Festivities!

Hi XS Blogger Friends throughout the World:

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas Season

Keep on blogging and stitching in 2008!!

With happiness and peace to you and your's
Alison xxxxx

Christmas Makes!

Hi everyone

As promised, today's posting includes a couple of 'makes' that I have been working on for Christmas. The stocking cost me about 30 pence / 65 c (probably would have cost £2 in the shops!) and the table decoration was about £5 / $10.50 - just goes to show that making-your-own is not only more original and special, its so much cheaper too :-)

The red squirrel was a prized find in Hobbycraft in early November and I found the hedgehog a couple of weeks later so thought they would be an unusual Christmas centre-piece with the scented candle and glittery pinecones that I found under the tree on the other side of the lane, when I went for a walk in the late summer.

Will do a more detailed update with additional photos shortly

Hope everyone is having fun in the lead-up to Christmas and the holidays ahead

PS - San, I hope you get my cards, but let me know if you don't and I will send another couple in time before you leave for Lille on 20th!

Alison xxx

Some acknowledgements

Hi,

Just an addendum to my latest blog entry, in alphabetical order:

Felicity: Thanks for your wonderful, 'blissful' newsy letter and Christmas card which arrived safely today. It was great to read all the latest from you and I am busily writing a reply which I will post with your Christmas card tomorrow, so stand-by your mailbox, girl LOL ;-D

Isabelle: Please may I have your postal address so I can send your Christmas card? Malheureusement, I did not receive your gift that you mentioned you posted around end Sept Booo Hoooo :-((( Sadly, that's the main problem with notre courier de l'escargot, I'm afraid to say xx

Margaret: Hopefully you will receive an envelope from me this week as the post office said that it would take 5 - 7 working days and I sent it last Wednesday ..... here's to a X-Stitch Round Robin for 2008 - I'm determined this time :-)) Maybe the Margaret Sherry Advent Calendar that we planned last year, if you still fancy that, or else another of your choosing.

Nela: Mil gracias por tus comentarios en mi blog y espero visitar el tuyo este fin de semana para ponerme al dia con todos tus proyectos de XS. Ojala que el sol brille aca en Maracaibo - que aqui en Inglaterra hace un dia gris, con nubes hasta la cabeza, y lluvia lluvia lluvia, :-((

San: Hopefully you will have received my cards for you and DBF and another for Maman with my love. I sent the cards by internal post last week. Will hopefully be able to set a date to visit Chez San this side of Christmas when I am at the Stevenage site - around Friday week I think ... The cushion on your website is awesome, by the way!

Christmas Makes!

Hi Everyone!

Since I arrived back from Philadelphia about 2 weeks ago, I have been getting into the swing of Christmas. When I was over there, I could tell that our American friends take their Christmas celebrations seriously, with the shopping malls fit to burst with people, at the beginning of November, undoubtedly getting ready for Thanksgiving as well! Unfortunately, despite looking for craft shops, there were none in the malls that I visited - I think the majority of crafting is now available over the internet, so most individual craft stores must be struggling to compete (or else are moving to majority web trading, to save money on rents).

In UK, we seem to be moving away from traditional green Christmas trees (of the artificial variety) with different colour trends such as black, chocolate brown, white and copper colours being most evident this year. I found a very unusual but attractive colour combination, teal green and black! There are lots of purple and bronze baubles and decorations in the shops which compliment it really well. I have added a photograph from the shop's website, because my photo didn't show the teal green off particularly well - its probably not that clear from this photo either! I also treated myself to a multi-function light string, which has 5 different settings on, from fade and constant, to graduated and flashing! Should keep me amused :-)

As well as buying the tree, I did most of my Christmas shopping as well, and spent the weekend wrapping up presents and writing labels. Most weekends in December I will be doing the rounds to family and friends so I thought it would be best to "bite the bullet" and get it all done at the start of the month rather than having to spread it out over the month - as I am bound to forget it, if it isn't on my list!

I have been making a Christmas Candle table decoration (I will add a photo tomorrow as I have nearly finished it) - with a squirrel and hedgehog with some pine-cones on a hessian covered board. In all, it has only cost me £5 because I had most of the materials and just bought the two animals from Hobby Craft

Happy Crafting! xxx