winter_sampler

The second of the seasonal samplers-- though as of this writing, I've only ever made the two! But I almost only made one; when I started on my Autumn Sampler, I had ambitions of making a full set of four, but-- some things happened.

Someone close to me died as I was finishing the Autumn sampler, and for a long time I couldn't really stand to look at it. Grief, y'know? Like pine sap all over everything it touches. So I hid it against the wall. No more season samplers.

A couple years later, I got a very, very sweet message from someone who had stitched the Autumn Sampler, and loved it, and wanted to ask if I'd ever thought about what a winter sampler would look like, and went on about some of the wonderful things they imagined could be in it-- a winter fox, and spiced cider, and lots of lovely nature scenes--!

It was great. Their message was so great. Writer, if you're reading this-- and you know who you are-- thank you so much.

Full disclosure: I'm still kinda weird about the Autumn Sampler, sometimes. But this Winter Sampler has brought me nothing but joy.

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Aight, fun fact: that icicles photo? Made that one on an absolutely frigid night. It's a sheet of clear plastic with a hole cut in it; I propped it up outside by my door and spent an evening popping out periodically with a spray bottle, spritzing it repeatedly until a layer of ice formed. Once it had proper icicles (the next morning, I think?) I put the cross stitch behind it, and voila! A photo moment. 📸

The frost one was way easier: there's a black paper frame stuck around the cross-stitch, which is inside my car, viewed through the frosty passenger window.