I stitched this gorgeous Santa while I was holidaying in the country in my campervan. It's an oldie - Father Christmas Bellpull from the 1997 issue of BH&G's Cross-Stitch Christmas. The designer is not credited in the magazine. I stitched it on 28 count natural jobelan. I changed all of the charted floss colours, added some shading to the hat and coat, and added some beads (the holly berries, the bell clangers, and the tree decorations). I also added a bead-decorated border. It's 28cm (about 11 inches) long x 8 cm (about 3.5 inches) wide. I'll go looking for some dowelling tomorrow for the top and bottom, and make it up as a wall-hanging.
I had a lovely holiday in the campervan. We were away for just over 2 weeks, and I celebrated yet another birthday while we were away. I'd like to say I feel older and wiser for it, but honestly - it's just older! We travelled over 1200 km, heading north-west to Lightning Ridge, which is a town I have visited before and really like. It's an opal-mining town, but most of the opal has been dug from the area, and the town has diversified to cater for tourists, in a very laid-back eccentric way.
Lightning Ridge. Of all the towns I've visited here in Oz and overseas, I consider Lightning Ridge to be the most unusual and interesting. There were three vans in our party - 7 adults and 4 dogs in all. We stayed 3 days longer than our planned week, as the caravan park we chose to stay at was at the end of a long dirt road - only navigable in the dry - and it rained lots towards the end of our first week there. It took the 3 extra days for the road to dry enough for us to tow out our vans, and even then the trip out was a bit slippery and exhilarating, and we brought quite a bit of the red mud with us on the car. We were marooned in the caravan park ankle-deep in red mud, and the dogs, the vans and our annexe got more than their fair share of red mud too. And the caravan park didn't even have a kiosk for emergency suplies (or chocolate!). But it was fun, just the same! We stayed at Narrabri on the way up, and Tamworth on the way home - all very enjoyable, but for me Lightning Ridge was the highlight of the trip.
The holiday is over now. The van is cleaned, washed and back in the garage. Our bags are unpacked, groceries back in the pantry, and the second of 6 loads of washing is in the machine. Tomorrow we'll be back in the real world again.
I almost didn't make the trip, as my 87 yr old moderately demented Dad was not well. In the week before I left on my trip he went off the rails big-time (depression, paranoia, psychosis) and required admission to hospital. In his distressed state, he also did some further damage to his already compromised heart. He got the most amazing care in hospital, and they did a major review of his medications, and started him on a new drug. His mental state is so much better, though at times he is more confused. In the end I did decide to go on the trip, which had been planned for months, as he was improving, and my siblings were able and willing to keep an eye on him. My sisters Wendy and Gayle did a great job of communicating with the medical team and keeping me informed of Dad's progress. Today he was discharged back to his hostel, so I am looking forward to seeing him there tomorrow.
Back:
and this photo shows the cushion backs:
I'll be making another of these little floral dollhouse cushions in the next few days.
Yes, it's the same stocking design as the last one I posted, but this one is stitched over 1 on 22 count using 1 strand of floss, and the last one was stitched over 2 on 28 count using 2 strands of floss. This one is for a friend's first grandchild, due in October. I am stitching an identical ornament for my friend's other daughter, whose baby is due in January.
I just need to stitch in Baby's name and then stitch this ornie up, but I won't be doing that for a while. baby's not expected to arrive till November, and I have to wait for the name. When I do stitch it up, I'll use green floss and the white beads to lace the back and front together.
I
This is the second "Santa's Key" ornament I've stitched recently, to make use of a couple of lttle jewelled keys I found in a local discount variety shop. This one will als go to a child living in a chimney-free house.
I finished making up this ornament tonight. The design is adapted from LA's 1996 
Well, maybe just a tiny bit ...
I've just finished making up this Santa ornament. The designer is Donna Vermillion Giampa, and it's my favourite of the Santas in her Nine Santa Sampler. I really enjoyed stitching this one - and it broght back memories of stitching the Nine Santa Sampler in 1996. When I stitched the Sampler, I used 18 count Aida, and stitched it over 2, so my Sampler Santas are so much larger than this one.
Not the best pic, I know. The scanner just wouldn't play nice today. The smallest (blue) one is 3 inches (7.5cm) tall. The beads are definitely going away now, and I'll be spending the next hour or so deciding on my next cross stitch project. I feel an ornament coming on ...
And here is a batch of handbag or zip 'dangles'. They will also be Christmas gifts.
I stitched this gorgeous Santa while I was holidaying in the country in my campervan. It's an oldie - Father Christmas Bellpull from the 1997 issue of BH&G's Cross-Stitch Christmas. The designer is not credited in the magazine. I stitched it on 28 count natural jobelan. I changed all of the charted floss colours, added some shading to the hat and coat, and added some beads (the holly berries, the bell clangers, and the tree decorations). I also added a bead-decorated border. It's 28cm (about 11 inches) long x 8 cm (about 3.5 inches) wide. I'll go looking for some dowelling tomorrow for the top and bottom, and make it up as a wall-hanging.
Page 8 is well on the way to being finished (that sound you can hear is me cheering in the background...), and I am keen to see what page 9 brings. I'm hoping it's large blocks of solid colours and no confetti stitches, but I doubt that's likely! Of course, I could have checked the chart to discover what's in store for the next few weeks, but I figured there's no point in getting ahead of myself. While I can, I'm going to dream it will be easy stitching for the next page.
I can just see my sister Gayle looking at the pic and wondering why I bothered to put in a pic so similar to the one in the last post ... well, to me it looks like progress. It certainly represents hours of work! The reds on the cap are stitched, and I've (only just) started on the cap's fur trim. I am keen to get page 8 stitched, but I'm certainly not holding my breath till it's finshed!
JOF is back down in my stitching corner (aka the longe room), and I have put in the first few stitches. I hope to have the reds of the hat finished in the next day or so - just a small section of what is still to be stitched on page 8, but a start! As I expected, it is taking a while for me to adapt back to the tiny stitches, but I think I'm there now (ever the optimist ...).
and this is the back of the same angel:
I'll probably keep making angels for another day or so - unless I run out of beadcaps, which is on the cards.
At first I was disappointed when I saw her framed, as the framer didn't follow my instructions. I wanted her mounts to be arched at the top, like the ones on the Angel of Hope, and also on my Angel of Love. As you can see, the framer cut the mounts straight across rather than arching the top. The framer did offer to re-frame her, but after really thinking about it, I decided this mount does suit her, so I accepted her as she was. 
This is probably the same kookaburra, taken later in the day - the angle's not so good on this pic, but the kooka was looking straight at me at the time.
These are Christmas gifts for two little sisters. Their names are on the back. I used the same candycane design I used for a set of ornaments earlier in the month, but I finished these as diamonds rather than square-shaped.
The compressed pinkish threads in the bottom half are from Angel of Grace; the multicoloured threads on top are from the assortment of Christmas designs I've stitched in May.
These are Christmas gifts for some special children.
