Christmas Stitching and presents

Here's a little something I stitched up over Christmas.  It's a new design from Gazette 94 (aka Claire).  She has taken a break from blogging but did gift her followers with two new designs for Christmas.

I used another piece of the tea dyed evenweave and some Christmassy DMC colours chosen by me.  I think the two reds are a little close in colour, maybe I should have used 815 instead of 304 but there you go!

The finished piece is resting on a page from one of my Christmas presents, a scrapbook.  This is a proper scrapbooker's scrapbook not just one for any old cutting-and-sticking!  It comes with an extendable spine and lots of pocket that you slot the pages into.  You can either buy the pages individually or in a cardstock block.  These are about £20 but you get loads and they are gorgeous.  I've bought half a dozen Christmas themed papers so far.  Some are double sided which is good.

This is the actual scrapbook, there is a place in the cover for a picture but I don't think a piece of fabric will fit it so I may take a photo of something suitable, maybe my Stitching Friends ornie.

The cover is black fabric with white embroidery, very appropriate.  Hubby paid for it but the large boy chose the design.

I also got a great Page-a-Day calendar from my brother, there's a different chart every two days and they're really rather good.  He also got me a CD-Rom with card designs on, and 101 Joan Elliott smalls!  How fab is that?

I used the money from my in-laws to fund some of my pre-Christmas stash shopping.  I bought some Just Nan charts and a Drawn Thread one, plus the fabric for my Joan Elliott Round Robin and the Mary Wigham FB SAL.  I did order JE's Bewitching book from MIL but it's out of stock waiting for deliveries.  Drat!

As well as the TUSAL, the WIPocalypse, the Theme-a-licious, the RR, the FB SAL and my own "12 in '12"; I have also signed up for a Birthday Thread Exchange on the Needlecraft Haven Forum.  I have to send each member a card and a certain skein of thread on her Birthday.  In return I will get several cards and skeins on my own which will enable me to stitch the chart Claire has chosen.

The first Birthday is 1st January.  Eeek!  Not much stitching time there!  Claire says non-crafted cards are fine but I wanted to start as I mean to go on.  So I spent Boxing Day stitching a nice design from WOCS.  I will reveal once the Birthday Gal has received it!

Finally, I know you all had great Christmasses because I've been trying to keep up with your blogs.  People actually posted on Christmas Day itself!  Hubby put the laptop away in a safe place so we had no pooter-time at all that day.  I've got over 300 blog posts to read so I'm doing my best to catch up.  If I do make a comment then you are extremely priviliged!  Thanks for all the comments on my blog, I do reply to quite a few where needed but some people don't have an email linked so I can't.  Susan, I'm thinking of you!  Thanks for all the comments you leave, I do enjoy them all.