9PM update

I missed out on the 6PM update because we were inundated with various and sundry characters at that time. We had a fantastic assortment this year. Along with the fairies and football players, we had Harry Potter (or maybe he was Ron, he did have red hair and no scar?), a monarch butterfly, a really fun circus performer, a ladybug, and a 6ft tall Teletubby. I would love to know why he chose to be a Teletubby, but I just laughed. And I'm happy it was just cold, not rainy and not snowy. It's funny to think it was in the 70s last week when we were leaving North Carolina and it snowed tonight in South Central New York. Summer is gone . . .

I just finished dessert--so good. Left-Brain shared his pudding with the dog--he asked me how I knew he was giving it to him. I told him he kept saying, "Pudding, it's just pudding." And Beazer's breath smelled suspiciously of pumpkin. I may buy a few boxes of this mix and keep them around--it's really good.

I did stitch a little while waiting for children. I won't be able to finish this before the end of the evening, but I'll try. I am enjoying the stitching. I actually wish I'd been able to stitch all my planned projects today. It seemed do-able the other day, but at least I have the stuff here to work on them now. I am happy I finished a project today and am well on my way with another one. All in all, it has been a great Halloween!

3PM Update

With a slight delay due to my having to make pudding. Yummy pumpkin spice pudding with French Vanilla whipped cream. Seriously, if I don't stop eating like this, I will gain the weight back I lost on our trip.

This is my progress on AuryTM's All Hallows Evening 2010. This is a fun stitch so far. I am doing it on another Silkweaver Solo. I thought I would go a little more fun on this fabric, and lean a little bit more to the magical side of the holiday. I wish this fabric were sparkly, but maybe I wouldn't have liked it so much. It's stitched with the called-for DMC. Hopefully, I can get this done by the end of the night.

12PM update

This is my finish of The Sampler Girls Ghouls Night Out. Stitched on a Silkweaver Solo with HDF Dragon Smoke. I am not sure this was the best color combination, but I wanted a girly-ish fabric, and then have a simple, prim sort of floss. I will turn this into a pillow to put under the Halloween tree.

Let the wild rumpus start!

I am sorry to have posted so late. Halloween started early with me--I went to the 8AM service this morning. My church is 40 miles away, and I really thought twice about it, but decided I should probably start the day off correctly. Then had to stop at the store for goodies for dinner. I try to make Halloween fun around here, and try to make Left-brain a nice dinner and dessert. We're having pork tenderloin, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, along with pumpkin spice pudding for dessert.

Sooooooo . . . . let the stitching festival begin! I am currently finishing the Sampler Girl's freebie, Ghouls Night Out from last year, and will post when the stitching is complete. I am linking to the blogs for people who had said they were participating. Crossing fingers that they will participate and post on their blogs!

Without further ado . . .



Rachel


Regina


Lizy


Blu

And the 123 board , where myself and others will be updating all day.


If anyone else wants to join in, please feel free to do so! I appreciate all the stitchers and all visitors today. Enjoy your stitching today!

Before I leave for the hour, I wanted to post my honeymoon finishes, ya know, so there would be a picture on this post!

Elizabeth's Designs Dragonfly Morning. It's still missing a button, but the stitching is done. This was kitted up by my LNS.




Plum Street Samplers Autumn Blessings. Such a sweet, fun design!

Prepping for tomorrows SAL

First of all, thank you for your kind comments about my wedding picture. It was such a dreamy day; I understand why Heidi Klum and Seal renew their vows every year after going through it. So much fun, such love from our family and friends, memories were made that will last forever!

I am prepping for my Halloween SAL tomorrow. I chose several projects to work on, all but one being a freebie. I figure, it's a holiday, I can go off-course on my project on Halloween, right? One day won't kill.

The projects I am ambitiously choosing to work on tomorrow are the following:

All Hallows Evening 2010 by AuryTM, a really awesome Quaker-y freebie
RIP by The Stitcherhood, a 2009 freebie that I will use on my Halloween tree
Wicked Hat by Sanman, a freebie from last year's Halloween party on her message board
Ghouls Night Out by the Sampler Girl, also from 2009, which was a gift on her blog.
Spooky Time by Lavendar Wings, an old freebie, but a goodie. It's more of a band sampler, but I love the challenge of band samplers.
Quaker Halloween, another Sanman freebie that I really like

and

Halloween Costume by BOAF, an older freebie I hunted in vain for for years. Lori of Craftylicious sent it to me and I am SOOO appreciative. This is my "chart that got away" and I have it now. Whew! I can not thank Lori enough!

Some of the designs required Weeks floss and I, of course, don't have all the colors. So it was off to the LNS. I bought the floss I needed, plus some more Weeks in London Fog, which I need for CEC Sleepy Hollow. I had a skein of London Fog, but I can see that it will not be enough to do the roof I need it for, so I bought enough to make sure I'm covered. Luckily, they look pretty close in color, so I should be OK. And of course I treated myself to an extra chart, LOL. I chose Plum Street Samplers' Hares Halloween ; I took her freebie, Autumn Blessings along on our honeymoon, and really enjoyed stitching it, so I am looking forward to stitching more of these fun and funky rabbits!

We had a lot of fun exploring Charleston, South Carolina, and the Outer Banks together. We strolled down Charleston's Meeting Street, all the way to the Battery and imagined what it would be like to have a house that lovely. It really was like a living Barb and Cheryl chart! Then we walked back up, past Rainbow Row and the cruise ship terminal, and ate at Hyman's Seafood. They have the best hushpuppies and fried green tomatoes! Yum! We visited Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant, where parts of Queen, North and South, and The Notebook were filmed. Left-brain bought me a sweetgrass basket; we put a bit of cotton and Spanish moss in there to commemorate our visit. He even got to see a lighthouse, the Morris Island light near Folly Beach. I found my first piece of beach glass, so it was a good day for both! We spent 4 days in Charleston and then drove to the Outer Banks, a place I have not been since high school. We had great weather and did a lot of walking. We even climbed the sand dunes in Jockey's Ridge State Park, quite a feat for me at my current weight. But then again, even Left-brain was huffing and puffing by the end of the climb. We had a great dinner at a seafood buffet, and are waiting to go back and visit again.

I realize I have been remiss in posting my finishes from vacation. I will try to do that tomorrow. Hoping everyone is having a fun and friendly Halloween weekend.

Wedding post . . . picture heavy

So . . . since you all have been tolerant of the numerous wedding posts I've posted in the last 13 months (has it only been 13 months, LOL), I am posting some of the photos I have from my wedding day. Left-brain is only in one of them, because, as he put it, it was MY day.

Seriously, it was truly a beautiful day. Weather was perfect for October, breezy and beautiful. We ate cupcakes for lunch. Our DJ was fantastic. The only thing I would change was our wedding cake. It was the ugliest cake I've ever seen, but it tasted good, and who cares what it looked like, in the end. We provided a candy bar for our guests, of all sorts of goodies, that was a huge hit, and a novelty in our circle, so much so that my little nephew and I decided the party was over when it was put away.

So here are some of the fun photos


Goofing off with the timer in the hotel the night before. With me are my friends, Shar'n, Brea, and Samantha. I set the timer and leaped onto the bed, LOL


Lord knows what was going on, but I liked this picture. My hair was freshly dyed and stick-straight. I love it. I am trying to figure out just how much I have to work to afford to have this done more often.


Shar'n is one of the biggest Kentucky fans I know, and, now that she's almost pulled Left-brain into our fold, she gave us wedding gifts to seal the deal. I love them!


Before the wedding. My two new SILs are on the left back, Best friend B is in front of them, with Samantha on my right. Niece and nephews are in front. I gave them gifts before we went. Little nephew got small boats and it was some decision whether to take a boat or a diver down the aisle. We let him put both of them in his tux pocket and told him to play with them only when he sat down."


My father walking me down the aisle. My train apparently swung sideways and into a pew and my friend Joan's husband stepped on it. I got jerked backwards and it took a minute before he realized why I was standing still. Of course my dad was trying to go forward. And it didn't help that he ended up yookering my veil when he lifted it, so it was hanging there til a bridesmaid fixed it.


Getting the blessing from the priest.


By this point, I was in utter pain. I wear high heels, I love high heels. These high heels, although gorgeous, were instruments of the Devil. 4 1/2" stilletos, strappy, with a 2010 penny and a sixpence (I think) taped under my instep. I thought it would work because I have high arches. Yeah, still money under my foot for 45 minutes. Left-brain was complaining at one point . . . til I informed him of my footwear choices. I did keep them on, though, til it was time to do the Electric Slide, and then, y'all, they came off. Because nothing hampers me from that! I'm pretty sure I broke some beads on my dress. It was worth it!


My bridal photo. A yookered veil, a dirty train, sore feet, but I faked it! This is posterity!


And with my girls in their gorgeous dresses. We opted, and I highly recommend this, to allow them to pick their own dress as long as it was the color. That way, everyone got a dress they liked that fit their bodies. Two of them said they would wear the dress again, somewhere else. Score!



We're starting to settle into married life. So far, it's like it was before, only I get to answer the phone and tell the telemarketers I am, in fact, Mrs. Harper. I'm back at work today for the first time. I think I'd prefer being a homemaker . . . but the pay is better at my job . . .LOL.

Oct 31st is just around the corner

Remember, I am hosting a SAL that day. Come and join us if you would like to indulge yourself in one day of stitching or crafting something fall-ish or Halloweeny. I have still not finalized my project choice for that day, but I plan on baking something spicy and fall-y that day, and kicking back for a long day of self-indulgent seasonal stitching.

It's very easy to participate. Leave a comment on this post (I am also noting the ones from September 20th, so don't worry if you already posted there and still want to join in for some fun). I'll link to your site, so we can all see what's going on. Then, throughout the day, post updates on your blog or online photo album so that we can enjoy your progress. Other than that, it's a day to raid the candy bowl before the kids get there (please enjoy a Caramel Apple pop for me if you got em, I can't eat them anymore--darn teeth), put on a scary movie or Halloween show, and stitch to your heart's content!

I'm back.

We got back from our honeymoon last night. As soon as I get settled in, and get a handle on this mountain of laundry that seems to have accumulated, I'll post!

A nice designer blog

http://joanelliott.wordpress.com/

If you're a Joan Elliott fan, take a few moments to look this blog over. She previews her lovely designs, including her breath-takingly beautiful new Christmas angel from Cross Stitch Collection. She has been doing some SPOT-ON designing this year, including the lovely elemental goddesses collection she did, but this angel is STUNNING!

Heaven is . . .

3 new stitching magazines, a pound of cookies from the Persian bakery (please let Heaven smell like cardamom, please, please, please), and an ice-cold Coca-cola. I can not think of a better wedding present for myself . . .

An Exchange and a Finish

I am so happy to be able to post a finish finally!

It's been a hectic week, but I managed to put the final stitches in "Bump in the Night" this morning. Here it is in it's unhooped glory. I like how it turned out and it was a great way to use up scraps of fabric I had around. I'm going to do a very simple finish on this, just backed onto felt. It's a big ornament, and anything more fancy would make it simply ginormous.


And my lovely exchange gift from Marilyn. Aren't they cute? She asked what I liked, and, of course, I told her black cats. I think it's shameful that my Halloween tree has no black cats on it as of yet. Now it does, and I love her finishing.


Stupid me forgot to take a picture of the ornament I sent her. I was rushing to get it out on Saturday and forgot. Duh!

And my Halloween tree. Since there were no black cats on the tree, I put the one I bought last year at AC Moore under it for effect. I can't wait til this tree is fairly dripping with ornaments!

Drive-by posting

I thought I would stop in to show off my progress on Bump In the Night.



I'd like to have it done and on the tree by Saturday, but not sure if this is possible. Our house is a disaster area, and we have to clean it up so that when Left Brain's father comes to stay with Caesar while we're away, it's a place worth staying at. The dining room table is strewn with wedding debris. The livingroom is full of shower gifts. The basement has boxes of wedding gifts which we won't open til we are married all over the gym equipment. My stitching corner is a wreck. The sewing room is a mess. The office, well, it's not that big anyway, and, as bad as this sounds, one of the best things about the twins vs. Beazer is that they don't have tails to knock things down. I'm going to start cleaning up tonight to try to get things under control. It's so messy, I don't even like it. I'm getting twitchy, so I know Left-Brain is about to fly out of his scalp, LOL. Soooo . . . yeah, that's where I'll be.

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Storage

Meari posed an interesting question about how we store our floss. So I thought I would share pictures of my storage. And some other pictures of my storage area. I don't have a large sewing room, so storage is not that great, but it's not all over the floor and, at this point, this is a good thing!

This is my big ol stack of bobbin boxes. Some might say it's bad to wind on bobbins because it kinks up the floss. It does that, but I guess the big question is, "Does it matter?" I can't see the difference in my stitches. Maybe this is what's keeping me from best of show, but I'm sure there are other things holding me back, and even I, who overthinks everything, decided this was just not worth losing sleep over. I have bought some Jammer boxes. They're OK, but I still like the bobbin boxes.

Next to them are the carousel horses I bought this spring, and a vintage cross stitch of schnauzers. My gramma wanted a schnauzer really badly after her poodle died, and so, since I couldn't get her a real one, I found these on E-bay. I think it's pretty old; it is stamped, the stitches aren't perfect, but I think it's a treasure. I think they are so cute. I gave it to her and she liked the picture; after she died, I took it back. I'm thankful to have it. One day, we'll put them up. I also have the quarter map we worked on together behind them. It was a collection that we both liked and getting a new quarter was a ritual. It had to be perfectly upright, and I'd put them in for her. When they were in, she would run her fingers over the map. The day she died, I had found a quarter for Kansas, because we were worried we wouldn't get it. It came the next week, and it was really hard. I finally finished the map this year; I tucked that last quarter in, ran my fingers over all the states, touching the quarters she'd touched, and I told her it was done. I'd like to think she was happy.

But I'm not that organized. The floss I haven't wound is in this giant tub. I will wind it, but it's enough to go through and pull floss from the box. My new plan is that, when I finish a project, I wind it on the bobbin and put it in the bobbin boxes, not back into the giant tote of foolishness.




And the area I store all of it in, which also includes some of my messy collectible area. All those binders are full of charts, bought back before I had more disposable income than sense. One of the binders is out, because I was looking for a BOAF chart. I used to collect those. Now they're going for big bucks, and I had gotten rid of a lot of them.


On the upper two shelves, I keep my little things that make me happy. 3 Breyer horses that were originally sold as a set, and that your girl found all split up over a few years. Actually pretty remarkable because they only made 500 sets of this particular trio and it wasn't the kind of thing you would have bought had you been a casual collector. I certainly wasn't casual when I bought them. There is also a little Fenton glass cat Gramma had them paint as a tabby and asked to have the artist sign it for my Gus. She would buy me tabby cats because of him. I bought black cats for her because of her cat, so it was reciprocal. LOL. And all my cool books are up there too. I will admit, there are some things that need better organization. I have big plans for this room, mainly involving taking out the couch and putting in a big easy chair to stitch in. I'm not going to go beachy, I think I want to make this the hub of my patriotic sheep obsession. I just have to bring my lamp up.

So that's a partial tour.

When I get things neatened up after the wedding, there will be more pictures.

You can barely see the corner of my UFO box, but that will come to prominence over the next year.

Still plugging away

I thought I would have more finishes this weekend. I had fully intended on having 2 new ornaments to hang on my Halloween tree, as well as finishing my ornament for the exchange. I got the exchange ornament done, but not the other two. Bump in the Night is taking a very long time to stitch, and I just haven't settled my butt to finish Hoppy Halloween. Arrrrgghhhh

I did finally manage to muster up the courage to use the stand mixer I got for a shower gift. It's black, by the way. Not a fun color, but it matches the appliances, and I won't have to replace it because I got tired of the color in 5 years. Left-brain wanted some chocolate chip cookies and so, I made them for him. I was going to make shortbread, but I didn't have the right pan for them. Booger! I even did something I never do, and read the owner's manual, a task made more impressive by the fact that a stinkbug fell out of it when I pulled it. Not only did I not run screaming from the house, I washed the exposed parts, and disposed of el stinkbug. The cookies came out pretty good; I only overdid one sheet of cookies, and I'm totally blaming Left-brain. He asked me to go move my car, and he'd watch them, and let's just say, he's a better cook than a baker. He's eating those cookies. Uck. Maybe tonight I'll do the shortbread. I can handle the 10 minutes of hand-kneading the dough without wanting to "try" it in the mixer. The mixer is not a toy. Nor is butter. Neither are to be wasted on "experiments in this stage of the game.

I'm still trying to decide how I will handle stitching on the honeymoon. We are planning on having a very active trip, but I am sure there will be time for me to stitch, so not sure if I want to declare a "holiday" from freebie stitching, or if I will just kit up a bunch of little freebies and take them along. But then again, I could always do some finishing, too. Then I'd have a wealth of ornaments for my tree. Decisions, decisions.

I'm still working on choosing my project for October 31st. That may actually end up being a non-freebie chart. Since it is a holiday and all.

OHHHHHHH, my cleaning and organizing finally yielded some results. I located my UFO of "Frost is on the Pumpkin" by Cricket Collection. I started this one in 2005 and keep managing to lose it. At one point, I was really upset because I couldn't find the WIP and I really don't like starting over. But, after best friend B left, I found not only the chart, but my half-stitched piece, too! Woo hoo! They are safely together and ready to be stitched into a wall hanging. All is well . . .

A finished finish

I finished this the other evening and wanted to share a picture of it. It's Pumpkin's freebie, finished into a basket tie-on. It's probably not the best finishing job--I need to work on my ribbon-tying, and I think I need to secure the piece a little better to the basket, but I'm still pretty happy with it. Now . . . I just need to bake some shortbread to go in it.