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                   The Needlework Nutshell
Volume 8, Issue 4                               May 1, 2011




                   THE NEEDLEWORK NUTSHELL

                Needlework news, musings, tips,
             contests, and what's happening now at
                    FUNK & WEBER DESIGNS




Editor:  	Jen Funk Weber

Mail to:  mailto:mail@funkandweber.com

Web site: http://www.funkandweber.com

Your privacy is important to us. Our subscriber list is NOT 
made available to others. End of story.


***********************************************************
IN THIS ISSUE
***********************************************************



  1. Needlework Musings
  2. Tips, Tricks, and Brilliant Ideas
  3. What's New at Funk & Weber Designs 
  4. Readers Ask
  5. Contact/Subscribe/Unsubscribe



*********************************************************** 
1. NEEDLEWORK MUSINGS 
*********************************************************** 



Scrapbooking. I don't do it. Never have. Mike and I have 
tens of thousands of photos, but very few are of us. Our 
pictures are now mostly digital and mostly unorganized. 
Scrapbooking has been the most popular craft trend for a 
number of years, a fact crafters in other disciplines 
sometimes bemoan.  

I've been thinking about scrapbooking a lot recently: 
We've talked about Membroidery (memorializing people, 
places, and events in needlework), and we're contemplating 
how to participate in the Scrapbooks, etc. CRAFT IT FORWARD 
contest. An e-conversation with Ashley this month convinces 
me once and for all that embroidery and scrapbooking are A 
LOT alike.  

The purpose of scrapbooking is to record and tell a story, 
specifically, the story of us, our family, our friends. 
Doesn't our embroidery do the same thing?  

Birth samplers and wedding samplers certainly do, but so do 
the other things we stitch. Our choices of subject matter 
and color and materials say something about us. I stitch a 
lot of nature and wildlife themes; that says something about 
me. I like to incorporate recycled and found objects, scraps 
and would-be garbage in my embroidery. That says something 
about me. 

What themes and materials crop up over and over in your 
needlework? What does that say about you? 

When we give our embroidery away, we connect ourselves to 
that person much the way a scrapbook page might connect us. 
If someone were to round up all the embroidery we've gifted 
over the years, they'd discover a great deal about our 
family and friends and, as a result, us.  

Our embroidery tells the story of us: who we are, what we 
enjoy, who and what we care about. It says something about 
the time and culture we live in. I think it says a lot more 
than we realize. 

For us, the stitchers, our embroideries hold private 
stories, as well. When I look at The Great Outdoors model, I 
recall the winter Mike and I were caretakers at Stony River 
Lodge. That's where I stitched that piece. I recall Mike 
rolling his eyes at my tedious and time-consuming effort to 
chart and stitch a picture of Denali, but then being so 
impressed and excited by the result that he grabbed a piece 
of my graph paper and started designing letters for The 
Great Outdoors. That was a satisfying told-you-so moment! 

What private stories do your embroideries hold? What was 
happening in your life when you stitched a certain piece? 
What memories and feelings does it recall? 

I think we should record these stories. Write the story down 
and put it in an envelope taped to the back of a framed 
piece. Or record an audio file on your computer, mp3 player, 
phone. Walk around with a video camera and record the 
stories that go with different pieces of needlework.  

Whether we record the private stories or not, whether we 
want it to not, our embroidery tells a story about us. What 
do you want your story to say? Thinking about it this way, 
are there projects you'd like to undertake to make your 
story more complete? If there are, I'd love to hear about 
them!  

 

*********************************************************** 
2. TIPS, TRICKS, AND BRILLIANT IDEAS 
***********************************************************  



Judy inquired about the Scrabooks etc. CRAFT IT FORWARD 
contest. Having visited the site and read instructions, she 
wasn't sure how our Stitching for Literacy bookmarks would 
fit the bill, as the entries seem to all be made from paper 
(as in scrapbooking). Will they accept stitched entries? Or, 
does it have to begin with paper and incorporate stitching? 

Initially, I was under the impression that any craft project 
counted, but it is now clear that--and I copy and paste from 
the site:  

*Any paper craft you create and donate counts!*

You can find all the details (official rules, FAQs, tips for 
entering, and the quote above) here: 

http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/photos/photo-contests/craft-it-forward/ 

Part of me wonders if they added "paper" to that statement 
after I first read instructions, but it doesn't matter: The 
answer to Judy's question is that we must combine paper 
craft and embroidery. 

Easy peasy! And fun! More difficult, perhaps, is the 
requirement that we can't use a published design. We must 
create our own designs. But we can handle this, too. The 
only real hangup that I can see is that this contest is VOID 
outside the 50 United States and where prohibited. If you 
don't live in the US, you're out of luck as far as the 
contest is concerned, but you can still use these Tips and 
Brilliant Ideas to create paper craft/embroidery bookmarks. 

As it happens, during four-and-a-half years of blogging and 
even longer writing this newsletter, I've covered a good 
number of paper craft/embroidery project ideas. The trick is 
locating them now: they're scattered amongst 1,100+ other 
posts. Here today, we're going to traipse all over the 
Internet, locating these posts that I hope will be useful to 
us in entering this contest.  

I'll wait while you put on comfy walking shoes. Did I 
mention that the CRAFT IT FORWARD prize is $500 for the 
winning crafter plus $500 for that crafter's chosen 
charity?  

Got your shoes tied? Ready? Follow me.

~~~~~~~~~~TAGS~~~~~~~~~~

1. It doesn't get easier than this: adhere a small noodle 
to a ready-made tag. (Okay, we've got a lot of new 
subscribers this month, so I'll explain: "noodle" = 
"needlework doodle." Now you know.) 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needlework/bookmark-tips-2.php

Check out the embellishments in the scrapbooking aisle, and 
consider adding some to your piece. Next time I do this, 
I'll stitch an eyelet in the center of my noodle and attach 
the embroidery with a cool brad. I'm into grommets and 
brads. We can also add trims, stickers, charms, die-cut 
shapes and words, etc. 

~~~~~~~~~~STITCHING CARDS~~~~~~~~~~

2. Tokens & Trifles Trinkets cards are made of paper. 
Perforated paper is paper. I'm not an official judge--or an 
unofficial one, for that matter--but surely these count as 
paper crafts. 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needlework/bookmark-tips-3.php

~~~~~~~~~~CARD STOCK BACKINGS~~~~~~~~~~

3. Make your own card-stock backing. Or adhere fancy 
scrapbooking paper to cereal box cardboard or oak tag file 
folder remnants. Add trims and embellishments as suggested 
before. A link on the post lets you download the two 
backings I used. 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needlework/bookmark-tips-4.php

Maureen used the firecracker backing on a bookmark pictured 
here: 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needle-thread/stitching-for-literacy-update-76.php 

~~~~~~~~~~WINDOW FRAMES~~~~~~~~~~

4. How about window frames for bookmarks? 
Downloadable/printable shapes here, too. 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needlework/bookmark-tips-5.php

~~~~~~~~~~SELF-MADE PERF PAPER~~~~~~~~~~

5. And then there's stitching directly on card stock. Check 
out this bookmark from a friend's collection: 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needlework/old-bookmarks.php

Surely we can all do something like this. Here are some 
instructions for stitching directly on card stock: 

http://jenfunkweber.com/needlework/creative-gifts-day-15.php

The link to the pattern shown doesn't work, but that's 
okay because you need to design your own pattern. 

~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~ 

How are your feet? Aren't you glad you put on comfy shoes? 

I'll bet many of you didn't even know those were there, 
did you? Now that we've found some of them (oh, yes, there 
are more), I think I'll assemble them into an eBook. 
Wouldn't it be nice to have them all in one place, easily 
accessible? Feel free to hound me on this so I get it done 
sooner rather than later. It will be F*R*E*E to Nuts because
you're you, and I appreciate you. 

I go to town on May 12 (I haven't been to town since 
December) and plan to hit scrapbooking shops hard. I'll be 
playing with these ideas and will share the adventure on the 
Stitching for Literacy blog. Want to come over and play? 

Send pictures and details about your paper craft/embroidery 
bookmark experience to me at 

mail AT funkandweber DOT com

and then enter your bookmark into the CRAFT IT FORWARD 
contest. If you win, you can have the charity portion of 
your prize sent to TNNA Cares 

https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=tnna&WebCode=TNNAcares 

earmarked for Stitching for Literacy. We, in turn, will use 
the prize money to host bookmark stitching events at schools 
and libraries. I have my sites set on funding a Stitching 
for Literacy school visit tour. 

Again, because I know it's hard to scroll up, contest details
are here:

http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/photos/photo-contests/craft-it-forward/ 



*********************************************************** 
3. WHAT'S NEW AT FUNK & WEBER? 
***********************************************************  



The Bookmarks 101: Simple, Smart, and Swanky Finishes class 
starts May 9. The techniques we learn are applicable to much 
more than bookmarks. I can't possibly promote this class 
better than Harriet does in her comment on this blog post: 

http://jenfunkweber.com/funk-weber-designs/funk-weber-bookmarks-101-class.php 

Harriet, you're the bee's knees, the cat's meow. (Savor 
those, you non-native speaker!) 

Register for the class here:

http://www.funkandweber.com/shop/item/Bookmarks-101-Simple-Smart-and-Swanky-Finishes-Online-Class/263 

~~~~~~~~~~

A pattern is born. PLAY BALL! is a baseball-themed cross 
stitch bookmark pattern, celebrating TNNA's Stitch N' 
Pitch program and our own Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for 
Literacy program. Personalize it with your own team colors. 

http://www.funkandweber.com/shop/item/Play-Ball-Bookmark/261/c49 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Our GOING, GOING, GONE! cross stitch bookmark pattern is now 
available not just as a kit, but also as a downloadable 
pattern. We've had a lot of requests for just the pattern, 
so here it is! 

http://www.funkandweber.com/shop/item/Going-Going-Gone-Bookmark-digital-pattern-/260 

We still have some kits, too. So take your pick.

~~~~~~~~~~

S4L BOOK CLUB. Discussion of THE GIRLS, by Lori Lansens, is 
delayed until May 10th, so you have time to read it and join 
us. Questions are generally posted Tuesday and Thursday. 
Discussion takes place in the comments.  

June's book is THE ALCHEMYST, by Michael Scott.

During July and August, Book Club will be on summer 
vacation. 

September's books are Garmann's Summer and Garmann's 
Street, by Stian Hole. These are Norwegian picture books, 
translated into English, of course. 

~~~~~~~~~~

CONTEST

Scrapbooks etc. is holding a very cool year-long contest 
called "Craft it Forward." We can enter the contest with 
original paper-craft/embroidery bookmarks destined for a 
library or school as part of the Needle and ThREAD: 
Stitching for Literacy Bookmark Challenge. The prize is $500 
in cash plus $500 for the charity of your choice--that could 
be Stitching for Literacy through TNNA Cares.  

I hope you'll check it out.

http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/photos/photo-contests/craft-it-forward/ 

~~~~~~~~~~

I am now an Amazon Affiliate. Links to Amazon on the 
Stitching for Literacy website are Affiliate links. That 
means I get a commission on sales made through those links. 
It's HUGE--I've made $0.78 so far! Woot! LOL. 

It doesn't matter what you purchase when you get there. You 
can click through a link to a book, and then go purchase 
towels, for instance. 

I'll be monetizing the site more and more to try to earn 
money for the program. It wasn't developed as a 
money-maker, but it costs money to run. Plus, if we have 
money, we can do more outreach.  

I'm all for supporting local Indie businesses, but now and 
then Amazon might make sense. When it does, you can meet 
your own needs and help Stitching for Literacy at the same, 
for the same price. Your price is the same whether you 
access Amazon directly or through a link on the S4L site. 

Thank you! 



*********************************************************** 
4. READERS ASK 
***********************************************************  



Please e-mail me with questions for this section.

mailto:mail@funkandweber.com


After last month's question about whether new patterns will 
be available as printed leaflets, several people asked if 
our already-printed patterns will be available as downloads. 


Answer: Umm...I have two answers:

1. They could be. 
2. Eventually.

The truth is, I had planned to make all of our old patterns 
downloadable. Unfortunately, I underestimated the time it 
would take to make them so. Converting the full-size 
leaflets (8.5 x 11-inch) is fairly easy, but the Stitchlings 
require a layout re-design, which takes some time. For me, 
anyway. I know, I know--some designers can whip out patterns 
and layouts practically in their sleep. I'm not one of 
them. 

So I revised my plan and decided I'd make conversions when 
we run out of printed copies. In other words, I'd delay the 
task until forced to do it. :-) 

However, if you ask for a certain pattern to made 
downloadable, I bet I'll find the time sooner rather than 
later. So ask away. If you want a print pattern converted to 
a downloadable pattern, let me know. 

Also, you wouldn't know this because I've never advertised 
it, but I actually have COMPLETE KITS of a bunch of our 
older patterns. Well, *I* don't have them, but I know 
someone who does. Her plans to sell the kits online never 
materialized, but the inventory did. I really need to add 
them to our online shop; she's offered to drop ship.  

Anyhoo...I guess the conclusion is this: let me know what 
you want because you can probably have it.



*********************************************************** 
5. CONTACT FUNK & WEBER DESIGNS 
***********************************************************  



And that's that for May 1 issue of the Nutsletter. Thanks 
for reading, stitching, and being you.  

I always enjoy hearing from you Nuts--what you're working 
on, questions and ideas you have. Send me email: 

mail [AT] funkandweber [DOT] com

P.S. I can no longer be held responsible for the lowercase L 
in "Lane" in the address below. The address is 
automatically added by AWeber, our newsletter service, based 
on my account address. I corrected that typo before 
Christmas. It's out of my hands. 
 
http://www.funkandweber.com
http://StitchingForLiteracy.com


Copyright 2011, Funk & Weber Designs

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