Sunday 25 September 2016

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL September Update

Hello Friends,

I'm back from a two week vacation in Greece . I had a time of my life and left a part of my heart there. I will probably dedicate a post to my Greece vacation. Between planning,packing and travelling ,I managed to stitch some gifts.

First is a small birthday gift I made for dear Jo
I made this washi tape card on handmade paper .I used to collect handmade paper in mid 2000s and recently brought my collection to Kuwait from India.

I also added a small pouch to her gift which I stitched during my vacation at my parent's house in February. I was saving it for the right occasion .This was a kit from Vervaco ,given to me by friend Linda, which I mentioned in my earlier post here,on her last day in Kuwait.

As all of you know about the postal issues in Kuwait, I'm always looking for opportunities to send mail to my friends , participate in swaps when I travel. My Greece vacation couldn't have happened at better time as I was able to send Jo some handmade love.

I also participated in a cross stitch ATC swap on Instagram.For those of you who haven't heard of ATC, here is what Wikipedia says Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) is a conceptual art project initiated by the Swiss artist M. Vänçi Stirnemann in 1997. He called it aCollaborative Cultural Performance. Artist Trading Cards are 212 by 312 inches (64 mm × 89 mm) in size, the same format as modern trading cards (hockey cards or baseball cards). They are self-made unique works or small series, signed and dated on the reverse by the artist/producer, exchanged and collected by the people who participate in the collaborative performance.


This is a monthly activity with rules and themes to follow. The theme for September was Astrology and my partner's sign is Pisces..what a coincidence.

After looking for patterns all over the internet and magazines , I decided to stitch Lesley Teare's astrology freebie. All except the February month freebie were available on her blog. I wrote to her and she promptly send me the pattern.

I had to skip the borders to meet the size requirement.It was sent along with a postcard with some envelope art.
If you wish to join the ATC swap on Instagram, I will happily pass on the details to you . The group is looking for more international stitchers.

August marked the end of vacation season in Kuwait with all the expats coming back from their respective home countries. My friend Tammy brought me wonderful gifts :A dimensions kit(does she know I'm addicted to Dimensions)? and World of Cross Stitching Magazine. Look at the freebie...a thread cutter .,appropriate for taking on airplanes. It did travel with me to Greece :)
My vacation in Greece involved a lot of travelling by bus and ferries. So I packed a cover kit and my knitting in my luggage . I love cover kits bcoz of the ease of carrying them around with all that's needed for stitching already available.This cover kit was also a gift .
Most of the days I worked on my knitting as its so easy to knit when you are travelling , no counting involved.
This will be a gift for my sister in law.

That's all for GG that I have to show you this month.

I have a developed a new hobby/interest lately ..Postcard exchange. I had mentioned about my love for postcards some time this year on my blog. While searching on Ravelry for yarn shops in Greece , I stumbled upon this group where members particpate in a Geographical Postcard exchange which is open to anyone.
I participated in 4 exchanges and postcards were sent to USA and Finland.
Here is what I sent.


I decided to put the postcards in an envelope(I'm always scared of loosing the mail) and decorated them. Happy to say that these were well received.

I received two postcards :one from USA and one from Finland.The one from Finland is of Aurora lights , reminds me of the famous dimensions kits.
All these swaps,gifts and postcards were sent and received in Greece , it was one of my favourite activity during my vacation.
One of the postcards was sent well before I started my vacation , so I'm guessing that Greek post liked the postcard so much that they decided to keep it. The fourth one was posted late and couldn't make it in time.
If any of my blog friends shares this interest and would like to receive a postcard, let me know. I will happily send one your way, when I travel next time.
I'm a bit behind in reading the blogs and I will visit you soon and read what you guys have been upto.

18 comments:

  1. Thank you again for my lovely card and gift. I was showing it to my son and I said "it's from an Indian lady living in Kuwait but she's posted it from Greece"!
    Love the little Pisces card, now I have to look up all the rest of them.
    Where did you get the Great Yarmouth card from? It's just up the road from me and they are our deadly rivals!

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    1. I'm so glad you liked my little gift.
      Ha Ha , the lady I sent the ATC swap said the same thing "it's from an Indian lady living in Kuwait but she's posted it from Greece"!
      The adventures of being an expat.
      The Great Yarmouth postcards were sent to me by a lady Kathy from whom I bought a few charts last year when I was in London.
      See this post.
      https://minizdiary.blogspot.com/2015/04/gifted-gorgeousness-overload-april-link.html

      What kind of rivalry do you have with GY? I never imagined there can be rivalry between two cities..lol

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  2. Sounds like you had a lovely vacation. Such a great selection of things given and received, and what fun to find people who share your interests.

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  3. Great post, Mini, lots of lovely goodies both given and received. I bet Jo was very pleased with her gift.

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  4. Mini you asked about one of the pieces I showed on my blog hop post. You can find it here http://www.catiacrafts.com/patch.html

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  5. You got so much accomplished while on vacation!! I love that Pisces ATC!! That sounds like so much fun to participate in but I am worried that I would drive myself foolish with the deadlines.

    I would love to trade a postcard with you but let me see if I can find some PEI postcards first. I will let you know when I do :)

    Can't wait to hear more about your trip and glad you had a great time travelling and are now home safe and sound :)

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  6. wow...that was a lovely post to read..so much of information. i was a cross stitch round robin addict for long time until i lost one in the mail..it was hard enough to digest and i stopped taking part in RR and exchanges...me too love all these exchanges but I'm scared of postal service after one experience...

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  7. Enjoyed reading your post. Hope you had a great vacation. In my lifetime I should own atleast one cross stitch magazine. I like the front look itself. ATC swaps and exchanges sounds new to me. Jo's gift was lovely. The postcards are beautiful. Goodluck with your postcard exchanges and ATC swaps.

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  8. Lovely stitching - your Pisces fish is very cute! I found the thread cutter very useful for travelling too.

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  9. Glad you had such a great trip. Much to see and do in Greece, that's for sure. And you got to mail things so that's a plus. (Darn! I still have that postcard.) Did not know you have a thing for Dimensions. Good to know.

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  10. Ooo you had a great GG this month and Jo's gift was awesome! The washi tape is amazing. And serendipitous that you were in Greece to send it off too. :) The Pisces ATC is great too.

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  11. You had a lot of swaps going on - and most of the exchange pieces were well received, which is really great. Because you never know ...
    ATC exchanges are a great thing and people are always so creative when making these cards. I have seen them on many blog, most that I have seen were patchwork cards, but some are also stitched like yours.
    Your gift for Jo's birthday is very special.

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  12. Lovely gifts and stitching, Mini!! You have been busy in lot of exchanges, nice to know you had a great time on vacation. Looking forward to your photos :)

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  13. Such a lot of lovely things in this post.

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  14. How wonderful to be able to travel to Greece, Mini--that is one of my dreams! Lovely gifts and exchanges you've had this month... Hope you enjoy these last few days of September and have a lovely October ahead :)

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  15. Fabulous makes and exchanges. Looking forward to the Greece post, sounds like you had a lovely time.

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  16. Sounds like you had a lovely holiday!
    Like the idea of a postcard exchange :o) Your gift for Jo is lovely :o)
    Hugs xx

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  17. I really like the Rose pattern pouch you have stitched ..it is so girly and romantic. I am so with you with the cover kits ..they are really easy to carry with while travelling :)

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