Now that the cross stitch gifts have been finished and given, I've been able to make some things for myself.
Such as Wild Olive's adorable Emmet Otter ornament:
Or this quotation from Elf -- one for me, one for a friend:
I adore the yarn I used for these stars, and I'm making pompoms from it, too:
And then there's the freebie from Love Embroidery magazine:
Whew!
Welcome! It's that time of year for Jo's blog hop, and today is my turn. I don't have any cross stitch to show off yet, although I've picked out a few designs; a challenging fall meant I'm way behind all things stitchy.
But I do have a tree! Which is Jo's theme this year!
This wooden tree was originally part of a hand-carved Christmas card holder my late uncle made for me years and years ago. At some point someone (I never found out who) knocked it over, breaking it; the only salvageable part was one of the trees. I painted it green with a little silver mixed in, giving it a nice sheen, and wrapped it with a bit of wire and some clear crystals. You can't tell from this photo, but it has a nice sparkle, and I'm quite pleased with it.
Jo asked us to talk about Christmas trees. I grew up on what used to be a farm in western Massachusetts, and for many years we just trekked to the far part of our property to chop our own pine down. It was lots of fun, but because it wasn't a tree farm we ended up with some wonky trees. One tree was gorgeous on one side, but almost bare on the other, so that was the side we put against the wall. Another tree had a distinctive curve in its trunk. A third had two tops, so that year we put on two stars.
Now I live in New York, so we get our tree from one of the temporary vendors who set up shop all over the city (real trees might be more work, but the smell is divine). I can't show you our tree, because we haven't bought it yet -- we generally wait until the middle of the month to get one. Once it's set up and the branches settle, we decorate it with lights and ornaments: old and new, handmade and purchased. Then we sit back and admire our work.
Whether you have a real or fake tree, or no tree at all, I hope you all have a lovely and peaceful Christmas!
"Blue Christmas" by Blackwork Journey, from 2020's Ornaments mag:
"Black Cat in a Santa Hat" by the Stitcherhood, from the 2015 Ornaments mag:
I'm not finished with Primitive Needle's "Primitive Angel" (2009 Ornaments mag), but I hope to do so soon. I will likely omit the year above the angel to make this more likely.
This garland was supposed to get done before Christmas, but the white felt balls I ordered were delayed. I've alternated them with wooden balls, some painted gold.
I finished the last of the beaded snowflake patterns from Fusion Beads; I changed the colors to make this one look like pinecones.
I love love love the look of these mason jars, and I may keep them up for a long while. I painted the walnuts gold last year, inspired by Hiddensee; the orange slices are the latest batch I made (dried in a very low oven for a very long time). Next fall I will gather more pinecones in different sizes.
I was busy!
