Christmas Trees...

 

 Light Up My Life....

I Know, Dear Readers, that last week I bemoaned how little Time there was between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. But never mind, after Thanksgiving is over life is All about Christmas in my house anyway! And I know it has been many years now that I have been promising to "someday" show you well lit closeups of the decorations on the Lovely Old Dollhouse Christmas Tree. Well, don't be too surprised, but Someday is here! In the above picture you can see a closeup of the glass dove which is one of the very special and lovely little ornaments. Of course, glass is hard to see.... because it is see-through! But there it is! It is about 1/2 inch across. I honestly don't remember where or when I bought most of these treasures. I think I got a bunch of them at a fancy toy store back when my boys were still young and I was still dreaming of "someday" fixing up the old Dollhouse from my childhood. And I think I bought the fake mini tree back around then too... we used it in the "Boy's Dollhouse" aka "The Rustic House", home to teddy bears, dinosaurs and action figures when my sons were little. (You can read all about it in my very earliest blog posts back in 2010!) But all the delicate minis that I bought back then were shoved in a cupboard and saved for that magical "someday".

And here you can see.... or sort of see... 

the glass snowflake (on the left near the bottom),

another of those delicate treasures!

The white icicles are  possibly glass, 

but more likely are plastic.

 

Here you can see a lovely little brass dove... 

(stamped metal I am assuming is brass...)

as well as a little Christmas tree with snow on it

 which is a resin figure on a long bead garland

 that I wrapped around the tree.

I think it was intended to be a "holiday necklace" to be worn in RL!

 I think it looks much better on the mini tree!

 

Here is another view of the snowflake along with

 a red and blue striped glass ball ornament.

None of these ornaments are glued on... 

and the way the branches of the tree are a bit "crude" for scale....

 means that I had to just wind a lot of the garlands around the tree.

For the small glass pieces and brass ones

 I made little brass wire hooks

 and tried to find good spots to hang them!

 

Here is a closeup of more glass balls

 and near the top, a heart shaped piece of lace...

 (Slightly out of focus.....)

Here you can see another of the resin figures

 from the bead garland... a dog with a Santa hat!

Along with a few more of the glass ball ornaments...

 

And still another resin figure... a snowman with a broom!

And you can see some of the large wooden beads

 that are part of that garland.

And way over to the left you can see

 a very fine metallic snowflake....

there are several of these scattered around

 the tree, all with a different pattern!

 

Maybe you can see it a little closer here....?

Sorry... it is hard to photograph!

And here it is in The Lovely Old Dollhouse living room....

I know it is a bit dark...

It's an old house and the lighting needs an upgrade...

 

 

But the Christmas Tree is lit!

Oh, how I love to see those tiny colored lights!!!

 

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, 

I have been scampering around 

seeing to the trees in the other Dollhouses! 

 

In the Castle Great Hall the 

old Witches are gathered around the table...

Tea and board games are on the menu!

 

 

Kendall has put up the huge old tree and lit the candles...

(It is a drafty old Castle without electricity after all...)

It looks so enchanting from outside the windows...!

The Silver glitter Tree is up at the "Shabby Sister House"

 where Sally May and Chip and Annabelle live.

Chip's father, Ernie has agreed that he can see

 the Television just fine if he scoots his chair over a little bit.

(Boy, the batteries on this one need changing....!)

And up above the Clouds in The Cloud Palace,

 the Fairy Bears are admiring the Silver Tinsel Tree!

(It has brand new batteries!)

And Hamish Harry has been admiring

 the Starry Night Village Tree Skirt....

He is looking at all those Reindeer cavorting around the border...

not to mention a couple of sledding elves....

It's a lively scene!

And if you look very carefully among all those bright lights.... 

you might be able to spot

 a couple of tiny "snowpeople" ornaments

 made by Birgit of BiWuBaren fame!

That's as far as I got, Dear Readers... 

Setting up the Christmas Trees takes Time!

But, Oh, how I love the way

 they Light up my Life!

 

I Am Thankful...

 

For So Many Little Things...

And So Once again it is Thanksgiving here in America, Dear Readers, and it is later than usual this year. The Holiday is tied to the fourth Thursday of November.... whatever date that happens to be! This produces some panic in my "timetable" for the next few weeks, for when it is Late in November that just means Fewer days to accomplish ALL those Christmas tasks... and we all know I have a few of those I assign myself every year that never seem to be done in time. But that is all for next week.... for now we are focusing on the blessings of Family, Food, and the freedoms of being able to gather and celebrate as we wish. The Pandemic is over (what pandemic?) and the world goes speeding onward, but for now we take a few moments to count our blessings. And In the Lovely Old Dollhouse kitchen, Victor is thinking that one of those is Pies..... the aroma of fresh baked Thanksgiving Pies! Joanna has just pulled them from the oven! 

 

 "Darling...." he said appreciatively... 

"No-one makes a pie as well as you do!"

"I can second that... !" said Pollyanna as she entered the room.

 "Those smell, Divine, Mom!" she added with a smile.

"Are you ready to take those to Sally May's?" she asked.

"I think Grandma Helen is worried about the weather..." she added.

 

And meanwhile in the Living Room,

 that was exactly what was being discussed...

"I hear it might snow today..." said Helen anxiously.

"It is already starting to rain... what if we get stuck?"

 

Arthur had overheard the discussion and had an idea that might help.

"Perhaps we could wait a bit and not go over

 until the dinner is almost ready..." he said. 

"Pollyanna and I could go with you, while Victor and Joanna 

can take the pies now and help them get ready."

"That way they can let us know if the driving is bad..."

(Arthur was confident it would not be bad at all!)

"Maybe you should go ahead with the pies

 and be there to help Sally May" said Pollyanna.

"Arthur and I can bring Grandma And Grandpa later....

 just in time for dinner."

"And you can let us know how the roads are

 so we can reassure Grandma Helen..." she added.

"That sounds like a great idea" said Joanna cheerfully.

(She knew how much her Mother fretted the small stuff!)

And over at Chip's and Sally May's house 

Sally May has been worried too!

(What if they all decide not to come?)

"I just heard from Pollyanna..." she tells Chip.

"Mom and Dad are coming over now 

and bringing the pies" she said with relief.

"Pollyanna and Arthur will bring Grandma Helen

 and Grandpa Charles later."

"That way they can be sure the roads are okay" she added thankfully.

"Sounds great!" agreed Chip.

"I think the snow isn't supposed to start

 till tonight he added. It shouldn't be a problem."

Victor joined the "Guys" in the Living Room. 

He knew to stay out of the way of the kitchen crew!

 

 

Chip's father Ernie, was watching the old TV...  

it sounded like he was watching cartoons!

(Although he was sometimes just "lost in thought..."!)

 

 Victor had his eyes on the refreshments... he was getting hungry!

Joanna started to get the table ready

 and called Pollyanna to let her know

 it was time to come over!

It took them almost no time to get there... 

the roads were only wet... no snow yet!

Helen and Charles joined the folks in the Living Room.

"I'll turn down the volume for you..." Chip said to Grandma Helen.

( He knew his Dad liked it to be sort of loud.)

"No need to worry about it, Dear...!" said Helen.

 "I'm sorry to be so late... we were worried about

 the driving conditions."

"It's supposed to snow!" she added not quite happily.

And then it was time for everyone to gather around the Table.

The whole family barely fit in the room. 

They would need to carry their plates

 and sit in the Living Room to eat.

 But no matter, at least everyone was here!

Ernie said the Grace.

And then he looked over at Sally May and said

 "I am Thankful for such a wonderful and

 accomplished Daughter-in-law! 

 

 

Thank you for preparing this feast for us all!

 

"I'll second that..!" said Victor 

smiling at his blushing daughter.

"Oh, Heavens... " said Sally May 

"You're making me blush!"

 

And Meanwhile, Dear Readers, 

the kitchen was forgotten for the moment.

But Honey and Oreo stood guard.

"Don't even think of it..." growled Honey.

(Oreo had a lot to learn still!)

"But they're on plates.... he whined... 

why can't we lick the plates now...?"

Well, Dear Readers, I will leave you here

 to wonder about the outcome of the pies.... 

but rest assured... they were thoroughly enjoyed!

 

And I hope all of you are enjoying your Thanksgiving...

 or if you do not celebrate this Holiday, 

I hope you find ways and times

 to Count your Blessings!

I am thankful for so many little

 and not so little things,

 not least of which are

 My Dear Readers here in blogland!

Happy Thanksgiving!
 

Stitching Update...

 

Petit-point Variations...

Well, Dear Readers, Time has been Flying along and progress has been made on some of my various stitching projects since I last posted about them, but it has not been the sort of progress I had hoped for! The last I showed you the Chinese Dragon Carpet, I had just transferred it to a larger frame the better to be able to stitch the border areas. I am still not sure about my planned changes for the middle section, so I am starting to work on the borders now that I can access them. You can see above that I have been adding the gold to one side. But you might not be able to see the delicate pattern it makes!

Here is a closer view showing the Chinese version of a "key" pattern.

It snakes back and forth on itself making an 

interlocking positive and negative shape.

In order to see this pattern, there has to be enough contrast

 between the two colors for the shapes to be distinct.

This kit has you use the two gold thread colors 

that are so close in hue as to be

 almost indistinguishable from each other!

I wasn't sure this would work,

 and this size hole count is so small 

you really can't unstitch anything.

 So I did a couple of test patterns first.

I figured that if I was going to spend so much time

 carefully stitching this intricate pattern.... 

I was going to want it to be noticeable!

You can see the two test samples above.

The top one uses the colors recommended in the kit.

Even close up and looking to see a pattern,

 I can't tell what it is. It just looks slightly messy.

The lower test is done with the darker gold from the kit

 and a lighter one from my thread stash... 

the closest I could come to the gold color range but a good bit lighter.

Still, I can barely see that there is a pattern, let alone what it is.

I am on the verge of deciding to use the same white

 that the rest of the background will be.

But before I do that, I will go shopping 

and see if I can find a lighter gold.

Meanwhile I am stitching the darker gold

 in the border pattern... it is a slow process!

And the last time I showed you my stitching projects, Dear Readers, 

I had just finished the William Morris carpet.

Here you can see it in Sally May's and Chip's Dining room!

(With the flash so you can see it at all.)

As some of you will know, Sally May's and Chip's house

 is the slowest to get the improvements... 

Chip is so busy and so much needs to be done!

But Sally May's Mother-in-law saw the carpet

 in a used furniture shop and "snagged it" for Sally May. 

Blanche knows Sally May's fondness for pink... 

and well, the carpet does have some pink in it!

And heck, it fits in the room!

As for the rest of the petit-point projects, 

I had also just started to work on another of Janet Granger's kits,

 the last in the Medieval Tapestry series... "The Cluny Lord".

(By the way, I have just found out she has closed her shop and retired.)

This is what the Lord is supposed to look like.

And those of you who have been following this blog for a while

 might remember the other versions in this series I stitched a few years ago,

 making a few changes to the original kit designs along the way.

 The chief changes were making the clothes look

 more "ancient", Medieval rather than Tudor in design.

As with the previous Medieval Tepestry kit,

 I wanted to add a few more details to the design

 so I started the stitching off to one side of the cloth, 

leaving room to add figures of my own design,

 making the overall Tapestry larger. 

Why waste good cloth, Right?

But I had not gone very far before I admitted 

I was going to have to re-design the costume 

a bit more thoroughly than I had supposed. 

The Tudor style just would Not do! 

He needs a more Medieval hat.... 

the belt is too high....

 the cloth pleats are not distinct enough.... 

and so on!

So.... I have to work out a new chart 

for this like I did for the last one.... 

You can read about it in earlier posts!

But if you know me at all, Dear Readers,

 you will know there is always stitching to be done... 

and I had a brand new project just waiting for me to get started....

These are tiny little kits that Mary Corbet of "Needle 'n Thread" blog

 designed to be small jewelry pins or scissor fobs.

 They are stitched on 48 count silk and each one 

finished is only 1 and 1/4 inch across!

I bought the kits last summer and have eagerly started stitching...

I am amazed at just how much more difficult this size is to stitch!

I started with the flowers... 

but wanted to see how the cat would look...

The threads are silk... Soie de Paris and Soie de Gobelins 

and the colors are luscious.

The beasts are inspired by the "Mille Fuille" tapestries

 of the Late Middle Ages.

I use a magnifier and need very good lighting

 to be able to see where exactly I am putting my needle!

I can't quite imagine stitching anything on a higher count cloth!

Here I have begun to work the background.

 First you outline all the flowers and beast with the darker red.

Eventually I will fill all the remaining ground with the bright red.

 

 If you look carefully you will see there are lots of gaps still to be filled.

Of course, I have to change things.... 

I am going to make them into pillows for the Doll houses!

All I have to do is add stuff to the corners...

Here I am adding a small wren and some flowers to the Cat pillow.

I am actually needing to make the charts

 so I can be sure what color I am putting where... 

it is really easy to miss a stitch at this scale!

 

So you can see Dear Readers,

 I am making Progress with my stitching projects...

Just making Variations everywhere!