Sledding By Starlight.....

 

 And A Dog Named "Soot".....

As I was stitching all the Snow on the Tree Skirt, Dear Readers, I noticed a few places that were just Begging for details. And once the ideas had formed, there was no choice but to stitch them quickly before all the Snow was filled in. And so "Soot" appeared in the yard with Mrs. Claus and Santa! For what dog would want to miss an opportunity to howl at the stars? And if you were Santa and had a big black dog, wouldn't you name him "Soot"? I couldn't resist! And before the Snow had even settled I realized there was a small Hill that would be Perfect for sledding!

Have you ever been Sledding by Starlight?

These Elves were only too happy to take a ride!

(Sorry the picture is blurry... they are very small!)

And here you can see them with the Snow filled in.

 

And as I was nearing the completion of the stitching

 on this project, Dear Readers, 

I became aware that I didn't want to stop yet.... 

and there were some "corners" of the cloth that might be useful...

and might be just the right size for Pillows!

And all I had to do was outline the area to be filled....

and borrow a few ideas from the Tree Skirt!

Of course, they will be a little bit changed...

 the shape is square and quite small...

But I think it will be fun to make a "set" of Pillows

 to go with the Tree Skirt!

So There you have it, Dear Readers.....

Just A few more Tiny Details....

Sledding by Starlight....

And a Dog name "Soot"!

Stitching The Tree Skirt Snow....

 

 

And The Christmas Card...

I Thought you would like to see, Dear Readers, the completed Sky on the petit-point Christmas Tree Skirt. Yes, I did a lot of stitching on the weekend. I do think it looks lovely and as Birgit has commented, the way the sky shows off the Snowman and the Snowdeer are particularly satisfying. All that remains to do is the snowy ground around the border, and since I was not-commuting to work this morning I made a start. I thought it would be easy, just add the white in the circle shape, but discovered that it was Not easy at all! Making the circle edge completely round is a delicate mix of ever changing rows of stitches, and counting the correct number of stitches for each row requires that you know exactly where you are on the chart at every stitch! Yikes! After the easy task of just filling in the sky background.... making the snowy Ground required vigilant attention.... and lots of taking out stitches!

Here you can see the Snowman and the

 Snowdeer with the finished sky.

 

Here you can see where I have started to add the snow.

And at a certain point I realized that I 

needed to stitch the outer edge first, 

making a "line" at the edge that

 I could fill in afterwards.

It was easier to count the placement of the edge stitches first...

Until I came to where I had added

 the Cavorting Deer to the design...

and I am afraid I made them a little too frisky,

 and they overstep the border edge of the snow!

Even though I had drawn the deer onto the pattern guide

 within the snowy edge, 

when I was stitching I did not stick exactly to my drawing.

You can see in this closeup that I have had to "bump out"

 the circle edge the littlest bit to fit around the deer!

I am hoping that once it is all stitched and hemmed, 

it won't be noticeable at all!

But it has made it very difficult to get back to the

 "proper edge" of the circle design.

But I am Sure that what some of you Really want to see

is the finished Christmas Card Drawing.

The Post Office delivered it in Record time so here it is!

Please judge it Gently, Dear Readers, as it is not the Prettiest of my cards.

But it was not a pretty year and we all struggled to cope

 with more changes and more danger than we ever imagined.

As always it is pen and ink and watercolor on paper, 

drawn to actual size of the printed cards, 8.5 by 11 inches.

I did not count the hours this year.... 

nor did I count the trips up and down the stairs

 to double check my details....

And there is at least one glaring mistake!

But I hope you never notice it!

Stay strong and stay well, Dear Readers,

and I hope you are Comforted by the 

Glimmers of Hope for this New Year!

It's Not A Lot....

 

 But It Is Progress....

I Can't Show it to you yet, Dear Readers, but I finished drawing the Christmas Card last Sunday! I got it printed on Tuesday and mailed the copies to my Family before sunset the same day. As soon as I hear from my Mother that she has her card, I can then post a picture here. So it is up to the US mail service which this year has given new meaning to the term "snail mail"! The package I sent them for Christmas took three times as long as usual to reach them, arriving the day after Christmas. I really don't blame the good postal workers, they have been working bravely and steadily throughout this crazy year.... but they were overwhelmed by the amount of things people wanted "delivered" this year. So we will see. Maybe I will be able to show you the Card next week. Until then you will have to put up with another Tiny update on the Christmas Tree Skirt. It has been very soothing during the past tumultuous week to be able to just pick it up and add a few stitches! Nothing Fancy... no creativity involved! And that is all I have managed to do!

Soon I will be done with the sky blue and will move on

 to the White snow around the edges.

I can't tell you how much I love this little Village!

 

So there you have it, Dear Readers,

 It is Not a Lot.... but it is All I have to show... 

and it is Progress!

Filling The Sky....

 

 

I  Hope.....

You will Understand, Dear Readers, that this will be a short post. Just a glimpse of the Sky being filled with stars.... spreading the message of Hope Eternal.... for Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Mankind. Tonight is Epiphany... The Magi arrive and give their Gifts to the Baby. How much we need to hold Faith now! I have Hope that our institutions are strong and will withstand the turmoil of the next few weeks. Meanwhile, I will keep adding to this Sky... one stitch at a time. And I will complete the Christmas Card drawing... almost done (but so difficult to concentrate just now...!) I have Hope that it will be done by this weekend. Soon it will be traveling to my Family near and far.

I Hope, Dear Readers, that you are all well

 and that you can see the Stars from where you are. 

We will make it through these challenging Times!

I Hope.

Just Another Up-date....

 

 

A Few Little Additions.....

I Hope you will understand, Dear Readers, that I have been doing almost nothing except work on the Christmas Card drawing and it is still not finished. I have not read any blogs or spent time in the internet, and the one tiny exception is that I have kept stitching a little bit each day. We had a big snowstorm on the 18th of December with 16 inches of snow overnight... and so when I was stitching on the little Christmas Tree Skirt, I realized that the village was lacking a snowman! So, as you can see in the above picture, I added one right away!

 

 

And then the next time I was stitching,

 I realized that it needed a "snow deer" as well..... 

But I am afraid it turned out more like a "polar bear deer".....

(See in the above picture!)

 but I am sure this was because the snow was not cooperating!

 

And then, because there was a space that seemed "unpopulated"

 between the houses... 

I thought I would add a Santa....

He is pointing at the star in the sky above!

And because he is pointing.... 

it seemed that there should be someone he is pointing for...

So Mrs. Santa had to come out to see what he was pointing to!

And all this while I was adding the "snow shadows" around the edges too.

And on Christmas morning

(in the middle of a torrential rainstorm that washed away All our snow!)

 I started to stitch the blue sky around the star.

I had a very very quiet Christmas with just my son and me.

 I got a lot done on the Christmas card too!

Here the central star is all surrounded with the blue. 

This was tricky to do because the yellow thread

 is so similar to the color of the mesh, 

it is sometimes difficult to tell where the stitch is!

Now there is just a lot of sky to stitch....

 

Which will take a while!

 

So you can see, Dear Readers, 

I have been doing almost nothing but work on the Christmas Card!

 And because I can't show you that,

 all I can show is the little additions to the Christmas Tree Skirt!

I hope you have all had a wonderful, 

Quiet and Safe Christmas!

More Stitching....

 

 I Just Can't Help Myself....

You can see from the picture, Dear Readers, that I added more reindeer to the Christmas Tree skirt. Now there are nine including Rudolph! And yes, even though I am supposed to be working tirelessly on the Christmas Card drawing... I still have the morning "commute" hours to occupy now that I am not going in to the Office every day. Embroidery is easier to "put down" mid stitch when the hour arrives that I must be at my computer. The drawing is something where I quickly lose track of time... because that is the only way to concentrate on the details. So I am still putting a few stitches in each week! 

The last couple of trees have only the "white" lights.

I completed the larger one and was starting on the smaller one

 when I realized I had made a mistake in counting threads

 when adding the dark green branches...

I had to unstitch all the dark green and begin again.

And here you can see the trees are all done!

And I had a few minutes before "arriving at work" this morning 

so I started on the snow shadows...

It's just the very beginning of the pale blue shadows...

I have a long way to go!

But I just couldn't help myself, Dear Readers,

I Love stitching!

Lighting The Darkness...

 

Putting Up The Trees... 

The Minute Thanksgiving was over, Dear Readers, Sally May wanted to put up her Christmas Tree. I was in complete agreement, because I am now working mostly from Home again, and I sit all day in front of her house... only sometimes lapsing into Daydreams of what I will do when I have more time. And it occurred to me that I had a string of mini LED's that needed to be put to use to light her Christmas Tree! It only took a minute or two to get the lights on the tree and the batteries installed... and OH!!!!! Sally May is overjoyed (and me too!) at the results! Their house is still a "fixer-upper" I am afraid, and electricity has yet to be installed, so the battery lights are just the perfect solution. And as soon as I had finished that task... I heard Blue the Blue Fairy Bearey asking for her Tree to be put up as well. And I had a couple of things that needed to be added to that tree too...

The whole gang was there to see it 

when the lights were switched on.

There is a garland of snowflakes.....

And if you look very carefully...

There are three tiny Snowmen ornaments 

that were made by Birgit and sent to me last year!

Here is a close-up of one of them... 

the red "scarf" helps you find him 

if the orange carrot nose isn't bright enough!

I think they are perfect for this tree!

And over at The Lovely Old Dollhouse...

Charles has managed to get the Tree up

 before anyone else had noticed!

Helen finds it very comforting...

It is always the same tree in the same place

 and looks just as beautiful as ever!

And the lights are so lovely...

It brings a great sense of Peace to her heart.

And while we are thinking about Christmas Lights, Dear Readers, 

I want to show you a small update on the

 Christmas Tree Skirt I have been stitching.

I was able to do a great deal of stitching last week

 while I was home on Vacation...

And it had occurred to me that I didn't think All the trees

 in the Village should have the same lights!

Some of the houses might want to have only "White" lights!

And that made me decide that maybe one side of the skirt

 should be only "white" lights (here stitched in yellow thread).

I thought I would test the look first with just one house... 

I had already added the red lights to the rest 

of the trees on this side of the skirt.

I really liked the way it looked!

And here I have also added a couple more "cavorting" deer!

But I really wanted to get started on the other half of the Tree Skirt!

It is easier to stitch it by turning it "upside down" 

from the way I was stitching.

This works as long as you turn it 180 degrees around...

 the stitches will still slant in the same direction

 as the other half of the skirt.

This would not be true if I only turned it 90 degrees!

And while I was stitching the red roofs... I had an idea...

see that red "dot"....?

way off in the empty area at the bottom?

Can you guess what will come next...?

Look! It's Rudolph!!!

He will be a real "standout" 

amongst those all "White" lights!

You can see here that the Trees and the lights have been started!

And that is as far as I got, Dear Readers, on my Vacation week.

I might not have much time for stitching now that

 I am back to work and all my spare Time

 needs to be used to draw the Annual Christmas Card!

Yes, it is once again that Season....

It always takes me longer to make than I think it will....

 and I can tell you that I am "working on it"! 

But I won't show any of it here

 until it is done and mailed.

So you will have to be patient

 if I don't have much to report for a while!

But at least I have put up the Trees

 to Light The Darkness!

Stitching Updates....

 

 

Small Progress....

It Could be argued, Dear Readers, that All progress on Minis is Small progress! And so I will leave you to be the Judge of whether the progress I have made is truly "small" or not! I am mostly working on the carpet in my evenings during the week, so it never feels like I am getting much done at all. And I would love to be able to devote myself entirely to the "seasonal" project... the Christmas Tree Skirt...  but it really is too challenging to stitch it by artificial light. I would be making too many mistakes in my counting of stitches and that is no fun! Here you can see the picture of the design on the kit label...

Just so you can see what the finished results are supposed to look like.

But I have to confess, I have already made some changes in the design!

 

I spent much of last weekend stitching on this

 and did make some good progress. 

It really is quite little and I wasn't able to get better pictures.

But perhaps you can see that I decided

 that there needed to be some "Reindeer"

 cavorting in the snowdrifts of this Village.

Well, the ones I made so far don't look like they are cavorting...

but we shall see what I manage to do with the next ones!

 

And that is all I have to show you, Dear Readers!

It might be Small progress, 

But I comfort myself with the thought that

 Any progress is Progress!