May's Gifted Gorgeousness

It's the 15th of May which means Memorial Day and the start of summer vacations here in the US is in two weeks.  I suppose the two days of temperatures in the 90s later this week are a warning test drive for the next few months.  The 15th also means that it's time for my post.

Gifted Gorgeousness is hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and is a way for us to thank those that have given us stitching goodies or to show off pieces that we are giving as gifts or anything else we can shoehorn into the theme.  If you're interested in learning more, click here.  If that doesn't work, the icon in the left side bar should be clickable and take you right there.

Another huge thank you to Jo for the wonderful threads:

I have pinned the package up on my bulletin board and admire them whenever I look up.

I have spent most of my stitching time the last month working on A Glimpse of Santa a Christmas stocking for my niece-to-be.  I've decided to wait until it's finished before I go looking for all the sparkly bits that are supposed to be on it.  As of tonight, it looks like this:

No, I am not stitching it on its side, but for some reason Blogger is being stubborn and not letting me post it correctly.  Anyway, lots of white, beige and cream in this one so far.  I've gone in and done the light colored bits so I don't end up with dark fuzz on them due to stitching along side the darker bits.  I plan to start the tree on the right (bottom) side after I finish that one window pane and then I can do the backstitching around the window parts.  Lots more backstitching on the left (top) side for the wallpaper.  This is the third piece I've worked on that is backstitch heavy and I will be so glad to finish it.

The second piece I worked on is Carnations by Cross Stitch It.  This was one of the blocks from The Sampler Life SAL.  As it's a freebie from the designer, I am counting it as a gift.

This one is on its side too but it's not as noticeable.  I hope to finish off the blue and start filling in the flowers on Sunday when this comes out again. 

One last gift: 

No, it isn't stitched, but I had a great time putting it together.  DNiece and her fiance are very into board games so I sat down with a Scrabble game and started putting wedding/marriage/couple words together.  I bought a set of number tiles for the year and stole a couple tiles from an old game to finish up one word (If you're counting letters, there are too many Ps and Ts).  Thanks to DMom and DSister for the assistance with the frame and mats decision.  It was nice to have extra eyes and opinions as I am always nervous about my choices.

Back to the office tomorrow.  This is my short week but not sure how much stitching I will get in on Friday as I really need to do some yard work.