Gifted Gorgeousness Report for June

 It's been a few months since I've put up a Gifted Gorgeousness report, and they have been difficult months. My partner lost the cancer battle at the very end of April, after putting up a very good fight, and there has been so much to cope with. I'm finding the older I get the harder it us for me to adapt to changes  but when I looked at the calendar and saw I'd just missed the GG reporting date of the 15th of the month, it prompted me to take action. As always, the GG SAL is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  Anything stitched with gifted supplies, or stitched to be gifted, qualifies for inclusion.

My last GG report was for February, so I will put in pics of the things I have stitched since then. This year my 12 Days of Christmas project is Jim Shore's very colourful set. Initially, my plan was to stitch one day per month, but I am notoriously bad at following plans.  I had finished Days 1 to 6 by the February GG report. Days 7 to 9 are now also finished.

And I am currently stitching the border on Day 10.  I am stitching this set for myself (because who doesn't need a 7th stitched 12 Days of Christmas set) using gifted supplies.

I have also stitched and finished these ornaments, most as Christmas gifts for children or close relatives.

I also stitched a name sampler for a new member of the extended family. It's not a good pic  unfortunately. It does look better than the pic, much brighter and clearer.

That's it for now. 

Easter Blog Hop

 The Easter Blog Hop is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  I always enjoy this blog hunt each year, and it is fun to collect the letters and discover the phrase.

My Spring picture is one I stitched last year, for Miss Sarah's 5th birthday.  It's a shoehorn job, but both the unicorn and the girl  do have a garland of spring flowers, and it was the only non-Christmas pic I could find. 

This is the letter Jo gave me to share:

Your next blog is here.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report, February

 I missed the January Gifted Gorgeousness report entirely, and I'm running late for the February report, hosted by Jo at  Serendipitous Stitching on the 15th of each month. Anything stitched using gifted supplies, or stitched to be gifted, qualifies for inclusion in the GG report. Pretty much all of my stitching supplies are gifted to me, so most of my stitching meets the GG requirements.

I decided to stitch Jim Shore's 12 Day set for myself this year. So far I have completed the first 6 Days. I stitched them 1 over 1 on 20 count fabric, and omitted the beads and charms. At about 5" (13 cm) square, these are larger than my preferred ornament size, but so very pretty.

I also made another 6 Christmas ornaments, most of which will be gifted at Christmas. I stitched the Snowflake Christmas Tree with the intention of giving it to my oldest nephew and his wife for Christmas 2023. I was amost finished making it up (just 7 beads away from the end) when I discovered I had the backing piece upside down. I'm now going to keep it for myself.  I can easily love an imperfect Christmas ornament!  The snowflake Christmas tree and deer are adapted from CrossStitchingForFun designs.

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for December

15th December -  it's time for the final Gifted Gorgeousness report for 2022. GG is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.

 I have just a few things to show this month. I stitched and framed a birth sampler for my youngest greatnephew. I used the same Clare Crompton dinosaur alphabet that I used in the birth samplers I made for his older brother and first cousin.

I also made a few more Christmas ornaments. The large wreath is a Clare Cromoton design; the teddy was an old DMC freebie; the Santa stocking is adapted from Kooler's Littlest Stocking design; and the two small wreaths are adapted from designs in an old Pat Wade leaflet called (I think) Christmas Collection II.

I have now finished all my gift stitching for 2022, and I have sorted out my floss and fabric ready for 2023.  

Advent Blog Hop - December 11

 Here in Australia we have reached December 11, though I know in many places it's still December 10.  Nevertheless, here is my contribution to the Advent Blog Hop for the December 11 door.  The Advent Blog Hop is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching.  This blog hop is the one I enjoy most each year. Anyone who knows me will understand why.   I am a great fan of Christmas  and I do attempt to keep Christmas alive in my house all year.  This year Jo has given us two tasks: to show something Christmas or winter related, and to discuss Christmas meal 'afters'.

I have lots of my Christmas craft projects which I could show, and all of them are currently on display in the house. There are dozens of framed Christmas cross stitches, literally hundreds of beaded angels, a smaller number of painted Santas, some crocheted angels, a few Christmas trees,  and dozens of stitched ornaments.  On a whim I have rejected all of those, and selected some wreaths I have made over the years.

This is the first wreath I made, many years ago. I wasn't planning to make a wreath.  My task at the time was to reorganise my craft room. In the process I found an old cane wreath base, the foliage from a discarded artificial Christmas tree, and a box of very old Christmas baubles, many of which had lost their hangers. On the spur of the moment I decided to put them all together and with the help of a hot glue gun that is exactly what I did. This wreath is about 60 cm (2ft) in diameter. At present it is hanging in the back stairwell (from kitchen level to laundry).

The next wreath is currently hanging at the top of the main stairs. It is larger than the first wreath I made, about 75 cm (2'6") in diameter. My motivation for making this wreath was to reduce the amount of pre-loved Christmas baubles I had collected. I used an old cane wreath for the base.

My third wreath is my favourite, and my latest. I made it to hang near my angels  and used an old  heart shaped wreath base I found at a garage sale, and baubles from my collection. It is currently hanging in my loungeroom, near my Angel tree. It is the smallest of the wreaths I have made, and measures about 45cm (18") at its longest point.

When it comes to Christmas  'afters', it's complicated.  For us, Christmas is in summer, and it's usual to have temperatures hovering around 40 deg C (over 100 deg F). While some (mainly older) people do the full cooked Christmas meal thing, the majority (including my extended family), will opt for seafood, cold meats, and salads for Christmas lunch, which in our family would usually be served around 2pm.  When it comes to 'afters', it's anything goes.  

My contribution is always gingerbread babies. I usually bake 4 or 5 batches in December, and each batch makes about 140 gingerbreads, which I package up in bags and tins for distribution to family and friends.  I  also make a double  batch of hazlenut biscotti because my youngest sister loves them. 

Usually the 'afters' would appear 2 or 3 hours after Christmas lunch finished and often would be the last food of the day.  Our Christmas sweets table will always offer warm Christmas Pudding (made each year by my Irish-born brother-in-law using his late mother's recipe) served with a choice of brandy custard, vanilla custard, icecream and whipped cream;  a large bowl of sherry trifle (layered sherry drizzled cake, chopped jelly, custard, fruit & whipped cream) made to my late mother's recipe; shortbread, biscotti, and gingerbread biscuits; and a large fresh tropical fruit platter. It sounds like a lot of food, and it is, but we have quite a large extended family, and there are always lots of leftovers, which get packaged up and sent home with family groups.

Merry Christmas!

Smalls Report for November

 I have six little finishes to show today.  Four ornaments which I have added to my take-home gift basket, and two ornaments requested by a friend who has two new puppies in her extended family.

These are the two ornaments I stitched for the puppies:

The bunny design was in the Premier issue of LA's Celebrations magazine. I reversed the design to stitch the right-facing bunny, and changed floss colours.

These are the ornaments I added to my gift basket.  The angel wings and sleeves are taken from L&L's 1986 Christmas angel freebie.

To catch up on the Smalls stitching for November, head on over to Mary's blog.

 

Gifted Gorgeousness Report for November

 Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, on the 15th of each month. Most of my stitching qualifies for inclusion,  as it is either stitched to be gifted, or stitched with gifted supplies.

I finished my Shannon Christine 12 Days of Christmas set, and I have to admit that I adore it. The colours are so pretty. I now have six completed 12 Days of Christmas sets, but that doesn't seem enough. I am hunting for a set to stitch next year. 

I made my final batch of Christmas ornaments for 2022.  I just have one more gift left to stitch this year - a birth sampler for a great nephew. I have stitched dinosaur birth samplers for all the boys in that branch of the family, so that's what I am planning for Louis.  I was about to start it yesterday but my fabric was not large enough, so I will have to wait till  the fabric I have ordered arrived. I may make a couple more ornaments for my Christmas visitor gift basket while I am waiting.

Here are my completed ornaments:

Three Clare Crompton wreaths, for two of my sisters and a niece.

DMC teddy for a new cousin

L&L's 1987 Angel freebie for a much loved Aunt

Two beaded Christmas Tree ornaments for my  Christmas visitor gift basket

Hopefully I will be back next month with a completed birth sampler to show. In the meantime I will enjoy seeing the GG stitching from other participants.