My Stitching and BackYard World

I haven't quite finished my block #10 from Santa's village.I still have a star and some snowflakes to stitch.. ~~    But I had to stop stitching on SV because September came and the weather got 'fall' like.I just needed to stitch something Fall. I had been 'eye-balling' Plum Street Sampler's 'Halloweenie' for awhile...and I finally started it.~~ And can I tell you I can not wait to stitch those dogs! Adorable!   ~~ I don't think I've shown my 'And a Forest Grew' in awhile... I do try to stitch on it every now and then. This pattern / design has been wonderful to stitch. Every little tree and creature are different so it makes it so fun. Here's another look, but closer so you can see some details... Lastly in my Stitching World, I've been trying to find frames for these two...'Song of the Season's' and 'Ghoul Tidings'. I have been trying to hit our thrift store once a week but not luck yet. I would love to find a cool ornate frame for my Ghoul Tidings before October starts. So far I either find ones that are too plain, too big or too small. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In my BackYard World, we have a chipmunk who my husband has now named Alvin. Here is Alvin stealing bird food from my bird feeder... And here he is drinking from our little waterfall... It's he adorable?!

Bunting and a Happy Momma!

Guess who we got to see this weekend? .... my daughter! I went and grabbed her up from her dorm room , took her to meet the rest of our family and went out to lunch.  I'm a happy momma!   While I was in her dorm room it occurred to me that I never posted a picture of  the bunting I made her.  So I snapped a few photos...
She and I like to quote little movie sayings all the time to each other. I embroidered a few and turned them into a bunting for her dorm room so she would have a little feeling of 'home' there. Here are a few of them up close.. Dexter from "Dexter's Laboratory"... she used to push her baby brother's belly button all the time and say "What does this button do?". She can actually play tetris on one computer while doing homework at the same time on another computer.... my gaming girl! "Why you want to leave me??" is from 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. I would say this to her anytime she was going out the door. LOL We say many quotes from this movie, it's one of our favorites. And everyone knows Agnes from 'Despicable Me'... another one of our favorites. We quote 'Elf' a lot too and have to watch it at least 3 times during the Christmas season. And 'Wall-E' of course! Eventually I'd like to make another bunting to go below that one because there are a few more movie quotes I need to add. ~~~ ~~~~~~ Here is my wonderful and beautiful family together..

The Theme ~ Witches

I finished up three things last week and when I stepped back to look at them all, I realized they all have to do with witches. teehee hee

The first finish is my favorite! It is 'Ghoul Tidings', the pattern is by Plum Street Samplers and is in the Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch.

Stitched on 36ct linen ~Edinboro Flax, stitching one thread over two.

I love everything about this pattern from the witch to the cats to the pumpkins... right down to the colors.

I think the only thing I changed was the acorn color. It called for an orange and I changed it to a brown.  I'm sorry I can't tell you which color... I just grabbed one out of my floss box and didn't pay attention to was it was. 

My second witch is really a witch house. I've been stitching (embroidery) on HocusPocusVille for a few years now and I finally finished up block #9. Which leaves me 3 more to go! 

Pattern by Crab~Apple Hill.

One day I'll post a picture of the cute witch houses all together. They are going to make an amazing quilt one day.

My last witch is called Autumn Witch 2013. She is a free pattern by The Snowflower Diaries. How cute is she?! 

She is stitched on some mystery aida that I had in my stash.
I'm taking a finishing ornament class at my local quilt shop in October (which I am super excited about) so I needed to stitch up something small.  

See... I told you I was in the 'Fall' mood...lots of Fall/Autumn stitching going on!

What's In My Hoop

Labor Day weekend came and I got a hankering to stitch something 'Fall'... so I started 'Ghoul Tidings' from the Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine.
The pattern is by Plum Street Samplers. And can I tell you I love everything about it. I even love the cats and I'm a dog person. The colors in this pattern are the most dreamy. The witch reminds me of Elphaba from 'Wicked' and I am loving every stitch!!

Life Lately

There are some not so good things happening in life right now like... my car is broke, my phone is broke, my daughter left for college, etc..  so I am cheering myself up with 'Thinking Positive'.  What is wonderful right now, what I love and what makes me smile.  It really does help!  Right now in life I am loving...

#1 The mums on my front porch. They remind me of Fall and I love the Fall. I love the colors and smells, the temperature and holidays.

#2 I love my 'Song of the Seasons' sampler. I finished stitching it last night and I think it turned out beautiful.
And have you seen all the cute 'Pumpkin Season' patterns that have been coming out?!

#3 Twitter ~ Yes, I am loving Twitter and here is why~ I have always documented my children's life mostly through pictures. I have 4 full, very thick journals for my daughter. Starting from the day I found out I was pregnant. She left for college one week and 5 days ago so I can't be there to see where she's going or what she is doing anymore. But , she and I are on Twitter and she has been tweeting me pictures and keeping me updated on things she's doing. I even got a 'First Day of School' photo! .... to add to the other 15 (she went to preschool for 2 years).

#4 I am still loving 'Project Life'. ~ And loving my new toys for my Project Life...
Washi tape and a camera stamp!!

#5 My camera... I love looking through the lens and seeing the world!

#6 My new patio furniture. 'Long story short', I quit school (not going to get into why), sold my text books on-line, took the money and bought myself two comfy patio chairs. I love being outside on the back porch, stitching and watching my birds and chipmunks.

Here is a photo of our sweet Water Dragon sunning on my comfy chair with me while I stitch.

#7 I have been watching the old shows and they make me smile. From Hulu, I've been watching 'Mary Tyler Moore', 'Dick Van Dyke' and 'WKRP'.

These are just a few things in my life right now making me smile. :)

Ready for Part 3 ~Song of the Seasons

I'm ready to stitch Part 3 of 'Song of the Seasons'. The more I stitch on this piece the more I love it. Pattern by Little House Needleworks. ~~~ I broke down and purchased the Halloween issue of 'Just Cross Stitch'. I wasn't going to get it because there are about 10 other patterns I want to purchase and stitch. But when I saw 'Plum Street Sampler's' pattern "Ghoul Tidings" in there...I had to have it. She is one of my favorite designers and this pattern is so cute. When I got it home and started flipping through the magazine when I saw another really cute pattern that I want to stitch,"Matilda Hornbuckle". Come to find out it was by another one of my favorite designers, 'Notforgotten Farm'. The whole magazine is like eye candy.

Santa's Sleighworks

Here's is a peek at my whole 'Santa's Village' so far. I just finished stitching month #9, 'Santa's Sleighworks'. And here is a closer look at just 'Santa's Sleighworks'. I did some messing up on this month...most I frogged and fix, but on the actual sleigh I didn't. By the time I noticed the mistake I was pretty much done with the sleigh and working on the bottom skis.... so I left it be. It looks fine and I'm happy with it. ~~~~ I do think before I go back to stitching 'Song of the Season's' I want to work on my 'And A Forest Grew'.... I just have an itching to stitch some trees!