I couldn’t resist the dramatic title. Really, I just finally framed some pictures and cross stitches and wanted to share.

Sometimes I finish projects and just let them sit around for months. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because framing them or using them means the project–and all the fun I had–is finally over. It’s probably related to the way I’ll put off watching the very last episodes of a series I love and the slightly empty feeling I get when I finish a really good book. Eventually I manage to say my farewells and finish the series, the book, the project and go looking for a new thing to love.

This time it was those cute little sabbat cross stitches I finished ages ago and then didn’t frame. I even knew where I’d hang them up–surrounding a woodsy landscape the Robot’s grandma painted decades ago–but I just let them sit on a shelf instead.

Maybe it was spring that finally got me up and moving. I gently washed them and ironed them nicely, then bought foam board and pins and little black frames. I had a dilemma about which frame size to use. Too small and the pictures might feel crowded, too large and they’d just be floating there in an expanse of aida with no borders. I went with the smaller frames and mostly I feel good about the choice.

That was the big framing project, and while I was at it I finally did a couple of little framing projects as well. The first was a cool pair of skeletons my son gave me for Christmas. With this one, I was looking for the perfect frame and I finally found it. I just love how the frame echoes the frame inside the picture.

The second little project was a penguin photo we bought months ago. Last summer, while we were moving, we fell in love with the cuteness and drama of Penguin Town on Netflix. A month or two later, wandering around one of Santa Fe’s many art streets, the kids found a photo of those same penguins by R David Marks. Maybe not the actual celebrity penguins, but same kind and same famous town. We had to have it.

I borrowed an idea from Septicemia over down the Rabid Hole and painted the inner mat black. I used watered down acrylic to make a watercolor effect. I think it turned out well.