Home from Retreat...

It was a wonderful weekend that went by WAY to fast.  We saw old friends, made new ones, spent time stitching and knitting, ate well but not too much, exchanged ornaments,  laughed and cried as well as raised money for the fight against breast cancer.  Dwaggie and Sneaky came along to keep me company in the sleeping bag and I put the dragon pillowcase from one of my favourite Austin store owners (right Ginger?) on my pillow.

Friday night, we arrived up at Camp Wildwood in sleet and slushy snow that made us feel like we were stuck in a snow globe.  Mom and I found an empty cabin (Squirrel A) before Nick drove us up to the main cabin to unload the stitching gear.  We set ourselves up near the back in the room and greeting familiar friends before settling down to stitch.

I’d fully intended to give away the Perforated Paper Castle ornament that I taught in Toronto, but the more people asked to see it and exclaimed over it, the more I decided it needed to stay on MY tree.  Luckily, Jeannie had brought along some colours of perforated paper for me to play with.  Unfortunately, after a full day of teaching, picking up Bethany from volleyball practice, Nick from school and then rushing to get to retreat in bad weather, I forgot the sheets of blank graph paper that I usually bring along with me...

So I made my own.

FIrst, I sketched out the letters for JOY and stitched them in overdyed threads on the white paper.

Then, I flipped the paper over, borrowed a pencil from Mom and began to figure out how to create a geometric snowflake shape around the word.

I am not the most math gifted person, so I had to fudge things a tiny bit near the end, but soon the snowflake shape was designed for me to cut out.

I added a holly button to the front, some braid and beads to catch the lights from the tree.

Then I made my own cording for the top...

and hung it on the tree for the ornament exchange!!

During the weekend,  I also spend time knitting on Bethany’s scarf and raving about Yarn Harlot ’s pattern to people, stitching on 3 projects a little at a time, chatting with folk and not thinking much about any day to day things like cooking, laundry etc.

Erin texted me from the volleyball tournament in Saint John during the day.  They finished in 5th and she has some incredible new bruises from diving across the floor, but it was an odd tournament with 11 teams, so it came down to the win/loss ratio and the missed the playoffs by one more point scored against them than the other team.  Instead of being upset, she is already talking about the 16U tournament next weekend!

This morning, we all woke up fairly early, determined to cram in as much stitching as possible before we all had to head back to reality.  After a short worship service, I worked on an ornament for my step-dad for Christmas. It’s a beaded mandolin from Mill Hill and I think that once all the beads are on it will be incredible!

Mom worked on a little mouse ornament for most of the weekend...

and she managed to take a picture of me stitching too!

After lunch, we had our ornament exchange and I got a beautiful ornament that I will have to take a picture of soon.

We also raffled off 3 baskets of pink donated items and I added in tickets on the models for Wings of Courage and the pillow model from Dancing Dragons.  In all, we raised about $370 for the fight against Breast Cancer... not bad for a small group of determined, passionate stitchers.

All too soon we were saying our goodbyes, hugging and planning for the next retreat!

A Wonderful Time at the CreativFestival...

I arrived home safely despite some VERY bumpy turbulence on the way home and dragged my suitcases to the basement Sunday night before falling into bed.  Unlike some of the wonderful stitchers I spent time with this past weekend, I had the luxury of not having to go to work early Monday morning!  As soon as the kids were on the bus, I went home and crawled back into  bed to catch up on some of the sleep that I missed over the weekend.  Then Nick came home sick from work and hour or so later and I have switched into nurse and mom mode ever since.

What wonderful memories I have!  From getting fabulous ideas from stitchers (I’m already doodling my “muddy” little dragon) to hilarious giggles over chart symbols, the weekend was full of wonderful memories.  I’d also like to thank all the friends (rather than students because that is what you’ve become over the years!) who jumped in to help snip floss, collect class fees and pass things out to make up for Teresa’s hands not being there and having extra things to kit up.  You were my guardian angels and I appreciate the help more than I could ever put into words!

To Karen and Erica who went above and beyond, I owe you more thanks than this dragon has words for.  I would have been totally lost without your support , thoughtful gestures and helping hands.

The photos of the class models (including the two of Teresa’s that I had with me) are up on the website under the secure links we discussed in our classes.  If you have any trouble with the URLs, just e-mail me to double check how they are listed and that way you will have your photo reference to work from.  Remember that if you run into any problems or have questions as you stitch the pieces, I am always just an e-mail away.

Finally, to all those of you who traveled from near and far to share time with me this weekend, I send tired but big dragon hugs to all of you.  You truly are the reason I just can’t walk away from designing things to stitch... you are all far too much fun to spend time with. I’m already planning new things for next fall!

Musings From A Morning Walk...

I was only mildly disappointed that the phone didn’t ring before 7 am with a substitute teaching job this morning.  After all, it is only the second week of school here and not many teachers are sick yet.  I also have plenty to do getting ready for the CreativFestival in Toronto next month, so I had plenty to fill my day.

I did, however, start the morning with an hour’s walk in Mapleton Park which begins at the foot of our street.  At 6’5”, I am less afraid to walk in the park alone than some of my friends during daylight hours. I make a point of not wearing headphones, carrying a cellphone and staying to the main paths.  There are also few people on this planet who can keep up to my long natural stride without breaking into a run, so I truly enjoy walking at MY pace.

I was musing over what I had learned with the Doodle exercise for my Inhaling Creativity blog when it suddenly struck me.  My walks in the woods alone accomplish the same thing for my body that doodling does for my brain!  My lungs are pumping in and out, my feet are moving and I am staying on a fairly wide path, so my brain is able to detach a bit and think things through, just like when I am doodling - the hands are busy playing but the brain gets to wander ever so slightly and creative ideas can spring forth.

I also tend to carry a camera with me in case I see something interesting that will illustrate what I plan to blog about, need to take a reference shot for an illustration or see some colours that I want to find floss equivalents for.  Today’s walk was a bit of all 3.

Paths can be a wonderful metaphor for our lives.  Sometimes, the path we are meant to take can seem so clear that it is almost blinding...

Other times our lives are a blend of shadow and dappled sunshine along the way...

There are also people, events and moments that come into our lives like beacons or some elusive white stag that we chase...

and I also spotten my first Type A personality, overachieving tree trying to be the first one to turn colours!

So the next time you walk down a path, no matter where you are, take a moment to really look at it to see if it mirrors where you are in your life right now or where you would like to be.

But watch out for tree roots and rocks...  I looked pretty silly stumbling when my mind wandered a bit too far!