Gifted Gorgeousness report for December

Here we are - the final Gifted Gorgeousness (GG)  Report for 2019. Jo at Serendipitous Stitching runs the GG SAL. On 15th of each month we show our GG items (anything stitched using gifted supplies, or stitched to be gifted).

I have a few items to show today. I'll start with two  bead decorated Christmas tree ornaments that I stitched for my Christmas visitor take-home gift basket (which already is looking very depleted, and it's still 10 days to Christmas).

I made up the Baby's Prenatal Christmas ornament I stitched last month.

I stitched two bibs for a great-nephew, as a Christmas gift.

And  I stitched another Christmas gift, a bib
for the greatniece expected to be born in February next year.

My take-home gift basket needed some extra gifts, so I made another 18 beaded angels to add to the basket. Here are a few:

I doubt that there will be any more  stitching from me in 2019. I'm already looking forward to starting on my 2020 stitching list.

Merry Christmas!

Advent Blog Hop

Jo at Serendipitous Stitching has organised this Advent Blog Hop. I so enjoyed taking part in last year's Advent blog hop that I had no hesitation in signing up again this year. Christmas is the high point of my year; a very happy time for me. I was allocated December 4 as my day to report. I'm in Australia, so while it is December 4 here, many of you will still be experiencing December 3.  We are in the middle of bushfire season, and currently experiencing a heatwave with strong hot winds. A cold snow-filled Christmas is totally foreign to me!

There are two elements to cover in the Advent Blog. The first is to show something Christmas related that I have crafted. The second is to nominate my favourite Christmas movie.

The photo has several items I have made. The biggest is my Advent Tree. I bought the craftwood tree some 25 years, and painted it, then turned it onto an Advent Tree by attaching 24 star - shaped wooden pieces. I painted one side of each star with a Santa, and the other side red with gold highlights.  When I put the tree on display I have all the red stars showing, then each day in December I turn over one star so that Santa is showing. You can see that this photo was taken on December 3. By December 24 all the Santas are showing.

Above the tree is a framed cross stitch Santa which actually took me 5 years to complete. I started it in 1992, not long after I started cross stitching, and before I discovered evenweave. I used a piece of 18 count rustico Aida over 1 - not a great choice for a chart full of fractional stitches. It's a lovely design, but stitching it would have been less stressful had I chosen to stitch it over 2 on linen or evenweave.  It would also have produced a larger Santa - the small size of this one does not reflect the amount of work involved! Live and learn!

If you have good eyesight you might see my clothes peg Santas standing in front of the Advent Tree. I painted them over 20 years ago. They are still amongst my favourite Santas (though I have to admit to having quite a lot of favourite Santas!). The second pic above also has my fridge magnet clothes peg Santas (magnet on the base - they stand on top of the fridge door).

This is one of my favourite Christmas movies - and again, I have to admit that I have quite a large list of  favourite Christmas movies! Most years one of the local TV stations plays 'It's A Wonderful Life' in the week leading up to Christmas, and I always watch it (and every other Christmas related movie as well).

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope that you and your loved ones have a happy Christmas, and that 2020 brings a year of good health, good fortune, and contentment.  Merry Christmas!

Smalls SAL - November report

I thought I had finished all my 2019 stitching, and I hadn't expected to have anything to show for the November Smalls report. However, a new baby in the extended family prompted me to stitch a bib, and the announcement of a pregnancy has me stitching another Christmas ornament.

The ornament is waiting to be made up. Hopefully tomorrow.

And here is the bib. It will be a Christmas gift for baby George. I modified the design from a Sam Hawkins chart.

I won't be putting my stitching basket away. I will be stitching up a few more Christmas ornaments for Christmas visitors. I thought I had made plenty, but it's not yet December, and my gift basket is already looking depleted.

GG report for November, and my Christmas House

November 15 is the reporting day for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching. Pretty much anything stitched using gifted supplies, or stitched to be given as a gift qualifies for the GG SAL. 

I finished my 2019 stitching list some time ago, but today I framed up four cross stitched pieces as Christmas gifts for a great-nephew and three greatnieces, so I am using a shoehorn to claim them for this month's GG report. 

I have just finished decorating my house for Christmas, and I just can't stop myself from putting up some pics.  I started decorating earlier than normal because it usually takes two of us 3 weeks, and this year I didn't have my helper. Last year I didn't decorate at all because of illness, so I wanted this year to be special. To my amazement I finished my Christmas transformation in under 3 weeks. So, here are some pictures.

If you came to my house for a Christmas visit, this is what you would see when I opened the front door for you:

Upstairs you will find my Jim Shore pieces.

Downstairs in the loungeroom there are Angels and Santas aplenty.

My Santa tree

My Angel tree

My stitched ornament and

 handcrafted beaded angel tree

My vintage Santas

And on the entry level, you will find my big Santa waiting to greet you. The dining room, kitchen, and sitting room are on this level.

I've enjoyed showing some of my festive house . I hope you have a happy Christmas, and that 2020 brings for you and your loved ones a year of good health, good fortune, and contentment.

Merry Christmas!

GG report for October

Wow - October already! And the 15th October means it's time for the monthly Gifted Gorgeousness report, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Broadly speaking, anything stitched to be gifted, or stitched using gifted supplies qualifies for inclusion in the GG SAL.

I have three Christmas ornaments to show this month. These are the final items on my 2019 stitching list, and bring to 87 the total number of Christmas ornaments I have stitched and finished up this year.

First, a Baby's First Christmas ornanent for my great-nephew born in September. His full name and birthdate are stitched on the back of the ornament.

And two persponalised Christmas tree ornaments, the first for his parents and the other for his grandparents, my brother and his wife. Each of the hearts has the initial of a family member.

I also made 30 beaded angels to add to the take-home gift boxes for visiting children, and to add to the gift basket for adult Christmas visitors.

This one sort of qualifies for GG, in that the base cane wreath and the white ribbon were given to me by a friend, and I rescued the baubles from my sister's house when she was moving home.  I'm keeping this wreath for myself, and will hang it with my angels this Christmas.

It's likely that this will be my final GG report for 2019, since I have finished all my planned stitching, and I have very little crafting time as Christmas draws near. However I will find time to pop in to see all the GG stitching, as I really do enjoy seeing all the beautiful stitching and crafting. If you enjoy seeing Christmas decorations, do drop into my blog in December and see my Christmas house.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for September

Well, here we are again - the 15th of each month is the day for the Gifted Gorgeousness report hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching. Broadly speaking, any project using gifted materials, or destined to be gifted, qualifies for inclusion in the GG report.

I have finished five little Christmas ornaments this month, and they will all be given as Christmas gifts.

This one is my favourite, and I will have to be very stern with myself when I am tempted to keep it. I have made it as a Christmas gift for a dear friend who shares my fondness for  angels. The angels are adapted from a DMC angel chart.

This angel just grew as I stitched her. She will be a take-home gift for a Christmas visitor.

This angel will also go into the gift basket for Christmas visitors. She was adapted from a DMC angel chart.

I stitched these two Christmas ornaments for a friend's new puppies. The stockings just grew as I stitched, but the tiny teddies are adapted from a chart in Graphworks' Mini  Motif Designs Christmas Vol 8. 

Here they are all together.  

Well, that's all for this month.

Smalls Report for August

The end of August already - this year is just flying by! The last Friday of the month is reporting day for the Smalls SAL hosted by Mary at Mary's Thread.

This month I have stitched three angels that will be made up into Christmas ornaments. I had meant to have them finished up for this report, but that just hasn't happened. Next week, perhaps.  The first two ornaments were inspired by DMC angel charts, and the third ornament's angel just grew as I stitched.

A friend recently asked me to stitch Christmas ornaments for her two new puppies, so although I had finished my 2019 stitching list, I still have something to stitch.  I've stitched one, one more to go.