Last Gifts to Arrive!

Hello my dear stitching friends and a warm welcome to my new followers!  The last of my Christmas packages finally arrived in the new year!  This gift was sent to Lee in Brazil and included quite a few handmade gifts, as well as some Christmas labels, Christmas themed mini pegs, a souvenir teaspoon of South Africa and a Christmas card: 

 

I stitched this Christmas tree for Lee - it is a segment from 'Vintage Christmas' by Country Cottage Needleworks and finished as a hanging pillow ornament (also shown in a previous post):

The design for this needle painted pinkeep is from Trish Burr's book Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas for Beginners and is backed with the pictured fabric (also shown in a previous post):

This gorgeous beaded doily was made by my mom especially for Lee!  The work is so delicate and I just love the 'pink-gold' colour of the beads!  Thank you mom for making this gift for my friend!

Here is a pic of all the handmade gifts:

I also included a little gift for Larissa.  She is a student at Lee's embroidery school and was kind enough to send me a gift last year.  Larissa also received some handmade gifts, Christmas labels, Christmas themed mini pegs and a Christmas card:

This sweet little 'Prancer' is by JBW designs and is stitched on 28ct blue linen and finished as a hanging pillow ornament - such a cutie!

I also made these counting/marking pins and matching scissors fob for Larissa - I hope she likes them!

Well, that 'wraps up' the Christmas gifts for last year - I am always so relieved when all the packages arrive safely at their new homes :)

Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

 Michelle

Christmas Ornaments and More Needle Painting!

Hello dear stitching friends!  Oh my, Christmas really is just around the corner!  I have been working on some Christmas ornaments these past few weeks - here are some that I would like to share with you today:

This beautiful Christmas tree is a segment from Vintage Christmas by Country Cottage Needleworks and is stitched on self-dyed 28ct evenweave.  It is finished as a hanging pillow ornament and is backed with the fabric pictured.  I changed the colours to a more traditional, vintage colour way and I just love how it turned out - I think I will use more segments of this design for ornaments!

This little cutie is a freebie by Carmela and was such fun to stitch.  It is stitched on light blue linen in DMC threads and also finished as a hanging pillow ornament.  It is backed with the adorable snowman fabric pictured.

I have also been doing some needle painting.  This little piece is called Cerise Anemone and is from Trish Burr's book Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas For Beginners and is finished as a pinkeep. 

I have really been enjoying the needle painting and hope to start a new project soon - after I do some more Christmas stitching, of course!

The sun has been shining and the temperatures rising here in our corner of the world and the summer flowers are starting to show their colours!  Here are some pics of my Hydrangeas:

They are a stunning pink this year and almost ready for picking!

That's it for this post - enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Michelle

Needle Painting, a Pincushion and a Cottage of Lace!

Hello dear stitching friends and a warm welcome to my new followers!  I have a variety of finishes to share this week.  I have been wanting to try some needle painting for a while now and stitched this little Victorian Pansy by Trish Burr as my first piece.  

It is stitched in DMC stranded cotton on white linen.  I'm not sure what I'll finish it as yet - maybe the cover of a needlebook or just a little pinkeep?

This Cathedral Window pincushion really drew my attention on a few web pages and I just had to try my hand at it!  It turned out very pretty in pink fabrics from my stash, but I don't think I'll be using it as a pincushion - it is already on display in a basket with some other ornaments :)

I stitched this 'Maison Dentelle' from gazette94 a while ago.  It is stitched in DMC B5200 on dark pink Aida - even though I don't like stitching on Aida I love how it turned out.  

I think this little cottage will look good in a frame, so I'll be on the hunt for one :)

This has been a very 'pink' post, so I will end it with a photo of some pink roses from my garden - I wish you could smell these - they are a delight!

Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Michelle