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!

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!