I had the most difficult time trying to decide on a stitch for Conny for our Ornament Swap. Nothing I looked at seemed to jump out and scream, "I'm for Conny!" I take that back...one design did do that but it wasn't a Christmas design. Bent Creek's Plum Berry Sampler kept saying, "Stitch me, stitch me!" But, with a big blue bird and purple "fancy" stitches, this definitely wasn't a Christmas design. But it...could be...so I stitched all the letters first. In green. And...realized that ONCE AGAIN Bent Creek had put in the WRONG KEY so I frogged all the green letters and re-stitched in tan. (This filled my new frog-jar, nicely!) Then, I stitched the birdie in red and gave him a top-knot to turn him into a Cardinal (the USA's traditional Christmas bird) and stitched the "fancy" stitches in red as well. After looking at it, I decided to frog the "C" and the "S" (our initials) and stitch those in red as a "little extra." Tiny red buttons made holly berries and voila, a Christmas design! I found this black-and-red-checked fabric in the remnant bin and it was a perfect match.
Design ~ Plum Berry SamplerDesigner ~ Bent Creek
Fabric ~ 32 count tea-dyed Jobelan
Fiber ~ DMC
I was so thrilled with the finish on this one that I took lots of pictures!
You probably can't see very well in the photos but each little separation in the alphabet has fun stitches ~ Rhodes and Smyrna. The very center one was supposed to be Eyelets but after stitching over half of them I decided they were total crap...frogged...and did Rhodes instead! I know, I am a complete obsessive when it comes to my stitching! Can you tell how much I liked stitching and finishing this? I think this is my favorite project to date!Today marks the end of the Bad Hair Day giveaway. Thanks to everyone that entered! I went the lazy way and put the numbers through the random generator and it spit out #8. The eighth comment on that post came from a newbie blogger, Peggy Lee of Kentucky Sampler. Congratulations, Peggy Lee! As soon as you send me your mailing address I will get your prize sent!
.Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox
How creative! I just love it!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea! I have just acquired Bent Creek's 'Plum Berry Sampler' and would never have thought to adapt it in this way. I particularly like how you accented both of your initials - such a lovely touch. I've never stitched on jobelan before, I'm going to give it a go, it looks so classy on this finish.
ReplyDeletelovely stitches!.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful finish. I'm so impressed! It makes me wonder if I will ever be comfortable making changes like that on my stitching.
ReplyDeleteIts a beauty....I can tell you have put a lot of love in it girl!
ReplyDeleteThe bird's tail is pointing at something....I wonder what that is...lolz
Gorgeous finish. Love all your modifications to turn it into the perfect piece for the swap.
ReplyDeleteWow Sharon, you done real good on this one, all came together wonderfully, you clever clever stitcher:) Congrats!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I LOOOOOVE that!!!! What red did you use? How perfect it is now as a Christmas ornament :o)
ReplyDeleteOh, that's fantastic!! I love it, congratulations. I'd've gotten my shutterbug on, too. :o)
ReplyDeleteGreat finish. I would never have thought of doing something like that. Conny is very lucky.
ReplyDeleteThat is soo creative of you to make those festive changes.
ReplyDeleteIts a lovely ornie.
LISA V.
Wooooo-Hooooo!! I WON!!
ReplyDeleteI don't currently own a floss tag...nope, not a single one. I can't wait to use this one for the silks I'm using for ABC Tapestry.
Thank you...Thank you...THANK YOU!
I love what you've done with the Plum Berry Sampler. Cardinals are my favorite.
That is absolutely brilliant of you!
ReplyDeleteI stitched this piece many many moons ago, it's always been a fav of mine but you totally kicked it up a notch. It's wonderful. :)
I love the ornament!!
ReplyDeleteLOVES IT!!!! Great colors!!
ReplyDeletehugs
-missy-
Congrats to Peggy Lee! I admired this piece over on Conny's blog. I just love everything about it but especially the little top knot on the cardinal. So clever you are.
ReplyDeleteOh forgot - now this is funny, especially after our frogging party last month at about the same time. I am stitching BBD Where My Heart blooms, didn't like the look of the eyelets in the top bushes/flowers/trees so I did Rhodes instead. Are we connected somehow??? Uncanny.
ReplyDeleteLOL Word verification for this post - twooing
You took a pretty piece and made it even better!! Such a lovely finish. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Peggy - she's a lucky lady! :)
Beautiful work - the stitching and the finishing....... lovely
ReplyDeleteWhat a great finish, I love the way you made it all Christmassy
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! It is totally awesome. The finishing is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteConny is a lucky ducky.
Just perfect, Sharon!!! I love how you stitched yours and Conny's initials in red--it really personalizes it for her and I'm sure she'll just love it :)
ReplyDeleteLove the changes Sharon your finished piece is just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea. You did a great job interpretting this design and turning it into a Christmas one. Nice work. And the finishing - superb!
ReplyDeleteWow! I can see why you're so in love with it! How fab! :D
ReplyDeleteLoving the sampler. I've done their pumpkin & their christmas tree one of these, I just love the speciality stitches.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love how you finished it!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!!
ReplyDeleteSuper duper - this is so pretty and gorgeous, no wonder you love it - well done.
ReplyDeleteYou did a beautiful job, and so creative of you to turn this into a Christmas design! Gorgeous finish!
ReplyDeleteWhat a darling finish! I just love it! You did an excellent job of stitching it and finishing it off!
ReplyDeleteI love how you've adapted this design to suit you, congratulations on your creativity!
ReplyDeleteSharon what a creative adaptation to make it Christmas!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful finish :-) I bet Conny loves it.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the lucky winner
I love the changes you made! It turned out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for this special ornie. I love it very much, it's really beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is SO pretty! Lucky Conny. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great finish... very nice
ReplyDeleteHow pretty. You always pick the best designs and the changes you made look wonderful as always. Take care.
ReplyDeleteLei
I just love it
ReplyDeleteGorgeous and well finsihed :)
It's beatiful!
ReplyDeleteI love how ingenious you were to make this into a christmas stitch!! It turned out amazing!
ReplyDeleteYour changes are awesome and it made the perfect ornament!! I love the red in it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you've adpated this. It looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteTurned out beautiful! Congrats on a job well done!
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI contacted you before, but didn't get a responce for your win on my blog. Email me your physical address so I can mail it to you. needlewings@ mac.com
You did such a great job. I'm sure Conny treasures it!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a truly beautiful creation Sharon, I loved it!
ReplyDeleteI love your stitching. Just lovely!
ReplyDeleteMicki
It turned out just lovely! How creative of you to turn it into a Christmas design!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I saw a shop model of Crabby in Las Vegas last week...seeing it in person shows just what a great piece it is. No wonder you loved it!
What a great ornament you made. I stitched this design, too, but in the original colours and I finished it as a bellpull. Seeing yours makes me want to stitch and finish it again your way.
ReplyDeleteFantastic finish! I love your changes and they look great!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful finish, she will love it.
ReplyDeleteSandy
This is very pretty!!
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteLove your adaptations - another lovely finish. Lucky recipient! :0)
ReplyDelete