Celebrating my Birthday Month

Birthdays in the Blogoverse always last longer than the day itself.  There are people who send their cards and presents in early so you have to be patient; there are people who get reminded by FB and wish you Many Happy Returns on the day; there are people who see you mention your birthday on your blog and wish you Belated Greetings; then there are people who spend weeks making you something thoughtful and beautiful but don't quite manage to finish it in time (that pesky Real Life stuff getting in the way) and then there are the people who promise to send you a chart way back in the year and send a whole bunch of stuff to make up for it being late so it becomes a Birthday present!

Here are a selection of photos representing many of those people:

Card and Strawberry Pincushion from Nicola

The pincushion with the one sent by Lee earlier in the year

DIY present from Shebafudge

That fabric is called Chocolate Orange!

Lots of lovely fabric pieces for ornies, some ric-rac. some threads (including some silk) and a beautiful one from Nancy's shop

Pass the Parcel present from Karen (it was inside two outer bags too!)

The fabric is some 40 count called Rock-a-Bye

Julie went shares with Karen on the lovely stitching bags (which are made by Karen's own fair hands) and she included these two dragon needle-minders.  They will make a nice collection with the one Mouse sent me last Christmas.

And here is the pillow Karen made!!  Wyldstyle from the Lego Movie!

♪ ♫Everything is awesome!♪ ♫

And look, at the bottom it says "you're the Special" which is true.

There are no prizes for guessing who sent the next gift!

Yes, it's from Mouse, the clue is in the card.

I was only saying this morning that I wasn't sure which Just Nan to start next and now I have the perfect chart.  I wonder what it would look like on that Chocolate Orange fabric?

And this is the bundle of delights Kaye sent me!!  I won the Nora Corbett "E" from her and she generously included one or two more charts in the parcel!  I had admired the A Mon Ami Pierre one on her blog, I think it will look great on the same fabric as Noel Blanc.

I think that's everything!!  If I have forgotten anyone then I am mortally ashamed and will go hide.

Of course, the presents did not go one way.  Karen's Birthday is at the end of September and as agreed I made her a little something:

This is a little freebie chart called Automne 2009 designed by Tara.

Unfortunately the link to the blog no longer works,

This gives a better idea of the size and colour of the fabric

And here it is finished as a scissor fob.

And with the card I knew was perfect for Karen as soon as I saw it!

Plus some squirrelly fabric.

This week I have been making little tombstones for my Hallowe'en tree:

Day Three

Finally, I have made some more progress on the Frosted Pumpkin Hallowe'en Town.  Which started off as a mystery but I did not keep up!!

Stitched on 28 count Moondust evenweave from Crafty Kitten.

500 Followers Blog Hop?

As I mentioned in the last post I have reached a rather big milestone; 500 followers.  I had thought of doing a giveaway to celebrate but to be absolutely honest I still have two giveaway prizes to sort out from earlier this year and I don't want to be still working on 2014's giveaways in 2015!

So I had a little think and thought about a Surprise Blog Hop.  Very simple to take part, just leave a comment on this post making sure I can find your email address and your blog address from your profile.
Next weekend I will email you the name of another participant and you must create a blog post dedicated to that person.  Read her/his blog and find out what they like and post any stitched pictures you might have that you think they might appreciate.  Maybe find an online cartoon or a link to something they love.  Anything you want really.
I will list all the blogs here and we can hop around to see who had dedicated a post to whom.

So not a giveaway in the physical sense but you will receive some thoughtfulness, some comments and hopefully a few new followers yourself.

What have I been stitching this week?  I completed The Little Stitcher piece for the TUSAL and was torn between the latest part of the Joan Elliott Faces SAL and the Frosted Pumpkin SAL.  Then I remembered I have to rechart the skin for the JE design and that tipped the balance for the FP Hallowe'en Not-a-Mystery Town anymore SAL.

Here is my progress:

The fabric is 28 count Moondust by Crafty Kitten and I am using the DMC conversion.  I am very happy with the house colour, I blended 501 and 503 to make it a little bit more varied than plain 503.

I must order some more fabric from Crafty Kitten, you get a discount code in your Birthday Month and mine is nearly over!

Finally, I have been coerced into signing up for the DUCJC2015 (Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge) in honour of the recently departed Debbie.  I have made a list of 27 designs I want to stitch on during January with the remaining four spaces put aside for new additions over the next three months or maybe unfinished projects from this year!  Who else finds it fun just going through your list of designs and piles of charts?  So many are gifts from friends so they come with little notes and letters to re-read too.

This Week's Stitching

Slightly unimaginative title there!  But it is what it is.

At the beginning of the week I continued with the Frosted Pumpkin Hallowe'en Town Mystery SAL.  I have been stitching the house.  I decided to tweed the main colour which was charted as DMC 503, so I used one strand of 503 and one strand of 501.  The effect is really nice.  Some people have used a variegated thread for the house but I didn't want a stripy effect for mine.

The fabric is Moondust by Crafty Kitten

The more I stitch the more I wonder why I didn't order the 32 count?  Maybe if I type that sentence enough it will remind me next time I put an order in!

The other project has been the Band Sampler Round Robin.  We are approaching the end of this RR.  The next piece I get will be Kathy's and as I mail to Kathy it means that it is the last round! But this is Linda's.  Linda has a free choice sampler so I used a chart from my Just Nan stash.  The great thing about these RRs is that I can get my JN fix at the same time as joining in the RR fun.

My bands

Bead shot

The whole long thing so far!

My bands came from Nan's Garden.  I stitched almost exactly as charted, the colours fitted perfectly.  I did change the satin stitched fence to ecru because the white didn't show up too well.

It's been rather nice to OAAT for a change.  This week I return to my Challenge pieces; the Spooky Countdown, the Hallowe'en SAL and the Little Stitcher 12 Days all have to be completed over the next week.

I mentioned a couple of posts back that I had received the JCS magazine CD for the years 1991 to 2000.  I am working through the decade and am pleased to say the designs are improving.  Sadly the same cannot be said for the hairstyles or dress sense LOL.  In 1995 there is a lovely monthly series of mini band samplers with a flower and a gemstone for each month, only about 4 x 2 inches each.  I love them!

The December 1995 issue also has a very useful guide to a new aid to stitchers - Cyberspace.  For those of you unaware of this futuristic phrase here is what JCS tell us:

"The Internet is a loosely-organized group of roughly four million people all over the world who communicate through their computers"

Four million?  There are now four million internet users in Singapore ALONE!  A tiny little island just south of Malaysia could have held the entire internet just 20 years ago.  Makes you think...

JCS also have this useful tip which I think should be pinged up on your screen everytime you log on:

"Be careful of others' feelings.  Choose words thoughtfully. Rephrase anything that might be misunderstood.  Since body language and facial clues are absent from the conversation, use emoticons or acronyms to point out humor or sarcasm.  Reread your posts and e-mails before you send them.  With most software, once you've pushed "enter," your words are sent; you cannot cancel or edit them."

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is ongoing throughout August.  We have seen some lovely Garden themed stitching and some beautiful garden photos too.  Why not check out any you may have missed so far?

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

August WIPocalypse Old and New WIPs

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is my "14 in '14" a list of 14 projects I wanted to complete in 2014.  In the last month I have worked on four of the list.  Here is the current stitching status of each one:

4. Emily Peacock - C

This is for my cousin's baby girl.

6. Primitive Hare - Spooky Countdown

7. The Little Stitcher - 12 Days of Christmas

12. A Mon Ami Pierre - Noel Blanc

Measi also gives us a topic to discuss:

August 10
Tell us about your oldest and newest WIPs.

My newest WIP is the Frosted Pumpkin Hallowe'en Town Mystery SAL (phew, that's a long title!).  Once I'd finished and framed the C this morning I continued with this design.  Here is today's progress picture:

My oldest WIP which is still IP is Joan Elliott's Green Goddess.  I started her back in September 2011 and haven't actually stitched her since May 2013 despite her being on my 14 in '14 list.  The intention is to finish her by November as a present for my Mum's Birthday.  Here is the May 2013 photo:

There is a lot of metallic thread to stitch as yet.  I have decided not to stitch the border.  Mum was looking at her and preferred her as a round.  She doesn't actually know I'm giving it to her though.

I do have older UFOs.  The worst one is a beautiful alphabet stitched using variegated thread on the most hideous hard and scratchy aida imaginable.  If it wasn't red variegated then I might be prepared to wash it in an attempt to soften the fabric.  How hard is the fabric?  Hard enough to cause a friction burn on my wrist last time I attempted to stitch on it!

This is a quarter of the design, so I have stitched too much to want to start again on nicer fabric but not enough to see the end in sight.  If I had stitched just the alphabet I could stomach finishing that or if I'd just stitched the border I could make a very long thin something!

Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is continuing, another card was posted this weekend so here is the full list:

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

World Cross Stitch Day

Friday 8th August was designated the first World Cross Stitch Day on Facebook.  Now if you play the time zones right you actually get 48 hours of stitching in, starting at midnight New Zealand time and finishing midnight Pacific Ocean time.

Over those 48 hours I stitched on two different designs plus my usual bath-time stitching on Noel Blanc.  For new followers, that is my son's bath time not mine.  I don't think I'd dare stitch in the bath myself!

The first project is from an old issue of Cross Stitcher magazine (the UK one).  They had a monthly series of letters by Emily Peacock just for subscribers.  This one is nearly finished:

I received a lovely parcel from Crafty Kitten fabrics with all my layaway order.  I'd asked for the JCS CD of 1991-2000, the new Hallowe'en ornie issue, the latest 16 DMC to complete my collection and a piece of fabric for the Frosted Pumpkin Hallowe'en Mystery SAL than Sharon Shebafudge signed me up for.

I decided upon Moondust in 28 count Jazlyn.  I am not sure why I ordered the 28 count instead of 32 Murano?  Who knows?!

Anyway, I'm making good progress on this using the DMC conversion provided.  The tree is finished, now onto the cute little owl.  I might have to backstitch the moon and clouds if they don't show up enough.

The JCS Hallowe'en ornie issue is as good as ever, I might do a little review later this week for those who haven't got it yet.  The CD is hysterical though!  I'm upto 1993 so far.  What was going on in the US in the early 90s?  Did the hairspray affect your brains? LOL.  To be fair I don't think we looked any better in the UK fashionwise but our stitching magazines were years ahead!  And we most definitely did not wear cross stitched sweaters, what was that all about?

The shining exception is Teresa Wentzler.  There are full page adverts for her designs which look stunning even now.  They must have blown people away when they first appeared.  I really love American designers now, you have so many talented people publishing beautiful designs while we seem to be stuck in the "cute and cuddly" rut.  I am going to find it interesting as I progress through the 1990s to see these people emerge.


Finally, the Summer Postcard Blog Hop is continuing with a new photo being sent out each Friday.  Here is the list so far:

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