A little Pooh!

This is a cover kit, and a dip the toe in the water of a backstitch pattern.  I have seen a Ballerina and bear done mainly in backstitch (not quite blackwork, but on a theme).

This was not so bad but I am still a little tentative about moving on to the ballerina.  I would say next year perhaps but that is not all that far away now and I have a feeling it will be quite full enough with projects lingering from this year.

Anyway here is Pooh.

Pooh

The golden apostrophe

I made this coaster for a lady at work.  She loves not just the drinking of teas but all of the paraphernalia that goes with it.  She delights in tea pots, cream jugs and matching sugar bowls (which is amusing as she does not take sugar) she even finds the act of pouring soothing.

I on the other hand don't do tea, even if the smell of it did not make me feel sick (which it does) it is something my religion prohibits.

In addition to her tea obsession she is a grammar queen and incorrectly placed apostrophes drive her potty.

So a coaster with a tea cup (the only cup for tea she will ever get from me) and an apostrophe in gold, just the thing.

 

 

From Christmas plate to Nativity light

I shared some plates decorated for Christmas using paper napkins and glue.

These lanterns made from glass jars use the same basic technique to a different effect.

The outside of the jars have been coated with one layer of white napkin. Then a silhouette of ordinary black paper added over the top.

In normal light, no candles.

A bit of ribbon with festive Christmas bells for a bit of colour, pop in a tea light (theses have one of the small battery powered ones you can get with a flickering flame effect (much safer).

Using the flash, candles lit.

Theses pictures do not do justice to the effect theses simple decorations give.

No flash, candles lit

On the sixth day of Christmas..the

advent blog hop comes to me

.

And I get to share my Christmas stitching.  Now to be honest I am not a prolific Christmas stitcher and most of the things I have stitched on this theme have already had an outing in my blog last year, so to join in the advent blog hop I finished off a gift kit from CrossStitcher, issue 194, I made a small start on it and stalled with only the red section and a stitch or two of little pale yellow sewn.

It is one of those designs that looks like nothing without the backstitching, but it had very annoying backstitching for all the difference it made, quarter and half square lengths, backstitching into the middle of a stitch, but I guess worth it.

It came with its own picture mount, I have shown it here, but I am not 100% convinced, there is something about the roof in roof that does not sit quite right for me.  Nor am I sure about that star.  I have a tiny design for a Santa and sleigh I think might fit.  Mulling it over for now. 

In addition to the sharing of some Christmas themed sewing, Jo the hostess with the most-est, for this hop has also set a theme of sorts, she asked that we talk about our best gift. I have been thinking about that a lot.  I have received many wonderful, thoughtful and completely me gifts over the years.  Gifts that made me smile, laugh, brought tears of joy to my eyes and warmed my heart.  Can I pick a single one, no I can't.

I can however think of two gifts given at Christmas and the joy that I felt in others pleasure.

Each gift was for a little boy, neither of whom are blood family but who as children of good friends felt as if they were.  Each given a very different gift and each with a different response.

I asked the first youngsters dad what the child might like for Christmas, anything to do with castles was the reply.  Now as this child was one of four and friends must be careful not to overstep at this time of year I have always set myself  a firm budget for the gifts.  I could not find a castle within the budget.  However, I did find a set of knights that came with a plastic castle gate and portcullis.

Castle from a box with plastic portcullis

The day before I was due to visit, it suddenly occurred to me that I could put the gate into the side of a strong box and make a castle.  Cardboard box, bits of cardboard, pipe lagging, glue,paint and a little later I had a castle with turrets ramparts and a keep.  Fortunately for me it dried by the next morning and was hastily wrapped with its selection of Knights and Cowboys and Indians (which came with the ground sheet) inside the castle walls.

He said not a word as he carefully, slowly opened it, his eyes fixed he placed it on the floor and began placing the knights. Totally focused, he was in his new world and the rest of us slid out of existence. Success.

The second was a bought gift, a spaceship from the Early Learning Centre, complete with astronauts, astro-dog, space buggy, alien and a toilet! It wrapped large and my BF's son made short work of ripping away the paper.  He bounced and quivered with joy and for the next fifteen minuets as his parents battled away with ties and cardboard flaps to free it from the packaging, exclaimed over and over "thank you, thank you" and "I am so excited" "its the best ever".

It is great doing the giving when you get it just right.

 Serendipitous Stitching's Advent Calendar Blog Hop. 

Christmas fair update

So far the Christmas fair with raffle and sale of goods has raised over  £1300.  There is some still to be received and counted from the sale of a numerous calender with each month represented by a member of staff.  The union rep for example is in November as Guy Fawkes on top of a bonfire.