I started IHSW a little early and managed to finish Angelic Melody!! It's been a long haul since I started her for the Crazy January Challenge last year, but she is finally finished! 

Yes, she still needs a little more ironing and then I'll add the strings to her mandolin, but I still feel as though she's finished. A little TLC and she'll be perfect. 

I also managed to finish another piece, Lady Kell's 2012 Band Sampler.

I stitched it on 14 count navy aida with WDW Bethlehem and Meadow. It was a nice break after the fussiness of finishing the Angelic Melody details. It was interesting to see how the threads would match up during the solid lines of stitching and the effects on the motifs. I enjoyed it. 

Since I was in a finishing mood, or maybe a monochromatic mood, I picked up AAN's Christmas Drop to see how far I could get. 

That's a fair bit more compared to where I started, and there's not too much left of the ornament itself. There are still the ribbons on top and "Merry Christmas" in the middle space, but that will come. I'm stitching the ornament with DMC satin 666 I think and I'm really loving the colour. The satin threads are always a little tricky, but I do a loop start since I'm stitching 2 over 1 on 14 count gold dust aida. For the words it calls for a gold, but I can't decide what gold I would like to use. There are also areas for gold beads or French knots. I think beads might be a nice touch, something sparkly, but I can't decide if I want a metallic gold for Merry Christmas or just a gold coloured satin floss.  

Your thoughts are always welcome!

Tiffstitch