Gifted Gorgeousness

HELLO STUNNERS!!! 

I've said in the past that one day I would start my blog post without an apology about lateness. Definitely not going to happen today, my last post was in July and this post is 5 days late for December Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. FAIL!!! 

Sorry sorry sorry for the total AWOL from blogworld. No excuses really but I will blame facebook. Joining (well technically being added) to new groups has led me to overindulge in SABLE and be so spoilt by my amazing and too generous Crafty brothers and sisters, as it has led to way too many new starts and new start SAL's. Something had to give and blogging paid the price eeek.

So I have decreed that in 2016 I'm going to be returning to my roots and also the place I met most of my stitching friends and that is blogging. I've missed reading blogs and keeping up with everyone that way. FB is very instantaneous, yes, but it also is just a quick pow of updates and it's a little hard to keep up with everyone. 

Whereas blogging feels more like a long journey and adventure with friends. So I will be spending more time here than on fb type of social media. 

So let's get to it stunners.

Firstly is the update for my sisters gift. Mystic Stitch - October Rose Zircon by Maxine Gadd. Not much progress I'm afraid but I've changed my way of stitching this. 

If anyone has stitched a MS you will know the pain of their symbols. They are so so so hard to read and the confetti is incredible. I've decided to do it using cross country page by page. I think it's faster for this particular project, and the only way that I can do it without going insane. So unfortunately I've had to abandon my beloved parking technique. 

Notice the beautiful Tardis Qsnap cover and fabric keepers. They were a gift from my lovely friend Kim Howe. Aren't they amazeballs?  The fabric keepers are the best they just keep all that excess fabric outta the way.  

Here is the second one Kim gifted me. I love love love them both but this is my favourite one. Look how regal King Tut looks amongst all the Tardii (is that the plural of Tardis LOL). Thank you so much Kim, I'm truly grateful.

And now for more Gifted Gorgeousness - my Christmas package from the McDougall family. Head McDougall being Sharine. I'll have to post another pic with the Qsnaps in action they look amazing and the horsey one doesn't really show up. And check out the Magical Unicorn that grows in water. I'll have to post a pic when that magic happens too!!! 

And thank you to the littlest McDougall, Hannah for choosing the butt crack Santa card. That kid cracks me up...oooh pun there. Thank you so much Sharine and the McDougall clan you guys are rock stars. 

Now to a bit of stitching. I almost got to the end of page 2 of Carnival Moon. Why is it that the last 1000 stitches always seem to take the longest. Or is that just me? 

The next page is the building and the tower bit. And there are big chunks of colour so hopefully it won't take too long. But once I finish page 2 I'm going to be concentrating on my 2 gift projects.

Ewa's wedding anniversary project which was due in October (hangs head in massive massive shame) and my cousin's baby sampler which I haven't touched since I first started it. See below...head still in shame hang mode. 

So this

Has to become this

I'm determined to make 2016 a year of finishes. As I never managed ONE not even a tiny finish in 2015. It's been a year of new starts, re-starts and total abandonment. Not a good year for the Crafty Princess. I may even have to abdicate the title!!

Nah.

I have plans for a rotation that will help ensure this, but I think I've rambled on enough for one post. Check you later and now I'm off to reaquaint myself with all of your blogs. Sorry if you get comments on blogs that are months old but I want to see all that I've missed. 

To all that celebrate Christmas. I wish you a very very Merry one and may it be magical, special and full of laughter and love. I hope you all had a fantastic 2015 but I wish you an even better 2016.  See you next year stunners. Love you heaps and muchly.

Gotta go Santa is calling me! 

xoxoxo Princess Alicia

The most amazing Gifted Gorgeousness!

Hi Stunners!

I know I am really really late with this even for me, so sorry sorry sorry! But if it's any consolation there is alot of piccies and alot of pretties, and even a few page finishes so stay tuned. I'll try to make it worth your while :D

GIFTED GORGEOUSNESS

Straight on to stitching - I FINALLY FINISHED THE FIRST PAGE OF OCTOBER -ROSE ZIRCON!!! Apologies for screaming but this page was doing my head in and now it's done and I managed to make a wee start on Page 2. This is my GG piece as it's for my sister who is an October baby.

Before

AFTER!!

MORE STITCHING!

I also whipped off (pun intended) another page on Harry with the help of the boys from Supernatural. It took me Seasons 1 -5 to finish this page. I was happy to finish in July as it's the 1 year anniversary of Eclectic Blokes Design this month. So this one's for Neil Bray, who most of you know passed away in March and never got to see his baby turn 1. 

Also managed to finish Page 1 on So Many Books SO Little Time. My first Spangler!

MY BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS

Now this is the part of the post that refers to the title - The most AMAZING Gifted Gorgeousness. It was my birthday at the end of June and my friends were just so generous it reduced me to tears! I had alot of lovely wishes on fb and to add to that I was totally spoilt. Please don't get too jealous LOL.

I was RAKd this chart by the very talented and very generous Nikki Northup from Charting Creations. The magnificent Celestial.

From the lovely lady who also loves the dark side as much as me - Jayne Walton - I was RAKd Mesmer from Eclectic Blokes Design

This one is called The Collector from HAED - and I think all crafters can relate to this, hee hee. Thank you to gorgeous generous Kim of Cross stitching with Kim fame for this intriguing chart. Love it! 

And from another amazing Kim from the famous Sense and Stitchability - Supersized Faery Tales - HAED. 

My good friend Nina of Pistot-Stitches fame went a little crazy and completely spoilt me with her kindness and RAK'd 2 Supersized HAED's. The Butterfly Ball by Aimee Stewart and Sanctuary of Knowledge by Randal Spangler!

But that's not all!!

Nina was lucky enough to travel to London recently and the lovely girl that she is, didn't forget about me and bought me a few gifts. Check out the Dr. Who torch light key ring. It's so cool from the Dr. Who shop. Wahh I wish we had a Dr.Who shop in Oz!  And I've always wanted a needle threader from HAED but the postage to Australia was too ridiculous so I never bought one. And without ever mentioning it to Nina, her sixth sense kicked in and she bought one for me. It's beautiful! 

Oh there were 2 bars of chocolates and a packet of lollies but....um they were gone by the time I took this photo - too yummy! 

Our favourite Crafty Spice girl, the amazing Nguyen from Spice up your life and the owner/operator of Fiberlicious Threads AND little sweetheart Angie from Miamina's Musings  each sent me a Gecko Rouge voucher. Ladies you were so generous that I can buy a kit with them. 

I'm either going to buy Ice Queen by Medusa Dollmaker

or 

Hatter by Omri Koresh

I also was gifted a gift certificate for Colour Cascade fabrics from the lovely Carmel Clark - Woo hoo. Which is just what I need after all those chart RAK's

And finally from the wickedly devilish but deep down softie Sharine of Charbella Stitching I received a very cute chimpanzee birthday card picked by her youngest daughter (whom I am convinced was my child in another lifetime) and was so lucky to be given a very generous voucher for Tragic Beautiful! This is an awesome shop that Sharine first introduced me to a while back. It's clothing and accessories that are generally not found in contemporary stores. It's got a bit of goth, witchey stuff, creatures of the night, steampunk and some of the darker fairytale type stuff. Here are a few things on my wish list: 

Dorothy Slippers

Nevermore dress! 

Steam punk boots

Vampiria Dress

  

Or something to wear down to the shops!!! 

As you can see I was very very pampered by my very very generous and thoughtful friends. I am so humbled by all and also all the beautiful wishes I received. You guys rock! Love you stunners!

I'm almost up to date with catching up with blogs. Got a few more to read. I've been so bad with blogging but I endeavour to be more proficient with blogs. Both posting and reading.

Take care beautiful people. I hope life is magical for you. If not just close your eyes and believe!

xoxo Alicia 

TOTA YOTA GG SAL #6

How's that for a total Acronym title! 

Hi Stunners!!! I'm so sorry for the hiatus, but as I was sooo late with my May updates that it was almost June so I decided to wait for the June posting.

And now I'm late with the June one *sigh*

But I got a lot of stitching done so that's good, right? 

First up my YOTA pieces 

YOTA

TOTA - still haven't quite managed that blasted page finish...I'm determined to have it done by July as I really really want to finish this one this year. Just 2 partial pages after this. Thank the gods!

Before

 

PRINCE RUPERT of  RUPPITSWOOD

Gecko Rouge SAL 2015

 

 





Before



After

I also love how Gecko Rouge are now offering needleminders that match the kit. It's great to have that inspiration right on the fabric as you stitch. Look at that little cute Froggie Prince

GIFTED GORGEOUSNESS SAL

Rose Zircon was chosen for both May and June's GG SAL. I would dearly love to get at least the top row completed by the end of the year. I'm really not enjoying this one at all, which is why it's taking so long to get any progress.

I'm glad it's a gift for my sister because once it's finished I never want to see her again. I know that sounds harsh but there are alot of problems with it.

The Mystic chart symbols are so hard to follow on this. I've never liked the use of letters as symbols on cross stitch charts. MS use all 26 letters in capitals and then another 26 in lower case and if the chart calls for more than 52 colours, then they use symbols. I'm sure there are stitchers that don't mind or prefer this but I'm not one of them. I kept mistaking the "c" for  "e" so many times ergggh! 

Plus the fabric is an ice dye hand dye and on the 20ct it has swelled the fabric so much that it's almost like working on a 25ct using 2 threads over 1, so it's very tight and makes the confetti so much harder to handle. I was thinking of re-starting on another fabby but I just couldn't bring myself to do Page 1 again. So I will struggle through. My sister saw the chart and the fabric that was dyed specifically for this chart and loved it so I don't have the heart to scrap it. 

Before

I don't know what's going on with me and page finishes lately...just can't quite get there LOL!

And speaking of Gifted Gorgeousness...my beautiful friend Helvi, RAK'd this stunning chart to me! It's a whopping 999 x 775. It's going to look breathtaking stitched with all that detail coming through. Thank you so much Helvi, you're so generous honey. 

Supersized - Past Present Future - Aimee Stewart

That's all for now stunners. My next post I have at least 3 page finishes on my wips...possibly even 4 with any luck and no distractions! Ha ha not likely. 

I've been reading blogs for the last 2 days and I've almost caught up. I still have a few to go though. There has been some amazing stitching going on out there stunners. 

I will post again next week or so. 

Take care lovely stunners - I'll leave you with the meme that was sent to me and made me smile! 

xxoxx Alicia

YOTA #4

Hi Stunners!

I got back from the coast in time for Easter celebrations with my family and in time for YOTA!!! (only a little bit late - sorry)

I didn't manage to stitch alot whilst I was away so that trip back home to get more wip's was a little tiny waste of time! But luckily I got a lot of loud singing and car dancing  done, which either amuses or annoys my fellow motorists.

During these car trips back and forth I did get a lot of cross stitch thinking achieved. And I decided that YOTA will be for my SAL wips - I mean it's an acronym right?

Thank you to everyone that replied on last months YOTA post. I really appreciate your feedback and I will take your advice and complete the page of Theatre of the Absurd before progressing to Fragile. However as I forgot to bring it to the coast (on both trips) I will post the progress of my new SAL wip by Gecko Rouge.

It's called Frank by Anita Inverarity  however I have dubbed him Prince Rupert from the realm of Rippitswood!

He will look like this eventually:

but at the moment he looks like this!

I love frogs and in the stitching world they get such a bad rap. So out of all the designs offered for the SAL I thought I would choose the frog to show my support for our misunderstood friends. Plus he was the only one wearing a crown and I do love my tiara's!

Just a quickie today stunners.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break and enjoyed some yummy chocolate!

Take care everyone and give yourself a big hug from me cos I luv ya <3

xoxo Alicia



Gifted Gorgeousness #3

Hi Stunners!

 

One day I will start this blog without an apology. Today is not that day though LOL! Sorry I'm late again but you know me well enough by now (insert innocent and cheeky grin)

 

I popped back down from the coast as I got bored with the wips that I brought up with me so instead of sitting around for a week and not stitching I decided to make the 2 hour trek back home and get more craft!!! Never said I was sane.

 

At least that means I can post the GG SAL whilst I have access to a computer. I know that some of you can blog from your phone but I do not possess that talent aka patience.

 

So just a quickie for today

 

I worked on Eclectic Blokes Designs "Room with a View" by Paul Richmond. It is a very tenuous link to a gift but as Neil the designer passed away earlier this month I wanted to pay tribute to him, and to display his talent at charting. And as I said in the previous post Neil was an absolute treasure and a gift to me.

 

I've named this piece "Harry". As he looks like the kind of guy that tries to fix things but he seems a little hopeless but his heart's in the right place. Sorry did I say hopeless I meant to say "hot" :D

 

 

 

 

 

And yes stunners that is a page finish!! Woo Hoo. Only a few more to go now. Ha ha.

 

 

Also as part of the Gift post. My cousin had a baby boy (well his wife did) on the 10th March and they named him Hugo. So I started a sampler for them and it will be a Christmas Present because I know what I'm like and this will give me a bit of time. 

 

I started this last night. Apologies for the bad pic but I left my camera up the coast so had to rely on the phone. I'm changing the colours as I go as it's a little too pastel for my liking and with a name like Hugo I'm sure this kids going to be a bold one. I'm using a mix of normal DMC and also variegated thread from Fiberlicious Threads which I won from Nguyen's giveaway on Facebook and  I've used it for the flower so far. I'm working this bad boy on 14ct aida  limited edition from my lovely boys at Sew it all. The fabric was gift from them so this one fits this SAL to a tee!! 

 

 

 Here is the original kit pic.

 



That's all from me for now. I'll be heading back up the coast on Monday for another week or so. But tomorrow night I have set aside a few hours to read everyone's blogs and catch up with all your emails. You guys are so awesome at commenting and are such great support. I love reading all your comments you're all absolute comedians and you truly crack me up. It's fantastic. I do apologise for my lack of reciprocation but I endeavour to rectify this. Please please forgive me.

 

Take care my lovely stunning stunners. I wish you only magical moments.

 

xoxo Alicia

 

YOTA - March

Hi Stunners!

My first YOTA for the year as I joined in late and I'm proud to say it's only 3 days late, which is amazeballs for me! I'm getting better :D

 

In a bid to try and get the HAED SAL's that I have outstanding they will be my YOTA charts.

 

The one I worked on for March is HAED QS Theatre of the Absurd which was the 2013 BB Freebie SAL. I'm working on page 2 of 4 and it's now referred to as "The Absurdly Never-ending Page". I was hoping to get it finished....

Before

After

 

For next YOTA I may continue with this bad boy to try and get the finish or I may switch to my other YOTA project. QS Fragile Heart which is from the (gulp...and hangs head in shame) 2011 SAL.  I have the 3 partial pages on the second row to go on her. This is where I have left her:

 

 

Let me know if you have a preference of which you would like to see worked on. It will help me to decide too!

 

 

Rest in Peace - Neil Bray

 

Some of you will know that Neil Bray from Eclectic Blokes Design passed away on the 3rd March 2015, after losing his battle with cancer. I have only known him for a short time but we became instant buddies and have had loads of chats and laughs together.  I have been absolutely heartbroken and inconsolable over his death as I truly believed in my heart that he would beat it. In commemoration of this top bloke I am dedicating this month to him and will focus on his designs.

 

At the moment I'm working on "Room with a View" by Paul Richmond, as it's such a cheeky design - yep pun intended - and it reminds me so much of Neil's mischievous sense of humour. Love you mate , thank you for being an amazing friend and I hope you know how much you have touched people's hearts as well as introducing us to a myriad of brilliant artists that we would never have known if it weren't for you. R.I.P beautiful man!

 

 

 

I decided to start from the middle as I couldn't wait to stitch the tool man and I didn't want to have to wade through all that lime background to get to him. It's totally circumstantial that the middle was right on his butt!!! But not complaining either LOL!!! I bet Neil charted it this way on purpose. Told you he was cheeky. He will feature in my Gifted Gorgeousness SAL this week as Neil was a gift to me.

 

Take care my beautiful and stunning followers and guest stars.

 

Have a magical week and embrace life to the fullest. Try not to get bogged down with life's pettiness but love big, smile and laugh a lot!!

 

Big hugs xox Alicia

 



 

Gifted Gorgeousness and IHSW #2

Hi Stunners!!

Sorry I'm a bit late but I thought I would post the GG and IHSW together. 

But firstly, welcome to all my newest followers. It always surprises me to see that I have more than 1 follower so I'm really honoured to have you guys on aboard the goodship Crafty Princess and I appreciate your followship and friendship.

Secondly, The Hoffs asked where I bought the Needle Minders from. They are from Lisa Simmons owner of "No More Lost Needles" facebook page. You have to join the group and then you can buy direct from her. But be warned Lisa  has oodles and oodles of brilliant minders. I'm totally addicted and own and ordered more than I'll ever need! LOL! But hey that's what us crafters do, right?

Ready for the cross stitch stuff?

GIFTED GORGEOUSNESS 

For GG SAL, I started the Large World Travel Bookshelf by Aimee Stewart from HAED. The gift part was from my beautiful friend Nina (Pistot-stitches) who kindly gave me gift voucher for www.sewitall.com.au and made it possible to buy this massive piece of 22ct white hardanger fabric. Thank You Nina!!!

I chose The Dr and the Tardis for my Needleminders to accompany this piece as they are the ultimate World Travellers. And as for the Hardcore Cross stitcher minder, well a stitch that consists of 122 pages makes the grade of Hardcore!!! :D 

I've started on the second shelf as I've been to all those countries and places except the one on the end. Does anyone know that castle or at least the country? I couldn't figure it out! 

IHSW

For the IHSW I managed to complete a full column over the weekend. Big apologies but I absolutely forgot to photograph the start point. This is HAED So Many Books So Little Time. I'm working this bad boy on 28ct white evenweave. I know weird for me right? But I just couldn't wait to order a hand dyed fabby and I already had this in my stash.  Love Love Love how the stonework is stitching up, I think it looks very realistic, even close up. 

NOW FOR THE CHART STASH!!! AKA ARRRRGGHH!

In my defence I saw this Wicked Dragon stitched up whilst watching a parking tutorial posted on YouTube by a fellow Aussie named Carolyn Mazzeo. Here's the link, it's quite a good guide on parking anyway if you're interested.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdp4-traCo4. It looks absolutely dazzling finished and I love the artist Kayomi Harai and HAED had a 50% sale...The signs were all pointing towards "BUY IT"

Blue Dragon

And I didn't want him to be lonely so I bought his brothers to play with him

Red Dragon

White Dragon

Astraea - Rachel Anderson

This beautiful fairy was a RAK from the very fabulous Sabrina Fire Goddess. It wasn't on my WL she just thought I would love it and I doooooooo!! Such a bright and generous star she is!! 

Lily - Babette VanDenBerg

This is SK Evil Queen! Nina and I both agree that even though we loved the full version we knew we wouldn't stitch it and the QS cropped that beautiful cloak. So when the SK was released it was perfect for us. Nina is way ahead of me but as we are starting at different sections our wips are going to be different anyway. Here's Nina's blog again but I'm not sure if she has posted any wips yet!  (Pistot-stitches) 

And then there were these!!! You know those wips that go on and off your Wishlist, well at 50% I thought ehh why not!!! 

 

Ok stunners that's all I got at the moment! . I'm going to be busy over the next 4 or so weeks as....I'm on HOLIDAYS!!!!  I'm heading up to Fingal Bay at Port Stephens. My parents own a permanent van at the Park right across the road from the beach. And as it's Australia and I think all Aussies will now be able to survive on the surface of the Sun after experiencing our Summer heat waves...Autumn will still be hot enough to swim in the beautiful ocean. So 4 weeks of stitching, swimming and seafood and wine....I can't wait 2 more shifts to go and I'm outta here. 

Love you guys and I'm off to check out your blogs and see how you all got on for the GG and IHSW and general stitching life. 

Take care and I wish you all a magical time 

xoxo Alicia