Here Comes Santa Claus - a wip and a finish!

Here is a progress report on the Santa Claus and little reindeer stitching. 

I am satin stitching the holly leaves and berries that are around the reindeer's neck:

I back stitched around the edges of the leaves and the berries with three strands of floss.  Then, using one strand of floss I satin stitched over the top.

It really gives a nice effect. 

The white border and pom-pom on Santa's hat are outlined with back stitch and filled with French knots.  I think I will do the same for the center and bottom trim of his jacket, his cuffs and boot tops.

I still have A LOT of stitching left before I finish this one!

I do have a completed project to share.  Remember the Christmas tree? 

All done!

I used a lot of metallic thread and some blending filament.  I used the couching stitch for the garland around the tree.  It is green metallic thread held in place with gold blending filament.  

I kept a good record of all my thread colors:

Here is the palette I used: