On the 21st Day: Stitchy Advent Calender

Today I'm joining in with Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching and her blog advent calender. . . isn't that a fun idea?! I'll be sharing a Christmas themed stitched piece of mine and some of our Christmas traditions with you. 

 

I stitched this cutie when I was about 15 I think! I can't remember the designer details off the top of my head (my stitching log/pattern folder is currently on the other side of the world), but I received the kit for Christmas when I was 9! I still remember stitching it vividly because it was the first time I'd worked with metallic thread. . what a battle. When I'd finished mum and I spent hours carefully ironing it and stretching it into the frame.

I'm from New Zealand, so Christmas for us is mid-summer. We have a big Christmas meal like everyone else of course, but it is usually with cold meat or a BBQ. In my family, we would start the day with Dad cooking a full english breakfast, before emptying our stockings and opening our bigger presents together. Then we would get dressed (nicely) and head out to join my Dad's family for Christmas lunch, playing sports together and eating and drinking. I distinctly remember one year when mum had put me in a beautiful dress, only for me to play too exuberantly and end up falling into my aunts fish pond! Later we would move on to my Mum's family for a more relaxed dinner (usually of lunch leftovers).

This year will be a little different for me, as it's my second Christmas in the UK/France with my fiance and his family. I love the Christmas season in France, for me it feels like something out of a fairytale with mulled wine, Christmas markets and parades that go on for hours with costumes and characters that look hundreds of years old. I also love the Christmas food here!

I hope where ever you are in the world you have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends. Why not head over to Jo's to see what other stitchers have for their Christmas traditions?

That's all for now,

Sarah