Halloween Countdown

This little bat is a Lizzie Kate I made 4 years ago. No my kids didn't help me make the bat, this was all my own craftiness (though yes it does look like it was put together by a five year old...its part of the *ahem* "charm") It is sparkly felt and pipe cleaners. Each year I take it out and say I am going to re-do it into some kind of a more polished finish, but I never do. And my art-project has kind of grown on me.

On a sadder note, it has been a tough week for me. We had to have our thirteen year old black lab Indigo, put to sleep. He has been with our family since he was a puppy. I adopted him from the county shelter when I lived in Kentucky, and he moved with me in the back of a tiny Dodge Neon all the way to Arizona. I try and remind myself what a great life he had, and that he had a family that loved him and spoiled him his whole life. My nine year old wanted to go with us to the vet, and we were all crying and he was licking the tears from her face at which point sniffling turned to outright sobbing. The vet must have hated his job that day. We buried him in the backyard under a new orange tree and planted a new flower bed over his grave. I think of how many dogs every year are at shelters, and wish all of them could be as loved as our dogs are. Anyways it has just been a sad week on that front. I am glad he is at peace now.

Halloween Countdown!

This is a little pillow I completed 2 years ago. It is a Trilogy design, called "Sneak Peek". I loved the little cat and witch peeking out. I had bought a bunch of little charms to go around the outside (where all the black lines are) but decided I wanted to keep it simple once I finished it. That and the fact that I have small children and dogs who play with/gnaw on charms until they come off and pose a choking hazard! Yay, 26 more days to Halloween! I am trying to resist all the Halloween candy they already have out at the stores, because I know none of it would last until Halloween if I started buying it now.

Halloween Countdown!

27 days until Halloween! This was an ornament I received in an exchange last year. I love the ribbon trim on the bottom, and the four little buttons on each corner. Not sure who the designer is though. My photo doesn't do justice to the colors on it. The linen is more of a golden orange.

Halloween Countdown!

28 Days to Halloween! This is a Prairie Schooler design out of the "Boo to You" chart. I made this I think 2 Halloweens ago. I did the actual skeleton with glow in the dark white, and he still glows two years later. Does anyone else worry about their cancer risk every time they thread their needle with the glow in the dark thread? I know, I know my Diet Coke addiction will probably get me first, but still I don't want my tongue to glow in the dark!

Countdown to Halloween!

As some of you may know, Halloween is my most favorite holiday...ever! So this year I have something special planned for my blog to celebrate. I am going to try to post every day this month with something Halloween/stitchy related. I think (I haven't actually counted) that I have enough seasonal stuff stitched to post a different photo everyday this month. We will see!

Catching up on Exchanges

So I have signed up for a bunch of exchanges this year. I like doing smalls in addition to my standard rotation of bigger projects. The first one is for a summer exchange from Seasonal Exchange

This is the little ornament I received from Lisa. I have a small mermaid collection going already so this fits in perfectly. The back is a sparkly sand colored fabric that matches the stitching perfectly. Below is what I stitched for Laura, yes my mother did have to help me sew this trim on. Doing these exchanges has really help me expand my finishing skills. Seeing everyone else's beautiful finishes always makes me want to improve my own skills.

And this is from the Hooked on Exchanging group. This is what I sent, a Prairie Schooler Owl for the Autumn exchange.

And this is what I recieved from Edgar of Blacksheep's bit of the web It is also a Prairie Schooler piece, from the Autumn Samplers chart. I love it! I hadn't seen this design before, I had seen the chart but never paid attention to this design (I have a short attention span), but I love it. The pumpkins, and the moons, and the hand-dyed linen are all my favorites.

Fall Shelf

I have been so busy with the new school year I have barely had time to decorate for my favorite season! Is it odd that I differentiate between Fall/Autumn and Halloween decorating? I actually have two different boxes of stuff for each season. I leave out alot of the Fall decor when I put out my Halloween items, and also leave them out after I take down all the Halloween stuff for the Thanksgiving season (also a different box of decorations). So this is the little part of my fall decorating I have started, my seasonal shelf. I need to look for a black/dark brown shelf instead of the white one I used for spring. The ornaments from left to right are: "Fall Arches" Bent Creek, unknown pattern of an owl,"Pumpkins" out of Halloween Quickies by Brian Jackins, and Bent Creek "Red Wing Blackbird".

This is on the top of the shelf, Lizzie Kate "Fall squared".

And this one is of course another Bent Creek. I love the pumpkin fabric I used behind it in the frame.

And this was my creative project for the shelf. I taped off the pumpkin on a plain terracotta pot, then painted over it with a metallic craft paint in copper. And ta-da! I removed the tape for a cute pumpkin stencil.

This one was not stitched by me, I bought it off ebay. Super small stitches, and pumpkins and crows seems to be my fall theme this year. I love the long-stitched stars.