Weekend Wrap Up...

Last weekend was busy, busy, busy but surprise, surprise I did manage to get some stitching done and I even managed to complete one of my December goals!

So first up we had FNSI and Friday Night Frolics......

Friday night's stitching was all about the creepy tree and friends that I have been trying to get finished for the November and December Hallowe'en SAL Blog themes.

"Dancing in the Moonlight" - Praiseworthy Stitches

The pic above shows you where I was at with this before Friday night's stitching and the pic below is the creepy tree finished.... along with the raven, cat and resident ghosts!

"Dancing in the Moonlight" - Praiseworthy Stitches

I didn't really need to do too much on Friday night - just finish the branch off near the left hand ghost...  I still need to add beads and a bit of backstitch but that will be done at the end when everything else is stitched.

Did you notice my lovely new needle minder?  Just perfect for Halloween stitching - a spider in his silvery blingy web!

The tree on this piece was the big hurdle to get done and now the rest will be easy to pick off one piece at a time!  But for now "Dancing in the Moonlight" will go away until I am ready to do some more Halloween stitching :o)

So that was Friday night's stitching..... I didn't get much of a chance to do a lot of stitching on Saturday as it was a busy day with a visit to the hairdresser, washing and other "exciting" things and then we went out for dinner.... but Sunday afternoon I managed to get some Christmas stitching out of the basket again.

The last time I stitched on Nora Corbett's Christmas Eve Couriers was quite awhile ago so I thought I would bring "Prancer" out to play.

"Prancer" - July 2015

While not a lot happened on this one yesterday the ribbon has progressed and it now looks a bit more like a ribbon!  (the fabric colour looks so much prettier and more true to life in the photo below for some reason!)

"Prancer" December 2015

You may have also noticed another new needle minder in the picture above....

Remind me to post a picture of all my new minders... they are so boo-tiful..... ♥♥♥

That's it for today.... the countdown to Christmas is on and I only have one more day of work to get through before having 2 and bit weeks off work!  Hopefully during that break I will actually be able to catch up on my blog reading...

Til next time, happy stitching

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL 2015 - Update #12

Well, here we are.... the last Gifted Gorgeousness SAL Post for 2015!  Where did this year go?

I started off the year with 6 charts that I chose to stitch for the monthly event and, as of today I have managed to finish 3 of the 6!

GG Finishes - 2015

50% hit rate!! Of the 3 remaining charts, 2 are almost finished and 1 is lagging sadly behind all the others!

Unfortunately I don't have a GG stitching update to show you this month so instead I would like to show you a gift that I received the other day.

A few months ago I took part in an exchange through the MS Lovers Blog and I sent off my exchange piece to Angele in the Netherlands.  What I stitched and sent to her I showed off in a previous GG post.... link is here.  Angele recently sent me a package from the Netherlands to say thank you for what I sent her but also to put a smile on my face because the package that my partner sent from Russia still hasn't arrived... some 4 months after posting it would seem to be still sailing across the oceans!

Smile Exchange Gift from Angele

This gorgeous gift certainly did put a smile on my face!! Thank you Angele ♥

Well, that's it for today's post.... I will be back again on 15th January 2016 with hopefully another GG finish!!

Meanwhile, don't forget to visit Jo's blog for the link ups to see what everyone else worked on this 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.

TUSAL December 2015

Here we are again - new moon, new month... end of the TUSAL year!  I can't believe how quickly 2015 has flown by!

My ORT's picture this month is all about the season.... Christmas/Holiday season that is, and as you can see the ORT's have been consorting with the Elves and Angels this month....

You probably can't see the ORT's very well but there is a lot of brown sitting in the little tin... I am still stitching on my creepy tree!  Hopefully the tree will be finished this week and I can finally get a more festive WIP out to stitch on in the days leading up to Christmas.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Hugs xx

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Essentially TUSAL posts are all about stitching and saving our ORT's (Old Raggety Threads) and every New Moon those of us participating in the TUSAL post a picture of our ORT's, and then leave little msgs for Daffycat on her blog to show that we have been stitching and have posted our wonderful pics.  I haven't heard yet whether Daffycat is going to host the 2016 TUSAL, but in the meantime pop over to Daffycat's blog to see the links for everyone's last 2015 Totally Useless SAL (TUSAL) update.  

New Moons - 2016
List coming soon.....

2015 Online Advent Calendar Blog Hop

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Today is 8th December which means it's Day 8 of the Online Advent Calendar Blog Hop hosted by Serendipitous Jo.  Today is my day to post on the Advent Calendar....

I love Christmas designs and I have stitched a few, and have more than a few in my WIP basket!  For this blog post I am going to show you one that I stitched a few years ago and sent to a friend in the US for Christmas.

Kitty Ornament stitched for Crazy for Kitties Exchange (Craftbubble Group) in 2011.  Design is from a Dimensions plastic canvas kit called "Merry Kittens Ornaments".

Besides showing a photo of some Christmas stitching, Jo has also asked us to share our Christmas Eve traditions.  These days Hubby and I generally have a quiet Christmas at home wrapping pressies if we have some left to do with a glass of wine in hand...

When I was growing up we used to put out a beer and some biscuits for Father Christmas and some carrots for the reindeers on Christmas Eve.  In the morning we would get up and find the biscuits and beer finished and pieces of carrots all over the lounge room!

I remember one Christmas Eve a few years ago when the family were all staying at ours for Christmas... after the kids (my niece and nephews) went to bed all the adults went outside and prepared the way for the sleigh.... or rather we made what was supposed to look like sleigh tracks on the grass and left bits of carrots and some raisins on the ground by the sleigh tracks.  If you can't work out what the raisins were for I ain't going to tell you!!  When the kids got up the next morning it was hilarious when they went outside and saw all the mess that Father Christmas and reindeers had left behind!!

So that's it for my Day 8 Advent post.  Make sure you go back to Jo's Advent Post to get the link to the Day 9 Advent door!

Til next time, happy stitching and Merry Christmas!

The Alphabet Club - Detention for Letter "E

"They only met online, but it changed their lives forever"

Yesterday was the first Saturday in December.... 

which means it is time to post for

"The Alphabet Club" (TAC)

Sorry but it would appear that I am late for detention this month... and I have failed in my homework over the last month as I haven't managed to start stitching on Kitty "D" or even "E".  For those of you that haven't seen the kitties so far I have managed to finish the first three in the entirety now...

When doing my research for the "E" post I discovered we actually don't have a lot of slang starting with "E", but I do have two for you.  Both are probably not just Aussie words... but we do use them alot...

Earbashing: nagging, non-stop chatter
Esky: large insulated food/drink container for picnics, barbecues etc.

So seeing as I can't give you lots of "E" words how about some strange Aussie animals starting with "E"?

Echidna - sometimes known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. Their diet consists of ants and termites, but they are not closely related to the true anteaters of the Americas. Echidnas live in Australia and New Guinea.

Echidnas evidently evolved between 20 and 50 million years ago, descending from a platypus-like monotreme.  This ancestor was aquatic, but echidnas adapted to being terrestrial so they could live life on land.

The echidnas are named after Echidna, a creature from Greek mythology who was half-woman, half-snake, as the animal was perceived to have qualities of both mammals and reptiles.

Emu - the second-largest living bird in the world by height after its relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird.

Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless birds with long necks and legs, and can reach up to 1.9 metres (6.2 ft) in height. Emus can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 50 km/h (30 mph); they forage for a variety of plants and insects, but have been known to go for weeks without eating. They drink infrequently, but take in copious amounts of water when the opportunity arises.

While I have never seen an Echidna in the wild I have seen plenty of emus!  In the Pilbara town that I grew up in we had a very friendly emu named "Hookey" who used to come to visit us in the early 70's. One of our favourites things to do was put a biscuit on our heads and Hookey would then take the biscuit off our head ever so gently!  Unfortunately as the town grew and more people arrived dear old Hookey was taken away as the new people that came from town were frightened of him.

So that's it for the "E' post.... short and sweet!  Next month hopefully I will have an update on my ABC Chats for you to see.

If you would like to join in the fun of "The Alphabet Club", pop over to Chiara's blog (The Grey Tail) to see what all the fun is about and link up your post for the Letter "E".



Cheerio for now!
Hugs xx