Spooktacular Goody Bags

I spent the weekend getting the house and treats ready for the big night tomorrow! I couldn't wait to make these treat bags with my new Papertrey Ink die - Front and Center #1. It was cut out of black cardstock and adhered to a plain and simple brown lunch sack. The tag was made using the new tag die #5 and some older Halloween PTI stamps. The bags, after the candy was added, were finished off with a torn strip of fabric tied into a bow, Halloween colored baker's twine and an orange spider ring (ring snipped off). My niece and nephews got their bags this evening and were happy.....and that's all that matters! Happy Halloween!

Halloween Rules Update

Happy Saturday Friends! It has been a week that I am happy to report was manageable with the escape of my stitching every evening. Thank you floss. Thank you needle. Thanks for keeping me a bit sane......Anywho, I am happy to report that I have finished stitching the first six releases for the Lizzie Kate Halloween Rules series. These were SO fun to stitch! Happy colors and each one made me giggle when I put in the final stitch. Don't know when the final six will be released but for now, it is ironed and put away.
I am now trying to decide what to stitch next.....I received a YUMMY piece of 32ct. Camofudge Linen from Stitches and Spice in my mailbox this week that is the PERFECT piece of linen to stitch the Prairie Moon's To Thine is the Trick and the Treat pattern. This linen is so great. Soft, great hand-dyed coloring, not too splotchy, just a great color. I think it's in the running. But, I also have all the colors pulled and the fabric for the Shakespeare's Peddler piece, Friendship Sampler. I want to stitch it on a Lakeside Linen Vintage Buttercream - do you see a pattern here? Linens with food names! LOL! And, of course, I can't let Paradise Lost sit for too long........
Guess you'll have to stay tuned to see what shows up on the Q-Snap!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Don't forget to set your clocks up 1 hour tonight. Less sleep but an extra hour for stitching!
Hugs and Stitches!

Hello! Back home to reality!

I know, I know.....it's been like forever since I have updated my blog and for good reason. You see, I decided I needed to get away. I needed to spend time with my needle and thread. I needed to laugh uncontrollably and be with great friends. I needed to smell the ocean and stay up late. I needed my PALS!! So, in order to make the most of this get away adventure, I needed to get some stitching done. I needed to put together a grab bag, ornaments and kit up projects. In order to do that, I had to neglect all of my blogger friends. But, I'm back - tired - but I'm back. Back to reality. Since there is just so much that goes on during a PALS Convention, I'm going to break up my blog posts and give you a little each day. Let's start with all of the stitching and finishing I had to do before I left for the trip to Myrtle Beach.

This is my grab bag container. I used my paper crafting skills to decorate an empty paint can and filled it with lots of linen, fabric, scissors and other Halloween goodies.

I also stitched up this altoid tin pin cushion and scissor fob to go inside my grab bag paint can.

On Thursday night, we had a Fall and Halloween stitched exchange. I participated in the Halloween exchange and this was my piece - a Blackbird Designs Halloween Stocking. My good friend Amy got this one.

On Friday night, we had not only the grab bag exchange but the anticipated Christmas ornament exchange. I stitched these three ornies and was finishing them up right up to the last minute!

And last, but not least, here is a Blackbird Designs Halloween Cat design that I made into a pillow for the stitched exchange. At the last minute, I didn't participate so this one got to come back home with me.

There are lots of pictures out on the blogs of those that attended this year. You can see some of the pictures by visiting the blogs I have bookmarked on the right hand side of this blog page under "My Blog List". Go check them out and be sure to leave us a comment. We love sharing and we love to hear what you have to say.

I'll be back tomorrow with another installment of the fun PALS Convention 2010!!

Stay Tuned!!

Halloween Finish

I know, I know....I started with Christmas ornies and here I am with a Halloween finish - tee hee! Well, I thought I had better get started on this one if I wanted it finished for this year. It is Prairie Schooler's When Witches Go Riding. I started this right before going to Tulsa and finished it tonight. I love it! Enjoy!!

Sorry about the wonky photo - it's laying on top of my pillow!

Spooky Greetings from the Beach

Just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that I'm alive and well. The back is much better and getting stronger each day. Our family took a mini get away to the beach this weekend to relax and just try to get away from the cares of life. We've been hit with a lot of hardships in the last couple of months so this little trip was badly needed.

Of course, with Saturday being Halloween, it was only appropriate that we get a photo of us celebrating Halloween beach-style. Even the ghouls and goblins hang out on the beach getting rested before the big haunt at midnight!

Hope your Halloween was spooktacular!

A Halloween XStitch Finish

By the looks of stores, Halloween is just around the corner! So, I thought I had better go ahead and get a jump on a Halloween stitching project AND finish it. This is a pattern in the Blackbird Design's book called, Trix or Treats, that was released a couple of years ago. It is stitched on WDW 30 count Mocha linen - which I absolutely LOVE! This fabric is so nice and I wish the photo could show you just how lovely the color is. It was such a fun piece to stitch since it was all stitched in DMC 310 (black).

Hope you have a fun Halloween project kitted and ready for a needle and thread!

Here's my next project....stay tuned!

Happy Halloween!

May your day be spooky and full of frightful delight!

Spooky Treats

Tonight I decided to do a little stamping and I made these Spooky Treat Toppers after seeing something similar on someone's blog earlier this week (I will post the link just as soon as I can find it again - wink!). I used Papertrey Ink's new Spooky Treats II stamp set. I also got to use my new Spellbinder's Pinking Nestabilities die! After I stamped and cut everything out, there was nothing left to do but put it all together with some Halloween peanut M&Ms and ribbon! Easy Peasy! Hopefully, these will be a spooky little surprise for my "boys".

Happy Halloween!

Edited to add the blog link listed above http://stampasweetimpression.blogspot.com/

Scary Stitches

Since Halloween is only a few short days away, I thought I would share some photos of my Halloween stitching.

This first piece is by Birds of a Feather and I stitched and finished it into a bellpull earlier this year.


This witch piece is by Hinzeit and was finished into a cube. This is one of my favorite pieces because it is stitched on a piece of Havana fabric. It's a nice tobacco color and just perfect for that Halloween primitive feel that I do love!


This next piece is another bellpull and was actually the first Halloween piece I stitched and finished many years ago. The pattern was from a Mill Hill book.


Last but not least is my Pine Mountain pillow and Shepherds Bush Needleroll. Again, stitching from a couple of years ago but treasured like I stitched them yesterday.


I hope these pictures will inspire you to get out some of your stitched pieces and display them for the season. If you don't have anything stitched, go ahead and put in a couple of scary stitches and get a head start on next year.

Happy Halloween!!

Boo Box

Papertrey Ink has started a new line of downloadable templates. After seeing their design team come up with some fabulous ideas, I had to get in on the action too. This is my first box using the KEEP(sake) Box Template. Used some paper and cardstock scraps AND my new Martha Stewart scallop dot border punch. Filled the box with some dark chocolate kisses and all it needs is a gift tag and it's ready to go. It was quite simple - kinda spooky! LOL!

Eek!

Sweet little mice being over-shadowed by an eerie cat! HEEE HEEE HEEE!

Boo - Day Two!!

And the pumpkin patch continues to grow more spooky! Be afraid - be very afraid!!

Boo!

I just love Halloween! It's the one holiday that you can be scary, funny, spooky and tacky and it's perfectly fine! No pressure to be perfect. Just have fun! Halloween is on a Friday this year so that makes it even better. Kids can go out and trick or treat and not have to worry about getting up early the next day for school. I love passing out candy and decorating for the night. This year we are going with a pumpkin patch theme. Lots of carving to do but it's fun and DH and DS get to use their artistic skills and get their spook on! LOL. Thought I would share our first pumpkin creation and my Halloween treat for the spooks that will come knocking. I made Mummy Gum - strips of cardstock inked up to give those creatures a dirty, rotten appearance, wrapped around packs of gum complete with goggle eyes. Hopefully, our spooky pumpkin cat will guard these treats until the 31st!

Saturday and a Finish

Hope everyone is having a nice COOL Saturday! It is HOT here and I am home and inside for the rest of the day. A big cudos to the inventor of the air conditioner. He/She is my hero!!

Thought I would share a finish from last night. I have completed my Shepherds Bush Spooky Spots. Now to figure out how I want it finished. Will probably frame it but I don't know exactly where to put it. Maybe on my bakers rack in the kitchen. Will have to think about it. In the meantime, my next stitching project will probably be Little House Needleworks Psalm 145.



I did make a change to this piece. The pattern called for the word "ghosts" to be stitched in cream, but you couldn't see it. I'm sure that was the whole purpose with it being a "ghost" but I just didn't like the feel of it. So I stitched mine in the brown color. Not a hard piece to stitch just a little time consuming. A couple of specialty stitches but SB always gives clear directions on how to do each one. Also, I'm happy to report this photo looks much more like the actual piece than the last photo I shared. Nothing like good natural sunlight for picture taking!

Well, the creative weekend will hopefully continue. Stayed tuned, you never know what I might come up with!

Spooky Spots

Well, it's almost the weekend and how happy I will be when it is here. It's been a busy week at work, home, etc. I have had a little "me" time to stitch though. I started Shepherds Bush's Spooky Spots. It's a fun piece to stitch but lots of color changes. Just one of those pieces you have to stitch one stitch at a time. Here's a sneak peek at my progress so far.

The fabric is very nice. It's 32 ct Autumn Blush linen and comes with the kit (silks too!). It's a very light ivory with just a hint of peachy colored splotches. Very subtle. The picture shown here is a little dark in comparison to real life. Just can't seem to get these pictures posted just right! LOL!

Spooky Fireworks

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. We started the day buying fireworks and ended it with a bang! We were blessed with a rain shower a couple of hours before it got dark so we didn't have to worry about the yard being too dry and possibly starting a fire.

Later last night and into the wee hours this morning I was stitching away and I am happy to report I finished stitching BOF's Lost Spirits. This was a spooky-fun piece to stitch and I am so happy I decided to get it out of my stash and stitch it up. I hope to spend tomorrow finishing it into a bellpull. Here's a picture of the finished piece. The colors are much brighter in person.

Well, that's all I have for now. I promise to get more finished items posted in the next day or two. I'm still new to all of this but I have to say, it's quite fun!

Have a great rest of the weekend!