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, 

October Gifted Gorgeousness... and October Smalls SAL update....

Hello my dear bloggy, stitchy friends, this is going to be a rather full GG post as it was my birthday this month (58 - where does the time go?), so I have some lovely gifts I was given to show you,  plus I took part in a couple of fun exchanges. So hang onto your hearts for some Gifted Gorgeousness...

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.

Let's start with this GG piece did not quite make it into last month's post. But here is my finished and framed Where Flowers Bloom, which I stitched for a dear friend's 60th birthday.

Where Flowers Bloom

Blackbird Designs

unknown linen (although gorgeous to stitch on)

Own choice of speciality floss

I stitched this year (2016) and her initials in the bottom right corner.  Happily, she was delighted with her gift.

Next up is this gorgeous fridge magnet, which my Dear Friend, brought back from Scotland for me - it is Mary, Queen of Scots.  This feeds right into my Tudor fetish! lol!

The same dear friend, also gave me this sweet little ornament Wedgwood Jasperware teapot - so it was added to my collection of china and crystal.

Let's see, what else?

DD's London blanket is coming along nicely - I am well underway with Colour five, only four to go.  Furio seems to approve.

Now, I am coming to my Tea Cup/Mug exchange, hosted by the wonderful Stephanie from the sweet blog, The Enchanting Rose and you can read all about the Tea Cup/Mug exchanges here.

My first "Receive" was the Mug exchange, with the wonderful Gina, who luckily lives not all that far from me, so we were able to meet up at a local cafe, coincidentally on my birthday - so it was very nice receiving all of these lovely gifts .....

Look at all of the wonderful goodies she gave me, you spoilt me terribly, dear Gina.

Thank you, dear Gina, I absolutely love everything, which you so thoughtfully chose for me.

Next up, I received the Tea Cup Exchange in the mail from Lyn.

More gorgeous gifts ....

                                         Take note of the Tea Cup....

Yes, the Tea Cup and the Mug are the exact same design - how cool is that?  Talk about serendipity.

 Thank you, sweet Lyn, more gorgeousness for me, aren't I lucky?

But, there was more to come, dear, sweet Jo, to whom I sent a tea cup, sent me a thank you gift!

So kind of you, Jo, I am so glad that you liked your Tea Cup gifts and I adore my new Cat door plaque. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well, I am sorry to say that I forgot to take photos of what I sent to two other ladies (not Gina or Lyn, the exchange did not work like that) but if you visit Stephanie's blog, The Enchanting Rose, on November 2nd you will be able to see all of the exchanges.

Smalls SAL ....

Now, it has taken me so very long to write this post that it is now time for my October Smalls SAL post - oh boy!

Not much to show, only two Smalls finishes this month and one of them is a little largeish, but I am counting it anyway!

First up is Summertime Stitching by LHN.

Stitched on 28 count Mocha linen using the suggested CC floss.

In the spirt of transparency, I must tell you that I made a very big boo boo but I think that I overcame it okay.

If you look at the first picture and see where the little heart shape in red is on the ground, nearest to the house.  Well, the two blooms to either side are meant to be beside each other but I totally miscalculated, so I ended up with all of this blank space.  To rectify it, I added the extra heart-shaped bloom and two more bluebirds.  I must say, I am actually very happy with my slightly different finish.

What do you think?

The other is Share the Spirit by Eudora Designs, stitched on 28ct Willow linen using Victorian Motto Shoppe Christmas Red and Green floss.

Okay, I am finally going to post this NOW!

Remember, if you want to check out everyone else's GG posts, 

click HERE

and

if you want to check out everyone else's Smalls, 

click HERE

Hugs, 

P.S. Off to Kangaroo Island tomorrow for a week's holiday with TraderVic and some dear friends, so I may not be on blogger much, although I will post on Monday for the Halloween Blog Hop.

K