Christmas (or Not) BINGO Challenge #9

Here we are just 115 days away from Christmas! This year has flown by, and I'm glad to have made another creation to help celebrate when the 25th of December does arrive.

This piece was created especially for the September/October Christmas BINGO Challenge. I used the column "N" and the elements I used were "No Stamping," "Red" and "Layering."

I started out with the idea that I would use "Gemstones" as my third element, and even bought some gem-like red beads to go around the edges of this piece. I bought some special beading needles too. They're super-skinny needles that a tiny bead can pass through. The funny thing is, the eye of the needle is so small that I couldn't thread it! I'm going to have to talk to them at the cross stitch store about which thread to use for that. So I switched it up a bow for a layered look.

It worked out well though because when I went to my ribbon box I found the perfect wired pom-pom ribbon to go with it. Like the thread, which is Turkish Red by Weeks Dye Works, it to is variegated with bright red and darker red. A perfect match!

You can see the floss variegation a bit better in this close-up picture on the left. It's especially evident on the right hand side of the M and on the top of the S. This was my first time using Weeks Dye Works floss, and while I enjoy the mottled look, I had to run to two different faraway stores to finish the piece. Using DMC would have been much easier and in my opinion, it would have looked just as good.

My pattern was a freebie that I found at a lovely site called Kincavel Krosses. The post is from 2011, but I really think this piece is so timeless. I did, however, find a couple of very minor errors in it. I've included my humble changes in a photo below. I didn't catch the G until afterwards. Ironically, the G was the first letter I stitched, but after looking back I would have made an extra row so that there would only be one space on the top of it.

Other than that, it's a great pattern that can be stitched in any color. I chose red not only because of this challenge, but because I can use it for both Christmas displaying and Valentine's Day as well.

Framing the piece was also something that was a newbie for me. I ordered a custom size frame from a place called Art To Frames. It was my first time ordering there and I was super happy with the selection, ease of ordering and how quickly it was shipped. (And they didn't compensate me in any was for this endorsement! ) By not including glass, the price was what I felt was very inexpensive. Here's what I ordered and my price:

We would love to have you join us over at Christmas (or Not) BINGO Challenges this time! We are an all-crafts challenge and you can create something simple or something more complex. As long as you choose one column (up and down only) and use at least two of the elements (the third one can be a free space) you can participate. It's so much fun doing these challenges, and if you're like me, you'll never know what you'll wind up with!

Lastly, as promised, here are the two changes that I would make if I were to do this pattern again. One I caught, the other I didn't. Even without making these changes, this is a great piece that will look great for decades to come!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope to see you over at Christmas (or Not) BINGO Challenges!