February Gifted Gorgeousness

 Running a little late with my GG post this month. 

If you aren't familiar with GG pop on over to Jo's blog for a full explanation, but in a nutshell it is a monthly show and tell of gift related crafting.

So what do I have to show this month? 

I took part in a Valentine's Exchange on Needlecraft Haven. This is the beautiful card and stitched pillow I received from Mary

I sent to Clare but I forgot to get a photograph before I posted it so you'll need to check out Clare's blog to see it

I also made this shirt for David this month

Check out the little Kylie and the Machine label I tucked under the pocket

 

Gifted Gorgeousness - April

A couple of days late, but here is my gifted gorgeousness post for April (If you are new to this GG is a Blog Hop hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching, where we show off anything we have made as, received as, or made from something received as a gift - or anything else we think we can get away with shoe-horning in for that matter)
I've got a few things I can share this month (and a few I can't, so that's next month's post sorted too!).
First up is the pendant I made for a friend's birthday. It is a piece of local seaglass for which I made a claw-setting from recycled eco-silver. A bit of a steep learning curve making the setting but I think I've got the hang of it now!

Then there is this shirt I made for my husband. The pattern is Simplicity 1544, and the fabric is a cotton lawn with a kind of William Morris-ish pattern of stylised bluebells. The collar band and inner cuffs are in a contrasting plain purple cotton.

And finally the piece I stitched for the Needlecraft Haven Easter Exchange.I finished as a "lollipop" and it's displayed with a wooden tulip my girls bought for me in Amsterdam. The design is from La Comtesse et le Point du Croix It's still here as we are keeping the exchange virtual for now and posting out later, so I can't say who it is for in case they read this.

That's all for this month. Off to work on some May gifts now.

December's Gifted Gorgeousness

Here it is, the last GG post of the year (for more details about the GG blog hop please see Jo's blog)
I've just taken part in the annual Needlecraft Haven Ornament Exchange, which I'm pretty sure counts as Double GG (sounds like a bra size!)
Here is the wonderful ornament and other goodies that I received from Clare

And here is the ornament I sent to Mary

Design from this year's JCS Ornaments Issue. The red and lime are the new DMC Etoile threads. It's the first time I've used them. I wasn't sure at first as they looked as though they wouldn't give very good coverage, but actually they've worked really well and the glimmer from them is lovely and subtle.

Hallowe'en Exchange, Challenge and Temperature SAL Catch Up

You know what it's like. You wait all month for a bloggable stitch, and then three come along at once!
The exchange first. This was the Hallowe'en Exchange on Needlecraft Haven. We had to send a stitched ornament, a trick and a treat.
Here is the lovely gift I received from Mary.

Thankyou Mary, they are all wonderful. I shall be displaying my "Christine's Potions" ornament all year round.
And here is what I sent to Justine.

The ornament is a design from Aliolka , The treat is a Lush Bath Bomb, and the trick is a mint tin filled with creepy crawlies.
The Alioka designs were the chosen designs for the Seasonal Challenge on Needlecraft Haven, so that finish killed two birds with one stone, but I decided to stitch another of the designs as a gift for Eloise

So then, of course, I had to stitch one for Naomi as well, only all the Aliolka designs had that cute little spider, and Naomi does not do spiders. Not even very cute ones, so I combined Aliolka's skull motif with a kitty from a Barbara Ana design and stitched her this one (which you've already seen if you saw the Hallowe'en Blog Hop post)

And finally here is an up to date picture of my Temperature SAL

Easter Exchange

I thought you might like to see the ornaments from the Easter Exchange at Needle craft haven
Here is the one I sent to Sue

And here is the lovely ornament and goodies I received from Deb

February's GG

Here is my February post for Gifted Gorgeousness - Jo's Blog Hop, where we get a chance to show off our gift related crafting every month.
I've got a few things this month. First is the Valentine's Exchange at Needlecraft Haven. We had to send a stitched card, a skein of thread and some sweet treats to our partners.
Here are the goodies I received from Gill

I love the card, and will have to figure out a way to frame it so it can stay on display
And here is the card I sent to Julie.

The stitched section detaches to form an ornament. The design was one I found online, but I've forgotten where. I also forgot to take a picture of the other bits, but I sent a skein of  WDW "Ladybug" and some chocolate ladybirds/
Next is a little "plant" I made from buttons for Barb's birthday

And here is the prize I made for Jo, for winning my guess the number of finishes/books/shoes competition last year.

It says "Mae Govannen", which is Sindarin for "Well met". It's stitched in a Kate's Kloths overdyed green floss on Crafty Kitten's 32 ct Murano in Faded Olive
And finally, not stitch or craft related at all unless you count cooking, but I won  a caption competition on Ainsley Harriott's Instagram, and got this fantatsic goody-box with one of every Ainsly Foods product (there's a load more than you can see in the picture) and  best of all, a signed photo of the man himself (which is up on the kitchen wall now)

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

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

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.

Gifted Gorgeousness for April

It's time for Gifted Gorgeousness - the blog hop where we share our gift related craft news - for more details see Jo's blog, Serendipitous Stitching
I've got a variety of things to show this month. First the Easter Exchange from Needlecraft Haven.
I received this beautiful ornament and delicious Easter goodies from Deb

and sent this ornament to Julie

The design was adapted from a larger sampler in Cross Stitcher magazine and I used the same lollipop finish as I did for the ornament in the previous post.
Next up a little baby jumper I knitted as my friend is expecting her first grandchild. The pattern and wool are by Sirdar.

An Italian Cross Stitch Magazine that Naomi sent for me

And finally, a geeky little embroidery hoop I stitched for Eloise, based on one of her favourite films.

Extra blog bonus points for anyone who knows what the film is.

Gifted Gorgeousness February Edit

Welcome to February's Gifted Gorgeousness - the place where we show our gift related crafting and/or craft related gifts. Full details on Jo's blog here
Lots to show this month. Firstly, yesterday was opening day on the Needlecraft Haven Friendship Exchange. The idea with this exchange was that we send a Friendship card and gift, along with two skeins of thread and a friendship themed chart.
I didn't remember to photograph the chart and threads I sent, but this is the gift I sent to Justine - an illustrated handbag mirror for which I made a little felt cosy

And here is the lovely hand made quilted mug rug, beautiful card and threads I received from Mary

It's been rather chilly lately so I knitted each of my daughters one of these warm and snuggly interlaced Celtic scarves.

Pattern on LoveKnitting.com here
Finally you may remember Jo won my Shoes/Books/Finishes Competition at the end of last year, and here is the prize I made for her.

It is stitched using Gentle Arts Simply Shaker threads in Schoolhouse Red and Wrought Iron, a lovely dark blue-black shade reminiscent of  old ink which I thought was ideal for the look of a hand drawn map, and finished with dark blue faux leather and a tiny loop of Hobbit ribbon that I found on EvilBay. The Lonely Mountain cross stitch pattern I used is available on Etsy here