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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