Christmas in July Swap

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I am hanging my head in shame..... I keep meaning to show you the most gorgeous exchange gift I received from Shelly... but I have been so tardy at posting lately (as you may have noticed!!) and I am only now getting around to doing it!!

So.... for those that might not know Kaye (Kitten Stitching) organised a Christmas in July swap - I joined because I can't resist Christmas and who doesn't want to celebrate it twice a year! 😄  Kaye sent us a list of who was sending to whom and away we went to stitch and send....

I sent to Astrid (Dragon Stitches & Stuff) - but more on that later!  I received from Shelley (An Arizona Stitcher)... and look what I received (it's gorgeous!)

So first up... it came wrapped in pretty Christmas fabric and tied up with string - love it!

Then when I unwrapped the fabric this is what I uncovered...

and then after unwrapping the next round of wrapping, I found the most gorgeous stitched gift...

and isn't that ornie so cute as well.... Shelly, thank you so much - I love my kitty - he is just the sweetest thing and is going to be taking pride of place at Christmas time!  And those caramels were yummy!!

So now that you have drooled over the gorgeous kitty I received in my swap... I will quickly show you what I sent to Astrid.

The snowman & penguin card was from Cross Stitch Crazy and the Christmas Bells are a Mary Engelbreit kit that I received in a giveaway pack many years ago (2013) from Anne (Doll's Musings)... my post of the giveaway win is here.  Finally managed to stitch it for this exchange, and I hope that Astrid loves it...  I also made a little scissor fob and added some little extras, some of which aren't in this picture... 😊

So that's it guys! Sorry it's been so long between posts... time is not my friend anymore!

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs x

Christmas in July Swap

Today is the 25th July... and around the world a lot of people are celebrating Christmas in July. For those of us living below the Equator we celebrate the real Christmas during the heat of Summer, so when July comes around and it's the middle of winter... why not celebrate Christmas and be freezing while you're doing it! And of course, the next logical step would be to participate in a Christmas in July swap!!  If you want to read more about the swap rules follow this link and read on...  there is also a separate blog for the swap which can be found here.

First up I will reveal the gorgeous gifts that I received from my swap partner - Illene from Ret Dairy Queen.

Christmas Tree

Reindeer Bag

Santa, Reindeer, Christmas Tree and Snowmen table runner

Gifts galore...

Thank you Illene, I love all these gorgeous handmade gifts... and thank you for the Mill Hill designs - Mill Hill kits are fast becoming my latest obsession (I keep seeing other stitchers progress.. and I so want to stitch them) and I am very happy to receive these lovely ornie charts!  I must apologise the light was terrible when I took these photos so these gorgeous pieces are not showing up as well as I would like...

Below are pics of what I sent to Illene... I had a day of finishing a couple weeks ago and transformed all of my recent Christmas stitching into finished pieces for the swap.

Margaret Sherry Xmas Mice

Joyful Santa

Tartan Stocking ornie & stocking scissor fob
Penguin Christmas card

A box full of extras....

I also used the needlepoint card that I stitched recently as a box topper and included bon bons full of Christmas buttons, multi coloured beads, Christmas pegs, handmade Christmas angel for phone or scissors, pearl pins and a Christmas notebook.

I had fun putting this Christmas package together and it was great fun to actually "finish" off some of my stitching for once!  I really should do more of it!!!

So that's it for today.... see you all again later in the week for the Smalls update.

Til next time, happy stitching
hugs xx

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL 2015 - Update #8

Goodness me where is the time going..... here we are again - it's the middle of the month and it's time for my Gifted Gorgeousness post for the month.

This month I have one of my original GG designs that I have slowly been stitching on and I also have 2 gifts to show you.  First up is:

Lizzie Kate - Joyeux Noel 
Giveaway win from Kay's Random World - link to Kay's original giveaway post here and link to my post about the giveaway win is here

Tiny Tidings XV - Lizzie Kate

The last time that you saw 'Joyeux Noel" was in the June update when it looked like this:

After a couple of hours of stitching the other night it now looks like this:

Almost finished.....

Gift Number 1
The first stitching gift that I have to show you is a Margaret Sherry design that I stitched for the "Send a Smile" Exchange on the MS Lovers Blog.

Mouse... designed by Margaret Sherry

This gorgeous little mouse was a freebie gift from Cross Stitch Crazy.  I painted and stamped the frame and then coloured in the stamped image.  The little cutie then went off to the Netherlands.  Angel's post is up on the MS Lovers Blog if you would like to see what else I sent to her.

Gift Number 2
A couple of months ago the lovely Anne, from Doll's Musings, became a Mum!  Her delightful bundle of joy arrived safe and sound and I finally got my act into gear and sent her the little Koala that I started as part of the Crazy January stitching I was doing.

This little Koala was designed by Carrol Nielsen and came from a larger design of delightful Koala's and gum leaves.  I just love Carrol's designs... they are so cute!

Koala - designed by Carrol Nielsen

So that's it for another GG post.... goodness it feels good to be able show a couple of finishes!!

Don't forget to visit Jo's blog for the link ups to everyone's GG post for the month!

Til next time, happy stitching
Hugs xx 

If you're not sure what this particular SAL is all about.... Jo from Serendipitous Stitching hosts this SAL - the link to my post late last year about the SAL is here.... but essentially this 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 the button below or the button on my sidebar and you will be re-directed to Jo's blog.

From South Africa to Australia

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 ~

Sometime ago I signed up to an exchange the Heather from Heather's Stitching Story was running.  Now I must hang my head in shame at this point because I was almost a month late sending to my partner.... and looking at the tracking website she still doesn't appear to have received the package a month after I posted - the package seems to have arrived in the USA and stopped dead.... fingers crossed it isn't held up too much longer with Customs and the postal service and it is delivered to CJ very soon.....

But I digress - again!

My post today is to show you what I received from my partner in the exchange - Theoria from "My Little Corner of Cyberspace".

Theoria hails from South Africa and she sent me these gorgeous hand-stitched gifts, as well as some chocolates (Lindt... my favourite - they lasted long enough to take the photo!!), some needles, scissors, bookmark, buttons and charms (cute), a notebook and some lovely trim which wrapped the whole package up, and the cutest doggie cross stitch kit!

Thank you Theoria, I just love everything you sent.  The photo doesn't show how pretty the stitched items are - they are just lovely!

I will be back again soon to show you what I sent to CJ and also update you on some other stitching that I am currently doing now that my stitching bug is finally coming home to settle again!!

Til next time, happy stitching!
Hugs, Stitching 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

The secret is revealed....

T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

~ Clement Clarke Moore ~

Remember this sneak peak...

The secret stitching that I was working on last month was for the MS Lovers Blog Christmas Exchange, and I can now reveal the finished piece that was sent to Olga (Olli) in The Netherlands.

The Margaret Sherry design that I stitched was a brand new one to me.... the magazine that it came with literally arrived just as I was about to start stitching something else for this exchange - but as soon as I saw the booklet I just had to see which one I could stitch quickly for the exchange.

Mice in Holly Wreath
"Christmas Cuties" - Margaret Sherry
Free Gift - Issue 184 Cross Stitch Crazy

When I was stitching this rather cute design I decided to "bling" it up a little bit so instead of stitching the berries as red cross stitches I used little red beads in their place, but I didn't finish there.... I used gold beads instead of where the silver cross stitches were supposed to be.  The gold was a much better match for the fabric I wanted to use to "finish" the piece than the silver would have been.

So the final finish.... a Christmas hanger!

Christmas Hanger for Olli
MS Lovers Blog Christmas Exchange

I also added a few little Christmas inspired pieces in the package for Olli.... lots of little crafting bits and pieces and a Christmas blackboard and chart.

Package of goodies for Olli

My package in the exchange has arrived today... just in time for Christmas.  I will do another post shortly to show you the lovely package I received from Heather.  I also have some more lovely things to show you that Anne sent me as a winner of her giveaway - so lots of pretty pics coming up in the next couple of days!

TUSAL Update

For those of you that have been following my blog, and other blogs in the blogosphere over the last couple of years you will know all about the monthly ORT reports and you will have noticed that we are all very diligent bloggers and upload our ORT reports when the new moon comes around... (most of the time anyway).  You may now be wondering if there will be any more ORT reports for 2014.... well, I am happy to announce that Daffycat will again be hosting the Totally Useless Stitch A Long (TUSAL) throughout 2014.  If you would like to sign up and join in the fun during the year, then pop on over to Daffycat's blog and leave a comment saying that you're in!  The first 2014 report will be on or around 1st January 2014 - see you then!

Til next time, happy stitching!

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

MS Blog Lovers Exchange updates

I have been promising to show you some pics of the exchange gifts that I have sent for the MS Lovers Blog exchanges for a little while now. The packages all had a long way to go from Australia to Brazil, the Netherlands and Canada. But everything has now arrived so here we are: show time!!!

First up is some pixie parcels to a couple of the girls who had previous exchanges go awry for one reason or another...

Pixie parcel to Gislene

Pixie parcel to Annette

These little pixie gifts were almost the same... I stitched the cards that came as freebies with Issue 176 of Cross Stitch Crazy, then made a couple of hat pin cushions, added a beaded pin that I made to co-ordinate with the hat colour and finally added some thread, scissors and a nail file.

The last of these pixie gifts arrived recently in Brazil after a long tour of the world!

Now for some pics of the latest exchange for the MS Lovers Blog - the Blogaversary Exchange. This was a "free" choice. Being a free choice made it a little bit harder to decide what to stitch as there are so many lovely designs in the Margaret Sherry catalogue. The only way I could choose what to stitch was to start with the final product and work backwards. Of course that was another hard decision - what to make as the final finish? In the end I decided to make my finish as a box. I had a box in my cupboard that I have never got around to doing anything with and now was the time to get it out and start putting it to some use.

As the box had an aperture for adding a photo, I decided that if I put the stitching into the aperture that would decide the design size and would help me to pick a design to stitch. The design that I ended up choosing was the cute little sheep that originally appeared in the UK Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 234 (January 2011). I did have to adjust the size of the design slightly, but it was like it was just made for the box.

Now, we come to the painting on the box. Did I have fun... Not!! I was going to do this fancy crackling with a light green and white paint shabby chic look combination, but that didn't work, so I then decided to use some pink and gold and sponge the paint over the box before a couple of layers of glaze. That worked better and probably was a better result in the end than the original plan!!

After the box was finished I decided to make a couple of cute little scissor fobs. By this stage it was pretty obvious that green was the theme!!!

The rest of the little gifts to go into the package were also green - ribbon, thread, scissors. I also added a small cross stitch kit and an Australian pin souvenir.

Exchange gifts for Anne

This little package went all the way to Anne in Canada, and arrived safe and sound last week. Much shorter trip than some of the other packages that I have recently sent on their way!! If you would like to see what Anne said about her package, drop into the MS Lovers blog and have a look see.

Well, now that you have seen what I sent to Anne, do you want to see what I received from Fara in Malaysia. Of course you do!

Fara sent me the cutest Ballerina bag, and some really lovely gifts. Have a look - isn't it so lovely?

Ballerina bag for Fara

Exchange from Fara

Thank you Fara for the lovely gifts. I will be using all those lovely things very soon I'm sure!

So there you have it, we are now all up to date with the MS Lovers Blog exchanges. This would have to be the most successful one so far - everyone has sent on time and at last count there were only a couple of packages still travelling. Our next exchange is a Halloween one in Sept/Oct. I already know what I am stitching for that one... But will need to work out the finishing style soon so that I can get started!

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

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