Gifted Gorgeousness February 2018

Jo of Serendipitous Stitching organizes a link-up party where we show stitch gifts we made to give or items that were gifted to us and are related to stitching and sewing.So on the 15th of each month we can link up to her blog. This is my first year taking part in this. Thanks Jo for the chance and the inspiration.

So from January 15th till February 14th I stitched this Valentine's card, an old freebie from a magazine, a heart brooch and a floral sachet also freebies from magazines. The brooch was gifted to me along with the magazines from dear Juliana some time ago and although I don't stitch Valentine things I decided to stitch them for the  Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog hop that Jo also hosted.The flower sachet was gifted to me by Jaquie. You can visit the blogs that took part in it here. And this was the photo I sent to my secret stitching sweetheart!

I also stitched the Craftpod Winter hoop.Now that shouldn't be here as the subscription to Craftpod was a gift to me but I really love to show this.

In January I also put all the threads of my next project in bobbins. The next big project is a framed series of monthly bookmarks showing flowers. Marabeth my dear friend in the States sent me this kit.

I plan to stitch one bookmark each month.So here is January and half of February.We are in the middle of February anyway!

In January I received a stitched giveaway win. This is a good luck pin cushion made by 

Velona and Klosti (which means Needle and thread) and I won it at the Secret Crafter 2017 exchange organised by Anna of In My Closet.

In January I started stitching in my fabric book. This fabric book was gifted to me by my friend Katerina of Mindspinfabrica and I decided to stitch a flower alphabet in it. First I iron transfered the alphabet on the fabric pages.

I decided to use leftover threads from previous projects.

I thought this would be a yearlong project and all of a sudden I realised that I love embroidery!So I started stitching one letter every day, in fact every evening!
A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

 Q

R

S

I even started adding Flower Fairies stickers and colouring pages I colour myself on the paper pages of the fabric book.

In February I stitched one more freebie from an old magazine and gave away the pattern and leftover threads afterwards.

This was so old that the price on the magazine was in drachmas.

I also stitched one Xmas ornament from a freebie from a magazine that again my friend Juliana had given me.

I started the Halloween pattern I had won in Jo's giveaway too. It is Halloween Happiness.The fabric I am stitching on is another giveaway win from Brigitte of the blog At Brigitte's Place. I started like this

and I am here so far.

 The mail brought some more stitchy things among other gifts at this time of year due to my birthday on January 28th as well. From dear Juliana I got this lovely parcel that included a stitching magazine with a lovely freebie, a little Xmas kit and some aida.

And I also got the giveaway win from Melanie of the blog Melanie The WIP slayer which is a lovely pattern and leftover threads and beads to stitch hopefully till Xmas.

So as you can see there is a lot of Gifted Gorgeousness in this post as well!
I'd love to thank all of my friends for sending me so many lovely gifts and Jo for organizing the GG.

Gifted Gorgeousness

Jo of Serendipitous Stitching organizes a link-up party where we show stitch gifts we made to give or items that were gifted to us and are related to stitching and sewing.So on the 15th of each month we can link up to her blog. This is my first time taking part in this. Thanks Jo for the chance and the inspiration.

So since January the 1st I have stitched the following.
First I finished this runner. This is an absolute stitch from stash item. I had the blue aida for ages and didn't dare stitch it as it was too dark for me. The white thread was a vintage find. The pattern was from a Prima makes magazine and it was a knitted cushion pattern that I adapted. The magazine was a gift some years ago.In the end I added a felt ribbon with snowflakes instead of a lace taht I also had in my Xmas things.

As I made a decision to stitch from stash and to finish wips I continued with this Greek Santa which I had left at the head for years. The pattern was sent to me by a friend.I lost it and had to finish the rest of the figure by just looking at a photo.Oh well, that's not the best thing to do but I wanted to finish it.Hence all the mistakes.In the end I made it into a Christmas tree ornament.

Another wip was the handmade doll I had made last year.I had attended a course with a doll making teacher Yiota at Koumpi coffee and crafts cafe.The course was gifted to me by Anna of In My Closet. The thing is that I had left the doll with no face features so I stitched that too.

Finally I stitched The Little Mermaid by The Little Stitcher. The fabric and threads I had in my stash for ages. The pattern was sent to me as a gift from the creator of the patterns herself  Laura of
The Little Stitcher. It was the time when the financial crisis had started in Greece and it was the capital controls and I could not buy her patterns but admired them so she sent me the one I wanted!Thank you so much Laura.At last I managed to stitch it. I must say it was a bit difficult for me to stitch it as the fabric was too small count for me. But I wanted to make this small because I am going to mount it on this fabric bag I was gifted some time ago from a friend.It is an advertising bag but of very good quality and therefore I wanted to carry it while roaming the beach at the beach house. I still have to sew it on the bag.

Finally I want to show you some gifts I received this Christmas that include stitching materials.
From my dear Cathy from England. Her gift includes a cross stitch kit and lots of embellishments.

 From dear Juliana in Scotland I got a parcel that also included Mollie makes and the cover kit.

 From dear Margrit in Turkey I got these gifts among them a traditional cross stitched little pouch.

 From dear Marabeth in the States I got really many beautiful gifts that included three cross stitch kits! I love them all!

 And if I may add a gift to myself.I got the Winter issue of craftpod that includes an embroidery kit.

Well that's all about my first Gifted Gorgeousness blog post!Hope you enjoy it!

Calendars and diaries

Every year I choose to use a couple of calendars and diaries.
I love writing down what happens every day, things to do, lists and more lists!
That's how I am and I don't forget things in this way.
I have school work lists, reading lists (what I have read and what to read), stitching lists, mail lists (what I received and what must be written and sent),birthday lists, appointments lists,meetings lists,chores lists, bills lists etc etc
That's why I need lots of calendars and diaries!
For 2016
I put up the calendar Wonders of Hungary my friend Andrea brought me from her country this summer.

And that's the January page! I jot down important appointments and dates here.

I write my daily memoirs in the 2016 diary I was given as a gift from The Smile of the Child after our Luxembourg trip.

I keep notes and appointments in my Pygolampides  agenda in my bag. Local friends can find it for free in this link here. It has got lots of handicrafts and information inside.

This is the organiser I have at school. So very English.

I keep handicrafts notes (what I make every day) in this Mollie Makes craft calendar that was included in the December Mollie Makes issue that my friend Juliana sent me as a gift. It had lovely stickers with it and I use them in my diary.

And I also decided to print this free downloable Alisa Burke calendar and use it for more notes on my desk. I printed it on different colour for every month but it will also look lovely in white and you can colour the pages in.

Last but not least I am making a stitched calendar for 2016.
I joined in a SAL (=Stitch Along) and will be stitching this calendar every month along with hundreds of other stitchers around the world. It is free so if you like cross stitch join in!
You will find it on facebook but also on  this blog here. It is the Stitch Along The Joyful World by the Snowflower Diaries.

 I have already stained my white fabric and have already started stitching it. Barca always follows me while stitching!She seems to enjoy seeing me relaxing!

Are you keeping any kind of diaries or calendars?
Have a great 2016!