Gifted Gorgeousness February 2018

GG SAL hosted by Jo (Serendipitous Stitching)

Are you ready for another mid-month update on Boo Club?

Giveaway prize from Nifty Needle Nannies 2016
"Boo Club" - Lizzie Kate
Started: 1 January 2018
Fabric: 28ct Lugana "Wicked Garden" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: DMC black & white, all other WDW as per chart

Ok... yes I know my GG post is late... so late that it is almost time for the March update... but never mind... just for the record here it is!  So this is where "Boo Club" was up to as of 15th February 2018.  I have managed to complete more of the border and finished the next block but I will show you that in my February update post shortly.

I also wanted to share with you another piece of stitching that qualifies for a GG post...

Finish #5/2018
"I am Home" - Hands on Design
Started: 10 February 2018
Finished: 11 February 2018
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Camofudge" Stitches & Spice
Thread: Jodyri Designs "Maypole Ribbons" (May 2016 Ltd Edition) & "Winter Frost" (March 2017 Ltd Edition) 
Source: 2018 Anniversary Freebie from Hands on Designs Blog

This was the stitching that I shared as part of the Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on 14th February 2018.  The design is the latest freebie from Hands On Design - link to chart is here.

Because I love this picture so much I am going to keep it at the bottom of every GG post.... Miss Mouse is the most loving puppy you could ever have... her love is a gift to us so I think it is quite fitting that she is in my 2018 GG posts! 

Til next time, have a great stitchy week... and happy stitching

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching hosts the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  The GG SAL is about stitching charts/kits or using fabrics & threads that we have received as gifts, won in giveaways or anything that is intended be a gift or giveaway prize... or anything else that you can loosely use the word "gift" for!!  If you wish to sign up for this SAL, click on link here, or the button on my sidebar and you will be re-directed to Jo's blog.

Smalls SAL January update

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

Oh dear... another late catch up post!  January was a good Smalls stitching month... prepare to be blown away by my finishes for January!

Finish #1/2018
Rubber Ducky - Mill Hill kit
Started: 15 September 2016
Finished: 15 January 2018

Finish #2/2018
Holly Jolly Xmas - Emma Congdon / Stitchrovia
Started: 23 January 2018
Finished: 26 January 2018
Fabric: 28ct evenweave (tea/coffee dyed on a light green base)
Thread: "Aussie Plum" Jodyri Designs & Petite Treasure Braid PB10
Source: Cross Stitch Crazy

Finish #3/2018
L-O-V-E - Hands on Design
Started: 26 January 2018
Finished: 27 January 2018
Fabric: 32ct Jobelan "Hot Pink" - Colour Cascade Fabrics
Thread: "Oink" & "Parisian Chic" Jodyri Designs
Source: Freebie from Hands on Design website

Finish #4/2018
Snowy Days - Little House Needleworks
Started: 6 January 2018
Finished: 29 January 2018
Fabric: 32ct Belfast "Antique Ivory"
Thread: DMC, Classic Colourworks "English Ivy"
Source: Just Cross Stitch magazine Christmas Ornament Issue 2014

So how's that for a great stitching Smalls month!  I am so pleased to have so many finishes in one month.... but don't worry I am sure that the momentum will probably not continue much past February!!

Til next time... happy stitching!

Gifted Gorgeousness January 2018

Well here we are again! Another year... and another chance for me to try and be a good blogger and post once a month for the GG SAL!  Last year was not a good posting year, but hopefully this year will be better!

My plans for 2018 are to post at this time of the month with my progress on my Halloween Ornie Blog WIP.  Why is that do you ask?  Well.... my reasoning behind this is because my chosen Halloween Ornie project is a giveaway win from late 2016.  The post on my win is here should you wish to review it.

Giveway prize from Nifty Needle Nannies 2016
"Boo Club" - Lizzie Kate
Started: 1 January 2018
"Spooky"
Fabric: 28ct Lugana "Wicked Garden" Colour Cascade Fabrics
Threads: DMC black & white, all other WDW as per chart

The photo above is my start on this piece.  I have done more... but I forgot to take the photo last night in preparation for my post... Oops :0(

I do, however have a photo of when I was stitching on this piece last Friday.  My cute little stitching buddy thought she would help mummy stitch! Actually I think it was more a case of enough stitching Mummy.. time for a cup of tea and biscuit!!  ;0)

So that's it for this month.  The next opportunity for you to see this piece will be at the end of the month when I post my Halloween Ornie Blog update.

Til then, have a great stitchy week... and happy stitching

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching hosts the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  The GG SAL is about stitching charts/kits or using fabrics & threads that we have received as gifts, won in giveaways or anything that is intended be a gift or giveaway prize... or anything else that you can loosely use the word "gift" for!!  If you wish to sign up for this SAL, click on link here, or the button on my sidebar and you will be re-directed to Jo's blog.

Whipping those WIP's to the finish line!

WIP update
Isn't it a great feeling to get those long time WIPs (not going to say UFO's!) out and start showing them some more love?  If you saw my last post then you would have seen that I stitched on a 2015 WIP recently.

The other long lost WIP that I have been stitching on recently is Nora Corbett's "Christmas Eve Couriers - Comet".

The last time I showed you "Comet" was way back in June 2015... I have just re-read that post where I rabbited on about a stitching rotation... no, that never really happens in my stitching life no matter how much I try to do it!!!

June 2015....

Comet now looks like this:

July 2016

Over the last couple of evenings I have managed to finish the antlers of "Comet" and I am starting on his head.  As he is still on the q-snaps I might stitch on him again today...

New starts:
I can't believe it... I forgot to show you 2 other new starts that I had in June....

First up is another of those old kits that I had languishing in the bottom drawer of the craft room.  I have no idea when I bought this but it would have been in the late 1980's or early 1990's.  I pulled it out last month to start stitching it for the Vintage SAL on one of the FB groups.  This is as far as I got....

This one is called "Honey Do" and is stitched on 14ct vinyl.... very strange medium to stitch on but, I do like the design so I will get back to it again very soon and get it finished.  The kit came with the magnetic notebook accessories to put it all together.  Once done it will be a nice little addition to the fridge or even a nice little gift for someone... :o)

The other new start that I had in June was the "June" design for the Snowflower Diaries "Joyful World SAL".  I don't have some of the threads for this so I started with what I have got... It is stitched on a pale blue 28ct linen from my stash.

So that's new starts and WIP's covered....onto finishes! :o)

Finishes Update:
First up on the finishes list is a mini finish....

Most of my stitching time over the last week or so was dedicated to the new Durene Jones / Lakeside Needlecraft Fantasy SAL.  When I last showed you the border stitching it looked like this:

5 July 2016

Well, surprise, surprise, I have finished all the circles...

11 July 2016

... and I have now put it away until the first character is released in August.  Depending on how much stitching is involved in each character I may start/stitch the border each month when a character is released or I may leave the border til the end.... who knows!

The fabric I am using for this one is "Silver Springs" 32ct Jobelan from Colour Cascades Fabrics using a variegated thread from Cottage Garden Threads called "Heliotrope".

Finish #26
"Stitching Witch"
Designer: Maria Warmke (The Stitcherhood)
Started: 7 July 2016
Finished: 8 July 2016
Fabric: Name unknown (cardmakers pack) - Colour Cascade Fabrics
Thread: Nevermore - Jodyri Designs

This design is called "Stitching Witch" and is designed by Maria Warmke from The Stitcherhood.  How perfect is this design for my Halloween Ornie Blog July post?  This month's theme was "witches accessories" and this design has a hat and a cauldron - tick... and then needle and scissors!!  It was published in the October 2014 issue of the Just Cross Stitch magazine.

I stitched this on a piece of fabric from Colour Cascades Fabric - no name as it was in a cardmakers pack - just love the colours!  The thread I used was "Nevermore" from Jodyri Designs.  The design called for all black thread but I decided to try something different for a change!!

I think I am now up to date on all my WIP stitching... it's time to sign off now and get back on the couch with my stitching in front of the fire (we have rain with storms forecast today... oh well it is winter!).

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx

Q - Queen of the Bees

20th April "Q" Post

"Queen of the Bees"

Oh dear, it's another Monday!
Today is 20th April and posting Day 17 of the "Blogging from A to Z April 2015 Challenge".

Today is "Q" - "Queen of the Bees"

Queen: the female ruler of an independent state, especially one who inherits the position by right of birth.

Bee: a stinging winged insect which collects nectar and pollen, produces wax and honey, and lives in large communities.

Put the two together... and we get a Queen Bee - the single reproductive female in a hive or colony of honeybees.

"Q" was tricky.... I thought of "Quaker" designs, "Quilt" designs, "Queer" designs, "Quirky" designs and nothing really jumped out of me!

All the time that I have been thinking of "Q" designs I kept coming up with "Queen Bee".  I finally remembered, after numerous hours of searching and thinking of "Q" designs, that I had seen a couple of Queen Bee designs.  So after some more time searching on Google... I finally found what I was looking for!

Let me introduce you to "The Queen of the Bees".

Image from "The Little Stitcher" Etsy Store

This gorgeous design is designed by Laura aka "The Little Stitcher".  

I have been following Laura's blog for some time now and have drooled over her gorgeous designs... and now I have one!  It was so easy to purchase the chart... I bought it through Laura's Etsy store on Saturday and on Sunday morning it sitting in my email waiting for me to print and start stitching!

Last night I started stitching on this gorgeous lady and I managed to get some of her dress done.  I am using only DMC threads and stitching her on the most beautiful light blue fabric (just for something different....)

The fabric is from Tammy at Colour Cascade Fabrics here in Perth, and is called "Island of Avalon" - 32ct Belfast.

I will be back tomorrow for with my official IHSW post (which I meant to do today), as well as my "R" post - assuming I can think of what to stitch for "R"... see you then!



Til then.... Happy Stitching and Happy Blogging!
Hugs xx

More New Starts....

Yep, I have some more new starts to show you....  You would think that I had more than enough on my stitching plate with all the January new starts without starting anything else.... but no, I am a glutton for punishment or a serial starter - not sure which applies in this case!!

My first new start was at the beginning on the month but I keep forgetting to show you....

This is a Design Works kit called "Birdcage" that I have had sitting in my stash for sometime.  I had originally pulled it out as a possible new start for the January challenges but it just never seemed to get to the top of the pile.

"Birdcage"
Design Works kit

I know it isn't a very big start... in fact it really is only a tiny start but it does register as start in my book!  I swapped out the plain white Aida that was in the kit for a piece of fabric that I had in my stash.  The fabric is from Colour Cascade Fabrics and is called "Bed of Roses" (32 ct Belfast).  I am really looking forward to stitching this one, but I'm not sure about all the silver thread and sequins that will be included to get all that sparkle happening in the dress!

Second new start in February was for a mystery SAL that I signed up for in late December.  I didn't get this started before now as I needed a number of the threads including the dark blue for the border.

The "Deer and Grapes Mystery Sampler SAL" is designed by Jean Farish.  Jean has an Etsy store that you can purchase the most delightful designs from, including the Mystery SAL (I think it's still available).  She has set up a FB page for those of us that have purchased the SAL to that we can post our progress and keep in touch with her and the others that are stitching this lovely sampler.  So far part 1 and 2 have been released with part 3 due any day now.

This is as far as I have managed to get after a couple of stitching days in February...

"Deer & Grapes Mystery SAL"
Designer: Jean Farish

I am stitching this on a piece of "Autumn Glade" (32ct Lugana) from Stitches and Spice.  I have devised a rather cunning plan of marking off my stitches on the border as I go so that I don't mis-count!  Fingers crossed that plan works as I really don't want to be playing with my old friend the frog too much on this one!

And for my final new start in February I have a design that I started stitching as the February Theme for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog.  February's theme is "Skeletons".

Finding a skeleton that I liked wasn't that easy at first... but then I remembered a design that I had put on my "must stitch" list ever since I saw it in the Just Cross Stitch 2013 Halloween Special Edition magazine.

The design is from Praiseworthy Stitches and is called "Dancing in the Moonlight".  I am stitching this on a beautiful fabric called "Riders on the Storm" (32ct Belfast Opal) from Colour Cascade Fabrics.  I just love this design.  I started stitching this last weekend and worked on it until I got to a skeleton!  So here he is.... my skeleton!

"Dancing in the Moonlight"

Designer: Praiseworthy Stitches

Oops.... I just noticed that I haven't quite finished him... for some reason my brain said I had, but I now see I am missing a bit of the dark grey (DMC 3799) in his tummy.... Oh well....never mind I will sort him out when I pick him up again later in the month.

That's it for now... I think I have now caught up with all my latest new starts.  My next post will be my February "Jingles" update and then we will be into March!  Goodness where is the year going?

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

Oops, I did it again....

Yep.... I have been spending some of my hard earned folding stuff again.... anyone would think that I am rolling in greenbacks, but I can assure I am certainly not doing that.... I just can't seem to stay away from pretty fabric sales and bling lately!

So what have I bought this time??

More fabric from Colour Cascade Fabrics!  Tammy had an Birthday sale and I just had to participate in that one to help her celebrate - it would have been rude not to after all!

The colours are from top left to right and then down left to right and so forth...

Oceans (32ct Belfast Opal); Pink Champagne  (32ct Belfast Opal); Hole in the Sky (28ct Laguna Opal); Silver Springs (32ct Belfast Opal); Gold Digger (32st Jobelan); Golden Touch (32ct Belfast)

Gold Digger and Silver Sands I had ear-marked for "At the Met" by Nora Corbett (not sure which one I will use yet)... but after seeing Golden Touch I might be changing my mind.... again!!

I also bought some more DMC thread so that I can finally get started on another SAL that I signed up for.... but more on that SAL in another post :o)

Now for the bling..... Gina's Fobs and Froggers will be my downfall I think.... I have received another order from Gina and have 2 more to come.... (hiding my head in shame as I think I have developed another addiction!......)  I have to stay off her FB page on a Sunday morning!

Gee, how cathartic is it to bare your stitching stash soul?  It's just as well I don't do the Stitching from Stash challenge... I would be failing left, right and centre on that one!!

That's it for this very quick stash baring post.... I will be back again in a day or so with my ORT report.

Til then, happy stashing!!
Hugs xx

Day 25, 26, 27 - the end is in sight!

Well, the end of January is around the corner, which means my crazy January challenges are coming to an end...  quite sad about that, but probably not sad enough to keep going throughout February with new starts!!  I will just work on my 31 WIP's over February!  Which means that all your favourites will get their pictures taken again sometime over the next month or so!!

So onto the latest new starts....

Day 25 - Mary Mouse (designed by Brooke Nolan)
Mary Mouse is the third animal from Brooke Nolan's 25 Advent Animals.  As I mentioned in my last post there is a Facebook group for those stitching these animals, but the charts are actually downloaded from Brooke's website.  The latest animal has just been released and it is just so cute... think it's my favourite so far (but then again I think that about each one as they come out!!)

"Mary Mouse" - designed by Brooke Nolan

Day 26 - You are so Loved (designed by Snowflower Diaries)
Australia Day saw me start on another design from the Snowflower Diairies.  This is a really lovely design and is designed to be stitched with variegated hand dyed threads, but I am using good old DMC for this one as well.  There is also a French version which I think I may also stitch as it just has a nice feel to it!

"You are so Loved" - designed by Snowflower Diaries

I am stitching this on 32ct Belfast Linen "Fairy Tale" from Colour Cascade Fabrics.  It is a bit hard to see the pretty light pink/peach colour of this fabric in the photo, but believe me it is so pretty!

Also on Australia Day I took advantage of some extra stitching time and worked on my Winter Witch.  It is going to be a close call to get her finished by the end of the month!

"Winter Witch" - designed by Snowflower Diaires
progress as at 26 Jan 2015

Day 27 - Christmas Mouse #2 (designed by Margaret Sherry)
Last night I started on the second of the Margaret Sherry Christmas mice.  I am loving this one as it has a big purple ornament to stitch and I am so enjoying stitching the purple!!

"Christmas Mouse" - designed by Margaret Sherry

So there we go, up to date again.  There are only 4 more days of this challenge left and I have lots of designs still waiting to be picked and stitched.... can't wait to see what jumps out at me when I go searching for a new start tonight!  I probably won't get to post again until the weekend as I have a busy week at work and I never seem to get enough time in the evening for both stitching and posting!

If you want to have a look at any of my previous updates for the FB CrosstitchCrazy Event and Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015) the links are below:

Day 1 - Winter Witch    Day 2 - "Eek!"    Day 3 - "Prancer"
Day 4 - "Autumn Fab Fob"    Day 5 - "Comet"    Day 6 - "Koala"
Day 7 - "Sneak Peek - Halloween"    Day 8 - "Printemps"    Day 9 - "été"
Day 10 - "Joyeux Noel"    Day 11 - "Feeling Festive"    Day 12 - "New Year's Magic"
Day 13 - "Grumpy Kitty"    Day 14 - "Happy Howloween" 
Day 15 - "Happy Owl O Ween"    Day 16 - WIP "Faces of JE Mystery SAL" 
Day 17 - WIP "Lizzie Kate's Jingles"    Day 18 - "Witch & Friends" 
Day 19 - "Mini Mandala II - C"     Day 20 - WIP "Spring Bouquet"
Day 21 - WIP "Bonsai & Buddha"    Day 22 - Katie Kitty
Day 23 - Peter Polar Bear     Day 24 - Christmas Mouse #1

Til next time, Happy Stitching!

Day 20 & 21 - More Crazy Stitching and ORT's!

I know, I promised you an update a couple of days ago.... but unfortunately the forces have been against me the last few days and I just haven't found an hour spare to jump on and post.... But today I got into work a bit early so I thought I would at least start my post and see how far I got before everyone else gets into the office!

So where was I up to when I last sat down to post?  Oh yes.... Day 20 and 21 were also WIP stitching, and last night I started something new... but no photo of that one today as I forgot to take a photo last night before I went to bed - will post that one tomorrow with tonight's new start.

Day 20 - I stitched on my long neglected Margaret Sherry "Spring Bouquet" SAL.  This sweet design is a SAL that I started with some of the girls on the MS Lovers Blog last year.  I started stitching this one last year in April / May and that was about as far as I got!  So this is what kitty looked like when I posted on 4th May 2014.

Margaret Sherry "Spring Bouquet"
progress as at 2 May 2014

After and hour or so of stitching on Tuesday night, this what kitty looks like now:

Margaret Sherry "Spring Bouquet"
progress as at 20 January 2015

It is bit hard to see in the photo but I managed to add some white into his belly.... not a lot of progress but every little bit counts!  And it is nice for kitty to come out and see the light of day again!

Day 21 - Buddha and Bonsai (Dimensions kit) - started yonks ago (at least 4-5 years ago).  Now I don't think that I have ever posted a picture of this WIP on my blog.  I have gone back to the beginning of all my posts, and while I have mentioned it (in 2010!) there is no picture!  Just as well that I took a photo before I started stitching the other night.

"Bonsai and Buddha" - Dimensions Kit
Starting point for January 2015

This is quite a nice design to stitch and I really don't know why I haven't pulled it out of the basket long before now.  Fingers crossed that now it is out of hiding I will continue to stitch on on it

"Bonsai and Buddha" - Dimensions Kit
Progress as at 21/1/15

I managed to start on the base of the tree the other night as well as fill in a couple of other missing stitches in the leaves.  You may notice that I have a little fairy in the picture.... this is one of the needle minders that I bought from Gina's Fobs and Froggers and I decided to put her to good use holding the chart to the fabric as this particular WIP is on a scroll frame and I have the space to do this!!  Plus she is pretty...

So that's it for the stitching update.... now onto the next reason we are here!

ORT Report - TUSAL 2015

As you have all been seeing lots of photos of my stitching for January you can probably guess that I do have some ORT's to show....

TUSAL - January 2015

Sorry, this month's photo is probably not very inspiring is it?  But I wanted to show you the gorgeous fabric that I recently ordered from Tammy at Colour Cascade Fabrics.... and well the ORT's jar just fell into the pile of colours!! These fabrics are just beautiful... and do you know what - I discovered after seeing Tammy's fabric all over the Mira Facebook groups that she just lives down the road from me (well about a 15 mins drive - but in Australia anything less than an hour's drive is just down the road!)

If you don't know (or haven't heard) about the 2015 TUSAL, Daffycat is again hosting the fun Totally Useless SAL (TUSAL).  Essentially we stitch and save our ORT's (Old Raggety Threads) and every New Moon those of us participating in the TUSAL post a picture of our ORT's jar, and then leave little msgs for Daffycat on her blog to show that we have been stitching and have posted our wonderful pics.  Please head over to her sign up page and join in the fun!

Well that is it for this marathon post... not only is it a long one... but it has taken me all day to type!!

We have a long weekend in Australia this weekend so I am hoping to get lots of stitching in and maybe even have time to poke around on some of the 100's of blogs that are in my blog reader and catch up with everyone new's.

Til then, if you want to have a look at any of my previous updates for the FB CrosstitchCrazy Event and Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge 2015 (DUCJC2015) the links are below:

Day 1 - Winter Witch  Day 2 - "Eek!"  Day 3 - "Prancer"
Day 4 - "Autumn Fab Fob"  Day 5 - "Comet"  Day 6 - "Koala"
Day 7 - "Sneak Peek - Halloween"  Day 8 - "Printemps"  Day 9 - "été"
Day 10 - "Joyeux Noel"  Day 11 - "Feeling Festive"  Day 12 - "New Year's Magic"
Day 13 - "Grumpy Kitty"  Day 14 - "Happy Howloween"  Day 15 - "Happy Owl O Ween"
Day 16 - WIP "Faces of JE Mystery SAL"  Day 17 - WIP "Lizzie Kate's Jingles"
Day 18 - "Witch & Friends"  Day 19 - "Mini Mandala II - C"

Til next time, Happy Stitching!