Trick Or Treat!

You are not allowed to laugh. This is the very first pillow I've ever machine sewed. However, overlooking goofy corners and a badly seamed shut end, it turned out satisfactory. I love how the black & orange gingham matches so well with the cross stitched border in the design. I glued on wiggle eyes instead of the tiny buttons included with the pattern as I'll want to use those buttons when I eventually stitch up the entire Boo Club design. I added a black poofy bow and spooky little bells to each corner. Hoping those bells will disguise my poor sewing skills? Again, the camera refuses to draw the fabric color. *&%$$#*&@

Design ~ Boo Club Series Creepy

Designer ~ Lizzie*Kate

Fabric ~ 28 count Wichelt Jobelan, Daffycat dyed Tangerine Orange

Fiber ~ DMC

Finish ~ Pillow

I'm Missy Ann's day 11 winner of the 13 Days Of Halloween! Go me! That is the sneak peek photo. I wonder what it is??? I'll find out very soon as Missy already had my address and got it mailed today. I can't wait to see. Thank you Missy, this has been a very fun giveaway!

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Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Daffycat's 2nd Blogoversary!

November 1st is my 2nd Blogoversary! I am so excited! To celebrate, I decided to host a giveaway but what to give? I have so many blog friends! In the end, I came across a new book that I figured was purr-fect for my giveaway. In fact, I got two since it's my second Blogoversary. Everybody knows and loves Simon's Cat, right?

Okay, I'm sure there are one or two that haven't seen Simon's cat. Get out from under that rock! So you can see his home page here and see his hilarious YouTube videos here. I love this crazy kitteh!

Official Giveaway Stuff

1) I'm giving away a copy Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield to two lucky readers of my blog.

2) Enter the giveaway by leaving me a Happy Blogoversary comment on this post only. (Click the link at the bottom of this entry that says Amicable Purrs.)

3) Get a second entry by being a Follower of my blog. Let me know in your comment that you are a Follower.

4) Get another entry by posting about my giveaway on your blog. Leave another comment, please.

5) The winners of the books will be chosen by random drawing on November 7, 2009.

6) I must have a way of contacting the winners. Make sure you leave your email address if your email is not available in your profile. No blog, no problem...but leave your email!

This giveaway is hosted to thank you all for reading my blog, for leaving me so many lovely comments, and for brightening my days with your wonderful blogs as well. Thank you all. And good luck!

The giveaway is closed for entries and the winner will be announced shortly!

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

xox

More great mail

I have the best mailman! Look what he brought today...my Lizzie Kate exchange from Lisa! Lisa stitched Autumn ABC's and finished it into a beautiful pinkeep. Thank you so much, Lisa!

Best of all, Lisa's blog is new to me and I love reading new blogs!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

So many giveaways

This must be the season of giveaways...there have been so many lately! I'm thinking it must be the change of seasons...especially for those of us heading to Winter. More time spent indoors. Ha, I'll be having a giveaway of my own in a few days so be looking forward to it!

Here is my entry for Cathey's Pumpkin Day giveaway on Pumpkin Patch & Co.

My daughter, Jessie, is our resident Jack-O-Lantern designer. I wouldn't carve a pumpkin without her.

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To celebrate his brand-new website my friend Denis is giving away a shirt and two travel books...visit his blog, England Rents, Rants & Raves for a look-see! Hurry though, this one ends soon.

Missy Ann at Deep inside Missy is having 13 days of giveaways! Be sure to visit her blog every day until Halloween to enter!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Fun mail and a WIP

See what I found in my mailbox? Annemarie's kitty! Isn't she the sweetest? I am in love! I won the kitty in Annemarie's blog giveaway. The kitty is filled with birch shavings and smells lovely. Annemarie took the time to stitch a little tag for the kitty with our initials and the year. OMG. Be sure to go visit her blog. Be warned: I am not responsible for ruined keyboards on account of drooling.

Last post I promised I'd share my new WIP when I decided on one. Here it is. Creepy from Lizzie Kate's Boo Club. I must have taken 20 pictures but I can't get the fabric color to come out. The fabric is the orange I dyed on Saturday. Think of the brightest tangerine you've ever seen...that's the color. I'm stitching with sunglasses on...

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Saturday is a lazy day ~ get busy!

Rick was off to Oklahoma City on a Patriot Guard ride early this morning. So I had most of the day to myself. Now, if I'm not careful, I'll waste an entire day doing nothing. I hurried through the morning chores of laundry, dishes, dog-brushing, vacuuming and such. Once I had enough housework finished that it wouldn't look like I spent the whole day playing I got out some fabric, dye and started water boiling on the stove.

The first fabric I dyed was the bright orange on the left. This was RIT dye called Sunshine Orange. I wanted a really intense color so I used very little water and the entire packet of dye. The fabric, 28 count Jobelan, soaked for about 30 minutes. I was very pleased with the resulting orange because I wanted something suitable for a bit of Halloween stitching.

The middle fabric wasn't quite as pleasing. I added some liquid RIT Scarlet to that same orange dye bath and put in a cut of 25 count Lugana. This too soaked for about half an hour. I was trying for a darker orange color but what I got was a light salmon??? It's a pretty color though. I think the type of fabric made the difference in color.

Then, I drained the orange dye and mixed up some straight RIT Scarlet. This fabric is 32 count Belfast. I soaked this one for 30 minutes as well. Be aware when you dye with red dye...you will spend forever rinsing! I think I rinsed this for 40 minutes before I got all of the excess dye out! I'm really happy with this fabric, it has lots of variation and it should be perfect for some Christmassy stuff.

I think I like the liquid dyes the best. The granulated packet ones never seem to completely dissolve. However, the Sunshine Orange dye was really nice and I've never seen that one in a liquid form.

Blog Stuff

Have you seen the new widget in my sidebar: The Blog Frog? Isn't that fun? I like seeing who's been visiting and it gives your blog some advertising when you visit mine. I just wish more of you would add the widget to your blogs! I also love the FROG part of the name ~ fun for a stitchy blog ROFLOL!

Would you do me a big favor? I now have around 450 blogs in my Blog Roll. These all should be in my reader as well. If every one updated their blog on the same day I'd be in big trouble! Anyway, (I'll get to the point) 450 blogs is a lot to keep track of! Would you please check to see if your blog is in my Blog Roll? If it isn't or if you've changed the name of your blog and it's still listed as the old name, leave me a comment and I'll fix it. Also, if you display the Followers gadget on your blog and I'm not following you let me know! If you don't use the Followers gadget, why the heck not? Put it on! Again, just leave me a comment so I can fix it!

A new start?

I'm itching for a new Halloween start and I have a couple of designs in mind. Some deciding to do this evening and I'll settle to one of them and get to stitching! I'll let you know what comes about.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Happy Hoots

I had a little finish today! Is this not a darling tuck for Halloween? Lately, everything that catches my eye is an owl or a design with owls in it. I love owls! This is stitched on white fabric...I haven't stitched on white fabric in sooo long, it looked so stark and bare! Then, I put it inside the tuck and everything looked just fine.

Design ~ Happy Hoots

Designer ~ San-Man Originals

Fabric ~ 28 count Antique White Jobelan

Fiber ~ DMC

Finish ~ Tuck

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Zombie Jamboree

Holy carp, did the music scare you half to death? Yes, much as I (personally) detest blog music, I couldn't resist sharing a few of my favorite Halloween songs with you. Just clicky the pause button and turn it off if it drives you nuts. I'll remove it when I get tired of it, lol.

It's Crabby October!

I listened to Halloween music all day while finishing up Zombies. Here it is in all it's glory. I added the buttons for the photograph since the little sun makes up part of the design. This one went by much too fast. My favorite block and it's already finished. ***cries***

By the way, the Traveling Pattern is on the move again! Sara at Sara's Simple Stitching has finished her up (beautifully!) and is ready to send her on! Will you be the next to join the Sisterhood? Good luck!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox

Please meet Merry

OMG

OMG

OMG

When I arrived home after work I found I have an unexpected houseguest. Would you all please say hello to my new friend, Merry, who's come all the way to Oklahoma from England to stay with me! Merry wears the most beautiful red frock with a lovely tartan scarf. Isn't she the sweetest? Merry has already been quite busy since she arrived.

She has been helping with my blogging.

Merry snuggled with Sheba!

Then, Merry met Taco. Taco was so excited she kept rubbing on Merry. This nearly knocked Merry off the floss cabinet! It was also difficult to get a clear picture with all that happy rubbing. Calm down, Taco!

Merry also helped a bit with the October Crabby block.

A big thank you to Julie for sending Merry my way! I adore her. I've wanted (coveted) one of Julie's precious bunnies since I saw the first one she made! Thank you so much Julie!

>^..^<

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox

Halloweenie Happy Dance

Finished! And actually finished too, sometimes it takes me a while to get to that! These silly little Halloween quickies are a treat to stitch and this made up into a really fun ornament. Now, I need a Halloween tree! The camera refused to pull the fabric color correctly, it's much brighter IRL. The little owl fabric in the background is what I used for the back.

Design ~ Just A Quickie, Treat

Designer ~ Amy Bruecken Designs

Fabric ~ 28 count Crossed wings Linen, Rainforest

Fiber ~ DMC

Finish ~ Ornament

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

xox