12 Box of Shame Finishes - Lizzie Kate Stamps

Good morning!

I think I might just be living proof that miracles do happen because... I've done it... I've actually finished off some ornaments from my Box of Shame! And because I'm so proud of my achievement this is quite a picture-heavy post.

One of my major flaws over the last few years has been not enjoying finishing off my cross-stitches as ornaments. Although they give a sense of satisfaction once completed, my head tells me that creating ornaments at an hour and a half each is taking valuable time away from stitching. But, for some reason, 2018 has brought a complete change of attitude and I have plunged into my Box of Shame with unprecedented enthusiasm!

And do you know what? I actually enjoyed making every single one of them. In fact, once the ball was rolling I couldn't stop!

So, what have I finished?

Well, back in 2015 I stitched the 12 Lizzie Kate Monthly Flip-It Stamps (changing November's from a turkey to a poppy) each one during its relevant month. I knew that I wanted to finish them as hanging ornaments and I knew I wanted each one to have a different backing fabric with coordinating barley twist cord.

Here are the fabrics (all by Tilda) and finished designs before I started working on them:

  

And... drum roll please... here are the twelve completed ornaments:

And individually...

Yes I know they're all the same but my mind just wouldn't let me finish them differently.

Each ornament was interfaced before being hand sewn and finished off with 2mm barley twist cord in a colour to match the background of the month, or at least as close as I could get. Admittedly the first couple took quite a while but once I'd mastered the corners, the stuffing and the cord the remainder were finished off much more efficiently.

Having now stitched them together, a couple of the backing fabrics don't really work but I'm extremely happy with the rest of them.

I am over the moon that they are all completed and no longer in my Box Of Shame; it's an achievement I can definitely be very proud of considering how long they've been in there. Now they'll each get a month's outing on our calendar and will no longer cause me guilt!

And now I'm on a roll (and have filled in a good proportion of my Box Of Shame status bar) I've got no excuse not to do more, so watch this space - the miracle may continue!

Take care,
Rachel x