Closing In

I couldn't decide whether to title this post "Finish Line in Sight" or "Closing In" but finally went with "Closing In" as I am finally closing in on finishing Dr. A. What with great SEC football yesterday afternoon and catching up on The Real Housewives of DC and Rubicon this afternoon, I planted myself in front of the television for the last two days and gave Dr. A my (mostly) undivided attention. Since I last posted I have completed his cape, suit, candelabra, grass, and most of the two bottom borders.

The impact of the candelabra on the canvas took me by surprise. I had not expected it to have such a presence - not that it's bad or anything, but the size of it seems so much larger stitched than it did unstitched. I particularly like the stitch "construction" of the candelabra. The crescent stitch on the candelabra arms had me remarking to Dr. A that Amy is one clever lady. It's a perfect stitch for that area.

I have a little bit of the lavender border to finish tonight and then will work on finishing the spiders and adding their webs. With any luck, I could finish Dr. A this week. W. Herr Wolfe is calling to me to hurry up!

I thought I would share with you one of my other Halloween decorations. This witchy kitty is a Jim Shore Heartwood Creek piece I have had for a few years. She is sitting within the black feather wreath I bought at Target last year. She's holding a lantern that has a small battery operated candle inside. I found some tiny, battery-operated amber colored lights at QVC that work on a timer and so at night she is surrounded by little lights. I love these lights because you can set them to come on when you want and they stay on for 6 hours and turn themselves off. I put the other set on the black branches on my mantle with my other Halloween decorations.

Time to get back to the lavender border - the weekend is about to slip away and my free time with it!  I want to wish my Canadian stitching friends a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! Eat some turkey for me!

Autumn at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Andrew, Anna, and I spent some time on Sunday morning at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. We couldn't have had a nicer day - crystal clear skies, a light breeze, and temps in the upper 60's! The gardens were decked out for the fall and Halloween. Their special exhibit right now centers around chocolate - everything from cultivation of the cacao tree to the finished product. When you walk into the Visitor's Center, you are enveloped in the scent of chocolate. That's a great way to start a visit anywhere, don't you think?

Andrew took lots of pictures and I wanted to share a few of them with you.

I was so happy to see the Dale Chihuly piece still in the fountain. It must have been purchased following the Chihuly in the Garden exhibit in 2004.

These pumpkin topiaries (I think that's what you would call them) are so cute and I am seriously thinking about copying them - on a smaller scale - in the two planters at my front steps. I think you could get a piece of iron rebar or something similar at Home Depot and impale (!) the pumpkins and gourds on it and place it in the pot. Don't you think it would last outside until Thanksgiving?

If my knee had not been bothering me, I would have walked over to another part of the garden and been able to see this fabulous cornucopia in person. I'm glad Andrew and Anna got to see it. Look at all the glass pumpkins and gourds! You could buy smaller versions of these in the garden gift store. I resisted the temptation and it was the hardest thing I did all day.

The pumpkin patch featured glass pumpkins as well.

This steel sculpture with the glass pears is another favorite of mine.

I'll leave you with this incredible orchid photo. The color combination was unbelievable. I wish I could tell you the name of this orchid, but I didn't see its label. The conservatory is filled with many exotic plants just like this one.

If I lived in Atlanta, I would surely be a member of the Botanical Garden. It's such a lovely, peaceful place in the middle of the city. It would be a great place to escape when the traffic and the hustle and bustle of the city becomes too much. Hope you enjoyed this little escape with me!

Stash Enhancement

I just returned home from a great weekend in Atlanta with my son, Andrew, and daughter-in-law, Anna. Andrew was in his BMW blogging/photographer mode at the Petite LeMans north of Atlanta on Saturday where he spent the day photographing the race and the BMW racing team in particular. Anna and I spent the day shopping at Lenox Mall and had a delicious dinner at The Buckhead Diner (the white chocolate banana cream pie is highly recommended!). If you are shopping at the right time of day in the Neiman Marcus shoe department, you will be served champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. No, we weren't buying - "just looking" at the Manolos. I was wearing my Birkenstocks - I'm surprised they let me in the shoe department there!

This morning after breakfast we made a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It was such a perfect day to visit - not a cloud in the sky, mid-60's - just beautiful. If you are ever in Atlanta, make an effort to get there! I didn't take my camera but Andrew took some great pictures which I'll share with you later.

When I arrived in Atlanta on Friday, my first stop was at In Stitches, a needlepoint boutique in Buckhead. It's located in a cute little house on Shadowlawn Drive. I was excited to discover that they were having a Melissa Shirley trunk show. They had a nice selection of large and small canvases in the show (and in the shop, of course). No way I was walking out of there without an addition to the stash! Here's what I bought -

                                                                                                                    

Melissa Shirley's Gold Pears - one striped design and one damask design. I started on the damask pear with an antique copper Kreinik braid. Each of the designs comes with some "velvet" leaves. Love them! I also picked up a couple of new Zecca magnets.

I couldn't resist picking up one of Melissa's Ribbon Candy canvases with a Halloween theme (imagine that!). The ribbon candy canvases are featured on the cover of the current Needlepoint Now. This is a particularly good issue. I love the projects that are featured this time. Note to self - remember to renew the subscription to Needlepoint Now!

  

 

Thanks to the ladies at In Stitches who were so attentive and helpful!

This past Thursday afternoon there was a thumping and scratching sound at the door after the UPS man dropped off a special package at the door. Look who has arrived!

I don't think I'll even put the Wolfman on the stretchers until I have made a little more progress on his buddy, Dr. Acula. The Dr. is already put out with me because I haven't been showing him much attention these last two weeks. I was disappointed to learn that the stitching diagram for his coffin was incorrect. Oh, well, that part has been done for quite a while and I don't think I'll be taking it out. No one will ever know - unless you tell them! You won't do that, will you?

Our W.Herr Wolfe is quite striking with all that fur to be stitched. I love the pumpkins and the moon in the background. Hope I can get back on a regular stitching schedule with him.

I look forward to sharing some photos from the Botanical Garden with you later this week. Hope you have a wonderful week!

       

Dressing the Doctor

Dr. Acula has been most patient with me as I attempted to get him dressed this week.  Despite him being a "doctor", he has been no help to me as I coughed and sneezed my way through the week. The dust, dirt, and heat at our warehouse finally got to me this week and stirred up my allergies. Dr. A didn't know whether to prescribe the cold/flu medications, the allergy medications, or the high blood pressure cold medications. Don't tell my real doctor, but I think I took an assortment of all of the above at some point during the week in an attempt to rid myself of the watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, cough, etc.

Dr. Acula is dressed for the most part. He needs his bow tie, buttons, and the gold trim for his cape. Today I added the orange puffy lining to his coffin. Photos don't do this part of the design justice. There's so much more dimension to it than a photo can deliver. I've added the green outline stitches around the upper lid and can see that it will take 2 or 3 rows of brown outline to fill in the outer edges.

I'm disappointed that this canvas won't be finished by the time W. Herr Wolfe arrives at the end of the week. But, it's just been a crazy month with work and all that has come with it. My plan is to work on the candelabra next, then move down to the grass and our friend, Rhett. I'll tackle the bottom border and then finish up with the "X" background and the large spider web.

Did I tell you that Bridezilla and her Groom are honeymooning in San Francisco? They heard such wonderful things from Stirha and Frank about Marlene's that they wanted to go there, too. I don't think they will make it home in time for Halloween, but there's always next year. I sent my Merry Christmas canvas with them and I hope I will get that one back in time for Christmas.

I gave into temptation yesterday and called Ruth Schmuff at Bedecked and Bedazzled and ordered her 3D holiday tree series. The Halloween tree looks like this. Ruth offers this as a one sided tree or as a 3D tree. The tree series stitch guide will be featured in Needlepoint Now magazine so Ruth will be sending the canvas and the threads/ribbons/tchotchkes, etc.


And, as if that wasn't enough, I also signed up for one of Ruth's mystery classes. I want to stitch the Beth Gantz Noel canvas as seen here. I must have lost my mind (although maybe I was under the influence of too many cold medications!). I am counting on my work load slowing down by the end of October and having a little more energy at the end of the day for more stitching. But, never fear, the Halloweenies continue into the new year and they will remain at the top of my stitching priority list.


It's a rainy night in Georiga for the first time in weeks! It's supposed to continue into tomorrow and Tuesday. It couldn't be more welcome!


Have a wonderful week!

A Busy Week = Little Stitching

It's been a really busy week at work. I usually work from home but the last two weeks have found me working at our warehouse for most of the day. I don't know what the September temperatures have been like for you, but here in Georgia it's still in the mid-90's every day. Our warehouse is not air-conditioned and by the time I come home, the heat has worn me out and I don't want to do much more than just sit in front of the television. And, as a result, I haven't stitched a lot this week.

I stitched a little bit on Dr. Acula's cape this week and today I added the detail to his face. I had to break out the heavy duty clip-on light to stitch the black cape. Without it, I couldn't see the black stitches on the black canvas.

I just have to say that I can't imagine that there's anyone who can detail a face like Amy. Dr. Acula is the 5th Halloweenie character we have stitched and each of the faces has been so expressive. Everything from the shading of the skin to the eyes, mouth, nose, and hair really brings life to each character. And they are charted so well, it's hard to stitch it incorrectly. Thanks Amy!

September is moving by so quickly, don't you think? We'll be welcoming the next Halloweenie before we know it.

It's back to the warehouse in the morning for me. Will my stitching friends in Canada please send some cool autumn air our way? Have a good week everyone!

Frank and Stirha's Holiday Home

Frank and Stirha have taken up residence for the Halloween season on my living room mantle. While their larger Haunted House is being stitched, they are quite happy with the ceramic haunted house that I brought home from Bath and Body Works. I had seen this house when Anna, my daughter-in-law, and I had shopped at B and BW over Labor Day weekend. I resisted buying it then but have been thinking about it ever since. I caved, what can I say!

Inside the Haunted House I am burning the Slatkin & Co. Autumn 3 wick candle from B and BW. It really sets the mood for the season - a little apple, a little spice, and a tiny touch of wood smoke. I highly recommend it - it scents most of the house. There's plenty of room for more Halloweenie characters on the mantle. But, for now, Frank and Stirha each have a buddy. Check out these cuties!

     

The foliage across the back of the mantle is a glittered black pine bough with shiny purple and orange balls attached to it. I found them at a cute shop in Augusta called Cudos. The little resin figures came from there as well. I have a few more things to add but just have to find them.  Now that I have downsized my home, I find myself putting things away in odd places (wherever there's room) and then can't find them when the season rolls around again. I have some Jim Shore Halloween pieces that are hiding from me but there are only a few closets in this house so I know I'll find them!

Dr. Acula is feeling a little neglected and I have promised to work on his cape tonight. Last night I was good for nothing but sitting in front of the television all evening. Some evenings are like that -

Have you decorated for fall or Halloween yet? Martha Stewart's latest issue of Living inspired me to get started. I can't help but believe Martha would be jealous of our Halloweenie characters!

Nice Progress This Weekend

I think I made some nice progress on Dr. A this weekend. I finished the pumpkin and the kitty in the little coffin as well as the major wood sections of Dr. A's coffin. I had my doubts about the kitty as he looked like a big black blob until all the details were stitched. I love his coppery collar! I had not used ThreadworX floss before and Amy selected a fabulous green for us to use in the bed of both coffins and the pumpkin leaf. I particularly like the shading in this green color.

Another new fiber for me is the Kreinik Laser metallic thread. You will see more of it later as I work on other areas but for now you can see it in the edges of the pumpkin leaves. It has sort of a holographic effect. I don't know that you can see it in the photo but even just a little bit of it gives off an unexpected  sparkle.

This afternoon I stitched the main color in Dr. A's face. Without the details of his face, he's looking a little evil. He just needs his eyebrows, I think. I doubt he's as evil as he might want us to think. This week I'll concentrate on his face and clothes. That should make him look a little more friendly!

Hope you all had a good weekend and are ready for the week ahead!