I’m working hard at finding awesomeness in each day because while there are sad and challenging things going on in my personal life, there are awesome things too. And it all centers around creativity. I encourage you to create every day and embrace the awesomeness.
Check out April’s fantastic Spotlight interview packed full of insight and advice for indie authors.
Meet Paranormal / Urban Romance author Naomi Valkyrie. Naomi packed this Spotlight with a wealth of insight and experience as an indie author. Reap the benefits as I have.
Get your romance on with the Romance Book BlastFREE e-book event April 28. Here are few selections in the Paranormal Romance section.
This event and many crafty ones are filling my calendar. Here are a few just for fun:
Lola Crow’s 2026 Mystery Stitch Along, Museum After Midnight
Just Cross Stitch Magazine’s 2026 Stitch Along, “Tapestry of Twelve.”
Willowing Art’s Free Mastering Mixed Media 2026 Online Workshops
Witchy Sticher May Madness – Instagram group, stitching designs by The Witchy Stitcher. I’m hoping to start a new one from Meg’s wonderful book or my digital library, and work on my two in progress…
April Stitching Progress including some of the events listed above
I truly hope your April was awesome, and happy upcoming Maynia… as we call the fifth month in the stitching world.
The nice steady slow beat where I can breathe and experience satisfaction in my handiwork. I hate to call it escape. Maybe “living” captures the time spent moving colorful silks and cotton through fabric with a needle.
I’m hoping some of my enjoyment will flow into the universe, and you’ll catch the vibe. (See the start of this series, and some of my beautiful stitching this past couple of weeks, in my previous post, and feel free to share your creative outlets.)
Not one fictional word written in two weeks… Wait, what?! But it’s true, and I’m doing okay. Hmmm… My pod people are quiet in my head. Maybe they needed a vacation, too.
So, instead of books and writing, I’m sharing my craft projects, old, and yes! New! I’ve caught the bug again after watching “Flosstube” videos with all the wonderful designs being shown off. I have tons of stash to dive into, but naturally I’m missing certain colors, which leads to retail therapy… Yes! Another benefit of embracing this surprising whiplash turn in my daily life. Somehow, writing doesn’t spark the same need to buy as other crafts do… but that’s a blog for another day.
Retail Therapy
A tiny sample of favorite shops: 123Stitch.com for DMC and Weeks Dye Works floss, Etsy (so much cross stitching!) for patterns and specialty floss, and other items like these gorgeous project bags. My favorite goth pattern designer is The Witchy Stitcher for the eerie and quirky. My favorite fabrics come from BeStitchMe.com
The most exciting part of this birthday month adventure has been kitting up for new starts. Check out these designs I purchased after watching too many enablers on FlossTube. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.) I’ve made significant starts in “Greenhouse of Oddities,” “Cats and Cocoa,” and “I Like Cross Stitch.” I even started an old pattern from my stash, “Single Step” by Stichrovia.
Single Step by Stitchrovia (had in my stash and wanted to start forever)Summer Gothic Sampler by The House of CamA Graveyard Wander by The Witchy StitcherA Stitcher Haunts Here by The Witchy SticherBooks are Magic by Counting PuddlesWinter Flower Bird by Nathnolu (got all four seasons)
My progress… on the first three above.
Cats and Cocoa also on 16 ct Aida, Sugar Cookie (don’t remeber the dyer)Greenhouse of Oddities, and the gorgeous fabric by BeStitchMe, 16 ct Aida, PeanutGreenhouse of Oddities (stitching in SAL sections, starting top center)On 16 Ct Aida from Hand-dyed by Rolanda
Today, the last day in February to round out my record craze, I’m starting “I Like Cross Stitch” and this Stitch Along (SAL), “Tapestry of Twelve,” from the Spring Just Cross Stitch Magazine by multiple designers. You can borrow the magazine issues from Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. The top left corner is part one of four. I bought the called-for Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss. Gorgeous!
Rescuing Old Stitchworks Languishing in a Box
I recycled hallway picture frames, and now I get to enjoy these.
Stitcher’s House by Stone Street StitchworksFrankenstein for The Stitching Bookclub (SBC) Walkin’ on Sunshine by Luhu Stitches
I’ve touched over a dozen old WIPs (works in progress) in February, including restarting three – all those old problems that made me hide them away and forget about them. I totally got inspired to patiently frog out stitches or toss out the disliked fabric or fabric I measured incorrectly, and show them some love. The first of my three restarts was in my previous post, but I’ll add it here as well.
Old (sad face) Garden Stroll by Carolyn Manning (design free with Sulky Thread Pack)Garden Stroll – New startOld (absolutely no room for the entire design. Oops! Fresh Picked Evergreens by Petal Pusher (came with specialty floss)New (started in the corner this time)And… I finished the free pattern that came with it!A tiny finish! Isn’t she pretty?
And this beloved project, Keiko Sato Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives, started in November 2020, is also on fabric a bit too small, but I love the color with the stamped leaves, and decided to make it work. So, I stitched all night on the berry out to the black border, and part of the crane to see how close I would be to the edge of the fabric. Less than an inch! But I’ll make it.
Keiko Sato Sampler by Twin Peak Primitives
Another Finish!
Check out this gorgeous reproduction sampler, stitched in 1857 by Jane Marshall, a 10-year-old Australian girl. I pulled out the band I was working on (her name) because the color just wasn’t working, and then I couldn’t stop stitching. The silk floss came from my stash, featuring a gorgeous variegated silk called Fairy Quilt Crossing. The pattern was free from Hands Across the Sea Samplers in support of the Aussie fires in January 2020. Many designers contributed patterns, and I stitched three, two I finished in 2020.
This isn’t even mine, but my husband’s photograph. He was out on his ebike 30 minutes away from us. But his enjoyment is my enjoyment. Pretty fabulous to crest a trail and see this.
I so enjoy pet sitting for Mack and Elway. Wouldn’t you? We had a lovely week together though I missed my own two fur faces.
While pet sitting, I got out for a girlfriends day. Always nice since I’m staying in Midtown where there’s lots of fabulous eateries. We went for gyros. Tori brought me gifts. She loves getting me Kodiak/Grizzly bear cards because she’s in love with Andras Johns, my alpha shifter in The Starlight Chronicles, and aren’t the mug and stickers awesome!
More fun things from my hubby this month. He found this coffee table book for a steal on eBay where he also sells knives. Doesn’t this knife scream Mando! Think Beskar and blue triangles.
Last but not least, I’m digging on my May WIP! This novel has been in the works for a couple of years and my current focus. Toxic Friends Can be a Good Thing is a YA Urban Fantasy. Shifters, ninja brothers, hidden places beneath Long Beach, CA, an unhoused teen girl, and her stray Aussie Shepherd companion are a few of the elements.
Stay tuned!
Thanks for catching up with me!
For news and progress, feel free to sign up for my newsletter.
By D. L. Lewellyn 