Welcome 2013!

Wishes are going out to all my family and stitching friends for a very prosperous, healthy and Happy New Year! 
No partying for us this year. My hubby is in bed with the stomach flu. I'm going to an open house at the neighbour's home but I'll be back well before the clock strikes midnight. I hope you all have a great celebration and keep safe!

Last WIPocalypse of 2012

The end of the year! Wow, where did it all go?  No end of the world and we're all still here which means we must now compile a list for 2013 of all the stitches we want to complete. In the meantime I have a couple more finishes for this past month as well as a couple of new starts.

Just in time for the holidays I finished my Blackbird Designs 'Tis The Season. This was a joy to stitch and I can hardly wait until I can get it framed and on my walls. Those of you who read my blog regularly will have seen pictures of this one posted already.

This was followed by one more small finish which I stitched as a gift for my son's girlfriend. They have two kittens this Christmas which are wrecking havoc with the tree and I thought this ornament was perfect for Stef.

Gazette 94 Bon Noel

I also received a new chart which I had hoped would arrive earlier and I couldn't wait to get started at. This is one of the 3 samplers from Heartstring Samplery Joy to the World and is called Let Every Heart. 

Joy to the World is one of my favourite Christmas carols and I love all 3 samplers in this chart so I will also be stitching the other 2 at some point in time.

I also started one more ornament to add to my collection. I hope to keep on stitching these throughout the year. This one is by Little House Needleworks and is called Bringing Home The Tree.

Edit: I forgot to include these two ornaments which I finished off  since my last WIPocalypse post.

Homespun Elegance Pomegranate Joy

The Little Stitcher Merry Christmas Deer

I think I've done pretty well with my list for this past year. In fact I'm thrilled with what I managed to complete! I've finished all except for my two new starts, Paradis Perdu, which is still in progress and 2 other charts ( With Thy Needle & Thread Snow Day and Prairie Schooler Garden Sampler). I'm adding Snow Day to the list for next year but I'm still not sure about Garden Sampler. I have so many others which I'm itching to get started at.

My first start for 2013 will be Alesandra Adelaide Maple Leaf which I'm doing as part of a SAL with my Eastern Ontario stitching buddies.

I hope that most of you have accomplished your goals for 2012 and I look forward to seeing what's on your list for the coming year.
Enjoy digging through your stash, I know I am!

Season's Greetings!

To all my stitching friends and family, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2013! I am so fortunate to have found the blogging community. I have made many new friends and you have enriched my life in so many ways. Thank you for a wonderful year and I hope that 2013 brings you health and happiness. 

A Christmas RAK

When I checked the mail on Wednesday afternoon I was delighted to find a parcel waiting for me from New Zealand. I took it home, where I was followed by my friend Pam, and here's what we found within.

Isn't that the cutest wrapping paper? I adore that little black sheep!
Having seen the postmark I was pretty sure who had sent me these goodies and I hurriedly opened things up. Within the sheep wrapping these goodies were waiting for me.

The card confirmed that my gift was from Katrina so then I was really excited to open this!

Isn't it gorgeous!! The finishing is fabulous and I just love it! A huge Thank You Katrina for your generous gift. Katrina sent this to me for my blogging friendship throughout the year and I am just so thrilled. If you haven't visited her blog, head on over and pay her a visit. You won't regret it!

This morning we woke to find that the world had not ended and that Mother Nature had paid us a visit overnight.

As you can see, the snow is still falling. We are expected to receive 30 cm (12 inches) of snow by tomorrow morning. My dream of a White Christmas has been surpassed!! 
Actually this started out as freezing rain which we travelled through on our way home from choir practice last night. It wasn't fun! So we will have to be very careful when walking in this snow.
It's the perfect day to sit in by the fire with some stitching and a hot chocolate in hand. Some Christmas baking might even take place too.

I've had several visitors to our feeder this morning. They're all looking to find a bit of food in all this white madness.

Black-capped Chickadee

Mr. Cardinal

A Slate Junco

Does anyone have any idea what the larger bird is in this picture? He's hiding out underneath the large spruce tree next door and isn't budging an inch.

The quiet in the neighbourhood is now being punctuated by the sound of revving snowblowers. Guess it's time we got ours out too!

'Tis The Season

'Tis The Season to be joyful which I most certainly am with the completion of my Blackbird Design of the same name.This was a delight to stitch and I can hardly wait until it graces my walls.
My husband wanted my initials on the piece so I managed to find a spot for them in addition to the charted year. It's stitched on the suggested 32ct LSL Pear with most of the suggested Belle Soie floss. I swapped out the red for a brighter colour as well as the white which I replaced with an Au Ver a Soie which I had in my stash. 
Next year's Christmas stitch could very well be BBD Christmas Garden but I've also got a few others up for consideration, including  Heartstring Samplery Sing We Then Merrily.

I spent the past couple of days finishing up some previously stitched pieces. The first one is by Helga Mandl and the branches of the tree spell out Merry.

This one is going to a friend's home who admired one of the name trees which I'd previously stitched.
Following that I finished up LHN Fa La La which is being given to a friend who sings with me in the church choir.

The Christmas tree is finally up at our home which helps things feel more festive especially since we have no snow to speak of. I'll have to post a picture another time since my camera battery is in need of charging. I'm just about ready for the big day. Only a few gifts remaining to be wrapped and some baking which will take place on Friday and Saturday. Now if we only had some snow!

Edit: I stepped out from a Christmas get together this evening to find the ground covered with snow and it continues to fall as I write this. 

December orts

The last new moon of 2012 is here and so here is a picture of my orts for the past month.

As you can see from the closeup, there are lots of Christmas reds, greens and whites from my ornament stitching as well as BBD 'Tis The Season which btw I have finally finished! I'll post a pic in a few days.

Here is a pic of all of this year's orts.

I always seem to have enough room in this jar for the year's collection. So until the next new moon, I'm going to empty it and fill it with Christmas potpourri.
Enjoy your weekend everyone and I'll have a picture of my completed BBD soon.

Close to a finish

This past week I finally decided to take a break from stitching ornaments and give some quality time to my BBD 'Tis The Season. I'd really like to have this one completed by Christmas and after this past week I know that I'll make my deadline.

Seeing this picture I notice that one of the gold leaves of holly may have to be restitched along its stem. The colour variation is such that it's just not showing up in the stitching well at this point. The suggested colour didn't show up at all so I substituted with Belle Soie Butterscotch which seems to be a little darker and I'm happier with the results. 
There's very little remaining to be stitched on this one and theoretically it should be done within the next couple of days. However life is getting busier as Christmas Day approaches so the happy dance might have to wait for several days.

Since 'Tis is a little too large to take along on day trips I've started another ornament by Gazette 94 called Bon Noel. Here's my progress so far.

That tree will soon have a kitty reaching up into it, trying to dislodge the ornaments. It's particularly fitting for our family as you'll hear later in this post.

I've managed to get all my decorating done minus putting up the tree which will take place on the weekend. My son Daniel celebrates his 28th birthday on Saturday and always comes to our place on that day to help me with the tree. My hubby's birthday is tomorrow and because of his busy schedule with numerous Christmas concerts I always hold a joint celebration for Daniel and him which will probably take place towards the weekend. I did get my twig tree put up this week though which holds all my ornaments for now. Eventually these ornaments will end up on the big tree as I add to my collection.

I made one big mistake this year though in adding some new birds to this tree. There are three of them in red, green and a tan colour and they each have long tail feathers. Guess who has taken a fancy to them?
If you guessed Clarisse, you'd be absolutely right! In the next pic you can see the green bird on the tree which was recently moved up higher where she can't reach it as easily.

I returned home Sunday to find several ornaments on the floor and the bird sitting rather cockeyed on the tree. The tail feathers seemed a bit damp too!  Speaking of damp, I've been bringing out the water bottle and each time she attempts to get near the tree I give her a little squirt. Sometimes she stands her ground and just squints at the bottle but other times she slinks away and hides until she thinks I'm not around anymore. As of today I think she has finally given up in her pursuit!
This is unlike my son Chris and his girlfriend's cats which are Maine Coon kitties. This is their first Christmas and Chris recently posted a score on Facebook which read Kittens - 10, Tree - 0! Apparently they don't care if they get wet so the water bottle isn't very effective with them.
Here's a pic of the two of them sitting in their fridge. They like to jump in every time someone opens the door.

I'll leave you with a picture of my grandchildren taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus. My son just sent this to me. Love it! 
I hope you are all enjoying your preparations for this very special season and Happy Hanukkah wishes to all of my readers belonging to the Jewish faith.  May you be blessed with health and happiness!

Two More For The Tree

Seems I'm hooked on stitching ornies this year and as a result I have two more finishes to show you.

First up is Homespun Elegance Pomegranate Joy which can be found in the JCS 2012 Ornament issue.

The next one is a free design I found online called Merry Christmas Deer and is designed by The Little Stitcher. The chart can be found here.

Tonight I'll be stitching with my Tuesday night group and I plan on giving some quality time to 'Tis The Season. I've also started on another ornament. This one is a freebie offered a couple of years ago by Gazette 94. I'm stitching it as a Christmas gift so unfortunately, no pictures.

The weather is extremely mild here which certainly doesn't give you that Christmas feeling but nevertheless I'm off to Ottawa a little early in order to pick up a few things for the holidays. I' rather run around in this weather than in the snow.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Kearnel's November WIPocalypse

I can't believe it but there's only one full moon left before the end of the year is upon us. Time certainly does seem to be flying. In keeping with the season of Christmas that is fast approaching, most of my recent stitching is Christmas related. My new Halloween start from last month's WIPocalypse was retired until a later date so I could get started on my ornaments.
I've managed to complete 7 more ornaments this month. I got the finishing done on a few but not all. Here they are so far.

The Primitive Hare I Believe in Santa

Little House Needleworks Ding Dong Merrily on High

(L) Primrose Needleworks Noel and (R) LHN It's Snow Cold
The ornament in the centre was finished last month

Full Circle Designs A Christmas Song

Lizzie Kate Feelin' Festive

Ink Circles Holiday Magick

I've started a new ornament just yesterday by Homespun Elegance called Pomegranate Joy which can be found in the 2012 JCS ornament issue. I'm really loving this one!

And finally, I put in some time with my BBD 'Tis The Season.

This one is a real joy to stitch. I'm using the called for silk floss with the exception of the cardinal. I've substituted Gloriana's Pomegranate for the Belle Soie Poison Apple. I just prefer a brighter red. 
I'm really pleased with my progress this month and hope it continues on into the next.

Four More Finshed Ornies and a Birthday

This weekend I added to my growing pile of ornies once again by finishing off 4 more of my previously stitched ornaments. 
Here's the results of my swearing, I mean sweating!

This last one was probably the biggest cause of all my profanity. Using all my smarts I had stitched this ornament too close to the edges of my fabric. Consequently I didn't have much fabric to work with when sewing it together. Add in the fact that I made an error in the sewing, had to tear it out and restart, which led to the fraying of what little edges I had left on the linen. It might look a little rough but I'm more than happy that I managed to get the darn thing together! I've always loved the bear on this one and think that it's probably one of my favourites.
Our first significant snowfall of the year arrived yesterday, bringing bright, sunny skies with it. Six years ago today we welcomed the arrival of this special blessing.

Happy Birthday Summer! Grandma hopes you have an extra special day!! 
This picture was taken on a recent visit to my son's to deliver birthday gifts. Isn't she a sweetie?
I'll be back tomorrow with updates of my other stitching for WIPocalypse.

Focusing on Finishing

This weekend I spent time trying to focus on the final finishing of some of my ornaments. So often I leave these sitting in a drawer figuring I'll get them finished and on the tree by Christmas. Does it happen? Not usually! The season catches up with me and I always run out of time or energy. I'm making an effort this time to try and get at least a few new ones up on the tree. To that end, here are the three ornaments I managed to finish off.

Here are the backing fabrics for them.

The pics look a little washed out but my camera battery is fading fast. I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out. As you know, I've always said that finishing is not my forte and I do struggle with it. Honestly, it takes me hours to finish these! I can't make up my mind on fabric, trim, placement, etc. and I waste so much time fretting over things. I'm sure anyone else could have finished off these plus 3 more by the time I've made up my mind on the selection. I don't have much time this week to finish more but I'm hoping that Saturday will be a good day to tackle some of the others.

I finally started by BBD 'Tis The Season.

 I'm definitely loving this one and plan on spending some quality time with it tonight.

The ornament bug still hasn't left me though. I added another one to my collection this week. 

This one is by Full Circle Designs and called A Christmas Song. It can be found in the 2008 JCS ornament issue. I'm already looking for my next one to start on. If I can stitch a lot of ornaments this year then maybe I can forego the stitching next year and concentrate solely on the finishing. Of course, there are always new ones that I want to add to the mix! That's the problem!

 I hope your week is off to a good start. I'm off now to check out a few items for Christmas gifts. Wish me luck!