Halloween Faerie WIP and some small finishes

First, the progress on my focus project for early November: I am moving along on filling in the wings of my Faerie ... the photo doesn't do justice to the colors ... indeed, the CC Dandelion Stem almost fades into the fabric in the photo though it stands out well enough in reality. What with the remaining cross stitching, the back-stitching and the beading, I figure I have at least 12 hours more work on this piece which I hope to finish by the end of the weekend.

This is the progress as of Tuesday morning, 11/4.

And here is the progress as of today ... with one wing nearly completely filled in.

Next, a few small finishes:

The Turkish Tile Biscornu from the http://aurelle.over-blog.com/ website complimentary charts collection. Since I have something of a biscornu fetish, I really like this site ... it will provide me with biscornu charts for months, even years, to come. Add that to the biscornu issue of The Gift of Stitching several months ago, and I am in biscornu heaven.

The Little By Little Merry & Bright Christmas ornament from the JCS 2007 issue. Though you can't see it in this photo, I trimmed this ornament in irridescent beads that picked up the muted Victorian Christmas colors in the border. I quite like the effect of a beaded edge on Christmas ornaments. It looks so very festive and flickers with reflections from the strings of lights on the tree. And, let's face it, I simply enjoy the rhythm of beading.

And since I am using this ornament as my contribution to a ornament grab bag, I stitched this coordinating gift bag to hold it. That way, whoever chooses my contribution gets a two-for-one deal: an ornament to hang on the tree and a gift bag to use for a present placed beneath it.

Observant readers may notice that any Christmas ornaments I have done this year have been from the JCS 2006 or 2007 issues. I found the 2008 issue very disappointing ... even designers whose charts I stitch frequently fail to please. The Blackbird Designs ornament which I rather like seems to have an awful lot of blank linen at the bottom of the stocking making it look oddly top-heavy. And though I have stitched the Sue Hillis and Dragon Dreams Designs ornaments for the past three years, I can't seem to work up any enthusiasm for this year's entries. The Bright Needle Designer series will probably be the only one I stitch from the 2008 issue ... but that is only because I have been stitching a designer series Santa each year for one of my sisters who collects Santas.

And now a confession. I have already ignored one November goal: not starting any new projects not already on my goal list. But the Stitching For A Cure 2009 Christmas Tree ornament project seemed a cause worthy of breaking a few self-imposed rules for.

Finally, I indulged myself in a little Stash Enhancement. In preparation for the Mystic Stitchers' Hideaway, I purchased a proper magnifying lamp ... Susan has been very specific: we will need magnification for the projects from The Sweetheart Tree's designer, Sandra Vanosdall. From the pictures on the Hideaway website, I anticipate lots of wonderful specialty stitches which are so much fun to do ... even if the overall design is a bit frou-frou for my taste. It'll probably grow on me as I stitch it. In any case, I can always use it as a gift for someone with more feminine sensibilities than my own ... which would be just about any woman I know ... and even a few of the men I know.