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.

IHSW March 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.

My stitching bug has been MIA , nothing unusual, happens to me every time I come back from a vacation.As I wasn't stitching sitting at home, I decided to go out of the house and socialise instead on Friday. Saturday was my craft meetup and I'm very excited to share that a new cross stitcher has joined the group. She is an avid cross stitcher who stitches Mirablias , uses scroll rods and hand dyed fabrics ! It was so much fun to talk in cross stitch lingo..parking, HAEDs,start from the centre or side , linen. As I went out twice during the  weekend, I extended IHSW to Sunday to accompany you ladies.

I worked on two projects, something I don't do normally.
I stitched on Mill Hill Kit- Emma Owlet. This was a new start during my vacation and was supposed to be a  birthday gift for hubby. Well that didn't happen, blame it on my mom , she kept me busy in other things 😁. I don't have a before picture to show, just the latest progress. This is my first time stitching on perforated paper and beading. As much I hated stitching with three strands, I'm enjoying beading to my surprise.

Next I stitched on Indian Peacock by Dimensions.Before and after pics

Though I didn't stitch much during the weekend, I did select a new project to start and kit it.So overall a good IHSW.

I would like to thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post about my husband's stitching. All I can say is :I'm blessed.

I DID IT !!!! - Gifted Gorgeousnes SAL February Update

Hello Friends,

Hope you had a good Valentine's day if you celebrate. Mine was good, we had cake and didn't have to cook as we had leftovers for dinner and lunch is arranged in office today 😁.

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 have been eagerly waiting to show you this , I finished my nemesis project .. can you believe it? I finished all the cross stitches on 19th Jan , still it took me 2+ weeks to finish the back stitching and lettering. Back stitching is not my fav thing about cross stitch projects. I always try to avoid it or do the bare minimum but this time I followed the whole pattern. Though back stitching on this piece is not very heavy, I'm happy I finished it.

Without further ado, I present to you "Most Beautiful Things " by Candamar designs(excuse the wrinkles).

Most Beautiful Things

Started on : 4-Mar-2016
Finished on: 6-Feb-2018
Actual number of days:134
Stitched on: 25 count vintage lugana
Floss used :Kit floss
Designer:
Pattern source: Candamar designs
Number of colors: 17
Design Stitch count:137 H*110W
Actual stitch count = 4* Design count
Type of stitches: Full cross stitch, back stitch
Number of strands used :1 for Full cross stitches,1 for back stitch

This project has lots of first :

1. First kit bought and completed which turned out to be stamped because I didn't read the description properly.
2. First project bought online/on facebook.
3. First time switching fabric in the kit.
4. First time using evenweave
5. First time making changes to stitch count- I was a novice when I bought this kit and decided to switch fabric. The fabric change meant 1 cross stitch on pattern= 4 cross stitch in actual.
6. There are few counting mistakes in this project and instead of frogging them I improvised around them.

It won't be exaggeration if I say this project was like going on crafting journey, learning so many things including patience. There were times I thought of giving it up, sometimes I hated it because of the mistakes but in the end the result is worth it, don't you think? I have grown up with this project learning to improvise and make changes.

I really hope my best friend appreciates the labour behind this gift, I will make sure she does 😉.

I also made two small gifts this month but will save it for the Smalls SAL post.

P.S. I have achieved 1 of the only two crafting goals made for 2018.

2017 Crafty wrap up and 2018 plans

Happy New Year friends

I hope you had good time welcoming the new year, in whatever way you did. I had a day off and we had a relaxing time at home and I tried a new recipe which was a success.

I have been reading everyone's wrap up of crafty finishes in 2017 and plans for 2018. I love reading statistics...numbers and pictures speak to me rather than just plain text.

Let's see how I did with my 2017 goals.

Goals for 2017

1. Dedicate more time for crafting specially on holidays/vacation   ✔ Non crafting reduced from 42% in 2016 to 34% in 2017

2. Try blackwork       ✔ Made a blackwork ATC for swap

3. Learn 2 new ways of finishing cross stitch ❌ Only one new way, biscornu

4. Pick fabric painting again ❌

5. Keep trying to crochet       ✔ Made a crochet hat

Plans for 2017

1. Participate in following monthly SALs

a) New Year New Start with Stitch Maynia (FB group)- I will start Dimension kit "Indian peacock" on 1st Jan 2017. ✔

b) Tour de Designers 2017 - SODA stitch with Stitch Maynia (FB group) - I will start "The Love Rain" on 1st April. ❌

c) Tour de Designers 2017 - Lizzie Kate with Stitch Maynia (FB group)- I will start "I Cannot Count"  on 1st July. ❌

2. Blog SALs/Activities 

a. I will continue to participate in Gifted Gorgeousness SAL . ✔ Yes managed to post all months.

b. I joined Kaye's Friday Frolicking somewhere near April 2016 but shamefully posted only once in 2016. Will try to post more often. ❌ Posted only once

c. Catch up posts for The Alphabet Club. Haven't posted about this since April 2016. ❌ Posted only four times

Apart from above I joined the blog- A New Stitchy Start 2017 and posted only once. I also joined Theme-tas-stitch 2017 hosted by Kerry in February and posted 5 times for the SAL.

Wrap up for 2017 

2017 was clearly a year of exchanges, I participated in 4 cross stitch exchanges and had fun making things for my partners. I enjoy the process of getting to know my partners, making something they will like .I had a total of 6 cross stitch finishes this year. 

I added 9844 stitches to the only WIP from 2016

Progress as on 14th December 2016

Progress as on 31st December 2017

My new year start will be the second WIP I will carry into 2018.

Indian Peacock by Dimensions.Design by Suzanne Nicoll

Knitting caught my interest this year and I learnt some new stitches .I had 9 knitting finishes, achievement being finishing my first baby blanket. Shown here are 5 which have already been gifted.

I'm very proud to say that I hosted a national level knitting event -WWKIP day here in Kuwait. The event was a huge success with considerable media coverage.

I also helped my friend Tammy with a cross stitch workshop for kids in December.

I'm more confident with crochet now and made one hat for hubby.

A little about how much I spent this year on needlework:

Cross stitching supplies                                                 $51.8

Knitting supplies including badges for WWKIP              $122.4

Needlework exchanges                                                  $36.9

Apart from needlework, I took a dig at a new hobby: Postcrossing. It involves sending postcards to random people in the world and bringing a smile to their face.

I finished reading 7 books this year.

Just noticed that my last post was 100th post on my blog. I would like to thank my readers who visit and leave a comment on the posts. Your comments encourage me to blog.

Goals for 2018

I have set simple goals this year to craft every day and finish the WIP from 2016

Plans /SALs:

My choice of designs prevents me from joining any designer specific SALs. As the idea of a SAL is to stitch along with other crafters, I enjoy stitching and posting for a SAL, when the host is involved. By now I know which are the SALs host who make special efforts to leave comments.

I will be joining following SALs this year:

1. Gifted Gorgeousness

2. IHSW

3. I may join an Instagram SAL called #gardengatesal later in the year.

I'm thinking of joining Smalls SAL as usually I stitch birthday cards all thru the year. Need to check what the perquisites are for this SAL.

I will also like to blog more often and leave comments regularly on blogs I follow.

So that's it my friends for 2017 and I hope you have lots of crafting time in 2018.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL November Update

Hello Friends,

Hope you all are well and preparing for winters.

The weather here has cooled down and I'm enjoying the pleasant wind.

On to crafting, I have a FINISH!!! Yes you read it right...a finish.

I finally knit last stitch on the baby blanket I was making for my friend's baby. I washed it (in a washing machine,after lot of apprehensions) , blocked it and now its ready to be gifted to the baby. Now the question is , how will I send it to the recipient !

Here are few pics of the finished piece, which don't do justice to the beauty it turned out to be. I think I should take some class how to photograph handmade items.

Trying to gauge whether the size is enough

First attempt at blocking

Better blocking this time

Finished and ready to be gifted

The blanket took much longer than I expected,but I satisfy myself by saying , Hey its still quicker than cross stitch .😉

As this is my first big knitting project , I learnt so many new things related to this form of needle craft. I have realised that I need a lot of help from real people while learning something new  , videos and photos don't help me much. I like to talk to crafters about what to do, how to do and specially discuss my fears if I think something is not right.

I know many crafters swear by You Tube , that how they have learned new crafts entirely from you tube..Well videos aren't for me. May be that explains why I never liked flosstube , I tried watching-3 times but never developed a taste for that.

I'm back to stitching my Candamar design WIP, hopefully I finish it before my next trip to India, because that is when I will meet my friend,intended recipient.

I also wanted to share with you my new hobby: Postcard exchange. Until few years back I didn't know the concept of sending and receiving postcards, and now I have a dedicated account on Instagram for this hobby. I have also joined Postcrossing back in June and I'm thoroughly enjoying knowing people from different countries.

If you are interested you can check my account on Instagram : @minizpostcards

That's it for this month, I hope to show you some progress on my cross stitch next month.

Gifted Gorgeousness & September Smalls Theme-tas-stitch 2017 Check -in

Another two in one and quick post before I fly out to USA for our annual vacation tomorrow morning.

As you know, for me travelling means a chance to participate in exchanges and swaps. This time I have participated in three small easy swaps.

First is cross stitch ATC swap on Instagram . The theme for this month is Blackwork. I have been meaning to try blackwork since last year and is one of my craft goal for this year. too The rules for this exchange are quite simple and the size of cross stitch ATC should be 3.5" * 2.5",which means it can be stitched in 1-2 days.

Here is what I have stitched for my partner , hope she likes it and doesn't see this post before she gets it..ha ha

I stitched this cute owl card for a personal swap on Instagram . This card was a cover kit given to me by Kerry in our biscornu exchange in July. I don't know why it took me more than a week to stitch this but atleast I wasn't a chicken this time and stitched the french knots.

Both these finishes qualify for Gifted Gorgeousness SAL & September Smalls Theme-tas-stitch 2017 SAL.
I have few other things to share with you but I will save it for later.

Thank you for your comments on my last post, I appreciate the time you ladies take out to visit my blog.
I have been in a weird mood where I read blogs but never comment, sorry for that.

I will try and leave comments after I'm back from holiday.

Till then stay safe my friends and happy crafting.

Lovely exchange with Preeti

Good morning friends ,

New day and a new month... where is the time flying.

I'm still recovering from my amazing holiday in the Himalayas , living in cottages overlooking rives/valleys , eating simple local food and soaking in the peace of the mountains away from internet , mobile etc.

One of the added advantages of travelling outside Kuwait is sending and receiving goodies to friends and fellow crafters.

One such goodie bag I received was from Preeti , we have been talking about an exchange since long, however the timing never clicked. I have been persistent and asked Preeti this February  again for the swap. This time it did work out.

Here is what Preeti sent me

We agreed on 2 handmade+ 5 extras for the swap. Look at the beautiful bird cross stitch Preeti made for me, so pretty and colorful (and  big as per swap standards). Lesley Teare is one of my favourite designers, and Preeti chose a perfect pattern to stitch for the swap.

As Preeti and I do crochet and knitting respectively in addition to cross stitch, we added items made using these crafts.

Goodies sent by Preeti include burlap ribbons, cookie cutters, crochet diya hanging -very appropriate for Diwali celebrations,  buttons ,easel and a postcard.

Thank you Preeti, I love everything in the package and the cross stitch and heart hangings are already adorning the walls of my house.

You must have seen what I sent to Preeti on her blog, just a quick round up here

I made a biscornu for the cross stitch handmade , my first and I'm pretty happy the way it turned out. I have always been intrigued and intimated by biscornus , so I decided to  come out of comfort zone and try making one for the swap. Biscornu expert Kerry was consulted in the process and the result is here.

Pattern by Faby Reilly

The design called for beads, which I didn't have but I think it looks good without beads . What do you think?
For the second hand made I made some knitted coasters , again a first for me.

For the goodies I added some linen, backing fabric, Mill hill kit , needle minder, scissor fob, stationery to the package.
I'm happy to say that the gifts have been well received .

The easy part about the swap with Preeti was that we have similar tastes and choices of what themes we don't stitch or make. As we both are from same cultural background it was easy to understand what the other person likes.Not that I don't like swapping with my crafty friends across the globe 😁

Preeti , thank you for the wonderful swap . I throughly enjoyed making these little items for you and I look forward to more such swaps in future.

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 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 2¹⁄₂ by 3¹⁄₂ 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.

July wrap up

Hello Friends,
Another month has come to an end and it's time for a monthly report.

I participated in Just one July SAL organised by Justine this month. As you know ,I have been stitching my EMS Flower of the Month project for this SAL.Here are some progress shots:

Left shows my progress before the start of  SAL.
Completed September flower on 7-Jul-16

Worked on some borders

Finished October flower on 23-Jul-16

Progress on November flower as on 30-Jul-16

I have now decided to stitch this piece until its completed.

Remember I told you I will show you some stash in my next post.My friend K is back from States and has bought me goodies.
First is my win from Mii Stitch's fourth blog anniversary giveaway.Thanks Mii, I love it!

Did I tell you that I have been tempted to buy Dimensions Kits since long? I love the designs they have to offer . However, I had read about how the aida in kits is rough and stiff and people run out of floss.To avoid these problems, I was looking to buy only a chart . Didn't get much success in that.So, I went ahead and bought a design which has been on my wish list

Isn't these beautiful? Do you know Peacock is National Bird of India? This is my first time buying cross stitch item from Ebay and I was a bit skeptical based on the feedback on various forums. Thank God , the seller sent me an original kit.

Here is my monthly stitching pie or should I say crafting pie

I have often mentioned that I'm part of a wonderful craft group here in Kuwait and we have regular meetups .We usually meet in coffee shops like Starbucks however it has been my intention to meet at new places so that we can explore Kuwait along with crafting.
Mid of July we met at a coffee shop called Lobelia Cafe. Its a small coffee shop with a vintage chic theme and the colors used are white and pink.The cafe has a sea view and we enjoyed our time there.

Yesterday we met at THE One, which is a cafe and Furniture store , isn't that a quirky combination

You can see a price tag hanging from one of the chairs here.

Thank you for your feedback on the blogger issues. Trust me I'm not as worried about the number of comments on my blog as about my posts showing up on the dashboard of  my followers.Turns out one of my followers wasn't able to see them .
Blogger issues still continue as I saw some weird feed on other blogger accounts. Hope the blogger team works on this soon.

It's time for our annual vacation and me and DH are busy planning . Any guesses what our destination country is this time?

Have a happy Sunday .