Thank you Martha Stewart!

Thank you dear readers and friends for all your lovely comments about my scissor display.  I love organizing my stash almost as much as stitching it that's for sure.   I've been keeping all my patterns in 2 file drawers in my office/sewing/stitching room for probably 10 years.  The drawers kept getting more and more tightly packed with stash acquisitions to the point it was getting difficult to pull out patterns let alone squeeze any more in. I couldn't get to any in the back without pulling out a bunch of folders first to get my hands back in there.

Of course I COULD quit buying more patterns but let's face it - that's not going to happen!  I decided it was time to make some room.  I know a lot of stitchers keep their patterns in binders, but although I've got most of my patterns in those see-through page protectors I never had used binders.  I took a look at what I had and decided that I could make more room by (1) putting my 2 bulging file folders of Prairie Schooler charts in binders, and (2) finding a place for all those half-size patterns (the ones that are sized like the LHN ones).  I thought maybe I could find half-size page protectors to fit those patterns and get some of those smaller ring binders to hold them. 

So off I went to check out Staples office supply store.  They do make half-size page protectors I found out and so  got a few bulk packs of those (they were about $5.49 for 25 - Staples own brand).......then I started looking at the vinyl binders to fit that size. WHOA - these binders, even the cheapest ones, were like $7-8 apiece.  This was not going to work out if I had to pay that kind of price.  Just then I noticed a clearance rack.  They had a bunch of Martha Stewart branded office supplies marked way down.  I found out from the cashier later that since Martha has a new line out, they were closing out some of her older stuff.  Well there was a stack of binders - not vinyl but very nice - and also cute adhesive label holders. The binders were 50 cents each!  I grabbed every aqua and brown one they had plus the little label packs for a dollar, and I got 14 binders in all.  What a steal!!   I didn't even need that many binders but I couldn't pass up a deal like this.

I put all the patterns that would fit into these little binders, putting 2 patterns in each page protector.  Martha Stewart also makes various sizes of page protectors so I got a small pack that would fit some of the tiny patterns.   I'm real happy with it all and now I have more room in my file drawers.  As Martha would say, it's a good thing!

I do have some progress to show you on the Humble Servant Sampler.  It's coming along well and I'm enjoying this project a lot.

Shakespeare's Peddler - Jenny Bean Humble Servant Sampler

who doesn't love a purple cow??

My next project is figuring out a better way to store all this DMC floss - it's taking up too much room!

My Gingher scissor collection - voila!

Hi everyone....thought I'd share with you a little do-it-yourself project I did last month.  I've been collecting those Gingher designer embroidery scissors for years like so many of you but sadly they've just been stored in a box and not really on display.  I know a lot of people have used lovely glass flower frogs and while I love those, I had too many scissors and would've had to buy several and I really don't know where I'd put them all. 

Then one day while searching on Gingher scissors in Google I stumbled on a stitcher's blog and WOW she had a beautiful display!  Let's give credit where credit is due - this is from a stitching blog called Periwinkle Ink.  I never would've thought of this myself.   It was just what I needed so I headed right off to eBay to see if I could find one of these vases. (If you search on "Southern Home vase" you will find them easily.  I only paid $7.00-9.00 US for mine - the shipping was more than the vase).  Luckily they are plentiful and easy to find.  What I love is that it has 22 holes so can hold a lot of scissors!  The only thing is they only come in butter yellow (even though some of the photographs on eBay look white - they aren't).  It's a very pretty yellow mind you but just didn't go in my sewing room.  Well I bought one anyway and then I started wondering if it was possible to paint it.  Hmmmm...the wheels were turning..........

Thank goodness for all of those DIY blogs!  I found a blog that explained how to paint pottery and so my little project was born.   I marched off to Walmart to stock up on spray paint - white primer for a base coat then a white lacquer spray to go on top of that.  I also got a can of Krylon clear coat for a sealer.

After many coats and a few booboos later I finally got it painted white.   I'm not a master of spray painting - I tend to be too impatient and you have to give it several light coats and not let it drip etc.    My sewing room is aqua and pink so I then got on my computer and played around to create a label as I thought the vase needed a little something.  I created a label using a free graphic oval from the Graphics Fairy blog and Powerpoint, then added the pink color using Microsoft Paint.  A graphic artist I'm not but I got it looking pretty good I think.  Getting it to stay on the vase was a bit of a trial - I tried printing it on a clear label - wouldn't stick.....I tried printing it on a piece of waterslide decal paper purchased off eBay....what a nightmare that was!  Another failure.  Finally I just printed it on white label paper I use for shipping labels and right after I stuck it on the vase I gave it a coat of the spray clearcoat.  So far it's staying put thankfully.   Now I was almost done but I decided to buy a small piece of foam at Joann's and cut an oval to stick down in the vase.  This holds the scissors up a bit so more of the pretty handles show and they don't slide down in the holes as much.

So here it is finally - 22 of my Ginghers on display finally in my sewing room!  I'm really happy with it and have bought a couple more vases for "future growth" LOL.  I still have 5 pairs of scissors that don't have a home yet so I'll be starting on painting another vase this weekend.  Oh these addictions we have!