Coffee Altoid Tin Top & Freedom Mat

So it's down to the final projects for 2014.  I made yet another embellished Altoid tin for my coffee-loving Jazzercise instructor.  The design is a slightly re-worked version of Barbara Ana's "Drink Coffee, Stitch Faster".  I probably could have used the entire design if I had done over-one stitching, but I wasn't in the mood to go with any higher count than 36 over-two on Summer Khaki Edinburgh.  Naturally I enclosed the cute Starbucks gift card keychain fob in the shape of a  mini-red Startbucks coffee cup. With coffee, lip balm and a few chocolates, this seemed like the perfect little package to carry around.  I had those two little gingerbread people embellishments in my stash from one of those "Dress it Up" collections.  My instructor said her two sons are really enamored of gingerbread this year, so I expect they got a kick out of it.

And continuing in the Barbara Ana theme,  I stitched up this "Freedom" design that Barbara donated to the members of the Star Spangled Stitchers FB group.  My camera just couldn't capture the lovely colors of the floss and fabric.  It's stitched on 36 count HDF linen in a beautiful pale blue.  All the other colors are DMC as suggested.   The finished piece is a 5" x 6" mat on which my eyeglasses are currently resting.  The backing is the same as the gold/brown fabric around the piece.  Not my best binding effort, but the camera seems to point out every flaw much more than I would notice in true life.

Super Hannah & Gingerbread Swirl Card

When I saw Brooke Nolan's free pattern for "Super Emma" on the DMC blog, I knew I wanted to stitch it.  Her designs always appeal to me.  But I had no idea of what I would do with the finish.   Recently, however, one of my Jazzer-buddies, Hannah,  expressed an interest in learning x-stitch, so I helped her get started and she just took the reins immediately.  She is multi-talented, very crafty and web-savvy so between You Tube videos and Pinterest, she's well on her way to discovering all the fun we stitchers enjoy.

Hannah actually resembles Super Emma with that gorgeous mane of black hair and looped earrings so that gave me an idea.  I stitched up "Super Hannah" and made her into a pinkeep with a pocket on the back for a scissors or crochet hook.  I added a few little button embellishments  for symmetry.  She's stitched on  Edinburgh Summer Khaki linen.  I gave the piece to Hannah last night so I can show it today.

Hannah is a body piercing specialist and you can see her photo on her company website, Cherryworks Piercing, to compare the real Hannah to the stitched Hannah.

If you would like to stitch this piece, click here for the free pattern.

Looks like San-Man will be around a bit longer in 2015 and we are all grateful for that. Sandy just released a series of small swirly gingerbread designs at the request of one of the members of her board.  I love gingerbread houses and this was so tiny and cute,  I immediately stitched it and made it into a card.  The other designs are just as cute, but I'll save them for another time.