Another cool finishing idea

Last week I received the October 2016 issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine, which has some Halloween ornaments in it, and I fell in love with the way Praiseworthy Stitches finished their piece. They used a wooden box shaped like a book (with a "spine" that pulls out as a drawer), which they painted and then glued their design to. As I recently acquired The Goode Huswife's pattern The Book of Spells, I immediately thought that this would be a great way to finish that design:

As I would want the drawer available to open, I'd either have to stitch the spine separately, or just write on the painted spine. When I get some time, I'll have to pull the pattern out and start figuring out what count of fabric will work best. For those interested, you can find information about the box here.

I'm still working on a model, so I don't have any new stitching that I can share. I did take Wherefore Art Thou and The Blossom Collector to my framer almost three weeks ago, so I am hoping to get a call from them any time now, then I can share the framed pieces.

I took the weekend off in order to clean up my craft room, and it feels much nicer now. I also pulled out my stitching journal, which hasn't been updated since December 2014--oops! Here's a glimpse into the process:

It's been so long that I've lost track of some of the details; I need to be better about keeping up. Plus, I had so many finishes that I ran out of room and discovered that I didn't have a new journal put away, so now I have to wait for a new one to come in the mail. For anyone interested, the journal I like to use can be found here.

I'll close with a couple of pictures of Scout and Sophie, who are now completely at home with us. In the first one they are sitting in the chair behind mine in my craft room, learning how to be good stitchy companions:

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

SPOILER ALERT: Picture of L*K Spooked part 1 in this post

Thanks to all who left kind words for Tailor in my last post. Tomorrow marks two weeks without her, and while my heart is still sore from her loss, we have now adopted two kittens who are making the transition more bearable as we try to get them settled in their new home.

I wasn't able to stitch for a few days, as my eyes were too swollen from crying, and when I was able to get back into it I didn't have the mental focus to work on a model, so I pulled out a Mill Hill kit that I had started a while ago called Sophie Sheep, and was able to finish it:

She joins a finished Percy Pig, with Clarissa Cow still to stitch:

My Gracie was kind enough to keep me company while I beaded:

Another "comfort" stitch was part 1 of Lizzie*Kate's Spooked mystery, which I'm doing on SW Halloween Haunting Belfast:

Last night I started back on the Rosewood Manor model, which is being done with some really pretty WDW threads. So far I've turned in three other models that haven't been released yet, so hopefully they'll be showing up at some of the fall shows soon.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy week!

Juliet is done

I finished Juliet last week, on SW Swirling Storms Belfast:

Instead of the bead that was designed for it, I used a Mill Hill glass rose treasure, with a bead loop coming out from it:

I'm happy with the result, as roses are an integral part of this design, and it will fit nicely under glass when framed.

I was so happy last week, knowing I was almost done with Juliet and finding out that I was going to stitch for Wichelt, and now I am heartbroken because yesterday the vet found a large mass in my Tailor's abdomen. She has been my constant companion for almost 16 years; she follows me into the bedroom every night at bedtime, kneads my chest and talks to me and then sleeps wrapped around my head. Of our four kitties, she is the one who is totally "mine", and the thought of not having her in my life is killing me. So if I don't blog for a while, you'll know why.

My beloved Tailor, on the chair right behind my stitching chair, and always in my heart: