Early Halloween and Give Away info

i love thinking of things to stitch for my friends birthdays as i am sure most of you do too. I want it to have a theme of what they are into or at least something they collect. Julie loves Halloween so needless to say i wanted to stitch with this in mind.
i found a great picture in an old magazine i had saved, don't we all have a ton of these lying around. i had saved the magazine because it had these cute Halloween pictures that you could copy and fold into place cards. i decided to make it into a needle book.
i did change the design a bit, i always have to and i am happy with how it came out. i am disappointed i forgot to take a picture of the finished piece but you can get a good idea what it looks like almost finished.

i wanted to stitch as many different types of stitches as i could on the piece.

I decided to add a piece of fabric for the shirt and then added french knots and a few running stitches to hold it in place. i love the effect.

here it is almost finished. i added a nice smiling mouth, finished her other stocking plus her shoes, a little spider next to her and hanging by her side a silver "J" for Julie.
inside it has a page for needles, and on the back cover a place to add scissors.
i never get tired of starting or completing a project, i just wish i had taken a finished picture
oh well
stay tune for the next picture of my give away items.... i plan on choosing a name at the end of September.  tell your friends and get a second chance to win if they join too. just let me know.

Giveaway On the Way

i have been thinking about this giveaway since i last posted and decided i will give you a sneak peak at some of the goodies i will be giving to those who join my blog or who are already a follower and leave a comment.

i love this little booklet from  The James Polk Presidential Hall, "Middle Tennessee Samplers"  a few pictures of lovely samplers inside.
also a few old buttons, wooden spools of various thread, an acorn thread keep from Kelmscott Design and another daisy shape floss finder.
keep posted there will be more goodies as i wonder thru my sewing/craft room and anything else i might buy for this giveaway.
i will announce the winner of the goodies the first week in September so spread the word and who knows maybe i will have two groups of goodies to giveaway.
stop back by and see what i will add next???

i had this old white birdhouse hanging in a tree in my yard. i decided to spray paint it red and added black stripes to it. then i hung a bottle in the middle with a candle, voila i have a unique outdoor light.
i love when simple creative things happen