first dance of the year

I first saw this cute freebie as part of a giveaway on Nina's blog, and fell in love immeditately! Snowman, and alphabets what more could I ask for? I love things with alphabets!

I started stitching this on Dec. 30/09 and finished him on while relaxing and "recovering" from New Year's on Jan 1/10. Then on the Sunday I actually made him into the little hanging pillow that he became. He does have a beaded edge, but I didn't have larger beads so I just used what I had in my stash, I like him, and hope you do too!

Sampler Winter by Marika Belfiori
stitched on 25ct natural peal linen, DMC threads

Most people in the stitching community make a list of their stitching resolutions or what their goals will be for the upcoming month/year... I've tried, and each time I try I just seem to go off on a completely different path, not even close to what I wanted to accomplish! So this year I'm not going to do that, instead I'll just enjoy my hobby and where it takes me.

On that note, one of the things my hobby of mine is making do is search for some OOP/HTF (out of print/hard to find) patterns... I have been trying various boards and ebay, but so far no luck (at least not one that could accept my payment method)... I'm looking for the following and if anyone has them for sale/trade or knows of someone that does, it would be greatly appreciated if you could let me know.

Pennslyvania Alphabet Sampler - Goode Huswife
picture from Simply Stitching - it was one of her '09 finishes

Ellen Birdseye - Goode Huswife
picture taken from Words and Blooms - one of her '09 finishes

I did start a new project this month already - Blessings Be Thine by Blackbird Designs. I originally saw it on Yuko's blog and was immediately enabled and so began my search, and good fortune was on my side, as I did manage to find it and am now happily working on it. Here is my progress so far...

I'm stitching mine on 28ct ivory jobelan, with my own choice of threads - DMC 433, B5200 and Simply Shaker GAST in Baby Spinach and Rose Garden. I really wanted a more green coloured fabric, but I didn't have anything solid in my stash that would work, and I really just wanted to get started... I think the ivory will work and turn out nice as well.