Time for a Monthly Update!

I can't believe I started this update 10 days ago! Where on earth does the time go?



First I want to share a beaded set that I made for Jodi for her birthday (yes, it was in July, and yes, I was late with it, but luckily, Jodi is very understanding, especially when it comes to jewelry - LOL). The necklace & bracelet patterns came from the book The Beader's Palette, which Jodi sent me this summer. I asked her what her favorite project was and this is the one she picked, so hopefully she wasn't lying to me! :) I had to come up with something for matching earrings since there wasn't a pattern, and I'm quite pleased what I came up with. I wish the colors would show up better - this really is stunning in person (IMHO!)







And speaking of Jodi and jewelery, I made a necklace out of my Bead Retreat Family Tree bracelet (which you can see at the bottom of this post) for Jodi's mom.









Here's a close-up. I can't wait to hear how her mom likes it!! My step-mom was quite taken with it, so when I get my replacement bracelet in and the kit retires, I'll be making another one.










So, on the stitching front, I'm working on SALexandre with some of the ladies in my Yahoo group. I'm using Anchor 1206 on an unknown 32 ct ivory fabric from my stash. We're suppose to SAL every Saturday, and I try to make sure I get at least a few stitches in!









And I'm still keeping up with with my Papillon Creations Mystery Sampler! This is though part 9. Just a few more months and it'll be finished!!









And I actually pulled out a project from the 2006 Shepherd's Bush Retreat! This is the Haunted Needle House from Charland Designs. I had started the project in class on the kit fabric, but since I don't like evenweave OR blue, I decided to change it out and start over again (luckily, I hadn't gotten very far!). I have no idea what this fabric is, but it matches the pumpkin fabric for the inner box perfectly! At the retreat, my roommates and I did some dying - one of them brought this huge piece of linen that she hated the color of and wanted to try dying it. Several of us loved it and wouldn't let her - LOL - so she cut it up and gave it away! I can't remember if it was Jill or Tracy or someone else, but whoever it was, thanks again for the fabby - it's looking great!!


Here are some close-ups of the front, back and one side.

















I hope to get the rest of the stitching finished this weekend and HOPEFULLY will have the chance to do the finishing before Halloween!!