I find cross-stitch to be a very relaxing activity. I particularly like to work over one or two threads on fine linen. I love Teresa Wentzler's designs, and I also like faery designs, especially those based on the flower fairies of artist Cicely Mary Barker. I tend to keep several projects going at once, so that I don't get burnt out on any single one. For a while, I've been working on several faeries for me, a couple of Teresa Wentzler's medieval designs, and a couple of angels for my Mom.

I have a stamp collection begun for me by my grandfather, a postal carrier, when my mother announced she was pregnant with his first grandchild. The bulk of the collection is numbered plate blocks from the early 60s through the 80s, and then first-day covers through the most current commemorative issues. I also collect fairies and elves -- books, pictures, sculptures, etc.; Holt-Howard "Pixieware" from the late 50s and early 60s; and several leaf patterns in dinnerware and glassware from that same period, including Eva Zeisel's beautiful and organic Hallmark Century dinnerware in the Fern pattern, Ben Seibel's Harvest Time for Iroquois, the Franciscan Twice Nice and Autumn patterns, and Libbey's golden foliage glassware.

Holt-Howard Pixieware	Eva Zeisel for Hallmark, Fern pattern	Franciscan Fine China, Twice Nice pattern
Libbey Glass, Golden Foliage pattern	Eva Zeisel for Hallmark, Fern pattern
Ben Seibel for Iroquois, Harvest Time pattern	Franciscan Earthenware, Autumn pattern