Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!! I just finished this little project which was number 90 in my 'completion list' for the year. That includes 15 projects for the month of December!! I have lots of stitched pieces to share with you in the coming days. I was considering my list of accomplishments and was amazed at all the entries. I do encourage all stitchers to keep a list of what they have made during the year. I use an Excel spreadsheet but any list would work.

I wish only good things for the coming year to each and every one of you.

A very Happy Surprise

I found a surprise in my mail box today. A friend made this for me. I scissors case with my name on it. AND IT IS PURPLE!!!!!! I am so happy with this. My friend has gone head over heels into machine embroidery and makes all kinds of neat and nifty things. I am very happy with my big surprise.

Chillary

Another icicle by Just Nan. This one is named Chillary. I added the name to the back so I will remember the name. I completed the stitching but I haven't put it together just yet.

Christmas Finish

Meet Frozie. This is a quick and easy cross stitch icicle. Designed by Just Nan and it is purple!! I have several of these to do but the purple one had to be first. She now hangs on my tree.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Jingle by Just Nan. This is a tin topper and biscornu. I did these this week. They finished up nicely. I loved the velvet ribbon around the top of the tin. These projects are so much fun.

Oriental Splendor

I have the stitching done. I am working on the finishing. This is an ornament from this year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. By Cindy Valentine, I love the colors and the ease that this went together. The colors don't show up here as well as I would like. It will be a large ornament. Perhaps I will use it as a door handle decoration. I am also making kits for our ornament kit exchange.

Need a good cry?

Awwww -- sniff * sniff * I started this book at 7:30 this morning and finished it this afternoon. It is a wonderful Christmas story. I try to find one of these books every year for the holiday. This book was highly recommended by Richard Paul Evans (one of my favorites) and it is a great read. I can't say enough good things about the book. I don't want to give any details away but it is a great story. Redemption has a lot to do with it. I wish every 12 - 15 year old would read this and totally understand it.

Mittens, Mittens

This is Mitten Men by Just Nan in a Whimzi frame. These are so quick, easy and so much fun.

It's a summer flashback

It's the good ole summer time, the good ole summer time...... La La La..... and LOL. I did this for a friend for her birthday. Punch needle is not my first choice and I had all kinds of trouble doing this. My friend loves watermelon and has a whole room devoted to her collection. I happen to know that she doesn't have anything quite like this. The bottom of the basket has felt designed to look like watermelon. The little piece is on a small altoid tin. The top fits over the basket. Having a birthday at Christmas time seems to be difficult for whoever it affects. We do try to make sure our birthday gifts have nothing to do with the holidays. I think I did that. LOL. I actually stitched this back in November but I didn't dare share the photo until I gave the gift today. I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Roly Poly Santa

This is Roly Poly Santa designed by Heartstrings and adapted by Mimi Shaw of the Silver Needle. This was a kit I purchased years ago. He is done with all kinds of specialty threads such as Very Velvet, Fuzzy Stuff, Faux Fur, Angora and Frye Works all by Rainbow Gallery. I am surprised that I don't have any blisters from all the pulling it took to do this one. He will be made in to a stand up doll at some point. For now he will be displayed on my sofa pillow.

A Hillside Sampler

An Alphabet Sampler Necessities bag and needle book. I stitched this back in 2005 and just got around to doing the finishing work. It is quite cute. The needlebook is quite handy actually.

Lookie what I found!!

I found these pieces of felt at a local hobby shop. It is printed felt. I can see using this to finish off a Christmas ornament with some thing other than plain colored felt. Size would matter but I was pleased to see this.

It is All Jeanne's Fault

For my birthday, Jeanne gave me a book entitled 200 braids to twist, knot, loop or weave by Jacqui Carey. I did a bit of shopping this morning and then spent the afternoon looping, twisting and knotting. I am not sure what I will do with these. I have to stop.

It's done

It is done. Just Nan's Christmas Biscornu. Actually this is the second one I have made. I did one last Christmas also. It is dated and it will be a gift. I did learn something. I stitched the edges until I had two sides left. Then I stitched the little bell buttons on the outside and the main middle buttons in place. Then, and only then, did I stuff it. Most directions say to stuff and then try to pull the middle tight. This method seems to work a lot better. Just an idea.

Just Nan Part Two

This is the second part of the Christmas Biscornu. This side refers to snowflakes. Once again, I don't like that the beads don't show up very well.

Just Nan Part One

This is the first side of Just Nan's biscornu. The pretty beads don't really show up much. This side is Christmas trees and the next one is snowflakes. Hopefully that one will be done soon.

Flossie Claus

Every Santa needs his Mrs. This is Flossie Claus which was also a limited edition kit from Lizzie Kate. I did the stitching years ago and just this weekend did the work to finish her up.

Needle Nick

I was doing some cleaning in my craft room and look what I found. This is Needle Nick, a limited edition kit from Lizzie Kate that I stitched many years ago. He just needed to get the finishing touch. So I did.

For My Dear Brother

My brother asked me to create a sewing kit for him. He uses large needles and does repairs on fishing nets and things. He wanted a place to put his stuff in the garage so when he needs them, things were be handy. I don't think he had any idea where I would go with the idea. I used tins that I had around the house. The large purple tin started out as a Father's Day Card that 'Chelle found and gave to me. I used it to create this wonder for my brother. It was fun.

A Christmas Song

This cute design was in this year's Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. I did the finishing just the other day.

Flowers too

This one is very pretty. I used beads for the centers of the flowers. This pattern was taken from a larger project and just used the little bit of it.

The stitching just keeps rolling along

We had temperatures in the 50s today but I do believe that at some point we will see snow. This little guy is ready to go. Actually I think it is a snow woman. LOL. This candle covers are going great.

One More Time

I consider this one simple and sweet. This pattern was taken from a Lizzie Kate Christmas Sampler. Some times less is more.

The just keep coming - -

I took this design from Prairie Grove Peddler's Believe chart with the stockings. I would love to use the stockings but they are a bit too tall for this application. The lettering I had to move a bit closer for this size candle. I wanted something simple.

Christmas is almost here - - stitch faster

The white will look more white when I put the interfacing behind it. This chart was a freebie(?) in a magazine from Leisure Arts. It was called Winter Sampler. I used just a part of it to stitch this couple bringing home the the Christmas tree. The monochrome look is great and makes for a quick stitch.

Christmas is coming - -

I am making (what I call) candle covers. This particular design is from Little House Needleworks and was part of a design called Pine tree Lodge. I am using banding. I will finish with an interface to back it. The edges will be turned under with a bit of velcro to close the ends and I am done.

Halloween must take a back seat - -

The color doesn't look right to me. The purple is the true color. I have all the cross stitch done for this project. I am guessing that I have about 30 hours of finishing to do. For now, this will be put away and Christmas will be my main focus for now.

More Inside walls

There are lots of ghosts in there. The two will guard scissors, I believe. The other guy appears to have garland fo the stars with the spiders!!!!! It is all fun.

Meet Netty

Meet Netty Nightshade. She is pictured here as she will be inside the house. The inside walls are purple and that is part of the reason I fell in love with this. Netty has two very faithful cats helping her as she over sees the ghosts doing their decorating. Notice her pet spider. Ewwww. I guess I could have pulled the away knot before I took the photo - - darn.

My Little (?) Black Box

Today I received a surprise in the mail. It was a small box that was filled with all kinds of things. I will attempt to explain a bit. My sister (I love her!) sells hand made things on Etsy, a web based store. That site sponsors Black Boxes. My sister contributes things to go in the boxes and the public can purchase these boxes. You get a variety of things from many, many different artisans. I will try to list many of the items. Each comes with a card from the artisan and most (if not all) have a discount code so you can purchase more of their products. This was a birthday present and I love it. Let's see there is fudge, lavender creamy goats milk soap, two pairs of very pretty beaded earrings, 2 small cloth Christmas gift bags, a purple glass star with copper wire, beaded pony tail holder, several stationary things, a wooden bell ornament, catnip toys for my cat (?), several artistic photos, an iron on decal decoration thing from a quilting group, more earrings, a artistic quilted card to send, a super cool magnet decorated (I can use this for stitching), old fashioned bar soap "Holiday Essence", a gift card envelope (very pretty) I think more soap, candles, Sugar Scrub Sample/Caramel, and Chistmas "Winter frost" tea with a peppermint wreath.

What a wealth of goodies!!!! It is all fun. I now will dig in and really open all the little packages. Check out Etsy for Christmas shopping and perhaps a Black Box might be a wonderful gift for someone that is difficult to buy for. Just an idea. I love it.

The Exterior

Here it is. The exterior of the Scream House. I can now set this fabric aside and work on the inside pieces. This is certainly a very busy project.

Autumn and the Scream House Bottom

The tree is in my front yard. It was a vivid yellow and quite pretty. Today those leaves started falling down. My yard is awash of yellow right now. The other photo is the outside bottom of the Scream house. There is a lot of stitching in that outside border. It is pretty but lots of work.

The back yard - -

Check it out. There is one ghost in the tree and another trying to scare off the crow over the grave. Hey, check out the grave. It is hard to read. Ida Mae is gone. I. M. Gone. There is something living in the tree with weird looking eyes. Throw in a goblin and trust me the back yard is spooky.

Another side of the Scream House

This is the side with a skeleton and goblin looking out the windows. The ghosts are hanging the spooky garland as we watch. Remember the pumpkin beads will be put on the fence when it is all done. There is a bat hanging upside down and a pumpkin watching on from the upstairs window. This little house is so much fun.

Happy Birthday

Yes, it is my birthday. Yippee Skippy and lots of fun. DH brought home the flowers on Friday night. We have been enjoying them all weekend. I expect to get my new Mighty Bright LCD Lamp today and I am excited about that. Lunch is planned with the girls. Stitching is planned for later today.

I came home today to find the roses. I picked up a few gifts during the day and the little cake is just too perfect.

Scream House by Just Nan

The photo is of the front door and the mummy window. One of the best parts of stitching a Just Nan design is the commentary she has with some of her designs.

Front Door: Netty Nightshade is the witch that has left her broom outside. The door greeter ghost just floats through the front door waving his green hands to scare or greet visitors. There are red eyes peeking out through the fanlight over the door. There is a monster in the attic. The spiders just make it spooky. Nan's spiders are the best.

Mummy Window: The mummy has his green hands showing through as his wrappings are falling apart. Check out the cobweb curtains. The pumpkin upstairs window has his favorite purple mask. He is also making sure no one missing the mummy. The decorations have already been hung on this side of the house.

I still need to put the orange bead garland on the fence posts but I will wait to add beads later.

Happy Halloween!

The finishing frenzy continues at my house. I made a stand up for the purple Trick or Treat project. I used some really cool Halloween fabric for the underside and the back. I made sure that the little piece at the bottom holding it all together was a strip of purple. This took me some time but I really like it.

Halloween Finishing

I spent the afternoon doing some finishing. I put together the Just Nan Over the Top Boo tin and the tiny needle book that fits inside. Then I put the PS Night Owl together in an ornament. I used a bit of yarn to do the edging and the hanger. I think they all came out great. I have even more finishing to do. Arghhhhhh.