Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Halloween ornaments and other things


I have been enjoying the charts from the new JCS Halloween ornament premier issue ... I understand we have Sue Hillis to thank for nagging the editors into instituting such a project. Fall is my favprite time of the year and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I have such fun decorating for the season: I bring out all my owl and raven and crow and pumpkin decorative objects: candlesticks, folk art and stitchery. Then, I light candles scented like spiced pmpkin and mulled cider. A cup of tea, a good book or an interesting stitching project, settled in such a cozily autumnal nest ... does it get any better?
I am working diligently on La-D-Da's Smell My Feet ornament and I have Raise the Roof's Boo Whoo ornament kitted up and then, it's on to the Miribilia Halloween Faerie, also kitted up. So, I have plenty of autumnal pleasures ahead. And, I will be needing it. The new assistant I hired to help out during program hours [15 hours a week] was unable to start work yesterday due to a recent hospitalization for pneumonia ... since her full time job is also in education, the poor woman is beside herself feeling guilty about being out of commission at a very busy time of year ... as if she could help it. I wish her a speedy recovery for her own sake and for mine ... I'll be putting in plenty of overtime this week doing all the tasks I had planned for her as well as everything that's on my own plate. Oh, well, at least I won't be bored and when Josephine does come to work I shall value her all the more.

3 comments:

Mistylynn said...

These are gorgeous.

Stitcher said...

Riona, I give a big Hoot Hoot for the PS Night Owl ornament!! Oddly enough, all of the ornaments that you have chosen to stitch from the JCS issue are my choices to stitch as well. I think your style is rubbing off on me ;)
There is something very eerie about that owl and he almost looks rather cross. A perfectly shadowy figure for a spooktacular Halloween night!
Owls are becoming a fast favourite for me. Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament?

Thank you for your kindness to others in having this giveaway.
Erynne

riona said...

Erynne, I love owls and ravens ... it's my Celtic blood ... those birds are very big in the Irish mythos ... so I am almost certainly going to stitch any owl chart I come across. I can't resist the primitive folk art look of PS charts ... one of my favorites, that I re-stitch over and over, is the Halloween Designer Series chart from PS ... four charts in one booklet: an owl, a black cat, a pumpkin and a haunted house ... I use the first three frequently for Halloween exchanges and the like. Another favorite is an old Homespun Elegance complimentary chart showing a black cat leaping over a pumpkin ... also a quick but lovely stitch for exchanges.

Also from the JCS Halloween issue, I stitched La-D-Da's Smell My Feet [I couldn't resist those shoes] which I am finishing as a flat ornament and I have just started the Raise the Roof Boo Whoo which I am going to stitch up as a Halloween gift bag for my year old grandson, Liam ... the colors work perfectly with the gift I am stuffing in it: the Dragonfly and Firefly baby socks from The Sock Lady ... you can check them out at www.socklady.com ... I even bought myself the Fall Foliage socks ... couldn't resist. The colors are phenomenal and the texture of the cotton yarn is sooo soft.