January 2021 Gifted Gorgeousness

Welcome to the first Gifted Gorgeousness post of 2021.  I'm excited because I received a ton of new patterns for Christmas, and my fingers are itching to start everything!  This will be a crazy year, as I've set aside a lot of patterns to stitch for friends, let's hope I can keep up with all my SALs, my monthly charts, my monthly challenges and the like.  I have a busy year planned for myself!  So....let's get started!

First of all, if you don't know what Gifted Gorgeousness is, where have you been?  Just kidding, I've been doing these updates on the 15th of the month for a couple of years now.  This is a challenge from the brainchild of Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching.  You can sign up at any time, and can find the rules here.  If you want to see what others have been doing for their challenge, you can find the link up on her main blog here.  

I find myself enjoying these updates, it reminds me that people are generous (I truly have generous friends!) and I enjoy stitching for others.  Last year I signed up for a couple of pen pals and have enjoyed anticipating mail each month...I love it!!  The only downside is that I love to write and receive letters....I don't hear too much from them.  I hope they don't find it a chore...because I enjoy stitching for them.  Anyway...Here is what I received from one of them, for Christmas, and for January.  Her little treats are so much fun to receive!  Aren't those ornaments amazing??  Her stitching is lovely too!  I can't wait to stitch the little nativity she sent, how did she know I collect them???  LOL!!

I had a little challenge with a friend of mine in a stitching group I belong to.  She posted these cute ornaments that she was making, so I offered an exchange.  I sent her a little masked snowman...

And she would send me this "Grinchy" ornament.  My husband loves the Grinch, and I thought he would think this was funny.  He did!  I think I'll keep it hanging all year, it's just too funny!!

Now...last October, as you know, I had a give away in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.  A lady in my cross stitch group won the biscornu and scissor fob.  She so graciously sent me a Christmas card, and I just adore it!!  It was totally unexpected (aren't they the best kinds of gifts?) and I'm thinking of ways to finish it....as for now, it's sitting on my work desk (excuse the mess!) where I have a lot of gifted things on display which I rotate around a bit.  It's inspirational to sit at my desk, there are things that came from my Mother's house, and pictures of folks I care about.  Thank you, again, Mary!  I truly love it!!  

I decided since I have two new pen pals, that I've really neglected my British pen pal.  While I'm stitching something each month for the pals I found at the International Pen Pal Facebook page, my good friend in England wasn't getting monthly letters, let alone stitched things.  So...we talked a bit...and I decided to send her the LHN month pieces.  She is making them into a flip book so she can display the current month.  What a neat idea, right?  I'll be stitching them for myself too though I'm way behind in mine!  LOL  I sent her January last December with her Christmas/Birthday package.  I've since stitched February and March.  I'm hoping to send them out soon.  Hopefully I will get January done for myself this month...that's one of my monthly goals.  They are stitched on 40 count natural over two.

For the pen pals, I stitched two of these little patterns.  This was a freebie from the Victoria Sampler Chat group on Facebook.  I stitched the first one and thought...I think I have an ornament frame that would fit that...and lo and behold, it's perfect.  Ok, don't tell my pen pals, but I decided I loved it...so I'm keeping that one for myself...haha.  I will be stitching two more (one is done already) and thinking of another way to finish them off...LOL!!  I'm confessing my selfishness...LOL  Forgive me!

I stitched an advent calendar for myself a few years ago, and made them into ornaments.  I enjoy hanging them each day leading up to Christmas.  My new DIL saw the free patterns from Brooke's Books and fell in love.  So...now I am making a set for her.  I had hoped to finish 5 this month, and have a finishing day toward the end of the month then two per month afterward, I should finish in November just in time for her to start hanging them.  Wish me luck!!  Here are the first two, stitched on 32 count blue over one.

My DIL is so good to our son.  I really do love her to pieces!  They wanted a beach wedding so badly but in the end were wed on a farm in Havre de Grace.  All their decorations were nautical so when I saw this pattern last year, I knew I had to make it for her.  I gave it to her for Christmas.  This is a pattern by Maria Bravka I think...I'm on my new computer and haven't transferred all the files over just yet.  I was able to stitch it in two days.  I had everything ready, fully intending to stitch it for her for Christmas, but it got a bit crazy here towards the end.  I was looking for something in my room and ran across all the stuff (including the frame) to make it...and three days later I was wrapping it up for Christmas.  She loved it, by the way!  I hope she knows how much we love having her as a part of our family!!!

One of the challenges I've signed up for is for Christmas ornaments, one is through a facebook page and is ornaments from the last JCS Ornament Issue 2020.  Since the magazines were a gift from my husband I usually count anything from the in my GG post.  This one is one of my favorites from this year!  It is Poinsettia from Punchoka stitched on 32 mocha over two.  I may stitch a few more of these as gifts for Christmas this year, it really turned out fabulous!

Another challenge was to stitch another set of the 12 Days of Christmas ornaments.  I just ran out of time to get myself organized for this challenge.  So in searching for something else to stitch, I ran across these freebies from Dragon Dreams.  I always wanted to stitch these, so this is the year!  For the month of January I stitched a Dragonlette In A Pear Tree.  Since the patterns were free, I hope it's ok to consider them GG.  These are stitched on 28 count over two...and are such a quick stitch!!

Have I bored you to tears yet?  LOL  I know, it's a lot....and I'm too long winded.  I'm sure the posts will get smaller as the months go by.  I hope all of you are safe and healthy wherever you may be!  Do take care, won't you?  And Happy Stitching!!