured scales but almost every designs are variation of bi-coloured scales in one way or the other.

Here are the rules of the photo sharing at Flickr:

1.  The thimbles (or any other rings) have to be your own work. 

2.  Although the group name is "thimbles" your work is not necessarily a thimble and you can make your rings in any size you would like, as small as a focal bead of the necklace or as big as a bracelet, or even bigger if you like.

3.  As stated above, they have to be your own work but you can use a thimble base from the kit if you like.  It may not be fair, especially considering the fact that I sell the kit, but there are many other kits available (at least in Japan) and some of you may be able to obtain them.  I don't see any reason to exclude the people who bravely share their very first work with us. 

4.  Your work have to be done by only forward stitches.  No back stitches or weaving at this time.

5.  You can use any materials, in any colours,  you would like. 

6.  Please state the size of the mould on which you formed your ring base in the description field of the photo.  Please also mention what threads and padding you used, too, so that we could compare notes.  In case you bought one of my kits, here are the size and materials:   "first thimble" is 50mm in circumference and Tire Silk size 9 & floss silk padding.  "small pincushion" is 61mm in circumference and Tire Silk size9 & floss silk padding.  "medium pincushion" is 103mm and Tire Silk size 16 & knitting yarn for padding.

7.  You can upload as many photo as you like.

8.  The closing date is 21st of August 2010, Japan time.  Please note that we are 9 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) in Japan

Now, you can start uploading your photo from here.

We are going to have a lucky draw at the end and one lucky winner will get the thimble of my contribution for this month shown above.  To enter the draw, please leave a comment on the message board at Flickr.  You can upload as many as you like but you can enter the draw only once.

Now, people, let's start stitching and please come join us here.