I just finished!

The deadline is tomorrow to get our ornaments in the mail for the 2009 Ornament Swap hosted by freshlyblended. My guys were very cooperative and left me alone most of the day. I had 3 more snowmen to work on when I got up this morning (they take about 3 hours each)! This is my last swap commitment for the year. Now I can concentrate on our family's Christmas.

Front

Back

A pile of snow...men!

Details:
3 inch hoops, 18 ct. Christmas Red aida cloth, DMC white thread
Design from Made in France, cross stitch and embroidery in red, white and blue

Handmade Ornament Swap

Go to swap-bot and sign up for this ornament swap. Setting up an account is free - no strings attached. I participated last year and received some beautiful ornaments. Hurry, sign ups end on Nov. 7!

I'm back...and I've been stitching

After back-to-school and hosting a family reunion, I'm finally getting back to my little blog. While I haven't picked up my ABCs in a couple of months, I have been doing some stitching. One of the swaps I'm participating in is called "Lucky Parcel." You list five things you are willing to do and then whoever your swap partner is gets to pick one of the five things for you to do for them. One of the things I listed was doing a cross stitch piece. My partner picked that. Since it's supposedly fall (we're in the high 80's!), I went through my charts and found a really cute pumpkin that can carry someone from Halloween through Thanksgiving. I really like how it turned out and I hope my swap partner likes it too.

And the back...



I'm now getting ready for freshly{blended}'s ornament swap. Signs up start Nov. 1 on Swap-bot. I participated last year and received some amazing ornaments. I encourage any fellow swappers to join.

Update on my ABCs and new Pendants

Here's the latest update on my ABCs. This is what I did just this past weekend. It's such an easy stitch and I'm hoping to be finished within the next two weeks.

and the back...

I haven't stitched on it this week because I've been running out of pendants and I needed to make more. So, every night when I get home, I get my guys fed, change into my pj's and I've been making these.

The photo does not do this one justice. It's just beautiful and I'm thinking about keeping it for myself! But, I'll probably just make another one to give away.

Star Ornament Swap

I'm taking a quick break from my ABCs. I signed up for a star ornament swap on swap-bot so I wanted to get them done as quickly as possible. We have to do two ornaments using a star theme. I did one in a vibrant red and the other in an icy blue. While it's the same design, doing them in different colors gives them each a unique look. I hope whoever gets them will like them. They were fun to make. I also like framing them just off-center to give them a "different" look.

A close up of the stars. I used beads for the center.

And, of course, here are the backs.

French Knots vs. Sead Beads

I've been working away on my ABCs and I'm really enjoying stitching this piece. This piece has quite a few French knots and somewhere along the way, I've lost my ability to make them. The trouble is keeping them all consistent. I like them nice and uniform and I'm having trouble with them. So, I cut them all out and I'm using seed beads instead. It's a nice change and it does give the piece a nice little sparkle.

I forgot to include a backside photo. I'll remember to do it on my next update!

Working on my ABCs

I started a project this weekend and I thought I'd show you what I've done so far. I'm still in my "use what you have" mood, and I've got several kits that have been just gathering dust. This one was given to me by a dear friend that lives in the U.K. We've never met (in person), but she's one of my closest and dearest friends. We worked for the same company until she left work to have a baby. We've been chatting on the phone, emailing and sending each other surprise packages for the last 4-5 years...and we've never met (I can't emphasize this enough). She's the one I tell my troubles to and the first one (after my hubby) that I tell all my happy news to as well. Our biggest fantasy is to one day actually meet, without husbands and kids, just because we know we will talk, craft and shop until we are blue in the face and we don't want to feel guilty about ignoring them. It will happen. Once I set a goal, I always achieve it. I'm very patient and methodical (it's a good methodical, not a "psycho" methodical!) when it comes to getting what I want (it's the whole affirmation attitude that I walk around with!). Okay, I could talk about her all day...onto what this post is all about!

And of course, the back.

It's really a great stitch and I'm amazed at how quickly I'm getting through it. I started this Saturday afternoon and after working on it last night, I then took these pictures.