Online Advent Calendar - 22nd

Welcome to day 22 of the on-line advent calendar, as organised by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching
For your advent picture I'm sharing this lino-printed poinsettia card I made

Also a picture of my "Geek-mas" tree. Extra brownie points for anyone who can identify all the fandoms. 

Jo also asked us to share our favourite Christmas song. Lots of my favourite songs have already been chosen, but I thougfht you might enjoy this - the Sans Day Carol, a traditional Cornish Christmas Carol.

Happy Christmas to you all

The Last Gifted Gorgeousness of 2018

Running a little late this month, but I do have some things to show for December's Gifted Gorgeousness (for an explanation of Gifted Gorgeousness please see Jo's blog here)
First we have the Annual Needlecraft Haven Christmas Ornament Exchange. Here is the ornament I made and sent to Angi

And here is the gorgeous one I received from Julie

Not the best picture as I'd already hung it and had to climb on a chair to get the photo
Next a Secret Santa Exchange through the Craft, Craft and More Craft Group on Facebook - this is what I sent

And I received these fabulous personalised baubles for all the family

Even the cats were included

And finally a huge thank you for the Birthday gifts I received from lovely stitchy friends. A book token from Barb, and this amazing Marvel tote bag from Julie

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

At least around the front door.
I've decorated my wreath and hung it - white hydrangeas and silvered cones this year

And we've put out the pallet tree David made a couple of years ago, together with a new addition - a 3' willow Angel.

The tree is up in the house, but not decorated as the girls like to do that when they come home

Gifted Gorgeousness for November

Gifted Gorgousness time has rolled around again (See Jo's blog for a full explanation, but basically it is a monthly blog hop showcasing gift-related crafting/craft-related gifting).
I've got a couple of things I can show this month. The first is this skirt I made Naomi for her birthday, using a chiffon panel printed with Boticelli's Primavera, which just happens to be one of her favourite Italian Renaissance paintings.

And the second is this Christmas card hanger I made for Eloise. There is actually a full metre drop of the hanging strip, I just zoomed in to show the cross-stitch part.

The cross stitch design is by Whispered by the Wind, stitched in various orphan threads on Crafty Kitten's Belfast linen in Moondust. The finishing is done as you would for any hanging ornament, except that the top edge of a roll of sequin waste is sandwiched between the front and back of the bottom edge as it is sewn up.  (The sparkly "button" was part of the packaging on a fancy bar of soap from a couple of Christmases ago. Sequin waste and teeny clothes pegs from EvilBay)

Hallowe'en Exchange

I took part in the Hallowe'en ornament Exchange at Needlecraft Haven.
Here is the sugar skull ornament I made for Justine (Justine's phot as I forgot to take one before I sent it off)

And here is the gorgeous black cat ornament I received from Clare

Trick or Treat Hallowe'en Blog Hop

Welcome to the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Blog Hop!

I did some spooky crafting, but I sent it off for a Hallowe'en exchange and then realised I'd forgotten to take a picture of it first. Whoops! Anyway, just so there is a spooky picture here is the re-purposed doll's head planter I gave to Eloise as a house-warming gift, to give you the creeps.

Isn't it deliciously macabre - when you water it, it cries. (insert evil laugh here)

Your letter is 

Your next stop is

 http://chaosatlanta.blogspot.com

Gifted Gorgeousness for October

It's Gifted Gorgeousness time! You know the drill by now. (If not check Jo's blog for further details)
October isn't a particularly "gifty" month round here so there isn't much to see, but I did whip up these two little knitted skeleton dolls as Hallowe'en gifts for the girls. The pattern is by Clare Farrell and is available here)

Hopefully I'll have more to show next month.

The Start of Autumn

And as usual I'm a bit late with the last of my summer makes, and a bit early with the first of my Christmas ones.
I did think this little corduroy dress I made might be ideal for bridging the season, but we seem to have skipped the intermediate weather this year and jumped straight from Indian Summer into full on wild autumn. Oh well, perhaps with a nice chunky cardigan and some woolly tights...
This is the Zoe dress from Sew Over It, made in a beautiful soft needlecord from Seasalt Cornwall (yes you CAN buy their fabrics!).

I do love the shape and fit of this dress (and did I mention - pockets!) however, and I'm well on the way to making a 3/4 sleeved version in a heavier weight fabric. Cool sunflare in the picture too.
The very early Christmas crafting takes the shape of a stained glass workshop my friend and I attended at Craft4crafters.

I loved making these little tree decorations, and I may have to have a bit of a play with this technique and some of my ridiculously large mountain entirely proportionate and appropriate collection of seaglass.
Oh and I made a little skirt from a couple of upcycled t-shirts. I'll be listing this one on my Folksy soon,

I'm Late, I'm Late, For a Very Important Gifted Gorgeousness Date

I completely missed the posting date for Gifted Gorgeousness (see Jo's blog here for more details of this blog hop where we share our gift related crafting).
Not much new to show this month as I've not got a huge amount of crafting done but I did manage to make Naomi this sloth pattern Hawaiian shirt

Lets hope for more crafting time next month.

Summer Postcard Blog Hop

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching organises the best Blog Hops. This one is a Summer Postcard Blog Hop. We each sent a stitched picture (postcard) and a message, and received one in return.
Here is the lovely "postcard" I received from DJ at Tickled Pink in Stitches
Such a lovely stitched piece DJ, and it really does look like the perfect cosy place to sit and stitch

Visiting the land of the Midnight Sun, nothing like a little Northern Lights to inspire me to stitch!  Just think of all those lovely long nights snuggled in front of the fire stitching!  

DJ

August's Gifted Gorgeousness - Warning: Picture Heavy

It's time for Gifted Gorgeousness again - when we show our gift related crafting - for a full explanation see Jo's blog here.
This month I'm showing the gifts  sent and received in the VSCyberstitchers July exchange.
Here is the gorgeous sheep design pincushion I received from Margaret.

Isn't it beautiful? I just love everything about it - the design, the ruffly ribbon edging, that sweet little button...
And here is the little pillow I made for Linda.

I didn't have a pattern for this one, I saw a photograph of a similar design on Pinterest and sort of made my own version up.
Also in gift related stitching, a little something I made for Eloise's new kitchen.

And not gift-related at all, it was the Village Show yesterday, so here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Some of the flowers

 and pot plants.

Look at these stunning fuchsias.

Cookery Section: "Picnic for Two" and cakes,

jams, bread and children's cookery section

and some of the floral art,

and children's floral displays.

We did quite well, with quite a few individual class wins.

I got a 2nd prize with the little basket of peppers and aubergines front left in the picture, and a first with my cherry tomatoes, which you can see in the background.

Naomi got a first place with this flower arrangement. The theme was "Good Enough to Eat",  and lots of prizes for her baking, and art.

 Naomi's decorated cupcakes

One of her drawings

The overall prizes were a close run thing this year; Naomi was one point off winning the Most Points in Cookery Trophy, whilst luck swung the other way for me and I took the Most Points in Handicraft Trophy by a single point. I also won the trophy for Best in Show Art with this pastel picture

.
Bonus blog points if you can tell who it is.

A Little Alchemy Going On In The Alchymyst's Study

A few weeks ago I was working in the local Secondary School, invigilating exams, and the exam they'd done was Chemistry. Afterwards there was a heaping great pile of periodic tables left over and the school were going to bin them, so I offered to "re-home them"

After distressing a handful of them with cold tea and ink, I combined them with a few vintage book pages, some mediaeval alchemical illustrations I found online, and a couple of used envelopes and made this little junk journal.

It was a steep learning curve, and I'll be doing one or two stages differently with the next one, but for a first attempt I'm quite pleased with it.

In other news, we've been busy in the garden constructing a second patio, as the main one loses the sun mid-afternoon. Naomi decided "second patio" wasn't a very good name for it, and has re-christened it and wood-burned us a sign for it.

Presenting the "Gin Patio"

Every garden should have one

Gifted Gorgeousness July - AKA World Cup Knitting #2

Just the one thing to show for July's Gifted Gorgeousness (for an explanation of what the GG is all about see Jo's blog here)
It's another piece of my "I don't need to look at this while I'm knitting it" World Cup Knitting
This rainbow scarf/shawl is a gift for Naomi.

The pattern is from the book Curls by Hunter Hammersen. All the patterns in the book take on this fabulous curled shape, although some are much curlier than others - this was the first (simplest) of the patterns in the book but I shall definitely be trying some of the others
The wool is a hand dyed DK from Mothy and the Squid, and is rather wonderfully called "Industrial Accident"
World Cup Knitting #3 was begun, but not completed, so I suppose it is now just summer knitting.

World Cup Knitting #1

I needed a knitting project to do while the World Cup was on; something relatively simple that I could work on without really having to concentrate on it; and this shawl pattern (Curlew by Claire Slade) seemed to fit the bill.

I changed the way the central increases were worked because I found it easier to keep track of this way (remember I needed it to be as mindless as possible), and extended the pattern and just kept going until I'd used the wool. It is knitted using a single ball of James C Brett "Northern Lights".
The fact that it is now finished shows, I think, precisely how much time I have spent watching the football over the last 3 weeks.
World Cup knitting #2 is already progressing nicely.

Gifted Gorgeousness - June Edit

Well I don't know where that month went! It's Gifted Gorgeousness time again already, the blog hop, organised by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching, where we show our gift related crafts - for further details please see the Jo's blog.
Not much to show this month. I got the Mos Eisley sampler I showed you last time framed.

This is to be a gift for Eloise. Also for Eloise is this cat tea cosy I knitted. Pattern available at LoveKnitting

I made it ginger and white to match our two monsters.

And finally a little aran hoodie I knitted for my friend's first grandbaby

Gifted Gorgeousness for May

Is it time for Gifted Gorgeousness already? This month has just flown by.
In case you don't know Gifted Gorgeousness is a Blog Hop run by Jo of Serendipitous Stitching where we show anything we can even vaguely describe as gift-related  our gifted crafts and crafted gifts.
This month I have two projects to show. The first is this little hoop with embroidery and felt flowers which I made as a birthday gift for my friend.

The second is actually some cross stitch! Yes, honestly, I've actually completed a piece of cross stitch - must be the first time in absolutely ages. This is "Bless This House - Mos Eisley Edition" by Hard Core Stitch Corps, stitched on Crafty Kitten Belfast linen in Champagne Bubbles. It is going to be a gift for my daughter Eloise, I just need to get it framed.