Custodians of Beauty

When I came across Nancy's  40 Catholic Saints in Cross Stitch , there was no question. I purchased her patterns that day. How could you not? These mini saint designs are awesome! The simple details for each one are fantastic. St. Rose of Lima wears a flower crown, St. Brigid holds a reed cross, and St. Pio reveals his stigmata. There are quite a few saints in this batch which made it easy for me to pick out a few to frame and give as gifts. www.dosmallthingswithlove.com  Cross stitch pattern for Maria Goretti I decided on St. Maria Gorretti for my first cross stitch saint, since she is my confirmation saint and because during the  Pilgrimage of Mercy: Tour of the Major Relics of St. Maria Goretti ,  I was blessed to touch the reliquary containing her bones. I didn't have the exact colors called for in the patterns. That being the case, my saints outfits vary slightly. The burlap was leftover from a rug project I did a few summe...

Over Thanksgiving and Christmas, I created a few more felt pages for my ABC quiet book . I've sewn a blanket stitch around the edges to join the opposite facing pages. Each page seems to get more and more involved with intricate cuts and hand sewing, but I'm excited to see it all come together.  A sampling of the edged pages I've made it through ...T, U, V. Now for the last four letters of the alphabet. Here are some preview pages of my favorites.  K for Koala O for Owl R for Rooster T for turtle My grommet kit  came in the mail last week, whoo who! I've never tried grommets before, but from the reviews I've read online they seem fairly easy to assemble. Just a bit of hammering will do the trick. The kit I purchased comes with brass grommets, a cutter and the grommet tool. Wish me luck!

These woodland ornaments were given as gifts last year for Christmas, so I wasn't able to take proper photos of them until now. They were hand sewn using felt and embroidery thread and stuffed with fluff to give the animals dimension. The fox and bear ornaments were adapted from patterns I found online, but the raccoon ornament is custom.  Grizzly Bear Raccoon And the fox. These ornaments look lovely hanging among the fir branches. I'm hoping to add to my woodland felt collection. A deer, owl, or moose perhaps. Any other ideas?  The ornament I made this year was a gingerbread house. I'm thinking of sewing a gingerbread man next time around. The backside of the ornaments are missing something. In the future I'm thinking of sewing the year. A bit of pink ribbon completes it. The felt ornaments were put on the lower branches of our Christmas tree for the littles to enjoy. My two year old loved to take the gingerbread house off the tr...