SYHO Heart Healthy Recipe

As many of you know (especially needleworkers), I have been involved in the Stitch Your Heart Out (SYHO) campaign. The SYHO Campaign was created to excite stitchers with a new & fun project, create an interest in stitching for non-stitchers, and introduce stitching to the next generation while promoting heart health. Since the month of April features my design ("Established with Love", seen below) in the designer encyclopedia, I thought I would share with you my heart healthy recipe.

I absolutely love fresh vegetables...especially spinach...I seriously could eat a spinach salad every day and be happy...and I pretty much do! I am already anticipating the first farmers market of the season later this week....
Here is my heart healthy recipe for spinach salad:

In a large bowl toss salad ingredients:
Fresh spinach (torn)
Fresh mushrooms (sliced)
Green onion (chopped)
Grape Tomatoes (whole or cut in half)
Fresh Red and Yellow Peppers (chopped)
Feta Cheese (crumbled)

These are my personal favorites - but I have been known to add hot peppers and/or seasonal vegetables and/or nuts and/or black beans to "spruce it up" - use your favorite salad ingredients or whatever you have on hand!

Raspberry Salad Dressing:
· 1 cup fresh or thawed/drained frozen raspberries
· 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
· 4 teaspoons olive oil
· 1 pinch ground black pepper or cayenne pepper (I like things spicy!)

Press the raspberries through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove the seeds. In a sealable jar mix the raspberry puree and remaining ingredients - shake to combine. Add the dressing to your tossed salad.

You can learn more about the SYHO campaign by visiting the official blog...and be sure to read this month's SYHO newsletter (where you can read five little known facts about me). Plus, you can find "Established with Love" at your favorite needlework shop!

Established With Love (SYHO)

For those of you who have been waiting to see my SYHO Designer Encyclopedia Design...HERE IT IS...it is titled "Established With Love". This new design will be available from your favorite needlework shop in April. It is in a bit of a different format from my normal design releases - it is a 5.5"W x 8.5" heavy duty card, with printing on front (color photo) and back (chart)....which turned out really well - I think you will like it! Additional photos and a supply list have been posted on my website.

Many of you are familiar with the Stitch Your Heart Out Campaign (SYHO)...but for those of you who are not, here is a brief recap:

The Stitch Your Heart Out (SYHO) Campaign was created to excite stitchers with a new & fun project, create an interest in stitching for non-stitchers, and introduce stitching to the next generation while promoting heart health. I am thrilled to announce I am one of the twelve designers participating in the SYHO Designer Encyclopedia. Each month for 12 months (it started in February 2010) a fun, new design will be released by a different designer...there will be interviews, interactive games, fun LNS stitch nights, prizes, heart healthy recipes and much much more! My design will be number three in the series, arriving in needlework shops in April 2010. Once you have stitched all 12 designs, you will receive free instructions on how to assemble the 12 designs into a stitched "designer encyclopedia". For more information and to see how you can get involved...plus see a list of all twelve participating designers visit: http://stitchyourheartout-lts.blogspot.com/

This campaign is a fun way to interact with others in the needlework community/industry and promote heart health. Designers will be donating a portion of sales from their special to design to CAROL for Heart, a regional non-profit organization that educates and empowers women to take charge of their heart health. I hope you will look for these special designs each month! For the latest news, read the March SYHO Newsletter.

Pretty Little Pincushion

This is a fun little Nashville market release from Theresa Venette of Shakespeare's Peddler called "Ole Pincushion". I thought this was a fun idea, using an old Zinc Ball Jar lid for the base...a quick, simple cross stitch design and ready for finishing. I must add that I changed the colors a bit...it called for Flax linen, but I used Black Forest hand-dyed fabric from Lakeside Linens. The model looked as if it had maybe black or navy fill-in stitches all around the motif, but the chart did not show this...I liked the look of a dark fabric better than the flax, so I made a simple substitution. It stitched up in about an hour and finished easily. Sometimes a simple little project can you bring you the most joy! Now, when I am antique shopping, I will be on the lookout for more of these unique jar lids...

A few Blue Ribbon Designs notes...I am just finishing up my ornaments for Just CrossStitch Magazine (both the annual Halloween issue and the Christmas Ornament issue)...and I have started designing a special sampler for them to be published early next year. I finally had a new photo taken of myself today for the Christmas ornament issue...I have used the same one for the last several years, so it was WAY overdue. I have a bunch of great new ideas for summer releases and will be working on them very soon! Also, my SYHO (Stitch Your Heart Out) design will be released for April, so stay tuned for photos (they will be coming soon)....you can read more about the SYHO Campaign and find out how you can get involved by visiting the official blog. I am also busy kitting up my teaching designs for later this year....

So much creativity and inspiration, so little time...

Pair of Precious Pillows

Finally, a beautiful sunny day here in Iowa...I am feeling much better...getting a bunch of work accomplished and deadlines fulfilled...the new designs are finally in printing production...and I have reached 100 blog followers (THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING)...it is a great day!

The last three days have been spent working on getting the new designs published...and this time, there was a bit of a challenge with the covers - but now, the proofs have been finalized and the printing is underway. This was a very large print order, but I am confident my printing company has it under control and I should have the new designs in my hand by the end of the day on Friday...then the *fun* begins...my weekend will be spent bagging thousands of charts, filling invoices, packaging and shipping...all in an effort to get my new charts to your favorite needlework shop as soon as possible.

I finished stitching the model for my SYHO Designer Encyclopedia this morning...it was a bit of a challenge to work with a 50 x 50 stitch count for me...but I am quite happy with this small design and look forward to sharing it with you in the future! I am now excited to work on teaching designs for 2010 and new pieces for the Nashville Needlework Market in February.
(By the way, have you heard - I will be teaching at the first New Endland Stitchers' Retreat in conjunction with ABC Stitch Therapy in June 2010 - I am super excited about this!!)

Yesterday, I took a couple hours to test two new machine embroidery designs for Shelli at Needle In A Haystack Stitchery; two beautiful Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness files - one has the ribbon filled with embroidery - the other the ribbon is applique'. I enjoyed finishing these two designs into a pair of pillows. The applique' was embroidered on wool felt (and the ribbon is wool felt)....and the ribbon fill design was embroidered on quilted cotton with rick rack for an embellishment. The fabric for the borders is one of my favorites (Karen Neuburger - 2006 Pink Ribbon Signature Fabric) and I have been holding on to it for quite some time, waiting for the perfect project! These will make very special gifts....plus taking a couple hours to sew was (again) great therapy for me!

...and although October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) has quickly come and gone, we all still need to be proactive....PLEASE do your monthly breast self-exams and your yearly mammogram - early detection is key!

Stitch Your Heart Out

You may have recently read (or heard) about the Stitch Your Heart Out (SYHO) campaign starting in February 2010. I am thrilled to announce I am one of the twelve designers participating in the SYHO Designer Encyclopedia. Each month for 12 months (starting in February 2010) a fun, new design will be released by a different designer...there will be interviews, interactive games, fun LNS stitch nights, prizes, heart healthy recipes and much much more! My design will be number three in the series, arriving in needlework shops in April 2010. Once you have stitched all 12 designs, you will receive free instructions on how to assemble the 12 designs into a stitched "designer encyclopedia". For more information and to see how you can get involved...plus see a list of all twelve participating designers visit: http://stitchyourheartout-lts.blogspot.com/

This campaign is going to be a fun way to interact with others in the needlework community/industry and promote heart health. Designers will be donating a portion of sales from their special to design to CAROL for Heart, a regional non-profit organization that educates and empowers women to take charge of their heart health. I hope you will look for these special designs each month, starting in February 2010!