Gifted Gorgeousness Report for May

Two months since I last posted - and not  much stitching done in that time-frame. I did, however, have a lovely camping holiday that I enjoyed very much.  We traveled south, and camped by several rivers and lakes.  I saw many beautiful sunsets, and a few majestic sunrises (I'm sure there were more, but I slept through them), stunning night skies, and beautiful bird life.  This is a snap taken at Lake Cargelligo in western NSW, the last of our campsites.  From the camper van door I could touch these trees. The most amazing thing for me about Lake Cargelligo (apart from the most beautiful sunrises, which spanned 360 deg around the lake) was that when I stood on the edge of the lake and looked right around it, all i saw was natural vegetation - no development at all.  Of course, there was a small town just 3 km behind me, but I was able to block that from my thoughts!

So, my stitching, such as it is. No progress at all to report on Christmas Dreams - Santa is still resting. I did stitch five ornaments which I have not yet made up, and four more tiny  Christmas cross stitched designs which I have framed in tiny frames.

The teddy bear design is adapted from a chart in LA's Christmas Miniatures leaflet.

 These ornaments are for Kiwi sisters,grandchildren of an old friend.  I still have a little stitching to do on the back of Annabelle's ornament.

 Santa Alphabet from LA's Ultimate Alphabets book.

I stitched this for one of my nieces. I changed the colours, made a few adjustments to the design to define the areas more strongly, and to accommodate my finishing method, and added the beads.

Better Homes & Gardens on-line freebie from BHG.com

This ornament is for my youngest sister.  It's a mix of designs from a variety of sources.  The Santa chart is in BH&G Treasury of Christmas Cross Stitch 2003; 'JOY' and the tree shapes are from the BH&G heart freebie (above); and the angels are from Pat Waters 'A Christmas Collection 1986.

This one is for another niece.  It's adapted from The Drawn Thread's on-line freebie First Snow.  I changed the birds to hearts, omitted the snow flakes and snow, and added the star button and the greeting.  And of course I chose my own fabric and floss (I was hundreds of km from the nearest needlework shop - I had to use what I had with me).

So, there it is. Not much to show for two months work, but  all I have.  I will be finishing these ornaments in the next week or so, and then I think I will stitch a few more of the ornaments on this year;s 'To Do' list.   I fear that there'll be no progress on Christmas Dreams at the June report.