new notions kit for Twelve Days offered at Benzie Design

Photo courtesy of Benzie Designs

Hey, guys! You may have noticed I've been flying under the radar since the release of the last Twelve Days ornament. I've been busy catching up on the mountain of tasks that have been sorely neglected over the past few months during the design and release of the last three patterns. And besides that, I actually designed and sewed something that was not a Christmas ornament! And I used my sewing machine. It was like, hello, old friend!

Anyway, I'll blog that later, but wanted to pop in and let you know about the notions kit you see above that is being offered at Benzie Design. It is tailor made for my Twelve Days Ornament Series and includes many of the materials (besides felt) that are required to make the ornaments, all in one place: Tacky Glue®, interfacing, Sulky stabilizer, pipe cleaners, wood beads, embroidery needles, and more! Check it out. BTW, if you find the kit is sold out, you can still shop the individual items on their website.

curated Benzie felt & floss color guide for Lord a-Leaping ornaments

All three of my Lords a-Leaping you see above were made with the Benzie felt bundle #6, shown below. It's the same felt color bundle as you use for Goose a-Laying. I've provided this felt and floss color guide so you can make samples that look like mine. Of course, there are even more color combos possible with this bundle, but I just made three.

Photo courtesy of Benzie Design

You can purchase just the Benzie bundle #6 felt as shown above, or you can opt to include matching flosses, shown below. Matching flosses are needed when you are sewing the parts of the ornaments together, but just note you will still need to purchase contrasting floss colors for the embroidery.

So without further ado, here are the samples with their felt and floss keys:

His Periwinkle Lordship:

Felt:
Periwinkle: heart front, sleeves and coat
Blue: heart inset, boots
Copper: vest
Coral: heart back (not shown), body and legs
Fuchsia: hat
Icicle: cravat and lace cuffs

Decorative Embroidery:
HEART:
DMC 3753
DMC 918
DMC 718
DMC 892
LORD:
DMC 3753
DMC 918
DMC 718
DMC 892
DMC 796
DMC 809

His Fuchsia Lordship:

Felt:
Fuchsia: heart inset, sleeves and coat
Cotton Candy: heart front, body, and legs
Coral: vest and heart back (not shown)
Copper: boots
Aqua: hat
Icicle: cravat and lace cuffs

Decorative Embroidery:
HEART:
DMC White
DMC 3846
DMC 3844 (dashed line)
DMC 892
DMC 605
LORD:
DMC White
DMC 3846
DMC 605
DMC 918
DMC 718


His Cyan Lordship:

Felt:
Cyan: heart inset, sleeves and coat
Aqua: heart front, body, and legs
Orange: vest
Copper: boots
Coral: hat
Icicle: heart back (not shown), cravat and lace cuffs

Decorative Embroidery:
HEART:
DMC White
DMC  918
DMC 604
DMC 947
DMC 892 (dashed line)
LORD:
DMC White
DMC 3844
DMC 604
DMC 947
DMC 918
DMC 3341 (dashed line)

in which I take a moment to reflect and also tell you the Twelve Days 1-12, 7-12 and 10-12 bundles are now available

Wow. There they all are. All twelve patterns photographed in one shot. Big feels came over me as I was bending over this in my well-lit bathroom and taking the shot (keepin' it real, y'all, my bathroom has a skylight and doubles as a photo studio). It feels a little weird to be finished with this series I've loved so much. Weird but good. I released the first pattern back in June 2014. That's like a million blog years ago. Three and a half Real Time years of thinking through each ornament and endlessly brainstorming how best to represent each day and how best to translate that into an accessible pattern that everyone can enjoy making. 

I've always liked a good puzzle and that's exactly what this series was -- a challenging 3D felt design puzzle and each time I completed a day I got to level up. I've learned a lot! And I hope you will learn some new techniques for your crafting as you make the series! If you've mastered French knots alone you deserve a large bar of chocolate wrapped in gold paper.

Thanks so much for your constant encouragement and kindness and support through this series! Your faithful, thoughtful comments and messages and photos really kept me motivated. Special notes from grandmothers making multiple sets for grandchildren, long distance sisters making the sets together, a lovely lady getting ready to have a hip replacement who is planning to take these projects to the hospital with her, and one especially memorable letter from a sweet Texan who used the hand stitching as a mental refuge and calming exercise during the terrible flooding in Houston. And I can't not mention the pointed messages I received from two completely different octogenarians (true story) hinting that since they were in their 80s they would appreciate my hurrying it up already with the rest of the ornaments. Oh my word, y'all. 

PS I forgot to include the brave (possibly crazy) crafter who tells me she is working with her daughter to make as many as the song says...Great Scott! That's...78 ornaments, right? Or you could technically say that's just the total for day 12 and then you have 11 other days to total up...Math is not my strong suit. Anyone else doing this??

I do adore seeing your finished ornaments! Check out what others have been posting on Instagram with the #twelvedaysornaments hashtag. So much inspiration there. Keep them coming! I hope you continue to love making these special heirloom ornaments as much as I do! Yes, I still do! I plan to concentrate now on finishing the sets I'm making for my own two girls. And I'm going to take my sweet time doing it. 

So here are the new discounted pattern bundles, including the 1-12 complete bundle. Yaaassssss. They are now available in my Etsy shop or my Craftsy store:

Many have asked me, 'what's next?'. I have no idea.
Isn't that awesome? :-) 

Lord a-Leaping pattern now available!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to meeeee...

Twelve lords a-leaping!

Can we all just have a 30 second freeform dance party now, y'all? *dances like no one is watching*

Hooooooo. *arranges hair* (I used to do that as a school break with my two girls when they were young enough to think I was funny and cool. We'd blare the music and dance like maniacs around the living room. Good times.)

This. The grand finale! The final pattern! The end of the Twelve Days Ornament Series. Is finished. I love this His Leapingness so, and of course the True Love bonus ornament that comes along with him.

One of my favorite things about Lord Fancy Pants here is the fact that his legs are jointed and moveable. You can position them in whatever energetic pose you prefer. Just a little extra something I included because it's fun.

This twelfth and series finale pattern is now available in my Etsy and Craftsy shops. Are you new to this series? Pop over to this post to see lots of helpful information about it.

If you know the modern Twelve Days of Christmas song by heart, you might be saying to yourself, 'Wait, I thought day twelve was Drummers Drumming?' And you'd be right! However, my series is based on the original carol from 1780 and the order toward the end is a bit different than the modern one. No worries if you prefer that order – you can number your ornaments any way you like!

These three leaping lord and true love samples were made with the Benzie felt bundle no. 6 (Goose a-Laying and Lord a-Leaping). You can of course make your ornaments in whatever colors you like! For those of you who want to make ornaments just like these samples, the specific color guide for them, along with DMC floss numbers included, will be coming soon in a separate post.

On a personal note, you may have noticed January got by me a little faster than I planned. This last week my dear Schmoopie went through a medical ordeal (three kidney stones, one very large) so I was understandably derailed for a few days. If you have ever passed a kidney stone, you know how truly horrible it is no matter what size the stone. I'm so glad to tell you he's feeling much better! Thanks so much for getting in touch and for your eagerness to purchase these patterns! 

So all that to tell you that YES indeed, I am going to list a 1-12 pattern bundle -- the complete series bundle you've been waiting so patiently for! It's not listed yet. Give me a day or two to get it together and into the shops. It's late, y'all. *yawns*