*Happy Halloween*

A big spooky hello to those of you who celebrate the Halloween Holiday. Here in Australia we don't actually get a holiday for this occasion but it is still celebrated a little with young children wandering around, trick or treating throughout the neighbourhood. The stores of course like to get into the act and sell a variety of Halloween costumes and an assortment of related products. Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying the celebrations whatever you do to mark the occasion.

It's been a while since I dropped by last so I thought I better do an update to let you know that all is well. Actually, all was not well last week. I was home all week with the flu and will go back to work tomorrow for the first time since. I still have the last bit of it lingering but I can't stay home forever, right? My girls (cats) enjoyed having me home. A little more entertainment for them during the day. Plus they were able to get a snack here and there that they don't normally have while I'm at work. Still, I'm sure they'll love the peace and quiet when I go back.

So the picture up above is one I've taken and played around with for Halloween. It's of Shepherd's Bush Little Witch that I stitched up a number of years ago. It's got the Jill Rensel mat around it and has a black wooden frame with detail. I thought it was quite suitable for this time of year to show you a picture of it.

The other things I have to show you is some charts I bought a short while ago from Country Stitches. I love Brenda's designs and find it hard not to add them to my stash every now and then.

Broom Hilda, St. Noel, Pumpkin Farm, and Fruit For A Song charts by Country Stitches

Nothing else to show right now. I'm still not stitching which is quite annoying (to you and to me). I'll have to find something really tiny to do, to get back into it. I know I have some small projects in my stash, it's just a matter of sorting through them and finding one that suits. I've had a couple of offers for SALs which is very nice but I'm not in the right frame of mind to tackle this. So I will have to decline on the offers, sorry. I will do one again some day, I'm sure.

That's it for now. Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

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Little Witch Pictures

As I promised Tammy, here's some photos of my SB Little Witch. I've put more in an album for anyone who'd like to have a look. Thanks!


I stitched this piece in 2005 and didn't get it framed until 2007! The mat is by Jill Rensel which I purchased on sale from The Silver Needle over the net. This was so fun to stitch.

Little Witch HD

Finally got her finished today. Another Shepherd's Bush one too. This piece would only take about a week of solid stitching, but I managed to stretch it out over about 4 1/2 months! I've done very little stitching of late, so I'm very pleased to have this one completed.

Loved the fabric, and the colours of the threads with this piece. I moved the pumpkin button from the top of the vine to the ground, and put a rose button in its place. The witch is one stitch shorter in her legs, because I made a mistake with the vine, and had that one thread shorter. Not to worry though, because I know what it's like being short:)

A fun one to do, so any SB fans out there, get this one for your stash.

Now... what will I start next? That's right, I was going to do Little House Needleworks: Colonial Dry Goods. A non SB for a change.

A few stitches

Since I haven't picked up a needle for a while, I thought I'd better do some of my latest project, Little Witch. She's been neglected for too long, and really needed to have some legs and a head put on her :-) I didn't do a lot of stitching, but at least it's some progress.

Here's a pic:

She's such a darling little piece, and I should put my effort into finishing her soon, then I can start on my next project.

At this stage, I think I may do Little House Needleworks - Colonial Dry Goods. I have everything kitted for it, including the R & R Americana Blend fabric, which is an interesting colour. LHN have only been designing for a few years, I think. I like their patterns, with the darker palette Americana Country, and their softer palette Country Cottage designs.

Welcome to my Blog

Hi, my name's Jane, and I thought I would start a Blog as a journal to my life of stitching.

Some of you will know me from the Shepherd's Bush Bulletin Board (Jane M), where my love of SB has grown even more with the encouragement from the ladies of the board. They are by far my favourite designer in cross stitch, and over the past years I have collected quite a stash of their products. Most of their charts, kits, charms, and buttons I have, and am still always keen to see what their next release will be.

I hope this journal will be a way of communicating what project I'm doing at any given time, the progress I'm making, and what I think of it (good or bad). I may even go off the track a bit, and comment on other things in my life - who knows?

I have a link to my Epson photo albums, where I always keep a pic of my latest WIP, and other albums of interest too. So please take a look when you can. Any comments about my blog will be appreciated too.

The regulation of my blog entries will vary. I plan to post entries not too far apart, but it all depends on what I'm doing, and how far my progress is going.

My latest WIP is SB Little Witch. I haven't added anything to it lately. Here's a pic of where I'm up to:

I must admit, I have made a mistake with the vine. I'm one stitch less (that really annoys me). So I will have to make her legs one stitch shorter :-) Just love the fabric that comes with the kit - Vintage Country Mocha. It has a really mottled look to it and such a devine colour. The thread colours are lovely too, with some of them variegated. I really should get back to her, as it's not a big piece, and wouldn't normally take too much time to do.

The last finished item I did was another SB one. It's from their Americana Folio chart called Uncle Sam Pillow. The fabric they used is called Home Sweet Home pillow cut, which I found at a shop on the Internet for 50% off. Just love a bargain. The houses are already on the fabric, and you just stitch your design in the centre of it. I love Americana designs, so I enjoyed doing this one.

I ended up changing a few of the threads from DMC to Sampler Threads to get an older look to it. I worked with Old Red Paint, Old Blue Paint, and Soot. The DMC 822 cream used may be substituted for a richer looking cream, in keeping with the aged look (which I wish I had have done myself, but didn't).

Well, that's all for now. Hope you drop by again sometime for my next update.