February TUSAL

It's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog.

Here is my TUSAL jar with two projects:

The current rotation is as follows:

1. Christmas Ornament

2. Hallowe'en project

3. Gardens of London

4. Discworld Mappe

5. Something from my 19 in '19

So you can see we are on item 2 - my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily from Sparklies

I completed all the letters last year and now I am adding various motifs to fill the gaps in.  Last month I added the gate and this month some cats are appearing.  The plan is to use Just Nan designs as much as possible so everything goes well together.  The gate came from Jardin Prive though.

The design on the right is my third finish for this year and my second Christmas design.  This is Poinsettia by Ink Circles from the 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Special.

stitched over 1 on 28 count green evenweave

Behind it is the backing paper I am going to be scrapbooking this piece on to.  You'll see that on the 10th for Rachel's Fully Finished Gallery SAL.

Finally, you still have time to sign up for the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop due to take place on Valentine's Day.  See previous posts for more details.  And if you have already signed up, don't forget to email the photo of your secret piece to me!  Obviously I can't take part in the Hop myself but I do enjoy seeing all the hearts and love in my Inbox in the run-up to the Hop.  So thank you for that.

Days of Jo's Life - Big Birthday Blog Hop

It's here!!  I have timed this post to appear at the same time I was born, so please think of my poor Mum when you see it.  I do have a Happy Dance to share with you all later, I'm sure you can guess what it is.

aged 9 weeks with my Nana and Grandad

The blog hop starts with me.  It is August in the year 1966, England have won the World Cup and a young couple are expecting their first child.  The husband is in the army and away from his wife who is staying with her parents.  Each weekend he comes home expecting to see his newborn baby.  Each weekend he goes back to the barracks, childless.  Finally, we reach September the 16th and the baby is on its way!  Hurry home Dad!  Dad hitch-hikes over 200 miles home, bursts through the door "Where is the baby?"   "Oh, baby will be a while yet, we believe there is a good book in there too".  Eventually I appear at 2,15am on the morning of Saturday 17th September.  "Saturday's Child works hard for a living" - they got that right LOL.

aged 9 months - look at me with my duckies all in a row

To read more of my thrilling life story follow each link in turn.  Remember some links will appear later than others as people live in different time zones.  There are a couple of blank years where nothing much happened!  If you did anything exciting in one of those years, please feel free to blog about it and join in belatedly.  Leave a comment and a link.

1967 - Vickie

1968 - Ariadne

1969 - Lesley

1970 - Beth

1971 - Gillie

1972 - Carolyn

1973 - Cheryl

1974 - Christine

1975 - Deborah

1976 - Katie

1977 - Astrid

1978 - Cathy

1979 - Melinda

1980 - Geeky Heather

1981 - Gracie

1982 - Heather

1983 - Jocondine

1984 - Justine

1985 - Kerry

1986 - no link

1987 - Leonore

1988 - Elfie

1989 - no link

1990

1991 - Tiffany

1992 - Kaye

1993 - Mini

1994 - Mouse

1995 - Stephanie

1996 - Diya

1997 - no link

1998 - Preeti

1999 - no link

2000 - Barb

2001 - no link

2002 - Riona

2003 - Sarah

2004 - no link

2005 - Sharon

2006 - Pat

2007 - Kim

2008 - Noni

2009 - Susan

2010 - Rachel

2011 - Barbara

2012 - Jackie

2013 - no post

2014

2015

2016 - Bea

Welcome Back to the Present!  Here in the present we have the promised Happy Dance for Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles.  Earlier this year Rachel sent me some gorgeous dark fabric she just couldn't get on with and thought I would like.  I decided it would be good for the Ink Circles series of Mandalas.  I have three of them from Just Cross Stitch and only need to buy the fourth.  Because the Ghosts were charted for coloured thread on white fabric I had to switch them and used B5200 for the outline.  There is a stitcher on FB who has done the reverse, she has stitched the actual ghosts in white rather than the charted outlines.  They do look good that way if anyone is considering it.

stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland by Crafty Kitten using B5200

Finally, I will keep this brief because there's a lot of reading in those links!  I hope you all enjoy the Blog Hop, BYOC (Bring your own cake) and loved the stitching shown.  I have several stitchy parcels already which have been arriving throughout the week so I'll be back later with some more Gifted Gorgeousness photos to show you all.

Gifted Gorgeousness September Link-Up Post

Welcome to the Gifted Gorgeousness link-up post!  The link-up date will continue to be the 15th of each month but I will keep the linky open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time to join in.

The format remains EXACTLY the same as last year so I'm sure you are all aware of what can be included - gifts to and from you; charts, fabric or threads; shoe-horns welcome!

Since my last GG post I have worked on a few gifted pieces:

Beaded Trumpet by Mill Hill - a gift from Kim:

Gathering Honey by Jannlynn - a gift to and from my friend Sam:

Counting Bats by Just Nan - a gift from Epic Mel and a Happy Dance this month:

stitched on 32 count lavender linen

Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles - fabric was a gift from Rachel:

this is literally how to close to finishing I am!

Sugar Skulls by Brooke's Books - a gift for my niece and her fiance:

Yes, my B5200 arrived!

Black Kreinik is still AWOL

Last month I hosted a GGG for one person to win some Tibetan Silver charms, chosen from these packets:

The winner is

Jocondine!

Congratulations to Jocondine, I shall be mailing a selection of the charms to you, some time before the end of the month!

You may remember back in the Summer I hosted my first Tenuous Shoe Horn Blog Party on the theme Summer?  Well, I used the Random Number Generator to chose one of the participants to win a little Summer-themed something.

The winner is

Jeremiah's Mom!

Congratulations to Katie, I shall be mailing something to you too, some time before the end of the month!

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 "September Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.

And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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

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Finally, we are nearly here!  There will be another blog post tomorrow for the WIPocalypse and then it's the BIG DAY and time for the BIG BIRTHDAY BLOG HOP!   BYOC - Bring your own cake.

Solo September - Sort Of

Justine has hosted a series of OAAT months this year and we are currently in Solo September.  Because of my rotation I can't truly OAAT but I can do Focus on a Finish instead.  This month's focus is the Sugar Skulls by Brooke's Books.  I am stitching these on the recommended perforated paper as a wedding gift for my niece.

I've started on the Senorita Skull and have hit a snag.  I'm using 3 strands of B5200 which I'm also using for Ghostly Mandala and the Christmas Cubes.  And I have about three lengths left.  I ordered some during the week from a mega-cheap eBay shop and it duly arrived.  Except they sent 6 skeins of Blanc instead of 1 Blanc and 5 of B5200.  I rarely use Blanc and need the B5200!   The nice lady apologised and will send the replacements tomorrow.  So by Tuesday I can crack on with my white.

In the meantime I've started the flowers for her hair.  I would have stitched the black Kreinik too but it's playing Hide and Seek with my black PTB somewhere!  My list said I had some but it wasn't in the Kreinik box.  It wasn't in the bag with the DMC metallics and I couldn't remember when I had last used it.  Blog to the rescue!  A quick search for Black Kreinik and I discovered I had bought it for Trixie the Hallowe'en Witch.  Which means it may be with the charts and once I have time I can search for them.

I think this pink Kreinik may be glow-in-the dark?  055F

In the evenings I have been focusing hard on Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles and now have only this corner to complete:

stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland by Crafty Kitten

This is the next Christmas Cube by Primitive Hare, excuse the blur, I didn't have the macro on.  I'll take a proper one when it's finished:

stitched on 35 count Country Mocha from Willow Fabrics

I did a little FFo'ing this afternoon and made another cube.  Four done, five to go and we've got seven weekends until Hallowe'en.

I'm using the same fabric in three different colourways for the backs and sides of the cubes.  Each one is 4 x 4 x 2 inches.

Matt LeB5200 as Dr. Drake Ramoray

Days of Jo's Life Blog Hop

AKA The Big Birthday Blog Hop

Finally, I spent this morning typing out my life story in segments and emailing it to the participants of my Big Birthday Blog Hop.  So if you signed up to take part and haven't had an email, please contact me ASAP so I can double check.  For the rest of you, the Blog Hop will take place on my Birthday which is next Saturday 17th September.  I will have a list of blogs and which year they have been allocated.  You just hop around and enjoy my life story!  Provide your own cake and balloons.

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 my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching projects:

Bit of glare on the jar there!

On the left we have Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles, I have now reached the bottom left hand corner and have approximately 5.5 ghosts left to stitch.  But four of them are big ones!

stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland by Crafty Kitten

On the right we have a Happy Dance!  Counting Bats by Just Nan has been my Hallowe'en stitch this year with each band fitting the monthly themes for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog.

I finished the final bottom border today:

stitched on 32 count lavender linen

I didn't have the skeleton charm provided with the original kit so I had to source one for myself.  The original one I tried was too small so I found this one from an eBay shop called Pink Cat Charms.

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Finally, it's September so it's my Big Birthday Month, yay!  Nearly time for the Big Birthday Blog Hop.  Some people requested they be advised of their year for the hop early due to holidays, so I have now done that.  For the rest of the participants, you will be getting an email from me in the next two weeks giving you all the information you need to know.  I still have a few spaces left, so if anyone is late to the party, leave me a comment and I can fit you in!

Summer Pie and a Round-Up of the Month

It's been a busy month, with the Stitching Olympics, the Daily Art Challenge and time off work and then being back at work etc.

Here are some of the things I've worked on this week since my last post.

I completed nearly all the backstitch in the top right corner of Gathering Honey by Jannlynn Designs:

I just spotted one lonely yellow flower at the bottom!  There's also some yellow accents to add.

I completed the 1862 Snowflake by Forget-Me-Not in Stitches from JCS 2010:

I used silver thread instead of beads and removed the petite white beads I had started to add last tine.  You can see the shape of the snowflake much better without them.

stitched on 28 count Millenium Blue evenweave

Nice progress on Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles, I have nearly reached the bottom left corner now:

stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland by Crafty Kitten

I added another letter to The Enchanted Alphabet, this is based on the design by Lavender & Lace but I am stitching the letters in black and adding little spooky touches from various Just Nan designs:

Stitched on 32 count Tiger Lily Murano from Sparklies

My aim has been to finish a cube per week and I've done three so far:

Hallowe'en Cubes by The Primitive Hare

I am using the same fabric but in three different colourways.  Hopefully I can finish them by Hallowe'en and then start on the Christmas ones!

That fabric and the wadding was the bulk of my expenditure this month:

Backing Fabric	£24.95
Charms	£11.83
3 Victoria Sampler Charts	£  7.50
Kreinik (Skulls)	£  6.50
Perforated Paper (Skulls)	£  7.44

Total                                            £ 58.22

I also bought a chart which will be the prize in the Tenuous Shoehorn Summer Linky Party.  Remember that?  I still have to pick a winner, I'll let you know when I do!

And now for Pie:

Gathering Honey was my focus piece for August and I managed to stitch on it for nearly a fortnight!  The Olympic Challenge meant a lot of pieces got a day or two and also that I stitched on more than one piece in several days.  So there are more than 31 days there!

September could see me reduce to six/seven projects throughout the month, depending on how the Sugar Skulls go.

Finally, the Daily Art Challenge:

Day 26 - Eyes

Day 27 - Sport

Day 28 - Doodles

(I drew or doodled this on graph paper!)

Day 29 - Monsters

Day 30 - Fun

(Round Robins are the ultimate fun project!)

Day 31 - Time

IHSW Started Here

The weekend starts here!  And since it's the third Friday in the month, it's an International Hermit & Stitch Weekend.  Hosted by Joysze of Random Ramblings, this is your chance to stay at home and stitch to your heart's content.

Since I am working on Sunday, my weekend will be Friday and Saturday.  I am still taking part in the Stitching Olympics and today was a Silver day.  I had no WIPS with silver in them so a new start was in order.  I got out my collection of the JCS Christmas Ornament Specials (2010-2015) and discovered this one from 2010:

stitched on 28 count Colonial Blue evenweave

The design is by Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches and is called 1862 Snowflake after an antique beadwork pattern they had.  The charts suggest using all beads but I have substituted silver for the crystal beads to fit the Olympic theme.

Another small was started for the Music Day:

stitched on 14 count Christmas Green aida

I didn't have anything for Music, so it was most serendipitous that Kim sent me this little Mill Hill chart just in time!  I'm not a fan of three strands on perforated paper so I switched it for this green aida.  Now I remember why I'm not a fan of aida either!  But it's a nice little project and will look good scrapbooked with these three:

I've made quite a lot of progress on Gathering Honey which has been my focus piece for the Marathon:

Plenty of backstitch in this section!

I had a finish for the Gold Medal day, I saved the gold from my Fifth Friday project in July:

stitched on 28 count burgundy evenweave

This is the second Byzantine Ornament by Teresa Wentzler, using the same fabric and threads as Number 1.

Two more ghosts have been added to Ghostly Mandala by Ink Circles:

stitched on 32 count Autumnal Woodland by Crafty Kitten

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I've also been keeping up with my daily art themes.  Here are Days 13-19:

Day 13 - Sails

Day 14 - Buildings

Day 15 - Movement

Day 16 - Light

Day 17 - Trains

Day 18 - Summer

Day 19 - Hands

Finally, it is four weeks tomorrow until my Birthday!  There are still a very few places left in the Days of Jo's Life Blog Hop.  If you'd like to join in with this very special blog hop on the 17th September please email or leave a comment and I'll tell you all about it.  In the meantime I will leave you with this image:

Wooden Thread Organiser from Tangerine 8 on Etsy.

I just love wooden thread organisers.  Just saying.