Christmas SAL weekend...

As most of you know the last weekend of the month is chosen for the Christmas Ornament SAL, I really liked the idea of this, as many of you do. As it will be great to 'be prepared' in advance, even in a small way, for Christmas, as it is such a busy time. I also like the idea that there is no pressure to join in every month, months you can, you do, and if you can't, no hard feelings :-)) Now, to let you know my secret ;-)...as I am so keen to have some stitched ornaments I have joined not one, but two ornament SAL's :-)) One is with a French lady Anne (Tempus Fugit) who had the bright idea herself, go take a look at what our French friends are doing :-)) The other is being ran by the ladies Nicki and AnneS who have this blog for it. I do propose (to myself at least) on some months, if I can, to actually stitch 2 ornaments...one for each SAL, however, for this month I have only got one done so it will be for both SAL's. I suppose it really doesn't matter and I love the idea that alot of us stitchers worldwide are doing the same sort of thing at roughly the same time. Our needles should be smoking with all going at once...lol...beware of the ozone and global warming my friends!!

Blackbird Designs 'Candy Cane Stocking'

Now to let you know what I have done...the above picture is my finish of Blackbird Designs 'Candy Cane Stocking' from the JCS Christmas Ornaments magazine 2003. I had none of the stated supplies and not much chance of getting the right ones quickly, so I improvised. I have used a pretty 'denim blue colour' cut of 32ct evenweave I had got from The Country Cross Stitcher in Woburn a few years ago. For the threads, I used a mixture to tone in with the blue fabric they are, DMC Linen Thread L3012 for the green, Carrie's Creations 'Garnet' for the red and ??? either Oatmeal or Straw Bonnet for the white by The Gentle Art or GAST. I will check tomorrow which one it was for sure.

The picture below is a close-up of the fabric and lace that I used for the finishing, both the fabric for the cuff of the stocking and the back of it are by Lene Bjerre. I only have small pieces of Lene Bjerre fabrics so I was delighted that I could use some on this and that it was big enough :-))

Lace

I had got this gorgeous length of cotton ribbon attached to the label of a pair of jeans I recently bought (yes, I liked the jeans as well...lol) and it was a perfect colour to go with this. To bring the colours together I decided to use 'couch stitch' to attach the ribbon using the green linen thread. I do not like the linen threads as it (mine) kept disintegrating but maybe it was with it going through a fabric and it goes all fuzzy and wierd when doing XXX's with it ? I was really pleased with how this looked and still had some of my ribbon left, so, I went on a hunt through my things...

Ribbon

I found a small 'Mill Hill' red heart that was a great colour match to the Garnet thread and have used that to attach the hanger. I also re-found this lovely heart charm I had, that I got from a Needlework show from one of my favourite stalls, they have a website now and are called 'Nostalgia' . They sell beautiful things and gorgeous French ribbons like I used on my Wabbit needlecase. Go take a look...I love it, all very pretty and feminine... but not yet, I will put the link at the bottom ;-)

Charms and Beads

I used some red beads I had to make a berry cluster at the top of the heart charm and to finish the hanger tails, you can also see the whole of the Lene Bjerre fabric I used for the reverse side. This was a tricky little thing to sew to get the foot part to be a nice shape, I did use my sewing machine for this and it was tough turning it the right way so the stitched part did not give way and fray...what a nightmare that would have been !! As you can see, it didn't and I am very pleased with the result both front and back .

Reverse of my Stocking

I did not have alot of time to stitch last week (when do I ever) but I did advance with my SAL on BD GOL this here is showing my Part 2. I have a got quite far with Part 3 over the last week and will show that when it is done. I am not sure if I will like the Blackbird on this for me. I do like the Smyrna's for his wings but I am not sure?? so, I may do something else in the garden, again it will depend on what time I have. You can go here to view the SAl album for this :)

Blackbird Designs 'Garden of Life' Part 2

Here is my last picture...as you all breath a sigh of relief...remember I said I had stitched something I was going to finish into a different finish for me? Well, this was the start...can you guess what it is? This is my first go of stitching 'in hand' on this piece, it feels very strange to do that. I still have all the back to do when I have done Part 3 of GOL. I'm being very good at the moment although I must say, I am itching for a change, me of little patience ;-)

What's this???

Finally, Veronica (my Mum) thanks you all for the wonderful comments on her fob to me, she can't believe it and you have all made her week as you do mine. Here is the link to Nostalgia...hide your purse before looking...lol ;-)

Enjoy your week everyone and I will 'see' you again soon.

P.S. Edits were to make sure the links worked ;-)
Helen