Gifted Gorgeousness SAL - Hosted by Jo

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give

~ George MacDonald ~

Umm, yes it would appear that I have signed up for yet another SAL!!

This one is hosted by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.  Jo has come with a great idea for a SAL for 2015 and when I read about this on Kaye's blog the other day I just had to join in!

This Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is all about stitching and blogging - something that I can do, and something that I have promised myself I will do more of in 2015!  Jo's explanation of the SAL is:

"I am sure we have all benefited from the generosity of our fellow bloggers and here is your chance to show your appreciation for that generousness by doing what we do best - stitching and blogging about it!"

The rules are very simple and are listed below:

What is eligible for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL?
Any chart/kit which was given to you
Any chart/kit which you won in a giveaway
Any chart/kit which you bought using a voucher given to you/won by you
Anything stitched on fabric received in the above ways
Anything stitched with floss received in the above ways
Anything embellished or finished with items received in the above ways
Anything which is intended as a gift or prize for another person
Anything else you can somehow shoehorn with word "gift" into!

When do we post?
On the 15th of each month.  Because (a) there are plenty of end of months SALs already and (b) it is 2015 so we should remember the 15th!

So now that I have signed up for this new SAL, what am I going to stitch first?

Do you remember a post I did in June 2013 when Kaye came over to Perth for business and we met for lunch?  When we had lunch we swapped gifts and Kaye gave me these lovely charts (picture below) so for my first entry into the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL I am going to stitch one of these..... not sure which one yet - might have to do the old eenie meenie miney mo trick to choose!

Moutons de Saisons - printemps et été (L) & automne et hiver (R)
Tralala Collection

There is still time to sign up for this SAL - if you want to join in, click on the link to go to Jo's page and sign up and get ready to post on 15th January 2015!

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs, Stitching Noni xx

2015 Craziness Abounds!

All my scattering moments are taken up with my needle

~ Ellen Birdseye Wheaton, 1851 ~

A few months ago I signed up for a crazy 2015 challenge.... Cross Stitch Crazy 2015 is a Facebook group that was set up "for stitchers who want to join the 2015 CrosstitchCrazy Event and for stitchers to just come and talk and share their work as they go along. You do not have to be doing the challenge to be in the group. The first 15 days in January we will start a new pattern, we then have the year to complete all 15 patterns we have chosen."

To make matters worse, or easier (not sure which), I have also joined a couple of other Facebook groups as well:

Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015) - this group was set up after So-Cal Debbie passed away as a way to remember Debbie and her crazy stitching plans!  The plan is to start 31 or 59 projects.... (ie a project a day for January and/or February 2015)  Well, those numbers are probably a little bit too ambitious for me so I will be a watcher from the side on this one while I stitch on my 15 starts!!  But then again who knows I may find 31 projects to start in Jan, there are certainly more than that number on my stitching wish list! :o)

15 Miras 15 Days - now this group really calls to me... 15 Mira's to stitch.... how on earth will I do this one!  I do actually have a number of Mira's that I want to stitch, but I don't think I will get to do 15 Mira starts this year let alone 15 new Mira's in January....

So, as you can see I am trying to formulate a plan for my 2015 stitching...
15 starts in January.... 15 Mira's in January.... 31 starts in January....
Yes, I am crazy and no, I really don't think that I will get that many starts going for the whole year let alone in January and February!!  But I am going to give it a try anyway!

The one thing that will hold me back of course is not having enough fabric or threads (of course Hubby will say that I have more than enough of both!!), and time.....  there are never enough hours in my day!

So here is my list for the first 15 starts for January 2015, not necessarily in stitching order and with only 2 Mira's on the list so far:

1. Moutons de Saisons - printemps - Tralala Collection
2. Moutons de Saisons - été - Tralala Collection
3. Autumn Fab Fob - Lizzie Kate
4. Tiny Tidings XV (I'm on the nice list) - Lizzie Kate
5. Tiny Tidings XV (feliz navidad) - Lizzie Kate
6. Tiny Tidings XV (feeling festive) - Lizzie Kate
7. Tiny Tidings XV (joyeux noel) - Lizzie Kate
8. Eek - Lizzie Kate
9. Winter Witch - The Snowflower Diaries
10. Merry Christmas Deer - The Little Stitcher
11. Christmas Eve Couriers "Comet" - Nora Corbett
12. Christmas Eve Couriers "Prancer" - Nora Corbett
13. Koala - Carrol Nielson
14. Spring Celebration: Ostara - The Primitive Hare
15. Sneak Peek (Halloween) - The Trilogy

To help with the 31 starts for January, I have added in some WIP's (which is allowed by the rules of that group)

1. "Jingles" Flip-It Series SAL - Lizzie Kate
2. Faces of Joan Elliott SAL - Joan Elliott
3. Chatelaine Mystery Mini II "C" - Martina Rosenberg
4. MS Lovers Blog SAL #5 Spring Bouquet - Margaret Sherry
5. "Witch and Friends" - Donna Giampa

Me thinks that the list above is a work in progress itself as I go through my very neglected stitching basket!

Wish me well, fast needles and heaps of stitching time!

I will be back to let you know how each start goes and then will attempt to keep you posted on a very regular basis!

Til next time, happy stitching,
Hugs, Stitching Noni xx

Lizzie Kate "Jingles" SAL December update

Constant use will not wear ragged the fabric of friendship.
~ Dorothy Parker ~

Lizzie Kate "Jingles Flip-It"

Lizzie Kate "Jingles" SAL update - stitching with Rita, Annette and Nia

As promised, here is my last Lizzie Kate "Jingles" update for 2014.  My previous "Jingles" update was in October where I showed you my progress up to the end of September.  Seeing as that was some time ago now.... here is a reminder of where I was at the end of September 2014 - 5 blocks and the snow flakes completed:

Lizzie Kate "Jingles" as at 30 September 2014

Between September and December I managed to find some time to stitch a little bit more on this lovely design.  Another 2 blocks!  But they were small ones....

Lizzie Kate "Jingles" as at 26 December 2014

I did plan to have this design finished by Christmas 2014.... but now I guess I have heaps of time to finish it by Christmas 2015!!  There are only 5 more blocks to go so don't be at all surprised to see this back in my stitching rotation again in the next couple of months, after all the next block is sitting there staring at me every time I open my stitching basket!!

So that's it for my update on Jingles, so how about an a quick update on where the other girls are at with "Jingles":

Rita - finished!! pop on over to her blog and have a look at her beautiful finished "Jingles" - well done Rita! :o)

As for the other girls.... well, like me, they are are still stitching....
Annette - pop on over to Annette's blog for her latest update
Nia - pop on over to Nia's blog for her latest update

There you go, another "Jingles" update done and dusted!  See you next time.... til then....

happy stitching and jingling!!

Stitching Noni xx

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad

From our home to yours, we wish you all the best for the Festive Season

Merry Christmas

Noni, Hubby, Oscar, Felix, Mitzi xx

ORT's, wherefore art thou?

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,

Will we sing, and bless this place.

~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream ~

As another month, and indeed another year, draws to an end and the New Moon rises, I am reminded yet again of how remiss I have been with my blog posts this year.....

My last ORT report was back in September.... but then again given there probably hasn't been too many ORT's in the jar recently you weren't missing much!!

December's ORT report is the last for 2014 and luckily I have a full jar of ORT's to show off!  I did manage to get some stitching done over the last few weeks which is making up for my severe lack of stitching for most of this year.

December 2014 TUSAL

The ORT's on the top of the jar are from the Joan Elliott "Faces" SAL that I have been stitching this week, and just underneath are ORT's from Lizzie Kate's "Jingles".  I will have a "Jingles" update in the next couple of days for you.

As we are nearing the end of the year, it is obviously too late now to sign up for the 2014 event.... but I did read on Daffycat's blog today that she is planning to continue to host the TUSAL in 2015. So start collecting your ORT's and join in the fun next year!

The next ORT report will be the first one for 2015.  I will now empty my jar of 2014 ORT's and start collecting new ones ready to post on or around 20th January 2015.

New Moons - 2015
20th January
18th February
20th March
18th April
18th May
16th June
16th July
14th August
13th September
13th October
11th November
11th December

Til next time, happy stitching!

Hugs, Stitching Noni xx

You know nothing Jon Snow!

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves

~ Edmund Hillary ~

Did you like my catchy title?  I couldn't think of anything overly witty to write as a title for this post.... saying "I'm back" seems a little bit silly given I have said that many times before and then I go MIA again.....  so when this comment from Game of Thrones came into my head I thought it might work.... Ygritte is constantly saying this to Jon, and I seem to always be saying I'm back... so my title is probably very fitting, don't you think?!?

My last post was back in October when I did the Around the World Blog Hop.... and I mentioned then that I was coming up to my 200th post.  Well this is it!  200 posts in 5 years..... I had planned to mark this very special post in some way.... but I just haven't got myself organised to have something ready for this post.  That special post will now have to wait for a couple of days (or weeks).  But hopefully you will think that it's worth waiting for!

So onto post 199 (a)....

So why have I been MIA so much this year?  Or maybe you hadn't actually noticed that I have been MIA???

I think I mentioned some time ago that work had been very hectic.... if I didn't, here's a quick synopsis, since April I have been doing 2 jobs and working 5 days a week.... I have limited energy reserves at the best of times with low iron levels and RA.... so doing these extra hours (I used to do 4 days a week) and having about 3 times the amount of stress in my work life there has really been no room in my head or spare energy for anything else - so no blogging, either posting or reading, and virtually no time for stitching!  I was also offered a promotion a few months ago which I original said no to.... but then my boss asked me again, and again.... so now I have said yes!!  Which means a busy time ahead, but the good thing is after the Christmas break I will only be doing 1 job again so I am hoping that 2015 will be much better for blogging!

Enough of my work update.... now onto my stitching update!

I have done some stitching this year and over the next few days I will show you my latest updates. The first one being my "Faces of Joan Elliott Mystery SAL"

When I last posted in October I had only just been stitching the border.

"Faces of Joan Elliott" Mystery SAL
designed by Joan Elliott
Status on 30th September 2014

Now the border is finished, the centre is done and I have finally managed to make a start on the first face.  We had a "SAL within a SAL" over the weekend so I got myself organised and stitching again on this lovely design.

I am now going to try and keep stitching this until the end of the year while I am on leave from work to see if I can make some head way and catch up with everyone else.  Joan has designed 4 faces for this SAL so far and the 5th face is due out in Jan.

Now before I go today, I have something else to show you.... a finish!!!

Over the last few months at work we have had a number of changes as we have moved from one section of the business into another section.  This means new systems and procedures to get my head around and as you can imagine, has added to the stress and work levels that I have been dealing with. The reason I mention this is because throughout this time I have been dealing with some lovely ladies that have helped me with all the changes.  One of these ladies (Helen) has become a friend and when she was in Perth recently I gave her a gift to say thank you for her help over the last few months.

'Christmas Ted" designed by Joan Elliott
Cross Stitch Card Shop (stitched in Jan 2012)

Now truth be told I actually stitched this little cutie back in Jan 2012..... I even managed to show him off in a post in his finished state in April 2012 but I had filed him away and he didn't see the light of day again until earlier this month when I found him again and popped him into a box lid!  In the box was a glass angel for Christmas.....

As I close off my post, I want to leave you with the thought that the Heavens gained another star today..

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs, Stitching Noni xx