Halloween is coming....

So, another Halloween/Samhain season is on it's way. We've had a really hot spell and now the weather has finally simmered down and it's really feeling Fall like. It's refreshingly cool. We're decorating the yard. Nearly done, but we still have some finishing touches to add.

We stuffed a new guy for our porch this year. We've always had a skeleton man on the porch and he's been upgraded to werewolf now! I really like him. We did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.

 

 
We had to say goodbye to our boy Baxter this past Saturday. He's been featured here before. I can't tell you how much we miss him. He was the epitome of what a "good boy" is, and had all the qualities of a true gentleman. He hated thunderstorms and loved pillows. Baxter, you were the best.

For the first time in 25 years, we have only one dog now. The bond you have with your animal is an amazing thing. You are their whole world and they let you know it. It doesn't matter if you're gone for 8 hours or 5 minutes - the zeal with which you are greeted is the same.

My Spooky Hollow, by WTNT, is at the framing shop, ready to be picked up.  I can't wait to see it.  I hope it looks OK without the border.  I didn't get a mat, and it's in a primitive type frame, so it should be good!  I'll be sure to post again when I pick it up, perhaps this weekend.

Well, I hope you all are enjoying good weather, and productive stitching.  I am STILL not stitching anything, but I am working on a beautiful new crochet scarf.  Here's my progress so far.

It's gonna take me a while, but it's worth it.  The original pattern can be found here:  Cluster Stitch Scarf and boy, is it beautiful!  All I could think of when I saw it was "It Shall Be Mine".  :P

Until next time, peace to you and

 

Remember. Honor. Never Forget.

Remember them. Honor them. Never forget them. NYC. The Pentagon. Shanksville.

Stash and Other Things

I have some stash I'd like to share and a couple little projects, not necessarily cross stitch related. Here's the stash:

I also picked this up recently.

Spooky Hollow by With Thy Needle and Thread

 I just love all of these. I hope I can make some time to stitch soon. It's been busy around here lately, getting my son back to school and all the routines that go with that. Just when I thought I'd have a little break, I think I'll be starting work tomorrow instead of next week. Yes, I'm grateful every year for my job, but I had just a few more things I wanted to do, craft-wise! Wah. My mom had a birthday and I made her a couple things. One was a scarf, the other was a beaded scissor fob.

If the scarf looks similar to the one in the previous post, that's because it is! Just a different yarn. It turned out really lovely, and she seemed to like it. The scissor fob was fun to do and I'll be doing lots more of those I think! If you haven't tried it, please do. It is so easy and there are some great to follow tutorials out there, like this one from Focus on Finishing - Beaded Scissor Fob Tutorial.

I've been enjoying my moonflowers again this year. I just love the magical way they bloom in the evening-usually after 5 o'clock pm. They have a lovely, light fragrance. The next morning, they shrivel up and drop from the vine, so it's imperative you go out and enjoy them each night.

Last of all, I took Spooky Hollow, from With Thy Needle and Thread, to the framers at In Stitches. That lady really knows what she's doing, let me tell you! I should have it back in another month or so. Just in time to display it for Halloween hopefully! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read.

Summer Stuff

I tend to think of Summer as ending in August. So, by my standards Summer is almost over. I know it runs until mid/end of September, but September 1 is the beginning of Fall in my mind. With that, my thoughts are quickly turning from Summer activities to ones carried out in cooler weather. How about you? In my sidebar to the right, you'll see I've had Shepherd's Bush "Green Snowman" as a WIP, shamefully, for a LONG time. I can't believe I haven't updated to show him finished. Not framed yet, but still-he's finished. He wasn't as much fun to work on as the Red Snowman, but I do love him nonetheless. That green fabric just doesn't translate well to a photo.  Tried it many times!

So, there he is, all finished up. As I mentioned earlier this year in a post below, I'd like to try the Gray Snowman too. This time last year, I made learning to crochet and knit a goal of mine. Work keeps me away from crafting a good portion of the year, but I do have summers off, so I picked it up again this summer and I've done pretty well! Going slow, but I'm really enjoying it. Forgive all the loose ends not worked in yet, but here's a couple examples of what I've been up to.

As if I don't have enough trouble keeping my stitching supplies organized, now I have yarn too! But you know, that's a good problem to have, now isn't it? :) My boy turned 17. Impossible I say, because I've not aged one day since he was born. ;)

Elizabeth Stone said "Making the decision to have a child-it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." When I take that statement in, I wholeheartedly agree. He is my heart. Love that kid. This (Aug 26th) will also be the last "first day" of high school for my son. Every day I drive him to school will be the last of them. This time next year, he's off to college somewhere and I'll be seeing him much less. I think college is a good transition for kids. I got married early and never had that transition time, so I'm glad he will.

It has been a busy and sometimes overwhelming year so far. Though my work is set to start up again, I again make a promise to myself to stitch more. I have let so many things slip by the wayside. Fall is a time of renewal for me. Lots of cleaning out, physically and mentally. My husband knows he has to gear up and have lots of trash bags at the ready, because I have a burning desire to lighten my load this time of year.

So, have you found Pinterest? Yeah. Me too. Probably one of the more valid and real reasons I haven't gotten much done this summer. It's wondrous, amazing, and lovely. It's also EVIL. :) I guess I should link my boards somewhere on my blog. I'll take a peek and see how others are doing that and most likely will do that myself too. So many blogs to catch up on! I'm excited to see what everyone is working on! I leave you with many wishes for a lovely remainder of summer!

Spooky Hollow Finish

Happy Valentine's Day! Let's see, I've not been back since November so a quick recap is in order. Thanksgiving was wonderful, went to my sis's house and visited with everyone-same for Christmas. She and her husband are great to host it for us. Wonderful company and food. My husband lost a friend of his in the line of duty on New Year's Eve. His loss will forever be felt by family, friends, co-workers, and the community at large.

On a lighter note, my son just took his ACT and is taking the SAT in March.  He's researching colleges, and I don't think we're ready for all this!  Yes, we knew it was coming, but it really sneaks up on you, doesn't it?  YIKES.

Otherwise, we've just been working and doing some cleaning out and fixing up of our little house. Just some repainting, etc. at this point. It'll be good to get it all done. Speaking of all done-I finished Spooky Hollow without the border. Yes, I did say that I wanted to finish it properly. But guess what? I'm taking a page out of a fellow stitcher's book and saying "I didn't do it and I don't feel guilty either!" LOL. Think of me what you will (you're probably right, whatever it is!). I looked at that border and thought "Do I really want to spend time stitching this??!" The overwhelming answer was
"NO!".

Spooky Hollow

With Thy Needle and Thread

28 ct. Picture This Plus Mello

Regular DMC floss

So, there we go.  All done.  Now I'm finishing up the Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman-he's over there to the right in my sidebar.  He's nearly done.  Have you seen the new Gray Snowman?  Oh, I think I'm going to have to have him!

Isn't he adorable?  And I love that little house too! All of those snowmen are so cute.  I think I need blue and purple as well.

We put a bird feeder up, so I'll leave you with a pretty pic of one of my favorite birdies.

 Until next time,
 

Finishes and Frames

Well, hello!  Um, pay no attention, please, to the date of the last post.  Deal?  I've done many fun things this past year, and have recorded none of them here.  Shameful, I tell you!

Since I last left showing a peek of Fa La La, maybe I should update him, eh? Here he is, all finished and pressed. Don't know what I'll do, but probably frame him somehow.

Shepherd's Bush - Fa-La-La

I think he turned out pretty cute. LOVE that button hat too! I also had been working, albeit very slowly, on Spooky Hollow by With Thy Needle and Thread. Very sad and slow update below! I adore this design.  It's got a border that doesn't look very fun, but I'll persevere and finish it properly.

Spooky Hollow - With Thy Needle and Thread

Just yesterday, I went and picked up a project from the framer, In Stitches. Here is my framed Blackbird Designs project.

With My Needle - Blackbird Designs

I hope everyone is doing well. My blog feed shows so many beautiful and wonderful projects being done out there! I need to find some time to catch up with everyone and get some inspiration.  I've done some designing, but not much stitching, as evidenced here.  Maybe I'll get my act together this coming year?  I have a few things to figure out on Blogger, so that will keep me busy updating for a while.  Until next time, 

Shepherd's Bush Fa La La

November is well upon us, and I'd rather not talk about Halloween. Shocking as it might be, I'm over it for a while! So, I'm not even posting anymore pics of it and will move right along towards Christmas. A couple weeks ago, I made a trip to Hershey PA for the weekend to do nothing spectacular. Ate, slept and started a new project. I brought my little Fa La La Sheep that I'd bought the year before, but sadly there is no needlework show at Hershey anymore. And no shops whatsoever!!

Shepherd's Bush Fa La La

He is super sweet and he'll have a little striped hat when he's done. I've already begun on the tree that is to the right of him, but I'll update that next time. I'm working so much there is precious little time for stitching.

I'll be honest, this year has been a whirlwind of crap. Lots of good things to be sure, but you know how the few really stressful things can take over? It's been that kind of year. The kind of year where you say to yourself, "Girl, something's gotta give!" But then I think that I have a great deal to be thankful for as well, so why am I complaining, right? Blah! I have a very sweet friend who recently lost her mom, and my troubles don't compare in the least to what she is going through.

Then, there's my blog friend Donna, over at DaisyGirl Stitching and she's my new inspiration. She just amazes me with her spirit and personality. I need to follow her example and get my act together!

Until next time friends, I hope you have lots of time for stitches!

Happy October & Shepherd's Bush Little Witch!

Oh man. I'm so excited it's almost Halloween! This is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love Summer too, but Fall is just where it's at for me. I always have big plans to clean out things and scrub up the house and Fall is a time of introspection for me.

My mom and I recently had some needlework framed. She framed La D Da's Rain Rain, which I made for her quite some time ago. And I framed my Shepherd's Bush Little Witch. I was a bad witchy and never finished the bottom row of pumpkin blossoms. It looked too fussy for my patience level at the time and I somehow don't miss it. It looks great when I see it finished on someone else's--I was simply too lazy to do it for myself. And I forgot to sign the sweet little thing too! Dangit! I'm so happy with it. It just came out gorgeous. The man who framed it actually picked out the mat and the frame. Very intuitive.  I'm sorry for the bad pics, but it's impossible to photograph a framed piece with glass!

We've also decorated for Halloween. I just love pulling all my stuff out and putting it where it was last year. Hey, when it works, it works, right? One of the most fun things that my husband and I do is to go out to breakfast and spend the better part of the morning hunting for a few new things to add to our collection. Every year I say "We don't have any more room!", and every year, we pick up a few more pieces. Ha.  But we made these beauties by hand!  They are each about 9 feet tall.

And he's a staple every year in our upstairs bedroom window.

Has anyone else suffered the loss of a local bookstore? Border's closed and I went on a major book shopping spree this summer. You'd have thought it was the last time I'd ever see a book. But a new Books A Million opened up, so I'm good. It's really a beautiful store, as it took over another book store that closed. They've really done a great job and it's not warehouse-y at all. I just love it. I also bought a simple Nook E-Reader. I love that thing. It will never replace books for me, but it's just another way to enjoy reading.

I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holiday!  I know we will--we always do!
 

Want to see some Moonflowers?

Would you like to see a beautiful Moonflower from my garden?  I tried these for the first time this year and so far, I'm enchanted with them!  What a great reason to go out into the warm summer night - to sit and admire these lovely things that appear as the sun goes down.

First, they become these gorgeous swirly pods.

Then the pod starts to slowly open (this is looking down the vine from my upper deck)

Then, it opens a bit more.

Then you are rewarded with the most magnificent, large, beauty of a flower!  I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying these.

Have you seen this wonderful new design?  I'm not much on finishing, but something about this just appeals to me.  Gee, it couldn't be because it's Halloween now, could it?  It's from With Thy Needle and it's a must have for me.

I hope everyone is working on great things and looking forward to Autumn.  It really will be here before we know it and I'm looking forward to this one more than I have in a long time!  Some difficult family business is out of the way and we are looking ahead and not behind!  Love and peace to you all!

Sticking a Toe in the Water

Not real water anyway. We didn't head to the beloved beach this year. Turns out my furbaby Baxter is diabetic and he kind of ate up (no pun intended) all our beach money this year! No problem though. He's all regulated now and we're back on track for an awesome vacation next summer.

So, I've been wondering why I got turned off from blogging for so long. I think I just couldn't keep up. There are so many great ladies blogging out there. I was feeling so much pressure to respond to all the great blogs in my reader, and you know what? I just can't, lol. I simply couldn't do it. And I always say I understand if people don't leave comments, because sometimes, it's so overwhelming. At least it is for me. Anyone have any advice in that arena? I'm all ears!

I've not bought any stitching for so long and I'm enjoying getting caught up on what's out there--though I think we all know that I could never live long enough to stitch what's in my stash anyway. But I still love looking. I have begun stitching again, albeit very slowly. I worked more at my "real" job this past year and have some other things going on that just took time away from stitching. I don't like it, but that's the truth.

Anyone else HOT? In my neck of the woods it's 11pm right now and the heat index is still 100. I felt like my face was going to melt off today. I was out for a bit, but to be quite honest, I couldn't deal with being out in the heat for more than a few minutes. It's brutal.

So, like I said, I'm just sticking my toe in right now. I need to get caught up on some stitching and post some updates. Let's see if I can keep to my goal to post more than twice in one year, eh?

I hope everyone is up to some stitch goodness. I have so much to catch up on and look at. Enjoy your weekends, stay cool, and love one another. Thanks for peeking in!