Let the people choose-June-Mermaids

Hello everyone!
On the first Saturday of each month I take part in Let the people choose, one more of Jo's of Serendipitous Stitching brainchildren!

This month the theme is mermaids, such a great theme as I love summer, the sea, mermaids, sea world and sea glass!
What can I show you to stitch about mermaids?
There are some free patterns that I'd love to stitch one day.
First this mermaid by Alita Designs. You can find it here.

(photo taken from Alita Designs site)

Second this little mermaid by the Snowflower Diaries.

(photo taken from the Snowflower Diaries site)
Third a HAED free pattern.It is called The shell maiden. It would be a dream to stitch this one. Only 24 pages of pattern but I love it!

(photo taken from Heaven and Earth Designs, page)
Now apart from these there are lots more mermaid patterns that I'd love to stitch one day.
I have even bought two second hand ones from a fb destashing page. One is of the Mirabilia mermaids.The enchanted mermaid.

Mirabilia even has a free mermaid pattern on their site.

(photo taken from the Mirabilia page)

 And I also bought a Satsuma Street mermaid. Which if I ever stitch it it will be on white or light blue fabric and not dark blue or black as the original.

 But what I must definitely show you is this pattern which was gifted to me by dear Laura of
 The Little Stitcher.
She creates beautiful patterns so you have to visit her etsy 

I stitched  the pattern and added it on this fabric bag which was a gift from a friend and it had a shop advert on it. Doesn't it look lovely? Thank you Laura!

You can even find a free mermaid pattern on her site. It is called The guardians of the sea. I have stitched this many a time and have given it as a gift to sea glass friends.

(photo taken from The Little Stitcher blog)

Here are mine.

Finally I'd like to show you some mermaids paintings from a recent exhibition I went to. The exhibition was organised by the Northern Greece Painters Association.(SKETBE).

The first mermaid with lots of glitter on it is by Penelope Kapetanoudi.

 The second which maybe is not a mermaid but still very beautiful is by  Mary Keremidou.

 Look at all that detail!

  Finally this one by Pelagia Lehou. I love how the sunlight enters the water on her.

 Hope you enjoyed my Let the people choose post! See you next time!

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!