Ode to Slush

Ah. It's that time of the year again. Warming up and melty. Grotesquely dirty vehicles careening down the streets, the driver trying to see through the filthy built-up sludge on the windshield. Traffic gnarled and backed up while someone grabs a mittful of snow to rub on her windshield, underestimating how long the traffic light will remain red. Good luck finding windshield washer fluid if you haven't stocked up! Grubby boots. Smears on your coat you won't notice until someone points them out to you because there is no way to squeeze out of that parking spot without rubbing up against something no matter how careful you are. Carefully considering if the value of something you've dropped is great enough to bother digging through the slush to retrieve.

In other words - It is officially spring!

And spring reminds me of the summer about to come. And summer reminds me of lazy days at the lake. And lazy days at the lake remind me of the impeding boredom that can set in unless you have satellite. And impeding boredom reminds me of... Crafting!

Miss P and I were both born crafty. We each have this innate desire to *create*. That we are both very good at entirely different things is one of the great things about our partnership in ChiChi - and above that our friendship. I love to craft the kinds of crafts I love to craft. I'm not as enthusiastic about all crafts great and small as some people are. I have a few preferences; making cute ugly critters out of felt, finding unique (some would say odd) things to do with things that don't seem to be otherwise useful - see the terrarium in the Cowboy post - and embroidery.

When I was a teen I loved embroidery. I embellished my jeans and jean jackets with the typical 70's motifs - peace signs and doves and rainbows (oh, my!). I had one pair of jeans with every square inch covered in embroidery. My mother got me started. Not that she embroidered. See, as I spent about fully half of my teenage years grounded to my bedroom (except for school and meals and chores (oh, boy!) my mom felt sorry for me and one day brought me up a bundle of floss, a hoop and some needles. After being assured I wasn't going to braid an escape ladder she left me there with the goodies and a new hobby was born. I had the time, after all.

It was decades later, just last fall in fact, before I picked up the tools of the trade and began rediscovering embroidery. I thought I had sworn off of it for life but one night, unable to sleep, I watched an HGTV craft program and discovered Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching. Her retro inspired patterns blew me away. Miss P and I checked out Sublime's delicious goodies together and she was just as excited as I. But, no retailers in Manitoba were carrying the line - where was a crafty local girl to get them? So - when we knew we were going to open ChiChi - we made absolutely certain we had a good line of Sublime Stitching products and patterns in the store before we unlocked the doors (making us the first retailer in Manitoba to carry their line).


Now, when you come in to browse for soon to be available Cottage Chic furnishings and decor, you can pick yourself up a fun and funky pattern or two from our terrific selection, some tear away T-Shirt Stabilizer and know, should a rainy day or boredom hit while you're at the cottage, you'll have something crafty to do.



The patterns we've shown here today are iron-on transfers which wash away. The transfers can be used up to seven or eight times. Both Miss P and I have never done much by way of embroidering on T-shirts because we have never liked the rigidness which remains on the underside of the garment - or the itchiness it causes. Sublime Stitching's T-Shirt Stabilizer is absolutely amazing - simply tear it away when you are done! No rigidity. No itchiness. No kidding!

And the Cottage Chic furnishings? We are beavering away prepping them as you read this. Look for a great selection of wicker and other cottage furnishings and decor items in store as of March 29th!