Good Mail

This arrived in the mail today.

I don't even remember how I got into this screening program but every year or so I get a letter to go for a mammogram, Pap test, or do a fecal occult blood test (colon screening) so I go and get them done. Then a few months later I'm fortunate (so far) to get a letter like this in the mail from Cancer Care Ontario. A copy also gets forwarded to my primary care physician.

Also in today's mail came a parcel from Teresa Kogut with a couple of patterns I ordered and a new stitching assignment - a Halloween silhouettes design with witches (silhowitches) cats, owls, pumpkins, etc. It's 40ct dark orange brown by XJuDesigns and two colours of Weeks Dye Works floss. I'll be stitching 1 over 2. 

I also got Peaceful Snow for some future stitching.

And want to do more more punch needle because it goes so fast. This is her book celebrating 15 years of converting her designs to needlework.

All her designs are available from her Etsy shop.

Yesterday a bedazzler kit (HotFix tool on Amazon) arrived in the mail. It is a hot iron and thousands of faceted 'jewels' backed with an adhesive that is activated by heat so the jewel can be attached to almost anything.

I bedazzled a couple of things on the Christmas tree:

Rudolph's nose and the o's,

the centre of the Nordic star - an Arne and Carlos design from years ago,

and several on the heart ball from their collection of knitted mini Christmas balls.

The 'jewels' sparkle with the light as the ornaments move.

I also took some pics of some of my other ornaments.

I have stitched this a couple of times - correcting the key signature each time (once a music teacher, always a music teacher). It's from one of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issues. I liked that the beads of the notes are actual beads.

I stitched many of these little stockings since the 90s. I tucked a little greenery and red berries in this one.

This one was from last year or the year before. I am partial to sheep ornaments.

This is a flatfold finish which I learned to do from Vonna Pfeiffer's (The Twisted Stitcher) FlossTube instructional video. It is like a little sandwich board and it sits nicely on the bookshelf in our family room (where our big Christmas tree is).

This design is also from a JCS Christmas ornament issue from a couple of years ago. It was a really quick stitch and I also finished it as a flatfold.

This little Hardanger piece hangs on our powder room mirror. It just has a piece of ribbon running through each lettered piece.

I'm not sure how much more Christmas ornament stitching/knitting/bedazzling I'll be doing. I want to get started on Teresa's piece. I hope to have it finished in a month or so as I suspect she will want to release it in the spring at Market in Nashville. For 2021, it has been moved to May. I hope COVID rates have improved drastically or a vaccine becomes widely available to Americans by then. I know I'll be getting the vaccine as soon as possible so I can resume regular activities in person.