March GG post... late again..

Epic Gifted Gorgeousness stitching fail this month.... I have no stitching to show you that qualifies for a GG post ;o(

but....

I did win a giveaway! :o)

I won Linda's "guess the number of WIPs/UFOs" giveaway - link here to giveaway win announcement post.  My prize was a gift voucher to 123 Stitch.... thank you Linda :o)

I placed an order yesterday and I can now reveal which item that I used my gift voucher to purchase...

Fur-ever Friends (Linen) - Cross Stitch Kit by Mill Hill

(designed by Laurel Burch)

I thought that this gorgeous chart was very appropriate, not just because it's been on my wish list for some time, but because Linda's blog is called "Stitchin with my furbabies" and I do stitch with my fur babies every day... so it fits me down to a tee :o)
Thanks Linda... I am very happy to have won your giveaway.. and I can't wait to start stitching this cute kitty and puppy!

So that's it for this small but exciting post!  I will try and pop back tomorrow and show you a progress report on my stitching.

Til next time, happy stitching
hugs xx

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.

News Break!

Quick swing by post to let you know about a couple of wonderful things I have seen recently...

First up is a giveaway :o)
Nancy from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is currently having a Valentine's Day Giveaway.  The giveaway is that one lucky winner will win their choice of either the Red & Cream Collection or the Grandmother's Favourite Quilts Collection.

Pic from Nancy's blog

Pic from Nancy's blog

I have no idea which I would choose if I was lucky enough to be chosen as they are both gorgeous.... and if I was lucky enough to win I already have the perfect chart to use them on.... which I will show you in a second!

So hop on over to Nancy's blog and sign up for the giveaway - remember though you must be a follower of Nancy's blog to join in the fun :o)

Next piece of fun news is.... there is a brand New Mega Free SAL to join....  Linen and Threads Mystery Sampler SAL
Karen and Brendon over at Linen and Threads are hosting this amazing new mystery sampler SAL. It is  huge!  The first month is out and is gorgeous.

Pic from Linen and Threads website

Each month, they will release a new piece of the Mystery Sampler as a free downloadable chart. Link to SAL page on their website is here.

The stitch count of the final design will be 205w x 467h.  They have also created a Facebook Group so that everyone can share their progress.
Link to the FB group is : https://www.facebook.com/groups/linenandthreadsSAL/ 

Now I haven't started this yet... the sheer size is scaring me off a bit but every time I see someone's finish I fall in love with it again...  It is on my list of must start in 2017 - I just need to take a big bite of the courage bullet and start it! ;o)

Now back to my comment above.... wouldn't this look amazing in Nancy's giveaway threads?

So that's it for now... I have a post in the making with a WIP update and new start pics if I ever get back to it!!

Til next time, happy stitching and may the only frog you see be the one right here! :o)

Hugs x

Nancy's Birthday Giveaway!

Nancy from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a birthday... and that means she is also having a birthday giveaway!

If you want to enter in Nancy's Birthday Giveaway there are a couple of simple rules to follow -

Nancy's Giveaway Rules: You MUST be a follower of Nancy's blog and you must post a comment on her birthday blog post (link here).
If you post about the giveaway on your blog (which I am doing right now!), Facebook or stitching group you get 50 more entries! (Yippee!)

The drawing will be on Nancy's birthday - 14th August.  If you enter the giveaway (and why wouldn't you!) don't forget to check back on Nancy's blog to see if you are a winner.

Good luck.....

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

Nancy's Wonderful Giveaways!

Well, as they say... you have to be in it to win it... so if you would like to win some gorgeous hand-dyed threads from Nancy (Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe)  read on...

Nancy regularly has giveaways on her blog and more often then not these days I miss out on entering as I am so far behind in my blog reading... but today I got over there for a visit and discovered that Nancy has 3 gorgeous giveaways running at the moment - feast your eyes on these gorgeous colours!

Star Spangled Banner Giveaway - winner announced 4th July 2016

image from Nancy's blog page

Halloween Patchwork Quilt Floss Giveaway - winner drawn 2nd July 2016

image from Nancy's blog page

Primitive Floss Giveaway - winner drawn 30th June 2016

image from Nancy's blog page

and last but not least.... for those of you that might not be aware Nancy also have a monthly birthday giveaway which is drawn on 1st of each month.

image from Nancy's blog

I do hope that you pop over to Nancy's blog and join in on the wonderful giveaways that she currently has running... if you aren't a follower of Nancy's blog make sure you do follow her blog before you enter otherwise your entry won't count...

I have some stitching progress to show you soon so hopefully I will get back to post again in the next few days!

Til next time, happy stitching everyone!
Hugs xx

We have a winner...

Today is a non-posting day for the A-Z Blogging April Challenge... which makes it the perfect day for me to draw my winner for the Meet and Greet Sttchers around the World Blog Hop.

The Blog Hop was held on 20th March, and my giveaway was open for followers who commented on that post.  The giveaway prize is a Shepherd's Bush Chart (Scatter Eggs) - very appropriate for this time of the year... and some threads.  There are 4 x Victorian Motto Sampler threads as well as 2 other threads included in the prize pack.

Now it is time to draw the winner.

I used the random number generator to pick the winner.  There were 17 comments on my post... and number 5 was the result.

The fifth follower to comment was Cucki.

Cucki, I will send you an email to confirm your snail mail address and get your package in the mail.

Thank you to everyone who commented on that post and all of my other posts.  It is lovely receiving your comments.... I do try to respond to every comment I received, but there does seem to be a lot of "no-reply" bloggers these days.

Til tomorrow, happy stitching!
and Happy Easter!

Meet and Greet Stitcher's Blog Hop - I am a winner....

Remember back on 20 March 2015 I posted my entry to the "Meet and Greet Stitcher's around the world" Blog Hop that was organised by Mdm Samm?  Well of course I wasn't the only one who posted that day and some of the ladies even had a giveaway (as do I).

One of the giveaways that I entered was on Elizabeth Coughlin's blog.  Elizabeth designs gorgeous wool applique patterns as well as redwork embroidery.  Pop over and have a look - she sells her patterns via Etsy and Craftsy.

The giveaway was the choice of one of Elizabeth's lovely patterns... and I was one of 2 winners!  It was a hard decision what to choose as I haven't done any wool applique or redwork before - both are needlework techniques that I would eventually like to do.

So what did I choose....

Photo from Elizabeth Coughlin Etsy store

Isn't this just the prettiest table runner?  I think this cutie might just have to be started next time I have a couple of days off work!

Now for those that might be interested, today is the last day of my giveaway so that means this is the last chance for you to enter!  Once the midnight bell tolls for the last time in the world on 31st March 2015, the chance will be gone forever!

If you want to enter my giveaway, you will have to go to my "Meet and Greet" blog post - Link is here - be a follower and leave a comment. The winner will be announced on Friday 3rd April 2015.

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs xx

Meet and Greet Stitchers from around the world.....

When I read that Mdm Samm from Sew We Stitch was organising a "Meet & Greet Stitchers from around the world" blog hop I just had to join in!

The idea behind the blog hop is to celebrate the first day of Spring in North America and to get stitchers from all around the world to come together and highlight their top 3-5 most beautiful projects (be them big or small) and they can be anything... cross stitch, appliqué or embroidery, or a combination of all three!

Do you know how hard it is to pick 3-5 projects to highlight?  Well, I found it hard to do....  one of the problems I had was that I give away most of my stitching so I wasn't able to re-take photos for this blog hop... but I have managed to pull together a couple of things to showcase today!  These are more five of my favourites rather than five of my most beautiful... although I think beautiful and favourite go hand in hand, don't you?

So here we go....

1. 50th Anniversary Sampler

Regular readers of my Blog may remember that I stitched this sampler to celebrate my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary in February 2014.  My original post is here - on that post I do have some close ups of the sampler including one of the crystal that I added above the swans.  Swans are lifetime companions and mates which makes them a perfect addition to a sampler celebrating a life together. The designer is Joan Elliott and it was originally published in The World of Cross Stitching Magazine (issue 129).

2. Baby Boy Gift

I stitched this delightful little Aussie koala for a blogging friend to celebrate the birth of her baby boy last year.  He went all the way to Portugal!  This was my first attempt at making a flat fold finish... The original post with more pics is here.  I just adore this little fellow! The designer, Carrol Nielsen, is Australian and if you visit her website you will see some of the most delightful designs to stitch.  I am currently stitching another one of her koalas as part of my Crazy January challenge.

3. Honey Pin Cushion

The "Honey Pin Cushion" is a freebie from the Keepsake Stitches website.  I loved this design and it was so simple to put together as a little cushion.  Last year I took part in an exchange and I decided to stitch a theme - Lavender and Bees!  This was the bee component of my stitching.  Sadly I never heard from the lady that received that package so I don't know if she liked it....  I think I may just have to stitch it again....  If you want to see what I stitched for the Lavender part of the exchange, the link to my post about this exchange is here.

4. Hang in There

I stitched this adorable kitten for my husband a few years ago when he was going through a bit of a tough time.  Kitty used to be sitting in the craft room but now that Hubby has moved into the new home office that we have set up in our two front bedrooms, kitty has also moved home!  He now sits in Hubby's office where he can inspire Hubby every day to just "Hang in There"! ♥♥♥

I don't think that Kitty has ever been shown on my blog...  this was a Jiffy kit from Dimensions and the designer is Katherine Neprud.

5. Light The Way

I had to add this little darling to my list of favourites!  "Light the Way" is a freebie from the Gloria and Pat website.  She/he is just so cute!  I have always had a soft spot for the "Precious Moments" designs.  I stitched this one back in 2011 for the charity organisation "Quilts 4 Kids".  My original post about this cutie is here. Sadly the website no longer exists for the Australian charity so I can't show you the finished quilt that was presented to the young girl.

So that's it.... five of my favourite pieces of stitching.  I hope that you have enjoyed a small sample of some of my stitching.

Now for the fun bit.... I am going to do a giveaway to celebrate the blog hop.... it is actually Autumn here in Australia but I will play the game and pretend it is Spring for one day!

The giveaway prize is:

- Shepherd's Bush chart leaflet - Scatter Eggs (looks very like Spring!)

- A bunch of threads...

- and anything else I can think of to pop into the parcel!

Shepherd's Bush "Scatter Eggs" pic from Shepherd's Bush website

To enter my giveaway there really isn't too many rules....

1.  Please comment on this post and let me know which one of my favourite pieces is your favourite

2.  Be a follower of my blog - it would be lovely if you could please sign up as follower (if you aren't already) by using the Google Friends Tab on my side - I can't track new followers otherwise!

Giveaway closes on 31st March 2015.  I will announce the winner (drawn randomly by comment number) on Friday 3rd April 2015.

Good luck everyone!

Now if you would like to continue the Blog Hop and meet some lovely stitchers from around the world - drop into Madame Samm's blog and start your journey... link is here to the "Meet and Greet Stitchers from around the world"

Enjoy the Spring blog hop around the world and I will see you all again soon.

Til next time, Happy Stitching!

Hugs xx

A flyby post.....

Yep, this is a real flyby post.... I have been very lazy lately in regard to my blog and haven't posted for a couple of weeks, and I am so far behind in my blog reading as well. I even forgot to sign up for the IHSW last weekend. No excuses, I knew it was happening last weekend, I just didn't get around to signing up.... But I did stitch.... Sorry no peaking though as it is a surprise stitch and you can't see it til the recipient sees it.... Sorry! Oh, and no hints either!!!

Anyway, the reason for my flyby post. After stitching my little Dracula friend for the Halloween Ornie blog, I signed up to follow the Pickle Barrel Designs blog so that I could see what other gorgeous designs Nancy releases... When I went for a visit to her blog the other day guess what I saw... A post with three new releases and a giveaway! For me to enter the giveaway all I have to do is leave a comment and send a new follower over to Nancy's blog to say hi and to leave a comment to say who sent them.

Please do go and visit the Pickle Barrel Designs blog and say hi and let Nancy know who sent you before 31 March 2014 and you never know I could be the lucky winner of a brand new Pickle Barrel Designs chart. There are 3 new releases being given away. I can't decide which one I like yet.... Maybe "Life Lessons"... Thank you in advance for helping me win... And don't forget to enter the giveaway too!!

Well, my flyby post is now at an end as is my train ride into work.... Hopefully this will post before I hit the tunnel and lose my connection!!

Til next time, happy stitching

Stitching Noni xx

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A World of Give-Aways

Pleasure is spread through the earth

In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

~ William Wordsworth, 1806 ~

I have spent the last couple of days catching up on my blog reading.... when did I get so far behind?  I just love reading all these wonderful posts and catching up on the news and drooling over some of the most beautiful stitching.

So anyway, while catching up on my blog reading today, I was also going through and cleaning out some of the old and unloved blogs from my reader feed.  This was prompted by some very strange posts that came through during the week from a couple of unloved blogs!  It was quite surprising just how many blogs in my reader feed no longer have regular postings on them or have actually been deleted completely.  While it is sad to see these blogs disappear into the ether it does now mean that I have more space to add some new blogs for my reading pleasure!

The other good thing that came out of my blog reading today is all these lovely giveaways.  I have entered them all and thought I'd list them here for you all to follow in my footsteps!  Or course you may have already found them if you are more up to date than me with your blog reading, but if not... then good luck!

Giveaway # 1 - Judith from Busy Lizzie is celebrating her birthday with a giveaway.  Giveaway closes 15th February 2014

Giveaway # 2 - Linda from Stitching with my Furbabies is celebrating her third blogaversay with a giveaway.  Giveaway closes on 15th February 2014

Giveaway # 3 - Nancy from Victoria Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a Valentine's Giveaway.  Giveaway closes on Valentine's Day! (14th February 2014).  If you discovered Nancy's giveaway through me, please let Nancy know as I will then get another entry chance! Thank you :o)

Giveaway # 4 - Kim from Wisdom with Needle and Thread is celebrating her first Blogaversary with some lovely giveaways.  Giveaways close on 16th February 2014.  If you enter Kim's giveaways after reading about them here, please let her know as she will then give me another entry! Thank you :o)

Giveaway # 5 - Debbie from Debbie's Cross Stitch is having a giveaway to celebrate the "Grow Your Blog Party" event.  Giveaway closes on 15th February 2014.

Now how about a lovely picture to finish off this quick post....

Oscar & Mitzi
my stitching companions

This is what happens when I walk away from my stitching!  Mitzi jumps in the chair and Oscar makes himself comfortable on the table!  Luckily this time I had already moved my stitching to the cupboard before Oscar made himself comfortable.

If you have eagle eyes you might be able to spy the almost finished secret stitching (as it was then) in the background of the picture.  Tomorrow Hubby and I are off to go material shopping so that I can finish the sampler and send it off to my Mum & Dad for their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Well that's it for this post.  Hopefully I will be back by the end of the weekend to show you my finished Halloween ornament for January and the finished Sampler.

Til next time happy stitching!

Be Happy

Hugs,

Noni xx

Lovely Gifts from Lovely People

Why do two colours, put one next to the other, sing?  
Can one really explain this?  No. 

~ Pablo Picasso ~

Christmas is gone, New Year is on it's way... and I am back again as I promised to show you some pretty gifts that I received in the mail over the last week or so.

The first gift I received was from Anne from Doll's Musings.  Anne had a giveaway back in November to celebrate 3 years of blogging  The prizes that she was giving away were a choice of 3 designs that Anne would stitch, make up and then send to the lucky winners... of which I was one of the very lucky winners. The design that Anne stitched for me was a Blue Ribbon Designs pretty - "Redbird's Rejoice".  It is beautiful and went straight up on the Christmas tree as soon as I had taken a photo of it!

Giveaway prize from Anne

Blue Ribbon Designs "Redbird's Rejoice" stitched by Anne

Anne also included in the package some thread tied up with green ribbon, lovely buttons and charms, a packet of yummy tea, gold ric rac edging, notebook, some gorgeous red fabric and a Christmas ornament kit.

Thank you Anne, and Titus, for choosing me as a winner of your lovely giveaway.  I feel very lucky to have been the recipient of such a gorgeous gift and your lovely ornament is sitting on the tree for everyone to admire!

The second gift I received arrived in our mailbox on Christmas Eve and was from Heather (Heather's Stitching Story) in Ireland.  Heather was my Secret Santa for the MS Lovers Blog Christmas Exchange.

Gift from Heather - Santa ornament (Margaret Sherry design)
MS Lovers Blog Christmas Exchange 2013

Exchange gift from Heather
MS Lovers Blog Christmas Exchange 2013

I was truly spoilt by Heather as she also included in the package some lovely Dragon Floss hand dyed threads from Polstitches, gorgeous Santa ribbon, gold ribbon, bell pull hangers and a pack of pink spotted aida as well as a.... Margaret Sherry kitty cross stitch kit - "Purr-turbed".  This is my first Margaret Sherry kit... I know it seems strange given how much I love her designs, but all the designs I have in my stash are from the UK cross stitch magazines.  Thank you Heather, I absolutely love the exchange gift you sent me and Santa will be on our Christmas tree every year from now on!

Now for a stitching update.... I am currently madly stitching "Puppy Love" so that I get this finished by the end of the year and I am happy to say that I am almost there.  But no photo yet - I will show him off once I have finished the final puppy!

So my friends, until next time happy stitching!

Hugs

TUSAL Update & Pretty Gifts

Don't get your knickers in a knot.

Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny.

~ Kathryn Carpenter ~

My goodness, it's November!  What happened to October, September, August... for that matter what happened to 2013? I feel as if I have blinked and the year has disappeared in the flash of a eyelid!  Does anyone else feel that way?

Onwards with the news...  It's TUSAL time again!

TUSAL November 2013
One very English Bear and some pretty ORT's

This is the second last TUSAL for the year and unfortunately I really don't have a lot of ORT's to show for the month!  A few silvery threads on top of the jar and that is it!  I haven't stitched very much at all over the last month, which is not good!  But I have managed to stitch a little bit here and there....

Mini Chatelaine B - November 2013
Almost there now!

I have now finished all the silver stitches on my Chatelaine and started on the half stitches.  But I need to find the time to do a lot more stitches otherwise it will never be finished!

If you are interested in keeping in touch with what is going on with the 2013 TUSAL pop on over to Daffycat's blog and join in the fun. The next new moon is on 3 December, so let's see if I can get some serious stitching in over the next few weeks and get some more ORT's into the jar between now and then. A bit of last minute flourish for the end of year!

I might not have a lot of stitching to show you but I do have some pretty pressies to show off instead!

My postie has had to deliver 3 lovely packages to me over the last few weeks.

The first one was a giveaway win from Kym (A Stitch in Thyme) who is running a Year Long Giveaway - Kym does a monthly winners draw and I won her August draw.

Gift from Kym - Year Long Giveaway August Winner Prize

The second package to arrive was a lovely birthday gift from Valerie (Fee le point).

Valerie stitched this gorgeous design and turned it into a lovely needle case.  She also sent me these gorgeous linen threads and buttons and charms.  I first saw these linen threads on Valerie's blog and I had commented on how I hadn't seen them before... and now the lovely Valerie has sent some to me.  Can't wait to stitch with them.

Third pressie....
Over on the MS Lovers Blog we have just participated in our third exchange for 2013 - a Halloween Exchange!  I received my exchange package from **Ysa** (Detallitos de Ysabel).  Ysa lives in the Dominican Republic and she sent me a fantastic exchange package.

Halloween Exchange Package from **Ysa**
MS Lovers Blog Exchanges

Halloween Kitty

Ysa sent me the most delightful Halloween kitty and a package of goodies including threads and beads, charms, ribbons, pegs, a lovely orange tea towel that has a great border just right for stitching, a lovely post card as well as a souvenir key ring.  I think that the tea towel will look rather good all stitched up for Halloween next year!

My exchange package went to Judith in Germany and now that it has safely arrived at it's destination I can show you what I sent to Judith.
 

Halloween Exchange - MS Lovers Blog
Sent to Judith

Exchange package for Judith

Along with the pumpkin kitty, I also stitched the Halloween bookmark and made the scissor fob using orange, purple and black beads - perfect Halloween colours!  The fabric in the background is the fabric that I used to make up the pillow - of course I had to add a black border for that little bit extra Halloween oomph!

For those that are wondering where the designs came from that I stitched for the exchange....

The pumpkin kitty is a Margaret Sherry design, of course... after all that is the main point of the exchanges - to stitch Margaret's gorgeous designs!  "Pumpkin Pie" Kitty came the UK Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 232 (November 2010) and the bookmark images also came from a Cross Stitcher magazine - Issue 204 (October 2008) Joanne Sanderson's Halloween Alphabet.  I only stitched the images not the letters, but I stitch Judith's initials at the bottom of the bookmark.  One very spooky bookmark!

Thank you Kym, Valerie and Ysa for the lovely packages you sent... I am really happy and very lucky to receive such great gifts.

Well, I guess that's about it for this update.... Hopefully the next update will be full of lots of lovely stitching for you to look at and ooh and aah over!

Til next time, happy stitching everyone, see you again soon!

New Moons - 2013

3 December

The IHSW that was...

Hello!

Here we are again at the end of another IHSW and what do I have to show for it... Nothing!!

Now, that's not to say that I didn't stitch over the weekend because I did.. I just can't show you! I am madly stitching my piece for the latest MS Lovers Blog exchange and I am almost done. I should be done but my stitching time has been eroded over the last week or so by couch potato syndrome!!!

Actually, that's not entirely true... Most of Friday & Saturday was spent trying to get the item that I will be using to mount my stitching in "finished"... Do you ever have those days when what's in your head just won't come to fruition in real life. Well, that was me over the weekend... Sunday saw me try something else with the finish and I think it might work this time. I still need to finish it off on Friday... And then I can mount the stitching and hopefully it will be in the mail on Monday!!

So stay tuned... This one is off to Canada - I am hoping that it will be a lot quicker in it's travel time than the last one that went to Russia!!

Ok.. So that was my weekend... No stitching pics to share with you this time, but how about I tell you about another giveaway that I have found instead..

Kaye (Kitten Stitching) is having a giveaway. Kaye has put together some lovely items to celebrate 300+ followers, 300 posts and 2 years of blogging.

Kaye's Giveaway closes 2 July 2013

So why not pop on over to Kaye's blog, say hello and become a follower if you're not already one... And then enter the giveaway :) Kaye's giveaway closes on 2 July 2013. While you're over that way, Kaye also has a travelling pattern that is looking for it's new destination! You had better be quick with this one though... Time might be running out!!

Now while I don't have a photo of my latest stitching to show you... How about a photo of Mitzi fresh from the bath!

Isn't she so pretty?

If you want to sign up next month for the IHSW, or if you want to go a visit some other great blogs and see what others have been stitching over the IHSW, pop over to Joyce's blog and say hello.

Good luck with all the giveaways out there! See you next time, til then happy stitching!

Hugs

 

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