We’re having a bit of a crisis in the art glass industry. Bullseye Glass has had to suspend most of their production due to a cease and desist order by the governor of the state of Portland regarding the usage of heavy minerals in their production. Uroboros has also suspended some of their production. They are both in Portland, OR. Part of the fallout of this is that Spectrum Glass, based in Washington State will be ending production and going out of business later this year. Uroboros produces a lot of glass for Spectrum. They have been manufacturing art glass for decades but now the local government is up in arms regarding soil, and air tests around the areas of their factories. Bullseye has been very active in equipping their factory with the necessary filters that will be required. You can check out the players in this nightmare us glass artists are witnessing by going to Bullseye’s web site as well as Uroboros and Spectrum. Also, this link can lead you to what you can do to let the government know that you stand by the art glass industry. The trickle down effect on this will be catastrophic if we don’t all band together in support of the affected companies. Thank you.
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Traditional Cross Stitch with a Touch of Snark
At first glance at My Big Toe Designs’ website, you might think you’ve stumbled upon a pretty classic cross stitch designer who makes samplers using bible verses and traditional designs.
And there is that, but if you look a little closer, you’ll see another side, with designs that call cat hair a “specialty fiber,” refer to the voices in their head saying to eat the chocolate, and that as far as everyone else knows, this is a “normal” family.
These designs are billed as whimsical on the My Big Toe Designs website, and they are that, especially compared to the other designs on the site. Who couldn’t relate to “If it’s not one thing, it’s three others” or “I barely survived yesterday and it’s already today”?
As mentioned above, in addition to the snarkier side, this designer makes a lot of samplers and inspirational designs with bible quotes and heartfelt phrases. There are also holiday designs, mostly for Christmas with a religious bent. The pinkie series offers sets of small Christmas designs that can be framed in tiny frames, used as ornaments or given as gifts.
In addition to all the patterns on offer, the website includes tutorials that show how to use stitched fabric in different ways, including making a biscornu, covering a wooden block, making a needle book, a flat ornament and an ort box (if that last one doesn’t mean anything to you, check out this post all about orts).
There also are a few free patterns on the website, including designs about winter, stitching friends, being a grandparent and more.
While you can browse all of My Big Toe Designs’ patterns on the website, you can’t actually order directly from them. But there is a list of websites on the site that you can use if you don’t have a local needlework shop that happens to carry the designs you want.