If you are on my Christmas card list, then chances are you have seen one of these snowflakes before! As you know from many of my previous blog posts, I love stationery, note cards, and sending letters in the mail...and Christmas is no different! My husband and I send out just over 100 cards each year...and many include one of my lace snowflakes. I start early in the season and make well over 100 of these snowflakes, then tuck them inside of cards and tie them on packages. These are made on my embroidery machine...and are technically called "free-standing lace"...they are made entirely of thread! For those of you not familiar with an embroidery machine...using digitized designs, the machine embroiders the snowflakes on water-soluble stabilizer...once the design is stitched, you put it in water and the stabilizer dissolves, leaving you with a beautiful piece of lace made completely of embroidery thread. I like to put a piece of white ribbon through the hanger on each snowflake before placing it in a card or on a gift. Shown in the photos...a small selection of embroidered snowflakes...top right are mini snowflakes (average size 1 1/2" - 2" square)...shown below are larger snowflakes (average size is 3 1/2" - 4" square). 
Now for the fun part! How would you like to win some of my embroidered snowflakes?? Well...now is your chance! How do you enter?? - simply leave a comment to this post (you must leave a comment, email entries will not be accepted) with a holiday idea, holiday story, or something about the holidays you would like to share with me and my readers...and you will be in a random drawing to win a set of six large snowflake ornaments (of my choosing). Next Saturday, December 12th, I will use the random generator to choose one lucky recipient from all the entries. PLEASE leave your email address or make sure it is in your profile - entries without a valid email address will not be eligible. We may have multiple winners depending on the amount of entries....
Good luck....and Happy Holidays!!
Oohh - how beautiful!! It is snowing outside right now and my husband and the boys are putting up the tree. Christmas songs are playing, eggnog is being sipped and once my older boy gets home from practice, the tree will be trimmed. It would definitely be more complete if I were to be lucky enough to be chosen as a winner!
ReplyDeleteThese are just gorgeous! My holiday story would be of how these remind me of the ones my mother used to make. She would sit and crochet little snowflakes using the most dainty thread. Then we would dip them in a liquid stiffener of some type, let them dry and hang them on our tree!
ReplyDeleteMy Daughter is 17 and is Stitching now. I decided a few years back that I would make both my kids an hand crafted ornament every year for christmas. This way when they are grown and out on their own the Love of my Stitch thru the years will follow them to their new home! My daughter is having troubles boxing them up each year... she just went out and bought a metal year round tree... and wants to keep her ornaments up all year. Almost made me cry! Christmas is a memory that I do NOT want to ever allow to slip away!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this give away! What an awesome item this would be to add to our tree!
Merry Christmas to all!
Your snowflakes are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMy dad was a just a big kid at Christmas and he also loved the beach. Sixteen yrs ago I stitched a Santa walking on the beach picture for him for Christmas. He loved it and hung it where he could see it from his fav chair. So I stitched a different Santa for him every year until he passed away in 2003. Every one of them hangs in the livingroom at my mom's house all year round.
He would often visit my needlework shop and go through all the Christmas patterns trying to figure out which one I was stitching for him that year.
I still have the one from that last year that I just couldn't finish...someday I will.
Oh how pretty!! I love them!
ReplyDeleteOne of my holiday traditons is buying grapes for Christmas. Growing up with 7 kids in the house meant that money was really tight most of the time and there were few luxuries. My most vivid memory is of having fresh fruit at Christmas, especially red grapes. That was the only time I remember having them growing up. When my kids were growing up, if we could afford them.....we had grapes and now that I have grandkids, grapes are a standard here. They don't go without them throughout the year like we did, and they dearly love them. So, when I do my fresh fruit shopping for Christmas, grapes are on the top of my list.
Brenda S
grammybks@yahoo.com
Wow - these are really pretty - thank you for the chance.
ReplyDeleteIn 2004, my parents came to stay for Christmas - it was the first time in 17 years of marriage that I had hosted the event. I cooked enough for an army - gave a lot of the salads away to neighbours - and it was a great gathering - My family and his together. Days after Christmas I received some fabric from ebay - a massive 7'x5' piece of aida. I hemmed it properly and stitched a wreath in one square to symbolise family unity - added all the names of those present at the Christmas table. That is the start of my heirloom tablecloth. Each year, I stitch something to symbolise the previous year's Christmas. A lighthouse for the Christmas at the beach - A gingerbread house for Christmas at our new house. When Mum passed away, she became the Christmas Star in a picture of the 3 Kings.
I have less than 3 weeks to stitch a design for last year. (I might make a start today)
Oooh--your snowflakes are so lovely and delicate!
ReplyDeleteOne of my very best memories is of a very white Christmas that occurred about 30 years ago when visiting my parents in their small NY state village. We went outside after attending church at midnight to discover that the hour we'd been inside had turned the town into a magical winter wonderland with about 8 inches of snow. The peace and quiet of the scene was just breathtaking. It continued snowing all night and by the morning there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. A truly magical sight indeed!!
Thanks for the chance to win :)
Those snowflakes are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law's favorite holiday is Christmas. When my father-in-law was alive they decorated the house up to a fare-thee-well. Evergreen boughs and red ribbons in every room, several trees, and the special Christmas cardinal candles. The year that my father-in-law died my mother-in-law put up one artificial tree and didn't even bother to decorate it. When my husband and I arrived for the holidays, we couldn't stand to have such meager decorations, so with the help of my sister-in-law we got out the ornaments, found and ironed a huge white table cloth to use as a tree skirt and tried to make the house as cheerful as possible. Every year since, my mother-law might not decorate to the hilt, but she always puts out the small green tree with the white shell ornaments on red ribbons and the traditional cardinal candles. We are looking forward to be back there for Christmas on the 22nd.
Beautiful snowflakes!
ReplyDeleteOne Christmas we were up late finishing off the wrapping of the gifts until the early hours. We had just got into bed and before we fell asleep our youngest came dashing into our bedroom to say Santa had been - he had woken up his sister too. We allowed them to open one gift each and had to remove the remainder from their rooms. Inside his gift was a pair of football boots which he would not take off so he went back to bed still wearing them! It was so funny to see him lying there with his feet sticking out of the bed so he could see his new boots!
Oh my, those snowflakes are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI remember the year that I discovered that throughout my young childhood, it was my older sister who played Santa instead of my parents. I always wondered how Santa knew I wanted Hello Kitty erasers and such.
Wow! Those are so neat! I had no idea you could do that on an embroidery sewing machine. I really need to get me one. lol! Thanks for the drawing!
ReplyDeleteThese snow flakes are absolutely beautiful!!! Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of the giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteOne of my most special memeories of Christmas would be the first Christmas for each of our sons when I saw them staring at the lights in the Christmas tree and I could see those beautiful lights reflecting in their eyes... As they were awestruck at the tree, I was awestruck at the light in their eyes....I still remember it and both my boys are 18 and 25 now... awesome memories.. Faye
These are lovely Belinda, TFS! Many moons ago when I was very young and still had slim hips~LOL, we had a Home Ec project to research and bake a cookie recipe from another country, was a fun project, I baked from 3 countries, first born syndrome:) These stunners truly look like *French Lace Cookies*, each one more beautiful than the next, thanks for the wonderful memory:)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all and Happy Holidays!
stitchinweetsue@gmail.com
How wonderful it must be to have a sewing machine to do such wonderful things...I love them.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share that my mother always decorated the entire house and was always baking a and humming...for Christmas. She would make it the most wonderful time for us...sadly..they go to Florida now and my children were too small to remember Christmas at Grandmas. Dianntha
dilessig@gmail.com
The snowflakes are beautiful! I'd LOVE to win a set.
ReplyDeleteThanks ~ Jeanne
Wow, your snowflakes are so beautiful and so delicate. We don't often have snow here where I live in England but, when we do it's such a magical time.
ReplyDeleteThis year Christmas is going to be a bittersweet celebration for us. My lovely MIL who celebrated her 100th birthday in April and who still lived in her own small bungalow sadly passed away last month. She made me a Christmas cake every year from the time we married in 1976 until last Christmas. I made my cake a few weeks ago and mixed in some wishes and sweet memories. She will be uppermost in our thoughts this Christmas.
With good wishes Angela
www.picituretrail.com/angelasweby
john.sweby@btinternet.com
Gorgeous snowflakes! Thank you for the chance of owning them. I remember the joy of putting the first X'mas tree in the house when the children were young. We had great fun putting all the trimmings on the trees.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Wow, those are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas memory is of my great grandmother. We would visit and I'd get to pick one chocolate covered cherry from a box she had. I still love them to this day, but they just don't taste the same.
bkirk1029@sbcglobal.net
I would love to be entered!
ReplyDeleteToday it feels like Christmas as we have had snow all day. It's just beautiful right now.
One of my favorite memories is when I was a very little girl we were visiting my grandmother and it snowed right after Christmas! I was just old enough to be in school and was very excited and worried that I would miss a day at school!
Now most of my favorite memories are of my children and of their Christmas adventures. :-)
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
cyn_stitches@yahoo.com
How beautiful your snowflakes are!
ReplyDeleteI would love a chance to win them.
Kathy
kathygr3@aol.com
How exquisite!!
ReplyDeleteYour snowflakes remind me of visiting my ex-husband's grandmother. She crocheted snowflakes and when I commented on them, she promptly taught me how to crochet with thread. Before we left, she gave me most of her old snowflake, lace and doily patterns. A fond memory to this day.
Thanks for the opportunity to win!!
Pat S.
dte0853@bellsouth.net
My story takes place 35 years ago when I was about 7 years old (or maybe a little younger). Even though I was brought up Jewish (my father-side of the family), we always went to my grandparent's house for Christmas (mother's side of the family). My grandparents had a tradition of not putting any presents under the tree or in the stocks...because that was Santa's job. So we would have wonderful Christmas eve meals with all the trimmings and then go to bed early. I still remember sleeping in my uncle's room, looking out his big window, hoping that I would get to see Santa and his sleigh, especially Rudolph. Unfortunately, I always fell fast asleep. When it was morning, my sister and I would sneak down stairs and look under the tree and at the stocks...both were always overflowing with presents. As tradition was, we were able to go through our stockings in the morning before breakfast, but we always had to wait to do the presents under the tree. It was magical.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, during a snowstorm one year I woke up to find out that the little elves that made the magic was my grandparents and parents. Oh well, now I am the elf and my kids (13 and 10) still believe in the magic.
I hope to win your lovely snowflakes - thank you for this opportunity.
Lisa D
lmdurst@yahoo.com
I would love to win a set of these and since I grew up in Iowa I have to LOVE snowflakes, we got plenty of them!
ReplyDeleteDeb
They are BEAUTIFUL! WOW! I would love to win :o)
ReplyDeleteTwo years ago, my DH and I spent our first Christmas alone together. DH had just lost his job so we were low in money. We packed up the fur kids and stayed at my in-laws place right on the ocean. There was a lot of snow that year and it was so romantic :o) DH chopped down a tree and we decorated it with lights, paper snowflakes and shells from the beach. DH even made an angel topper out of birch bark. One of my favorite memories :o)
I think the best Christmas I had was in 1993, I was pregnant with my first child and my mom,dad and my two sisters had put together a really special meal,we had all these little gourmet sauces, jellies and appetizers that just made the meal such a delight We always talk about that Christmas and that meal and all of being together, even now it is truly one our fondest memories
ReplyDeleteThey are gorgeous,I have have just learned to Crochet and I am attempting to crochet myself some snowflakes I have four so far,maybe by next christmas I will have loads!
ReplyDeleteBelinda, these are just toooo lovely!
ReplyDeleteWe've just put the tree up and it's the first time in many years. I'm so excited even tho we won't be here for Christmas. I'm usually visiting my grand-daughter until mid-December so don't get time to put up a tree before we leave for our son's for Christmas. I so enjoyed bringing out all of my old ornaments and visiting with my decorations. I'll never let Christmas decorating get by me again.
I just decorated my tree tonight and your snowflake looks so pretty. Thanks again for it. I love putting up the tree as many of my ornaments are hand made from many of my friends.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays
I would love to be included in your drawing. Your snowflakes are gorgeous! The remind me of the lace ornaments I have from Belgium.
ReplyDeleteKathy
katkiley@aol.com
Dear Belinda,
ReplyDeleteYour snowflakes are absolutely beautiful! I love them and I would be the most happy to win some of them. This year is the first when I have my own Christmas tree, and it is also the time to start my own Christmas traditions. I have already put up my tree and my plan is that in the future I would like to decorate them with hand made ornaments. At the moment I do not have too much, but in a few years maybe it will be possible.
Have a nice Christmastime,
Edit
http://fuggosegeim.blogspot.com/
edit.stitching at gmail.com (without the spaces of course)
I just love those snowflakes. I love to be entered to win too.
ReplyDeleteWow I love your snowflakes, want to swap one for a beaded one?
ReplyDeleteWhen my yongest DD was 5 and had just started school the only thing on her list for Santa that year was a lunch box and Santa brought her 5 different ones, one for each day of the week
Hi! I just want to say how much I love your patterns and have stitched quite a few. Your snowflakes are so dainty and sweet, they remind me of ones my grandmother used to crochet! My favorite Christmas memory is going sledding with my parents when I was really young. We lived in the country and would hike to a huge sledding hill. My Dad would lay down on the sled and we would sit on top of him (with his extra weight on the sled we would fly down the hill) but one year there wasn't quite enough snow. We hit a patch of dirt and the sled stopped but we didn't and we slipped and slid the rest of the way down the hill on my Dad's tummy! How we laughed whenever we remembered that sledding trip. *Hugs* DJ tickledpinkone@yahoo.co.uk
ReplyDeleteLove them!!! They remind me so much of the hand crocheted ones DH has from his grandmother. Her eyesight is poor now, so she doesn't make them anymore, but she crocheted them for years, stiffening each one on her kitchen table with liquid starch and pins. As each of her 3 grandchildren started their own homes and holiday traditions, she gave them several bags of these snowflakes for the trees. I would love to add some of your beauties into our snowflake collection.
ReplyDeletesweetpeastitches@yahoo.com
Your Snowflakes are wonderful and great for my Christmas Holiday, I love so and think everyone should have a white Christmas. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays!
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com
Your snowflakes are gorgeous!!! Please, include me in your drawing.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago a small local movie theater that shows arthouse movies started showing the old black & white It's a Wonderful Life movie the two weeks before Christmas. It has quickly become a tradition for us to go to this little theater and see that Christmas classic on the big screen. We went 3 times last Christmas!
Merry Christmas,
Jinger
flsunrae@bellsouth.net
I love your snow flakes! I have been making hand made holiday gifts for as long as I can remember. And every year I try to give at least one handmade gift to someone who doesn't expect it. Sometimes it is someone I barely know who needs to be made to feel special. Every year I really have no idea who that someone will be. I generlly get some overt signal that tells me who that person should be and go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteMarexstitch @gmail. com
What beautiful snowflakes. My favorite Christmas memory is from the Christmas when I was about 5. My mom was a nurse and had to work the night shift on Christmas Eve and would more than likely miss the opening of presents early on Christmas Day. My parents took my sister, brother and I out to look at Christmas lights while unbeknownst to us some good family friends put out the "Santa" presents. My sister was old enough to know what was going on, but I was told that Santa had come while we were out. Being a good girl, I was afraid to go see my presents just in case Santa got mad that we saw them too soon! It took some coaxing, but I finally went in to the living room and my mom got to share in the excitement of our Christmas "morning."
ReplyDeleteThank you all for entering and sharing your lovely holiday stories! The contest has now ended (with 38 entries) and I will be using the random generator to choose the winner(s) momentarily. Good luck!
ReplyDelete