Pretty Potholders

Look at the gorgeous potholders that arrived in my mailbox yesterday :) My lovely swap partner ended up being from right here in Canada and I just LOVE what she created for me. The cute little quilted christmas tree is actually made with same fabrics that I used for my partners potholders! Great minds must think alike *grin*.

I adore the stitching on this potholder, the way it created hills and valleys around the little squares of fabric... so crazy creative!! It actually reminds me of a game of pac man *grin*. They are perfect for my kitchen as it is red and the polka dot binding is just fantastic :) I don't think that I can bear to use them though in fear of staining them so I think that I'm going to use them on my coffee table for resting a candle jar on. That way I can enjoy them all throughout the holiday season and they won't get any pot roast or pie stains on them *grin*.

Along with the potholders came this super cute little felt christmas tree decoration to. Again more stitching so lovingly placed all over it. It will be a perfect addition to the handmade ornaments that the children and I have made for the tree :)

Thank you so much Val!!!
Hugs,
Rsoina

Nature's Larder

I've been putting the finishing touches on my special stumpwork ornament that I'm giving to my Potholder Pass partner :) I had mentioned in my last update that it was out of one of my older inspiration magazines and here is a photo of what the original projects look like. Aren't they amazing?! Mine is considerably larger since it is an ornament for a Christmas tree but these ones are not even 2 inches in diameter.

Everything has to be in the mail by Sunday and I'm right on track to get it all shipped by the last day LOL. So much for this being the fastest swap I've ever completed! Somewhere along the way I got sidetracked... thus is my life *grin*.

The above photo shows a side view of the raspberry that is covered completely in french knots and the accented with little beads :)

For the leaves I used a special satin floss that sort of shimmers depending on how the light hits it. It's a DMC floss number S700 and I think that it gave the whole project the little extra glitz that I was looking for :)

So tonight I'm going to finish attaching my little red berries that are awaiting me all pinned in place and figure out exactly how to anchor my acorn without shifting the satin threads surrounding it. I find that the instructions in the magazine are a little vague which makes finishing the project a little tougher but it's coming together nicely and tomorrow I should have a completed photo to show you along with the potholders that are finished to :) Yay!! Then I can move on to new projects *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Thinking Christmas

I seem to be totally fixated on Christmas at the moment and getting my Christmas letter in order so that maybe, just maybe I'll get it out before December 1st this year! I'm really hoping it will make it to everyone before the holidays are over this time around *grin*.

As if getting my very unorganized holiday letter system kicked into high gear isn't tough enough and I'll admit it's always a major challenge I thought that maybe I might endeavor to hand make all 45 of my Christmas cards on top of it :)

Nah, just kidding! I may be slightly over zealous in my thoughts but I'm going to knock that total down to around 10 close family members that will get one of my new papercut creations. Especially since the scrolling 'Happy Holidays' gave me a wee bit of trouble!

I'm going to see if I can find some new blades for my craft knife or at least a really sharp pair of mini scissors before starting my next ones to see if I can get a smoother cutting effect as this one is a little bit choppy. LOL.

~ Rosina