To begin at the beginning.... A little while ago, I bought a combined cross-stitch magazine and goodie pack called Cross stitch for Christmas. As well as nice range of small patterns it had a big pile of free threads, aida, ornaments for the tree, needle and ribbon as well as some blank cards. It looked good so I treated myself. I've now stitched two patterns from the magazine - one to go on a Christmas card, a Margaret Sherry design, who is a very well known designer and another one, shaped like a stocking to go as a Christmas tree ornament. This is destined to be a gift for Andrew's sister and family when we see them over the weekend. The cautionary part of this tale is NEVER BUY CHEAP THREADS (FLOSS). I used the threads in the goodie pack and they were not one of the big three brands (DMC, Anchor or Madeira). They were horribly thin, not very shiny and plump and kept snagging and knotting. Generally, I cross-stitch in two strands, but these were so thin, I stitched in three. For the stocking, I used one of my own lilac threads, a DMC one, and the relief was amazing. Fine, smooth cotton that glided through the aida, and lay plumply glistening on the design. I will probably throw the others out, very reluctantly as I hate throwing stuff away, but life is simply too short to tolerate such poor quality stitching stuff.

A picture of the stocking is attached - as you can see, I added seed beads to it - a pretty holographic clear one that I bought a packet of, along with some red and some gold. The red are used on a card I made for Penny, a greyhound friend. Here I x-stitched a simple red star, and added red seed beads. Mounted in a red card, I then added some Christmas borders and peel-offs to give a cheerful and simple card. Penny runs a company that does medieval re-enactments, and we often see Joe her business partner when we visit her on the farm or at shows. I made him a card, pictured, which tried to pick up on the medieval theme. I used a tall red pearlescent card, with a strip of patterned red Anna Griffin paper in the centre. Then I mounted a gold card with rounded corners and added an epoxy sticker of a knight on horseback and a stag. Below, I added a red label bearing the words "Noble prince" applied using rub-ons. I'm waiting to hear of any feedback.

I also attach a pic of the birthday card I made for my mother-in-law's birthday, which is today - happy birthday Rita! Again, a fairly simple x-stitched card, with a small Joan Elliott design (I absolutely love her stuff). She is very fond of beads and French knots. I still have not conquered my fear of the French knot and avoid them wherever possible, although I am a recent and enthusiastic convert to the use of beads. This pretty little floral design was best left fairly unadorned so I simply added a birthday greeting and a butterfly. Sometimes with cards, the best thing is to leave well alone and know when to stop adding stuff.