Smalls SAL _ April 2017

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

First up is a Small which I forgot to post about in February (although I did post about it here on my March GG post).  It was the initial heart pillow which I stitched for the Swap organised by Cheryll for Valentine's Day.  This was sent to Sharmayne.

This is a modified Blackbird Designs piece.

This is most my recent Smalls finish - it the scissor fob design for Barbara Ana's A Snooty Parrot Sampler SAL (which I started in 2014!)

I have a sweet photo frame that was my mother's (we found a box of them when we cleaned out Mum and Dad's house in January - my DDIL persuaded me to keep the box of them for my stitcheries and I am so glad that I listened to her as they have been useful already), so I am thinking of framing it instead - maybe keeping it on my desk at work as it is such a sweet finish.

Next up is a FFO of my March Smalls SAL finish and the FFO of another long finished stitchery - both into cushions.

With the top cushion - I again, literally checked out my fabbie stash and pulled out this gorgeous paisley fabric which matched the design perfectly and when I didn't have enough for the back, I went back and pulled out the plain burgundy fabric - I think that this shows that I have way too much fabric!

I also found the perfect pearl ribbon floating around in my bits and bobs drawer!

I also found the perfect pearl ribbon floating around in my bits and bobs drawer!

I also finished stitching and FFOed March for the 2004 Cross Stitch Surprise series (January to December) 

... and I am very happy to report that I am way ahead on my "Smalls" finishes for both the  Hallowe'en Ornie SAL and the Christmas Ornie SAL.

February: Witchy Poo

March: Creepy Crawly Spiders

April: Winged Creatures

May: The Witch's Familiar, the Black Cat

Day Three: Three French Hens for March.

Day Four: Four Calling Birds for April

... and Day Five: Five Gold rings for May (although to be fair, this block was finished in January for a FB challenge).

And here is the whole piece so far - lots of border to keep me busy over the next few months until it is time to finish Six Geese-a-laying for June.

So, I am feeling very, very happy with all of my Smalls achievements!

If you would like to see what everyone else has stitched this month for the Smalls SAL, please click here.

hugs, 

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL_April Update

I know, I know, my blogging mojo seems to be in a bit of a hiatus!

If you look at my sidebar, you will see that I started the year racing, straight out of the blocks - with 19 posts for the month, the next few months were less than half that and this post is only my fourth one for April and the month is nearly over!  

Oh dear, I wish I knew where my blogging mojo has gone but I am still stitching A LOT, however I am finding that I am using Instagram a lot more (and then I share to FB and Twitter).  If you would like to follow me on social media, my user name is Kaisievic (or you can see some links in my sidebar)

Lately, I have also been posting more on two of my other blogs - Kitten Stitching and Friday Frolics and the Americana SAL - so you can check out what I have been up to there, as well.

Anyway, I had better get on with the post - there is lots to catch up on

So, here is my very late (fourteen days and counting) Gifted Gorgeousness April Update.

Now, if 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.

.... and I have so much Gorgeousness to show you - I really don't know where to start!  

But start I will, with the Tea Cup and Mug Exchange, organised by the wonderful Stephanie from the The Enchanting Rose.

This was the Tenth Tea Cup and Mug Exchange that Stephanie has hosted and I decided to enter into both.

First of all I received this gorgeous tea cup and other lovely gifts from sweet Libby.  

Thank you so much, dear Libby, I l love everything and thank you for your lovely letter, too - I promise to email you very soon.

Then I received this great mug package from Augusta - more lovely goodies, thank you, my dear.

And this is what I sent...

My Mug package for Janae.

... and my Tea Cup package for Tanya. 

(sorry for the sideways pictures)

Such a wonderful exchange, thanks for organising it, Stephanie.  Click here to see the big reveal post on Stephanie's blog.

Next up is the Easter Exchange, which I hosted.  Not sure if I will host one again, as I am not sure I have the time to commit to the administration of it.

I sent my Easter gifts to Ariadne.  

This is what I received from dear Carmie (no blog)- I love the needle book, thank you, my dear.

I also have a couple of other GG projects....

This is my progress on "Afternoon in Paris" by CCN, which I am stitching for a friend's 60th birthday.

and here is my progress on "Nutcracker Sampler" (the design was gifted to me by my dear friend Melinda.)

I have nearly finished the Santa nutcracker.  I am thinking that I will back stitch each nutcracker when I finish him - that way the back stitching won't be too overwhelming.  What do you think?

Okay, I am finally done with this post.

If you would like to check out all of the other wonderful GG posts for this month, please click here.

Have a great weekend, 

hugs, 

Lest we forget!

Thank you for your service to our country, Dad.

I love you so much and I am so proud of you.  You are an inspiration.  

You know, Dad told me recently that, despite his few troubles when he was younger (three and a half years in the infamous Changi POW camp) and losing my mother at the end of 2013, he was a very lucky and contented man!  An inspiration indeed.

Then:

Now!  97 years young.

hugs, Kaye

A very late Smalls Update_March...

Hello, Hello, a very late Smalls Update for March for me, I am so sorry!

But here is my Smalls finish:

                                     Do more of what makes you happy

Abbey Rose Designs

32 count grey spot linen

A mixture of suggested floss and my own choice of overdyed.

Phew! Just made the link up with three hours to spare!

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

If you would like to see everyone else's Smalls, please click here.

hugs, 

P.S. I just realised that this is my first Smalls SAL post for the year - but I don't want to miss the Link up, so April will have to be a catch up post. lol!

The Alphabet Club_Saturday Detention for U

                        

                              

 

                     IS FOR 

                       ULURU

Yes, that great big rock in the middle of Australia!

 And as you can see from this rather fuzzy diagram below, it is HUGE!

I have been privilege enough to visit Uluru in September/October 2014 and it is absolutely amazing!  Here are some more pics to show you (not mine but from the internet).

Beautiful, isn't it?

But did you know that recently, Uluru was like a waterfall?

Quite amazing, isn't it?

Of course, Uluru is a sacred site to the original inhabitants of this land, the Anangu people and the National Park is jointly managed by the Anangu and Parks Australia.

If you want to read and see more about this amazing place, please follow this link to the Parks Australia site - it is well worth having a look at.

Anyway, that is all from me for the Letter U but let me explain what The Alphabet Club is all about ....

  It is the brainchild of Chiara from The Grey Tail and Jo from Serendipitous Stitching and is loosely based on the premise of the movie "The Breakfast Club" - you can see the button for The Alphabet Club on my right sidebar.

On the first Saturday of each month, members of the club have "detention" and have to post about something that will enlighten others about their culture (as blogland is so diverse).  Of course, there should/could be something stitchy in there, if possible (although I seemed to have moved right away from that premise as the months have gone by, instead focusing on boring you all with quirky facts about Australia - lol!)

Each month will be a different letter of the alphabet - hence the club's name - and, of course, we started with "A" and now we are up to "U".

You can see everyone's Alphabet Club posts, here.

hugs,