Dapper Fox Embroidery

I did another little swap with my lovely stitchy pals recently. This time around I was partnered up with the wonderful Bascom.  Through Pinterest, we share an adoration of foxes. I knew I wanted to stitch him a fox. I looked around for things, even tried to draw something myself but just wasn't liking it.  Then I remembered the Ryan Berkeley patterns for Sublime Stitching....with a dapper fox.  Bascom being ever the dapper fellow, I thought it would be a great pattern to stitch for him. 

I am very pleased with how it turned out. Love the bright orange and creating texture in his fur.  These really are great patterns. 

 

 

I can't wait to show you what Bascom made me!   Seriously, come back to see!

Til next time!

Spooky Sampler completed!

I DID IT!  I finally finished the Halloween Spooky Sampler!  You may remember I started it back in October of last year.  My last update was in January and I had just a little more to do!  I finished it finally last month.  Phew.  When I didn't get it finished in time for Halloween last year, I seriously thought of just packing it away and picking it up again as it got closer to Halloween this year.  But I was so close to finishing, I decided to go ahead and finish it.  I'm so glad I did because it's such a great piece.

See, I told you!  How sweet is this?  That border was no joke though.  It got really tedious towards the end.  This was my first time stitching on linen and I loved it.  I definitely hope to do more, but with my no craft supply buying rule I gave myself, I may have to wait.  I have so much aida in my stash that I'm trying to work through that.  I do have one piece of linen waiting for the perfect though. (wink)  Here's some not so great photos of each letter.

H for Haunted House

A for Apparition

L for Lightning

L for Lollipops

O for Owls

W for Witch (isn't she so cute!)

E for Eyes

E for Eek!

N for Ninja Trick-or-Treater

If you would like to stitch this awesome pattern, just click here to go to The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's website.  Now I just have to figure out how I want to finish it.  I'm thinking I'd like to frame it, but then I think it would be nice to make a pillow with it.  At least I have some time to think about it.

'Til next time!

St. Patrick's Day crafts

In continuing with trying to decorate the place for each holiday or season, I finished up a few crafty bits for St. Patrick's Day!  This is another holiday I never really decorated for, but why not?  So bring on the green!

I started with a little wreath for the front door.  Again, I used things I already had on hand, except for the wreath form itself. 

I made some fabric flowers like I made for my wedding using some gold-toned buttons in the center---thinking it would look a little like gold coins.  I also made a few more of the felt flowers like I made for my Fall wreath.  I wrapped the wreath form in a bright, green fabric.

Then I made a few felt shamrocks using this tutorial (found through Pinterest---of course!) I'm not sure they look shamrock-y enough, but I think they are good enough for now and get the point across. I just pinned these on, so I can remake them some time, probably with some better quality felt. I just had some of the cheap stuff on hand.  But for now, it will do.

Here it is on my door (sorry for the grainy photo).  It really pops against the black.  I like this little wreath.  It was fun to make, didn't take a lot of time and screams St. Patrick's Day.  

I also made this garland.  I bought one pack of foam shamrocks from the dollar store.  One pack had these two colors in it, a bright green and a glittery, dark green.  So I just strung it up with some string and voila!  Instant decoration.  Gotta love easy, cheap, quick decorations. I can see adding a bit more to this garland, maybe decoupaging some themed images on the lighter green shamrocks.  Something to work on over the upcoming years.  I think that's the point of starting to decorate for holidays.  I'm just starting with a few things, but over the years I know I will add more!

Last but not least, I made another little garland with some leftover bits from making the wreath, an extra shamrock and two fabric flowers.  I hated to see them just get thrown into my mess of a craft storage area, so I thought I could make another garland with them. I made some circles out of scrapbook paper to add to it and added a couple of pom poms and that was that.  Easy Peasy. I hung it from my bookcase. Just a little touch of green, but it works for me!

Do you decorate for St. Patty's Day?  I would love to have some stitched goodies.  I think that's something to work on, maybe some tea towels or a throw pillow.

So now, it's on to the next thing.  I've got a few cross stitches I'm still working on and plan on making a Spring wreath.  I also need to make some spring and Easter themed decorations for my apartment.  I've got a few ideas churning inspired by Pinterest. I still struggle with finding time for myself, it's still a work in progress. 

 See you next time!