Gifted Gorgeousness August Link-up Post

     

Welcome to the August Gifted Gorgeousness link-up.  The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

Deb sent me the charts for the Stoney Creek 2019 Ornaments which were my Stitchmas project this year. I started all 12, one per day and will be completing one per month.  August is for Maids a'Milking:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave

The WIPGO Board chose Fairy Idyll for this month.  The chart (and extras) was a gift from a friend.  I am continuing with the expanse of her yellow/cream dress:

stitched on 32 count Vineyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

My current evening piece is Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett, the chart was a gift from a friend.  This is where she is now:

stitched on 35 count Vintage Country Mocha Linen

I just have to go all the way around with the turquoise, fill in the corner squares and add beads!

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month. Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "August 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.

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Finally, some more Gifted Gorgeousness but of the papercraft variety.  I had two friends with Birthdays recently so I made them Exploding Cards!  These fold flat to fit into an envelope but pop-up into a box shape when you take them out.

I added some charms to the first one:

This is the second one:

The supplies all came from this website - Craft Box UK

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for August

 

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

Even less FFO'ing this month than last, just one small framed piece!  This is another freebie from The Primitive Hare for Lammas, the First Harvest celebrated on 1st August.  Framed the same as Ostara and Litha in the same multi-frame.  The goal is to have all eight done by the end of this year.

My regular followers will know that I love to make plans and lists for my stitching.  And that I do a pretty good job of sticking to them.  The Primitive Hare Celebrations were an addition to my original plans and here's another one:

I subscribe to Cross Stitcher magazine because I was migrated over when Cross Stitch Collection ceased publication and frankly, I am never going to get a better price for it!  As soon as this month's issue arrived I knew I had to stitch the miniature greenhouse from the front cover.  Who doesn't love a little 3D greenhouse?

I found some random grey/blue 28 count evenweave in my stash and made a start this afternoon.  I plan to stitch all the white and then go colour by colour for the rest of the design.  It's a Cheryl McKinnon (of Tiny Modernist) design so that makes two of her designs I am stitching now.  The Calender is also one of her designs.

stitched on 32 count Summer Sky Belfast linen from Silkweavers

Finally, we have been given permission to hide painted rocks in the shop where I work again.  So I've been painting a batch of book-themed rocks each week.  It's lovely to see how happy the children are when they find one.  To see my rocks, check out my Serendipity Rocks Blog

August TUSAL and my Stitching Library

  

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

This is the sixth Scary Apothecary from Hands on Design.  This one is Coffin Paint and is stitched on the same 28 count Radioactive linen from Chromatic Alchemy as the rest of the series.  The plan is to stitch half this month and finish it next month to  tick another box off on my WIPGO Board.

What's on my Shelf?

This is a new feature I'm going to include on my TUSAL post until I run out of books! I started a Page on my Happy Dance blog for my Stitching Library and realised what a huge task it was so decided to break it down to one book per month. For the next four years...

I chose this month's book to go with The People's Choice of Books.

Title: Embroidered Books
Author: Isobel Hall
Publisher: Batsford
ISBN: 9781906388133

This book is a little different to the previous ones I've shown because it's not cross stitch!  Instead it includes a wide variety of techniques and instructions to make embroidered books.  You could easily use any of these to mount and display your stitched small pieces.

There are only two sections to the book.  The first is Book Construction:

This section includes detailed instructions about how to make a small book, how to stitch the sections together and how to bind it.   As well as suggestions for the different papers and fabrics to use.

These two styles of book could be very easily used to display cross stitch pieces:

Concertina Book

Carousel Book

The second section is Techniques and Materials:

This section talks about the different ways to decorate and embellish your book and the cover.

There are instructions for using different paints, wax, marbling effects, inks and crackle paint.

This is one of those books that is a pleasure to sit down and read even if you never intend to make anything from it!

Finally, the website on the back of the book redirects you to Pavilion Books who do a great range of craft books.  They also have a free download for knitting lightsaber socks!  I know I have some keen knitters among my followers, so here it is:

Lightsaber Socks

Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop 2021

 

Regular followers will know that I host a number of Blog Hops throughout the year, each with a different theme.  Four of them are the same each year but the Summer one varies depending on what I feel like!  Last year I felt it would be nice to see how well we know our Stitching Friends, the Hop was such a success I thought we'd do it again this year.

Several years ago I designed a little ornament for an exchange on this theme - Stitching Friends are Friends who Count.  It's a pun on being important to us and counting crosses!  Over the last 18 months, more than ever, we have found the value in our stitching friends who have kept us company online when we couldn't meet up with our real-life friends.

I had 8 people sign up for the Hop and assigned each one a blog for them to visit and write a little piece about their stitching friend.  I asked them to choose a design they thought their friend might like.  Just for fun, I asked people not to reveal the name until the end of the post!  So why not see if you can guess each one as you go?

These are the participating bloggers, in no particular order:

Goofin' Off Around the Block

Dragon Stitches and Stuff

Beth's Needlework Stash

A Patchwork of Crafts

Jocondine

Needle, Pen & Sword

Le Coeur Celtique

Life Outside the Washing Basket

As per last year, I am going to feature a surprise friend myself!  This blogger did not sign up for this particular Hop but does take part in some of my other Hops and also in Gifted Gorgeousness.

She comes from "A Land Down Under"
She loves to stitch for Christmas

She has a forest of Christmas Trees in ornament form

She stitches more ornaments than anyone else I know

She has a wide extended family with lots of new babies, it seems

When she does stitch a larger design, she goes for a giant full coverage design!

She takes part in our 12 Days of Christmas SAL

So, the piece I would choose to share with her would be this one - 

This is my monthly Stoney Creek 12 Days project.  We have reached the Eighth Day and a Maid A'Milking.

Have you guessed yet?  

It's Elfie from Elfin Stitches and here's a link to that giant Santa design - Christmas Dreams

Finally, I hope you enjoyed hopping around and trying to guess who each stitcher was talking about.  My next Hop will be the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop at the end of October so stay tuned for sign-ups.

The People Chose Books

  

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog. Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice. This is what they have chosen:

August - Books

September - Sewing

October - Leaves

Books, one of my favourite things!  But do they translate to stitching?   Of course they do!  We have designs which feature rows of books, designs which literally look like books, designs which are inspired by book characters and designs which are made into books.

In the first category I have this little spooky Bookshop as part of my conversion of the CCN Main Street.  This is Grimoires:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Charcoal Slate from Sparklies

One of my favourite book cover designs was this version of Dracula, this was a freebie from Dam Good Crafts but is no longer available:

Stitched on 32 count Belfast in Amortentia by Chromatic Alchemy

I framed that one but before I did, I photocopied it and made it into a notebook cover for a friend.

This is another design I photocopied the original to make a book-box.  This is Book of Spells by The Goode Huswif:

Stitched on 40 count Jewel Butterbeer linen by Under the Sea Fabrics

There's a video of the box on this post - July Pie 2017

When I finished my Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet, I made that into a book, complete with ISBN code on the back:

More photos and a video can be found here - Come Happy Dance With Me

Back in 2014 I stitched a Teresa Wentzler freebie dragon for my son's teacher.  The original design was holding a crystal ball but I found a conversion to a book online:

Although you can't download the design any more, there is still a page with the Gallery and various ideas for colour schemes - Futurecast Gallery

Joan Elliott included this little Reading Fairy in her Year of Magical Stitching:

stitched on 28 count Jazlyn in Aurora by Crafty Kitten

My last one for today is just a snippet from a chart I would love to stitch the whole thing.  The part was stitched for a Baby Round Robin back in 2014:

You can see the whole thing here - Mirabilia Baby Round Robin

I'm saving Book Characters for a future post!

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Books, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog.  Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog.  I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Any thing, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Green, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.  Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

July Stitch From Stash and Pie

It's the end of the month and time to look back at my Pie:

I successfully completed the Block in Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow which was carried over from last month and after meeting my mothly goals on Scary Apothecathy and 12 Days of Christmas I was able to focus on Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett.

16 days seems like a lot but they were frequently very short days, sometimes only an hour or two.  And there's a lot of background!

I went from here:

To here:

stitched on 35 count Vintage Country Mocha Linen

(only showing the top now I am so close to a finish)

It's very encouraging to see how much I actually got done!  I love this chequerboard border, it was one of the things that drew me to this project.  When I complete that, there is another row of turquoise stitches all the way around the outside and a backstitched line round the inside.  Then the backstitch on the girl and some beads.

The plan is to carry on into August and get her finished!

I completed another two bands on my Just Nan Summer Sampler - Follow the Needle:

stitched on 28 count Lilac Brittney evenweave

These last two sentences in the verse made me smile.  I've been stitching them next to my son who is anything but silent!  It should read "Many noisy hours" to truly reflect this stitcher's story.

Stitch from Stash did well for July.  I needed some charms to make a Birthday card and bought two extra packets for myself.  Then a Just Nan sampler came up on eBay along with a card of Caron Impressions needed to stitch it.  Worth the £8.80 I bid on it.

Finally, I'm going to be sorting out the friends for my Summer Blog Hop over the weekend.  So if you've signed up to take part, keep an eye open for an email from me.  Here's last year's post so you can remind yourself what to do!

Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop

 

July Smalls

     

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be the Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas 2019 Ornament series which I started on Boxing Day 2020 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

July was Seven Swans A'Swimming, well only one swan actually:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave

I added July to my Tiny Modernist Calendar:

stitched on 32 count Summer Sky Belfast linen from Silkweavers

And celebrated the First Harvest with Lammas from The Primitive Hare:

stitched on 35 count Cream Linen

My Just Nan ornament has been Peacock Tapestry, started in May 2018 on Day 17:

Continued in 2019:

And 2020:

And 2021:

I am very close to a finish so I'm saving it to show you the completed design.  It's actually stitched on white fabric, so once again the camera does indeed lie to you!

Finally, I'm going to be sorting out the friends for my Summer Blog Hop over the weekend.  So if you've signed up to take part, keep an eye open for an email from me.  Here's last year's post so you can remind yourself what to do!

Stitching Friends Summer Blog Hop