Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Before-Christmas Catch-Up!





Whew! It has been a while, so I will try to keep it to the photos! Just because it is my treasure, here is the birthday card Marc made for me in its perch with some of my other favorite treasures on my coffee table. Yes, That PS Halloween small is still out. :)






And here it is with the beautifully wrapped gift it accompanied. I adore this card because he drew it, and it uses the darling caricature of me which we developed a couple of years ago. (He rendered, I "art directed": "Okay, have a rabbit making tea. Yes, but the rabbit should be like an eggplant. LIke a waterskin. Yes, okay over here...") Additionally, it induces a neat bit of recursion in the form of a Droste effect when I hold the present. :D :D :D





The darling paper, which is a gift in itself. It is a long story, but the gift inside is not a surprise, and is somewhat "owed". This makes the love and care he put into the packaging the REAL gift, and I adore it. He went above and beyond to order this wrapping paper; it is a good produced using motifs from one of my favorite comics, Ochibisan, which I spoke about here.





Inside the box? Why, it's this mug! There is also a blue version, which I also recently acquired. :) The food shown here is a green tea latte and okonomi senbei.




I was also blessed with other kind gifts. Wonderful Christina not only remembered my day, but sent me a pattern I had admired her finishes of! And, scissor charms, too! Thank you, Christina!



Meanwhile, I decided at the beginning of my birthday week that I would make the "Ultimate Gift" for myself--I would stitch The Chart: PS Fox & Grapes. (Do you have a "The Chart"?) Well, it was "ambitious", shall we say...I wonder if I will finish in the new year. It does have a lot of leaves!

Myra must have really been on the same wavelength (Not that my Fox Mania isn't somewhat legendary)





She sent me this amazing fox project bag! :o She said she got the fox fabric panel from etsy, and this mystic fox has really grown on me! It even has a rabbit! I like the co-ordinating black print she used; though multicolored the confetti dots remind me of pinhole constellations in a magical sky.





Here's a "batman snap" showing the scale and lining of this beautiful bag! About a week later I realized it even has green grapes!!!

I caught quite a cold in November (Right before Thanksgiving; the guys had to make It All!), and I feel like I am still catching up even now!


Okay, On to Christmas! (Somewhat)





I promise to get some better tree shots, but I do like the light quality in this and seeing ornaments from my friends! Don't you just love The Tree? I adore tree pics on blogs. :)





The messy desk layout of all the ornaments I have stitched since the summer--there are 12! (Well, 2 were from last year). I am surprised and glad to have reached part of my goal--more on the goal as I get closer/organized on it.

Some of these are officially for Becky SC's Ornament Challenge, and here follow closer pics of the ones I have worked on since I last blogged:




fr. Prairie Schooler Bk. 151 "Santas and Snowmen"
worked in the recommended DMC



With thanks to Myra for the loan of this OoP Chart! This was the "stitchin'-est" ornament in memory! Does anyone else "forget" that white or light stitching umn, has to be stitched when they are sizing up how much of a BAP a chart is?




fr. Prairie Schooler Bk. 117 "Prairie Stars"
worked in the recommended DMC


I've been pining for this one since I saw Edgar stitch it a year or two ago.



Here is a Mary Garry Santa ornament which I previously stitched for an exchange; I need to get a few colors I am missing to finish up santa!

Now, here is this week's WiP:




Yup, I started PSS Yuletide! I think the overdyes really make this piece, and I am glad I bought the JCS this year! This is another one which has a goodly amount of stitching, but once you figure out how to "work" the townhouses they are a fun repeating motif. :D



Also, I decided I had to have a noro scarf (as seen on Nicole's Blog).

Here is my trial run (I cast on 29 stitches instead of 30-something), and only used 2 balls of yarn. Learning the rib stitch to make this was so irritating, but I was really satisfied when I did.

Okay, friends, this is already overlong! I hope to be back soon with a shorter, stitching update type post. Just in case,

Merry Christmas!!
Berit

18 comments:

Christina said...

Great post Berit! I'm so pleased you had a lovely birthday.
Your Christmas ornies are lovely. I don't think I've ever stitched a PS Christmas ornie, but when I see them on others' blogs I think to myself 'I've gotta stitch one of those!'
I love PSS Yuletide! That is definitely what I'm stitching next. Did you see it finished on Andrea's (The Craft Room) blog? OMG, it is beautiful.
Your scarf's fab - how lovely that you get to wear something that your own fair hands have made. Tom's mum is buying me one for Christmas that is all pom poms. I'm sure I could have made it myself, but I don't seem to have enough hours in the day at the mo!
Have a lovely Christmas. And yes, I too love to see trees on blogs - yours is a gem. X

Tracey said...

Lovely works, lovely tree, lovely scarf!! Love it all! :)

Marjorie said...

Love your stitching and gifts, especially that fox bag! I wanted to say thanks for the card too--I can only wonder what it must be like to be so organized that you not only remember to send Christmas cards, but they actually arrive before Christmas :) Anyway, have a great holiday!

Margaret said...

Glad you had a good birthday. Love seeing the pressies and all. The tree looks great and hey -- 12 ornaments! That's great! I love all of them, love the scarf too. Have a great Christmas!

Giovanna said...

Lots of lovely stuff in this post... Love your ornaments, and the new PS you're stitching. Merry Christmas!

Chris said...

Wow Berit!
What a lovely post. I love all of your birthday gifts. It is so wonderful that people put so much time and effort into the perfect item.
All of your holiday stitching id fabulous too. You have stitched a wonderful group of ornaments.
The tree looks great.
Wishing you all the best this holiday season and in 2012!

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Happy Belated Birthday! And what thoughtful and lovely gifts all around!
I adore all your ornaments you have stitched this year and even the two from last :)
I admire you for getting 12 done, that is my goal this year!

valerie said...

Wow, so much good stuff Berit. That card Marc made you is completely adorable! I just love it and am so partial to bunnies. Cute gift you got. That bag from Myra is fantastic...the fox panel is gorgeous. Lucky girl! And your other gifties are stunning as well. You've been really busy. Look at all those ornies! You better get to finishing! lol Great progress on PSS Yuletide!

Myra said...

Now how sweet was Marc to take such special care with the card and wrapping for your gift? I'd say he's a keeper. Love the pic of your tree and all of your finishes. I am happy you like your bag. Now, like valerie said - you better get busy with the finishing. LOL

Bertie said...

Belated happy Birthday, your card is original, your cookies are tempting and the ornaments fabulous, there's plenty time to finish before the year's out LOL.
Happy Christmas :))

Anonymous said...

Berit, there is so much wonderful eye candy, I don't know where to begin! I'll start with Marc's caricature of you, so adorable. Your Fox and Grapes WIP looks good. I have the chart, and that's as far as I've gotten in stitching it. :) I especially love your Mary Garry ornament and Plum Street Samplers Yuletide. Merry Christmas!

Sally said...

What a wonderful post Berit. Love your birthday card! You received some lovely gifts.

Love all your stitching. Not seen that Mary Garry one before. I love it.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Catherine said...

Fabulous post!! I don't know where to start - what a memorable birthday! I love that bag that Myra made for you - very cool. And your stitching - beautiful.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Lois said...

What a great post Berit! Belated birthday greetings! Loved seeing all your ornaments and what lovely gifts you received. That scarf is looking good too! Merry Christmas!

Carol said...

Looks like you had a lovely birthday, Berit!! And what great PS pieces--they really are deceiving aren't they. You take a look and think, "Oh, that won't take me long," but they are just so stitch-dense!

What a bag from that talented and generous Myra--the fox looks so regal! And I so love seeing your Christmas ornaments all laid out ready to finish--just beautiful :)

Merry Christmas to you and Marc!

Sandy (miss Potter) said...

Dear Berit, your embroidery are always wonderful and your tree is lovely!

Merry Christmas and happy new year :)

Sandy

Brigitte said...

Oh Berit, a desk full of ornaments, what a treat. Have you finished them in the meantime?
I hope to see a new post from you very soon :))

Anonymous said...

I love seeing all your stitching! The PS Fox and Grapes is so cute! I want to stitch it! I have been reading your blog for sometime now and have finally started one of my own. If you get a chance, stop by. OneXataTime@wordpress.com