Gifted Gorgeousness May Link Up Post

  

For newbies, this is my first year long SAL.  Click on the picture above for the full details.

We will be posting and linking up on the 15th of each month, because it is 2015.  Should be easy to remember.

Looking back at April's post I seem to have achieved alot in the last month!  Most of which you have already seen so I will focus on the pieces I haven't shown so much.

First up is Elizabeth Shepherd by Scarlet Letter, she was a gift from Nicola:

Stitched on 30 count linen

I have scheduled Elizabeth for each IHSW hosted by Joysze from Random Ramblings.  IHSW is the third weekend of every month; this weekend!  So I will be picking her up again tomorrow.

My most recent piece is a Kingfisher by Anchor.  This will be an end-of-year gift for the Small Boy's teacher.  Each class is named for a different aquatic bird and the Reception class are Kingfishers.  (The Nursery Unit are ducklings which is so cute!  The oldest Year group have blossomed into Swans).

Stitched on 28 count blue evenweave

The other gifted pieces you have already seen are Trick and Treat, Tudor Rose, Winter Typography, Haunted Pumpkins and Marley was Dead:

  

  

And now over to you - Here is the place for you to link up so we can see what Gifted Gorgeousness you have been stitching so far this year.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field NOT the words "May Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  

And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  

Thank you.  I can amend links if you make a boo-boo though.

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We have another Giveaway this month, thanks to the lovely Stitching Noni.  She is donating this Shepherd's Bush chart:

All you have to do is leave a comment after you have linked up and say something clear like "Yes please include me in the draw"

Finally, since it is May it seems like the perfect time to launch the Summer Blog Hop.  I started this one in 2012 when the theme was a Holiday Postcard, see this post for the list of participants and links to their posts.

2012 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

The next year I decided we'd have a Staycation and asked people for pictures on the theme of Home:

2013 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

2014 saw pictures on the theme of Gardens being posted:

2014 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

This year the theme will be those valuable members of our family - our pets.  All I need is a photo of a stitched picture featuring a bird or animal or other lifeform that you may keep as a pet.  Plus a little message about why you have chosen this particular picture.  It could be an animal you actually own (so Vickie will send me a lovely poodle picture from her large collection) or it might be a animal you would have if only your partner wasn't allergic to fur!  Once I have a few photos I will start emailing them to the participants who will then show them on their blogs.

Win a Signed Magazine, Autographed by a Famous Person!

World of Cross Stitch magazine has been having a Blogger of the Month slot for some time now, just a little link and a few details about the person's blog.  Well, now Cross Stitch Collection has gone one better!  the actually interview their chosen blogger, ask for photos and feature them in their Meet the Online Stars column.  It's a new series so there have only been five people so far:

236		Carol	Stitching Dreams	http://stitchingdreams.blogspot.co.uk/
237		Heather	Stitching Lotus	http://stitchinglotus.ca/
238		Anne	Doll's Musings	http://www.dollsmusings.blogspot.co.uk/
239		Zeb	Keep Calm and Cross Stitch	http://www.ixari.net/
240		Jo	Serendipitious Stitching	http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.co.uk/

Yes, that's right, me!

I was contacted by a very nice journalist called Rachael who sent me some questions and asked for photos of me and my work.  The questions were easy enough, the standard questions which do the rounds of the blogosphere regularly; choosing photos of my work was harder - which pieces should I show?  Heather had already shown her Teresa Wenztler Dragon!  But choosing the photo of me was terrible!  I just do not have any decent recent pictures and the older pre-digital were not high definition enough for the magazine to use.  We went back and forth and the Large Boy took endless photos of me in different lights and places until we got the least bad one which is in the article.

The interview was edited (we get half a page which is very generous but you know how bloggers like to run on!) but here for you exclusively, is the full unexpurgated version:

Meet… Jo from Serendipitous Stitching

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a stitcher from the far east of England, married with two boys in Primary School.  I work as a bookseller and also run a Baby & Toddler Group as well as being part of the School PTA and the local NAS group.  I’d love to belong to a stitching group and would like to set one up in my town if only I had more time!

How/when did you fall in love with cross stitching?

Like many people, I made a Binca mat at school which I gave to my parents.  My Mum was a keen needleworker, cross stitch, tapestry and dress-making too.  However I didn’t really discover my love until I was an adult.  In 1993 I saw a friend stitching a Country Companions design and although the subject matter didn’t appeal I was rather impressed with the idea of making a picture onto a piece of plain fabric.  The local department store had a haberdashery section with some kits and I chose two small Anchor sampler kits to make.  They hooked me on the hobby straight away and I started to find out what else I could stitch.  My next project was on black aida and the one after that was a gorgeous Chinese Dragon which used gold metallic thread.  You can see I dived straight in at the deep end!

What's your biggest stitching disaster or biggest challenge?

Apart from the occasional attack of the frogs (where you make a mistake and have to “rip-it, rip-it, rip-it” out) I have not had any major disasters.  I do enjoy a challenge, I love stitching over 1 on 28 count evenweave or higher counts, I like the more delicate effect this gives.  I like to design my own samplers too.  The one area I do find difficult is “finishing”, ie making the stitching into something.  I have learned a lot of useful techniques from my fellow bloggers who post tutorials online.  Probably the most challenging finish is Drac in a Box by Acorn House Designs.  My friend Sharon from Shebafudge blog challenged me to stitch this one with her so we could learn the techniques together.  The box itself was easier than I thought but the little figure was a challenge!  On the way we made friends with Susan the designer who cheered us on to completion.

Do you have a particular piece you're most proud of/is particularly special?

I was stitching a Lavender and Lace design called Angelica when my Nana passed away so that one will always have a place on my wall.   The most special pieces are ones I no longer have, because I love to stitch Birth and Wedding samplers.  I love to find a suitable design for the family and amend it to personalise it and make it perfect for them.  I also like to change designs to make them unique.  The Joan Elliott Christmas Angel I adapted to fit into a multi-frame is one which has featured in your magazine and also received a comment from Joan herself on Facebook.  It is an amazing feeling when the designers comment on your work and they like what you have done.

What's your advice for stitchers with lots of WIPS?

Stitch what makes you happy.  Some people like a strict rotation, others are happier OAAT (one at a time).  My current rotation is 3 small challenges per month, one sampler I stitch one length of thread each day and one larger project, usually an obligation piece for a wedding, birth or round robin.  This way I always have a choice of projects so I don’t get bored with the same one.  I also have regular finishes to encourage me while still making steady progress on the large sampler.

Why did you start your blog?

So I could join in with the TUSAL!  Regular bloggers will already know that the Totally Useless Stitch A Long is where we save the ends of our thread into a jar each and post a photo each month, just for fun and to connect with other stitchers.  But seriously, I wanted to talk about my projects and share information with other stitchers in a way that you can’t on forums or FB.  I belonged to three forums and noticed people had links in their signatures to their blog.  I started to “follow” a few of these and very soon wanted my own.  I now have my main blog and my Happy Dance blog which is a chronological record of every single piece I have stitched (currently over 400 pieces!).  I also run some group blogs which are a great way to connect with people.

What sort of things do you most like to stitch?

My top two types of stitching would have to be Fantasy designs and samplers.  I love traditional samplers especially learning about the history behind them.  Earlier this year some of the Scarlet Letter bloggers had a vist to the V&A museum in London for a private viewing of their sampler collection.  It was incredibly inspiring. I love the fantasy designs by Nora Corbett, Joan Elliott and Teresa Wenztler too.  Since discovering the online world I also have discovered a whole world of Hallowe’en stitching and run a Hallowe’en group blog too. But if I was forced to choose just one topic to stitch for the rest of my life it would have to be Dragons!

Anything you’d like to add?

One of the most popular features of my blog is the regular Blog Hops.  I host five a year; Valentine’s Secret Stitching Sweetheart, Easter Treasure Hunt, Summer Postcard, Hallowe’en Treasure Hunt and the Advent Calendar.  Each one is slightly different but the end result involves hopping round lots of different blogs all posting on the same theme.  It’s a great way to discover new blogs and learn a bit more about people you already follow.  At the moment we are sending photos of our stitching on a Garden theme for the Summer Postcard Hop. I also like to discover and promote less well-known designers.  As well as the Big Three named above, I am a huge fan of The Little Stitcher, Snowflower Diaries and Primitive Hare, all of whom feature heavily in my current collection of WIPs.

Cross Stitch Collection sent me a complimentary copy of the magazine but of course I already have my subscription copy so I said I would give it to one of my loyal followers.  Autographed of course!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post saying which one of the designs in this issue you would most like to stitch.  (NB NOT the designs illustrating my interview but the ones in the following contents pages)

I did have to laugh when I saw the front cover of the magazine with the large picture of the Barn Owl, because a Barn Owl is officially my worst project ever.  I am so glad I didn't mention it in the article!  have a look at this to see why - Barn Owl

You have until 10th September to leave a comment.  Make sure I can contact you, if you are "no-reply" then email me with your email after you have left your comment.  Obviously you have to be a follower in order to be a loyal follower LOL.

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is now completed!  Sixteen postcards were sent out to fifteen bloggers because I sent mine to Krista as well as the one from Astrid.  We both had visited and stitched Clovelly in Devon.

First postcard from Marcy goes to Gracie at Needles,Pins and Dragonflies

Second postcard from Krista goes to Jocondine at Jocondine

Third postcard from Michelle goes to Sharon at Shebafudge

Fourth postcard from Mouse goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Fifth postcard from Christine goes to Marcy at Stitching Plus

Sixth postcard from Astrid goes to Krista at Just Stitching Along

Seventh postcard from Vickie goes to Michelle at Michelle's StitchCraft Place

Eighth postcard from Jocondine goes to Deborah at A Patchwork of Crafts

Ninth postcard from Gracie goes to Maggee at Stitching Devotee

Tenth postcard from Deborah goes to Heather at It's Geek to Me

Eleventh postcard from Maggee goes to Mouse at Tales of a Stitching Mouse

Twelfth postcard from Sharon goes to Kaye at Kitten Stitching

Thirteeth postcard from Kaye goes to Astrid at Dragon Stitches and Stuff

Fourteenth postcard from Heather goes to Chiara at The Grey Tail

Final postcard from Chiara goes to Christine at The Alchymyst's Study

I hope you have all enjoyed hopping around the blogs this summer.  The links all go to the exact post so please do visit if you have missed any.  I have a theme for next year already and I'm also thinking about the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Hop, sign-ups coming soon.

Sign up for the Summer Postcard Blog Hop

Happy Star Wars Day, May the Fourth be with you!

Diorama by The Large Boy

And since it is May it seems like the perfect time to launch the Summer Blog Hop.  I started this one in 2012 when the theme was a Holiday Postcard, see this post for the list of participants and links to their posts.

2012 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

The next year I decided we'd have a Staycation and asked people for pictures on the theme of Home:

2013 Summer Postcard Blog Hop

After Home the logical progression would seem to be Gardens.  So the theme for this year's Blog Hop will be Gardens.  All you have to do is send me a photo of a stitched picture on the theme Garden and a little message about why your garden is important to you, or what you love about your garden, or why you don't have one but what you would like in your ideal garden.  As usual, the joining-in is the important thing, you're not being judged on the quality of your essay LOL.

Once I have a few photos I will start sending them off to the other participants to post on their blogs.  If you think you'd like to take part please leave a comment here.  You can send your photo in anytime between now and the end of August.

edit - if you want to send a photo of your actual garden too, please do.  But not compulsory, the stitched picture is the essential bit!

I do enjoy stitching for other people but the onlydrawback is that you can't show progress photos until after the person has received their gift.  So really the only thing I have to show this post is my continuing progress on Spooky Countdown:

I followed Giovanna's lead on block 14 and used the lighter 3072 for the ghost rather than the charted 645.  Next week I will be half-way through the blocks and right on target too.

Finally, I thought I'd share the collage I made of the seven Snowflower Diaries' witches we all stitched over on the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog, pop over there to find out who stitched which witch!

Final Summer Fling and Autumn Progress

The Summer Postcard Blog Hop was a great success and I included the full list of participants in the previous post to this one.  A few kind people sent me two pictures to choose from so I thought I'd so a Final Fling and show them here.    Click on each photo for a link to the sender's blog.

First is Christine's Welcome Home Banner:

I love the variegated blues and whites in this piece.

Next up is Debbie's Cottage, she says Hi, Stitcher!  I wish my home was surrounded by beautiful flowers like this, but since I don't have a green thumb, I can stitch French knots instead!

 And thirdly, and finally until next year, we have Joyce's Beacon of Hope by Thomas Kinkade:

Which cottage would you prefer, the country cottage with all the flowers or the lighthouse cottage by the sea?

I have two finishes this week but can't show either as they are both for other people.  But I can show my Autumnal progress:

This is a Just Nan design which I'm stitching using DMC alternatives to the charted GAST.  I'm trying to get all the letters in place first although I have stitched some of the leaves and acorns for placement.

Finally, I'd like to share a lovely blog.  As well as following my fellow bloggers I also follow a few "professional" blogs including the Plum Street Samplers blog.  Paulette had just made a great post with some amazing photos taken during her recent trip to the St. Charles Market.  I love the idea of taking over a hotel with all our favourite designers, with each one having a room to "set" with their beautiful works of art.  How many times have we heard "This looks so much better in real life"?  The market is the perfect time to see the pieces in person.

September TUSAL

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

Here is September's ORTS jar getting very full now, pictured with Joan Elliott's Wizard from the 2013 Diary and a new start.

I finished Andie's gorgeous Mirabilia Round Robin and as I don't have the chart for the next RR yet I decided needed to make a start on some of my ever-increasing stash pile.  I acquired quite a few Just Nan patterns during this year so thought I would stitch one of those.  It was a tie between September Song and the one; Autumn Typography.  This won because I figured I could then justify buying the other three seasons once I finish it!

Here is a picture of my progress so far:

I'm stitching on a 32 count linen from Willow Fabrics called Tobacco.  Now I am cross because I just went to their website to check the colour (I also bought Cognac at the same time) and found they have reduced the prices even more than when I bought the fabric!!  £4.50 for a half metre is the most incredible price for linen in the UK.  It's over £20 full price.  I paid £6 and was well pleased two weeks ago.  Actually I paid £2 plus postage because I had a £10 voucher from Cross Stitch Collection so I really can't complain too much.

I'm using a conversion from the charted GAST to DMC I found Stitches 'n' Things website.  It will be quite different but I can't justify buying all those GAST just to use half a length on one word.  I love the little over 1 crow and have recharted the squirrels to be over 1 too.  I'm going to make them proper Red Squirrels not the grey tree-rats charted.  What colour are squirrels where you live?

I was having a look through the box of stash my friend gave me at the beginning of the Summer and found this great catalogue from 1996:

It's the first catalogue from a company called Hanging by a Thread.  I wonder if they are still going LOL.  Seems like they still are here.

I also found this sweet little ribbon embroidery kit.  Does anyone do ribbon embroidery and would you like it? It includes the vase button and all the ribbons too.

Finally the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is at an end.  The penulitimate card was sent from Joyce to Lili then Lili's card was "sent" to me.  Here is the card Lili sent:

Lili says "This design is a freebie from The Little Stitcher (There's no place like Home).  It is the first piece I have stitched with the theme "home" ;)  I have returned home from my vacation time and is always nice to come back to my "place".

And here is the full list of participants this year:

Summer 2013

My card goes to Debbie at Debbie's Cross Stitch

Debbie's card goes to Christine at The Alchymyst's Study

Christine's card goes to Lynn at Kearnel's Korner

Lynn's card goes to Clare at Aimetu's Stitching

Clare's card goes to Vickie at A Stitcher's Story

Vickie's card goes to Julie at Julie's Stitchyknitty Journal

Julie's card goes to Penny at Larkspur Lane

Penny's card goes to Astrid at Dragon Stitches and Stuff

Astrid's card goes to Cheryl at Today I Found...

Cheryl's card goes to Laura at For the Love of the Needle

Laura's card goes to Evalina at This and That

Evalina's card goes to Joyce at Joyce's Love of Life

Joyce's card goes to Lili at Stitching Basket

Lili's card comes to me here

Thanks to everyone who took part and everyone who left comments on the various blogs throughout the summer.  I hope you discovered some "new-to-you" blogs while you hopped.  

The next Blog Hop is the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat secret word so be ready to dust off your spooky stitches for the sign up later this month.  Which, incidentally, is my Birthday month.  Just saying.  Not hinting for cards or anything.  But email cards would be gratefully received in this time of austerity and high postage costs!!

  

First Postcard in the Summer Blog Hop

Debbie is the lucky recipient of the first postcard in this Summer's Blog Hop.

You can see the card she received on this post on her blog Debbie's Cross Stitch.

In another week's Debbie's postcard will be sent to the next person in the Blog Hop.  Who will that be?  The Hop will run all Summer so there's plenty of time to sign up and take part.  Just click on the There's No Place Like Home photo on the right hand side bar.

Do you ever get the urge for a completely new start that isn't on any of your lists or schedules?  When I finished the Mira RR I should have gone back to something on my 13 in '13 list but instead this little beauty and her sisters were calling to me.

Remember a while back I bought three of this Shepherd's Bush series to complement the four Christmas themed ones I already had?  Then Laura generously sent me five more to complete the series.  Or so I thought, until Heather sent me four more!  I figured since I now have 12 mini samplers I really ought to make a start on them.  But which one?  I looked through the Ingredients list and found that nearly all of them use DMC Perle 822 and 644 but I only have White and Ecru.  Fortunately there was one exception - Bilberry just uses Ecru.  Decision made!

I stitched this piece on 32 count Antique White linen.  They didn't have Ivory so originally I tried Antique Ivory but it was far too dark.  This is perfect.  It only took a few days too.  I have framed it in a nice dark wood frame from a chain store (Wilkinsons for the English) which came with a mount.  I looked up "bilberries" on Google Images and found a nice woodcut of bilberries which I copied onto the corner of the mount using felt tip pens.  Well, we can't all afford Jill Rensel!

Finally, I'm using Feedly now Google Reader has gone, I like the computer version more than the App version.  That is a little basic.  I've got behind again and am speed reading through the older entries to try catch up so sorry if I'm not commenting as much as usual.  But I am reading!

There's No Place Like Home..

Home is where the Heart is, Home Sweet Home etc.

There are so many Home-themed mottoes and they are the theme for this year's Summer Blog Hop.  Hurray!

Last year I asked for holiday postcard stitched pictures to be sent via me to various bloggers.  See the full list and links here.  This year we're having a "staycation" and I would like you to send me a photo of something you've stitched on the Home theme.  It can be a piece you already have in your collection or one you stitch especially for the blog hop.

It could be a traditional sampler, it could be a country cottage you'd love to live in, it might be a Michael Powell house that he is so well-known for.  Or maybe a view of your home town or something from your homeland, especially if they have a style of stitching associated with them.

Here are a couple of my home-themed stitches to give you some ideas:

Once you've chosen your piece just email it to me (my email is in my profile) along with a little message on the home-theme, maybe why you love your home or (if you're Shirlee) why you'd love to live anywhere other than the Devil's Playground.  Over the Summer I will send the pictures and messages to the other participants to display on their blog.  So keep your eyes open for your piece over the next three months.

You've got until the end of August to email me but please start sending them sooner if you have something already stitched.  Once I have a few I will start the Hop!!  Leave a comment if you think you'd like to join in so I can get a rough idea of numbers.

Finally I have decided to use Feedly for my blog following.  Anne recommended it as being very similar to Google Reader so I gave it a try.  The computer version is different to the iPad app version but both are very easy to use.  They work in tandem with Reader (while it exists) so if I read a blog in one it is marked as read in the other.  Useful for the changeover.  I just couldn't cope with the missing G from Bloglovin, not without an apostrophe at least!  I kept reading it as Blog Glove In.

Some Scrapbooking and the End of the Summer...

Postcard Blog Hop, that is.  The weather still seems to think it is Summer apart from the Autumnal nip in the air in the mornings.

The final postcard came to me from Mouse.  She sent me a choice of pictures, one of which went into the main Blog Hop and the other I kept for Lucky Last.  Can you guess why I kept this picture for me?

Here's the full list of who sent  in postcards and where they went:

Jennifer's postcard sent to Tales of a Stitching Mouse

Mouse's card sent to The Southpaw Stitcher

Southpaw's card sent to Julie's Stitchy Knitter Journal

Julie's card sent to Julie and Yes Dear

Julie (and Yes Dear)'s card sent to Cucki's Stitching Cove

Cucki's card sent to Gracie at Needles, Pins and Dragonflies

Gracie's card sent to Lesley at Lesley's Stitching Diary

Lesley's card sent to It's Geek to Me

Heather's card sent to The Alchymyst's Study

Christine's card sent to Tales of a Stitching Mouse

The links all go to the actual postcard post but while you're there take the time to look round the rest of the blog if it's new to you, they are all great blogs and well worth the browsing time.  In fact you're pretty much looking at a Top Ten of My Favourite Blogs!  (Top Nine really because Mouse is there twice, once for stitching, once for the cuppa and cakes she provides).

And now the Scrapbooking part of the post.  I started stitching alot of smalls last year and rather than have loads of frames all over the place I decided to scrapbook them.  The scrapbook is a proper crafty one with clear slip-in pockets for the pages you can buy.  Most people make photo montages using embellishments but I just stick my stitching on the pages instead.  The range of pages is incredible, some perfect for stitching backdrops and all costing pence rather than pounds!

Here are the Warhol Pansies:

The paper came with the little flowers cut out already.  I backed it with four different coloured pieces of card to match the fabric which was coloured before stitching using fabric pens.  I then stuck some floral embellishments in the centres of the larger flowers.

And the first two of the Brooke's Books Birthday Cakes series:

June

August

Eventually I'll have all twelve cakes completed.  I do love a series of designs!

Finally, here's a blog that deserves a wider circulation - SAL Directory.  We all love a good Part-Work SAL don't we?  And we all kick ourselves when we miss a sign-up date or have to play catch-up because we're five parts behind everyone else.  Well here's a solution.  Blu has started this blog to list all the Part Work SALs out there on t'internet.  If you know of one starting soon then drop her an email and she'll add it to the blog.

The Mystery Stitch revealed

Well done to everyone who guessed the name of the Mystery Stitch and especially well done to Chiara, Needlework Geek of the Week, who guessed it from only the two letters "ed".

Here is my progress so far, anyone who cannot guess which design it is now needs to go back to Needlework Class 1 for Beginners LOL.  It is, of course, Home of a Needleworker by LHN.  Nic the Obsessive Cross Stitcher passed the chart to me last year along with the threads.  She had a giveaway on my Birthday and I think I scared everyone else away by saying I HAD to win because it was my Birthday!!

It looks a little "saggy" because it's stitched on linen and scanned on the printer!  It is straight in real life.

Amazingly, someone else is having a Giveaway on my Birthday this year too.  It's Sarah the Crafty Moo, check it out there.  But you can't win because it's MY Birthday!

I've made some good progress on Papillon Around the World this week, I emailed pictures of Parts 1 and 2 to Yvonne for her Gallery and have now completed Part 3 plus a good bit of Part 4.  I need to stop soon to stitch on the two Round Robins in my possession then I'll either continue with ATW or be starting Thine is the Trick or Treat.  Evalina has suggested we SAL as she's started already.  It will be fun to SAL with someone else, it's a great way to keep up with a project.

Finally I've just sent another postcard out for the Summer Postcard Blog Hop. Gracie's card went to Lesley.  Check out her blog soon to see the picture and message.  There's still time to get a photo in if you want to join in, click on the sunset picture to the right for more details.

For newer followers - I like to organise Blog Hop events where we post photos of our stitching to a theme.  So far we've had:

Advent Calendar (each person was assigned a day and they posted a Christmas picture on their day)
Secret Stitching Sweetheart (each person sent me a photo and I randomly sent them to the others)
Easter Treasure Hunt (each person posted a picture plus a letter which spelled out a secret message)
Summer Postcard Blog Hop (each person sends me a picture and a message which is sent to another blogger)

The next event will be the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat, (similar to the Easter event) so watch out for sign up details in October.

Happy Birthday to Kathy!

Nearly all my stitching so far this month has been for other people!  What with Round Robins, Birthday Cards and Giveaway prizes the only thing I'll be keeping is the Papillon ATW80.

I do enjoy stitching for other people, especially other stitchers because they are so appreciative of the love, thought and effort that goes into each piece.  The down-side is that you can't do "Show and Tell" immediately!

Anyway, it's Kathy A's Birthday today (she's 21 and then some).  I stitched this initial K for her last month and posted it off.  She emailed me to say it had arrived and Thank You so I can now show you all.  Then you can pop over to Kathy's blog and say Happy Birthday too.  You might know Kathy as Drew's Grand if you're a regular on the forums too.

   

This was another piece of Serendipity!  Recently I found a cross stitch book which had been put away in a different box to all the others when we moved.  It had the chart for a lovely medieval alphabet with little flowers in the style of an illuminated manuscript.  However the K didn't look like a K on it's own!  It was fine when you could see the whole alphabet but looked more like an H seen in isolation.  So I got my Celtic Cross Stitch book out and found the perfect K.  Which was too slim, I needed a square K.  So I got my graph paper and made it into a square K and voila!  A card for Kathy.

It's stitched on 32count white evenweave using DMC threads and mounted on a really shiny metallic card.  I had to take the photo at an angle as it reflected me in it!

I've got one more Birthday Card to stitch and a giveaway prize to start....

The Summer Postcard Blog Hop is continuing on round the World.  Cucki's card went to Gracie last week.  Here's Gracie's Blog - Needles, Pins and Dragonflies so you can pop over and see the picture and message.  I have a couple more cards waiting in the wings but would love more to send out.  If you'd like to join in then click on the sunset link to the right of this post.  It's a fun and free activity!

Talking of Gracie, remember Madame Muriel the Travelling Granny?  She left me for the sunny climes of Arizona and now she's arrived in Italy to stay with Chiara and the Grey Tail.  Here's her arrival announcement.  I bet she's having an amazing time there.  I am quite envious!

Finally, for my UK followers - Dawn from Crafty Kitten is putting in an order for Just Cross Stitch's Hallowe'en Special magazine.  Email her via the website if you'd like a copy for just £7 plus usual P&P.  Of course I never feel it's worth paying P&P for just one item so some of her gorgeous fabric will probably fall into the basket at the same time.  It'll protect the magazine in the postal system too...

A Heartfelt Start

I've been waiting to start this one until I had the frame.  Minnie from All XXs sent me the chart and I knew it would be perfect for my friends' Wedding in June.  But I needed the right frame.  I finally found one last week, it's three small frames joined together so I was able to work out what size fabric I needed to fit the apertures.  40 count over 2.  Perfect as I had some white Newcastle in my stash already.

I'm stitching three of the hearts, two as charted and one with an empty centre to put the bride and groom's details in.  Here is my progress so far:

The bottom one isn't offset, it's on a separate piece of fabric!  I'm using the threads Minnie sent but only the purple/pink ones as they match the Wedding Invitation.  There are also some greens but I might use them if I stitch the design for myself.

Finally, the next postcard in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop has been sent on it's merry way across the pond.  This time to Cucki at her Stitching Cove.  Watch out for it appearing on her blog soon.

Happy Baby Dance and a small start

I finished and framed the ABC Sampler for my friend's baby this week and here it is:

The design was in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 249.  The original design was by an illustrator Elissa Hudson and was charted by an anonymous person for the magazine (I couldn't see a credit anyway!).  I stitched it on 32count white evenweave using the recommended DMC.  I moved several of the letters and motifs around so I could fit in the baby's name and that of his big sister.  This was a lovely quirky stitch, being able to do one or two letters a session made progress seem rather fast.  There was a thick plain turquoise border all around but it would have taken at least a week to stitch if not more and frankly - life's too short to stitch straight lines in one colour!

I have given the sampler to baby's Mum and she loved it, as did Big Sis.  Baby not so sure LOL.  But he is only 17 weeks old. 

This is the new start:

When Madame Muriel arrived she came bearing gifts, one of which was this delightful Blackbird Designs chart.  I'm stitching it on 28count evenweave which I've tea-dyed.  I'm using the DMC conversion they gave but may change the colours of some of the scattered flowers so they show up more on this fabric.

I also stitched another one of my back-stitch only flower cards.  This is July's Delphinium or Larkspur:

Question - which name would you use?  Delphinium or Larkspur?  Either name is right but which is more widely used?  Delphiniums always remind me of the AA Milne poem about the Dormouse and the Doctor.

Finally, another postcard was sent out in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop.  Julie's card went to Julie!!  Julie Bagpuss to Julie and Yes Dear that is.

Here's a full list of links so far:

First Postcard sent to Grasp the Stars
Jennifer's postcard sent to Tales of a Stitching Mouse
Mouse's card sent to The Southpaw Stitcher
Southpaw's card sent to Julie's Stitchy Knitter Journal
Julie's card sent to Julie and Yes Dear
Julie (and Yes Dear)'s card to go where......?

There are plenty more postcards to go out and still lots of time to join in.  Just click on the link to the right and read the rules first!

End of Term Finish

At the end of the School Year it is traditional to give the teacher a little gift, certainly at Primary School anyway.  I often stitch a little sampler of their favourite thing and the details.  This year the Large Boy's teacher is one he had for some lessons in Year 2 so she has already had a cross stitched gift.  As she is expecting a baby in 10 weeks I've decided to wait and stitch baby something.

The cover gift with Cross Stitcher magazine was a lovely Emily Peacock design and I thought it would be perfect for the class' Teaching Assistant.  I don't usually make a gift for the TA as they tend to help the lower ability children so the Large Boy is doing well to know their name by the end of the year!  But this year I've got on well with her thanks to the Small Boy who likes to run round the classroom at the end of the day.  She's also a book fan and her daughter wants to work where I do so I'm keeping my eyes open for vacancies.

Here's the bookmark:

It's stitched on 16 count aida, in usual Cross Stitcher incompetence they included 14count which meant the stitching would be too long for the bookmark provided!  Luckily I looked on Facebook and saw the comments about it so I was able to use some 16 from my stash instead.  There are lots of peeved stitchers who didn't realise!  The magazine are currently running a satisfaction survey, I'd LOVE to be one of the analysts reading the replies!

The books behind the bookmark are some of my "Reading List" from work.  The red ones with crescent moons are from World Book Night and the others are proof copies I get sent to read, review and recommend to customers.  They are mostly Young Adult or age 9-12 which is great for me and the Large Boy.  I'm currently reading Witchstruck which describes itself as "Twilight meets The Other Boleyn Girl", a fairly accurate description!  I'm enjoying it.

And here is something else I'm enjoying - Noah's Ark by JBW:

This is a superfast stitch!  I love all the cute animals.  I charted the baby's name and DOB this evening so it'll be finished by the weekend.  Another of my "12 in '12" finished, YAY!

Finally the latest postcard in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop was sent to Julie of Julie's Stitchyknitter Journal. Keep an eye open for when she posts it.

If you want to join in and send/receive a postcard then just click on the Wish You Were Here link on my righthand sidebar.  You have until the end of August. 

Theme-a-licious Looking Backward & Forward VI

June was Jumanji June, birds and animals.  As I didn't have any pieces with either of those I stretched the definitions to the limit and stitched on two Round Robins and a guinea pig piece where I tested a chart out for a friend's new website.

Here is the second Round Robin I stitched during June.  This one is for the Band Sampler RR and this is Angi's piece:

The threads are all provided by Angi, it's like having a miniature needlework store in your home!  They were all different brands, not a DMC amongst them, it was great fun choosing.
The broader cross stitched bands are from the Antique Lace Band Sampler by Northern Expressions Needlework.  I won the complete back catalogue of Nicole's designs recently and was desperate to stitch one!  I changed the colours to suit Angi's palette.
The narrower speciality stitch bands are from Just Nan Summer Sampler which I just framed having stitched it about 10 years ago.
I put UK for my location as we don't have two digit county abbreviations like the States.

And here is the whole piece so far:

Here's the Just Nan Summer's Day the bands came from:

And some close-ups of the more delicate bands:

Those bead clusters weren't finished so I unpicked the first one and re-stitched it positioning the beads more neatly.

July's theme is 

Jolly July - It's a jolly holiday with your WIPs...you can concentrate on Christmas designs, ornaments, or even pick a different holiday to render in stitchy goodness.

Heather does point out it could be Hallowe'en as well as Christmas (or 4th July for Americans, which is something special about your country breaking away from the parent land like a lot of ungrateful children LOL).

In a perfectly timed fashion, through my letterbox today appeared the Christmas Ornament Preview issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine!  I love both the Second Day of Christmas designs by Praiseworthy Stitches and Plum Street Samplers.  I presume they both did Partridges last year?  I checked the actual ornament special issues (2010 and 2011) and they are not in there.  There is a random Monsterbubble 4th Day of Christmas in one of them so I'm thinking maybe I should do a mash-up of the Twelve Days with a different designer for each day.

Several people have commented on the number of finishes I have so far this year - 37!  It looks impressive but only one is actually a large project, the Dark Alphabet which took over a year to stitch.  I'm band on target to complete 75 projects the same as last year.  Stats-wise we look like this:

BAP - 1

Round Robins - 7 pieces

Small Freebies - 15 (including 5 for the Needlecraft Haven monthly challenge and 1 designed by me)

Cards - 11 (including 6 of the WOCS Flower of the month and 1 designed by me)

Small charts - 3 (2 of which were giveaway prizes I won and the other was my oldest UFO)

So my total stitching spend on charts appears to be zero this year!  My budget thanks the generosity of my fellow bloggers and the amazing range of freebies available on t'internet!

Finally the second postcard in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is winging it's way to Mouse.  Head over to Tales of a Stitching Mouse to see what Jennifer has sent to Mouse.

There is still plenty of time to join in if you'd like to submit a stitched postcard click the picture below for more details.