How many days 'til Christmas?

In early August, I wrote about some gals doing  "Christmas in July" projects. It seems I am always working on something Christmas-y... I showed you the beaded Santas I had underway and promised to update you at end of August.. and... I forgot! So, here they are. I finished seven over July and August. One has already flown off to Newfoundland to Jackie P. who won the giveaway.... Here are the rest, (plus two left from last year: on the bottom row- Father Christmas and St. Nicholas). All I have left to do is add the hangers.
By the time you are reading this, these ornaments and I will be on our way to Lunenburg Nova Scotia. I'm taking a 2 day class there this weekend, along with my buddy Sue and her sister-in-law from Toronto. SIL Marty is anxious to have one of my Santas, so she will get to choose which one she prefers.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll be back here in a few days... Ta ta for now...

Peace
Linda

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year.
~ Charles Dickens

400th Post Giveaway!

What are you working on these summer days? Many people do "Christmas in July" projects; my friend Gail has been making good progress on her Winter Wonderland project, "reporting in" each Sunday through July - you can check it out on her blog here. Although my intentions were good and I do have several small holiday season sewing/quilting projects awaiting, it just didn't happen. But I HAVE been working away this summer, slowly but surely, on some cross-stitched beaded Santa ornaments- does that count? Thought I'd show you my progress so far, and I'll take another photo at end of August- hopefully these will be finished and perhaps a few more designs done. I have a friend in Ontario who has pleaded for one of these Santas. She has practically promised me the world for a Santa, and since I will be seeing her in early September, I thought I had better get moving. Although she said she'd be happy with whichever one I wanted to do, I would prefer to give her the choice, so am trying to get one of each design done (plus some extras for Christmas giving). The count to date is 4 Santa Clauses, 2 Saint Nicks and 1 San Nicolo- in various stages of completion. Of course I still have the hats to do.... (You can see all five designs if you click on "Beaded Santas" on my sidebar.)
I can hardly believe that this is my 400th post!! Wow- where does the time go? I think that's a good enough reason to have a little giveaway, don't you ? Leave me a comment on this post and tell me where you live (I'm curious to see where my readers are) and I'll enter you in a draw for a Santa Claus (shown at left). He measures roughly 2.25" wide by 4.25" tall. Tell me if you are a follower or join as a new follower and you'll get a second entry. Scroll to the very bottom of the page to see my Followers and join them! I'll make the draw next Friday evening, August 12th. Don't forget to leave your email or a way to contact you, if you're not a Blogger.
My next post will take you to Maine Quilts in Augusta.

Peace,
Linda

Only 142 days till Christmas!!

Time for a Giveaway!

The more I "blog-surf" the more giveaways I see, so I think it's high time I did a giveaway. My "excuse" is I'll very shortly be making my 300th post! I think this is as good a reason as any, don't you? (*wink) I don't know where the time has gone, and I certainly can't believe that in less than 2 years in Blogland, I am at this point. And to think I was worried about "what will I ever talk about?" ha!
I must say though, in all this time, I haven't gathered many followers.. of course I haven't really worked hard at that either.... Nor do I get many comments; it seems to be the same few who comment all the time.. I like to hear from you, readers - no one wants to think they are talking to themselves..haha!
SO- here's how the giveaway is going to work: 1. You don't have to be a blogger to enter- it is open to all readers. But if you are not a blogger, you will have to include your email address with your comment so I can reach you if you are a lucky winner!
2. You must leave a comment on this post to say Hello. I will choose a winner next Thursday, Nov. 25 - one month before Christmas, by pulling a name "from the hat". And - if you're not a Blogger, I'd love you to tell me where you live!
3. If you are already a Follower of my Blog, or if you join as a new Follower, I will add your name two extra times.
4. If you have a blog and mention my giveaway there (you could even link to my post!) I'll add your name two more times. Of course, you'll have to tell me that you have done this...
And what might you win, you ask? You could win one of the stitched beaded Santa ornaments shown on this post - Saint Nick (top), San Nicolo (left) or Santa Claus (below) - your choice. If I get more than 100 comments, or I reach 50
followers, I'll draw two winners. If I get both - over 100 comments AND 50 followers, I'll draw three winners! I will add a little something else to the winnings as well, depending on if you are a quilter, crazy quilter, a stitcher or whatever your passion is....
So, dear readers - I'm waiting!! I want to hear from YOU!

Edit: Mon. Nov.22 - I just realized that some viewers may not know how to comment, or become a Follower. Anyone can leave a comment - all you do is click on the word "Comments" below- a white box will open up - type your comment in the box, then below it click on "Comment as". If you do not have a Blog or Google account, select Anonymous in the drop down menu. (just remember to add your name and email addy in your comment so I'll know who you are in case you are the lucky winner!!) Then simply hit the "Post Comment" button. Simple as that!
To become a Follower, you must have a Google account. Scroll way down my sidebar to find the box of Followers, then simply click on the word Follow and follow the prompts.

Peace,
Linda

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.

Here comes Santa Claus

Here he is.. Santa Claus himself. He is the last one I'm doing in the series of Mill Hill beaded Santas. There is one more actually, named Kris Kringle, but I don't care for the design, so this is it! This makes five different stitched beaded Santas. This one is # MHCSF 15. I used white on this one for the beard; I think I prefer the cream, but this one will be unique! Again, I changed the hat colors from what the pattern called for.

I hope to get a few more of these ornaments made, for some special friends, but I'm hoping to keep these five for my own tree, as I have been making these for 10 years now and have never kept one for myself ! You can see the others here, here, here and here. Which one is your favourite?

Next Friday I'll show you some other cross-stitched ornaments I have made.

Piece,

Linda

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Here's St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas is done! He is the fourth in my series of cross-stitched and beaded Santas. They are from kits from Mill Hill - St. Nicholas is # MHCSF16. If you have not been following my progress on these Santa ornaments, you can see the other three here, here and here. I enjoy working on these in the evenings when I am finally able to sit down and relax. This is the only stitching I have managed to get done this week.

It has been a frustrating week- we have waited all week for bloodwork results for Laura, to find out this morning that everything came back negative! Of course that is good news- nothing seriously wrong; however she is still not feeling very energetic and is still sleeping more than 12 hours per night. I guess she is just worn out... I continue to plug her full of fresh fruit, yogurt, smoothies and as much other healthy stuff as I can manage.

I have accomplished very little it seems, this week. Appointments and other routine stuff that has to be done is taking up too much of my time!! I'm trying to get some Christmas things done, but not a lot of progress yet. I'm hoping next week will be better! I'm teaching a class tomorrow, so after that- full steam ahead on Christmas!!! Hubby and I took a quick trip to Moncton yesterday. We purchased tickets a month ago to attend The Living Christmas Tree Show - it was amazing! If you live in my area and have never been, you really should check it out. It is quite a show- excellent music, fabulous costumes and of course a wonderful Christmas message of what the season is really about.

Peace,

Linda

Christmas is about HOW you spend it, not how much....

San Nicolo

You may be wondering where I've been the last few days, as I missed my promised post on Friday. Well, I have a good "excuse". I had to make a quick unplanned trip to Halifax on Thursday and just got home tonight.

So here is my third beaded Santa - this is San Nicolo. He is # MHCSF13 in the series. He measures 4 1/2" tall. Again, I have taken the liberty to make a few color changes on his hat. I enjoy doing San Nicolo as his beard is one of the simpler designs. Hope you like him. Next Friday I hope to have St. Nicholas ready to show you.

Piece,

Linda

Cherish the past, dream the future, live today.

Here's Father Christmas

Here's the second of my stitched and beaded Santas. This is Father Christmas, one of the Charmed Santa Faces from a Mill Hill kit. I introduced these last week and you can see that post here. Father Christmas is #MHCSF14. I have changed the colors of his hat from the pattern's suggestion of blue and purple. I just couldn't see putting a blue hat on Santa!!
I am having fun working on these Santas again this year, knowing that I will have a few of them on MY tree this time around. They are my evening project while "watching" TV. However, the beading is becoming increasingly difficult as Ollie has now discovered that beads are even more fun than threads. Hmmm, gotta come up with a new system that's "cat-proof"...
Next Friday I'll show you San Nicolo.

Piece,
Linda

Love is the light of Christmas.

Starting the Christmas Countdown...

Now that Remembrance Day is past, it's time to start thinking about Christmas preparations. I start gradually getting out decorations anytime after Nov. 11, and begin working ( if I haven't already started) on stitching ornaments and making gifts. A number of years ago I picked up some Mill Hill kits for cross-stitched and beaded old fashioned Santas. I have made probably beteween 60 and 70 of these over the last 8 years or so, and given every single one away! So - this year I have promised myself, no one gets one until I have one of each design for my own tree. So I'm sharing the first one with you today - and each Friday for the next few weeks, I'll show you another.
This first one is my favourite to do; I think I could almost stitch it without the pattern! He is called Saint Nick. He is 4.5" tall, and 2" wide at the widest part of his beard. Each Santa face is stitched on perforated paper, then beaded. I finish them by ironing a light or medium weight fusible interfacing to the back - this covers all the little thread ends, and just makes for a neater back. Then I trim away the excess paper, glue the hat to the head with a hot glue gun and add a thread hanger. Each one takes roughly 8 - 9 hours total. I'd hate to add up the hours I have spent on these over the years! It would scare me, I'm sure, but I enjoy working on something when I sit down in the evenings to "watch" TV. Plus I love giving special friends something I have made myself...
These kits may still be found in some needlework shops- or at least they could be ordered. The series is called "Charmed Santa Face" (1999) and there are 6 in this particular series. Saint Nick is # MHCSF18. Next Friday I'll show you Father Christmas.

Piece,
Linda

Family is the best part of Christmas.