One Stitch Ahead
It has been like Santa's workshop at the offices of Just CrossStitch, as dozens of people have been preparing your special holiday issue. Like Santa and his elves, we prepare for Christmas nearly year-round.
The week after Christmas, we send out invitations to designers, asking if they would like to participate in the Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments magazine. As the RSVP “Yes!” messages come in, the excitement builds, knowing that each ornament will be a treasure for our readers.
As winter turns to spring, packages begin to appear in the mailroom, and every day seems like Christmas. Each ornament is unique, reflecting the style and personality of the designer.
Work begins in earnest in late spring. Each design is accompanied by a chart and instructions, and many designers also send recipes and stories. Technical editors and proofreaders put in long hours making sure that the information provided in the magazine conveys exactly what the designer had in mind.
Photographers, photo stylists and graphic artists put their expertise and creativity to use in presenting the ornaments on these pages. Before going to print in midsummer, the pages are examined by many pairs of eyes.
Each design you see in the magazine gets tender, loving care as it moves from stage to stage in the process. From the time I ( gently!) tear open the designers' packages to the time the magazine pages are sent to the printer, the ornaments are considered to be gifts to you, the reader, from the designers who dreamed them up.
In addition to those dreamy designers, I would like to recognize all these wonderful “elves” who make this issue possible. You can look to the left of this letter to see their names.
Like Santa, who leaves gifts but doesn't get to see them opened, I hope that you will find joy and inspiration as you peruse these pages. And as a crossstitching Santa would say, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good (stitching!) night!”
Stay in stitches!
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11