Saturday, March 28, 2009

So Much to Share...

Yes, the letter carrier has been busy this week. Lot's of packages arriving at this house! Hmmm....where shall I begin?

Let's start with this beautiful biscornu that I received from Candace as part of the exchange organized on the Tiny Treasures blog. Candace studied my blog and tried to find a biscornu pattern from one of my favorite designers. She couldn't find anything that was exactly right, so she just took the bunny and the grass motifs from LHN's Nature's Beauty and adpated them into this design on one side of the biscornu.
The other side of the biscornu is a design from Teresa Wentzler called English Cottage Sampler. The two sides complement each other nicely.
Finally, check out these cool pins that Candace made. She used seed beads and insect beads to make them herself. Cool, huh? Thanks Candace! The biscornu that I stitched and finished for this exchange was mailed today, so stay tuned for a post in a week or so.

Next up, is a beautiful set of needlework smalls that I received from Ronel in South Africa. A couple months ago, Ronel and I decided to do an exchange with each other. We decided that we could stitch anything that we wanted and then finish as we wished. We both mailed our packages on March 16 and my package from Ronel arrived today.

Ronel told me that she enjoys ribbon embroidery and stumpwork in addition to cross stitch. She stitched this beautiful stumpwork set for me. The bag has a beautiful dragonfly on it. His tail and his eyes are beaded. Then notice the berries on stem - these are stitched and beaded too. You can't see it, but on the backside of this bag, Ronel stitched my initials and there's another stem with a small berry attached. The bag is lined with some coordinating fabric; it has a drawstring closure and there are beads at the end of the cording.

Now, look at the gorgeous nametag. More embroidery and beading. Can you see the little spider? You probably can't see it in the photo, but he is starting to spin a web! One the back side of the nametag, Ronel stitched her name, South Africa, and the year. There are also some cute little bees stitched on the backside!

Finally, a coordinating scissor fob. The little ladybug on this fob is so cute. Ronel is definitely an expert needleworker! In the package she also enclosed some threads from South Africa and a cross stitch chart from a South African designer. I am so glad to have a new friend - it was such fun exchanging emails and getting to know Ronel throughout this process. Now, I hope my package to her arrives soon!


Last picture to share today -- Jill is the recipient of the monthly ornament exchange this month. I happened to see her last night and so I hand delivered my ornament to her. Jill wanted a design that included a pine tree; this is one of the Prairie Schooler santas and he's holding the pine tree!
I'll have more pictures to share tomorrow - another special box arrived today and I'm almost finished with Red Reindeer.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a nice weekend!

12 comments:

Kathy A. said...

Lovely stitching on the biscornu. I like the idea of the difference in the two sides. Your PS Santa is very nice and the pine tree is spot on.
The package you received from Ronel - it is just stunning. What a beautiful stitcher she is. It is obvious she put a great deal of thought into what she stitched

Kim B said...

Your ornament is lovely! And what great exchanges to receive!

BeckySC said...

Wonderful exchanges and your ornament for Jill is perfect :)

Gabi said...

Beautiful exchanges. I LOVE those hand made beads. They look gorgeous on that beautiful biscornu.

Margaret said...

Very nice exchanges! It must be fun to get presents in the mail! :D

corinna said...

all are beautiful
stumpwork is amazing
fun bells on xmas ornament

Unknown said...

Oh, the biscornu turned out beautiful! Well done! Love all your work, too!

Hope you stop on by for my 1st Blogoversary/100th post celebration! I'm even having a giveaway! Do come on over! Everyone is invited!!! :)

Theresa said...

Wow!!! These exchanges are wonderful!!! The biscornu is so cute, and the pins are just gorgeous!!!

Anna Zont said...

Wow! Beautiful works and beautiful exchanges!!!

mainely stitching said...

Breathtaking! I clicked the stumpwork pic for an enlargement and "WOW" - what astounding detail. Everything is beautiful, of course, but stumpwork just blows me away!

CindyMae said...

I just love that Biscoru!! That ornie is just lovely!!

Brigitte said...

You've received two wonderful exchanges. Both are very special, with so many nice details.
I also love the PS snowman you stitched for Jill. Cute embellishment bells!