August 5, 2013

Ornament Exchanging

I identified one of my happy things from last week was mailing out an exchange ornament.  I did a small "Christmas in July" ornie exchange with a private group I belong to.

This is the gorgeous BBD stocking I received from a friend in Germany.  Her work is perfect and it's hanging above my computer right now because it's too pretty to save until December.
We included a fat quarter of Christmas themed fabric and a holiday recipe. Here is my complete package.

I sent to a friend in Virginia.  It took me a ridiculous amount of time to do the finish finishing and much chaos ensued.  The finishing called for sticky mounting board but I didn't have any.  I tried using foam core board wrapped in batting but was not happy with how it looked.

So I made a trip to Michael's and of course, after much futile searching throughout the store, first by myself and then with a sales associate, they did not have any/no longer carry the product I was looking for.  I hate when no one tells me something has gone out of use/fashion.

When did this happen??  Are we getting "lite" craft stores these days that don't stock useful products?  Granted I haven't wanted that kind of product in years but I'm sure my finished ornament would have looked much lovelier had I had it to use.

So back I went home and used my original method.  I still wasn't pleased with the finish but I forged on.  The one thing that did go right this time was making the twisted cord with my cording drill.  Perhaps it worked because I used actual directions from the JCS ornie issue??

Here is my work space after finally finishing the finishing.

The recipient was very, very kind about my finished piece and I so appreciate her generosity.  Her finishing is always flawless so maybe I will travel to Virginia the next time I have to do finishing.  I bet her craft stores carry sticky mounting board!
I forgot to take a photo of the fabric I sent but it was red snowflakes on a cream background.  She is a quilter so I looked for something that was relatively neutral. 

5 comments:

gracie said...

Jo Ann's sells sticky mounting boards in several sizes.

Barb said...

How very frustrating!! Your ornament is very pretty!

P.J. said...

It looks great! Liking that little stocking with the "P" :) cute, cute! Isn't it a drag when you have to go on the hunt and come up empty.

Laura said...

Patti, making good cording it half the finishing battle. I can't tell you how many skeins of floss I've ruined making cording. And my finishing isn't flawless, but I've learned some tricks to hide the messes.
I've had some real disasters like the time I was finishing a canvas pincushion, and I cut the canvas too close to the stitching, and the whole thing started to unravel. I ended up using a lot of glue and making an ornament because there wasn't enough left to make a pincushion.

Brigitte said...

Oh my, such a great exchange. I love both pieces and the little extras that accompanied the exchanges.
It's so frustrating when you want to buy a special craft product and you can't find it in your region. Happens to me all the time, sigh.