Halloween Trick or TreatBlog Hop

  🎃🦇👻🕸 Happy Halloween 🕸👻🦇🎃

It's that time of year when we celebrate anything spooky, All Hallow's Eve is a celebration of the dead the day before All Saint's Day when we celebrate all who did good. Nowadays it's a chance to dress up and decorate our homes with ghosts, spiders, ghouls and most importantly pumpkins. 

I don't carve a pumpkin now our children are grown up but I do decorate the lounge with my Halloween ornaments, although some are more harvest/autumn than Halloween. 

Halloween also means it's Blog Hop time thanks to the lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching. You need to collect a letter from each blog to reveal a Mystery Phrase. Pop over to Jo's blog to see the list of bloggers who have a spooky letter ....

..... my letter is 

Jo asked us all to include a photo of something we have stitched for Halloween. My stitching is my October from Drawn Thread's calendar series. I stitched them many years ago and finished them as box ornaments. A few years ago I took them apart and changed them into flat pieces of fabric backed with interfacing, I change them in my frame each month. 

Keep my letter safe and follow the Halloween Trick or Treat Blog Hop 2021 by visiting 

http://astridxstitching.blogspot.com

I'll leave you with my decorations including my new leaf dish filled with Chinese lanterns from my garden.

Have a super Halloween be that enjoying a film, dressing up, pumpkin carving or just eating treats (no-one likes a trick), have fun being spooky 👻🕸🦇

October Smalls

Mary at Mary's Thread is the lovely host of the Smalls SAL. On the last Friday of the month we share our small stitching items that we have completed but not necessarily fully finished. 

Thank you Mary for hosting this great SAL, it's a super way to see everyone's little stitching and to remind me to share my stitching.

I have been working on six hardanger hearts for this year's tree at church. I am reshowing The White Tree from 2019 with these added hearts for our family as it's a wedding year. I also have a beautiful hardanger ornament to add from DJ, details in my GG April post.

I will add white ribbon hangers to them all and decorate the tree with white tinsel and white lights. I'll be sharing the photos in December.

My other small was not made by me but another crafty creature. I'm not a fan of spiders, especially when they visit my home, but I do admire their work in their own environment. This morning it was a little bit foggy which highlighted the delicate web on my bird hanger, such beautiful crafting.

It's Halloween next week, my decorations are up, I'll share them on Tuesday 🎃

Gifted Gorgeousness in October

The 15th of each month means it's Gifted Gorgeousness time, the time each month when we share our latest gifts. These can be gifts given or received, or any item made using fabric, threads, buttons, ribbon, chart, backing fabric that has been gifted.

This great idea is hosted each month by the lovely Jo at Serendipitous Stitching,  if you visit her blog you'll find the links to everyone's Gifted Gorgeousness posts. Thank you Jo for hosting another year of GG, it's great fun posting and reading and keeps me visiting blogland! 

My stitched gifts this month have been seen in my Fully Finished Objects post but it's always good to look again. They are the coaster mat I stitched for Hubby's aunt who turned 90 in September and the six Christmas ornaments I sent to Catherine for the Ronald McDonald House. 

I received some lovely charts and threads for my birthday from my good friend Gill. I'm hoping to stitch them next year along with some other long awaited projects. 

I had a lovely birthday, early September, with a little trip away to see Kynren show in Yorkshire. It was just after the wedding so felt like the celebrations went on for many days. September has been quite busy in lots of ways so our holiday in Turkey last week was perfect to relax and recharge, and is why I'm late posting. 

The hotel reception manager has been so good to us over the 9 years we have been going, again this year she sorted perfect rooms for us and our friends. It's her birthday in October so I stitched a coaster for her, she was delighted and amazed at the stitches. 

My final few photos are not stitchy gifts, they are the best gift you can receive.... memories! 

The official wedding photos have arrived, here's a couple of my favourites.

When I first saw my beautiful daughter in her dress

Hubby's turn to see our little girl all grown up

A very proud Dad

My handsome son, my escort into the wedding

Hubby, me, our son and his girlfriend 

Mr and Mrs Lang

The confetti was dried roses from our and local friends' gardens

Hubby's speech

Cake cutting time

Philippa had a second dress for the evening

What an amazing day🎉

Fully Finished Objects in October

I've a few finished objects to share this month, my stitching has been very different this year with my focus on the wedding sampler. it's quite nice to be stitching small projects again.

Rachel, Ten Hour Stitcher, is the lovely host of Fully Finished Objects. It's a super chance for us to show and tell about the crafty items we have completely finished.

My first finished object is a small coaster mat. I've had the oval fabric, with its beautiful machine embroidered edge, in my stash for many years so it was a delight to finally use it. Hubby's aunt turned 90 in September and altering a 'Mother'card design I stitched her a personalised coaster. 

I backed it with foam felt so she could put a mug or cup on it but I was told 'oh no nothing is being put on it, it's too nice'. We took her out for a meal with our daughter and son-in-law surprising her by joining us.

My other FFO objects are six Christmas ornaments I have made for the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, I sent them off to Catherine last week, I hope they don't take too long to cross the pond! It was fun to stitch these and give something back as I have received so many lovely stitched items for my church trees. 

I've a few more items on the go so I'm hoping to have a few items in next month's Fully Finished Objects post.