| Patterns Patch Cross Stitch Club: Cross Stitch Tips & NewsSaturday, June 21st 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| Hi Once more, welcome to all our readers, we hope the past two weeks have again been kind to you and you enjoy reading this issue of your Cross Stitch Tips & News letter. Members signing in to Patterns Patch from now on will be greeted with "Cross Stitch News from around the world". This is an aggregated news feed collected from eight different sources and filtered on cross stitch. We're still testing the filters and the occasional non cross-stitch item wriggles through. Hopefully, you won't be offended by anything you read, but if you are, please let us know as soon as possible. *~~*
Yahoo! Mail adds @ymail and @rocketmailA lot of people use Yahoo mail (about 266 million at the last count), which means the chances of getting an address like janesmith(at)yahoo.com are almost certainly long gone.However, on Thursday Yahoo! made things a bit easier by opening up two new domains, @ymail.com and @rocketmail.com. If RocketMail sounds familiar, that's because it's the name of a company that Yahoo! purchased in 1997. The first version of Yahoo! Mail was built on technology developed by RocketMail earlier in the 1990s. To stand a good chance of getting the email address you'd really like, you can snag an account using one of the new domains by visiting the new signup page. Signing up is really easy! Leni, Julia and I signed up immediately and registered two new accounts each. *~~*
A Woman's Work is Never Done...The next pearl of wisdom to emerge from the wee book "A Woman's Work is Never Done" by Rowan B. Murphy is: "Before marriage a man will lay down his life for you; after marriage he won't even lay down his newspaper." - Helen Rowland*~~* Membership For Fr^eIf you'd like to win, three months full membership to Patterns Patch for Fr*e, why not take a look, it's really easy to enter. Don't forget to
search for the mystery word in this letter
~ Good Luck! *~* Noleen Svensson *~* "Well done Noleen, you're nearly there! All you have to do is email us to Accept and Activate your membership!" ********************************************************** SIDEBAR: We're a little puzzled as to why more than one third of the recent winners haven't claimed their gift! Will someone enlighten us please? ********************************************************** The number of entries goes up each issue, so an increasing number of you are building up credits and enhancing your chances of being a future winner. Commiserations to those who entered and didn't win this week. But hey, perseverance is a virtue; try again next time ~ it could be YOU! And for those of you who didn't enter, why not? Don't you want this valuable gift? (Please remember! Only one entry per person, per issue.). You've got to be in it TO WIN IT! Associate MembershipTo overcome the problem of "spammers" accessing our new chat room, we've created an Associate Membership, which is fr*e, but limits access to just the chat rooms and our community forums (the Cross Stitch forum and General forum). Associate members will also qualify for a 20+% discount on some of the patterns in our Cross Stitch Store. (Note that only patterns that have been in our Cross Stitch Library for three months or more, will be offered for general sale in our store). If you want to join Patterns Patch as an Associate member and enjoy access to the chat rooms and community forums, please join here. The subscription form is easy to use and only asks for: your name, email address, login name and passw*rd (you choose these last two yourself). *~~* ServicesWe have an ever growng list of services our members and subscribers can use and enjoy (mostly for fr*e), including: Yes, we'll create a cross-stitch pattern for you, for fr^e. But there are a couple of conditions that you need to know about ~ go read the details. Is there ANY aspect of cross stitch that's puzzling you? That you'd like a simple explanation or an opinion on? We are always interested in hearing your questions or comments. Our policy is there are no silly questions. So don't be shy. Come forward and feel free to ask anything you like. Our friendly experts Beryl and Lizzie don't bite and will do their best to provide you with a full, easily understood answer. Inspirations:
OK! Not exactly a service, but if you need a good dose of motivation or simply picking up, this is the place to go for a diverse range of vidoes and presentations that will both inspire and amuse you. Go here to see the latest additions: We regularly add to this department so make sure you pay a visit each time you read your Cross-Stitch Tips & News letter. | ||||||||||||||
Cross-Stitch Tip:How to Rescue Your Cross-Stitch Project When it's Damaged (part 2 of 2) ...Luckily, there are some very simple ways to fix these problems we encounter. In the first part of this article we showed you how to identify color-fast threads and what to do if colors 'bleed'. We also showed you how to repair tears in your fabric and ways to remove stubborn creases. In this, the second of two articles we tell you about the dreaded "frog" and show you how best to wash your completed cross stitch piece (and we've repeated 'Prevention' from the first article) ... PreventionThe first thing you should do is learn how to prevent some of the problems that may occur. Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before handling your stitching. I know it's obvious, but if you use hand lotion, make sure it is a non-greasy formula. This will ensure that the least amount of natural oils will transfer onto your project as you're working on it. Unpicking MistakesEvery stitcher has encountered the dreaded "frog" as I lovingly call it. This is when you realize you've made a mistake and need to "rip it" out. Hence the term frog! Although frogging is annoying, removing the incorrect stitches doesn't have to be. A pair of small curved scissors is a great tool for this task. They allow you to get under the stitches on the front of the piece and gently snip them while at the same time protecting the fabric from nicks and snags. A pair of tweezers also comes in handy when removing the threads from the back of the piece. Although these scissors and tweezers are reasonably priced, I realize that in today's economy the extra money might not be there for you. In this case you can use your regular embroidery scissors to snip the threads on the front of the piece, and very carefully pull the stitches out using your needle. When doing this you will need to make sure you go straight under the stitches after the top has been snipped. Pretend you are ending a color in order to switch to a new color. This will protect the fabric and allow you to pull out the mistakes so that you can correct them. There are times when it isn't necessary to rip out the mistakes. If you'd like to try and win a fr*e membership, reply to Membership for fr*e with the word 'giraffe' in your email subject line (only one entry per reader please). My
own personal philosophy is that if a mistake is made and it doesn't
negatively affect the way the finished product looks, just leave it go
as is! It
will be a small personal touch that will make that piece even more
unique! Washing Your StitchingOccasionally things happen that will cause you to have to wash your piece. Life's little accidents such as dust, spills, and pets can wreak havoc on a cross stitched item. Also as mentioned earlier, the natural oils in your own skin will also discolor the fabric after time. A simple wash with a gentle detergent should get the dirty spots cleaned up and have your piece looking fresh and as good as new in no time at all. This process may have to be repeated multiple times in order to remove stains and more stubborn marks. Don't be discouraged! Just
keep trying and you'll get your piece back to its original
beauty! Make sure you use cold water, change the water often
and only use the mildest
of detergents. You can definitely enjoy this craft worry-free!! | ||||||||||||||
Recent ArticlesThese articles are amongst those we've recently added to the cross stitch articles library:Military Cross Stitch Patterns Honor Your Favorite Serviceman When choosing your next project, please don't forget about the brave members of the Armed Forces. There are hundreds of Military cross stitch patterns available online. They are easy to find, and easy to purchase or download. They range from free small patterns to larger more costly complete kits . . . keep reading You Can't Beat Free Ballet Cross Stitch Patterns for Class Do you love the ballet? Maybe you have a loved one who is aspiring to become the next Prima Ballerina. There's a way you can display your love of ballet in your home. All you have to do is look for free ballet cross stitch patterns online and . . . keep reading A Cross
Stitch SAL: What Exactly is It? A SAL
is particularly helpful if you lose your motivation, run into any
problems you need help with, or simply want someone to celebrate with
if you've gotten a lot accomplished or maybe even finished that large
project finally! . . . keep
reading | ||||||||||||||
New Cross Stitch PatternsWe're giving EVERYONE who reads this letter a FREE Bonus cross stitch pattern.Follow the download instructions carefully and Contact me if you have any problems. Some of our more experienced members have asked us to consider providing the occasional design that's a little more "challenging". We've listened and will sometimes list at least one pattern with embellishments, such as: beads, knots, backstitching, and so on. Here you can view The latest FREE downloads (for members): You'll find additional information and can also leave comments and rank (from 1 to 5) each download, if you so wish (this feature does work for members).
Please note that you have until the next issue of your Cross Stitch Tips & News letter to download the BONUS pattern. After then it will be available only to Standard Members in the Cross Stitch Library. We're trying to introduce as wide a range as possible in the cross stitch library to cater for all tastes. So if there's a theme we've missed that you'd like to see patterns for, then please drop a quick email to Contact us. To view this week's gallery, here's the link again to view the latest FREE downloads. | ||||||||||||||
... And FinallyAs always, you are encouraged to contact me with any questions or entries for future newsletters. You can do that here.When the membership of Patterns Patch grows to a certain level we'll be able to approach major suppliers and manufacturers and negotiate discounts for our members. So please make sure to encourage your stitching friends to join Patterns Patch. Forward this email newsletter to them so that they can subscribe to (www.patternspatch.com) and receive future copies directly to their own mailbox. Please do not reply to this email. It was sent to you by our computer, which is splendid at sending emails but absolutely useless at reading them! To get in touch with us, please send a short email to Contact us. Do please take the time to let us know what you like or dislike about "Cross Stitch Tips & News". We value all your emails and rely on them to move us forward as we strive for cross stitch perfection. ... and finally, if you have children, give them a hug and a kiss, and tell them you love them. Sincerely,  PS If you're not already a member, why not? You're missing out on so much! Why not join now Joining is easy! Your next "Cross Stitch Tips & News" letter will appear on SATURDAY July 5th 2008. Until next time, Missed an issue of our "Cross Stitch Tips & News" letter? Find them all here: |
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