polar bear and printer`s tray

OK, if I don`t post tonight, I might never do (I know I`ll be snowed under for the next week or two). #accidentalpoem

Last week, issue 275 of The World of Cross Stitching came out and the free gift with the magazine is this cute little polar bear cub, designed by Angela Poole:

Isn`t he a sweetie pie? 😍 I stitched him around the same time as that two-sided snowman bauble, i.e. still during The Great Metallic Shortage, so the sparkly snowflakes were added later, and I love how they appear in the clever aperture card:

And today the latest issue of Cross Stitcher (338) hit the UK shops, with my printer`s tray on the cover:

This folksy project was designed by Faye Walsh from Little Dove Designs and I had great fun with it. As you can see, I got one big piece of aida to stitch it on, which was then later cut to size and fitted in the tray`s compartments. I always enjoy simple designs with hardly any backstitch between two fiddly, labour intensive pieces, and this printer`s tray project with its bright, cheerful colours was a breath of fresh air. I took close-ups of the individual patterns, hope you like them, happy stitching! 😊

Home For Christmas sampler - Cross Stitcher 310

Remember how I said in my last post that I`d just finished with the Christmas projects? It turns out, that was just a one-off mini break: I`m back on stockings this week. You`d think I`d be sick of them by now but on the contrary: I`m enjoying this current project so much that I almost forgot to show you another project (yes, it happens to be a Christmassy one) that`s out now in the latest issue of Cross Stitcher.

Funnily enough, for someone who hates stitching the same motif over and over again - I get bored very rapidly with repetitive stuff... makes you wonder how I can spend most of my time stabbing some fabric with a needle, then, but there you go. Anyway, I guess it`s more like... I couldn`t (or wouldn`t want to, to be more precise) stitch the same teddy bear design 3 times for three nieces, for example - but band samplers, I love! Stitching just 3 or 5 of the same mini-motif isn`t enough to qualify as `repetitive` and there is something rewarding in watching the whole grow one band at a time. In addition, I liked both the fabric I got for this one and the `traditional with a modern twist` appeal (besides, anything that has a red VW Beetle on it can only be good in my book). I`m glad to see it on this months`s cover in the frame that complements it so well:

Here`s my own photo, sans frame, but at least in its entirety:

And - still on the subject of Christmas - I also spotted in next month`s preview the funky Christmas pudding recipe I stitched in the summer. *sings in Bing Crosby voice, `May your days be merry and bright, / Here`s a pudding I stitched in July*