The Cheater's Guide to Cross stitch

I had a picture that was okay, but nothing very interesting given to me by a relative when they cleaned out their office and switched jobs.  I would love to replace it but had nothing of a size to fit the mat/frame so it hung on the wall undisturbed until I found my cross stitch, with which I had had a dubious flirtation, to quote Spock, in my relative youth.  I had made one large piece (which had taken years) and gave it away in college to a beloved teacher, otherwise I had only dabbled in the art.  Going through a forgotten corner of a forgotten closet I came across a Monet, albeit not a painting but a barely begun stamped cross stitch aida clothe with one of his 'water lily' designs upon it.  About eight years ago I thought it would be fun to try it again, though I had never done a 'stamped' pattern before, I fell in love with the colors and the design and bought the kit, only to discover that the stamped one was even worse than the true 'counted' cross stitch as now I not only had to count little tiny boxes but most were an absurd kaleidoscope of colors which quickly induced a seizure, a migraine, or very possibly both.  So 7.5 years ago it got put in the box of unfinished cross-stitchy things and was soon forgotten.  There was also a partially finished Amish type sampler that will remain so indefinitely unless one of my kids gets a freak to finish it one day, but the Monet was still pretty, if barely stitched, it seemed a shame to let it molder in that box.

It also fit perfectly in that frame, with a little surgery on the mat, and yes I will call it surgery as I used a scalpel to cut the mat, one of these days I will invest in an exacto-knife.  I ironed my Monet (how many people can say they've done that?), enlarged the opening in the mat, and voila!  I now had a very pretty, pseudo embroidered picture.  You have to look really close to see that the whole thing isn't actually stitched.  So if you like the look of cross-stitch but haven't the knack, the patience, or the time, you can invest in a 'stamped' kit of your choosing, throw in a few stitches if you'd like, or just frame the picture and call it good, just don't enter it in any embroidery contests!