Finish! Love Blossoms

My first finish for the year. This one was for a mate's wedding. I didn't get it done in time but I will have it professionally framed and posted over to her shortly.

These "Love" kits (by Bothy Threads) are very popular but I didn't have as much fun as I was hoping to. For one thing, the cross stitching part creates a series of unrecognisable blobs rather than a defined picture, which annoyed me.

Secondly, the sequins, beads and flowers were a big pain in the ass - in a time consuming sense.

I probably enjoyed the back stitching the most because it brought the pattern to life.

The silver and metallic thread looked effective but as always did my head in, especially when I was using a size 26 needle. Size 24 handled it better.

I do have to admit though that the finished product is pretty great. Painful to get there, but worth it.

I hope my mate likes it too.

Now I just need to get rid of hoop marks before I send it off for framing. I HATE hoop marks!!!