Christmas ornaments received from my best friend Terry for my Christmas tree

(Santa's boots)

Projects: Santa Boots, Tartan Pinecones and Stardust

Designer: Pinflair kits

Type of needlework: Craft and Ribbonwork

Photos: 3

Pinflair website: http://pinflair.co.uk/

Comments: Terry and I exchange gifts mainly for two very special occasions during the year, Christmas and our birthdays. We have now been doing that for years. Gifts vary considerably from year to year depending on our circunstances, but no matter what we end up giving each other, it is always wonderful and very appreciated by both of us. We seem to have the same tastes ao we can be pretty sure that if I like something, chances are great that Terry will also like it. This makes things much easier for both of us to give each other presents that will be treasured for the rest of our lives.

This year, she was not really into stitching much so she purchased these lovely kits and made me five lovely ornaments for Christmas. I am absolutely thrilled with them and after I finish writing this post I will rush down and hang them on my Christmas tree.

I have been thinking about taking lots of close-up photographs of all my Christmas ornaments that are decorating my tree this year and making a little slide-show with them. My interests are very diverse, so having a Christmas theme just does not work for me, so it is a bit of this and a bit of that and I just love it.

(Tartan pinecones)

I love pinecones and I think it is such a wonderful ideas to make them with ribbons.

It will look great in my Christmas tree.

(Stardust)

I was looking at Pinflair website which is a British site and they have such an abondance of kits

that it must have been hard for  my friend to choose the ones she has selected this year.

A funny thing just happened, while I am writing this, my husband just came into my stitching room and he was asking me if they have lots of other kits there and I showed him all that they have on their website and he showed me all those that he liked (big grin). Gosh, someone could start a tradition with them as there are so many to choose from.

................. and to think that I now have Santa's boots (smiling)

Ladies - A Christmas ornament: Helen Gibb, designer

Project: Ladies - a Christmas ornament

Designer: Helen Gibb

Type of needlework: Ribbon work

Photo: 1

Helen's website: http://www.helengibb.com/

Comments: I thought it would be fun to make a different kind of Christmas ornament that I normally do, that does not actually involve much stitching at all, mostly at this time of the year if you are running behind as I am.

This little ornament came as a kit, so no hunting for supplies. I can also see lots of possibilities for  me to create others similar and at the same time different to this one. I will need of course some fabric print, which is something that I have since I have done some crazy quilting in the past and thinking of going back to it as I love to do a bit of this and a bit of that. It makes life more interesting, I find (smiling)

Tara: Devaki Parasuramar, designer

Project: Tara

Designer: Devaki Parasuramar of South Australia

Type of needlework: Ribbon work, silk ribbon and embroidery

Photos: 2

Inspirations magazine: Project comming from Issue #23, pages 52 - 55

Embroidery Canada: Framing article from Susan Donn called "It's time to display"

(Issue Spring 2007)

Comments: This is another of those projects that when I saw it, I wanted to make it. Devaki, the designer, said that one evening she was watching the movie "Gone with the Wind" and got her inspiration to create Tara. Perhaps that is exactly the reason why I felt like I just had to make her for myself as I just love that movie.

The instructions are very well written and it was not difficult to make except that some pieces were rather small and a bit difficult to manipulate but I managed in the end.

For the framing, I had read an article from Susan Donn in Canada in the EAC's Guild magazine about doing finishing with fabric. It is a wonderful idea as it looks good and saves a bit of money from having to bring the finished piece to the framer. Anyway, I think that the more ideas we can get about how to finish our pieces, the better.

That is one of the reason that I belong to lots of Guilds as you just never know where you will find great ideas about projects, finishing, meeting new designers, correspondence classes, etc.