Finally!!!

I am committed to stitching OAAT for my major projects. There are a number of reasons for this but the major one is that I get comfortable with the design and can therefore stitch more quickly. I have been working on Chatelaine's Christmas Tree Mandala for several months. I haven't had much time to stitch since September so it is with great pleasere and pride that I announce that I have finally finished this piece this morning. It will become a topper for a wooden keepsake box which will be a gift to my parents. This piece was fun to stitch for the most part. Unfortunately it called for 29 french knots in each tree. After finding an online tutorial on french knots and practicing them I did one tree and did not like the effect. I then tried petite gold beads instead and did not like that either. I finally used gold very fine braid and stitched regular cross stitches in those locations. The only other modification I made form the original design was the use of DMC 500 instead of black for the outside border. I didn't like the idea of so much black on a Christmas piece. I also love DMC 500. It is difficult to see all the metallic braid and beads on this design but it has about 300 beads on it and lots of gold and silver braid. Thanks for looking. Now I get to move onto my next WIP which is TW's Wedding Sampler.