More Halloween Stitching

This week has gone by quite quickly and I can't really say why.

I've been busy stitching up the Frosted Pumpkin's Halloween Town, so I'm going to blame that! I watched a ton of Grimm episodes (season 2, don't go spoiling it for me) while relaxing on Sunday and I'm a bit over half way done with the second clue now:

It looks so pretty in the sunlight! I'm glad I took a picture out on our balcony. It really shows how bright it is. I decided the change up the house to be purple, it was going to be the same color as the Bride of Frankenstein's face, but I really didn't like that.

I really can't say how much I love the fabric I'm using. It's the Tempest from Steph's Fabby. It's so nice and soft and a wonderful purple/pink color. I really do recommend her fabrics!!!

Any suggestions on what to do with this piece when it is finished? I think it's suppose to be a wide pattern, so maybe a lumber shaped pillow? I don't really want to frame it for two reasons, one, it's expensive and two it'll only be out at Halloween anyway!

Before the second clue came out, I did a bit more on Jolly Jack:

It's on Permin linen. Has anyone used it before? It's reallllly stiff, which I wasn't expecting. I had the fabric in my stash from the eBay haul of mine. :)

Picture this Plus's annual sale is on Friday! I've already filled my cart with opalescent fabrics (which I've never used before, and I've never used a PtP fabric either). I have three for sure (all Halloween colors, Echo, Fog & Haunted), but I'm debating getting the supplies for Glendon Place's Plum Pudding as well (fabric Sprite, Dinkie Dyes & beads). I have no intention of starting until I finish my current piece though. Decisions decisions!

I'm traveling next week for work, I think I'm going to bring another Mill Hill kit, but not the same kitty one I have been doing. I really don't like having to work with beads on the plane/in the airport. I'm afraid I'm going to lose them all. I'm thinking one of the Tiny Treasure kits I have. I have a cute little 4" hoop just for them!

What has been keeping you busy? Have you started any Halloween projects yet?

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Halloween in July?

I was reviewing what I had done since last week and I am sensing a theme. Halloween! I am pretty sure that the Frosted Pumpkin's Halloween Town is what kicked it off this time.

I started & finished a Lizzie Kate Flip-It, it's on a piece of fabric I got in that grab bag and random floss I had around the house already (Weeks & DMC). I really like how the Weeks floss turned out in the pumpkin. I'm thinking about making it again for my MIL because it only took 3 nights and she likes Halloween.

I would like to make it into a cute little pillow with half of it being a Halloween fabric like I've been seeing on the internet. I stink at sewing, so I think I'll convince my mom to help out. :)

I pulled out a design I had started last year around this time, it's from Holiday Cats (ebay link):

And while I am sooo close to finishing it, my motivation is low. I'm not sure if it's because it's been really hot in my hot (my air con isn't working), it's on black fabric, I had to frog an entire leaf when I picked it back up or what, but I put it down again. It's at least still out for me to pretend to work on...

I started another Halloween project since my Halloween Cat wasn't working out. I just bought the pattern in Denver, it's All Through the Nights' Jolly Jack:

I really love the shading on the Weeks Sweet Potato floss. It's such a fun orange color! :)

And last but not least, I ordered the 3x5 inch Floss-A-Way Bags from amazon and redid my special floss storage. I got the index cards and the plastic box at the dollar store. :) All of my DMC, Anchor & Cosmo gets wound onto bobbins, but the special stuff doesn't.

How do you store your floss? Do you have a lot?

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We're Back!

Hello again everyone! We're back from our mini vacation. I'm always sad to come home, but I missed my cat & my bed. :)

We went to Denver, CO to visit some friends and I'm very happy to report the friend who just had brain surgery is doing wonderful! He was looking so good we were really impressed. He has to go back down to Huston, Texas for radiation for 6 weeks, but all in all they were able to remove 95% of the tumor and are very hopeful for his recovery. :D

In other news, my husband & I went to two stitching shops while in Denver (and like 7 breweries). First up is "A Stitching Shop" in the Lakewood area (Morrison Avenue). We went on Thursday after we arrived because they were only open until 5. Well, I called around 4:10pm to double check that they were open and the lady said "How late do you want me to be open?" and I thought that was wonderful. I mean, I was on my way before they closed, but I didn't want to impose if she had somewhere to be! As it turns out we stood there chatting after I checked out for another 45 minutes at least! It was a great time and I HIGHLY recommend checking them out. She's working on listing her 40,000+ items on their website and per usual she can order anything you may want.

They tote themselves as the "Thread Mecca" in Denver and it is 100% true. They had everything! Some things I'd never even heard of. :) AND she carries Cosmo floss (for those of you who do the Frosted Pumpkin's patterns you'll know what I'm talking about). AND she mails!


Here's my haul from A Stitching Store: 

I purchased:

• 1 Lizzie Kate Flip It (with charm) #F17
• 1 Mill Hill Reasured Diamond Bead kit (Royal Plum)
• 1 Glendon Place pattern: Plum Pudding
• 1 4" hoop (my mom has mine, so I just bought another)
• 1 Thread Heaven
• 7 skeins of Weeks Dye Works
• 3 skeins of Variegated Cosmo thread
• 18 skeins of Cosmo thread (for a Frosted Pumpkin pattern & some purples & greens)

The second shop we went to was FanciMats as it sounds, they specialize in custom framing but they are also a cross stitch shop. I didn't like this shop as much for a few reasons, there's nothing bad, just my personal opinion! First, it's pretty small, not tiny, but not even close to as large as A Stitching Place, which is not a bad thing! But secondly, the lady wasn't very nice, she wasn't mean, but I relaly had to track her down when I wanted to check out and she barely said hi. I'm a chatter, and I understand that others aren't, but if you own a store you would think that you would be more chatty if only to encourage more purchasing. Oh well. A huge perk is the ice cream store next door (and there's a knitting shop if you're into that too!)

Here's my haul from FanciMats:

• 4 skeins of Weeks (for the pattern purchase, she didn't have all the colors needed though)
• 1 Jolly Jack pattern
• 1 bundle of scraps (a nice variety of fabrics, colors & shapes)

All in all I got a ton of things and I'm totally ready to complete some ornaments!


I also brought a Mill Hill ornament kit with me to work on. It's a good thing I did because the president came into Denver when we were scheduled to leave so that disrupted all air traffic and we couldn't leave until 8:45 for a 6:20 flight.  Needless to say we didn't get into bed until after 2am. I'm lagging behind this morning!

Here's what I managed to get done:

It's my frist time beading basically. I've done some small designs with a few beads years ago, but I haven't' done anything since then. It's kind of exciting!

I almost missed the best part! I met another cross stitcher (from a forum I belong too) when I was up in Fort Collins. We met over coffee and seriously chatted for 4 hours. It was pretty great. If anyone has a chance to meet another lover of cross stitch in their travels I highly recommend it! It was a very nice experience and if I go back to Ft Collins we will totally meet up again!

How was everyone's fourth weekend (for those of you who are American)?

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Pre-Vacation Update

My mini-vacation is almost here! Just 1.5 hours! :) Unrelated, but for some reason I don't get emails when I have comments. That is so annoying, I don't notice them until I go to post the following week. I do read all of them, it just takes me awhile to see that they are there! I promise!

This will just be a quickie since I really have to finish packing and I'm going to go on a tour of a potential employer's' office so now I'm totally worrying about what I should wear to that (not a suit, but not jeans, decisions decisions).

First up, a mini magazine haul from eBay:

I now have so many ornament options! I don't know what to do first! :) 

And I finished part one of the Frosted Pumpkin's Halloween Town. It's so cute, I'm looking forward to part two! 

Anyone else working on this SAL?

Don't forget to check me out over on instagram (I'm new there!): brendaxstitchhaven :)

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Halloween Town Start

Hi everyone! I have started the Frosted Pumpkin's Mysterious Halloween Town and never realized how slow I'd feel after joining instagram (brendaxstitchhaven). So many people are such fast stitchers, and have so much time on their hands! I have a full time job and husband and we were unusually busy this weekend.

Here's where I'm at so far:





Reasons I'm not further along number one, we were looking after a friends cats (she has three):

Look at that face! You just have to hang out with them and pet them. :)

Two & three: We went to my husband's cousins' gradation party (where I took my stitching) and we went to a special event at our local movie theather. Busy busy.

And finally four: I goofed up the fence and I'm trying to decide if I care to fix it or not....

My co-worker's baby is due today and I finally decided I should start working on her baby sampler.




Now, question for all of you, which fabric should I use: Pewter, Natural or White? The little boys' bedroom is navy with orange and lime accents (hence my color choices).

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Halloween Town!

The Mysterious Halloween Town SAL from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery starts tomorrow (not Tuesday like I thought, whoops). I'm all ready! Are you?

Fabric is "Tempest" from my fabric of the month club, Fabrics by Steph. I am still debating on if I should go grab the Cosmo floss when I'm in Denver or not... Decisions decisions! I might just buy some of their other patterns and buy cosmo for those because I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop myself from starting now since I do have all the DMC needed.

I also reached a small milestone on my Glendon Place Tiramisu I finished one page!! Only 5 more to go. :)

I really do love working on this, big blocks of color and silk thread! It's just very large for me. Other than my Chat (which I haven't worked on in... a long time) it's my largest project. :)

Anyone else out there getting excited for the Mysterious Halloween Stitch a Long?!?!

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WIP Wednesday June 11th

I picked up my tiramisu again! I am so close to finishing page one. I think I have about 100 stitches left, maybe no even that many. Then I will officially be 1/6th of the way done! Look for pictures shortly.


I haven't worked on the snowman for my MIL lately, but I did get the cat in:

I've done a tiny bit more since I took this photo, I have a bit of his (or her) orange coat in too. I really don't think I'm going to finish it in time for her birthday. It's hard! A bunch of fractional stitches, may colors, I think my fabric is 32 count, so squeezing those stitches in the middle is difficult. Yeah, I'm just making excuses now.


I am trying to finish up May's ornament of the month (yes, really, Mays, not Junes):

I'm thinking about putting my husband's name at the bottom and the year. Hopefully going to make one for myself too, unless I find another ornament pattern that I like better for myself.

Next post look for my floss toss for the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Mysterious Halloween Town which starts on the 17th. I'm very excited. I love love love the fabric (FOTM from Steph's fabrics). It's a nice shade of purple and anyone who knows me will know I love love love purple. :)

Until next time!

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ATC Exchange

Hello all! I just received my ATC exchange (from a forum I belong too) and it's the cutest thing ever:

 

The theme was desserts and we each said what kind of desserts we liked best (I said Tiramisu; ice cream; baklava; cheesecake; gingerbread) and our match got to pick what they stitched to send!

I convinently had this little white frame that fit my ice cream sundae perfectly!

 

I think I'm going to take it to work with me to brighten up my cubicle a little bit.

Here's what I sent (cupcakes were top on her list!)

This was my first exchange and I am quite excited with how it turned out!!!  Have you ever participated in an exchange?

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Mother's Day Gift

If you've been reading you know that I started my mothers' day gift the Sunday before mothers day and finished the stitching in time (in two days!). Once I finished the stitching part I went to find a frame. I couldn't really find anything square that I liked and would go well in my parents house so I decided to bite the bullet and pay to get it custom framed. Was it worth the cost? I don't know, but it does look really nice. :)

I really should stop taking pictures with my cell phone and take out the DSLR. The best camera is the one you have with you... even though I'm at home, with access to my nice one. Eh. Next time. :)

I gave it to her yesterday and she really liked it, just as I thought she would.

I started a Little House Needleworks design, Gingerbread Cookie. It was suppose to be my May ornament of the month, clearly I didn't get it done in time. I'll just have to finish 2 this month so I can get caught up. It's possible! Maybe I'll find a really small one to do after I finish this one. I'm going to search etsy and hopefully find something kinda nerdy! :)

I also decided that I just had to join the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Mysterious Halloween Town Club. I am quite excited about this!!! It'll be my first mystery club! I was going to purchase the Cosmo floss called for, but the total was like $20 (because of shipping from Canada and I couldn't find it locally) and I can't really justify that when I only needed to buy 2 of the DMC alternatives.... I made an order on 123stitch for the 2 DMC & the 4 overdyed floss and some misc floss I needed for various projects (to justify the shipping cost of course!). The first part starts on June 17th and it goes for 4 parts. The last of which will be released on September 18th. Anyone interested in joining me in a SAL?

I think I've already settled on my fabric. It's called Tempest which was my first fabric from Steph's fabric of the month club, it's a really nice light plum-ish shade of purple. I'll do a floss toss as soon as everything comes in so you can see what it looks like. You never know, I could change my mind between now and the 17th, but I'm pretty sure it'll coordinate well. And since I have so much fabric I really didn't want to have to buy more..... At least that's what I'm telling myself! ;)

Have you ever done a mystery sampler?!?!

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Tiramisu Update/Stitch from Stash

I just realized that I haven't shown my Glendon Place Tiramisu in a long time. I am so very close to finishing page one! It is a bit hard to tell because I didn't strictly stop at the end of the first page if I still have floss left when I was nearly the edge.

Glendon Place Tiramisu

I still have some border at the top to do, I'm really not a fan of stitching the border, I like straight lines better! :) It's slow going because I don't stitch every night and I've been in kinda a rut lately, which makes no sense since I just bought a ton of new projects!

I really should be working on my MIL's snowman, but I haven't really been feeling it if you know what I mean. I have to be in the mood to stitch specific things. Maybe she'll get it for Christmas instead of her birthday (which is next month). I should just try to finish it. I probably could get it done, 3 weeks is totally enough time.... *famous last words*

I purchased some Halloween patterns earlier this month:

Almost Halloween - Drawn Thread

It's Halloween - Drawn Thread

And I cannot wait to start them! But I still have my black cat to finish:

Holiday Cats pattern

I am a serial starter I think. I'm pretty close on this one though. That pumpkin is the largest thing, and it took a long time too! I would like to get it done before October, clearly!


As for stitch from stash. I went over. Again. I thought I had self control. Apparently I don't. I'm going to blame the fact that I didn't have much stash... until starting the stash challenge. I found a LNS and learned that another one was going out of business. I just had to buy things. THEN I found Steph's fabric of the month club, gotta join that, clearly. I think I'm going to back out of the challenge. I'm still going to try to keep track of my spending but I've had my eye on the needle needs stand & frame combo... which would kill the budget for an entire year (plus I want to get the 24" bars for the Tiramisu project). My husband says if it makes you happy then it's worth the cost. We both have good paying jobs and little overhead, so I want to enjoy my hobby now while life is going well because you can never predict the future.


Leave a comment below on how you're doing with the challenge (or why you aren't doing it)!

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