Travel Memories.  I finished this in February 2017.  It was from a kit that I asked my mother for my birthday in 2016.  She, of course, got it for me and I started it right away.  But then I put it on hold for doing other projects that were seasonal in nature, as well as a pair of pheasants that I completed for her birthday.  I am thankful for all of these things as my mother passed away this year and I will not get to spend any more birthdays with her.  She was my very dear friend and I miss her very much.

Santa Cross-Stitch is complete!

I finished ole Santa Claus and the Christmas Tree Fairy and he is in his sparkle frame and ready for Christmas 2017!  I am so proud!

Gem  

A re-purposed frame for my stitching.

I bought this frame at Goodwill for $2.99.  It was honey brown colored.  I repainted it with a very subtle and almost white pink color.  Two coats of that.  Then one coat of metallic silver.  It looked just a tiny bit streaked, which is what I wanted because I didn't want it to look too thick or globby.  Then I mixed some tiny silver glitter into a gloss varnish and went over the whole thing.  Since I chose to not use metallic threads in my stitching (what a bother on such a large piece!), I thought some sparkle on the frame would be great.  So this will be going on Santa and the Christmas Tree Fairy when it is finished.

This is Santa and the Christmas Tree Fairy from A Cross Stitch Christmas.

I'm not sure which of the Cross Stitch Christmas books it is from because I purchased it on ebay as an individual chart.  I have been working on it for just over a month now and it's coming along.  Unfortunately I did not finish it in time for Christmas of 2016, but he will be ready for next year!  

The finished size will be 10" x 13.75".  I have been stitching him on 14 ct. gray fabric from Charles Craft.  The pattern called for a very bright pink fabric, but I didn't want to do it on that, so chose a nice gray, which I'm very happy with!

I was inspired to begin this blog by reddit.  I used to go to the cross stitch subreddit, but have ceased.  I find so many posts there now that are subversive cross stitch (which is not my thing), newbies with very basic questions, and even posts with tattoos of cross stitch, which are not actually cross stitch.  The moderators there seem just a bit too stringent in some areas - namely that each post is required to have a tag on it, as well as a requirement that each finished object posted must have a source for the pattern.  So I left there and do not plan on a return.  I really just want to share my projects with others and enjoy the experience.