Gifted Gorgeousness - October Edition

Yikes! I'm 2 days late for GG this month! I will admit to being a little busy with the continued electrical breakdowns from the tree falling on the power lines, plus hosting Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday, but now it's time for the more important things, like stitching! 

Hosted by the splendiferous Jo of Serendipitous Stitching, this is where we try and post about all the projects we've worked on that are gifts in some way. Whether we're doing the gifting or received the gift, our monthly post is supposed to be on the 15th of every month. 

This month I have 2 finishes sort of that I was working on last month:

Rejoice Tree 

I ran out of floss to do the final curlicues on the Rs, but I like the look anyway. I stitched this 3 over 1 on 14 ct aida with Waterlilies Nefertiti. The beads are some petite Mill Hill gold beads I had in my stash. 

Letters From Nora - S

This will be for DD, and all the cross stitch is done! It just needs beads after I finish H and G. Speaking of which, here is H:

This is on hold right now as I work on an Xmas gift for a co-worker. What gift you ask? 

Vermont

I'm only stitching the DMC 562 2 over 1 on 14 count by Chromatic Alchemy right now. The M is complete at the top and the O might just need another night to finish it off. I'm working from a pattern the designer hand wrote and photocopied on blue paper. This is my first ever time working on such a pattern. It's okay so far, although it's definitely obvious it's handwritten. 

One new start is Halloween Monster by Heart in Hand:

And Princess and the Dragon got a little love this month too:

I hope everyone has had a good month!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch

Solo September Finish #2

I hope everyone has had a good month! I had a very busy month with a big birthday, an awesome new stand and 2 finishes for Solo September. Thank you again for hosting a great OAAT project month Justine!

I finished Rejoice Tree last week and I'm still in love with it. I forgot to mention I used that invisible thread for the beads and it was a bit of a pain, but I love the effect. 

Then I was debating about what to start, and I realized that with a few days of work I'd have LK's Ho Ho Ho complete. I was on the Fuzzy Stuff section for the beard, and it was much easier to work it while seated indoors than my while a passenger in the car. 

 The finish with similar to charted threads, and Fuzzy Stuff instead of Wisper for the beard

 Close-up of the Fuzzy Stuff and PTB for the lettering

Tried to get a closer view of the fuzzy look of the beard

I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to finish this one or if I'll keep it for myself. I like it a lot, and DH does too, but inspiration hasn't struck yet. Maybe this could be my first cube finish? It's maybe 5x7 ish in size. 

I've changed out my passenger project to Collect Moments by LK and it looked like this back in January:

I have a few more pink letters on it now, but I neglected to take a photo last time I worked on it. It shouldn't take too long to finish. 

I'm also thinking about what to work on for the rest of the year and what I may start for next year. I succumbed to the latest HAED sale, thanks for the tip Kate :)

My current idea is to try and stitch a page on a BAP once a month to try and move some of these along. There are others I'd like to stitch as well, so I'm going to see if having a set schedule might help me move along to finishing some of my 50+ WIPs. 

First I'll need to try and finish a few for this year, so I'll try and sort out my ideas over the weekend and post about it so I have a record of it. I always appreciate any advice too, so please feel free to chime in with any of your ideas for 2017 or thoughts. 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

IHSW - September Conclusion

I delayed my IHSW post a day so I could show you another finish! Check out our wonderful host Joyce's blog for more info on IHSW and to cheer the other hermitters along. 

I managed to finish all the beading on Rejoice Tree so instead of just a little bit of progress here:

I can show you a finish!

Again, I stitched this 3 over 1 on 14 count Silkweaver's aida with Waterlilies Nefertiti. The trunk is DMC 938 since I ran out of the Waterlilies thread. The beads are Mill Hill gold petites and I love the effect. I made a star with beads instead of buying a star charm. So happy to have another finish!

Another WIP bites the dust, dun, dun, dun, another WIP bites the dust! And Another WIP gone and another WIP gone, another WIP bites the dust! Hey, gonna finish you too! Another WIP bites the dust!

In case you don't know the reference:

Also, if you noticed the unusual look of the first photo, I have a new stand! It was my family's birthday gift to me. It's the Artisan Design Ergo and I'm so happy it works well with my couch. Thank you again Suz for the recommendation! Here's a few more photos for you:

 the artsy photo :)

in place beside my stitching spot

Max is crazy...I don't understand how this is comfortable

Now that I've completed my Solo September piece, and I cannot say how awesome it was to bead with that new stand compared to beading while holding my Qsnaps, I put Spider Banner into the scroll frame attached to the stand. I had intended to pick up Princess and the Dragon, and I might still and try the stand with my Qsnaps like Suz mentioned. 

I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch