A Halloween Finish

This is another Barbara Ana design "Spooky Tree". I bought 3 of her patterns at the same time and once I finished the Spring Biscornu for Seasonal Exchange, I decided to do this one. I made some changes to the actual design of it, in the original pattern Mr. Skeleton is supposed to be holding a rose which I left out, and the flowers on Mr. Crow are supposed to be white which I didn't notice until I looked at the photo on the front of the chart after I was all done stitching. I finished this one in a week which is some really really quick stitching for me!

This week was my oldest daughter Maya's birthday. She is all of nine years old now. It is amazing to me how she is growing from a child to a pre-teen now when I still think of her as my sweet little baby. As a neat b-day present we went trail riding. She actually hadn't ridden a full size horse before, just ponies at the fair, but she did so good! Below is me on my horse, I left my cowboy hat at home.

#2 Crazy January Challenge Finish!

Yay! Second challenge piece finished and it's only almost May (yes that was a little sarcasm there). Still happy to have it done, and now just need to find a suitable frame for it. This one is Bent Creek "Home". I buckled down and got it done last week. I love the lettering, but used a different color than the chart called for. I used WDW "Moss" which is a little darker but more variegated then the color on the the chart. I also changed the house colors to match my own house.

And what better reason to start a new piece than finishing one. Forget the fact I still have 13 more challenge pieces to finish. I see alot more WIP being added to my stash this year. Anyway, this one is a Barbara Ana design. I dyed this fabric hoping for a spring green and it turned out a BRIGHT chartreuse (funny just like the name on the dye-box) so I had this in my stash waiting for a Halloween piece to stitch on it. I just got done stitching another Barbara Ana design for a Seasonal Exchange and stupid me forgot to take a picture of it before mailing it. I stitched Spring Biscornu (first time assembling a biscornu) and mailed it off to Lynn. You can see the picture of it on her blog.

Progress at the speed of snails!

Picture Heavy Post ahead....
So this is my progress report for my Crazy January challenge. I only took pics of my 6 bigger projects that I have been rotating regularly. I apparently need to take progress pictures more often, because it looks like I have done alot but really to me it feels like each is going so slow because i'm working on so many.

First up is Diane Arthurs "Give Thanks", probably the closest one to being done. I love the colors of this one and can't wait to have it out & displayed with my fall decor.

Next is Prairie Moon "Thine is the Trick and the Treat". A little tedious with just the black, but I like finishing each little section. The chart is 6 pages long, and I am almost done with page 1.



This is Lizzie Kate "Halloween Rules". Wow it looks like I have gotten a bunch done on this one. I have promised myself not to buy the next 3 charts until I finish the first 3. So that is keeping me motivated. Plus I think it's so cute. Does it prove how randomly I stitch that my ghost has a teletubbie belly?

Bent Creek "Home" probably in second place to be finished.


This is "Golden Apples" by Mirabilia. I got a lot done on this one too, and like just using simple plain old DMC on it. I am stitching her face/skin over one, something new for me and not sure if I love it yet or not but wanted to try it. The linen I am using for it (came with the kit) feels like burlap though, it is so stiff and has not softened up at all as I have been working with it. It is a pretty color (Milk Chocolate I think) and not that hard to stitch on, just scratchy.

Aaacccckkkk! How am I late for my own giveaway! Like a week late too. Sigh...big deep sigh. It has been a busy week of Easter parties at preschool, and work, and too much of everything else. This is my youngest at her preschools Easter egg hunt. I thought it was the perfect face for how I felt about being late for my own giveaway.

And who needs a random number generator when I have toddlers and pets to do my picking. This is the newest member of our flock. Karma the conure, who by the way loves to eat/shred/make messes out of paper. So I let the bird pick my winner. And June of Butterfly wings it was. Congratulations! I love her blog header of the bunnies and the daffodils, very cute.


And this was my seasonal exchange peice, I recieved from Lei of Barely Squeaking By. Isn't it so cute?! I love the trim on it, and it is now proudly displayed on my spring shelf. I have been stitching away on my exchange piece, and it is done except for the finishing. I am trying something new with the finishing and am so scared to mess it up! So of course I have been putting it off. It is so much harder when it is for someone else and you want it to be perfect.
I hope everyone has a happy hoppy Easter. Blessings!