Christmas Stocking for Nate

It is hard to believe that our gorgeous little grandson is now 9 months old.  He has become a very busy little man, crawling everywhere, walking around the furniture, and at last to the relief of his parents, now three teeth.  He is just such a joy to us.
This is Nate last week getting up close and personal with my Charlie Bear stock, I think he thought it was Christmas time.

As is the Christmas tradition of our family, each family member has a stitched Shepherds Bush stocking stitched by me, including David and myself which now our three children take in turns to fill, which has become another fun aspect to our Christmas celebrations. 

Of course Nate has to have his own, and for the past few months I have been happily stitching up one.  I chose the Reed pattern for Nate, which depicts a Shepherd in lovely shades of blue and grey, highlighted with burgundy and of course featuring a sheep, which are such a hallmark of the Shepherds Bush company. Also sheep are very much part of Nate's Dad's family as Dane was bought up on the family sheep and cattle property in remote N.S.W. I have no doubt that the land will be very much part of Nate's upbringing, as he has had several trips to the family farm already, so the sheep is very poignant.  I haven't quite finished the stocking, but all the stitching is done and I am about to attach the trinkets, which gives the stocking it's individual look, then I will choose the backing fabric and cording and  have it made up.  Once finished I will update here with the finished product, just in time for this Christmas.

Rapt Up have all the Shepherds Bush patterns, kits, materials and threads to have you all stitching your own family heirlooms which our stockings have become.  Shepherds Bush release a new stocking each year, this year it will be a boy stocking.  Expert advice is always on hand, I am more than happy to share my knowledge.  The stockings are easy to stitch as the linen used is quite a large count, and the beautiful overdyed colour threads that Shepherds Bush have chosen, make it a joy to stitch.

Once I have finished this stocking I will be looking for my next project, but I think it will have to be Nate's birth sampler which still hasn't been started.  Something for me to share with you at a later date.

These are two of the latest I have stitched.  David's being Thomas stocking and mine is Anna's stocking.

Sales over Christmas time

Having an online store has meant that I have a really amazing opportunity to attend gift fairs and I loved having my shop in town. But, 21 years is a long time in retail. The freedom I have now has really allowed me to build my business in a different way. Rapt Up has always been my 'baby' and I love seeing it develop now at a new level.

The one thing I do miss is the Christmas Sales. I do have a sale online, but I guess what I miss is the atmosphere. However, I do love the free time to cycle.....

It's funny that the Christmas sales are beginning earlier and earlier. Can you imagine the Boxing Day Sales? Maybe I'm showing my age, but I do remember when stores would only be open certain hours and closed weekends. Now, with the amazing technology that keeps evolving, we can literally shop 24/7.

It's rather a privilege to have the luxury of shopping all day or night. I must admit, after I finish 'work', I do sit and have a browse online. I love the cycling shop Wiggle. This is part of the reason really that I decided to operate Rapt Up fully online.

Family Christmas Traditions

I am a little late this year with decorating the house for Christmas due to the bike ride. It was too early before the ride to do it, so at the weekend all the boxes came out, the tree was found and over the weekend the house was transformed.

I love the festive season and I am a real sentimentalist. Our tree isn't the designer tree that you might expect from a shop owner with the resources of choosing all the latest Christmas decorations.



From the time the children were babies, I have included a Christmas decoration in their stocking to be added to the tree. The decorations are named and dated and at some point will be returned to them to use on their own trees. So it is a sentimental tree and when I decorate it, it brings back memories of past Christmas's, and I just love it. I decided to use a different tree this year, gold glittering one in place of our traditional green one, and I decorated it with dragonfly lights instead of traditional Christmas lights... they look really cute.



My other Christmas passion is Santa's. I have been collecting them for over 30 years. Many of them are collectible but others bought just because Santa had a kind face. It's become a bit of a joke amongst the kids as there is always an extra one added, and my reply is always " You can always fit in just one more".



We always celebrate Christmas with my sister and her family and can't imagine never doing so. For the past few years, as Dad's health deteriorated they have come to Mildura, instead of us alternately going to Melbourne. They will be here this year and it will be a sad one without our dear Dad.

Of course as the children have grown and now have partners, the dynamics change again. This year our eldest and his fiancee are not here. They will celebrate Christmas with Crystal's family as they were with us last Christmas.

We always have the tradition hot meal for lunch and we always have seafood for Christmas Eve.

So the pudding is made. The stockings are hung, presents wrapped. I am ready except for some last minute Christmas baking



Let the festive season begin.

Cross stitching stockings for Christmas

One of my favourite past times is cross stitching. In particular, I loved making my kids Christmas stockings (which we still use today).

There are so many beautiful patterns to choose from. They do take quite a while to complete...around 8-12 weeks. The decoration and embellishments really enhance the look of the stocking and make each one individual.

Cross stitching kits are the easiest option and much less hassle.

I've been running regular cross stitching classes and there are a couple of places available in Tuesday's class. For more info you can email me.