Happy Halloween

this week's optional prompt for Photo Art Friday is to use Bonnie's free Cobblestone Road texture. 



Cobblestone Road Texture from Bonnie at Photo Art Friday





i once again went searching through my archived photos and found a photo of a raven's scull which i happily married to the generously offered texture. i added a favorite quote of mine and ta-da ~!!~ i now have a halloween image.


i've enjoyed adding this weekly challenge of  Bonnie's from Pixel Dust Photo Art to my life and to my blog. it gets me out with camera in hand more often as well as into the PSE7 program to practice a bit. if you have similar interests please come and play along.
                

this weeks stitch for the TAST challenge hosted by sharon b at pintangle was buttonhole wheel cups. this stitch starts out as a buttonhole wheel and then morphs into a cup shape when a detached buttonhole is worked into the outer part of the wheel.
i chose to vary my stitch slightly by not bringing the center "wheel" part of the stitch all the way in. this allowed a bigger hole in the center which i decided to interpret as the pupil of an eye.

with this stitch the more one stitches around the outer part of the wheel the deeper the cupping result will be. i only did one tour around the outside of the wheel with the detached buttonhole because i wanted to create an outline effect rather than have a cupping result.  i used a red pearl cotton (size 12) for the stitching of the wheel and the "cupped" outer (or detached buttonhole) part of the stitch.
i then used a black pearl cotton (size 8) for the satin stitched center/pupil.
i was able to do all of this on a piece of cotton fabric printed in such a way that i could emphasize the shape and look of an eye. the fabric was not printed with an eye but i managed to 'coerce' the print into helping me out with the total effect.

this was recently stitched into the wonderful daughter's october/halloween postcard which she has now received so i'm happy to be showing you the whole thing.

i did manage to get all seven days accomplished with the 15 minute challenge hosted by Kate at Life In Pieces. besides the TAST stitch work and working on the postcards that i have included in this post i also worked on my contemporary/modern piece (only needs a label now) and i even managed to do a little bit of hand sewing on my hexie piece.

i won't be able to post a photo of the finished contemporary piece until it has been mailed and received by the special friend that i made it for but i hope to include it in one of my future posts soon. i can however show the other postcard that i worked on and sent out recently as a birthday card.

 

i used a piece of salvaged, vintage pillowcase that had been embroidered.

i reworked and added to the embroidery in some areas but the rose, it's leaves and the outer parts of the blue flowers are original. the upper edge is a piece of my hand dyed fabric with a lace overlay. the lace has some embroidery (in white) worked in to anchor it as well as to enhance the card. there is a bit of heavy variegated thread (made from recycled sari silk) that has been worked into the lace along the edge that meets the embroidery.

the edges of the postcard have been bound with another piece of my own hand dyed fabric.

 

 

 

recent gifts include:

• discovering that jelly belly now makes dark chocolate covered jelly beans (cherry, orange and coconut) ~pretty tasty~ 
• the discovery of a perfectly heart shaped tomato ~ maybe i'll post a photo of that beautiful surprise next time . . .
• the return home of a certain "prodigal" calico cat . . . where in the world WAS she for three whole days~!?!~

 

my prayers go out to all of those in the east and midwest who are experiencing such horrible weather extremes. may you all be safe, warm and at peace during this difficult time.