A couple of finishes

Hello everyone, how was your week.   It has been wet and cold here - last night was thunderstorms, lightning and hail storms.   Yes, it is mid-winter here and only the skifields are rejoicing!

I have been indoors enjoying some small stitching projects.
First up the start of christmas ornaments for gifts.
These are from the series 12 Days of Christmas by The Marking Sampler and I am stitching in one strand of floss over one thread of 28 count Cashel Linen using the DMC as charted.   I intend to finish these all as small flat hanging ornaments with the same backing fabric and ribbon trim.

Second are these small baby bootees for a friend who after some years of trying and a disappointing miscarriage the year before last is finally pregnant with her first baby.

Third is this Dutch Sampler Needlebook taken from an old copy of the Sampler and Antique Needlework Quarterly magazine.    This was an easy stitch over two threads of 28 count Cashel linen but the construction was, well shall we just say that the instructions left a little to be desired and so I eventually followed my instinct rather than the printed word.
So here's some photos of front, back and inside as presented by my old friend, Floral Bear.

So after some months of a major project it is great to be back on smalls again.   However, I have ordered the fabric and threads for my next major project -  The Heirloom Nativity Sampler from Victoria Sampler.   This has plenty of colour and lots of specialty stitches so I am hoping it will catch my interest and keep me occupied and amused for the duration.

I wanted this to be one I didn't have to pay for framing so plan on stitching this as a wall hanging - which should be quite satisfactory given that it will be on display only once a year.  The intention is to have this finished for Christmas 2012 -  but perhaps I will surprise myself!

Hope you all have a good week everyone.  It promises to be a busy one for me.