Tree of Stitches - Finished!

I finally finished the Tree of Stitches I have been working on, and I really like how it turned out. I am tempted to do one for each season, since this one would work well for summer. I could do bright and vibrant colors for spring; reds, oranges and yellows for fall, and pale blues and purples for winter. We'll see if I have time for that......

Anyway, here is the finished design:

 Here are the closeups of the new stitches. First up, star stitch, in Weeks Dye Works "Ocean."

Next is the Rhodes Square, in Weeks Dye Works "Aqua." I like the effect the variegated thread gives to these stitches.

The next few stitches were completely new for me, and were very fun to learn. I think this is my favorite one, the Fancy Cross Stitch. It gives a lovely layered effect. This one was stitched in Weeks Dye Works "Cadet."

Next up, the Tied Windmill Stitch in Caron Waterlilies "Bermuda Reef." This one was a little tricky - first it's imperative to keep the threads in the long stitches completely smooth & straight, and then it's tough to find the holes for the tacking stitches. But I think the effect is very nice.

This one is the Leaf Stitch, in Crescent Colours "Jolly Holly." This stitch is basically a series of satin stitches in the shape of a leaf.

Finally, the last two things to be added were the creatures. An owl perches in the branches of the tree, and is made from a combination of straight stitch, cross stitch, and knit stitch, in DMC 840 and 842.

And a rabbit sits at the base of the tree, stitched in DMC white and made from oval and circular rhodes stitches, with some backstitching added.