T'was the Friday Before Christmas....

Muscatine is more Fun.

 And Ethan and Cheryl went running.... again.  We ran in Muscatine for Today... Ahead of the Weekend because...  well,  we could!   It was wonderful!   Even with the cold and the wind, it was far better than the Kewash trail, that seems so cold and barren.  There is always the river to take in,  the boats, the trail, and occasionally,  an Eagle or Heron to notice. No to mention it gets us away from our little farmland prison and out into the riverside community for a pleasant change. 

Kewash Trail.  Cold and Snowy.

After the usual affairs, we eventually have to come home.   What to do with all that new found time we were lacking a mere week ago...  

Cold, snow, and pigs pulling sleds...

Well,  Cheryl has been working on her Owl Zipper Pouches.   Mostly just to deal with that horrible creative itch that she has after the stockings are winding down.   She doubts these will be available in any of the Allenbrite Stores. 

She looks busy!

Cheryl's Creative Outlet.

 They were never the best sellers anyway.  Most likely they will be handed out as gifts or used in some special way to deliver a present.  After the first of the new year, I'm sure we will begin focusing on the soap or some other venue for revenue. 

Visions of Embroidery Dancing in my head...

As for me.   I am still playing around with the embroidery ideas in my head.  On that front,  progress has been made! 

The other day, I was playing around with Free hand Embroidery and creating junk that no one would possibly want as a decoration.( even me!)   But I thought it was good for  therapy and skill building if I ever find myself on a desert island with time on my hands and a need for new survival techniques.  ( Don't ask me how Embroidery will help me with survival on a desert Island...  The Application of those skills are not immediately obvious to me just yet. And I have not given it that much thought.) 

Perhaps there is more competition now? 

So I was trolling around on the internet looking for inspiration and tips on how to fix my incompetence.   ( Embroidery-wise)  I stumbled upon a youtube video...  who mentioned an embroidery Program.  I know this program....  $1000 bucks!  That was the price about 5 years ago.  But I was pleasantly surprised that the price has come down DRAMATICALLY!...  Down to $20 buck!.   How can this be?  

Nice Try... Maybe some people made 
their money back...

I have a theory:  The program writers had over-priced the original program because they figured you would make money selling your "home made embroidery patterns"  for $1-3 bucks each.  Sell 1000, and you have made your money back!  

Simple experimental 
Design downloaded.

Unfortunately... in the real world, Selling things is not as easy as you might think.  And I'm sure they got plenty of complaints of people with Buyer's remorse.  OR a competitor came out with a newer, cheaper program.  OR the old program got outdated and the newest one came out with more features.  Either way,  There was an opportunity to get a program CHEAP!   And I begged Cheryl to buy me the $20 downloadable program for Christmas. 

Proof the Program 
Works! 

Cheryls' Dog Design.

20 minutes later... I made this!  A little easier than my "handmade" attempt.   These were just things I used from the program.  However!  You can also do things that you create yourself.  The obvious choice was one of Cheryl's Dog designs. 

After Isolating it 
with a Paint Program. 

A little tweeking and BOOM!   We have an Allenbrite Dog Design embroidered on felt.   Incredible!   

Translating it to the Embroidery
Machine...

Now, it did take a long time to actually sew up.   I doubt we will be using this for Stockings in the future.   And there were 10 colors of thread required for this simple design.   You may notice that there seems to be less color on it that that, and that is because I skipped the "little bits of color" required.   Plus!  I did not have those colors in my arsenals.  

A Few Extra colors added. 

But that changed a little today as Cheryl wanted to visit JoAnn again. They had a modest sale on thread again, so I purchased an additional 10 colors.  I will fill in the gaps in the coming years as I require it. 

Hiro looking out into the snow. 

I'm very excited that I was able to do what I did in the short amount of time just experimenting with the program.  I will now have to work on the needle threader, as changing thread colors becomes more important.   I will also have to familiarize myself with the program, as I believe I have not even scratched the surface of its potential yet.  I'm still not sure how I'm going to use these new found gifts and skills,   but I'm sure they will eventually come in handy....  especially when I'm marooned on a Desert Island.    Thanks for stopping in. 

At least he is not out in the cold like 
the "Farmer Cats."