Pumpkins and Crows ...

I just received the cutest squares from Kathryn. Kathryn and I were partners in the Halloween Round on the Fair and Square Exchange Blog. This was Kathryn's first exchange with this group and I hope it's not her last ... these squares will look great as a pinkeep, don't ya think? The design is Little Pumpkin in the Patch by Heart in Hand ...

Last month I stitched primitivebetty's freebie called Crow but I was really unhappy with the way the color of the fabric turned peachy colored instead of orange. I dug through my Halloween fabric and found this purple fabric with crows on it! It really worked well ... I love it now ...

While stitching on exchanges I try and do some small stitching for myself too ... here's what I stitched up over the weekend. I think I'll finish it with the fabric it's laying on ...

Autumn freebie by The Stitcherhood

with DMC and a scrap piece of fabric

I got my house all ready for Halloween last week ... here's a picture of my basket full of Halloween smalls ...And here's a picture of the mantle ... the Autumn Gathering metal sign is new this year. I found it at my favorite fabric shop ... they always have the cutest stuff ...

Don't forget to head over the Annette's blog today for the 31 Days of Halloween giveway ... there's a button on the right side of my blog ... good luck!

Hope your week has started out good and only gets better the closer to Friday it gets!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for pumpkins and crows ...

Happy October!

Just a quick post to let everyone know about a wonderful giveway ... 31 Days of Halloween hosted by Missy and Annette ... check out the link on the right side of my blog. Have fun!

EDITED to add another giveaway .. check out Jennifer's blog .. she worked at Market last weekend and has some goodies to give to a lucky winner!

Love my poopy bird ...

Heart in Hand has always been one of my favorite designers. When I saw the Tall Birds series for the first time I was hooked and over the years I have managed to stitch them all ... well almost all of them. When my local LNS was closing I purchased two shop models, Spring Bird and Winter Bird ... couldn't beat the price, $15 for each, framed. After Spring and Winter, Autumn was the only one I hadn't stitched, so last week I found the chart, pulled the threads and finished him last week. A few years ago I was at a retreat and some stitchers were talking about how they didn't like the Tall Birds cause they looked like they were pooping out the motifs ... I thought this was hysterical ... that's why I affectionally called them poopy bird ...

Heart in Hand's Autumn Bird

Misc piece of fabric with suggested

GAST threads

Sunday, while watching the Seahawks beat San Diego, I stitched this Halloween ornament. I don't know why put this pumpkin face makes me smile ...

Jack OLantern by Casey Bonaugurio Designs

Misc fabric with WDW's Onxy and Sweet Potato

There's a couple more Halloween designs I would like to stitch from this years Halloween JSC ornament issue ... not sure I'll get them one this year, but we can always dream, can't we *smile*

On Sunday I also started some finishing, but ran out of bamboo fiber fill that I like to use for little pillows ... I had enough to finish off this little Boo pillow ...

I also spend some time decorating the house for Fall/Halloween ... I really do love this time of year. The weather is finally starting to feel like Fall ... crisp mornings, turning into sunny and 70's. I had been spending most of the day in my reclinder, stitching the afternoon away. I got up to take a few pictures of my mantle decorations ... turned around and found this guy sitting in MY seat! Subie had been laying on the blanket next to me ... guess he decided I had been sitting too long or what? I had to take a picture ... love the attitude!

Thanks for visiting and leaving your comments ... you guys make me smile and laugh!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for fall ...

Rocks, Reindeers and a Crow

It all started with an innocent Facebook message from my friend Jennifer. She is addicted to surfing craft blogs and likes to share her finds. One day she sent me this blog ... the specific blog post was about making these Pottery Barn Chalkboard rocks instead of buying them.

I do love Pottery Barn, but for some things their prices are a bit steep, and Monica (my dil) loves rocks, so I sent her the blog link. We decided it sounded like fun so on Labor Day we went on a day trip looking for flat river rocks ... here's what we found and what we created. The rocks ...
priming the rocks ...
rocks are aready for painting with chalkboard paint ...
We used black, green and red chalkboard paint ... think we'll use the red ones for Christmas or Valentine's Day ...

and here's some pictures of the final project ...





Monica and I had a blast working on these silly rocks. I'm so glad Jenn shared that crafty blog with us.

A few weeks ago I had posted some sunflower finishes. I received a sweet comment from Virpi asking if I wanted to trade for two of the charts. I love trading charts with other stitchers. Virpi is from Finland and asked if I would like something from her country instead of a chart ... of course I would love anything from another country! This week I received a box from her with a really nice dish towel with reindeer on it ... love love love it! Also in the box was this funny coffee cup (with more reindeer) and a cute skiing moose. Thanks Virpi for this fun trade!

And lastly, I had another quick finish last night ... the fabric ended up a looking a little more peach color than orange, but I think more black for the trim and backing fabric should help. I really enjoy stitching primitivebettys' designs ...

Crow freebie by primitivebettys

stitched on 28 ct Belfast Chalice

Wow, that was a long post .. hope your coffee/tea didn't go cold! Thanks for all your comments ... you know I love hearing from everyone!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for rocks ...

Happy Sunday ...

I had another lovely mail day yesterday ... I feel so spoiled! It's a great feeling! First up is an adorable pillow from Karen. Karen has been my exchange partner through Friends Stitching Through The Seasons blog. The design is from Heart in Hand's Autumn Trio. I just love this pillow! The black ribbon is perfect with the fabric ...

She also made me some Halloween pins ... I think I have the perfect finish to use these with ... and she included note that there's a gift certificate waiting for me at Down Sunshine Lane. I think there's a floss order happening *smile* Karen, thank you so much for spoiling me! I just love everything.
My other package was quite a surprise. Jill said she wanted thank me for helping out with the Fair and Square Exchange Blog. In the package she included a lovely piece of fabric, some needles, Halloween cording and a very nice needleminder. Thanks Jill!

Yesterday I started and finished Boo Tyme freebie by Homespun Elegance. What a fun little stitch. I think I'll finish it as a little pin pillow and decorate it with some of the pins that Karen made for me ...

Boo Tyme Freebie by

Homespun Elegance

Stitched on a piece of coffee dyed fabric

with Weeks Bark

And yes, that is a new coffee cup ... Two weeks ago I saw this cup at Starbucks when they put out their Fall decor ... every morning I would go into get my coffee and that cup would talk to me, flirt with me and ask to go home with me ... well, on payday I broke down and brought it home ... yep, I am a coffee cup slut! lol

I'm off to stitch another Fall/Autumn design ... there's sooo many to choose from. What are you stitching for Fall/Autumn?

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for new coffee cup ...

Happy September ...

I've had a wonderful mail day! I won a drawing on MaryKathryn's blog ... I won this adorable needlebook stitched and sewed by MK ... I just adore it ...

and she included these Christmas pins ... how cute are they! It's almost too cute to use, but I know I will be using it ... soon!
I participated in another exchange through Blackbird Designs Exchange blog. Rebecca stitched these cute stockings for me ... and her finishing is perfect!

Here's the backing fabric ... perfect! I can't wait to hang these on my tree this year ... Thanks so much Rebecca for stitching these lovely stockings for me ...

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Chris and Monica and I took a day trip looking for flat river rocks for a craft project. We took a break and built some rock towers. We had a fun day, even in the rain and found some great rocks ... can't wait to try out our craft idea ... pictures soon :) Here's Chris building his rock tower ...the completed tower ...

and here's Monica's rock tower ...and here's my tower ... this was my first time building a tower. Rock tower building is something Monica's family has always done when they go camping ... I think the tradition started with her Grandmother. Have you ever built a rock tower to leave for others to see? Very fun, try it sometime ...
and here's my rock hounds, cute aren't they *smile*
I hope September is treating you good. I love this time of year, Summer leaving and Fall arriving. The poor trees around here aren't sure what they should be doing ... almost time for pumpkins and fall flowers ... but right now I'm enjoying all the sunflowers in the stores ... yummy colors.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for sunfloweres ...

Waiting for floss ...

I've been working on an exchange and ran out of CC's Jakey Brown, lovely color by the way ... anyway here's what happened while I was waiting ... I finished I Love Reindeer by Midsummer Night Designs. I love this sweet design and I think Rodney likes it too lol ... Red Ribbon is my new favorite red ... yummy color ...

I Love Reindeer

by Midsummer Night Design

from 2010 JCS Christmas Ornament Preview Issue

using the recommended Crescent Colors

I've had this little design for a couple of years now ... I'm so glad to finally have it stitched!

Bent Creek Sunflower Zippie

stitched using recommended floss but on a scrap of 32 ct fabric

and because I was on a sunflower roll I pulled out this Pine Mountain kit I've had for a couple of years ... now I have to find a pillow for it ...

Pine Mountain Pillow Kit

Sunflower

I heard from Elisa that my Lizzie*Kate Exchange arrived ... I was really pleased with this little pillow ... I think there might a few more showing up for Christmas ... I know a few chocolate lovers lol ...

Lizzie*Kate Chocolate Lover

stitched with recommended floss

Now that my floss is here I'll be working on my BBD exchange ... need to get it stitched and finished and out the door quick like.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post ... love love love hear from all of you!

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for Red Ribbon ...

Exchanges

I do enjoy exchanges so much. I've met some wonderful stitchers through exchanges and I have some lovely stitched/finished pieces to display in my house. Let me show of a couple of things I've received recently.

First from Lisa on the Lizzie*Kate Exchange Blog. She stitched Plant Love and finished it into a pinkeep. I love these design but have never stitched it ... what fun to have it all stitched and finished for me now. Lisa's finishing is perfect ... and I love the heart pin at the top ... just adorable ....

My exchange piece is heading to England and I hope it arrives soon so I can show you a picture ... I was very pleased with how it turned out :)

Next is an ornament that Brenda stitched and finished for me from the Seasonal Exchange Blog. This is a very sweet design ... I've never seen it before and I'm not sure who the designer is, but it is cute! I have it hanging in my family room to enjoy for the rest of the summer ...

and I had Brenda's name for the Season exchange too ... I stitched for her Lizzie*Kate's Summer Scissor Fob ... it was a very fun stitch ...

Thanks for all your comments recently about the Silver Needle retreat that I attended ... I really enjoy reading all of them!

Hope you all have a great weekend and get lots of stitching time.

I hope you find your Joy in your stitches ...

I'm grateful for summer coming back ...