Woefully Late: My November Ornaments

I stitched motifs 11 and 12 from Rosewood Manor's Red Threads on Tartan Green Wichelt Linen with DMC 99. I was attempting to achieve kind of a candy cane look, but I'm not sure I succeeded. What do you think?

I finished an ornament in December too, but I haven't photographed it yet and it's been finished completely and is rather 3-D so the scanner won't work. That whooshing sound I heard was December rushing by me. Maybe I can post pictures of the December ornament by the time the January SAL ends.

I had enormous fun with this SAL last year and stitched 18 ornaments! I am eagerly anticipating another year of ornament SALs.

A New Look for the New Year

I hope everyone had happy holidays and a wonderful start to their New Year. Now that everyone seems to be settling back into a routine and lives are getting back to normal, I thought it was time to introduce the new look for 2008. It does need a little tweaking, so if anyone knows how to adjust the white space, please let me know. (Also, if you are finding things difficult to read or have any suggestions to improve the blog, please email me!)

In addition to the new look, there are a few other goodies on the way, so keep an eye out for them. One of the things we'd like to set up is a Suggested Theme of the Month. I know some stitchers have a hard time deciding which ornaments to stitch, so by providing a suggested theme, it can help narrow down the choices and make choosing a little easier. You don't HAVE to stitch the suggested themes, but it can be a real lifeline for stitchers drowning in a sea of decisions! I think 2-3 suggested themes a month is a good number, and the January ones will be coming by the end of the week. If you've got themes in mind, please let me know as we're in the market for suggestions.

I have a few surprises coming later today or tomorrow, so I'll keep those under wraps for now, but introduce myself. My name is Jennifer, and I live on the east coast in the US. I've been cross stitching for 5-6 years now. I've done embroidery for as long as I can remember (remember the iron on transfers?) and a little stamped cross stitch in HS, but always felt intimidated by cross stitch until my DH and I picked up a few kits at the craft store as a way of curbing night time snacking (you can't snack if your fingers are busy stitching!) The stitching bug bit, and here we are still stitching. I've graduated from pre-packaged kits to putting together my own flosses and fabrics for a chart to doing a little of my own designs. Most of what I stitch is given away as gifts, so my themes and choices of designers vary greatly. If you'd like to see more of my stitching, you can check out my blog.

I look forward to working with you all and making this SAL a good experience for everyone. I think it will be a lot of fun to see what everyone stitches throughout the year.

Catching up

Well! It's about time that I posted some of these ornaments! They were all great fun to stitch and finish. You can see that I was partial to the flat pinkeep style of ornament. Who would have guessed that they were this easy?

Bonne Annee
A freebie from Grilles de Maryse
16 ct. khaki aida
DMC Variations 4030 and white

"Santa"
Freebie from Schoolroom Samplings
On a door hanger with a 22 ct. insert and stitched over 2

Mini Gingerbread man
A freebie from The Floss Box
On Christmas green Lugana

Mini Hat
A freebie from The Floss Box
On 14ct. Metallic silver aida

Lizzie Kate's Joy
On Oatmeal Floba
Inserted in a small tuck pillow

My ornaments...

As much as I love the Christmas and all the preparations, I haven´t had time to stitch ornaments because of all the other exchanges I´ve participated in. Well, these are the ones I have stitched in November and December. Both of them presents for friends.

Christmas ornaments

Here are couple of ornaments I've stitched this year, I haven't been very organized in this SAL and haven't stitched every month :) Next year I'll try to stitch two ornaments every month and also post the photos here :)

Design: Joyeux Noël by Isabelle Vautier
Stitched on 30 count natural linen with DMC thread

Design: Artichoke Lace by Periphaeria Designs, colours changed
published in TGOSM (December 2007)
Stitched on 28 count linen with DMC 712

Design: Yule Flower by La-D-Da (JCS Ornaments issue 2007)
Stitched on black linen with DMC threads

Ornaments stitched by Leena

My last...

... ornament in this year. I hope it will be more next year!

This is "Christmas spot sampler" (eef). The recommended threads are not in my stash, so I used Anchor-threads, one over two on Edinburgh-linen (Zweigart, antique white).

Welcome to Jennifer, the new Admin, and best wishes for a happy new year to her and all SAL-members! (I cant say this better in English...)

Barbara

Ops! Ornament

Ops!
Helga Mandl Designs
Sugar Maple Fabrics 28 ct Ice Crystal Lugana, DMC Floss

New Year, new admin!

Please welcome Jennifer as the new administrator of the SAL blog! She has offered to help and has some lovely ideas to hopefully inspire you in the coming year. I will still be around but she will be taking over adding members etc from now on. Barbara has also very kindly offered to help, though she has her hands full with a lovely Christmas baby right now!

Please give Jennifer time to get settled in and a big thank you for helping out!

Christmas Biscornu Ornament

This is my first contribution to this SAL. Pictured is the front and the back. The size difference in the pictures has to do with my photography. The main poinsettia design is from Prairie Schooler. I added a leaf design in the corners and used the smaller green design on the front to make a coordinating back. It is stitched on 18 aida. Making the biscornu was a challenge, but I would definitely make one again!

My christmas stitching

These are some of my christmas stitching, I did stitch a lot of christmas theme biscornu as well:

Just cross stitch ornament issue, Jean Farish:

Prairie Schooler, Christmas strawberry:

Bent Creek Glad Tiding:

Blue Ribbon design, Red ornament:

M design, snowman freebie:

Pam Kellogg Christmas Biscornu:

French freebie:

Sweetheart tree design:

Elizabeth's Design:

Merry christmas and a happy new year.

Stitched by Anita

New ornament

This is "Sapphire Star" from Patricia Ann Designs (2004 JCS Issue). I stitched it with a Dinky Dyes Silk, and erinite coloured crystals on mystery fabric.

First snow

Finally I have to show another christmas ornament: "First snow", a Drawn-Thread-Freebie. It's a christmas gift for my stitching friend Anja. I hope you'll like it too and wish you all a merry Christmas.

A growing plantation...

.....of TPS christmas trees. Merry christmas to all of you, see you again next year!


Feliz Navidad y un prospero ano nuevo...
Birgit

Probably my last ornament for 2007

I haven't posted for a while but thought I'd share this last ornament with you all. I do have one other which is stitched and not finished but since it's now 5.30pm on Saturday, I don't think it will be finished before Christmas. So this will be it for me for 2007. Merry Christmas everyone!

Holly Days Stocking (I left off the backstitched "Holly Days")
by Mill Hill

Threads: DMC
Stitched on perforated paper

by Barb in TX

I've finally got an ornament to post on here. I made this for my grandgirl. The design is by Lorri Birmingham and from the Leisure Arts Big Book of Christmas Quickies.
Thanks for looking.

Barb in TX

Christmas Stocking and Ornament

I like stiching ornaments with red colors. These are the Lili Points and Anael Designs (French Designers).

July and August finishes :-)

Yes, I'm a little behind. :-) I haven't finished off an ornament since June. Time sure did get away from me. But I have two finishes to report, Toy Shop Sign from CHS using the recommended 36 count Lakeside Linens with the DMC conversion and a tree (I can't remember the name) from Erica Michaels using the recommended 40 count Lakeside Linens using assorted Crescent Colours cotton floss both from the 2007 JCS Ornament issue. I have three more to finish off this week so I'll be posted those later. I met my goal of 12 finished ornaments in 2007! Thanks for such a wonderful stitch-a-long.

gifts for the better half

I stitched a design from The Sampler Girl (Merry Christmas My Love) this year for my DH, using VC silks on a 40 (?) count coffee-dyed linen. I just love how it came out. I made up the personalization on the backside.

Last year, I stitched a design from The Needle's Content for him. It was my first attempt at ruching, and because the ribbon was a thick velvet one, I had to improvise quite a bit but it came out looking pretty good. :)

gifts for the kids

Here are the three ornaments I've stitched for the kids for little surprise gifts. I'm going to make them a special ornament each Christmas from now on, as I also do for their wonderful Daddy.

Normally, I avoid aida but I just loved this deep, rich Victorian red. All three are stitched in either DMC or another colorfast floss for washability. ;) The talented designers are, from top to bottom: "Christmas Partridge" by Stacy Nash Primitives (Rowen's ornie), "Dash Away All" by The Sampler Girl (Max's ornie), and "Christmas Bear" by Beth Hendzlik (Nicky's ornie). Other than Rowen's ornament, I used my own choice of colors rather than those suggested, and made various other little changes.

Victorian Lace Snowflake

Here is another ornament finish for this year. This is Victorian Lace Snowflake and it's designed by Rosewood Manor (you can find it in this year's JCS ornament issue). I changed up the fabric and threads per my notes below the picture.


Stitched on 28ct Millennium Blue Cashel Linen
Stitched with Kreinik #4 braid in 032 and Mill Hill beads 00161

Thanks for looking!

A new project...

During this year here with you in this SAL I got my 12 ornaments stitched and finished, I am really very content.......for the next year I am planning to plant a "Christmas Wood" (Christmas trees, The Prairie Schooler). Here is the beginning.....


Feliz Navidad a todos!
Birgit

Perpetual Christmas Card

Here's a little 'perpetual Christmas card' that I sent off to my Mom yesterday. Hopefully it won't hit a snag in the international mails and will arrive in time to hang from one of her windows (or wherever she decides to hang it - LOL!). The front side is based on an old Barrick Samplers design, but has been reworked for Christmas. The backside has all our names, using an alphabet very loosely based on a Brightneedle alphabet.

I used silks from my stash on a piece of 28 ct DMC natural linen. The twisted cord is a DMC metallic that I thought went well. The cuties in the picture are baby photos of my mom (top) and myself (bottom). ;)

Another new Member

Hello, I'm also new to the group. I'm Jennifer from the East Coast of the US. (You can check out my blog at http://sweetpeastitching.blogspot.com/ for more about me). My husband and I love to visit lighthouses and I stitched this one up for us this year.

Sea Girt Lighthouse, NJ, US

Design from Treetrunk Designs "Guardians of our Waterways"

Stitched with DMC over 1 on 18 ct

Dec 11/07

I posted the semi-finished version before, but here are three of my snowmen in their completed version. They are sitting on their backing fabric. Happy Holidays and all the best in 2008 to all of my stitching friends!

Hello

I am new to the group but am looking forward to stitching an ornament or two each month. So far this year I've stitched 20 in the last two months but I'm hoping to do some big projects next year as well. Thanks for allowing me to join you and I hope I will be able to contribute something worthwhile.

SandyB

Hello everyone...

My name is Chris. I also have accepted Nicki's invitation and am a new member to the Christmas Ornament SAL. Thanks Nicki. Seeing the beautiful ornaments that have been posted during the last several weeks is inspiring. I plan is to join you as often as I can on the ornament stitching weekends. Please feel welcome to visit me at my blog - Chris' Stitching and Strumming.

May the upcoming holiday be filled with health and happiness to all.

New to the SAL

Hello to everyone! My name is Teresa and I have accepted the invitation to join this lovely group of stitchers. I look forward to posting pictures of my finished ornaments. Come and visit me at http://sewmanythoughts.blogspot.com/. My thanks to Nicki.

My warmest wishes to all of you for a very special holiday season.

Teresa