Cupcake!

I got Cupcake all stitched up! Told ya I'll be more diligent in stitching and updating my blog when I’m in a SAL. So here it is…

I’m finally not too far behind Jessie and Carol. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I think this brings me more or less to the same progress as Jessie. I've now started on Tart so watch it, Carol, I just might catch up to you ^.^ I know, I know, an SAL is not a competition... but hey, whatever drives you to keep on stitching, right? Then again, these designs are so fun and easy to stitch I doubt I'll lose interest anytime soon.
Now, you might have noticed that I left some of the brown French knots on the cupcake and white confetti stitches around the block off. Don't worry, I didn't forget. I'll be replacing them with beads later on. I reckon they would look nicer. Of course, that has nothing to do with the fact that I hate confetti stitches. Say you believe me?
I got a lot more done on Gingerbread Cottage as well. This picture shows a much truer colour of the fabric that the previous sloppy, last minute, close up picture I took of the house.

Once again, yes, I've left out some stitching. I guess you can guess what I'm gonna do about the confetti stitches at the top and bottom border. As for the other missing items, I'm still playing around with an idea I have. Nothing is concrete yet. You'll see soon enough what I have in mind :)
Last week, I mentioned that there were more stash that I might have forgotten to show you and since a number of you mentioned that you don't mind me raving about my stash, Here's more... :P

I think I'm addicted to band samplers. I mean, look at the collection I've accumulated since "discovering" them. It's getting out of hand. Here's another one - The Drawn Thread's Prairie Garden. Even though I've yet to start this one, I'm already contemplating getting the other 3 gardens in the set. Someone tell me, am I insane to even think about it? I bought it during Mary Kathryn's Handcrafts Online summer sale. Love her reduced postage bargain. I swear, some ONS just charges their overseas customers an exorbitant amount for shipping cost. And when the package arrives, it's actually only a couple dollars.
Rant aside, look what I found on Ebay:

Just Nan's Out of Print Patience. It says on her website that this design is limited to only 3000 copies. I'm so lucky to have won all 4 chapters with their embelishment packs still intact. And as an added bonus, a very huge bonus, I've gotten to know the seller, Dixie (no blog). Her Ebay name is dws1010 and she's an avid stitcher like me too. Not only is she very friendly, she went over and beyond the call of duty to have the package shipped to me at the lowest rate possible. Most sellers would have just charged an estimated amount that's usually more than the actual shipping cost and leave it at that.
My Vikki Clayton order arrived in record time as well. Seriously, these two are great examples of what I call excellent customer service. Many people just don't realize how much giving or withholding good customer service can affect a business. Never underestimate the power of word of mouth.
Back to the original topic, look at these lustrous silk - Vikki's conversion for LHN The Rose in Morning.

I've been naughty girl and started it. I'm stitching it on 32 count natural Italian linen. However, there's not enough progress to warrant a picture. Next time, perhaps.
The silk package for the Little House Neighbourhood that I've been going on and on about was in that same package too but I'm still waiting for the fabric to arrive. Will do a floss toss then.