Finished Four Christmas Ornaments

Last month I received a surprise from Julianne, my long time blogging friend.  She sent me Halloween ornament from one of my favorite designers: Prairie Schooler.  I wanted to surprise her with a little something so I stitched up this PS ornament...

2013 Gift 

Designer: Prairie Schooler

Design: O Christmas Tree ~ Book 183

Stitched for: Julianne P

I love the designs in PS Book #183 so much that I used the leaflet once again to stitch up this HOE Ornament Exchange for Becky K...

2013 HOE Ornament
Designer: Prairie Schooler
Design: O Christmas Tree ~ Book 183
Stitched for: Becky K

Such wonderful designs and what a great finish!

A few months ago Shirlee and I decided to do a Personal Ornament Exchange. We scanned through our many JCS Ornament magazines, came up with a list of about a dozen ornaments, and exchanged our list.  We were to select one ornament however, I wanted to stitch two for Shirlee and here they are...

2013 Personal Exchange
Designer: Little House Needlework
Design: Blue House in Winter
From JCS 2012
Stitched for: Shirlee H.

2013 Personal Exchange
Designer: Cathy Jean for Victoria Sampler
Design: Christmas Robin
Just Cross Stitch 2010 Ornament Issue
Stitched for: Shirlee H

The past three days I have been busy trying to construct a Christmas Wallhanging for a friend in Austria.  He works with my husband and I had the pleasure of meeting him when he came to our home last summer.  He often jokes with my husband about sending him a Christmas tree so when I saw this....

Pattern: Christmas Glitter

Designer: Susan Probst

Size: 19 x 28

I decided that it would be the perfect gift. This afternoon I completed the top, I just need to machine quilt and then embellish it ~ I will be busy this weekend!

Thanks for stopping by and...

Until Next time ~ remember:

The key to a happier and positive life is only surrounding yourself with those who appreciate you, talk kindly to you, love you, and make you feel better.

I surround myself with:

It Was Wicked

So, what was my latest adventure?

Can you see it?

You guessed it, I headed to the Gershwin Theatre in NYC to see the musical....

The untold story of the Witches of OZ

This wonderful musical explores how these two individuals grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch...

My love for The Wizard of OZ stems from my experience in elementary school when I played Glinda in the school play.  

Glinda from WICKED

As a child I would eagerly anticipate the airing of this movie each and every year.  I loved the magic of it all, the flying monkeys, the wizard, the witches although the very sight of the green-faced witch would bring immediate fear for she epitomized human wickedness.

Elphaba from WICKED

This is the true face of wickedness...

Margaret Hamilton from The Wizard of OZ (1939)

It is ironic that Margaret's performance of the Wicked Witch was so scary to children, because her first job was as a kindergarten teacher.  Had she been my teacher I would have refused to go to school!

Wicked did not disappoint. The cast of characters were truly talented, the costumes creative, the staging mesmerizing, the musical arrangement excellent, the orchestra impressive, the flying monkey ~ well, I don’t want to give anything away but there is flying, and the story line was surprisingly humorous.

To sum it up: Wickedly Wonderful.

Last December I toured one of the oldest museums of printing in the world,  the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany.  My favorite exhibit was a collection of miniature books.  The museum gift shop offered an array of mini books, one of which is The Wizard of Oz. You can imagine my disappointment when I was told the book was sold out; I could have ordered it and I didn't.

But my DH did ~ he travels to Germany often and upon his return he handed me this...

Viola...

Yes, inside is the story in tiny print!  I placed this little beauty beside this...

Beyer Choice Doll

"DOROTHY"

During another trip to Germany my DH returned with The Wizard of OZ written in German.

I feel compelled to add just a bit of stitching to this post so let me re post this picture...

Primitive Wizard of OZ

Midsummer Night Designs

So, what is planned for my next adventure? Here is a clue:

Thanks for taking the time to stop by ~ 


Until next time...