NNC Birthday Exchange

Well!  It has certainly been quite a while since I've posted last, and with good reason...  I have been stitching up a storm!!  There's been the Birthday Exchange for Paul, the third round of the Little House Needlework round robin, and the Hand Embroidery Exchange, all with the Needles N Craft group.  They sure do know how to keep a gal busy!!

So, this posting will be about Paul's birthday gift...

I enjoy doing blackwork, and Paul's favorite colors are pink and black, so I just knew I had to come up with a way of combining the technique with the colors.  The following is the result of all my brainstorming:

The pattern was from The Gift of Stitching, Jan/Feb 2011 issue.

I used Finca #16 perle cottons, DMC gold metallic thread, and Mill Hill petite green glass beads.

From that easy pattern I ended up with all of this:

And this is the finished accessory set:

The inside of the needlebook:

Another requirement of the exchange, besides a handmade gift, was to include some stash items.  In keeping with the pink and black theme, I added some yarn, ribbons, and perle cottons.  You can see the photos of his stash, and read his blog, here: Paul's birthday gift.

It was fun planning it all, and the finishing turned out much better than I thought it would.

Happy Birthday Paul!!