HAED and more

The past week has been HAED appreciation week. I meant to post sooner, but things just came up. The back story is that HAED has had a lot of problems lately with copyright infringement and a downturn in sales. Most of you already know I absolutely love HAED and support them whenever I can. I haven't bought any new charts lately, mostly because I want to finish what I have and start buying again once I have a few done. Also, I'm very budget-conscious and feel like I'm wasting money I could be spending on groceries when I buy charts I might never get to. BUT I still believe in supporting the industry.

It's not just HAED, of course. All cross stitch designers are facing hurt sales due to copyright infringement and illegal distribution of their charts. And the artists suffer, too. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, if there's a chart you've been coveting - buy it directly from the designer. Whether it's HAED, Chatelaine, Golden Kite, Gecko Rouge, anyone. If you do decide to take the chart plunge - buy it direct.

I personally plan on not taking advantage of the HAED reward program. I did at one point, but not anymore. I know, I know, free charts. But knowing what I know now, I would rather spend that $15 on a new chart after I've finished one than get my charts free. But that's just me!

Also, I know that everyone reading this blog already knows all this. But this is just my little attempt to make someone who is just passing through aware of copyright infringement, in case they don't already know.

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It's been an interesting couple of weeks. Handsome Helpful Boyfriend has been gone for a while now, working. I've been working and studying. Basically, when I'm not at work, I'm doing my reading or writing a paper. I passed up a promotion at work so that I could focus on my school. Dumb? Probably. But also necessary.

The weather out here has turned on a dime. It was in the 100s about 3 days ago. Now it's in the low 60s. Kind of a shock to the system, but I guess autumn is coming. Personally, I like it. It's overcast and dreary and rain is coming down intermittently. Absolutely glorious. I think I would do well in Seattle.

Stitching-wise not much has happened on that front. But I'm determined! I'm about 3 hours in on my current rotation and I've been working on Mario. I plan to stitch more tonight since I'm off work and I have all day to study, so the evening should be nice and free to work on my favorite little Italian plumber. With IHSW this weekend I fully intend to have something to show you guys in just a few days. I'm excited since I've made a tremendous amount of progress in just those 3 hours. There probably won't be a page finish - but I might come close!

So, with that, I go back to studying. I hope you all are having a wonderful week. Happy Friday, everyone and with that, Happy Stitching as well!