2 crazy finishes, a couple SALs and help please

WooHoo!  I finished 2 of the crazy Christmas ornaments over the past weekend:

The sugar-shocked reindeer just needed the black to finish him while the Snow Bunnies needed lots of stitching.

I started a January Mystery SAL on Helen & Mahelia's blog.  It's mostly finished on the blog while I'm only starting -- so not much of a mystery for me:

I also started a new Sticklounge Project entitled Homage to Japan.  It's a pretty little sampler with a couple goldfish on it (I love goldfish -- especially the fat, fancy ones) and a Japanese proverb.  I didn't get much done on it because I wasn't happy with the original colors.  So after several starts and stops, I have finally decided on the colors for this first part:

Not much, I know, but I should be able to get this part finished now that all the tough decisions have been made.

I also picked a frame for the Baumchen.  Since I didn't want to spend a bundle here, I chose a standard size frame for it.  Unfortunately, there is lots of room on the longer side.  Hmmmm, perhaps I'll add a piece of lace here to fill in the empty frame space.  I found a nice piece of old lace but cannot decide how to assemble the whole thing.  Any suggestions?  Top, bottom or side?

It's hard to see the lace in these pics, the flash kind of blew it away, but even in real life, the lace is rather subtle.  At this point in time, my preference is the lace on the top .... but that could change.

Have a good one !

Some crazy stitching and a surprise received

I finished my first crazy January start and got lots done on 2 more:

After all those starts I needed to finish something and I needed some easy stitching, so I decided to work on these three ornaments this past week.  I really like this green fabric and may stitch more ornaments on it -- umm, sometime in the future.

I received these goodies from Jules' giveaway yesterday (thank you!):

The oriental book has some beautiful butterflies that I'm itchin' to get stitchin' but that will have to wait until I get some of my other starts finished.  The little framed 'Welcome' is just lovely.  And don't laugh, but the best thing is the honey from Florida -- yum!  

I   l-o-v-e   honey!

Thanks again, Jules.

It's going to be freezin' this weekend -- a perfect stitching weekend.  I plan to work on some of my SAL's and hopefully get caught up with them.  Should be a good time .....

Mary Wigham update and more craziness

I spent more time on Mary over the holidays and managed to get the outside border almost completed:

I wanted to get the border finished before 2011 but it wasn't to be.   She probably won't get much more done on her until after Jan. 15th, when the craziness comes to an end.  I was also hoping to get her completely stitched by the end of January but I'm not sure that's going to happen either.  Oh well.

Speaking of crazy, here's my third selection, another Christmas ornament -- one I've already stitched as a gift and now will stitch for myself:

Until tomorrow .....

what fun!

Getting ready for Christmas

My Baumchen piece from the Sticklounge is coming along.  I changed out the white in the corners for the overdyed floss and stitched over the white flowers with satin stitches.  I'm holding off on the lower left corner until I get the tree trunk in -- this way I won't make a mistake lining everything up ..... hopefully.  I really like this piece -- the pattern is so pretty.

Well, I finally realized Thanksgiving is approaching -- which means Christmas will be here soon.  Yikes!  I need to get some holiday stitching done!  I have finished 3 ornaments and still need to do at least 2 more.  Don't you love the reindeer -- he's been eating way too much sugar.  I used polyester thread for his eyes -- so they have that glazed, shiny look of a sugar high.  He's going to a nephew.  The reindeer is from the 2010 Christmas ornament edition of Just Cross Stitch and the snow men are from the German magazine Hardanger.  I love them both and want to stitch one each for myself also.

Each year I stitch a Santa for my collection.  Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to stitch my Santa for 2010 yet.  Soooo, the marathon stitch is on!  This year's Santa is Rose Wreath Santa by Libby Sturdy.  I bought him last year at the EGA Nationals in Pittsburgh, PA.  He has eyes, a nose and some skin as of yesterday .....

Here's hoping I can get him finished before Christmas.

I hope everyone has a peaceful Thanksgiving.  In my family, we have a lot to be thankful for this year.  My stepmother was in a bad car accident and has recovered beautifully!  Take care and enjoy!

In the mail .....

That's where these christmas ornaments are now .....  going to my young nephews.  I love the hairy yarn in the cording.

I addition to these, I'm working on another Christmas present.  Hopefully, it will be finished before Christmas.  Once it's done, I'll post a photo of it.

Another project in the works is something new and as you can see I'm still stuck in fall colors.  But aren't they lovely?  The fabric is 28 ct tea stained evenweave, the threads are DMC and I am stitching it with 1 thread over 1.  So far I really like it.

Unfortunately, I cut the fabric a little smaller that prefered and then to make matters worse, I forgot to take into account the peaks of the diamond.  DUH!  This is why I would rather begin in the middle of a project.  There is no mistaking the middle.  - sigh -  It seems almost every time I begin at a corner, there is a problem.  However, I believe that the peaks will fit on the fabric.  It's just that 2 of them will be closer than I like to the fabric edge. 

This project is different from anything I have stitched before.  Normally, I would never leave motiffs unfinished before beginning another.  Plus I hate leaving all those threads just hanging there.  It's enough to set my OCD all a tither.