Sunday, 21 December 2014

December Stitch From Stash!

I made it!  Yes I made it right through the year with Stitch From Stash! OK so I wouldn't have done without the monthly budget, my carry over or the end of year bonus but I did it and I feel very proud of myself!

This month I had £59.90 carried over from last month plus the £15 monthly budget. I purchased two charts and a magazine from Crafty Kitten ( as shown in my last post ) which meant I spent just under my monthly budget as I got my birthday month discount. So I still have the £59.90 of my carry over left. Now I know I have not done as well as some of the ladies have but having that left is brilliant!  Next year I have every intention of doing even better! Mel has suggested that between 22nd December and the start of the next SFS we spend, spend, spend but I have more than enough and dare not even contemplate doing that.  Next year I want to be even tougher on myself when it comes to buying so I shall just be buying fabric and threads when needed. My two autos will not count but as I signed up for fabric and hand dyes for the CCN Classic Ornaments they will count in my monthly budget but the buttons won't as they are classed as finishing items :). I'm looking forward to taking part again next year and would just like to thank Mel for organising it and for all her hard work keeping it going through the year and for doing it again next year.

I have a few photos to share. In my last post I showed my Wicked Since finish. Well here it is actually made up! I didn't have a pumpkin charm, in fact I have hardly any Halloween charms, so I ended up adding cat buttons instead. I'll be putting this away until Halloween. Barb and I will restart our Halloween SAL in the New Year :).

A while ago you may remember I stitched Just Nan Wintry Mix. Well here that is all made up too!
I still have loads to finish so maybe between Christmas and the New Year I'll get some more done.

I wanted to get Snowy Foxes finished this week so I stitched on it an extra evening to get it done. At the moment I'm stitching 3 series then in the New Year it will be 4 series so I'm wanting to get Frosty Forest finished as soon as I can then swap things about a little.

I had a small new start once I'd finished Snowy Foxes. This one will not take long to stitch up. It is another from the Candy Cane Stitchers group on Facebook and it's Heart In Hand Christmas Alphabet. It's going to be a cute one!

I've been trying to get a good bit stitched on the December SAL that Chris and I are doing. It is so pretty. I love the contrast between the reds and white. 

Finally I went back to my robin last night. Just a little stitching whilst watching the Strictly final. I was very disappointed as that is the second year the one person I didn't want to win it did!!

On Friday it was Christine's birthday and this is what I stitched for her.

The Little Stitcher Winter Walk

32 count nougat linen

DMC

Birthday gift for Christine.

Just a few photos now from last Sunday when we went on our annual day out to the Victorian Christmas Market in Beverley. As usual we popped to see the birds of prey!






So that is it from me.  My last post until after Christmas. I hope you all have a wonderful,  peaceful Christmas and get lots of lovely stash from Father Christmas :). I am not going to get my white Christmas but here's hoping for some snow soon!

Take care everyone.

With much love.

Sally xxx

27 comments:

Linda said...

Lovely stitching as always Sally. Love the bird pics.
Merry Christmas.

Linda

Heather said...

Way to go Sally! I am with you about spending next year. We will have to be an encouragement to each other! :-)

Your stitching is lovely as ever! How fun to get to be so close to the birds of prey!

I hope that you and your family have a very merry Christmas!

Blu said...

Very pretty finishes! And your WIPs look great.

Tricia said...

Sally, I am so proud of you! Way to go still having a budget carryover at the end of the year!!! :) Beautiful stitching as always and I love your bird pictures. Merry Christmas!!!!

Julie said...

Lovely finishes, super gift for Christine.
Have a lovely Christmastime with your family.

Christine said...

Beautiful stitching! And Merry Christmas to all!

Sheryl said...

Hi Sally, lots of lovely stitching as always. Pretty Wintry Mix and amazing birds of prey. Wishing you a Happy Christmas.

Deb said...

Hi Sally, what an amazing achievement with your Stitch from Stash result. Well done.
I am in awe of all of your cross stitching, wonderful.
Hope you and yours have a lovely christmas filled with joy and happiness

Mouse said...

well done you on the budget front ... I didn't sign up as well you know how it is ..lol
love the finishing and the progress photos and love the girls with the birds of prey :)
wishing you a wonderful Christmas and I hope the stash fairy is good to you :) love mouse xxxxx

Gillie said...

Well done, Sally, I'm looking forward to next year too ! Happy Christmas!

Jackie's Stitches said...

Congratulations for ending your SFS year very strong. It's been fun watching your success! You've stitched loads this past year too. Happy Holiday!

Christine said...

Great going on the stitch from stash Sally. Some lovely stitching there, I adore my Birthday present

Vickie said...

Pretty finishes Sally. Merry Christmas to you!

Margaret said...

Congrats on finishing Stitch from Stash successfully! That's fantastic! Love all your stitching as always. Happy Christmas to you and yours!

Brigitte said...

Well done, Sally, on the SFS challenge. And I'm sure, next year will be just as interesting. This challenge makes us more aware of the many charts and magazine patterns we have. And it's just the threads and fabrics that need to be stocked up from time to time.

Great finishes and progress on your WIPs. I love the way you finished the ornaments and pillows.

Carol said...

Such great photos with the big birds, Sally!

I'd say you had a very successful year both with staying within a budget and having such lovely finishes! I especially love that last one :)

Merry Christmas to you, Sally!

Maggee said...

Congrats on getting thru SFS 2014 without over spending! Your finishes are very nicely done, and your SALs and WIPs (especially my fave, the Robin!) are coming along nicely. Like the UB Designs one also... the colors work so well together! Can't wait to see more of that one! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Michelle said...

You have done really well Sally. Bless you. Merry Christmas sweet friend. Have a lovely day x

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

I commend you on your strict budgeting and all on your monthly stash diet...I couldn't do it, and I know it!
:)
I love all your finishes and particularly the one for Christine...BEAUTIFUL!

Anne said...

Beautiful stitching Sally!! Those birds of prey are magnificent. So neat to see them up close. Have a Merry Christmas to you and your family! Hugs!

Miamina said...

Gorgeous stitching, as always and beautiful finishing too!

Merry Christmas! I look forward to reading and chatting with you more next year :)

Ruth said...

kudos to you on that SFS accomplishment! All of you who have been doing it this year have inspired me to join in for 2015, I'm not certain I can be very good at it, but I'm going to try. Maybe by the end of the year I will have a celebratory post like yours :)

Love the stitching accomplishments and the awesome birds!

Andrea said...

Beautiful stitching. Great effort with the SFS, at least you've ended up in the black and not in the red! Wonderful birds of prey.

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas.

angelasweby said...

Congratulations on your success with SFS. As well as using up some of your stash, I'm sure it's improved your mental arithmetic no end...haha!
Your stitching is lovely. Beautiful photos of the birds of prey too.
Hoping you have a very happy new year.

Kate said...

Congratulations on keeping to your budget Sally, see you there next year!
Fabulous stitching update, loving the December SAL, the colours are gorgeous.
Wishing you all a peaceful New Year.

Mary Ann said...

Hi Sally, I am doing some catch-up on blog reading/commenting. : )

Lovely stitching, and congratulations on a successful Stitch from Stash!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy New Year!!

Karoline said...

Congratulations on sticking to your budget.

Lovely finishes and your projects are looking great.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a good 2015