When I was in high school, I made my first hand-made greeting cards.

On the back of them, I drew a little hairy guy with long fangs, and I wrote under him, “Because I care enough to send the hairy beast.” I’m sure it wasn’t an original idea, but, with my sick sense of humor, I thought it was funny.

You know the Hallmark card slogan? “When you care enough to send the very best”? It’s a great slogan – those are pretty powerful words that have worked well for years in the marketing of greeting cards.

But a long time ago, I realized that I could show that I cared enough to send the very best (or the hairy beast), a different way – and that’s by making my own cards.

If you embroider even just a little bit, your stitching skill is a terrific medium for creating cards that are personal, pretty, festive, and a gift in themselves.

The only real investment you have to make when you want to embroider cards – assuming you have even just a little bit of embroidery stash and some card stock – is the investment of time. And that’s when you demonstrate that you real do care enough to send the very best, because you’re sending a piece of yourself!

So, today is “Cyber Monday.” Call me late to the party, but I never really got into that kind of thing – Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Terrestrial Tuesday…

I avoid shopping on Thanksgiving weekend like the plague. I’d rather stay home and fluff my carpet or something.

Now, if you told me that shopping consisted of a small town atmosphere, with main street shops bedecked in Christmas lights, with carolers in Victorian garb dotting the street corners, with toys in the shop windows – something rather Norman Rockwellian or Charles Dickensian – ok, sure. I’d be on board.

But…shopping centers? Crowded parking lots? Oh golly. No. But I admire the tenacity of those who can not only handle it, but who really have a blast doing it!

Still, when it comes to Cyber Monday, I don’t mind joining in a bit and getting somewhat gimmicky … I’ll tell you why.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, in the US, it’s Thanksgiving. Despite the fact that today is principally a US holiday, I always think of Thanksgiving as a universal event, since gratitude has no boundaries.

Today, I have a lot to be thankful for…

A happy Saturday to you all!

This is a pre-published article on Needle ‘n Thread, and just a reminder that I’m not available for email or for comment moderation on the website until next week some time. (Details here, if you want them.)

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is steadily approaching. And what could be better on a nippy-cold morning, than to fix your favorite hot beverage – ahhhhh, like a nice steamy cup of cocoa! – and go for a bit of a browse?

To help you indulge in a leisurely morning, here’s a list of embroidery-related articles I’ve come across lately, that are either inspiring, informative, fun, or … enticing!

Today, I’m plugging the EGA… as in the Embroiderers’ Guild of America.

Read on – you’ll find information about the EGA, some great free resources, and other enticing bits!

I really haven’t gone fishing.

I wish I were fishing!