Christmas Stitching!

PHEW! There went another week and yet again I don't feel like I got as much done as I should have. In my defence ... weak though it may be!! ... we had a weird weather change that threw me into a spin. We went from GLORIOUS summer temperatures last week of between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius, to this week where we had several days of overcast skies, fog, rain and gale force winds with top temps of 14 to 17!!! EEK!! How rude is THAT in the middle of summer! So as those of you who pop in regularly would know I was NOT a happy camper and went into hibernation mode for a few days. BRRRRR!! I'm happy to say that today is a bit warmer, though the sun is still hiding, and my mojo seems to have come out of hibernation again so I've made some good progress on a few things.

Most of my attention today was focused on these things ...

Well ... this was the STARTING POINT! :0) The results will have to stay under wraps for a few more days. You see, I've once again joined in the fun of the gorgeous Kerryanne's "Simply Christmas" and I will be making a special guest appearance (Ooh! That makes me sound like someone important, doesn't it! Tee! Hee! Hee!) on Kerryanne's blog next Wednesday to share a tutorial for a quick, fun and fabulous Christmas gift idea. So, don't forget to pop over to Shabby Art Boutique to see what I've come up with ... or maybe you'd like to pop across right now to catch up on all the fun Christmas stuff that has been shared already ... make a cuppa first cos there's lots to read and look at! :0)

I've also been doing some Secret Squirrel Christmas stitching that I can't share with you, but will give you a couple of teasers ...

This is the 'makings' pile for another lingerie bag for a friend's gift. Don't you just LOVE that French inspired fabric!! The colours don't match my sewing room, mores the pity, but they're perfect for my friend. This time I've stitched the little stitchery with a Cottage Garden thread ... "Viola". It's the first time I've played with a Cottage Garden thread and quite liked it ... I love the colour graduations ... so pretty! :0) And I've started stitching in some very different colours for another gift for a friend ...

Rainbow colours for this one ... a Cosmo thread ... I have to say, I'm enjoying working on stitchery projects of just ONE colour ... not as much stopping and starting ... just stitching! :0) 

Something else I CAN show you, is how I'm being thoroughly SPOILED by Chookyblue in Fee's Advent Swap! :0) Now, I showed you my goodies from Day 1 in my last post here, so this was what greeted me in the parcels for Day 2 and Day 3 ...

Not the book, silly!! Or the pencil! The GORGEOUS "Spring Magic" sweet roll/honey roll (??? I get so confused with which is what!!) was Day 2's gift and the cute mini pegs were for Day 3. The journal and pencil are for me to start designing a fun new project to use my pretty new fabric strips. :0) Then there was MORE!!!

Days 4 to 8. I confess that because it took a few days to get to take this photo, I've forgotten which gifties belonged to which day, but I'm pretty chuffed with some new rotary cutter blades, a pretty swish needle threader (happily I don't have too much trouble threading needles, but will be keeping this for when I need to get thicker threads through small needles) , two cakes of HEAVENLY smelling lavender soap (I feel particularly special to get these, since I know Chookyblue doesn't handle 'smellies' very well!!), a sweet key fob in the shape of a Matroyshka (???) doll, two super sweet teddy bear buttons and a skein of GORGEOUS Cottage Garden thread ... this one is "Larkspur". See?! I TOLD you I was being spoilt! :0) Thanks Chookyblue! And thanks Fee! It is so much fun being spoilt with little surprises each day! I hope Chookyblue is having as much fun with the gifties I sent her! :0)

And that about wraps things up here at the Meares' Madhouse this week! :0) I'm starting to panic a little about getting gifties sorted that need to be mailed next week, wondering how the heck I'm going to fit in all of the sewing I want to do for said gifties, whilst juggling half a dozen different Christmas events coming up this week ... I think I should ask Santa for an extra MONTH as my Christmas giftie this year! Tee! Hee! Hee!

I hope you've all had a fantastic week and that your weekend includes lots of kick-back-and-relax time ... and not too much Eek!-it's-almost-Christmas time! :0) And even if you're madly trying to tick things off your "To Do" list before Christmas, I hope you manage to take some time out to spend with family and friends ... after all ... that's the REAL heart of Christmas, right!! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS