Season's Greetings
| So December has finally arrived and hopefully you've started to at least think about your Christmas shopping. I have to admit, I have done all of mine online this year, as I drove past our local shopping centre, saw the horrendous queues of traffic, and decided not to visit there until February at the earliest! Online Christmas is the best invention since sliced bread (maybe I should have been more Christmassy there, but I couldn't think of a Christmassy alternative to sliced bread!) Of course, if you have relatives abroad, you'll already be organised as the posting dates are coming up very soon. Our Australian customers only have this weekend to order from us for a guaranteed Christmas delivery, as the last posting date for airmail is Monday 5th December. Thank goodness we don't send surface mail, as the last posting date then was the 30th September!! Customers from the USA have a little bit longer, last posting date to send UK to US is 9th December, but still frighteningly soon. But for those of us here in the UK, we have until Tuesday 20th December for our standard kits and charts, although if you wanted to order a larger parcel, we need to post by 14th December. Confused? Well, if you're just thinking about Christmas cards, don't worry, you've got a couple of weeks yet. But time goes so fast........ |  Merry Christmas! |
Popular Christmas Products
| I told you in our last newsletter that we were selling 3 fold aperture cards, perfect for stitched Christmas cards, on Amazon this year. Well, you obviously liked the look of them as they've been selling faster than hot cakes! We sell 3 different sizes of cards, A5, square and A6, in a huge variety of colours. Of course, the cards aren't just for Christmas. We sell them all year round on Amazon, after all, you like to stitch cards for more occasions than just Christmas! We have a few lovely cards left with a heart shaped aperture, perfect for Valentine's day. Just stitch a small piece of aida with red thread (I recommend DMC 321 or 816) and fill the aperture with it, or be more adventurous and use a couple of different colours. An unusual gift, but let's not go past Christmas just yet!! My tip for stitching Christmas cards would be not to make them too detailed. Really detailed pictures take too long and can be a little overwhelming when placed inside a card. Keep it simple with a bauble, a little Christmas tree or a wrapped present. That way you can get more done in the time available too (no, it's not too late yet!). All of the cross stitch magazines feature lovely Christmassy designs, so I recommend having a browse of those to find something you like. Then, take the stitching and place it on top of the folded out card. trim any edges that get in the way, then take the stitching out and place 4 pieces of double sided sticky tape around the aperture. place the aida face down onto the aperture once again, then press gently and leave for 10 minutes to let the tape settle in. Just quickly check your design is still centred in the aperture first though! An extra tip would be to use wadding to make your stitching stand out in its aperture. Wadding looks a bit like the fabric you stuff teddy bears with, but it is great for pushing your stitching into place and just emphasising it a little bit. When you've stuck the wadding in, the same way as you stick your stitching in, then simply stick down the left hand side of the folded out card so that the stitching and wadding is held securely in place. And you're finished! If you'd like some cards to show off your stitching, have a look at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pack-three-fold-oval-aperture-cards/dp/B005ZH0NQO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322740296&sr=8-2 for one of our most popular designs, or you can browse from this page onwards. |  One of our aperture cards, available in packs of 5, either at shows or on Amazon. |
Final Christmas bit
Right, I'm taking this last opportunity to show off our Christmas designs before I have to stop talking about them for at least 9 months! Our Kate Mawdsley by Stitchtastic range includes these 3 wonderful designs, which you've just about still got time to stitch for Christmas 2011. Or perhaps if you're a slow stitcher, why not start them now for Christmas 2012?!! The Christmas Cat and Dog are gorgeous little designs, which take a week or two to stitch, with backstitch used to create a fur effect. They measure approximately 7" by 6" (18cm x 17cm) and have already gained themselves a reputation of being very cute indeed! Our Pets in the Snow kit might now be a bit of a push to finish for Christmas, I admit. However, I know that some of you are very fast stitchers so why not give it a go? It measures 14" by 10" (36cm by 24cm) and took me 3 weeks to stitch, but I am not the fastest stitcher in the country so you never know! All of our Christmas kits come with Zweigart aida and DMC threads, presorted onto thread cards. The Christmas Cat and Dog kits are priced at £24.95 and Pets in the Snow costs £29.95. And don't forget to have a look at those last posting dates! |  Merry Christmas.  Very cute, and quick to stitch.  Takes a little longer, but even cuter! |
Next Month
| Happy New Year! Next month we'll look at some designs for 2012, as well as some old favourites. Now I warn you, New Year celebrations can be a bit much, so if the newsletter is late again......sorry! See you then! |  |
Questions or comments? E-mail me at sarah@stitchtastic.com or call +44 (0) 114 2353958
Until next time
Sarah
Designer