Really wrinkled, but I am going to continue working on Part 2. Here is Part 1 of Baroque Gardens and Castles by Martina Rosenberg (Weber) from Chatelaine Designs. This is the top center portion:.jpg)
I did not add the center crystal, as I found a "charm" that I am going to use instead. I will probably attach it at the end, so that I don't damage it during the two years that this one is going to take to complete all the parts.:)).jpg)
This is my WIP on the first portion of Chatelaine Designs Baroque Gardens. I still have a lot more to do, but at least I have the top width (with the exception of the outlining border) established. Wouldn't you know it? I didn't notice the little piece of stray thread until after the picture. 
Yep, been holding out....I joined another one...Chatelaine design, that is. ;) Here's my progress on Part 1 of the Peacock Garden Mystery.
My cross stitch "fix" ~ I worked on my Fairy Garden Mandala for a while the past two days. Made a little progress on one corner. No dragonflies yet..;) But if you look carefully....you can see where one is getting ready to "hatch."
I love the holidays...honestly, I do....But (you knew that was coming, right?)....all the work and preparation for about everyone's enjoyment of about half an hour is just too much sometimes. Don't get me wrong. I love having my family and friends all together to celebrate Thanksgiving. It's just that "I" don't want to be the one having to do all the preparation. For a couple of years, we celebrated at a very wonderful restaurant. It was great....walk in, enjoy everyone's company, eat all the delicious food...leave the dishes for someone else to take care of...and leave! ;) This year, I left the choice up to my father as to whether we would go to this restaurant again or have it at my house. So it was at my house. It was very nice and enjoyable, and I'm not sorry I did it...but I am already thinking about next year....;) I wonder if it's too early to make reservations? ;)
Anyway, my stitching has definitely suffered a bit during this time. But....a little Christmas stitching got done (which I cannot show). I am going to try to work on something I can post a picture of...but in the meantime....something old...
These were some of the little "freebies" Martina Weber gave you as part of her mystery sign-up several years ago. Each one is from a different mystery and gives an example of some of the threads used in the mystery itself.
....what?? Well, I started the hollyhocks in the corners of my Fairy Garden. I filled in all four corner motifs and began to move outward again. Yeah!! Those hollyhocks are going to take some time with all the color changes going on in them. But the doilies...I really do like working on them. One color thread and just keep going!
Now those dragonflies nestle in between all the stitches of the doilies.....Can I hold off much longer?
I really want to try and get at least two of those hollyhocks done, before I move on again.
Close-up of the doily:
After working on those curtains all last week, I finally got to play with my Fairies again.
The central part is finished (with the exception of adding the rest of the crystals in the middle)
I am really, really trying to be good and not skip out to those borders with the gorgeous dragonflies....if I do, I know what will happen....the rest of the borders, corners and "doilies" will not get done....so I am saving those beauties as my incentive to finish the tedious parts. :)
All good intentions aside, I did not get as much done on my Fairy Flower Garden in the past few days as I would have liked. But, I did try the little Jessica bellflowers. Cute! . . . and pretty easy to stitch, too! I did start to fill in the yellow border. The chart calls for pink centers for the bead flowers, but I liked the purple centers better.
And a little closer look:
Fairy Flower Garden
Thanks, again, to everyone for your encouraging comments! Reading all of them certainly does help to keep me motivated!
Scrolls! Only one more to finish filling in with DMC 519 and then only one remains! Woohoo!
Maybe I will finally get to move onto the next border. I am waiting for the border to be in place before I backstitch any of those dark green leaves.
Well, duh!!
I keep completely forgetting that I am missing DMC 807 to fill in the heart shape on the four central motifs. Once I get that thread, the motifs will be done!
A little more work on my Fairy Garden.
Now that the scrolls are outlined, I need to go back and fill each one in.
After seeing Ineke's gorgeous dragonfly, I am sooo tempted to just stitch what I need to make it to the outer portion where the dragonflies are. But...I am trying to be good on this one. Three scrolls are filled in now, with five more to go. The corners are much easier than the center portions, but I know how I am.
If I don't complete the middle portions along with the corners, they might just get skipped over for quite a while. ;)
I worked on all the Deep Blue Sea scrolls on my Fairies Garden. I thought I had them all done, but, of course, after looking at my picture....I see there is one that is missing a little bit of its scrolls.
I'll finish those little bits and move onto another color within the scrolls...probably the Cormorant Gaze. OK - Cormorant?? Now that's a word I have never heard. So, curiosity got the better of me and I went and looked it up. Believe it or not, it is a species of bird. Now I feel better. :) It makes you wonder where the thread designers go looking for new color names, doesn't it?
The next two borders on my Fairies Mandala are done! Woohoo! I can't believe I have actually completed each section on this one. I usually tend to work on several different areas at once. The border with all the little Rhodes stitches is finished, as well as the border with the little pink flowers.
the stitch, that is!
Lots and lots of little Jessica stitches. Now Algerian eyelets are my least favorite stitch. But in second place for that distinction, is the Jessica stitch. I guess because it takes a while to stitch each one, and I want to move onto something different a little more quickly.
Now I have decided that I will not stitch Algerian eyelets over one (if I can help it). So, I thought why not the same thing with Jessicas?
When I use one thread and go into each hole, my Jessica stitches just look like bumps. But when I stitch them with two threads over two threads, they actually seem to have a little more definition. A new resolution for me - no more Jessicas over one....;)
A little more on my Fairies Flower Mandala. Some of the borders, and a few of the specialty stitches.(Of course, after taking the picture is when I noticed the stray thread....)
"Beware!" Construction Zone!
I finished the assembly of all the sides and bottom for my Gingerbread House. . The roof may get worked on a bit today. It is the needlebook portion of the etui. I still have the final actual assembly of making all my "sides" into the little house. It is looking cute! So far, so good! I thought I would wait to take pictures until I actually have something that looks like a house.
In the meantime, I did work on my newest project, the Fairy Garden Mandala, from Chatelaine. This is a one-time download file for this one, so you don't have to wait for each month to get the entire design. Take a peek:
Did you think I got lost in the desert? ;) Nah! Just no stitching was getting accomplished the last few days. But now I can say that there is a little more progress on my desert landscapes. Some more cacti, lots and lots of beads, and ......drum roll, please.......
I decided. I filled in the background. Added more branches to the tree...and yes, I did the lightening. But not as charted. I wanted a more subtle lightening, as if it were off in the background a bit more than originally charted.
Look: 
and here (although a bit blurry):
