Noel

I heard that Marie from the HoE Exchanging group received my Christmas Ornament Exchange package. Yay! I was getting a little worried that it was taking so long to get to the East Coast. Marie sent me a lovely email saying she really liked the ornament and the goodies I sent her. And since Marie can take much better pictures than me, I am *borrowing* the snaps she took of the front and back of the ornament. Following is the front:

And here is the back.

I stitched the Noel Ornament by Les Grilles des Maryse charted in the Gift of Stitching Magazine November issue. It just screamed to me and looked like Marie's taste from what I could gather off her blog. I stitched it on 32 count Lakeside Linens Vintage Light Examplar (my favorite) with Crescent Colors Cupid, which is a beautiful variegated red. I hope to stitch this for myself again one day. This ornament was my first pillow ornament with cording. Cording was a pain in the bum!!! Making the cording = easy. Attaching the cording to the pillow part = lots of swear words. In the end, it was a very good attempt for my first try but as any stitcher, I am uber-critical and not super happy. I know I can do better so I will have to practice. Good thing I signed up for Carol's 2009 Christmas Challenge. Lots of opportunities to practice and have more stitched ornaments for my Christmas Tree next year. It's a good win-win situation. I think Carol still has spots open in the challenge. If you're new to finishing like me, it's a nice environment to learn with no pressure. Go check it out if you want to perfect your skills...

oh yea, back to the exchange. I also included lots of christmas-y goodies for Marie...m&m's, holiday candle, floss, ribbon, gingerbread kitchen towel, holiday cards and notepad. Things I thought would come handy during the holiday season.

Marie, so glad you liked everything!!

That's all for now...be merry and delight!