The Cup of Fortunes: Week 38 (September 14-20)

I really like this week's fortune. It's derived from the Chinese proverb "The star of riches is shining upon you," which defines riches in a very broad way. Riches, in this sense, could mean knowledge or wisdom, friendship, family, or a general sense of well-being. Since June, I've been writing down at least one thing every day that brings me joy, so in that sense, the star of riches has been shining on me. Let's see what the month of October brings.

Here's this week's fortune and lucky numbers.

September 14

September 15

September 16

September 17

September 18

September 19

September 20

Weeks 1-38

WPAs, the House Purse, and Other Small Joys

I started practicing some needlepoint stitches for my next project. Needlepoint is another type of needlework that uses open weave canvas (or plastic canvas) and counted stitches. I'm going to be using it for one of my Woodlawn 2026 entries, so I wanted to start practicing before I started the actual piece. It's definitely a different vibe, but I'm excited to keep practicing. Once I clean my house today, I'm going to spend some time making a stitch card and getting ready to start my new piece.

I'm making a house purse. When I started thinking about my Woodlawn submissions together, I decided I wanted a showpiece, and then the woman behind Feral Notions posted a picture of a house purse on her Instagram. My brain immediately said, "we're doing it." And here we are. Feral Notions created a pattern and is hosting a stitch along (SAL) that started this week. My practice later today is going to be going through the first videos and getting started on the front panel of the house. It's going to be awesome. I'll be sharing my house purse progress as I work on it throughout the rest of this year. My goal is to have the purse done by November, and then work on my third Woodlawn piece. I'm submitting three pieces this year: the house purse, the Kraken (I really want to be in the sea themed room this year), and a yet to be determined abstract piece. The Kraken is already done, so I think this timeline is totally achievable.

If you've been meaning to come to the museum and go on a highlights tour with me as your docent, you have one more opportunity to do so this month. I'm taking a leave of absence from the museum starting October 1. My last highlights tour will be next Sunday, September 28 at 2 pm. I'm not sure when I'll be back at the museum, so this may be your last chance ever. This wasn't an easy decision to make, but I've been feeling it for a little while, and my health issues from last month aren't helping. Anyway, I hope a little break will give me some time to get my strength back up and to get re-energized for the museum. We'll see.

I hope you're finding small joys where you can. Last Sunday I made dinosaur shaped waffles and it helped tremendously. I have some in the freezer now and am planning to try them with dinosaur chicken nuggets at some point in the near future.

Finally, I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work since she doesn't have thumbs and to my knowledge, doesn't know how to embroider, but it seems like Bea is going to be stitching the next few fortunes. Her evening routine includes a brief nap in the studio and she seems to prefer my chair, so I think it means she's taking over this year's project. I'm sure it's going to be great. She's picked up a lot of things very quickly since moving in: jumping from the back of the arm chair to the dining table and being smug about it, coming to get me for meals, being nice to our family (my brother and parents met her last weekend), throwing toys in the air and catching them. I'm sure embroidery will be a breeze for her. Bea is very smart.