Linda's Review of "A Kiss For A Snowman" - Dimensions Cross-Stitch Kit

I fell in love with the "A Kiss For A Snowman" Dimensions cross-stitch picture the minute I saw it.  Totally adorable and so very cheery.  It  created such a wonderful happy aspect to it that I knew I'd buy it and add it to my other winter season cross-stitch decorations on my fireplace mantle.

Like the other Dimensions Gold Collection Petites kits I had bought the kit included the pattern, pre-sorted cotton thread, 18 count white cotton Aida, needle and instructions.

The "A Kiss For A Snowman" pattern uses full counted cross-stitch, half cross-stitch, french knots and outline stitching for emphasis and depth and this detailing really makes the picture stand out. It also varies the number of threads used with the various stitches to add to the depth emphasis. The design of this cross-stitch gives the finished picture a 3 dimensional aspect with the half cross stitch, french knots and outlining being used for artistic effect.

The pattern came with starting and working order instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, color coded keys (with code #'s, lengths, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a chart with color coded symbols.  The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.

Linda's Review of "Let It Snow" - Mill Hill Sticks Cross-stitch Kit #ST14-1615

As you know from my previous post it's the middle of the summer and sweltering here.  More heat and humidity than I would like.  Yet, I'm making Christmas ornaments.  Maybe the coldness of my craft project will have an effect on Mother Nature.  I doubt it, but one can be hopeful.

This time the ornaments that I'm working on  are a pair of 3" by 3" Christmas stocking ornaments by Mill Hill - Sticks line.

The "Let It Snow" ornament kit contained the presorted thread, 14 count perforated paper, needles (stitching and beading), beads and instructions. The pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and outline stitching for emphasis and depth.

The pattern came with starting, stitching and 2 different back finishing instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, beading instructions and color code chart (with code #'s, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a black and white chart with black and white coded symbols.  The colors and symbols on the keys and chart were easy to read and follow except the symbols under the stars that were to be highlighted with floss were hard to read.

The only other problem I had with the kit was there was only one strand of the medium blue DMC floss and I ran out of it before I started the 2nd stocking.

I had no problem cross-stitching the stocking ornaments and then cutting the perforated paper close to the sides of the stocking figures. This kit did come with 2 different options for finishing the back the ornaments back to back.  The other was creating two ornaments and finishing the back with felt or card stock.  I opted to create two ornaments and finish mine with green felt which I glued to the back with an Avery disappearing color glue stick.  I wanted to finish the edges by whip stitching around the edges of the perforated paper with 4 strands of he green floss so I trimmed the edges and left enough of the felt and perforated paper to stitch around the edges.

Instead of adding a floss hanger according to the instructions I opted to sew two strands of floss to the top of the ornament, securing the edge of the ornament with an additional stitch and then tying the ends at the top in a large knot.  They're going to look great on my pencil Christmas tree

I was very happy with the way my "Let It Snow" stocking ornaments turned out and hope you like it too.

Linda's Review of Joy Ornaments - Sticks by Mill Hill Cross-Stitch #ST14-1616

It's the middle of the summer and sweltering here.  More heat and humidity than I would like.  So, you're probably wondering why I'm showing you two Christmas cross-stitch ornaments I just finished.  Well, when I'm making ornaments for the Christmas holiday season I like to start early. They are a pair of 3" by 3" stocking ornaments by Mill Hill - Sticks line.

I just love to cross-stitch small ornaments with the word "joy" in them because my mother's name was Joy and when I look at them I think of her.

The "Joy" ornament kit contained the presorted thread, 14 count perforated paper, needles (stitching and beading), beads and instructions.  The pattern uses full counted cross-stitch and outline stitching for emphasis and depth.

The pattern came with starting, stitching and 2 different back finishing instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, beading instructions and color code chart (with code #'s, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a black and white chart with black and white coded symbols.  The colors and symbols on the keys and chart were easy to read and follow.

I had no problem cross-stitching the stocking ornaments and then cutting the perforated paper close to the sides of the stocking figures. This kit did come with 2 different options for finishing the back of the ornaments. The first was finishing them back to back.  The other was creating two ornaments and finishing the back with felt or card stock.  I opted to create two ornaments and finish mine with green felt which I glued to the back with an Avery disappearing color glue stick.  I wanted to finish the edges by whip stitching around the edges of the perforated paper with 4 strands of the green floss so I trimmed the edges and left enough of the felt and perforated paper to stitch around the edges.

Instead of adding a floss hanger according to the instructions I opted to sew two strands of floss to the top of the ornament, securing the edge of the ornament with an additional stitch and then tying the ends at the top in a large knot.  They're going to look great on my pencil Christmas tree.

I was very happy with the way my "Joy" stocking ornaments turned out and hope you like it too.

Linda's Review of Gazebo - Mill Hill Cross-Stitch Kit #MH14-1825

As you know from my previous Linda's Blog post, it's getting to be one of my favorite seasons of the year - Fall.   For the last few weeks I've been  happily cross-stitching more shadowbox pictures to decorate one of my fireplace mantles.  If you're a reader of my blog you know I'm drawn to the beautiful bright colors of the Fall.  When I saw the Mill Fill "Gazebo" cross-stitch kit I knew I would buy it not only for the fall colors, but for the little doggie as well.  I'm a sucker for "doggie" pictures.

The Gazebo Mill Hill #MH14-1825 pattern uses full cross-stitch and straight stitch highlighting as well as beads of various sizes for emphasis and depth. The Mill Hill patterns usually call for certain areas of the perforated paper to be left untouched like the background or border. In this case they were leaving sections of the brown perforated paper border untouched.

In embroidering the cross-stitch I decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of my perforated paper to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts, but without bending the perforated  paper. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I used for this 5.25 x 5.25 square design.

I had learned from previous mistakes that I needed to draw diagonal lines to locate the exact center of the perforated paper as in previous perforated paper cross-stitch picture I have done the picture was slightly off center by a few holes which caused a problem with inserting the needles in the holes along one of the edges of my frame. So, I lightly drew a diagonal line across each corner with a pencil to get the center point of the perforated paper.

A lot of the cross-stitch 5.25" by 5.25" pictures I have made were finished in small 6 1/2" by 6 1/2" shadowbox frames with 5" by 5" openings that I had gotten at Michaels when they went on sale one year.  I used up all the shadowbox frames I had gotten that year and have been looking for them ever since and haven't found them again.

So, I decided to buy some 8" by 8" hand painted wood frames that Mill Hill created for their cross-stitch pictures.  This frame is bare bones.  There's no glass or plastic cover and there's nothing on the back to hold the picture into the frame.  They do, however, provide a thin 6" by 6" cardboard back and wood dowel for inserting in the holes in the back to allow for the frame to stand on it's own.  Of course, if you're going to hang this on the wall you'd just add a picture hanger to the back.

The directions did not include any instruction for finishing the back.  I decided to finish mine with 1/4" thick self sticking art needle-craft mounting foam.  I used an 8" by 10" by Pres-On sheet that I cut 6" by 6"with an X-acto knife to fit my picture.  Since the depth of the back of the frame for inserting the picture is 1/4" deep the 1/4" foam was a perfect fit for inserting it as well as the cardboard backing that came with the frame.

The pattern called for a blue colored wooden frame. I  opted to use a rust colored wooden Mill Hill frame as I though it complimented the gazebo picture much better than the blue colored frame.