BAP Challenge, Exchanges and Some Finishes

I have been stitching diligently on LK's 6 Fat Men, my BAP Challenge project. These snowmen are so adorable! Snow Fun is almost done, I am eager to start on "Let It Snow". The pictures do not reflect the true color of the fabric, it is brighter(Wichelt Amber Linen).


Closeup view of Snow Fun!


I won another giveaway, lucky me! Barb hosted a giveaway to celebrate her 2nd Blogoversary. Here are the charts and kit I won.



Thank you, Barb for these lovely designs. I can't wait to start on them, especially the Christmas designs by Waxing Moon and the Biscornu. Have to get myself some of that lovely red fabric first, ha ha!


On the HoE Exchange, I received a gorgeous Santa Ornament from Suzanne. She stitched for me a PS Old World Santa. Her stitching and finishing are perfect. Thank you, Suzanne, for a great exchange!


For this Exchange, my partner is Marie P. I stitched for her an old Santa by Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin. I am so glad that she loves the ornament.



I love smalls and have some finishes to show. The first two designs are by Shepherd's Bush - Be Happy and Glad Tidings. They are gifted to my by Cindy and Sally. I only stitched one side of the designs and the fabrics showed are the backings for these scissors fobs.


Both designs stitched on 32ct Belfast Antique White linen using only DMC threads.


Here is one scissors fob, the other will have to wait. The cording is not done yet, ha ha!


These next two smalls are the bonus charts by LK, included in the Inspiration Boxers B34 and B35.


This one is gifted to me by Julie and is to be finished into a Pin Pillow. The "O" in Love is a heart charm! The other one is a scissors fob, the birdies are so cute! Both designs are stitched on 32ct Belfast Light Mocha linen using DMC threads.


One final finish to show, this is actual a wooden napkin ring turned into a pincushion. The motif is by DMC and stitched using DMC thread #115. This pincushion is very tiny, barely 1.5 inches in diameter. I am looking for more tiny designs to stitch for these pincushions. They come in the shapes of rabbit, rooster, elephant and duck.



I am currently working hard on my HAL. We are already on part 3 of the HAL and I am still struggling with Part 2. Hope to catch up ASAP???

Happy Stitching till the next update!

Hugs,
Ellen

A Great Start

Time flies, it is already February 2012. I had a great start this year. I won two New Year's Giveaways.

Julie had a giveaway to celebrate the New Year. I am so lucky to be the winner. She sent me a box of goodies! Look at the pin pillow, I just love the color.


Here are the goodies that she sent to me. The chocolate did not last long, ha, ha!


A closer look at the LK's kit!


Cindy also had a giveaway to celebrate her birthday and the new year. I was very excited to be the winner again. Here are the gifts she sent to me.



Thank you so much, Julie and Cindy, for the wonderful gifts! I can't wait to start the LK's kit and the SB's fob.


My plan to stitch an ornament a month went very well. I had finished the stitching for January and February. As usual, the finishing is delayed, lol!

Design : LHN Winter Sheep
Fabric: 40ct linen hand-dyed by Nina
Thread: DMC

Design: LHN Joy to the World
Fabric: 28ct Amber Linen
Thread: DMC

I join Becky's BAP Challenge and choose to stitch LK's 6 Fat Men. The snowmen are so adorable! Many stitchers had completed these designs and they are so gorgeous. I want to finish this one fast, hopefully not too much distractions along the way!

Design: LK's 6 Fat Men
Fabric: 32ct Wichelt Amber Linen
Thread: WDW and CC

Mamen is hosting another HAL. Here is a picture of the project, a Memo Holder. This project involves some cartonnage which Mamen will provide tutorial at the end of the stitching. Mamen stitches beautifully, please visit her blog to see her gorgeous works.


Here is my Part one!

Fabric: 32ct Ivory Belfast
Thread: DMC perle 352, 353

Surprise! I had some finishings to show, two scissors fobs and a pincushion. I stitched these SB's freebies last year. The designs are so adorable. I will be looking for more SB's designs to stitch.

Valentine is round the corner, Happy Valentine to all my visitors!

Happy Stitching until the next update!

Hugs,
Ellen

A Last Post For 2011

Just in time to squeeze in a last post before the year closes.

Christmas comes, Christmas went and I had no ornament to show except those I received from HoE exchanges. Thank you so much for these exchanges. In the last Round, I stitched this Santa for my partner, Roberta Smith. I love Santa and this Round is the Stitcher's Choice. I hope Roberta loves it too!

Design: Santa by Prairie Schooler
Fabric: 28ct Opalescent Linen
Thread: DMC

In return, I received a beautiful ornament from Becky K. She knows I love Santa and sunflowers, so what better than a Santa with Sunflowers. This design is also by The Prairie Schooler. I love this ornament, thank you Becky for this great exchange.

I did managed to finish stitching Red Santa after Christmas. This ornament will be on my Christmas tree next year, ha, ha!

Design: Red Santa by BOAF
Fabric: 36ct Lakeside Linen Meadow Rue
Thread: DMC

Here is a picture of my small Christmas tree with all those ornaments I received.

I have two last finishes for 2011. First is the SAL hosted by The Thread Basket and C Mon Monde. The SAL was scheduled to be completed by Dec 14th but I only finished the stitching on Christmas Day. I enjoyed stitching this sampler, a beautiful winter scene. Thank you so much, Valarie and Virginia for this SAL.

Design: A La Belle Etoile by C Mon Monde
Fabric: 36ct Hand-dyed linen (Color close to DMC 3747)
Thread: DMC

This one is an UFO, cannot remember when I started it. I love quaker, don't know why I put it away for so long. The design is by Nathalie of Jardin Prive, she gives the choice of 3 colorways.

Design: Eiffel Quaker by Jardin Prive
Fabric: 32ct Antique White Belfast
Thread: DMC 407, 632, 950

A closer view of the Eiffel Tower!



I would like to say a big "Thank you" to everyone who visit my blog. All your comments are greatly appreciated!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hugs,
Ellen

A RAK, Two Finishes and Another SAL

It is rare to see me post twice in a month. I want to show a wonderful RAK gift from Andrea at The Craft Room. Andrea had a Christmas RAK Draw on her blog recently. She had 6 beautiful Christmas ornaments to give away. I am so lucky to be one of the winners. Here is the gorgeous ornament!

This gift came beautifully wrapped with a special Christmas card. Thank you so much Andrea, for this RAK. I will treasure them.


We had come to the end of Carol R's Mystery SAL. Here is the finale with my initial E. I will be mounting this beautiful sampler on the box in the picture. Carol gave a Bonus Chart to be stitched and finished into pincushion for the box. Thank you Carol, for a wonderful SAL. For those who miss the SAL, Carol has the design on sale on her blog - Sew A Mystery.


Next another finish to share - Christmas Eve. I love Prairie Schooler's designs and really enjoyed stitching this piece. Still not sure how I will finish this one, probably frame it.



I am very slow with the Christmas ornament stitching. Look at the Red Santa, he is still without a head. You can visit the Christmas Ornament Challenge 2011's blog to see the beautiful ornaments already posted there.


However, I managed to finish another ornament. This is a freebie by L 'R de rien in 2009. It was a fast stitch and I took away the year 09 in the design.

Design: Joyeux Noel by L 'R de rien
Fabric: 27ct PINK Meran
Thread: DMC blanc

With the end of Carol's Mystery SAL, I started another SAL hosted by The Thread Basket. The design for this SAL "A La Belle Etoile" is by French designer C Mon Monde. This is a 4-part SAL with one part per week. I am currently stitching on part two, here is a picture of part one. The fabric is actual light blue linen, close to DMC color 3747.

Designer: C Mon Monde
Fabric: 36ct hand-dyed linen
Thread: DMC

I took my mum to the 20th World Orchid Conference last week. We love flowers and I took lots of pictures. I will end with some pictures of the Orchid Show, enjoy!

Take care and keep stitching!
Hugs,
Ellen









The orchids are gorgeous, actually a very deep purple in color.

A rare species!

Super Mail and An Update on Christmas Eve

I received a super package from USA. Becky sent me a box of candy tins and wooden boxes. Thank you so much, Becky, I love them. Now, I have to hunt for appropriate designs to stitch for these tins and boxes. Maybe I could use some of my completed pieces for these finishings!


Becky is a wonderful and fast stitcher. She is very creative with her finishes, visit her blog to see her gorgeous works.


I have been stitching diligently on Christmas Eve. Yes, it is definitely a Prairie Schooler's design. I had checked, the design is from Book 158. Here is my update, what is left to stitch is the band of snow at the bottom. I really love the two reindeer.



I jump on the wagon and join the Christmas Ornament Challenge 2011 hosted by Becky. This challenge started on November 1st and we are supposed to stitch Christmas ornaments for the next two months. I wonder, how many can I stitch? Please visit the blog to see the beautiful ornaments already posted there.

Here is my start of the first ornament. My theme is Santa, there are four of them in this series - Red, Green, Black and Gold.

Design: Red Santa by BOAF
Fabric: 36ct Lakeside Linen Meadow Rue
Thread: DMC

Of course, I will stitch other Christmas designs beside Santas. Knowing me, I may just be tired of Santas after the first one.


The next piece is stitched for me by my friend, Claudia. Isn't is beautiful? I love it, thank you Claudia. This will be finished into a circular cushion/pillow.

The design was lifted from The Cross Stitcher, an UK magazine. The picture did not showed the true color of the fabric, it is actually pink!

Design: Sorry I did not take note of the designer
Fabric: 27ct Pink Meran
Thread: DMC

That it for this posting. I hope to have Christmas Eve finished in my next update. And hopefully, there are Christmas ornaments to show, ha! ha!

Thank you for all your comments, they are greatly appreciated!

Hugs and keep stitching,
Ellen