Post Number 470

Please let me know if my blog looks alright. I can see a left sidebar, entries in the middle and a right sidebar but I removed 25 px of margin (whatever px is) and maybe that will affect how it looks in other browsers. I still need to add more links to both sidebars too.

Emily at The Floss Box has a challenge going on. She's posted a cute little house embroidery pattern and a list of DMC colors to use, but you can make substitutions.

Did you ever see that pincushion pattern from Martha Stewart (I believe it was her because really, who else would it be?) where you had to stuff it with something called emery, and you lost interest in making the pincushion because you didn't have any emery handy or know where to buy it so you just went and whipped up a grilled cheese instead and it was so good, you forgot all about your lack of emery? Emery is the stuff they put in some pincushions (like that little strawberry that's attached to the tomato kind) that sharpens your needles & pins. Well, thanks to Crafty Pod, we now know there's an alternative to emery: steel wool. Go have a look [link via Craft].

(Thanks to Google, I've found out which pincushion pattern it was and it's Martha's strawberry one. The first commenter shares where you can buy emery.)

I just discovered Fine Furious Life thanks to my friend Guava -- she linked to this recipe for Heretic's Shanghai Cold Ramen (which I want to try) but the Meatloaf Cupcakes With Mashed Potato Frosting caught my eye. How cute are they?!

Meet Sizzly Friddle

In April, Emily at The Floss Box started a monthly challenge. The first one was to make a postcard. I thought I could do that, even though I've made a few postcards in the past and was been disappointed by the end results. I'm not very creative. I can follow someone else's pattern but coming up with something on my own? It's not going to happen.

I remembered this Kewpie ATC and decided to cross stitch a design on a postcard. That way I could use a chart I already had or one I found online. I wanted to do a reminder that May 12th is National Wear Your Apron Day. I won't bore you with the details except to say that my final attempt, postcard #3, is over on the sidebar here.

I feel the need to explain it. The stripey paper is not crooked. I guess I didn't hold the camera straight when I snapped the picture. (Some day I will hook up my scanner.) The text was cross stitched on a piece of Aida and then I stitched it to the postcard. I used a Liddle Kiddle paper doll because she had an apron as part of her wardrobe. Her name is Sizzly Friddle, by the way. On the inside of the back cover of the paper doll book, she's grilling a hot dog. The postcard is kind of blah, and I wish I used a darker colored floss, but it works for now.

Oh yeah, for May, the theme for Emily's challenge is food.

Emily's Hosting A Challenge

Emily over at The Floss Box is starting a monthly challenge. For April, the challenge is to create a postcard. All the details are here and here.