Come In My Little Pretties: finished

Hello friends!  I'm back with another finish! I've been stitching like mad on this piece because I've been enjoying it so much.  This was another Crazy Challenge start but I hadn't touched it since January.  I picked it up a couple weeks ago and couldn't put it down, stitching until I finished it. This is "Come in My Little Pretties" by The Primitive Hare.  This design is part of the Wednesdays We Stitch Black SAL that she started last year.  I'm thrilled to bits with her!

I adore all the little details; spiders, bats, jack-o-lanterns, skull, keys.  There so much to love about this design.  I stitched this on 32 count Belfast linen on a color called Stormy Night (I think).  It's a lovely gray which goes really well with this pattern. 

This skull adds some serious macabre to this piece. 

The witch is so fantastic.  I thought about adding a little mouth but there's something a little more frightening about her not having one.  I think it adds to the darkness of this piece.

I used DMC in everything except her hair, which I used GAST Maple Syrup

I always love the limited color palette she uses in her designs.  I think I would get bored with stitching so much back but I really don't.  The design keeps me very interested while I'm stitching. 

This wee spider sitting on the key is too much.  I love it. 

Another scary feature of this design, a menacing jack-o-lantern

So another to cross of my challenge list.  I am keeping a list on the right sidebar and I'm crossing them off as I go.  This is my eighth challenge finish.  I'm so please with that.  I'm already thinking about my starts for next year!  

I hope you are having a lovely stitching day.  See ya next time!

Christmas On Gingerbread Lane: Finished!

Hi friends!  As mentioned in my last quick post, I've had some big changes lately.  We are settling into our new home and absolutely love it!   So I need to catch up on a few things, namely my most recent finish!  I'm so thrilled to have finally finished "Christmas on Gingerbread Lane" by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

I've been working on this for a loooooooong time.  I started it when it first came out--like two years ago!  Then at the beginning of last year, I decided to take it to work and work on it on my lunch breaks.  I only get thirty minutes for lunch so the progress was very slow.  I worked on it all year on my lunch breaks.  By the end of the year I was sick of looking at it and couldn't believe it still wasn't done.  AH!  So I brought it back home and told myself I'm never working on a larger piece at work anymore, so this year I've been doing smalls and it's been great.  So anyway, I added this piece to my Cross Stitch Crazy list for this year but it wasn't until June that I picked it up again using it for my Whine and WIPs piece for the Stitch Maynia group on Facebook.  I whined and moaned and finished it!

It's a lovely pattern and I do still like it, even though it frustrated me while I was stitching it.  I'm still not terribly thrilled with the fabric I chose to stitch it on, but certainly will not be re-doing it!  :)
It's cute and bright and I will display it during the holidays.  I think I may just pop it into a frame if I can find something suitable.

Do you have projects that just drive you bananas sometimes?  How do you get through it?  I found that taking a break from it for a while really helped me with this particular project. 

So another finish off my challenge list!  I'm still SO thrilled with my finishes this year! I will come back with a WIP update and a couple of more finished smalls.

'Til then,  Happy stitching!

I'm still here!!

I wanted to drop a quick note to let you all know that I am still here!  I know it's been a while since I've updated.  We bought a new home so we've been busy with that.  I've finally been stitching somewhat regularly again this last week.  We're settling in our new space and totally love it.  I do have some things to share so hopefully I can do that soon!

'Til then!