Mr. Pumpkin

 Here is my march post, I call him Mr. Pumpkin.  He is from the PS chart Boo.  I stitched him on 32 ct. linen from my stash .  He is now in the rather large pile to be finished!!

Cheryl's March Pumpkin

This pumpkin was stitched from part of a larger pattern: "Eek!" by Michelle Lutzen of Stitch Kitty.  It was featured in the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue.

I just love his kooky face!

Crafting Paws' Pumpkin Cupcake (March)...

The minute I saw this pattern, I couldn't wait to stitch it for March.

My pumpkin cupcake ornament...

The pattern is from the website Mini Cross Stitch and I stitched it on 14 ct. white Aida.

(The pattern is called "Halloween Cupcakes" and there are 9 different cupcakes to stitch.)

I'm planning on finishing it as a hoop and hope to have that done soon.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing all the other cute ornaments!

-Carrie-

Jo's March Finish - Pumpkins

Pumpkins is always a popular theme for this blog and there are some great designs out there.

Here is my Pumpkin Patch:

It is part of a larger design by Just Nan called Counting Bats.  I love all the crazy faces on each of the pumpkins!  The beads in the bottom border are striped orange beads and I've just noticed the end one is wonky.  Have to fix that!

Here is the whole piece so far:

I don't think I've shown you the framed Thine is The Trick and The Treat I collected from my framers the other day?   

Close-up of one corner to show the frame:

This was actually finished last April but I've only just been able to afford to get it framed professionally with my Christmas vouchers.  Here's the post where I talked about my Happy Dance.

Noni's Blue Ribbon Pumpkin

I found the perfect quick stitch for this month... "Halloween Portraits" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

This little pumpkin is one of 6 or 7 designs included in the "Halloween Portraits" set.  Besides the cute pumpkin there is also a ghost, witch, black cat, crow, owl... plus a couple more that I can't remember... I will have plenty more to stitch over the coming months for my Halloween themes!  The designs were published in the Just Cross Stitch Halloween 2015 magazine.

Once I have stitched a couple more on this piece of fabric I will turn them into little pillow ornies... but the final finish may be some time off!! :o)

Looking forward to seeing all those lovely pumpkins pop up over the next couple of weeks!

See you next month for a ghostly visit....

H is for Headless Horseman, Haunted Houses and Hallowe'en - Revisited

When we first started this blog I made a series of posts beginning with each letter of the alphabet starting with A.  Unfortunately, they ground to a halt after L.  So in honour of The Alphabet Club hosted by Chiara I have decided to resurrect the original posts and link up each month with the rest of the Alphabet Club posters.  To learn more about this SAL follow the Alphabet Club link to Chiara's blog.

H is for Headless Horseman from A Dark Alphabet designed by Julie and Becky's Note of Friendship blog.

The Headless Horseman has appeared in many forms of literature throughout history and throughout the world. Many countries have their own unique version of the headless horseman.  We find versions in Texas, Ireland, Germany, India.... the most known version is probably that of Ichabod Crane and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, based on a German folktale, first written down by  Karl Musäus.  It later was used as the basis of a story by Washington Irving. 

Becky researched the various stories of the Headless Horseman in this post here

Marcy stitched a great version of this monster in May, this one is by Primitive Hare:

Wicked Night by Primitive Hare

Sleepy Hollow by Glendon Place

This features the following spooky poem:

In a grave lies the horseman

His head is at his side

Be brave enough to take it

And again by night he will ride

The next H's are for Haunted Houses, every town, village and area has a house rumoured to be haunted, whether by a grey lady or monk or just because of creepy happenings.  Some ghosts seem to be quite friendly and people are rather proud of their haunting inhabitant but others are less welcome, causing people to flee screaming in the night never to return.

While searching for information on Haunted Houses, I found a great website www.hauntedrooms.co.uk which lists their Top 21 of Haunted Places and also gives details of Haunted Hotels where you can spend the night - ghosts not guaranteed!  There's one page for the UK and another for America.  Why not have a look and let me know if you've stayed in any of those hotels?

And here is some stitching:

Widow Black's B&B by Praiseworthy Stitches

This is the fourth in a series of four different Haunted Houses!

Beware of Hallowe'en - Bobbie G Designs

When Skeletons Dance by Drawn Thread

This was such an easy topic to find designs for, just Google "Haunted House Cross Stitch" and you will find many beautiful charts and designs for you to buy.

The final H just has to be Hallowe'en, which needs no description from me!  In fact, I covered the origins in this post here

Simply Hallowe'en by Waxing Moon

Hallowe'en Party by Just Nan

Craftingpaws's January and February Ornaments...

Hello everyone!

I finally remembered to send Jo an email, so I could be added to this blog and share my monthly ornaments.

I have been stitching along each month and thought I would post what ornaments I completed for January and February.

January 2016

Theme: Winged Creatures

The piece was one of the Spooktacular Designs, found in The World of Cross Stitching magazine (October 2015 issue).

Designer: Durene Jones

stitched on 14 ct. white Aida fabric

Stitch Time: 7 hrs. 45 minutes

February 2016

Theme: Mummies and Monsters

 (I actually finish/finished him, with a mason jar lid as the frame.)

The pattern is from The World of Cross Stitching magazine (October 2015 issue) and the designer is Durene Jones.

stitched on 14 ct. white Aida fabric 

I am very excited to finish my pumpkin themed project for March and really looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.

-Carrie-