The slideshow below is made up of twenty photos I took of a blue winter tree cross stitch kit I completed. It is posted on YouTube also. As of writing this it is my second uploaded YouTube video. My first one is a watercolor logo sketch video. I decided to frame the blue winter tree cross stitch kit on 14″ x 14″ stretcher bars after reading instructions on the website NeedlepointTeacher.com. The kit and stretcher bars were purchased on eBay and the slideshow was put together by a seller on Fiverr.com. This really is my first completed cross stitch kit. It appears to be part of a set of winter, spring, summer, and fall trees. I later purchased the other ones and plan to complete them. I used the YouTube channel Peacock & Fig to help me learn to cross stitch. Completing this kit has helped increase my focus and it was meditative and relaxing. I definitely enjoyed it.

I added some silver metallic thread to the embroidery thread and that is evident on the bottom of the tree trunk and other parts of the piece. A few spots I used too many strands of thread, it was too thick and difficult to work with. I learned the importance of using three strands for eleven count and two strands for fourteen count because of this. A few spots I temporarily confused the numbers five and six. I came across some knots in the thread I had to undo when I was stitching. I was getting used to using the long thread. Some parts on the back I made the thread travel far. In some cases that seems necessary, so I wonder if that would take off points if it was getting judged in a county fair. I actually have few squares where I added extra diamond embroidery kit non-shiny rhinestones under the cross stitch ‘x’ in the upper right of the tree. It does not look horrible, but I decided against it as it would take more time and it made it more difficult and it was not necessary. I added sequins and beads around the tree to look like snowflakes. I used a very small amount of craft glue on two of the snowflake sequins because they got slightly bent when I was framing the piece. There are a few parts on the back where I thought I pulled the thread all the way through but I did not. I had issues with the metallic thread coming apart because it went through the cross stitch aida fabric so many times. It seemed the silver metallic thread was wrapped around a white piece of thread or one side of it was not metallic and occasionally I had issues with that. Still, it made something beautiful.

I decided to sign the back using the pen name Michelle A Meadows for privacy reasons (identity theft, gossip, interference with employment etc.). It was something that came up on a pen name generator. I considered whether to choose a unique or common pen name. A chose a somewhat common name for a pen name again for basically privacy issues. The kit was purchased on eBay for under $4 with free shipping. This cheaper price has served as a gateway into cross stitch for me. I would not have bought it if not for the cheap price. I now want to complete more cross stitch kits in the future. The stretcher bars were purchased for just under $10 on eBay. The cheapest price I have seen online for completed embroidery kits is $40. If I were to sell this I think $40 is definitely a fair price because of the cost of shipping and supplies and labor. Most cross stitch kits are over $4, but not this one. I did come across one nice piece of fiber art at a thrift store for $3 with a wood frame, but it was damaged and needed some cleaning. Thrift stores are generally hit-or-miss and a lot of people resell items from thrift stores online.  Oftentimes the thrift store is not exactly what you had in mind or it is something another person did not want or items that were difficult to sell. You are lucky when you find what you are looking for at a thrift store.