Christmas Tree Happy Dance

Just a quick post from me (yikes - two posts in as many days, it's a miracle!) to show my Christmas Tree HD that I finished putting the buttons on last night..

And so that you don't have to squint too much to see the "Christmas" letters. Aren't I thoughtful? ;-P


This was by M Designs stitched with all the suggested materials: Rainbow Gallery Nordic Gold (Silver!) metallics on gorgeous Phoenix Picture This Plus linen and the special button pack (yes Heather, I did use those in the end... {g}).

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments on the framing in my last post. :)

Paula -I'd love to know if you ever make it to the Glasgow branch of The Framing Workshop. I've only ever used the one in Dumbarton, and it'd be nice to know if the other branches are just as good.

Blogrolling seems to be working again now, but thanks for the tips! I've made a note of Bloglines and Google Reader and will look into those if this happens again. :)

Some Framing Happy Dances...

I know I've been an awful blogger lately. I've had so much going on and not many photos to share of stitching. I picked up a couple of pieces from my wonderful framer on Friday, though.

So let me present, Halloween Fairy (in plenty of time for Halloween!)

And Petal Fairy:


I'm giving Petal Fairy to my mum, as a thank you for all her help over the summer months with my business. I don't know what I'd have done without her!

A note on the framing: I was charged a total of £30 for *both* frames. That's the cheapest yet! I was actually quoted £14 for HF and £23 for PF... and he ended up taking £7 off that when I went to pick them up. Do I have the best framer in the world or what?

I hope to have a bit more Internet time this week... so that I can catch up with my blog reading for one thing. Though what is UP with blogger?! I can't see who's updated their blogs recently or anything.

Christmas Tree WIP

I had little time to stitch last week. I always try to stitch for at least half an hour every evening to unwind if I can... I think that's the most that I managed, so I don't have many photos to share, sorry. :-(

Will one of Snoopy trying to escape from the house and then throwing a tantrum when he realised he couldn't get out do?

Otherwise, I did do a bit on Christmas Tree (by M Designs). This is very fast to stitch, as there isn't really a lot of stitching to do. I love the fabric (Picture This Plus Phoenix Cashel), though I can't say I'm completely crazy about stitching with the Rainbow Gallery Nordic Gold!! It's OK though, not as bad as I thought it was going to be. :)

This is my progress from last week:


Currently known as "....stmas"


So, other than that, I've been busy with work (I can't believe the amount of tourists still around in October - mostly Aussies!) and other stuff. My oldest (and one of my dearest) friends, Michelle, popped in last week to tell me some good news: she's expecting her second baby next year! A wee brother or sister for Thomas. :-) She's due around the same time as my cousin, so I'll have to start thinking of something to stitch for them both.

Last of the Happy Dances for September!

Has it been a week since I last blogged?! I'm only just noticing. Ah well... I do have a few Happy Dances to share that I finished during the week. Not that they took long to complete. It seems I'm much more into smaller projects lately so that I can have my happy dances sooner! ;)

First though, thank you for all your *wonderful* suggestions regarding a wedding project for Aldo & Federica. I knew I was doing the right thing asking you lovely people. :)

Some notes about that....

I'd completely forgotten about the Teresa Wentzler wedding sampler. It's STUNNING, but it's too big a project for me to tackle in 7-9 months (I need time to get it framed too). I think I'd cope with just about everything, but not that border! Oh my! I get into a cold sweat just thinking about it! LOL I'd love to do it one day, but not for this... too much pressure.

I'm also going to stay away from anything with TOO many words, as their first language is not English (though they undertstand it much more than they let on!) Some of the Victoria Sampler pieces are gorgeous and would be perfect, but I haven't tackled hardanger yet either, so I don't think I should learn with this one. :) And I'm not confident enough with my finishing skills to do a pillow or anything like that yet (I wish I was!)

I was drooling over some of the French & Italian designs suggested (I love Renato Parolin - thanks Elena! I have a few of those designs in my stash already and I also love GPA); the Passione Ricamo and Long Dog designs are beautiful too.

Christine: I've been following your progress on the PC design, it's absolutely stunning, and I love the colours you chose. :) I would love to do this one day, but I think it would be too much hard work for Aldo to read and it'd lose it's charm which are the beautiful words as well as the design.

I'm thinking it's going to either be one of the Sweetheart Tree designs that were mentioned (Katrina's is just beautiful as a few people have mentioned!) or the M Designs letters with the heart in the middle of their Initials. I remember that I saw someones finish of this maybe a year or two ago and it looked wonderful: it was the couples initials with the heart in the middle and their names and wedding date at the bottom, and of course there's also the Celtic connection that's a bonus. Absolutely perfect! If I choose to do the latter I'll have to have a think about thread and fabric colours... Hmmmm...

I'm also going to buy the Trilogy's Wedding Spots (thanks Nicki), as I know I'll use that for someone at some point, it's lovely!

Honestly though, thank you EVERYONE for your suggestions, I'm keeping a note of all of these designs, as I know they'll come handy in the future!

My cousin (one of those in Scotland this time!) just announced she's expecting her #2 baby next year, so that's another project for me to think about now too!

......

Now for some recent finishes. The first is A Stitch In Pine (by Hillside Samplings):


Stitched on 30-Count R&R Light Espresso linen, with the suggested threads. Aaargh, isn't it awful after you've stitched something and taken a photo that all the imperfections come out and you're making a list of what you have to fix on it!!

I haven't actually stitched on the button yet, it's just sitting there. :) I have a feeling that this button is actually no longer available to buy. Hillside Samplings put out a free chart when this happened a few years back of a substitute tree you can stitch in it's place (there's also a substitute acorn for "A is for Acorn" and a substitute pinecone for "Gathering Pinecones"). If anyone needs a copy of the free chart let me know.

Right Side Close Up: (close up of left side is in previous post)



And the second is Heart's Secret by Victoria Sampler (Cathy Jean):


Stitched on Vintage Autumn Fields Belfast linen with all the suggested threads and very strange blend combinations. I thought after the heart that the blending was over, but nope! Both the leaves and the birds are blends too (of WDW this time rather than Gloriana silks). Weird, weird, weird! I'm happy enough with it now that it's complete, though. I wonder if all of the Cathy Jean designs are like this, though?!

I left out the words from the design, until I figure out how I'm going to finish it, etc..


Yikes, it's the 1st of October already! Wasn't I just saying the same about it being the 1st of September the other day? Time sure does fly...