Move over Martha Stewart!!

I used to idolize Martha Stewart about 16, 17 years ago. I subscribed to her magazine (expensive, I did that for only 2 years), I watched her show on t.v. and always said I wanted to be just like Martha. And now? I haven't watched any of her shows for many years or bought any of her magazines, new or old. So where I am going with this? I made Jelly!! Prickly Pear Jelly

Now isn't that a pretty color? Not syrup, as I read could happen, but jelly. Pretty labor intensive I tell ya! Early Saturday morn I went out and picked a bunch as I had read that in the morning is when sugar is high in plants. I soaked them for a couple hours and then that evening began. Here's what they looked like after soaking. These are leftovers from what I used. See the whitish dots? Those are little stickers and I mean little!

I have one in my finger that will work its way out soon! That tupperware bowl has been in this family for more than 20 years. See where it's been melted a little? No telling when we lost the lid. Back to jelly-I also have extra juice and will make more this week after I buy more sugar. It took 5 cups of sugar and was super sweet last night but when I opened a jar this morning, it tasted better like it's supposed to.

Thought I'd show you where I'm at now with the LK Mystery Sampler

I've worked on this off and on since Saturday. I've ordered Part 3 and should be getting that tomorrow!

I now have my partner and her info for the Fall into Halloween Exchange. She likes Halloween so it'll be easy to stitch for her. Along with the shipment from 123 Stitch (I love them!) are some Halloween designs and I have some ideas in mind for the stitched item.

I've seen an ad out for crafters for a craft fair November 2-4. I might give it a try after I get all the info like how much for the 3 days! With the economy being what it is, I'm just afraid of not making my space rental back. We'll see what happens.

That's all for now! Appreciate your comments as always and have a wonderful week!

Happy Labor Day!

Happy September to you all! Wow, what happened to August?! I feel like we went from July to now.

Thank You for your comments on my Crowns finish. It'll be framed some time soon! And WELCOME to the new followers! The more the merrier!

Have you all seen the new designs coming out? Lots of Halloween designs, Fall and Christmas. I recently bought this pattern

I've seen it here and there and just had to have it. I really like Pineberry Lane designs.

I'm plugging away at the Mystery Sampler by LK which, by the way, is no longer a mystery since ONS's are showing the third pattern! This morning I stitched in the vines at the bottom

I'm seeing other stitchers much further ahead to the second portion of this. I'll wait to the very end to do the satin stitch in the purple areas and attach all the embellishments. I didn't have the WDW for the pumpkin and the dk orange leaves on the tree so I used DMC. It's a fun stitch as all LK designs are. I've stitched up the 2 bonus designs, which don't take long at all and had taken me from stitching the sampler. They're paired with the fabric I think will look pretty good with them as pillows

Isn't that fabric great! The spooky design-I don't know whether to use one of the fab or both to make a pillow. The fabric at the right is sparkly and matches the linen used on Spooky which is 30ct Carrot from R&R. But I also love the diamond fabric! Decisions, decisions! Haunted is on linen that matches the light green ground on the fabric. The linen is a bit washed out in this pic. When I saw that fabric, I just had to have it! BTW, I bought the fabric at Joanne's and they have more Halloween fabrics and I'll be back over there Wednesday!

While I was waiting for more threads for the mystery sampler, I stitched on LHN's Pumpkin Hallow Farms

This lower pic is what I had before I misplaced the pattern! I looked everywhere since February for it and stumbled on it just a couple weeks ago. It's one of my Crazy projects. So far I've put in the windows and the door, more grass, and a few pumpkin stems/leaves. I'm sure it'll be put on the backburner because like a crazy person, I signed up to take part in an exchange! What? you say! I know! I've been watching those from the background and the thought of stitching with a deadline looming ahead just turned me off. It's the Fall into Halloween Exchange put on by Elaine at Laineys Stitching Hoose. Unfortunately, she has 40 signed up and has closed the entry. I'm pretty sure I got my questionnaire in on time. If not, that's because my good friend Procrastination had come to visit! I decided to take the plunge because my stitching is not so regimented these last 4 months. Last year, I started stitching Halloween in August to October, and then in November I took part in an ornament challenge and was stitching other Christmas-y stuff. So the time is right and I'm more confident in my finishing skills and won't worry about my partner not liking my stitching! I know, I know-do it for fun! It seems like a lot of fun and looking forward to finding out who my partner will be!

Hang in there-I got more!!

And big news-I won a giveaway! Ranae at Stitch by Stitch had a little contest and I was one of two winners! I'm so excited. It'll be a stitched Halloween item with some seasonal things to go with it. So I'm looking forward to the weeks leading up to Halloween.

Some of you may know that I dabble in woolfelt applique. Well, I have a whole lot of WIP's (wool in progress, hehe!) and newer stuff to work on. Below is my mini Christmas tree skirt

All woolfelt. Dumb me, I left it out and the cats got to it and roughed it up a little. So some of the big red beads are missing and others are loose. So I've got some damage control to take care of. Which is why I've implemented Wooly Wednesday! Yup, more 'stuff' to do! I also have this table/candle mat to start also

A candy corn design from Buttermilk Basin. Sorry for the lousy pic. I have some of the felt but will need small pieces of the others. This isn't all there is! There's more that I've put off including a Halloween cat table mat and a table runner with crows and pumpkins. On this last project, it takes turkey stitches along the sides and that just horrifies me. That may be why I keep putting it off. I just need to finish it though I think I'll blanket stitch it instead of turkey stitching. So along with my regular cross stitch I'll show pics of my woolfelt stuff.

My prickly pears are coming along just fine and I'll be making jelly next weekend-WooHoo!

I finally smartened up and covered them all. So this is the color they need to be, soft, and ready to fall off. I'm not sure how many pounds there are but I'm hoping for a dozen of the small jars of jelly. I need jars, a large pot for the hot water bath, and tongs to pick up the jars. I'm so looking forward to it. And when I have a giveaway, a jar of jelly will be included! A taste of Arizona.

I've been checking out some primitive arts blogs and came across two that are having fantastic giveaways. At Harvest Moon Primitive, they're giving away a pumpkin face table sitter and acorn scented bowl-fillers. I have their button/link on my sidebar, check 'em out! At Pendleton Primitives, she's giving away four pillows with Halloween designs on them. They're neat. She needs 100 followers and last I looked, she had 94. When 100 is reached she'll have the giveaway. So go on over and become a follower! Let's get the Halloween decorating going!

Whew! This might have been the longest post yet! But wait! I'm not done! One last picture if you don't mind!

I know! They're just morning glories but they don't grow all that easily here. When it rains a lot like it's been lately, then they'll come out. And they come out every year. We planted these more than 20 years ago because my mom was still around.

Thanks for hangin' with me this long! Have a super week with lots of stitching!