Halloween Blog Hop (edited)

Huge thanks go to Jo for organising this Blog Hop.  As I told her before, it is my second favourite event of the year with her Advent Calendar being my most favourite!

Now I know if should be a finished piece of halloween stitching but I haven't quite finished him yet! However, this photo will be updated throughout the day until Drac is revealed in all his glory.

So my letter is O as in O dear what a mess he looks at the moment!

Next you need to follow this link which will take you to the next blog and you can find the next letter there!

 Keep Calm and Cross Stitch

Happy Halloween

And he is done!!!  (And on Halloween too!)

Drac in the Box, Halloween Nails and cute cats

Rachael wanted her nails done in a halloween theme.  She couldn't decide what design to go with so we finally went with a different design on each nail. So we have a ghost, spider, pumpkin, Frankenstein and cobweb.  We had great fun designing them and Rachael thinks they look good which is what matters!

I have been stitching furiously on my Drac and this is where I was with it this afternoon.

I have no idea what is going on with the photos.  I uploaded them all the right way up but some of them are now looking the wrong way up.  Still I am sure that you get the idea of what they should look like :)

I have since stitched the bottom design in one of these boxes which has my initials, a cute little spider and 2013 in.  This leaves the rest of the lids to stitch and the top piece.

I can do this!  I can get it finished in time!  I'm sure I can.

And finally...2 very cute cats.  Rachael and I were trying to decide whether they were having a cuddle or whether it was the aftermath of a wrestling bout and Biskey had pinned Smudge.  Smudge however seemed quite content to have Biskey laying all over him.  

Just a quick reminder of Jo's (Serendipitous Stitching) blog hop.  It will be up and running on Thursday so be sure to visit her blog to follow the links and find the secret word(s).It should be fun and hopefully I will find some new bloggers to annoy follow.

Drac in the Box and Mary's Sampler

First up is Mary's Sampler with part 4 stitched.  Part 5 is downloaded and ready to be done some time this week.  So here is the whole thing so far...

Plum Street Samplers -Mary's Sampler SAL

..and a close up of part 4 too.

Plum Street Sampler - Mary's Sampler
Part 4 close up

 Some more progress has been made on my Drac in the Box.  I am trying very hard to ignore the fact that Jo (Serendipitous Stitching) has already finished hers and that it looks amazing!  I have worked on the body today and will take a photo tonight to show you.  That then leaves the 2 lid pieces, skull, bottom, rest of the arms and the top panel to do - oh and the small matter of making up!  I don't think there is much chance of it being done in time for this Halloween!

Acorn House Designs - Drac in the Box

Acorn House Designs - Drac in the Box

Mary's Sampler - part 3

Well after printing off part 3 yesterday, I thought I might as well get part 3 stitched up.  It was super speedy and only took me about and hour or so, even at my super slow speed :)

Plum Street Samplers - Mary's Sampler (part 3)

The fabric colour is better on this one but the brown is bit more orangey looking and the smokey grey is lighter. I love those little sheep, they are SO cute!

Positive thinking and Mary's Sampler

This is where I am up to with Mary's Sampler so far.  The fabric looks absolutely NOTHING like this AT ALL.  In fact I think if I had used a colour filter, I couldn't make it look less like the real thing than this does. It is actually a Silkweaver Solo 28ct Cashel Linen.  Linen...I'm using linen...woohoo.  Trouble is I hate the feel of the fabric and the 'unevenness' of it and the way it stretches when you hold it.  As it is only a small design, I will plough on with it.  I am also printing off Mary's Sampler II for a later date.

I have also been stitching on the Positive Thinking SAL (part 2) and this is where I am up to with it.  Again, the fabric is nothing like this.  It has been a really gloomy day here in Manchester and we still had the lounge light on at 10am this morning!

Other than these 2, there has been a little progress on Cinderella, but not enough to make it worth taking off the Q Snaps and taking a photo of it.

Cinderella update

Joan Elliott - Cinderella

A really rubbish photo and a piece of fabric that is in dire need of a date with the iron.  Here it is so far though.  I am absolutely loving stitching on this one.  It is a favour to my aunt for my cousin so I am going to try and focus solely on this and get it finished for her.  The fabric is Polstitches jobelan and is so soft and gorgeous.

Look at these!

Recently Linda of Stitching with my Furbabies introduced me to a new blog Pickle Barrels Designs.  Nancy was having a lovely giveaway where she was offering either a set of Christmas charts or Halloween charts to a follower and someone they introduced.  Me and Linda were lucky enough to win. Well actually, for some totally bizarre reason we were the only 2 people who entered.  I can only assume there was a total internet blackout directly after we entered until the closing date :)

As Linda introduced me, she got first dibs and chose the Christmas designs.  I therefore got Halloween and they are gorgeous.  There was also the Sullivan's threads required, some fabric and the cutest EVER halloween bag.  Look at these charts, aren't they lovely?

Thank you Nancy for offering such a lovely giveaway.  I would highly recommend a visit, so click on the link above and have a look.

And in other news...I have done a little bit on Papillon Creations Around the World.  This is part 8 (I think).

The second part of Positive Thinking has been released, so I have made a start on that too.  I have done a little more than it looks here as tonight I have stitched 2 more words.