Give 'Til It Hurts

And maybe even a little beyond.  

Today was spent embroidering for charity (and yay, my Viking Girl was up to the task after her brief stints in the sewing machine hospital!).  While I was embroidering, in between checking Facebook & my email for updates to my donations page, I managed to browse through a discount book I just bought at Barnes & Noble - a visual guide to Digital Photography & instructions on how to do some simple things in Photoshop.  I have other books, but this one had some pretty neat things in it I knew I could do right away.  It managed to demystify depth of field for me (being a craftsy-but-not-camera-savvy person, I jumped for joy when I saw the simple descriptions and lots and lots of sample photos).  That's saying a lot.  So as my Viking Girl was stitching out the samples, I played around with some settings on my camera and was very pleased with how one or two of the shots came out.  

Stitching away for the American Cancer Society!

I'm incredibly, stupidly pleased with the depth of field on this one.  I've never been able to achieve this effect before I bought this book, and it finally made some sense to me.  

The beauty of digital photography is that the ones that didn't quite come out were deleted right away.   Love being able to do that without having to wait for film to be developed, only to find out that my settings weren't correct or whatever.

I will be walking in the Relay For Life in Fountain Valley this weekend, and for those who donated $10 or more to the American Cancer Society on my behalf, I decided to make simple zippered pouches as a thank-you token.  
I downloaded the free embroidery designs at Apex Designs (http://apexembdesigns.com/american-cancer-society-relay-life-embroidery-designs)
and also at one of my favorite sources, Embroidery Library
(http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/search.aspx?search=Support%20is%20Sweet).

The cupcake design is no longer available for free, though - I think they were offering it free during the month of October 2011, so I downloaded it thinking I could use it at some point.

I knew when I found the purple corduroy fabric the other day in the clearance section at Joann's Fabrics, that I'd finally be able to do just that.  Finding it on the day that the fabric was 50% off the clearance price just made it that much sweeter.

One of my newer clients was kind enough to pick up some purple zippers for me when she went to the garment district in Los Angeles - and donated them to the cause since her mother is suffering from colon cancer.  

I made a list of all the people I have known over the years who have suffered from cancer.  Some made it through the struggle, some did not.  It blew my mind how many people made it onto my list - I lost count after 30 and I know I've forgotten a few more - if I know that many, and you know many more, how many cancer victims are out there?  (The answer:  TOO MANY.)  I've had a few scares myself but each time the results were benign and I consider myself very, very blessed.  I'll be walking for all of those people in my life who were not quite so lucky; I just wish I could do more.

So what's with the post title?  Well, while I was embroidering today I dropped my pair of embroidery scissors - you know, the little 4 inch ones that are incredibly sharp.  And instinctively, I slammed my knees together to keep the sharp blades from dropping into the Pergo floor.  Only I hadn't counted on catching the very same blades using my thigh muscles.

Ow.  

 I'm fine, but I'm going to be a bit sore for awhile.  Band-Aids and Neosporin are my friends.   Next time, I'm letting the darn scissors hit the floor (with apologies to my husband, if he's reading this).

Here's what my Viking Girl cranked out today:

Tomorrow, I'll be working on making more of these patches and then working them into little zippered pouches to give to my donors, as well as getting caught up on a few orders for some clients.  I'll post more photos of the finished pouches tomorrow. 

If you are interested in donating, here is a link to my page:http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12National?px=29697372&pg=personal&fr_id=36593 


The Sewing Assistant says you know you want that cupcake....

All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, to help fund cancer research and provide support & assistance to those with cancer and to those who love them.
The Sewing Assistant would walk, too, only it sounds a bit too much like work.