Smalls SAL April Check-in

Hello Friends,

Its last friday of the month , time to show what smalls we stitched during the month. I'm participating first time in Smalls SAL this year hosted by Heather. I decided to join this SAL as I usually stitch birthday cards or exchange pieces throughout the year and this gives me an additional chance to blog.

I have two small finishes for this month.

I made this birthday card for my friend Z. I chose this card in hope to use the gingham ribbon I had in my stash, had to use a polka dot one as the one I had was wider.

Gorgeous Gingham
Designer : Joanne Sanderson
CrossStitcher Issue 212

I also tried something new this time, made a beaded coaster. My mom gave me lots of these beads this time and I didn't know what to do with them as I hardly stitch projects that call for beads. So i tried making this coaster with blank cork coasters bought from IKEA. The beads are glued on . I think I have an idea what I can do to get better results next time.

Another small finished is this office project. I have recently started keeping small kits or cover kits in my office drawer as they are easy-to-use and make quick projects. When I selected this design I didn't know what I can do with this but then I thought it will be a good birthday card for one of my UK pen pals.
You see her birthday is in June but as it takes 2-3 months for mail to reach UK from Kuwait , I made it well in advance.My friend doesn't visit my blog so its safe to post here.

Beefeater
Heritage Crafts kit

Well if you are ogling over how neat the finishing is, its all thanks to my friend Jo. She sent me these blank aperture cards for our swap back in 2015. Thank you Jo, they came in so handy.

I hope you like these Smalls. Looking forward to see what other Small Stitchers have to show.

IHSW April Check-in

Hello dear friends,

It's time to show what I stitched for International Hermit & Stitch weekend . If you don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thursday to Saturday and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

I extended my IHSW to Sunday this time as my current WIP fitted the theme for Earth Day SAL on Stitch Maynia . I don't have a before picture , here are the progress pics on Friday and Sunday. Rosey here is a picture of  Twitch in the background.

I guess you can very well tell now that these are vases. I know it looked like a blue penguin(is that possible?) when I last showed you the pic for my GG post. Jo correctly guessed that it was a vase, I don't know how.

Not much progress because we went for 2 roof top movie screenings over the weekend. We are trying to make the most before we are hit by summer. For the uninitiated , while the western world waits for summer , we in Middle east run and hide from the summer heat. 
I downloaded few memes to help you understand whats summer like here 

Summer in Middle east

While in the UK or USA

Is this how your Summer looks like?

Its going to be 50 deg C (122 F ) soon and we will be stuck indoors. Even getting out in night will be tough. Don't worry everything here is air conditioned :houses, shops, offices but it can be as depressing to be indoors all the time due to heat as it can be due to snow.

So while enjoy last days of sitting outside , I hope you guys enjoy the spring or end of snow in your part of the world.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL April Update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I never got around to write a second GG post last month, so I will show the gifts I received in February & March.

I met my college friends during my last visit to India and was treated with beautiful handmade gifts.

First is a lovely crochet scarf made by friend S. I would like to be a narcissist here and tell you that I have been after S for picking up a hobby and pushing her to crochet whenever she gets time. I take a little pride in telling that she now crochets regularly and creates handmade beauties.

Next is a painting made my bestie . I love the blast of colors in this one, it even has my name Mini written in Hindi.

My friend A painted this coffee mug for me 

Birthday gifts from Tammy, elephant cross stitch card and chime from Sri Lanka and Cat cross stitch which resembles my cat Twitch.

If you are wondering will I ever show what gifts I made, the answer is yes.
I started a new project for which I may get triple GG points
1. The design is from a gifted magazine by Tammy
2. The fabric is a gift from a cross stitcher I met thru fb
3. Its a gift for my mother's 60th birthday.

Now only if you can guess what it is:

For anyone guesses it right, will get a postcard from me. 😀

Mid-life crisis:
I have been doing a lot of thinking these days about life , my goals , what I want to do in future . I took a one week break from crafting to get some perspective. Still looking for answers so crafting has taken a back seat and I'm OK with that for now. Meanwhile I'm enjoying cooking new recipes and most of my weekend time is spent in kitchen.

It's a long weekend here and we are enjoying the extra time at home, watching television ,sleeping and playing with my cat.

That's all my friends, I will be back with a IHSW report next week.