Slow Sunday Stitching: A May-nia Project Fully Finished!

Good morning on a sunny Sunday for a quick "Slow Sunday Stitching" check-in with the good crafty folks over at Kathy's Quilts!

Last night I finally "fully finished" my "Craft Supplies and Other Lies" piece!

I had started stitching this for "May-nia", continued it during "Red, White and June" and completed the tail end of it along with resuming work on another piece for "Christmas In July".   After that I found a frame that I liked and decided to go the route of mounting it on it rather than putting it in it.  

I debated a long time about how exactly to go about that.  In the end, I mounted the piece on some foamcore and batting and laced it in place.  It needed a little something around the edge so I made some cording from the flosses it is stitched with using the Clover tool purchased awhile back.  

Then I nailed it to the wooden patterned surround in the frame using brads.  The hope was that the nail heads would disappear between the fabric threads which went fine for all but one corner that took some tugging to cover.  I  know it's a little skewed on the surround but I think I can live with that --- well, I'll see if I still feel that way after a few days (or weeks) of looking at it displayed, LOL.   

So with that done, I am now ready to get back to some stitching!  I haven't stitched on anything since finishing the "CIJ" piece.  Now to fill my evenings,  I am going back to another "May-nia" start:  New York Skyline by XstitchByTA.

This is how far I've gotten on the next page of the pattern (it is a total of five pages).  I expect this to fill my days through the Fall and probably right through the start of the actual Christmas season --- not the shopping season which will probably begin in earnest in the next week or so, LOL!!

To see what other crafters have filled their stitchy days with (or to add yours!), head over to Kathy's Quilts for this week week's "Slow Sunday Stitching" link up to see what others are whipping up in their craft spaces! 

Slow Sunday Stitching: The End of "Christmas In July"

With July drawing to a close,  I managed to finish the "Christmas in July" cross stitching for this month just in time.  So I am joining in over at Kathy's Quilts for a little "Slow Sunday Stitching" show and tell!

First off a stitching finish:  the Fat Quarter Shop's "Letters To Santa" pattern is done!

Stitching on Aida and then being able to go back to "mongamous stitching" this past week helped get this done.  At this point, I don't know how I want to "fully finish" it.  I might take cues from how FQS did theirs:

I'm particularly eyeing the bow on it since I just did a project for a blog hop and made a Patchwork Bow using Liza Taylor's tutorial:

Although it is patterned using 2-1/2" cut squares, she says you could use any size squares.  So I could see using one or half inch finished squares to make another bow to use for finishing the cross stitch piece.  Once I decide where and how I want to display it for the holidays,  I can make more decisions about the "fully finishing" of it.

And speaking of "fully finishes":  My little "Christmas Log Carrier" ornament is now done!

I was supposed to stitch this as part of "CIJ" last year but didn't get to start it until the end of August.  During a few spaced out stitching sessions (probably between other projects), I finished it in October.

The pattern finishing just called for putting some seam sealant on the edges and turning under the handle loops and glueing them in place.  However I wanted to finish it just a little more so first cut some fusible interfacing to secure the back of the stitching:

Next I cut some coordinating holiday fabric so I could line it.  I really liked this fabric but it was directional so I seamed two pieces together so that I could make a lining piece where the print would run vertically on both sides.  

I stitched them together along what had been the cutting lines, leaving the handle ends open and an opening on one side so I could turn all the edges in and so no sealant was needed!  I edge stitched the opening closed and all around the edge and stitched the "handles" down to form loops.  

Last step was to find some wooden dowels for the handles.  I didn't have a dowel the size I needed on hand but did have something that worked perfectly in its place:

It pays to hold on to some of these chopsticks after all!  I cut a chopstick down into two pieces the size I needed.  Then it was finding some ribbon in my stash and Cinnamon sticks from the pantry and this little ornament is now done!

I look forward to seeing what everyone has for this last "Slow Sunday Stitching" for July over at Kathy's Quilts!   

Slow Sunday Stitching: "Christmas In July" Stitching Has Started!

I'm checking in for the first time this month over at Kathy's Quilts for "Slow Sunday Stitching"!

In my report for the end of June,  I talked about unfinished projects for that month and the plan to start on projects for "Christmas In July".  Since July 1st was on a Tuesday,  my hope was to use the last Sunday and Monday of June to finish up the stitching of at least two of those projects.  Good news, one of them -- Primrose Cottage's "Home of the Brave" -- did get done!

No plans as yet as to when I will "fully finish" this one.

Then we had a camping trip over the 4th of July weekend to Letchworth State Park here in New York which was great!  It is known as the "Grand Canyon of the East" for the large gorge that was cut through the area over time by the Genesee River that bisects the park.  

These are the "Middle Falls" and there are an Upper and Lower set as well.

A view of another part of the gorge from one of the outlooks.

On the trip we learned something new to us:  the Genesee actually flows north from Pennsylvania to Rochester in Northern New York State to empty out into Lake Ontario.  That makes it one of the 48 rivers in 16 different states that do that.  This happens because rivers flow downhill so they will flow towards the lowest elevation which can sometimes be north of the river's source or headwaters.  

The Appalachian Mountain range (the "Rocky Mountains of the East") extends from Alabama up to Canada and this part of New York State lies west of the range so the land in the Genesee Valley area slopes from there.  

Image courtesy of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Mount Morris Dam exhibit

On the trip I took my "camping project":  Emma Congdon's Stitchrovia "Open Your Heart To New Adventures".  I have been working on this one since 2023 and on our last trip for Memorial Day I had stitched half of a page of it (the fourth one I've worked on of this six page pattern) so had hoped to finish that page on this trip.

I did get the page done but only got to work on about half of that remaining half page during one campfire session and the drives up and back during the portions when I wasn't driving.  I finished the rest of the page once we were back home.

Now this project will be put away again until our next trip in late September.  My hope is to complete whatever is still unfinished after that during our annual Fall trip in October to visit my husband's mother in North Carolina.

With all that aside,  I was then ready to start back in on my "Christmas In July" stitching:  the Fat Quarter Shop's "Letters to Stanta"!  

I had expected to be "monogamous stitching" on it this month.  However,  I only had some filler stitching left to do to complete another June project.  So instead,  I worked on both in the hope of completing them both by the end of the month.  So there's more good news now because the "Craft Supplies Lies" project from June is also now done!

Although I have to say,  doing the filler stitching in that bottom box wasn't easy!  In a recent "Two Tall Stitchers" flosstube,  Carol and Jen's closing "Viewers Poll" question was:  "Do you love or hate stitching big blocks of the same color?".  In the past I would have said that while it can be a little boring, it is a necessary evil.  

However, for some reason (probably the "Are We There Yet?!? of it all),  this took so much longer and was harder to do than anticipated!  Not to mention, I kept getting off count on the Linen threads as I filled in the black stitches around the letters.  It got to a point where I only felt up to stitching on it for no more than 30 minutes at a time and often wanted to stop at fifteen!  It wasn't until I was down to the last word that it finally clicked in and I was able to get through it less painfully than the way it started!!  Now I'm glad that's over and I can go shop for a frame to finish this in.

As for the holiday project, after the last two months of stitching on Evenweave and Linen, the return to working primarily on Aida -- even if it is on a dark Charcoal fabric which usually has it's own challenges -- is a pleasant and faster-to-stitch reprieve!  So as of today,  I've finished another page of it and now only have one more left to do:

So that's it for me this week!  My quilting plans for "Christmas In July" have taken a bit of a back seat to cross stitch as the hubby has been home on vacation this past week and will be so this week as well.  With only a little less than two more weeks of the month to go,  I hope I can squeeze in some time for that either in between or once this last bit of cross stitch is completed!    

Now to go check in on what goodies others are working on this week at Kathy's Quilts for "Slow Sunday Stitching"!

Slow Sunday Stitching: The Last Week of Red, White & June

 As I say good-bye to "Red, White & June",  I'll check in one last time this month over at Kathy's Quilts for "Slow Sunday Stitching"!

Some Are Almost Finished

After a focus on them this past week, I'm thisclose to finishing the stitching on "Home of the Brave" and "Craft Supplies and Other Lies I Tell Myself".

I will admit that stitching on these two have been the most fun of all the stitching I've done over the last two months.  In each case, it was seeing the design revealed as I went along combined with the ease of stitching them out.  I also had less issues stitching on the fabrics as well as following the patterns for these than I did with the other two projects I worked on.  Well, with the exception of the error in positioning I did when starting "Craft Lies"!  Yeah, I still have some ripping to do from that, LOL!

I will continue to focus on these to get them done even as I've already pulled the project bag out for one of the projects I'll be resuming for "Christmas in July "!  I had hoped to have had them finished because plans for "fullfully finishing" them are already in place.  "Craft Lies" is to be framed so I'll be shopping for that as soon as it's done.  For "Home" the plan is a pillow finish and I will probably just follow how the designers at Primrose Cottage did it.  It's noted in the pattern that they used prints from Minick & Simpson's "Belle Isle" line and I actually have some of that so will consult my stash to see if I can do the same.

United We Stand is Still Not "Fully Finished"

Last time, I had talked about having a scrap of piping that I could use for the edging I want to put on this project.  Well, it still hasn't turned up so now I'll definitely have to make more.  

I will try to do so over the next two months since for me the "patriotic period" is from Memorial Day to Labor Day so Red, White and Blue quilts and cross stitch will remain up in my spaces!  I'd also really still like to see if I can then do the same edge technique on a pillow I also still need to finish so I'll see what happens with all of that going forward.

Stitching Still In (Long-term) Progress

This means I also end the month with "Right To Vote" and "NY Skyline" still in progress:

The threads I needed for "NY Skyline" arrived!

I may or may not continue stitching on these over the next month.  As I said eariler,  for July I plan to work on projects for "Christmas In July".  For that I already have two cross stitch projects that need to be completed:  one to be "fully finished" and one that the stitching needs to be completed.  If anything, "NY Skyline" will probably stay in the current stitching rotation since it's the easier of the two to stitch and is the one I want finished so I can use it in a prominent display spot that's open.  

It's been another fun "Red, White & June" season to focus on patriotic (and other) stitching!  Now head over to Kathy's Quilts to see what others have been "Slow Sunday Stitching" to finish up the month!

Slow Sunday Stitching: Two Weeks of Red, White & June Stitching

Things have been progressing nicely as this month's "Red, White & June" stitching has continued.  So  I am linking up again at Kathy's Quilts along with the rest of the "Slow Sunday Stitching" cohort.

Stitching Has Gone Well Since My Last Report

So much so that cross stitching has been about all I've been doing on the crafting front.  Of course that has not been good for my quilt projects, LOL!  The very slow, fumbly start I had made resuming two projects started back in 2023 for "Red, White & June" has eased a bit and over the past two weeks,  I finally got into the groove of working on them.  So "Home of the Brave" (a Primrose Cottage design) stitched on an Evenweave fabric has progressed as shown:

After this, I repositioned the hoop so I can continue by filling in the stars and words to be stitched next to "Home".  After that all I need to do is fill in the bottom with one more word and a big house and then the stitching on this will be finished! 

For my Linen stitching project "Right To Vote",  I managed to almost finish the word "Votes",  add one more of the backstitched words and started on the word "for" in yellow.

I should be able to finish that word and then will need to move the hoop to stitch the "S" for "Votes" and the other backstitched words on the first line.  

I had talked before about how hard it is to stitch on this soft Linen as I am more used to stitching on stiffer Evenweaves and Aida.  Next time I use a Linen, if it is as soft as this one, I will starch it first to make it easier for me to work with.  

May-nia Projects Also Continue

I also continued with my two May-nia projects which helps explain why I've been cross stitch obsessed!  Those two have bounded ahead and "Craft Supplies Lies" is now here:

I had to "frog" some of the false start I made originally so I could put in the last motif on the bottom right.  All that's left after that is the line of yellow text that will be surrounded by a big black box underneath all the previous stitching.  The line of stitches under the center are the start of the top of the box.  Fingers crossed that the sitching on this too could actually be finished by the end of the month!  

My "New York Skyline" project has also hit a milestone: 

I've completed one page of this five page pattern, woo hoo!!  That said, this means this one will take a few more months complete.  

I also just realized that I don't have enough floss for this!  For some reason I had only stocked two skeins and now I can't find the second one and I see that it took almost a whole skein for this one page (I am using Classic Colorworks "Black Coffee").   So needless to say,  an order for more floss has also been put in.  

Well at least, all of this focus on stitching has been encouraging as well as enjoyable!  What didn't go as well as planned on the cross stitch front was a finish!  

"United We Stand" Finish Stalled!  

My plans had also been to "fully finish" my little "United We Stand" piece into a pillow.  

To do so, I was going to finally get a chance to do this edge finish I've wanted to try for forever.

I had noted it at the end of this quilt post I did back in 2021 on "Special Edge Finishes".

The pattern by Primrose Cottage had not included finishing instructions for their pictured pillow finish.  So as best as I could tell, their piece had about a 3/8 to 1/2 inch of open space around the stitching.  The instructions for the "Piped Scallop" edge finish called for 1/2" seam allowance so I trimmed my piece to one inch beyond the stitching figuring I could take off the extra 1/8" if I thought the larger allowance didn't work. 

The edge finish also requires having rounded not square corners.  Ironically the pillow pictured on the pattern seemed to have that too which I would bet would also make adding the pom-pom trim they used easier too.  Not a problem, I've added curned edges before.  My usual tool for this is my Creative Grids "Curved Corner Cutter Ruler".  But the smallest curve there is 1-1/2" inchces and I felt that was too big.  I tried the bottom of a two different sized thread spools -- nope still too big.  The perfect size to my eye was a bobbin!

The edging also calls for making piping.  Now despite the fact that I have read (and added in blog posts!) the name of this finish a bazillion times (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration) until now, I had been focused on the scalloped edge and had completely overlooked the "piped" part, LOL!  So reading the instructions in full for the first time, I was only now realizing that this called for piping.  However, I totally lucked up on this front.  

I actually have a tool for making piping purchased all the way back in 2008.  Back then I had belonged to the Empire Quilters Guild here in NYC and the tool and quilt designer Susan Cleveland had done a presentation at one of the meetings.  As a result, I had been impressed enough with the quilts she brought for her trunk show that I purchased this tool.  I will admit though that I've only used it once:  back in 2010 when I made this doll quilt for an Aunt of mine:

I had applied blue piping around the edge of that quilt instead of a traditional binding because I wanted the blue fabric for the binding edge but felt a traditional binding would be too strong on it.  The blue piping was just enough.  Ironically, when I pulled out the piping tool package, inside of it was a remnant of that same piping!  The fabric I had used had faded quite a bit but fortunately for me it was still blue enough and the piece long enough to be perfect for use in this project.  That meant I didn't even have to make more piping!

Unfortunately, at one point I did try to work on some quilt projects and that further filled my already cluttered cutting table (which I was supposed to clean off in prep of layering a quilt).  When I finally tried to go back to working on the cross stitch finish, I couldn't find my scrap of piping!  I can't figure out where it has gotten to.  I expect I might have picked it up along with some other fabric I was working with.  I've turned over a lot of piles and looked through things that had visited the table but still can't locate it.  Sigh!  

I'm really hoping it turns up but if not,  fortunately I have more of the cording that came with the tool so I can make more piping.  It also tells me that I have too much going on right now so need to focus more on just a few things!

To check out what everyone has been doing with their slow stitching projects, head back over to Kathy's Quilts to see what others have reported for this week's "Slow Sunday Stitching" share session!  

Slow Sunday Stitching: Red, White & June Week 1

Well, one week into "Red, White & June" and there's been a lot of activity going on!  Linking up for "Slow Sunday Stitching" at Kathy's Quilts with a report on what happened this week.

One FFO Down!

With two projects needing to be "fully finished" as part of the stitch work this month, I was hoping to get an early start on either my "United We Stand" or "Patriotic Parade" pieces.  "Parade" won the draw!

It turned out to be the easier of the two to finish.  Despite the fact that it came in a kit with finishing supplies for a little pillow...

...when I had pulled it out last week, I realized that framing it might be a better way to go instead.  For the patriotic season (from Memorial Day to Labor Day)  I have these two quilts up on display right now:

They hang together today just like they did last year.

When I hung them last year, I realized I wanted a little something extra to go under the Lone Star wallhanging.  I had purchased a seasonal sign from Dollar Tree which was okay but that I didn't love.  When I pulled out "Patriotic Parade" this year, I realized that framing it might give me just what I needed to fill that space.  So the plan was hatched to go to a local home decorating store to see if there were any frames of interest.  If I didn't find anything there, I would check at Dollar Tree and see if they might have some decorative boards or canvas I could use to double mount the piece.   Well, I did find many frames at the decorating store that I liked and one in particular hit the mark for me (and unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before altering it).

I liked the overall color of the frame but wanted to add little RWB touch to it.  My thought while in the store was that I could paint the small strip of space between the center and the outer frame edge in Red.  Then I could use the Blue ribbon in the finishing kit to add a ruffled edge around the stitched piece that would line the inner edge of the frame.

However, when I got the frame home and tried inserting the piece into it, things took a slightly different turn.  In trying to test out how the piece would need to be centered in the frame,  I was able to just about squeeze it with all the excess fabric left around the stitching into the frame and get the back on --- tight!   It took a bit to get it all in (with no lacing!) and then was in so tight that I really didn't want to take it back out!!  

Okay, so I moved forward with painting the thin space with Red and also decided to rub on (and off) a little bit of white piant to both brighten and further distress the outer edge.  But now how to add some Blue?  I decided to tape off the edges and over the piece and then carefully paint around the inner edge of the center of the frame.  The effect of the Blue is subtle but it's there.  

Lastly the finishing kit had also come with a cute RWB star button which I hadn't remembered until after the piece was already in the frame.  Luckily I was still able to get it sewn on even with the piece still firmly wedged into the frame.  So now it's all done and up and I'm happy with it!  

So for next week I'll try to work on the finish of  "United We Stand".

Progress on Resumed Projects

I had said that I hoped that the stitching I had done on Linen and Evenweave projects during "May-nia" last month would help when I resumed stitching on the two RWB projects I had previously started in 2023.   Results were mixed on that front.  I moved both pieces a little bit forward but it still felt awkward to get back in the swing of working on them.  In both cases I managed to get another letter of each stitched.

I got the "R" added to "Home of the Free"....

,,, and the "O" is in on "The Right to Vote"

In the case of "Vote",  I'm finding this linen harder to work on mostly because it is a softer and looser weave than the Linen in the "Craft Lies" piece I worked on last month.  One thing I find when stitching on certain Evenweave and Linens is that I prefer to hoop those in order to pull the fabric taunt to make the weave easier to see.  This is in complete contrast to when I work with Aida -- with that I can stitch "in hand" comfortably because most of those fabrics are very stiff and the holes are clearly visible.

I'm hoping that as I continue to work on these,  I'll get more comfortable and the stitching will go a little smoother going forward.   

Continued Work on the "May-nia" Pojects   

Speaking of those "May-nia" projects,  I just couldn't give up working on them so continued to stitch on them for this month as well.  Here's the progress made on those:  

"Craft Lies" is now this far!

The "New York Skyline" is a little further along too!

I'm normally more of a monogamous stitcher so it may be a challenge to continue at this pace and keep all these cross stitch balls in the air!  

I hope you'll go back to Kathy's Quilts and see what other crafters had been whipping up during their "Slow Sunday Stitching" sessions this week!

Slow Sunday Stitching: The End of May-nia, the Start of Red, White & June Stitching

Well Hello to June!  And hello to all visiting from another week of hand stitched wonder over at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching!

With the start of this new month,  I have come to the end of my cross stitch "May-nia" period.  As usual not as much got done as hoped but I had a lot of fun stitching and have become more comfortable working with fabrics like Evenweave and Linen during this round.  That will be a big help with projects going forward.  

Progress:  One Fully Finished!

The good news is I got one project "fully finished"!

This is "Year of the Snake" by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery and I can now call it D-O-N-E!  And better than last year's  "Year of the Dragon" I can actually get to enjoy it while there is still half of the year left!  This is the third in this series that I have done, the first was 2023's "Year of the Rabbit".  

I had planned the finish for this to look like a gift but ran short of the scraps I had of the fabric I liked for the bands around the sides.  I wound up having to piece a square of another fabric into the center on the back to make the scraps stretch and then used a bias strip of that same fabric for the "bow".   

Dare I plan to do another for 2026?  If so, I'll go back to doing it as a "New Year's Stitch" and try to finish it earlier in the year .

A Little Bit Backwards To Go Forward

It took a restart to get my "Craft Supplies and Other Lies I Tell Myself" May-nia project going!  On the plus side, I have really enjoyed stitching this one more than expected given that it is stitched on Linen and I stitch more often on Aida.  

Since I've had a bunch of stuff sitting in my stitching chair that has the really bright lamp next to it,  the Linen has often been best worked on in bright daylight if I'm sitting on the couch and only able to use my lighted magnifier.  As such, early morning sessions of a half hour to an hour have been frequent during the past month.  

That said, I totally bungled this at first!  I got a whole section done only to realize I hadn't started at the center or at least far enough in to get to the edge of the piece with space to spare for additional motifs and framing allowance.

For some reason I started it here and then realized I was waaay too close to the edge....

...to have room for this next motif!

So I had to restart it.  By now though I was more comfortable with the stitching and got further faster on the second round.

Although I'm not ripping the initial stitching until I absolutely have to, LOL!!!

A Start on a Project, Just Not as Much as I Thought

"New York Skyline" was another long desired start for last month.

The pattern image.....

...and this is as far as I got.

I thought this one would go fast since I don't have to change thread colors.  However,  a lot of counting and direction changes added to continuing to get experience working on an Evenweave fabric meant it went slower than expected.   I am pleased with the progress and love seeing the design unfold so I'll probably keep stitching on this one in dribs and drabs until it's done.

Bonus stitching this month!

We went camping over the Memorial Day weekend with my husband's co-workers again.  My cross stitch project for the last few camping trips has been "Open Your Heart" so I took it with me again.  Before the trip I was here:

At this point I had three more pages of this pattern to stitch to complete the top half of the design.  Between the drive there and back, some stitching around the campfire when the weather held and in the tent when it was raining (which it did on and off unfortunately), I managed to get halfway through one page.

I still have the top of this page to complete.

The new part added is actually the first page of the pattern.  When I started this project back in 2023,  I had chosen to do so on the fifth page (bottom center).  That was because it had both a lot of "filler stitching" which was good for long car drives to campsites.  It also had the most color changes in the piece which at the time I started this was expected to be the biggest challenge and learning curve for me.  

I'm also happy with the progress made on this.  We have another camping trip booked for the July 4th weekend so I'll have another opportunity to pick this up again before the year is out.

Only One Left Behind

I had planned to work on one more thing during this May-nia period but never got to it:   

Oh well.   Maybe I can pick it up for Sheri's (Colorado Cross Stitcher) "Cross Stitch Summer Camp" this year.  If so, this could be my "August - Try Something New" project which would be adapting a pattern for self framing.

Moving On To June  

Now that it's June, I'll once again be stitching with the Fat Quarter Shop during their "Red, White and June SAL".

As always, they have compiled a section of patterns and supplies perfect for the SAL on their webite.  For my projects,  I'll be returning to the patriotic projects I started for 2023's SAL (I missed out on doing it in 2024):

• "Fully Finish" Primrose Cottage's "United We Stand":

This will be a simple pillow finish and I have the backing finishing supplies.  What I don't have is Pom-pom trim but I've long wanted to try the special edge finish pictured here for a quilt so this little project maybe the perfect time to test it out.

• Finish Stitching Primrose Cottage's "Home of the Free"

• Finish Stitching Mani Di Donna's "Right To Vote"

Admittedly, both of the last two should be helped by the progress made on the May-nia stitching.  Working  on "Lies" which is on Linen  just like "Vote" and "Home" which is on Evenweave like "Skyline" as well as a previous "Fudge It" finish  got me way more comfortable working on both types of fabric.  So I am hoping the work on both of these UFOs will go much faster this time around.  Who knows, maybe there'll be more finishes to show at the end of this month!

Another Bonus Project

I had stitched "Patriotic Parade" in 2024 for the Colorado Cross Stitcher's August challenge.  For me, the "Try Something New" prompt was "try cross stitching with wool thread".  

I finished stitching this one up in October that year but I still need to "fully finish" it.  I had purchased this project as a kit which came with the fabric, floss and finishing supplies.  Since it too is a Patriotic-themed piece, it fits right in with "RW&J" so I'm hoping to work on completing it this month right along with finishing "United We Stand".  Looks like it'll be a another busy crafting month and that's just for the cross stitch portion of it!  

What have you got planned for hand stitching in June?  I'm sure if you need inspiration, checking out all the others that are posting over at Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching link-up will give you lots of ideas to pursue!