Welcome!

Happy Independence Day, America!

In honor of the occasion, I’ve found some cute Fourth of July-inspired cakes for you:

I found the star cake at Wilton and the eagle cake at coolest-birthday-cakes.com.

Sneak Peek: Killer Sweet Tooth

[This scene is from Chapter One. Myra has come over to play Scrabble with Daphne.]

I had the Scrabble board set up on the island with the two stools set on opposite sides of the island. The cashew brittle and chocolate-covered raisins were plated and on a tray to the right side of the board along with a large bowl of popcorn. The Scrabble tiles were to the left.
“What would you like to drink?” I asked.
“Something hot. That wind chilled me to the bone on my walk over,” she said. “How about a decaf café au lait?”
I smiled. “Sounds good to me.”
Myra sat down and began choosing her tiles. “Great. Nearly all vowels. How am I supposed to make a word out of this mess?”
“Just put those back and draw some new letters.” I have a single-cup coffee maker, so I began making Myra’s café au lait.
“No, now, you know I don’t cheat,” she said. “I’ll make do with the letters I have. Maybe some of this cashew brittle will help me think.”
The next sound I heard was a howl of pain.
“Myra? What is it?”
“Owwww, my toot . . . my filling…fell out!” She rocked back and forth on the stool.
I turned the coffee maker off. “Who’s your dentist? I’ll call him and ask if he can meet you in his office.” Don’t think I was being sexist when I said “him.” There are only two dentists in Brea Ridge, and they’re both men.
“Bainworf.”
I got “Bainsworth” out of the mumbled word and rushed into the living room to retrieve my phone book from the end table. I called the dentist’s office and then dialed the emergency number left on the answering machine. Dr. Bainsworth answered the call immediately.

[Little did I know what I was about to get myself into. Stay tuned....]

Welcome!

It has certainly been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry for the extended absence (the last newsletter issue was posted on March 28!), but Gayle and I have been really busy. Gayle has been penning a novel, and I’ve been making lots of cakes. Good for business, but not so great for keeping in touch with my friends.

Gayle has added “Monday’s Cake Series Quote” to her Facebook page. Check it out each Monday for a quote from the series. She’s also doing “Sneak Peek Saturday” where she gives readers a glimpse into upcoming books.

Site Spotlight: Cake Decorating Events

Nothing says “summer” like a road trip, right? And what better road trip than going to a cake decorating event? Hopefully, one of the following will be taking place near you:

June 24-26, 2011: Celebration of Cake, Gilbert, Arizona

June 25-26, 2011: ICES June Day of Sharing, Marlborough, Massachusetts

July 10, 2011: Capital Confectioners Annual Day of Sharing, Round Rock, Texas

July 10, 2011: Veterans Benefit Cake Show, Toms River, New Jersey

August 20, 2011: Cove Country Cake Show & Challenge, Bedford, Pennsylvania

September 11, 2011: Cake Decorating EXPO, Houston, Texas

For more upcoming cake events, please check out the American Cake Decorating website.

Marcy’s Musings

Hi, there! I’m so excited about the upcoming release of Stitch Me Deadly.  In honor of the event, Gayle’s daughter Lianna made a wonderful trailer for the book.

Project Spotlight:

If you’ll recall, in our last issue of Sew Deadly, Gayle was going to attempt to recreate my new pattern on a tote bag. Just looking at the photo at the left, her recreation is cute, but has a big flower instead of the bunny…. Gayle, what’s up with that?

GT: In my defense, Marcy, I put the bunny on the bag. But since I didn’t have the actual cross-stitch grid on which to work, it was really hard to keep my lines straight; and I wasn’t satisfied with the bunny’s appearance at all. So, I got the seam ripper and ripped enough of the bunny out to be able to put this huge applique flower over the rest. Hey, it’s the right color!

MS: It is the right color, and I think it looks good. I’m glad you showed some initiative and fixed the tote instead of just trashing the entire project. I’ve been guilty of that a time or two!

GT: So have I. And I have a number of “unfinished symphonies” in my repertoire as well.

MS: Unfinished symphonies…I like that. You did a good job on the writing. It doesn’t appear you had any trouble with the text at all.

GT: That turned out to be really easy. I took a blue fabric pen and wrote the text onto the bag and then simply embroidered over it. Had I done the bunny that way–rather than try to cross-stitch it–I think it might have turned out a lot better. I should have asked Lianna to draw the bunny for me–she’s really talented in that area.

MS: And in movie making! Tell her I LOVE the book trailer.

GT: I will.

MS: If anyone else has created any of the new projects, please let me know! And please also check out the new website feature, Marcy’s Shop. Talented web designer Steve Matda made it possible for you to actually visit The Seven-Year Stitch! Check out the page, and hover your mouse over objects in the store to link to free projects, Gayle’s Facebook page, embroidery supplies, the Oregon coast, Irish wolfhounds and PetFinder. Please note that some objects have more than one link, so you might have to move your mouse around a bit to find them all. Have fun!

Marcy’s Musings

Hi, guys! And Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who’ll be celebrating next Thursday. I’m looking forward to a week of relaxing, stitching, reading, baking and eating! I’m hoping each of you has your own special blessings to revel in.

The Contest

Have you entered the contest Gayle posted on November 1?  If not, you still have 14 chances to enter! You must be a newsletter subscriber to enter (if you aren’t, simply fill out the form at the top of this page to become one!), and you enter by sending an e-mail to gayle@gayletrent.com with “November Contest” in the subject line. You may enter once per day. On December 1, Gayle will have the site random.org to help her choose a winner. So, you should get your prize in plenty of time for Christmas!

Site Spotlight: Follow the White Bunny

I discovered Follow the White Bunny when Nicole, the blogger, followed Gayle on Twitter and mentioned she loved the concept of The Quick and The Thread. Gayle was later interviewed for Nicole’s blog, and she (and I!) discovered Nicole’s beautiful patterns.

I was hoping to make one of my own to share with you, but I simply couldn’t wait to share these with you! Besides, Nicole is offering this beautiful November special that I don’t want you to miss out on.

So drop by Nicole’s blog and say hello. Tell her Gayle/Amanda and Marcy sent you!

Welcome!

This weekend–October 1-3–Kerry Vincent will be hosting the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. Set up will take place on Friday, October 1. Below is the 2009 Grand Prize winning cake decorated by Mercedes Strachwsky of Florida. Mercedes’ cake beautifully illustrated the show’s theme, “Of Sea and Shore.”

On Saturday, October 2, visitors can attend the show from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.  On Sunday, October 3, the event will be open to the public from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. (or the conclusion of the awards ceremony).

The Grand National Wedding Cake Competition’s 2010 theme is Mansions and Monasteries. Contestants will “create a showpiece depicting elements from an existing mansion or monastery.”

A special guest to the show this year will be Richard Ruskell. To date, Chef Ruskell has won the most Food Network Challenge comeptitions. Additional guest “stars” include Corporate Chef Donald Wressell, “Cake Chicks” Cheri Elder, Bronwen Weber, and Carolyn Wanke Mangold, and the award-winning chef Andrew Shotts.

If you’re attending the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show, be sure to check out all the wonderful vendors on hand. You can get some terrific items there–at least, I know I did! Also, if you go, please say hello to Kerry and give her a hug from Daphne and Gayle!

Welcome!

Sorry I’ve been away so long. Gayle has been doing a blog tour, so she has been concentrating on that and working on Killer Sweet Tooth. She has also been celebrating the successful debut of her other novel, The Quick and The  Thread. The book was the #6 bestselling mass market paperback mystery in Barnes & Noble stores nationwide the week of August 3.

Spotlight:

I know it’s a few days late, but check out the Friday the 13th video from CakeWrecks!

Please join me on my blog tour for The Quick and The Thread. Below are this weeks stops along the tour:

July 26, 2010 Monday
Gayle Trent will be chatting with WOW! Women On Writing at The Muffin. One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of Amanda Lee’s book!
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com

July 27, 2010 Tuesday
What type of person has two names? Spies, people in witness protection, movie stars…and writers. Amanda Lee tells us what it’s like to go through life with two personas–one writing mysteries about a cake decorator and the other writing mysteries about an embroiderer.
http://hellorhighwaterwriting.wordpress.com/

July 28, 2010 Wednesday
In her interview today, Amanda Lee (a.k.a. Gayle Trent) tells us that murder isn’t the only thing she has to research for her cozy mysteries. For The Quick and the Thread, the first book in her new embroidery series, the unlikely subject was whales!
http://www.sellingbooks.com

July 29, 2010 Thursday
Amanda Lee is stopping by Mom-e-Centric to tell us about how murder and embroidery make a wonderful mix. She’ll also be giving away a copy of The Quick and the Thread!
http://www.momecentric.com/

July 30, 2010 Friday
Stop by today for an interview with Amanda Lee by fellow mystery writer Christine Verstraete. These two will be sharing some great mystery writing tips!
http://candidcanine.blogspot.com/

August 1, 2010 Sunday
Blue hair, the early bird special, embroidery. Three things grandmas like. Or are they? Amanda Lee tells us about what a fun hobby embroidery can be for all ages and about her young embroiderer who also solves murders in The Quick and the Thread.
http://www.cozychicksblog.com/

Marcy’s Musings

I’m so excited! Romantic Times has named The Quick and The Thread an RT Top Pick!!! And reviewer Pat Cooper gave the book 4 1/2 stars!!! Pat says:

Site Spotlight: Curiosities 808

This site offers a tutorial for embroidered flowers that I really want to try. The flowers are made on felt and tinted with crayon. The blogger says she’s challenging herself to make this project simple and affordable. I can buy the affordable, but the project doesn’t appear simple. But, the flowers are gorgeous! I’m thinking of trying the iris.

In order to see the tutorial blog posts, use the archives to pull up June of 2008 and then follow the posts. The first one is on June 24.

Good luck!

Congratulations to Linda Weaver, winner of the $50 Amazon gift card for pre-ordering The Quick and The Thread. Random.org’s random number generator picked Number 16 from the number of contestants entered, and that number belonged to Linda.

I truly appreciate everyone else who pre-ordered The Quick and The Thread. The book was just named a Romantic Times Top Pick and given 4 1/2 stars.

Please keep in mind that I’m throwing a virtual launch party on Facebook on August 3 where there will be opportunities to win prizes all day long. Join me, won’t you?

Thanks again, everybody, for your support and encouragement!

Marcy’s Musings

Gayle received galleys for The Quick and The Thread yesterday. She sent them to Nordic Needle, Needlework Retailer and The Book Report. She’s waiting to hear back from a reviewer on another galley.

Although the galleys are tan with plain covers, and they specifically tell book reviewers these are uncorrected proofs, the books still look great. And the covers are fantastic! The picture of Angus is even carried over to the spine! He’s adorable, and I think he’ll give our book an edge over those that don’t feature darling canines on the cover.

Site Spotlight: Needlework Retailer

I’ve highlighted Nordic Needle for you before, but I haven’t introduced you to Needlework Retailer. That’s mainly because I’ve only just met them myself.

Needlework Retailer is for those of us who work in the embroidery industry. In addition to blogs, guest articles and magazine archives, the website hosts contests for displays. See the current contest and get information on entering. Who knows? You might win!

If you’re an embroidery shop owner–or even if you’re not–check out Needlework Retailer. Gayle really enjoyed the guest article ”Maximize Your Time: Achieve More with Less” by Joelle Jay, Ph.D.