Saturday, May 17, 2008

Heart Mouse -- May 17, 2008







A while back, okay a long time ago, I posted about my first project for the ANG 2003 Auction. This is the second project that I stitched for that auction.

This little guy was a lot of fun! There were hearts on the mouse and they were each done in bright primary colors. I selected Splendor Silk in bright primary colors for each of the hearts. I then selected a bright white in the Splendor Silk for the background and a green Splendor Silk for the green grid. Since the colors were so bright, I decided to stitch this canvas just using the basket weave stitch.

The canvas worked up quickly and since I was doing basketweave it was a very relaxing project. I would stitch up a bunch of the hearts and then the grid. While watching TV, I would then basketweave the background.

The mouse was in three parts, the back and each of the two ears. It was fun to compete each of the three sections and did not take that long.

I then sent it off to be finished. If I remembered correctly, I think that Sandy Jenkins did the finishing and she did a beautiful job! How do I know? Well I was able to bid on my own project even though I wasn’t there that day!

For the first time that I know of, the auction coordinators accepted sealed bids from those who did not attend the auction that day. We sent them an e-mail listing the highest bid that we would make. When the bidding was done, the highest bid won the item and for the Heart Mouse it was my bid! Yeah, he was able to come home to me!

I really appreciated that they would accept bids from the stitchers and I hoped that they would continue to offer this option. After putting all of that time and effort into a project it was wonderful that it was able to come home to me!

Unfortunately, they haven’t continued with this policy as every auction coordinator decides how they want to handle the projects and this must be quite a job. Keeping track of all of the canvases and who is stitching them and then coordinating the finishing. Then they need to write up a brief description to encourage everyone to bid on the completed piece and that doesn’t include setting up the display for the auction! Currently, they are not offering the stitcher the option to silently bid at the auction but I think you can offer to “buy” your project. Even though you purchased the fibers, developed the stitch guide, and donated your stitching time, they can’t “give” you the canvas as it was donated by someone else to raise money for ANG. Have I stitched additional pieces for the ANG auction? Yep, just check out the labels on the right and look for ang-auction, or pumpkin-boy. Will I stitch more in the future? It depends as I can’t attend seminar every year and I like to see what I’m going to stitch before volunteering. I’ll have to review the descriptions for next year to see if something catches my eye.

If you are an ANG member, check out the ANG Live and Silent auctions here at;
http://www.needlepoint.org/Auction/2008/index.php

and if you’d like to see the items that are available to stitch they are at;
http://www.needlepoint.org/Auction/2008/canvas.php

If you have any needlework related items that you would like to donate, then please contact the ANG Auction Chair at;
auction@needlepoint.org

The Heart Mouse now sits in one of my display cabinets and I still grin when I see him! He’s such a bright happy mouse!!!

I also wanted to thank everyone who is posting comments. It’s wonderful to know that you are reading my blog! Thank you!!!

Cynthia
Windy Meadow



7 comments:

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

What a happy mouse! I am so glad you had fun with him and that he came home to you to brighten your days and your readers'.

My stash is getting so big and I have blog stitching to do so I stitch for the auction out of my stash these days, but I did enjoy the "pig in a poke" challenge of choosing things from the available ones without exactly knowing what they were like. Sort of like running really, really fast past that house that is haunted in your neighborhood when you are 8. The thrill, you know....

Jane, no longer 8 and without a haunted house here in CH (thank goodnes!)

Stitchingranny said...

He us absolutely stunning and oh so sweet. I can understand why you did not want to part with him but if you do get fed-up then he would be most welcome at my house.

The ladybug is a little swarovski ornament - I collect this beautiful silver crystal and that sweet little lady was given to me by my grandson for my 60th birthday.

Ruth said...

Congrats on winning back your adorable mouse! Dang, he's cute!!!

Thanks for dropping by my blog and your kind comments. I occasionally help out at my "local" needlepoint shop. For ease I merely call it "my shop." :) Wishful thinking I suppose.

Unknown said...

Thank you for visiting my blog. Although I have a lot of needlepoint canvases I "should" be working on, at this point I am doing mostly cross stitch. It's just more portable!

I've been working on science fiction conventions since 1984. Although Otakon seems to very successful, it is a lot larger than most of the conventions I am involved with. Worldcons (in the U.S.) run about 4 - 6,000 people, which is more than enough people to deal with. As gencons (general science fiction conventions) they tend to have smaller groups of people (fanzines, costumers, writers, etc.) who just happen to all be in the same place at the same time. There are few "stars" and few lines (except when Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett is autographing). The members are generally a lot older and the conventions run 24/7 with lots of room parties in the evening. There are some hall costumes and some elaborate costumes, especially at a Worldcon masquerade, but the focus is more on the panels made up of individual fans and writers in ordinary street clothes talking about books, science, technology, and sometimes odd topics such as motorcycles. At this point I mostly go to hang out with friends, most of whom are working the con. Balticon is this weekend. A lot of my east coast friends will be there while I am at Baycon. We will all meet up at Worldcon in Denver in August.

The Bent Creek sheep are perfect for me since they are 25 count and just the size to stitch on airplanes. I will probably take Summer Ewe with me to San Francisco. I didn't become such a sheep person until I started stitching them. Now the sheep seem to be taking over a lot of my stash! Tricky creatures. Maybe I will start stitching some of the needlepoint sheep I got in England.

Love to Stitch 99 said...

That is just the cutest little mouse :-)

Pierrette =^..^=

Napa Needlepoint said...

Cyn --

I love these mice. I've stitched three or four of them (including this one, but mine is more subdued) and have two more in my stash to make.

He's so cute, maybe I'll get one of them out to start this weekend, I need a new project.

Keep Stitching,
Janet
http://www.napaneedlepoint.com
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com

Possibilities, Etc. said...

Cute mouse!! I really like your blog - and of course recognize so much of the work of designers who have been around for a while (Ginger!)