For years my students have asked me where the inspiration for my needlework projects comes from. Sprinkled through the next year, I will write a series of short notes about the sources of my inspiration and a bit on how I use these sources.
One important source comes from Greeting Cards. I collect them and have baggies full of them. Shoe boxes also. For the most part I keep them divided into categories: houses, gardens, house furnishings, hearts, Christmas, Valentine's Day and so forth.
For example, a very useful card I found several years ago pictured a chest of drawers. Not particularly a chest of drawers I would replicate, but I liked the way the artist had painted the shading on the drawers and the bunches of tiny flowers between the drawer knobs. I have never stitched a chest of drawers that looks like the one on the card, but it inspired the way I have constructed several of the chests of drawers I have stitched.
Of course I have practical Greeting Cards too, for girlfriends and birthdays and such. Occasionally I find cards I love so much that I have to keep them. I have two all-time favorite cards and I can never decide which is my favorite. I thought I would write about both, even though they don't relate to my designs or needlepoint.
FIRST CARD is a birthday card but it contains certain Universal Truths about marriage:
On the cover are three blind mice who are covering sensitive parts of their anatomies with their paws as the card sings:
Three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run, see how they run, they all ran away from John Bobbit's wife who cut off their **** with a carving knife...
Open the card and inside: so be nice to your wife, be nice to your wife, from someone on the cutting edge.
SECOND CARD is a Far-Side card and it speaks to the Philosophy of Life:
The four personality types:
1. The glass is half full
2. The glass is half empty
3. The glass is half full, no it is half empty, no it is half full, etc.
4. Hey, where's my cheeseburger.
I would say that most of us who grapple in creative pursuits probably belong to personality type 4.
Meanwhile, today is the 26th of March. Less than a week to go till I post the first Surprise Mystery Window.
Gay Ann
I sent Gay Ann a post,
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One of my nursing friend's son was a police officer in Northern Virginia the night Mrs. Bobbitt decided to go on her slashing spree. As luck would have it, her son found the missing member, thus enabling Mr.Bobbitt to start a new career in in films.
MaryAnn
Please look on the back of the three blind mice card and let me know the company that did this. My husband and I bought this card several years ago and mailed it to my brother in law. He loved and and took it to work and showed it to tons of people. I wished we bought a second one to keep for ourselves. We have talked about it many times and had great laughs about it!
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