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.

Let The People Choose-March Update

Hello Friends,
First Saturday of the month I join Jo for The People's Choice SAL . Jo takes a poll for people to choose a topic for the month and the participants then post about stitchy projects related to that topic.

This month's topic is Coffee. I'm not a fan of hot drinks,be it tea or coffee. However I drink tea twice a day for psychological reasons.
When I started my career, people in my office used to take tea or coffee breaks. At first I didn't join them, then I realised these tea breaks were a way to relax one's eyes as we used to work on a computer for 9 hours, also time to chit chat a bit.
After working in the industry for 15 years , my mind asks for tea or coffee at defined hours of the day otherwise I feel tired.
I prefer coffee over tea , however coffee served in India contains milk and sugar unlike the bitter one I tasted on my first trip to USA.
During my time in Kuwait, I met people from all over the world and came to know that coffee is a big part of western culture. Our craft meetings were held in Coffee shops  and never in 4 years did I drink hot coffee.My go to drink was Frapuuchino.
Having said that I love cold coffee specially one served with one scoop with vanilla ice cream. Have you had one?
For obvious reasons I don't have any coffee patterns in my stash , however I stitched one for my friend in Kuwait.

This is a free pattern from kincavel krosses. 
I have saved this free pattern to be stitched for my coffee loving friends

Tea or coffee by Palko Lap 

Palko lap has many cute coffee patterns , go check the link out.

That's all I have to show related to Coffee.Have a nice day.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL February 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.

Happy to report that I have something to show this month:

I started a Lizzie Kate pattern on 19th of last month . Here is the progress till now:

The chart was giveaway prize I won on Tiffany's blog and the fabric was received in an exchange with Diya.

I have changed the fabric and colors from the ones suggested in the pattern. I'n using Anchor variegated floss for stitching the design.

I wanted to complete this before posting for GG , however as you can see that's not what happened.
I would like to pass this chart to one of my active blog followers , so if you are interested, leave a comment and spread the word. If you plan to follow me for participating in the giveaway, I accept that you interact thru comments in future.

I will draw a name on my birthday-27th feb and declare the winner in next GG post.I plan to finish stitching the pattern before that :)

An update I would like to share is that I have started working again after a planned break . I now work as a consultant so lesser working hours give me flexibility to manage the house and work properly.

The funny thing is while I was on a break and had so much time on my hands, I couldn't find inspiration to stitch. Now , I try to stitch everyday before going to work-duration varies from 5 mins to 1 hour.

My husband gifted me this cross stitch theme cup for my new office .

Another little handmade gift I got was this coin purse made using a sewing machine by husband's 85 year old aunt . She really inspires me with her zeal to create things at her age.

Not a proper gift but I made this quick card, using a lace heart I won thru a cross stitch giveaway on Instagram, for a secret Valentine's day exchange on Ravelry.

That's it for the GG update.
Its getting hotter here day by day and feels like summer ..not the good kind of summer which people in UK enjoy. 😂
Hope you have a good month with lots of stitching time.

Let The People Choose-January and February Update

Hello Everyone,
I hope the first month of new year treated you well. I have been busy busy..,in mind I composed the posts to be put up on the blog but never get around to post them in real.

As crafting has taken a back seat since I left Kuwait, I decided to join only two SALs this year, both hosted by Jo.One of those is The People's Choice SAL. Its an easy SAL where one theme selected is by us crafters for each month and then we post about it.

For January, the theme was Lizzie*Kate. It would sound like a repeated story but like Jo, I wasn't a fan of the designer  in the beginning as I felt that her designs required too many specific items like fabric and floss.
However, I have acquired a taste for them over the time as I could see how simple the designs were.

I have two Lizzie*Kate patterns in my stash , though my record keeper says three.Its driving me crazy that I can't trace the third.

I cannot count my day...Bought in 2015

This was won in a giveaway by Tiffstitch

For Februaury , the theme is Penguins ,my favourite creatures .

Stitched in Nov 2018, Pattern by Diane Machin

I have received two penguin ornaments in exchanges I participated:

Received in Dec 2018

Received in July 2015

I don't have any penguin patterns in my stash!
That's it for today, I hope to post on time for the next SAL.

Good bye 2019!

Hello beautiful people of the blog world,

Its last day of the year and decade 😊.

This year I'm no mood of looking back and accounting my achievements or learnings etc. Neither do I have any resolutions...I just want to be happy whatever year or day it is.

2019 surely brought a lot of changes in my life-Left Kuwait, Moved to India,moved into a new home,decided to take a break in my professional career, crafting bug missing...

The obvious reason I have not posted on my blog is that I haven't been crafting...I have been travelling a lot, attending weddings, entertaining guests and pursuing my hobby of snail mailing. No complaints here..just enjoying this phase.

I thought of posting for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL today before its too late.

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 finished a beanie for myself , as the pattern is a free one from the designer , I'm including this for GG SAL.

Layered Yarn beanie
Pattern from Gina Michele

The people at Immediate media company were kind  enough to offer January 2019 issue of CrossStitch Crazy magazine and December 2019 issue of The World of Cross Stitching  magazine on the first weekend of this month.

So , I'm shoe horning these as gifts too...

That's it from my side crafting wise.

I hope to craft more in 2020 and promise to be a better blog follower.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL October 2019 update and 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.

Also , it was IHSW this past weekend , so I'm clubbing these two in one post.

I actually stitched this IHSW after missing it for 6 months.

I started a new project on Friday morning and finished it yesterday evening.

Here it is:

Pattern source:Cross Stitch Crazy magazine, Issue 142

This will be sent to my best friend for her birthday in November. This finish gets double GG points as it was a gift in an exchange I did with Kerry (who sadly doesn't blog anymore) . 

The funny thing is Kerry forgot to send me the chart with the kit and then I contacted Kerry and the magazine to see if they can send me the chart. Well, it didn't work but I liked the design so much that I charted it in excel looking at the cover pic.

I still don't know the designer which is the case with all cover kits I have.

Some other crafting, I really enjoyed making these Diwali (Hindu festival of lights) cards and decorating postcards for Diwali wishes. The idea was to revive letter writing/postcard writing as in this digital media no one cares about a handwritten card.

While we are talking about Diwali, can anyone of you help me in locating the source and designer of this design?

There is serious shortage of designs depicting religions other than Christianity(no offence to anyone here) in the cross stitching world. So I was pretty happy to see the following design on The World of Cross Stitching magazine's facebook page.

If you have bought November 2019 issue of he World of Cross Stitching magazine and would like to share the original pattern with me , I would be really appreciate that.

It was nice feeling to stitch after a gap of months, hope I can continue this now.

Let the people choose-October-Cats

Hello Friends,

Today I join Jo for another SAL which she is hosting called THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE SAL. You can read about it on her blog.

The theme for October is Cats.  A theme many of us like, apparently cats are popular pet amongst  crafters.

I have stitched two cat designs, both were gifted to cat owners.

Stitched in 2015
NeedleMagic Inc. pattern

Stitched in 2019
Durene Jones' pattern

A few of cat patterns in my stash

CrossStitcher, Issue 317

Free Pattern from Michaela Learner at Cross Stitching Guild

Freebie from Durene Jones 

Durene Jones has many other cat freebies on her facebook page. Another popular designer with cat patterns is Margaret Sherry.

The post would be incomplete without a picture of my cat, Twitch, who is the sweetest cat on earth.

Purring off now..have a good week friends.