Much to my surprise, and my great delight, my daughter Nicola and her husband Ian gave me this wonderful sampler for Christmas. It is dated 1872 and has the initials EJK stitched at the bottom. They found this sampler in an antique shop in Rye, East Sussex a couple of months ago. Am I spoiled or what?

From my son Justin and his wife AnnMarie I received the above French stitching book by Isabelle Vautier and Catherine Arguela. There are some lovely charts inside and I look forward to stitching that pretty ABC, making some lace holders and the heart shaped needle book shown on the front cover.

The two pairs of scissors shown are two new pairs that were added to my collection and gifted by my friend Sylvie.

I will be showing more gifts later. A big thank you to all for my great gifts.

And here is the ornament that I stitched for Kirby - a delightful British robin. This was the 'stamp' from a mail art pattern called A Robin's Christmas by Lynne Nicoletti. It is worked on 40ct white Newcastle linen and I converted the threads from DMC to HDF silk threads. The holly berries and the robin's eye are teeny beads and I added tiny silver bells to the bottom of the ornament and made a hand-twisted cord for the hanger.

Two stitching friends of mine, Lynn and Sylvie, went to Williamsburg in early December and while they were there they spotted the above car registration and took this picture for me! Is this your car? I would love to hear from you if it is. Thanks to Lynn and Sylvie (also in the photo) for sharing the picture.

We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Day at daughter Nicola's house and Boxing Day at son Justin's house but the celebrations are not yet over as we are having a family trip to the Pantomime at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury tomorrow. This year it's Cinderella and we are all looking forward to checking out the new Marlow Theatre after the renovations.

Amongst my gifts I received was an antique sampler, a French stitching book and other stitching related goodies (including two pairs of scissors for my collection) - more about these gifts in a future post.

I have also been working exclusively on Jane Rees over the holiday period so not too much of the alphabet section to go now before I start on the motifs. I will finish off the alphabets and then take a picture.

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Four little reindeer ornaments and a tiny alphabet one for the children this year. One is missing - it is on my work table ready to be finished! These delightful little reindeers are freebies from Sharon's - It's Daffycat - blog and can be obtained by emailing Sharon.

Last night was my stitch group birthday (mine) and Christmas dinner and what fun we had! We exchanged Christmas gifts but I had the most lovely birthday gifts too. We always save our Christmas gifts under the actual day but I was allowed to open my birthday ones. I will show these off later but suffice it to say I was spoiled terribly so thank you ladies for my wonderful gifts and a most enjoyable evening.

I have been stitching on Jane Rees. I had forgotten how much I enjoy this one - Soie Surfine on 55ct Gander linen. I will take a WIP picture over the holiday.

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Isabelle of Los puntos sobre las telas blog *here* recently sent me a picture of her wonderful box finish of Sew a Mystery. It is stitched 2*2 on a 36ct linen with DMC threads 221 and 223. The box is lined with a really pretty pink and white fabric. There more pictures of this on Isabelle's blog so do go over and have a look. Thank you Isabelle for allowing me to showcase this here.

If you have any iStitch Designs finish you would like to be shown here please email me. You can find my email address on my profile.

Sew a Mystery is still available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

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Take care

A new iStitch Design released today - Sew Gigi. A long sampler with an alphabet bordering a pretty band of flowers. This is stitched on 40ct Antique White Newcastle linen with an HDF silk thread called 'Gigi's Christmas' - hence the name of the design. Obviously there is no DMC equivalent of this thread but this design can be stitched in any variegated or solid colour thread. It is hem-stitched with DMC blanc.

This design is available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar.

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*Edited* 'Gigi's Christmas' thread was the idea of Gigi R *here* and was created by Vikki for Gigi and then released under a forum call. If you want to buy this colour you need to check out the forum to see if there is a call open for this colour. If there isn't you can 'open' one yourself. Thank you Gigi and Vikki for this beautiful colour.

Valie finished her Sew a Mystery as this wonderful box top. Stitched on a 40ct linen with discontinued AVAS silk threads Valie found the perfect Liberty print for lining the inside of the box. Also found in her stash was the sweetest of dotted ribbon. Isn't this finish just gorgeous? There are more picture of this on Valie's blog *here* and while you are there check out her other beautiful stitching and finishing.

Kim of Scully's Cross Stitching chose to frame her version of Sew a Mystery. It is beautifully stitched with DMC variegated thread 88 on a white even weave fabric.

Maureen (no blog) also decided to frame her Mystery SAL. It is stitched on a piece of linen hand dyed by Vikki of Hand Dyed Fibers which has no specific name ... indeed a mystery piece! Her thread 'Paula Abalone' is also by Hand Dyed Fibers.

Three lovely finishes by three lovely ladies. Thank you for allowing me to showcase these here.

Sew a Mystery is available *here* or by clicking on the CHARTS button on the sidebar and remember there are free charts available with a purchase!

For those of you who are participating in this SAL, please note that the SAL closes on December 10 and no parts or the bonus chart will be sent out after this date.

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I have been stitching my Christmas ornaments and have 'finished' the two that have to be the mailed out. I hope to finish both stitching and 'final finishing' of the others shortly. I have also stitched the model of a new design and had hoped to be able to photograph it today but alas, it's yet another dark and gloomy day so I have had to postpone the photoshoot. This design will be released as soon as I can re-schedule the photoshoot. It's slightly different to the usual iStitch Design and I hope you like it.

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Take care

A very Happy Birthday to my beautiful grand-daughter Kirby - love you lots!

Cindy (no blog) has sent me a picture of her version of Sew a Mystery that she recently got back from her framer. Cindy tells me she used a mystery 30ct linen from her stash that she sprayed with walnut stain. Her thread is Fragrant Cloves from Sampler Thread. a very beautiful version Cindy - thank you for sharing.

If you are behind with this SAL, please note that it finishes on December 10 and after that date no charts will be sent out.

Sew a Mystery chart is available *here* or click on the CHARTS button on the sidebar if you missed out on the signups for the SAL

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I have been stitching my Christmas ornaments - only two more to go and then I will have a marathon finishing day. I've also made a small start on a new design (it has no name as yet) which I hope to release shortly. It is stitched with a wonderful HDF silk thread called 'Gigi's Christmas' and I may show a sneak peek in a day or so. There will also be a new freebie for Christmas so keep checking back.

It's an awful day here today; dark, gloomy and raining heavily - I really need some warm sunshine!

Thanks for visiting

Take care