The Christmas Card....

At Last...!

Well, Dear Readers, Here it is! I know my photos never quite do it justice. And the copies from the printer that go out to family and friends are always subtly different from the original. It is difficult to be the artist and to know that what is sent out is not really really Really exactly what I painted. This year the printed version shows much more "gray" than I had intended.... but the photo here does come close to the pure, brilliant colors I was painting. As always, it is 8.5 x 11 inches, pen and ink and watercolor paint on Arches watercolor paper. It is copied in the same size it is drawn, not enlarged or reduced. The details and vignettes are scenes from the happenings in my life over the past year. And as always, the setting has something to do with the Christmas Season. (It is intended to be a Christmas Card, after all!) The main stories this year were the numerous (Wonderful!) visits of Family to my little home. I saw every member of my immediate family during the Summer and Autumn! And of course, the work in my mini worlds had to be shown..... even though it was shoved into the corners and really only amounted to lilacs... and more lilacs... and more lilacs... and the barest beginnings of the Sugarplum Studio project. The Letter "S" is, I hope, Self explanatory! My Sister and I were amusing ourselves with searching out the number of "s" words involved in the drawing! So there you have it. It only took me one hundred hours of drawing, inking and painting.

And because I am slowly trying to find my way

 back into my mini projects, 

I did work more on the tiny Christmas Stocking.

And as I stitched, the masking tape holding

 the cloth in place kept giving way....

Making it impossible to stitch.

It is really a problematic method... it leaves

 a terribly gummy residue on the cloth, and doesn't hold very well!

I peeled it back from the cloth and used sewing thread

 to bind the cloth to the frame instead.

(Sorry about the blurry picture!)

At least that allowed me to complete the stitching on the Santa!

But I didn't get much else done.

 Because I always forget that once I am done Drawing the Card...

 I still have to write and mail a whole bunch of cards!

So I hope you don't mind such a short post, Dear Readers,

and I hope you enjoy seeing the Christmas Card at Last!

There And Back Again......

And Back To Work....

Well, Dear Readers, the Excitement of Travel is behind me now. I made it out to see my Folks and we had a Wonderful time, but it always feels much too short and passes so quickly! And yes, I have already begun another Ten leafy stems for the Summer Lilac Bush! I plan to ignore all the evidence of the Changing (or Changed!) Seasons and will just keep working on the Summer Lilac Shrub until it looks the way I want it to!

I got as far as adding the leaves to the stems before 

my fatigue caught up with me.

(Traveling 2300 miles (more or less) there and back again is not easy!)

As you can imagine, I made sure to bring with me

 a mini-project or two that I could work on

 while visiting with my family.

It was during last year's trip that I started stitching

 on the Snowy Village Christmas stocking, 

so it seems appropriate that I was able to finish it this year!

I still have to cut it out and attach it to the backing, 

but the petit-point is finished.

 I do Love how it turned out!

(And only one noticeable mistake!)

I am sure you will not be surprised

 that I brought along another kit to make

 because they are so small and pack up easily.

It is another Janet Granger Christmas Stocking... 

this time it is Santa, or Father Christmas.

I spent a lovely day with my Mom, Dear Readers,

 while she knitted socks

 and I made tiny petit-point stitches

 and we chatted and napped and had tea and cookies!

Of course, these stockings are a bit more challenging than they look!

The tricky part is in counting the threads properly

 between one part and the next!

I ended up pulling out the stitches for one section more than once!

 

And I know it doesn't look like much, but this is how far I got....

And yes, I have found a mistake in the counting

 that I will not be able to undo!

 I will have to work around it... 

I think it will be okay in the end.

So that is as far as I got, Dear Readers,

Thousands of miles there and back again, 

And Precious hours spent together

 Stitching and knitting.

And even though I miss them dearly.... 

It is good to be back to work again.