Gifted Gorgeousness_February Update

Okay, okay, I know that I am super late for GG (AGAIN! I hear you say) but I do have a really good excuse this time!

But first, in case you do not know what I am talking about ...

Gifted Gorgeousness (or GG) is a SAL run by the wonderful SAL Mama, Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.  Basically, on the 15th of each month, we post anything which is stitchy gift-related.

Now, for the excuse.....

I HAVE A NEW JOB!

... and it is one that is perfect for me.  Three days a week (perfect for Work/Life balance or in my case Work/Cross Stitching balance) at the History Teachers Association of Victoria (HTAV) as an Education and Services Consultancy Officer.  Basically it is about promoting and supporting the teaching of History - right up my alley, hey?

I have been there two weeks now and loving it!

Anyway, onto some stitching now...

This is my progress pic on CCN design that I am stitching for a friend's 60th birthday.

I am stitching it on some gorgeous overdyed fabric (sorry, I have currently mislaid my notes as to the name and origin of the fabric).  I am very pleased with how this is progressing.

This is what the finished design will look like, one day soon, I hope!

If you would like to see everyone else's stitching, please click on the following links:

Gifted Gorgeousness

hugs, 

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop...

This is a  fabulous Valentine's Day Blog hop organised by the Blog hop Queen,  Jo from Serendipitous Stitching.

So, Jo has randomly given us a sweet Valentine stitching picture from our Secret Stitching Sweetheart.

We then visit Jo's blog to start the blog hop to find out who has our Valentine picture and let them know who we are.  

Now, I wonder who my Secret Stitching Sweetheart is?

If you want to play with us, please visit Jo's blog here. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, 

hugs, 

P.S. If you want to find out more about Anti-Valentines, click on this link here.

Vinegar Valentines!

lol! I had never heard of such a thing, but apparently, once upon a time, in the Victorian era,  they were very popular!

They were sent anonymously to the lover that you DID NOT want to encourage!

You can follow this link to read the full article.

Wouldn't it be awful to receive one of these tomorrow, instead of a loving Valentine?

hugs, 

Another great film...

Well, I have been at it again - going to see interesting films, that is.  This time it is the very sweet French film, "Rosalie Blum".

"Julien Rappeneau’s enchanting directorial debut ROSALIE BLUM is a witty and ingeniously crafted comedy about a random encounter that has unexpected and life-changing consequences.

Thirty-something Vincent Machot (indelibly played by Kyan Khojandi) is a hairdresser, like his father before him. Life rotates around work, his overbearing mother who lives in the apartment upstairs, and a womanising cousin constantly trying to set him up. But one morning Vincent experiences a powerful déjà-vu when he meets the gaze of a grocery store clerk, Rosalie Blum (the fabulous Noémie Lvovsky). Intrigued by this mysterious woman, he begins a search to uncover the truth behind their connection…"

If you are interested in learning more, please read this review.  

While this movie did not have the power of the two films which I last reviewed, "Lion" and "Jackie" , "Rosalie Blum" was utterly charming and I did so enjoy it.  I think that you will, too.

hugs, 

Girl's Nest Giveaway #2 Winners....

I am about to announce the two winners of my second giveaway for 2017 but first, an explanation....

"Why is it called a Girl's Nest Giveaway?  A very good question, my dear friends. Luckily, the answer is fairly simple.  The Girl's Nest is what my sewing room is affectionately referred to by TraderVic and my family and as I am on an eternal quest to tidy up,organise and streamline my what-seems-to-be-a-very VAST collection of sewing, quilting, stitching and knitting stuff goodies, I have decided that sharing the stuff love is one good way of doing this."

So, up for grabs this time were:

#1
"A Perpetually Engaging Diary from the Collection of Michael & Elizabeth Feller"

#2 
"Ackworth Memory Book"

If you want to see more pics of these two great prizes, just check out this post.

Anyway, I digress, let me announce the winners!

The Winner of #1 is

Barb from Wicked Stitcher

and the Winner of #2 is

Bea from Thoughts and Musings

Congratulations, Ladies, 

Please email me on kayedep@gmail.com to let me know your snail mail details.

hugs, 

The Alphabet Club_Saturday Detention for S

IS FOR SKIPPY,

 THE BUSH KANGAROO

"Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (known commonly as Skippy) is an Australian television series created by Australian actor John McCallum, produced from 1967–1969 (airing from 1968–1970) about the adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park in Duffys Forest, near Sydney.

The show's star was Skippy, a wild female eastern grey kangaroo befriended by Sonny Hammond, younger son of the Head Ranger of Waratah National Park. The stories revolved around events in the park, including its animals, the dangers arising from natural hazards, and the actions of visitors. 

The series was shot in northern Sydney at the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the adjacent Waratah Park (now known as Waratah Park Earth Sanctuary). Permission to film and build structures in the park was given by the then NSW Minister for Lands, Tom Lewis, before shooting of the series began in 1967, to showcase the new NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service government department he had just established.

The clicking sounds made by Skippy are vocal sound effects, rather than the natural vocalisations of a kangaroo, with chocolate, chewing gum or grass and in some cases, an elastic band around the lower jaw, used to make Skippy move her mouth. Between nine and fifteen kangaroos were used for each show. The apparent manual dexterity was often achieved by using separate arms in the hands of human operators."

 [As a child I did always wonder how Skippy managed to be so clever, now I know - lol!]

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo

Nearly any Aussie child of the 1960s would remember the beloved Skippy, and if you just mention his name they will instantly sing you the theme song as per the video ....

Aaah!  The memories!

hugs, 

January WIPocalypse Update.....

Hmmm, I am thinking that my WIPocalypse is going to be an epic fail this month but let's see....

WIPocalypse is hosted for us by awesome SAL Mama, Measi's Musings.

Each and every month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.  

Following dear Jo's lead, I have chosen my "17 in '17" which are the 17 projects I want to focus on this year.  You can see the full list on this post here.1. Rainbow Gallery -  2004 Cross Stitch Surprise series (January to December)

So, this month I stitched on 5 of the 17 - not as poor a showing as I had imagined.  The five are:

Imaginating - Halloween Happiness - I finished the Moon for this month's theme for the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL.

Fabric: 28 ct orange Lugana

Floss: My own choice of specialty threads

Jim Shore - The Twelve Days of Christmas

Not a huge amount of progress, just a bit of border, really, which I am actually planning to frog, as I have decided to go with a variegated floss (on the left).  This, originally, was my 12 Days of Christmas design for The Christmas Ornie SAL, but this has now been superseded by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery 12 Days.

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - The Twelve Days of Christmas - Good progress here, Day One finished and some stitching on each of the other days.

Eva Rosenstaad - Danish bell pull - this one is moving along nicely, as this is one of my two Ten-a-Day projects.

Scissor Tail Designs - Christmas Charm - also progressing nicely as this is the second of my Ten-a-Day projects.

As for SALs and other Stitching Commitments....  I have just a few of those - lol!

First Saturday of the month - The Alphabet Club - we are working our way through the alphabet, the next letter will be S.

15th of each month - Gifted Gorgeousness - link up with anything which was a gift to you or is intended as a gift, you have given or received in an exchange or you can shoehorn into the theme of being a Gift!

New Moon - TUSAL - Totally Useless SAL -let's see how many ORTs we can create in a month?

Last Friday of month - Smalls SAL - Show off anything Small (you decide how big or small a Small is) you have stitched this month.

Last Sunday of month - WIPocalypse - post before the End of the World!

Throughout the month I also have Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics, the Americana SAL blog, the Prairie Schooler SAL blog, the Tudor Tuesdays SAL blog, the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL blog, the Christmas Ornie SAL blog, and, for my sins, I have joined a couple of Facebook groups, and I have a couple of freebie SALs on the backburner plus The Six Wives Club SAL,  plus I try to post my stitchy progress regularly on Instagram, plus, plus, plus! 

I am also taking part in a more traditional SAL with Jo, where we both stitch the same design - The Drawn Thread's Spot of Seasons.  So far Jo has finished stitching A Spot of Winter and I have "lost" mine somewhere in my Girl's Nest! I need to find it soon, really soon, as on 1st March we will start Spot of Spring!

Dear Jo also runs some fabulous Blog Hops which I try to take part in each year. There are usually five a year; Easter, Summer, Hallowe'en, Advent and the next one which will be Valentine's Secret Stitching Sweetheart.  

So, lots happening for me in my stitchy/bloggy world each month.

hugs, 

P.S. If you want to see what the other WIPocalypsers got up to this month - please follow this link.

P.S. Feel free to check out my Easter Exchange - you have just a litte bit more time to join in the fun!

P.P.S. Don't forget to join in the fun of my second Girl's Nest Giveaway for 2017. Entries close on Feb 5th.  Good luck!

Friday Frolics update ... end January and early February...

.... I have been a bit behind on updating what is happening for me on one of my other main blogs, Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics,  so here goes....


[Ooops, I forgot to say that this post also counts for my FNwF post - you can check out what everyone else got up to for FNwF - herehttps://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/fnwf.html.]

28th January:

In true FF fashion, I faithfully went to my Girls' Nest to randomly choose a WIP/UFO.  This week my hand fell upon this gorgeous very large UFO....

"Secret Santa" by Lavender and Lace.

Now, as is usual with a lot of my WIPs/UFOs, I have no idea when I started it, but as there is absolutely no mention of it on my main blog, Kitten Stitching, and I started that blog in 2011, it must be sometime before then!

This is what it looked like before FF: (not very much at all, really!)

And this is where I was up to after Friday night.....

And this is what it will look like - one day!

3rd February:

Hmmm! Not as much progress as I would have liked yesterday, as TraderVic and I went to a Twilight concert at the Zoo to see the Hoo Doo Gurus, a band from the '80s.

It was a perfect evening for sitting listening to fun music, with good friends and a glass of prosecco in hand!

As the evening drew in, a colony of bats flew overhead - rather spooky!

(Sorry for the poor quality of the video - it is better if you enlarge it)

Anyway, here is my Friday Frolic piece.... 

The Village Alphabet by Cross My Heart Inc.

I last posted about this on my main blog, Kitten Stitching in June last year, when the pattern first arrived from an online needlework shop.

 Cross Stitch Stash, who specialise in Vintage, Out of Print and Hard to Find charts.

So, this is where I was up to ....

... and my progress after some Friday afternoon stitching...

Any stitching is good stitching, I say, and I am planning on stitching some more on this piece over the weekend.

Have a great stitching weekend, everyone,

So, that is FF up to date - quite a flurry of posts to come (WIPocalypse, Smalls SAL TUSAL SAL, Alphabet Club - all except the last long overdue) so please do visit again, soon.

hugs, 

P.S. Feel free to check out my Easter Exchange - you have one more day to join in the fun!

P.P.S. Don't forget to join in the fun of my second Girl's Nest Giveaway for 2017. Entries close on Feb 5th.  Good luck!