fabulous finishing...

don't you just love getting those phone calls saying your finishing is ready to pick up?!

michelle at acadian corner always does a brilliant job with framing, it takes all the stress off of me because i know my work is in the best hands. 

sorry for the craptacular quality of my pictures. i've come to terms with it. don't cry for me argentina. 

this is country cottage needlework's "beach cottage." it's a birthday gift for my aunt, who is the one that introduced our family to the beaches of sanibel. she loves to go shelling and i thought this would be a cute token of appreciation for sharing her love of the ocean with us. 

this is jbw designs' "french country pig" and i'm not quite sure what i'll do with him. this was the first cross stitch piece i ever attempted (so please forgive me) and i went back and forth over whether or not to frame him since i knew i can do better.

i'll probably end up giving it as a gift for someone, and then doing it in a different color scheme for our house. i am in love with every single french country piece by jbw designs, and i love the small size of them. since i'm not a huge fan of hanging the framed work on the wall, the smaller size allows me to put the frame on an easel and move it wherever i want!

guess what else got finished this weekend?

this guy!

i did the kennan stitch for the background, tent stitched the sand dollar (with a few french knots in a darker shade) and then beaded the middle. i wanted to give it some depth and i've been adding 3 dimensional touches to each one. 

this is awful color quality but you can see the sand dollar a bit better. 

i'm still plugging away on the next tote bag so i can get these to the finisher. and then it's quality time with the queen!