A Bumble Bee Biscornu

Tomorrow night, at our weekly gathering with friends, I shall drink a toast to my first repeat customer. Repeat customers, as I found out in the past two days, not only give us pride and satisfaction, but can also spark our creativity. What starts as a simple transaction, ends as something much more.
In my case, a satisfied customer came back and asked for a biscornu with bumble bees - or dragonflies. Now, my first reaction was to start digging through a stash of patterns - for sure I could find something - but then, I thought: why not make my own chart? And so I did.
Here is the result.

Bumble Bee Biscornu
Materials: 16 Ct white Aida, DMC floss, buttons
Finished size: 2.5 in x 2.5 in

The border was "borrowed" from the Ladybug pattern, as I wanted it to be in the same style. But the bumble bees are all mine. As I was working on them, I had a children's song going through my head:

I'm catching up my baby bumble bee

Won't my mommy be so proud of me!

I'm squishing up my baby bumble bee,

Won't my mommy be so proud of me!

My daughter used to sing it when she was three. At the end, if I remember correctly, the bumble bee flies away. I was humming the song while stitching the stripes and the wings. I was thinking of how a five-year-old would see a bumble bee. In the end, I had a terrific mini-biscornu and a pattern. The biscornu went to the wonderful client.

The pattern I want to share with you. 

Over the past couple of years, I have used numerous patterns offered for free on stitching blogs. I figured it was my time to give back and contribute to the list of "free pattern" blogs.
I tried my best to make sure it is accessible, but please let me know if there are any problems with download... and let me know what you think!
Enjoy! 

This Is Your Captain Speaking...

 Three days ago I was made a captain of an Etsy team. For those who do not know - Etsy is a web site where one can promote and sell handmade things. I joined this team some time ago, and then found out, quite by chance, that for the past 11 months it did not have an active captain! So, I alerted Etsy Admin, who in turn asked me, "Do you want to be the captain? " I said, "Sure!" And that is how I became the captain.

So much for the easy part. Now comes the part of turning it from "free-for-all," "speakeasy" place into something functional. My main goal is not to "shut down" the practices that were going on here before me, but simply to organize things so they become more effective... For example, right now if I wanted to post a link to my new item in the shop, I would have about 50-100 threads to choose from to post in, some just started, some older. I want to make one general place for new postings... That way, hopefully, more people will see them. That is just one example of what I am trying to do.
I know I started a big task and I am up to my ears in (insert appropriate word here). But, it will be fun! If nothing else, it's definitely a learning experience.
Wish me luck!