Cover Kits, Ornaments and Challenges

Cover Kits. Not usually that great if I'm honest. Scratchy aida, mis-shapen beads, too short threads. These are NOT a few of my favourite things.
I especially don't like it when a  magazine gives as its free gift a "Chart Book" filled solely with charts that have been in the magazine before. All well and good for the one off purchaser, but a bit of a slap in the face for those of us who subscribe.
Sometimes magazines get it right however.

This was a cover kit on Cross Stitcher recently. It's not easy to tell from the picture but that is a perforated wooden blank. It was great fun to stitch on, and the finished effect is lovely. I did bondaweb a bit of felt on the back to cover all the ends, but otherwise it is as it came with the magazine. It even had a carbine hook to use it as a keyring, but given the rough handling my keys get I missed that off and hung it from one of my kitchen cabinets instead. I can always use the keyring piece for something else.

I find more often than not that I cannibalise the cover kits and use the various parts in different projects. Like I did with the card kit that came with this month's issue. I used the card blank to mount my challenge piece for the Monthly Challenge at Needlecraft Haven. This month the design was this one from Homespun elegance. It's stitched on the aida (ick) that came with the card kit using oddments of thread. I missed off the candy cane part of the design and added a couple of star shaped buttons I had lying around, punched the card and added a ribbon to make a gift tag.

The kit also had some tiny bows and bells in it, and I borrowed a couple of them for this project. This is a felt Bambi ornament based on a design in the newest edition of Mollie Makes.

I just adore the retro feel of this one. Makes me want to have a Babycham. Well not really because I hate the stuff, but you know what I mean...
Oh, and I see that I am at 199 followers. When I hit 200 I'll have a giveaway.