You Are You and That's Enough

Isn't this a beautiful quote and something we females need to hear and say to ourselves often...

As females we play many roles of a partner, wife, mother, daughter, daughter in law, sister , care giver...the list is endless.

However, while playing these roles, there are times when we start doubting ourselves- Am I doing enough? Am I being a good mother while aspiring for a successful career? Do I fit the mould of a good wife defined by society?

I'm sure we all have been there, when we felt we could do more. As females, we have high expectations of ourselves , being our worst critics while others around us get may get praised for doing the bare minimum.

I stitched this quote for my Penpal's 40th birthday ... she is a go getter , always trying to fit more in her routine.

When the idea of stitching something for her big birthday came in mind, I knew I didn't want to stitch anything girlie or cutesy...

I decided to consult her what she wanted me to stitch , we discussed some sarcastic work/office related quotes . Well, then life happened and I got late in stitching her gift.

I liked this Emma Congdon design and finally decided to stitch this one.

I have been meaning to use my decent collection of laces and ribbons, all gifted by my mom and cross stitching friends.

Lace selection

Once the ribbon was selected, I explained the framer how to incorporate that in the frame.

As usual, I forgot to take a proper picture before framing. I see some minor issues with framing, let's see if you guys can spot it too.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL September 2020 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 an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

After a month of no cross stitching, here I am presenting a small gift I made for my mother's birthday which is today.

Pattern name :All My Love
Designer : Lesley Teare
Pattern source: Cross Stitch Crazy Magazine, Mar 2016

My mom visited us in January and liked the basket of cross stitch ornaments I had on display. Since then , she has expressed her desire to make some for herself but she didn't have the supplies. So I thought what better idea gift than something she wanted to make herself.

She liked the gift and hinted that she would like some more. That should give me some more entries for GG posts .😀 

As its her birthday today, I would like to share something about my mother. My mom married at an early age of 21, moved to live in a state the language of which she didn't speak. She learned the language, changed her dressing style ,learned the cuisine of the new state along with other challenges of married life . For those unaware, language , cuisine and attire changes across every state of India.

My mother has been the main force behind my brother's and my education and career. She wanted us to do best in our fields even if it meant defying the norms for young girls specially.

Every craft I know has been taught by mother. She knows knitting, macrame, crochet, cross stitch, Indian embroidery, sewing to name a few.

She is an amazing cook and loves to feed people. Even with limited income of my father, she helps needy now and then with food and paying the school fees.

She is protective of family, is always there to support them thru tough times. She  encourages me to pursue hobbies when I get busy with job and life.

She inspires me to be a better person everyday.I know she won't read this, but I felt like sharing it with you ladies.

Also, a very happy birthday to our wonderful GG SAL host Jo, who amazes me the amount of stitching she gets done with work and family, hosting SALs and blog hops.

Wishing you a great stitchy year ahead Jo.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March 2020 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 an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I finished stitching the Lizzie Kate piece I showed you in my last GG update.My version:

This is how the original finished piece was supposed to look like

I decided not to stitch the beads but I may add them one day.The pattern was a giveaway win and the fabric was received in a swap.

14th of March was my husband's birthday and it has become a tradition to stitch something small for him every year, mostly a suprise. For last three years I have stitched a owl for him, as we both love owls. He once mentioned that enough of owls now..so I decided to stitch something which he loves more than owl?-Cats

Its always fun to look for patterns in stash or online to meet liking of the recipients.I picked up a free pattern by Tom Pudding and started stitching.Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it on time as I only get an hour of stitching when he is not around. I showed the incomplete piece to him on his birthday and he was still appreciative .

Another piece I can show in gifted category is this bookmark which I made for a bookmark swap in 2017, only to find my partner is allergic to felt. The same group was organising a  bookmark swap this month and I asked my partner about her allergies. She said she has none. Out came this bookmark from my stack of finished pieces.

The buttons were received in a swap with Preeti and the felt was given to me by my cat's earlier owners/parents.

Giveaway Update:

No one showed interest in the pattern I offered in my last GG post, so now the pattern is up for selling.

As we are talking about selling, I have first time put up some of my stash for selling on facebook. Most of the patterns were the ones I have already stitched and were beginner level so none of you blog friends would have liked it. 

I think with each passing year I'm becoming more and more particular about not hoarding things (OCD?). The moment I stop using a thing- be it a piece of cloth, footwear,bag,utensil or cross stitch pattern, I want it to give it away ASAP.

Its not a space problem or I need money, its just that my mind feels calm when I don't have extra things in my house.

Other life updates:

I hope you all are keeping safe with the pandemic hitting almost all countries of the world. My city is under lock down, I'm working from home and observing social distancing.

It was my birthday last month and I was spoil rotten by my husband. He got me a customised cake on theme of a Indian postcard as snail mailing is my new hobby.

 I also got a new phone and these beautiful flowers. We went for brunch and watched a movie . It was a lovely day.

This has become a long post. Ending with prayers for everyone to be safe and calm.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March 2019 update & IHSW

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.

Not much to show this month as life has been keeping me busy, I have some news to share..wait for it...

The only gift I worked on this month is birthday card for my husband . 

His birthday was yesterday and I finished it today 😆.This year I didn't stitch a surprise for him , I told him when I selected the design that this is for your birthday :) . Well the design is perfect for him, he loves owls, but this pattern killed my mojo big time . You see the number of colors and back stitching bothered me so much that it took me 10 days to stitch this small a project. The pattern is from Lesley Teare's free Owl SAL but I have decided not to stitch anymore of the owls from the SAL.

 I may have been a day late in the birthday card but we did have a good birthday celebration . We invited some friends over and home cooked food was served. Everyone liked the food and the guests left by mid night.

Now to show some gifts I received for my birthday...

These gifts are from Tammy. Tammy and I are almost birthday twins and we have been exchanging birthday gifts since we met.  Tammy always gets me cross stitch gifts from her travels to USA, Jerusalem, UAE and Sri Lanka.  Thank you Tammy for the birthday gift and the travel souvenirs.

This week is also IHSW...time to be a hermit and stitch all weekend, something I wont be able to do 😀as I didn't stitch yesterday due to my husband's birthday celebration.

Still,I need to work on some quick gifts now, so its time to pick knitting needles. See you next month with another GG post.

Have a good weekend friends.

Smalls SAL March 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, first is the one I wasn't able to show you in February.

I made this very simple birthday card for Tammy. Added some other small knitted items made in December to her birthday package.

The birthday card pattern is by Diane Machin, published in All-Occasion Charts, TWOCS, Issue 203. I have noticed that some designers are regular in magazines but its hard to find their designs otherwise. Diane Machin is one ...

Love Heart by Amanda Berry

The Almost Lost Washcloth by Julie Tarsha

Another small I made was Finn Owlet from Mill Hill for my owl loving husband's birthday.

Quite happy with my first mill hill kit finish, I think I might buy some more .

That's it my friends, I hope you have a Happy Easter if you are celebrating and enjoy your long weekend.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March Update-When you are spoil rotten by the hubby

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 received lots of hand made gifts during my recent visit to India but I would like to dedicate this post to surprise gifts I got from my husband. My husband is an avid supporter of my hobbies and goes out of the way to help me in my hobbies. He has creative genes in his body but chooses to use them only for me,I mean while making gifts for me.But this time he has outdone himself or I won't exaggerate if I say this is the best cross stitch gift I have ever got.He designed and stitched this for my birthday :

A cross stitch of Kuwait Towers, will be a perfect souvenir of our time in Kuwait

This is a cross stitch of Kuwait Towers, most famous landmark in Kuwait. When he gifted me this after a overnight flight , I was so sleepy I told him that I will look at it later.After a good sleep, when I saw it, my jaw just dropped. The colors are just so true to real life monument.He hasn't used pic-to-pat or any free online service to convert a picture. He designed this in MS excel , chose the colors from DMC palette and stitched it. Look how neat, all the stitches go in same direction...Wow ..just wow.Poor guy tells me each day after coming home from office he would eat food and just stitch so that he can complete the gift before I come back.

For people living in Kuwait or in this part of the world,it is very difficult to find patterns representing local culture or history. All the crafters I have met since I moved to Kuwait say there aren't any Kuwaiti designs available. This makes my gift more special...

Can you believe this is stiched by a newbie who has no experience of designing or cross stitch,has only done embroidery in school as part of craft class?

As if this wasn't enough, he bought me a sewing machine.I have been thinking of buying one since few years but couldn't justify the cost as I only use it twice a year . Don't worry I won't be getting into making dresses or clothes, it will be used for cross stitch finishes and mostly to alter my clothes.

Brother JA1400

Wait there is more, I was packing my knitting WIP for the holiday the night before the flight, when I casually said Hubby can you fix me a row counter? He goes out of the room and brings me one...this man can read my mind, I tell you!

A very simple knit counter perfect for my projects...I love it.

I feel so blessed to have a partner who not only supports my hobbies but puts in efforts to understand my craft needs and create gifts which suit my taste.

I will write a separate post for the other gifts soon, first to see if Jo will allow me to link up twice in a month. 

Meet "Mini me"

Isn't that an interesting title, probably brings a lot of diff thoughts in the reader's mind.

Well I'm talking about a doll which my friend Z made for my birthday.

Let me explain why its Mini Me. The doll is wearing the same kurta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurta) ,leggings, peep toe footwear which I was wearing the last I met Z before my birthday. The hair is similar to mine. Talking about attention to details: she is holding a hoop and needle, wearing earrings like me and the cherry on the cake is the mole on the cheek ,similar to one on my face.
The moment I saw her , I couldn't believe the resemblance, not to forget the talent my friend has to replicate me in a crochet doll. This is the best handcrafted gift I have received till now.

                    

Here she is trying to finish my UFO

Thank you Z for the love..I'm falling short of words to thank you.
Z will be celebrating her birthday on Sunday  and I made few things for her, nothing as beautiful as the doll. Z is a coffee lover and I hope she likes the gifts.

Coffee Lover: Freebie from Kincavel Krosses
Stitched on 32 count Cognac Linen (gifted by Diya )
Using Anchor Variegated Floss

I have been trying to make some knitted items and in the process learning new stitches. This cup cozy uses seed stitch which gives a good texture to the finished piece.

Handmade tag using old calendar bookmark , which was a gift from a fellow cross stitcher

If you haven't guessed it until now, this post is my entry for Gifted Gorgeousness SAL for the month of April,run by our fav blog host Jo. For this SAL, we show what hand crafted gifts we made or received every month.

I have some more gifts to show , however I would save it for next month as I don't want to take attention away from my beautiful doll.

I hope everyone is having a good stitchy weekend in their corner of the world.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March 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.

As you know it was my birthday last month, I received a wonderful package from Tammy when we last met at our craft meetup in the Secret Garden. What's the Secret Garden, well I would like to write a post about that ..

The package contains goodies she brought me from Sri Lanka:tea, cinnamon,soap, and hand crafted crochet heart, doily , wash cloth, brooch. My favourite is the heart 💗

Yesterday was my husband's birthday, and I made him a card. He loves Owls and has requested me to stitch owls in the past.. This was a surprise for him and why do I mention it specifically ? Well my friends, my husband and I are together 24 hrs a day(not complaining). We work in the same office , in the same department and even can see each other's computer screen. So arranging surprises is tricky.

Designer:Jayne Schofield
Pattern: Cross Stitch Crazy, May 2015

Whenever I want to stitch a surprise for him, I have to wait until he sleeps or goes for grocery shopping... ha ha. See what I did here, I want you to steal some limelight as DH has been getting all the praises for the gifts he has given me in last few months which I showed here on blog😁

Not much else to show, I have a new start and tiny progress on a WIP which I will save for the March Madness post.

We were hit by worst of dust storms on Tuesday. The visibility was very low and driving was a challenge. Thankfully it has subsided now..but it marks the start of summer , not a welcome season in this part of the world.
I have been reading on blogs how the weather has been unpredictable in other parts of the world, blizzard, snow or high temperatures.Sometimes these things make me sad and wonder is it global warming ? I hope you are safe in your part of the world.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL Feb Update

Hello Friends,

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post and birthday wishes . My birthday this year was extra special  as my brother visited us here in Kuwait and we had a blast . We explored new places in Kuwait, ate good food and talked for hours. Isn't spending time with family the best way to celebrate a birthday?

I know I'm late for the GG post this month as I was saving the post to show you gifts I sent and received .

So here it goes, first are the gifts I received from my craft group for Valentine's day.

Starting from top: Crochet heart from Tammy, Middle one from Z, tiny yellow heart is my attempt to make a knitted heart and was given to DH.

This year I decided not to buy any stitchy gifts for my birthday as I'm trying to finish what I have in my stash. My humble stash of 3 years of cross stitching is nothing compared to what I see here on the blogging land but I have been trying to optimize what I buy and keep in my stash.

DH surprised me with this beautiful photo frame of my stitching finishes . I love it. I have been trying to make a dairy of my finishes with photos of projects and details, so this gift is right up my alley.In the center, it says "Wish you a stitchy year ahead"

Moving on to gifts made

Two small finishes for Tammy's birthday.

As I mentioned I have been optimizing my stash, I conducted a giveaway for a facebook group I moderate. Nothing fancy, few duplicate charts and patterns for cover kits I have stitched.

Last but not the least, is the gift I'm stitching for my bestie. Some progress since my last update , even though I made a big boo boo and I'm trying to work around it .

Bottom section

Top right

That's it for this month. Tomorrow starts March Madness for Theme-tas-stich SAL and I will  start a few small projects for that.