Old and New Stitch Work

I tried to make these photos larger so you could see the work that went into them better but it just wasn't working out so sorry about that.  I do have to say that I am more than pleased about these things getting done too.

 

This picture doesn't do this project any justice in any degree.  Seeing it in person is amazing!  This cross stitch is quite a special one to me.  I bought it with my own money from my very first pay check job.  I got it because I thought it looked really neat and I enjoyed doing animal type cross stitches at the time.  I had no idea how it would challenge me with learning a new style at such a beginner level.  Several times it would intimidate me and I would put it to the side or I would have to put it to the side to work on other things.  Honestly at moments I would just get plain tired of working on it and again set it aside.  Well after several years of doing that I have finally finished the thing.

As you can see a little closer up all of the color that goes into it.  There was a ton of thread blending that had to be done and so much of the space is filled with a color.  The only part that wasn't too difficult was the outlining, which I normally hate to do but this time I was okay.  This project took me a little over 15 years to finish!  I am happy that I listened to my husband and never tossed the project out of frustration or despair of feeling like I never was going to finish it.

My goal this year was to get projects that are already started finished before I start a new one.  Well I have already broken that rule.  This little deer was a cross stitch that I saw online and thought it would be a nice and small enough pattern to make a cute little ornament out of.  Yeah, I had no idea how big it was going to be until after I was half way done with the deer.  It only took me a few hours to do the entire thing which was a very nice change for a project of mine.

I thought the deer looked kind of empty so I found three snowflakes that were the right size and style and added them in.  I wanted more so I just came up with pattern ideas for the rest and put them in following the same rule/style that the original three had.  It was fun and nice to do as a simple and relaxing project.  However now I have no idea what to turn this into.  I don't want it to be another holiday wall hanging but something fun for my children.  I'd love to hear any ideas you might have.

My last, and probably my most skill testing cross stitch ever, is this special birth announcement hanging.  I think it has turned out really well for it NOT coming from a kit.  This entire cross stitch is made from other left over materials that I had from past projects.  The pattern is also an amazing feat in and of itself. 

The pattern I pieced together.  I had gotten for free, from the Precious Moments website, the little boy praying with the bear and the angle.  The angel was facing the other way but I used my computer to flip the pattern to have him face the way that I wanted.  The balloon is from a Precious Moments cross stitch booklet that my mother-in-law had.  She sent the pattern to me so I could use it in this project.  The toys are probably the most amazing part of this project.  I found a few coloring pages online and took those pages and combined the toys together in a way that I liked and formatted that into something that would work to cross stitch.  It was a little hard at first to get the pattern just right but I did and I love how it turned out.  Finally the boarder I found again online but tweaked it just a bit to fit the style of my project.

I have, since taking this picture, created a little saying and filled that part in too.  Now I made this special "new" project for my son that will be joining our family.  His older brother and sister have a special cross stitch from me and I wanted him to have the same thing but this one is more special because it matches the Precious Moments theme of his baby blanket from his great grandmother L.  I know as a boy it won't be a big deal to him for while but one day I hope he is happy with how much I thought of him and wanted him to know that his mommy loves him very much.