I'm so excited to see this thread! I thought I was the only kind of young plastic canvas enthusiast left!

I've given up on plastic canvas books. I looks for old needlepoint books and draw inspiration from that. Right now I'm working on some art deco inspired boxes and vases for our living room.

NoRmally a satin stitch goes 13
                                          24

A modified satin stitch goes 14
                                         23

only the front of the material is satin stitched, instead of the front and the back in a normal satin stitch. The modified gives a different depth.

When I attempted to embroider most of a car in satin stitch it was helpful to do things like windows in modified satin stitch. The difference in height really helped bring out details.

I think I'd use a split stich.

I find winding floss onto the bobbins to be incredibly relaxing. I also find it helpful that when I start a project I put all the bobbins I'll need for the project in a ziploc bag. That way I'm not constantly messing around with my bobbin box, and sometimes it even works to make me realize I won't have enough of a certain color before I get to the point I run OUT of a certain color.