Cross stitching…what more is there to life?? LOL In my life, cross stitch IS my life..I breathe, eat, sleep cross stitch and if you don’t know me to know how true this is, you soon will! lol
I will apologize in advance for such a lengthy post on who we are, but Brian and I both enjoy writing and have so much to say. We tried to keep it interesting and entertaining so keep reading to learn about the dynamic due behind Luv 4 Cross Stitch!
Luv 4 Cross Stitch is a business that came about as a result of two people being brought together by their passions and hobbies, Brian Jackins and Fae Kuhn. Brian is a very talented artist and designer, Fae is a cross stitcher with a passion for cross stitch. Together, they formed this partnership to create beautiful cross stitch designs to be stitched into beautiful works of art by others that share the passion for cross stitching.
If you haven’t yet, please be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to be notified of exciting news, special events, promotions, giveaways as well as the release of new patterns.
A group on Facebook was created to bring together cross stitchers to share ideas and provide feedback as Brian creates new designs. We are also a retail business where patterns from other designers and other cross stitch supplies can be purchased. Please click the button below to join our group and be part of the process of creating and providing the cross stitch community with new and exciting designs!
A bIT ABOUT bRIAN AND fAE
Who is Fae Kuhn?
I am married with 3 sons and currently live in Pennsylvania. Two of my sons are grown and currently serving in the Navy and Marines. My youngest son is still in grade school. I am also a veteran of the Navy. Supporting our military is another passion I feel very strongly about and periodically participate and organize events to show my support.
I first began to cross stitch at the age of 14, taught by my mother. At that time it wasn’t near the passion it is now, more just something to do to pass the time. In my 20’s, I did a few big pieces as Christmas gifts (thinking they would inexpensive gifts..until I got them framed! LOL) However, once I started having children, I had to more or less put the hobby aside to tend to the raising of my children.
Once my children were older, I began to cross stitch again and a few years ago discovered cross stitch groups on Facebook. It opened up a whole new world and I began to learn things about cross stitching I wish I had known years ago!
Then by pure chance, I became an admin of a large Facebook group called Cross Stitch Club Originals. This group soon became like an extended family to me and made my passion for cross stitch even stronger.
Soon after becoming an admin of Cross Stitch Club, I got the idea to begin hosting retreats to bring members of this group together for an opportunity to share our passion together and meet other members they have connected with online through Cross Stitch Club.
Cross Stitch Retreats hosted by Fae
I came home one day and said to my husband, “You may think I’m crazy, but I am thinking about trying to organize a big cross stitch retreat.” He looked and me and said, “Yep, you are nuts!” LOL But after tossing the idea into Cross Stitch Club, it was met with such excitement, I decided I had to do it!
The first retreat was in 2015 and there has been one every year since. The planning of the 2015 retreat began in 2014 and as we planned it, members in the UK expressed a bit of jealousy and said, “So when are you going to come here and do one for us?” I always wanted to visit England (was not a country I had the opportunity to see in my Navy adventures because it is, of course, landlocked! LOL).
So the seed was planted in my thoughts and it soon became a reality as I decided, why not? I, of course, needed time to save so we set the date for the UK retreat to be our 2017 retreat. It was very challenging to plan this from halfway across the world, but with the help of the UK member in my group, we pulled it off and it was a great success and fun had by everyone (I took my 18-year-old son with me, my marine, and we even had him stitching with us during the retreat! lol)
I hope to be able to plan another retreat across the pond very soon! It was a wonderful vacation for me and my son as we spent 2 lovely weeks in the United Kingdom and many great lifelong friendships were made!
The next retreat is coming up soon this September in Harrisburg, PA and there are still a few spots left to come join us! The Cross Stitch Club 2019 retreat is being held in Nashville, TN in August 2019. Nothing is planned yet beyond that, but it will be soon. I am contemplating to have the 2020 retreat near San Diego, CA so I can visit my Marine son at the same time! 🙂
More information, including information about the fun we have had at previous retreats, can be found under the “Cross Stitch Retreats” menu tab of this site. Hope to see you at one soon!
Other Facets to Fae Kuhn
Cross stitch is such a huge part of my life (yes, you could even say it’s my obsession..lol) that I could just go on…and on…and on…lol. But I am not trying to write a book (yet….lol..it could be a future endeavor if I find the right topic as I do love to write! lol). I just want to share one more thing and that my love of another hobby..which ties into my love for cross stitch.
I am not going to go into the story of how I got started doing it (although I think a future blog soon is in order to tell that story), but I also make custom tote bags, project bags, q snap, hoop and scroll rod grime guards as well as a few other items every stitcher should have!
I have quite a loyal customer base that keeps coming back to me to get their “fix” because I tempt them with the coolest and cutest new fabrics and they just can’t get enough! lol
I am in the process of getting my website, Fae’s Crafty Creations, operational to be able to place custom orders through the website, but it is a long process because I do have SOOOOO much fabric to upload to the site and to each product. So for now, the best way to see the items I can do and to place an order from me is to visit my Facebook group, Fae’s Crafty Creations. Here is just a quick example of some of the items I have made for customers:
I am all about customization and if I don’t have a fabric you want, I will get it (or at least make every attempt possible)! First-time customers automatically get a 10% off their first order and repeat customers will be able to earn rewards to get free items once my website is complete. They are very high quality and very reasonably priced so please check it out!
Ok, enough about me as I am only one half of this business. The other owner is a very talented artist and cross stitch designer named Brian Jackins. I just love Brian and I could not have found a better partner! How we met was, as someone else said to me when I told that story, pure serendipity and he will tell you a bit more in his story how that came about!
Who is Brian Jackins?
Brian Jackins: The Artist, The Man, The Recluse
The Artist
Until Fae discovered me I was just this sort of schleppy, aging artist type, tucked away at some cubicle or drawing board, making pictures. But NOW, I’m a schleppy artist making CROSS STITCH pictures and that makes all the difference in the world!
Most artists can say “I’m a watercolorist” or “I paint in oils” or “I sculpt in recycled toothpaste tubes,” but I haven’t really specialized. A little of this, a little of that . . . I did simple illustrations in most of my jobs. Someday I’ll post some of my portfolio pieces and some stories; that’ll be more interesting than sharing it here in words.
In the early 90’s I was hired by Dimensions in Reading, PA to develop cross stitch charts. (Obviously those great artists whose names are on the kits don’t turn their painting into a cross stitch themselves; Dimensions purchases the rights and staff artists “chart” the image to make it stitchable.)
I loved this craft and was hooked! (Insider trivia: when I started in ’93, all of our chart development was done on tiny graph paper with colored pencils! Soon they introduced us to this new thing called Photoshop. I hated the thought of giving up my pencils! But I gave in upon realizing that a color revision took one click instead of an hour erasing little graph squares!)
Fast-forward; recently I’ve only been freelance part time with Dimensions, wishing I could do more, but thinking cross stitch was just disappearing. Then Fae advertised on craigslist for a cross stitch artist and I was like, “Be still my beating heart! Do my aged eyes deceive me??” Well!
I sent her some images and we started talking. She clued me in to the fact that cross stitching is alive and well(!), but more stitchers find patterns online now than in stores. We worked on a couple of small projects together and she described PCStitch to me. I didn’t know it at all. We hit it off!
Sidebar: Apart from a few years in France, I’m totally a native of the northeast US so when I think of the seasons and the months, the very typical Americana styles are what come to mind as themes: winter means snow, fall means colored leaves, and so on. Fae and I do realize that in different regions, not to mention different countries, different things come to mind as you celebrate times of the year (like, I have no clue what October looks like in Puerto Rico. Does it look just like April?). Feel free to always comment and explain to us what elements are common to your area. Maybe others will agree and it’ll be enough to include in a future design!
The Man
I’m a child of the 70’s, so I learned art the old school way, never even dreaming I’d be using a computer to create images.
I grew up in southern Maine (but I don’t have the accent : ) but now live in PA, only 25 minutes from Fae! I’m married to Ruth, who has a bachelor’s in social work. She’s currently a part-time nanny for 2-year-old identical twin girls. We have four terrific kids in their twenties who were homeschooled (hands down the best adventure of our lives).
Our two middle kids are twins, boy and girl, (so Ruth had experience with two the same age). They have an older sister and a younger brother, so two boys, two girls. Symmetrical, which is good for a butterfly cross stitch designer lol!
Oh! Fae said to mention hobbies. Hmm, reading (crime and murder mysteries!), cooking, writing, and my most recent huge project was/is that we downsized from a huge old rented farmhouse to a mobile home. Three years later I’m still purging stuff and figuring out some of our space!
The Recluse
I think I’m more of a dinosaur (old-fashioned) than a recluse. I’m certainly an introvert. When I first heard about Facebook, it felt overwhelming to think of keeping up with so many people. It still does! I’m just very different; I already feel like my near and dear aren’t getting the time and attention they deserve.
So I’m just not really on social media! Yikes! My main tool is still my laptop and I like email. I don’t have a single app on my phone! I use it to call or text people, I don’t use GPS although I sometimes appreciate the ‘map/locate me’ feature.
When I hear ‘recluse,’ I picture the craggy old man who yells at neighbor children for running across his lawn. And they’re sure his old mansion is haunted. I’m not at that point, I’m just kind of eccentric. Though I’d move into an old mansion in a heartbeat if I could afford to heat it!
Fae and I will really appreciate your feedback on our work and ideas for future projects! I just regret that with my work schedule I can only devote part time hours to designing. Gotta retire, yeah . . .
I really like your site
Thanks Michael!
Awesome site. I love it. Thank you for all you do for us.
Pat,
Thanks! Glad you like it! And I love all that I do and will do it til the day I die! 🙂
any more comments?
Hello darling- thank you for this!
It’s my pleasure! Thanks for being here!
Happy to see this and to subscribe.
Karen,
Glad you like it and happy to see you here! 🙂
Enter the spudmeister. Here too join the group
Hey Spud…happy to see you here! 🙂
This is awesome!! Love it!
Thanks Janine! How did you find it?? lol I have only told a few people about it so far. I wanted to get a bit more content on it before I officially launch it 🙂 So I am curious now how you found it…do share! 🙂 But I am glad you did! Please make sure you subscribe to get my newsletters that I will be doing in the near future…they will be full of fun and interesting stuff!
Fae
great idea, this website!!
Thanks Nancy…glad you like it!
Fae
Such an excellent website Fae. Well done.
Thanks! It’s a work in progress, but I am getting there!
Fae
Oh, so excited to see more!!! I love what I see so far and know you’ll do a great job!!!
Thanks Kathleen! I have a lot of ideas of where I want to go with this and constantly thinking of more..lol. Any suggestions of anything you would like to see on here, I’m all ears and welcome any new ideas!
Thanks for this fae looking forward this
Thanks Maria! Definitely have a lot of ideas..thanks for joining! 🙂
Hi Fae ? Looking forward to enjoying your site! I’m hoping one day to be able to attend one of your CrossStitch Retreats!
Thank Lyn! I hope you can too! My plans are to have the 2019 one in Nashville, TN…start saving! 🙂
Great job on the site Fae. Can’t wait to see what you have in store next.
Thanks June! It’s a work in progress but I think with great potential! Let me know if you have any good ideas that you would like to see in here 🙂
A great idea cant wait to see whats next
Pam,
Thanks!! You know me, always have something new rattling around in my head! lol 🙂
Well done Fae, your so clever, I can see this site just growing and growing xx
Marie,
Thanks! That is my hopes! 🙂
Hiya Fae , great to be here 🙂 xxx
Marie,
Hey! Thanks for visiting and glad you are here!! 🙂
Awesome idea!
Tess,
Thanks! Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for lots of fun stuff! 🙂
Hi Fae I am looking forward to hearing from you as I love everything you do
Joyce,
Hiya! Thanks for visiting! You all inspire me so much in what I do and I love doing it! 🙂
A new adventure and we are going on that trip with you looks great
Marie,
Yup! Lots of new adventures coming our way and I am glad to have you all with me! 🙂
Looking forward to this site. Looks great.
Jeanne,
Thank you! 🙂 I am looking forward to having lots of fun with this and bringing much motivation and inspiration in this fine art (hobby, obsession, addiction…whatever you want to call it! LOL)
Great looking site Fae. Excited to see what you have in store for us.
Candy,
Thanks! There is much in store and hope you stick around! 🙂
I can’t wait to see all your new great ideas!
Claudia,
Thanks for being here! You know me, always thinking of something new and exciting to liven things up! 🙂
Oh, Fae, what a great idea! The site is fabulous!
Cynthia,
Thanks! 🙂 It is the wonderful stitchers I have in my life that have inspired me and I just want to keep inspiring and motivating others to share our wonderful art with the rest of the world! 🙂
Great job Fae?
Teresa,
Thanks! 🙂
Love this idea?
Joann,
Glad to hear it! 🙂 I have put a lot of time and thought into this and I am looking forward to seeing it grow..and grow..and GROW 🙂 And with the help of all of you wonderful people, I think we can make that happen together! 🙂
Hi Fae,
look forward to seeing all the fabulous things we can get involved in?
Denise,
The possibilities are endless! 🙂 I was sleeping pretty good at night …until I came up with the idea to launch this…now I can’t shut the thoughts up at night! I swear I need to keep a little diary by my bed to write down all the stuff I can’t stop thinking about! lol
Great way to keep in touch!
Sue,
I agree! 🙂 I think there is so much I (we) can do with this!
Excellent site … looking forward to watching it grow!
Melody,
Thanks! I have lot of ideas that I think will make it grow and it all comes down to having the best cross stitchers in the world in my corner to help make it happen! 🙂
Fae,
You are a true inspiration. Thank you for all you do. My oldest son is serving in the United States Air Force.
I love your new site.
Your Facebook and Cross Stitch friend,
Jeanette Thomas
Jeanette,
Thank you! And please tell your son I said thank you for his service! That is my next endeavor…I want to start a site that is related to what I do as a job…and that is to help veterans. My main focus being on trying to connect with veterans as they get out of the service and trying to transition into the civilian world. There is not enough help given to them there. I saw a picture the other day on a veteran website I belong to that said “We train them how to go to war, but we don’t train them how to come home.” That is the absolute truth and I hate it! Ok..off that soap box..for now..lol. But thank you for your support in this latest endeavor of mine and I look forward to bringing everyone lots of good stuff! 🙂
Fae, I think the website looks great. I think this is a great idea. Excited for you and for us.
Connie,
Thanks! I am really excited about the possibilities of all I can do with this site and so happy to have all of you behind me and along for the ride! 🙂
Website looks great. Great idea.
Thanks Angela! Glad you like it! 🙂
Love it, especially the retreat info. so a friend who doesn’t do Facebook can read all about it for herself!
Elisa,
Thanks! 🙂 Glad you like it and hope to do lots of great things with it!
Fantastic website!!!!
Thanks Judy! 🙂
awesome Fae
Thanks Lori!!
Hi Fae! I love it, great idea, and I especially love the name! Excited to see more!
Sandy,
Thanks! Glad you like it! It took me a bit of time to come up with a good name, but I think I did good and excited to see where this can go!
Fae,
Your website is awesome, it will be great for those who aren’t on facebook , they can keep up to date with everything that is going on. Can’t wait to see more!
Raelene,
Thanks! Glad you like it! 🙂 Yes, I think with all the contact I have made on Facebook, that can help me get it out more to those that aren’t on Facebook. Please share it as much as you can with everyone you know that would be interested 🙂
Cool. You are a wonderful person for everything. Keep it up.
Thanks Birgit! I’m trying! Always up for finding cool, innovative and entertaining things to keep things fun and interesting! 🙂
!looking good so far
Thanks Wendy! 🙂
Great job. Can’t wait to see more awesome stuff.
Cora,
Thanks! I am working on it. If you have any ideas on something you would like to see to make it more fun and interesting, PLEASE let me know either by email or you can PM me on Facebook 🙂
Super excited to be part of this?group, especially with the higher probability that I get to make the next retreat!!
Cyndi,
So glad to have you here and so excited to hopefully finally meet you at the next Retreat!
Super excited to be part of this group!! Especially with the increased probability of getting to attend the next retreat!!! Yay!!!
Great web site Fae! Thank you for keeping me in the loop! Happy New Year!
Elizabeth,
Thanks! If you have any suggestions or any ideas on something to make it more fun or something you would like to see, please let me know! Happy New Year to you too! 🙂
Finally got a few minutes to join. So excited for you!
Kay,
Thanks for joining! And hopefully I will have all the kinks worked out soon with the Newsletters! lol 🙂
Hi Fae. Love the photo of you and the Marine x. Great site xx
Thanks Nickie!! Yes, he is quite handsome, isn’t he? LOL Glad you like the site! It’s a work in progress and hope to do many great things with it! If you ever have any ideas on something I can do with it or that you would like to see on it, PLEASE let me know! 🙂
I’m so excited to see Fae start this website to let others get to see what an awesome craft cross stitch is. It’s more that a hobby it can become much more, and the ability to meet some awesome people. thanks again Fae Kuhn. Whatever, help you need just say the word.
Thanks Sharon! I am excited too and will have some more good stuff soon!
Love it!
Thanks Stephanie! 🙂
Great website Fae. I look forward to following you on this site. I think cross stitch is a wonderful addiction.
Thanks Tara! I will have some more good stuff soon! 🙂
Great site Fae. Just one question, will you be posting to Europe and if so have you any idea of how much postage may be and will we have to pay tax on the items? I know that if HAED designs post it can be quite expensive tax wise here in Europe.
Jennifer,
Yes, I can post to Europe and because my stuff is not very heavy, I can do it pretty reasonably priced. I will send you a message regarding the question about tax.
This is awesome well done. Loved the feature story xx
Thanks Anne! I have more stories in the works. Some are feature stories on different designers and vendors I have had the pleasure of running across or meeting in person at the retreats I host.
Some will be on members of the Cross Stitch Club group too. I love to write so this is fun to write and entertain with the writing. It’s a lot of work, but it’s so worth it! 🙂
You might want to add a “home” option to the right and left side menus. I was at the bottom of the page and had to scroll all the way to the top to go home.i think this would make it easier to navigate.
Thanks Sonia! I will work on that!
Awesome
Thanks Cindy!
I’m so glad to be part of this. I love cross stitch and have seen so much beautiful work. I’ve learned some tricks of the trade that have been helpful as I keep learning. Thank you so much Fae.
Marcella,
Thank you! I hope to be able to provide you with more tricks of the trade as time goes on. 🙂
Fae….this is looking awesome! I signed up for the newsletter. So excited!
Thanks Lynn! It’s coming together slowly but surely! 🙂
Love the new site! Great info on upcoming retreats! Thanks for all your hard work.
Jillian,
Thanks! Glad you like it. I am still working on getting all the retreats put onto the calendar. But it is nice to be able to take a look at a calendar and see at a quick glance what is happening when 🙂 Stay tuned and visit often for more great stuff! And if you have any other ideas of something I can incorporate here, please let me know! 🙂
What a lovely site! Congratulations Fae, time for me to start shopping. ?
Looking forward to the 2018 & 2019 retreats.
Jennifer,
Thanks! Look forward to doing business with you! 🙂 And looking forward to seeing you at the retreats!
Looking forward to the newsletter!
Great site
Your website is well organized and easy to navigate. I enjoyed reading about “Stitching for a Cause”. Love this relaxing hobby!
Kathy,
Thank you! I am glad you like it! It can be so much more than just a hobby..at least for me it is 🙂 Cross stitch is my life! lol