Birthday and Get Well cards and a Coin Purse

I just noticed that this draft post had been sitting around waiting to be published.   The two cards I stitched recently both went to the same person.    He had some health problems so I made him a get well card.  He's doing much better now, but I don't think my card was the reason.  And then his birthday came along shortly afterward.

For the get well card, I used a design I had waiting in the wings that I had stitched a while ago just because I liked the design.  I figured it would come in handy at some point.  This was one of the blocks from the 2014 Sampler Life SAL.  The original artist is Raquel Blasco of Maggi Co's Village.  I think the cross stitch adaptation might be by Nathalie Cichon of "Jardin Privé".

You can still get the blocks for this sampler on the FB group "The Sampler Life".   Each block is by a different designer.

I did this over-one on Monaco, so it's especially cute in that tiny format.  My over-one stitching days are pretty much behind me.  I don't know what possessed me to do this.  But I find that it is easier on Monaco than on any other fabric.

I may decide to stitch more of Raquel Blasco's designs.   I'm drawn to that style.

I always take a look at the latest CrossStitcher magazine because it's one that I can check out from our local library as an e-magazine.  I rarely find anything that grabs me though.  But the August, 2018 issue had a set of four ice cream sundaes that immediately caught my eye.  I stitched up my favorite of the set and I think it made a pretty cute birthday card.  The colors, especially on the dish, worked up somewhat different from the photo in the mag, but I do like the way they pop on that 36 count "Dirty" linen.

I stitched up a little coin purse for a friend who has done some favors for me recently.  This is a section of Little House Needleworks "Liberty Belles" on  36 ct  linen.  I re-worked the placement of the motifs to make it fit the space.  The threads are all DMC.   I'm still working on the best way to do those top zippers.   I've read a billion tutorials and watched tons of videos, but it's like looking for the perfect taco in Tom Robbins' "Jitterbug Perfume".    This one didn't come out too bad though.  Reducing bulk in the corners is the tricky part.   I added a zipper pull from a  Moonraker Lampwerks bead to jazz it up a bit..