IHSW and some finishes!!!!

I signed up for December's IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend)and managed to finish the 4 ornaments I have been working on the past couple of weeks.

Different Drummer © 2007 Mill Hill

Merry Moose © 2011 Mill Hill

Stocking Reindeer © 2011 Daffycat Designs

Cardinal Winter © 2010 Little House Needleworks

I am off now to post on a couple of other blogs I belong to and then to do some more baking and decorating.  I will be back to stitching tonight.

Take care and happy stitching!!!!

♫ It`s beginning to look at lot like Christmas ♫

(Be thankful you can`t really hear me sing or you be heading for the hills! LOL)

Christmas is my favourite time of the the year.  So today I had a great time doing Christmasy things.

This morning I baked 3 loaves of  Jack Daniel`s Classic Holiday Fruitcake .  I like this recipe  because it doesn`t have any candied cherries or pineapple.  I love candied citrus peel but I have never been a fan of the cherries or pineapple.

 And then this afternoon I made half a batch of my favourite rum ball recipe.  You can find the recipe here. I love this recipe because it is so decadent. ;)

Tomorrow I hope to make a Christstollen.  (Please note that although this is the recipe I use, I don`t put in any candied cherries.  I just increase the amount of candied citron.)  Next week my plan is to make some butter tart squares, molasses cookies and shortbread.

I also started pulling out my Nutcrackers to  decorate for  Christmas.  It takes about a week for me to get them all out and in their place as well getting my trees decorated (I have 3 trees - the main tree in the living room, the Nutcracker tree in the den and the Shepherd`s Bush 2000  years Ago mini tree in the Dining Room.)  I  decorate almost every room in the house with Nutcrackers (even the bathrooms).  The only room my DH can find refuge from them is the bedroom. :)

This is my Advent Nutcracker

and these three are the Phantom of the Opera,  Maid Marion and a Tyrolean marking the last German Mark and the switchover to the Euro.

I even managed to find some to stitch on Daffycat`s Stocking Reindeer. I hoping to have this on done soon so I can start her Ribbon Reindeer.  I have decided to keep the reindeer for myself.   Which means I am going to have find a way to display.  Hmmm..... perhaps another tree?  (Pssst.....don't tell my DH!!!)

LAST CALL:  YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT (CST) TONIGHT TO ENTER MY MINI GIVEAWAY FOR THE 2010 PRAIRIE SCHOOLER SANTA.  GO HERE FOR DETAILS.

Have a good evening and happy stitching!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Did it!!!!

It is November 30th and I managed to make a post everyday this month. It was a struggle some days but I did it.

I promised on Monday to post progress pics of my current projects but I had forgotten that we were visiting my MIL yesterday and by the time we came home I didn't feel like posting again.

The first is the Merry Moose (Mill Hill)

then there is Cardinal Winter (LHN)

Stocking Reindeer (Daffycat)

and lastly Different Drummer (Mill Hill)

I am hoping to have all but he Cardinal Winter finished by the end of the weekend.  However there is no time for stitching tonight as we are shortly to see a reading of The Christmas Carol.

Take care and Happy Stitching!!!

And then there were more reindeer

This morning I went through my collection of Christmas freebies to see if there was anything I wanted to stitch when I came across this little cutie by Valerie called Renne de Noel.

It was a quick stitch and I will be finishing it into an ornament using the trim pictured with it. The chart is available here.

After I finished stitching this, I went visiting blogs and found out that Daffycat has new reindeer out called Stocking Reindeer. I immediately emailed her for the chart and will probably start sometime this week.

Below is my progress on Witchy Boot.  I just need to fill in the boot and finish the backstitching.  I was going to make this into an ornament for my Halloween wreath but decided I have enough on it already so I will be making it into a display pillow using the fabric and ribbon Lesleyanne sent me in the Fall into Halloween Exchange.

I also added a few stitches to Joy to the World. I finished the dress and added the green trim.

Well, that is my stitching news for today.   I don't think I will be getting much stitching done tomorrow.  I have to prepare some financial reports and cheques for a meeting on Monday night and we will probably be visiting my MIL in the hospital sometime tomorrow.  The poor dear fell and fractured her hip on Thursday.  She is 84 years old and had a hip replacement done this afternoon.   I am hoping all goes well for her.

Take care happy stitching!!

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My Three Reindeer

I had a very productive day stitching today. I manage to finish all three of the reindeer by Daffycat Designs - Holly, Jinglebell and Mistletoe.

Holly Reindeer © 2009 Daffycat Designs

Jinglebell Reindeer  © Daffycat Designs

Mistletoe Reindeer © 2010 Daffycat Designs

I also finally got around to making the L*K Life's A Stitch (Traveling Pattern Sisterhood) into a display pillow.

Tomorrow my goal is to finish the SanMan Witchy Boot and make some more progress on the LHN Joy  to the World.

It's been a long day so I need to get some sleep now.  Good night and happy stitching!!!!

One Reindeer down and two more to go!!

I finished stitching on the Holly Reindeer this evening. Tomorrow I plan to finish the Jinglebell and Mistletoe Reindeers and then make them all into ornaments. I replaced DMC 814 with some beads I had left over from a previous project.

Holly Reindeer © 2009 Daffycat Designs

This is my progress on the other two reindeer.   I think all 3 are just adorable.

Well that's it for now, take care and happy stitching!!!!!!!!