Gifted Gorgeousness Report, July

July already. I'm not ready for it! Strictly speaking, I've missed the Gifted Gorgeousness reporting day, but fortunately for me, in most of the world it's still the 15th July, so I will just sneak in my report.  GG is hosted by Jo at  Serendipitous Stitching.

I stitched tiny Christmas stocking ornaments for the 6 year old twins of a new friend. If you've visited here before you will recognise the Santa stockings, as I have stitched many over the last few years. The chart I started with is Kooler Design Studio's 'Littlest Stockings', charted for plastic canvas. I smoothed out all the edges, made a few changes to the face, stitched a 'cuff', and added a back to make a real little stocking, just big enough to hold one of my beaded Christmas angels.

In June I joined Shannon Christine's Christmas Club, and stitched Days 1 and 2 of her 12 Days of Christmas set. I have now also stitched Days 3 and 4, and I have made all 4 up into Christmas ornaments 

My photography needs some work.  Despite appearances, all four are stitched on the same fabric, which is closer in colour to the bottom set than the top one, but not as dull looking as the bottom set. We are getting the charts 2 per month. I'm expecting Days 5 & 6 to arrive on August 1. My aim is to stitch and make up each set of 2 in the month I receive the charts, and also to stitch the external borders and the ornament backs for the next set of charts.  

Smalls Report for June

 I'm late with my Smalls Report this month - the last Friday in June just slipped by un-noticed by me.  It's been that sort of month!

I have joined Shannon Christine's Christmas Club, which provides two 12 Days of Christmas charts each month June to November. I decided to try to stitch and finish each set of 2 ornaments before the next set of charts arrives. So far I'm on track. This month I have stitched Days 1 & 2, and I have 4 more days to finish them up before I get the the charts for Days 3 & 4.

I swapped white delica 11/0 beads for some of the cross stitches in the border; used gold delica 11/0 beads instead of the charted Mill Hill beads; substituted beads for gold cross stitched numbers; and used DMC fil or instead of the charted Kreinik VFB. I do regret not choosing a darker fabric for this set, butI think I can live with it. The white floss shows up clearer than in the photos.

And that is all I have to show this month. The Smalls Report is hosted by Mary at Mary's Thread.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report, June

 It's been a slow stitching month again, and once again I was surprised to see the date on the calendar.  15th June has three significances for me this year, some better than others.  My partner is off for another brain MRI looking for more metastatic cancers; it's my sister Gayle's birthday; and it's time for the monthly Gifted Gorgeousness report hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching .

It's a short GG report from me, though I did make up all the ornaments work basket at the end of May. The photos are in my last blog post. In June I have stitched and made up three little Santa Christmas ornaments.  The designer is Donna Vermillion Giampa, who designed the most gorgeous Santa faces. I love stitching her Santas, and I have stitched many over the years, all larger than this little set, but the chart for this set made it very hard work. The chart was printed in colour (not my favourite), with lots of duplicated symbols on slightly varying colours, and there were 37 floss colours, if you don't count the Kreinik charted. 

I have kitted up yet another 12 Days of Christmas set, and am about to start Day 1. I didn't intend to stitch another set, but when I saw Shannon Christine's beautiful 12 Day set I just couldn't stop myself from joining the SAL  particularly when I was offered the charts as a birthday gift. I've decided to stitch it on a pale blue fabric, which I already have in my work basket, left over from my last 12 Day set. I am excited to start this set. The floss colours are so pretty.

Smalls SAL, May

 

Very soon May 2022 will be just a memory. This year is slipping away at an alarming rate. I have a few Smalls 'finishes' to show this month. Mary from Mary's Thread is our host for the Smalls SAL, on the final Friday of each month.

I spent last week finishing off all the stitched designs in my work basket - well, all the ornament sized ones. I still have three waiting for framing.  

I have finished my 12 Days of Christmas set.  I stitched mine as individual ornaments, although the designer Barbara Sestok charted it as a single project.  I made a few little changes to the charted design, including removing the charted borders, and moving the numbers.  I made a few floss colour changes too.

And I also finished up these other ornaments, all of which will be Christmas gifts.

That's all I have to show this month. I'm hoping to be back in June with a few more finished ornaments (there are just 6 more on my stitching list for 2022).

Gifted Gorgeousness report for May

 Last time I looked it was May 10. And now it's May 18. How did that happen! I certainly can't blame my stitching for my tardiness in writing my GG report. It's not been a very productive month.  I have little to show this time. 

I did stitch some little angels which will be Christmas gifts for a cousin and her 4 grand-daughters. The angel charts are L&L Christmas freebies from 1986 & 1987. I did give the Amish angels hair instead of caps  and I changed some floss colours.

I stitched a Sam Hawkins design for my cousin's grandson.

And as my cousin has a much-loved puppy, I stitched another gift-bearing rabbit design for Buddy. It's the same chart I used for a friend's puppies last month, and I really like the design, which I found in the premiere edition of LA's Celebrations magazine.

I stitched the rest of Barbara Sestok's 12 Days of Christmas designs. Hopefully next month I can show the set of 12 finished ornaments. As it stands now, just 4 have been finished up, and eight are waiting to be made up - along with another 11 stitched designs also requiring finishing into ornaments, and another two waiting to be framed. 

I hope to have lots of finished ornaments to show in the June GG report. Our host for Gifted Gorgeousness is Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Most of my stitching qualifies for inclusion in GG  as it is either stitched to be gifted, or stitched with gifted supplies.

April Smalls Report

 It's been a slow stitching month for me. A busy month, but not as much stitching time as I would have liked. 

I did stitch a tiny Christmas stocking ornament. I think I may keep this one to hang on my own tree this Christmas.  As I have done before, I smoothed out the edges on Kooler's Littlest Stocking chart, and backed it to make it into a real little stocking.

I stitched two little Christmas ornaments for a friend's puppies.  I found the chart in the premier issue of LA's Celebrations magazine. 

 

I also stitched Day 10 of Barbara Sestok's 12 Day set. 

And I stitched three L& L Angel freebies (1986  & 1987).

I changed the floss colours, and swapped hair for the cap on the Amish Angel. I have another two to make - I'm thinking yellow and blue, maybe on ice blue floss. 

The Smalls  SAL is hosted by Mary at Mary's Thread, usually on the final Friday of each month.

   

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for April 2022

 It's a busy time of the month - Easter Blog Hop and Gifted Gorgeousness Report both due on the same day. Jo at Serendipitous Stitching is our host for both. My Blog Hop entry is just under this GG Report.  This month all my stitching qualifies for inclusion in the GG report, since it was all done using gifted supplies, and most of the stitched items will be gifted. 

I found a chart I really like, called Snowflake Merry Christmas Tree, on Etsy. The designer is a Ukranian lady, who stitches under the CrossStitchForFun label. I have stitched it four times now - twice on 28 count 2 over 2 ( top 2), and twice on 22 count 1 over 1 (bottom 2). The larger ones will fit on a standard 10" x 8" (25cm x 20cm) mount in a larger frame, and the smaller ones measure 5" x 4" (12.5 cm x 10cm) and will be made up into large ornaments.  All will be going to my youngest sister and her 3  adult children this Christmas.

I stitched some tiny little Christmas designs to fit into some tiny gold coloured metal frames I've had in my stash for way too long - maybe 15 years. They came 6 in a box for a super reasonable $A2.  I decided that this year I would aim to reduce my tiny frame stash by at least 2 boxes. I stitched 6 designs each for two nephews and their wives, so that's met my target for this year.

And here they are packed up and ready to go back in their boxes to wait for Christmas. The Santa hat alphabet designer is Alma Lynne, the tiny Santa is based on a Santa from the premier issue of LA's Celebrations magazine (I slimmed him down a lot), and the others just grew as I stitched. All the frames are the same gold coloured metal, more like the ones on the right of the top photo than the ones on the left.

The other designs I have stitched in the past 4 weeks are from Barbara Sestok's 12 Days of Christmas set. Believe it or not, despite the colours in the photos, all are stitched on the same ice blue 24 count evenweave.  As I'm making individual ornaments I've changed the borders and the position of the number, and in theDay 9 ornament I also changed the dress colours, the facial features and the hair. My Dancing Lady is more sedate than the charted one. 

So, that finishes my report for this month.