Happy Hallowe'en...Happy Samhain....

{Fog/mist descending around the outbuildings a few weeks back} 

Halloween is here. 

I almost typed "finally," but caught myself.

The truth is, I never want Halloween to come.

I just want it to always be October.

Perhaps that is why I never actually finish my decorating or preparations for Halloween?

In any event, I wanted to at least pop in to say I hope you are wrapping yourself in the last of autumn...the quiet spirit that seems to descend and envelop the landscape and the rooms we pass through.

I had hoped to share more of my "preparations" for the holiday, but the days slipped through my hands. 

I count it as a good thing this time of year, though, as I know I was hearing the crunch of the leaves beneath me, smelling the mellowing earth fold into itself and watching the moon dance.

I will leave you with a very abbreviated version of some of my (real...unlike the faux-vintage treat boxes in the last post) vintage Halloween treasures.

Most of you know that I generally embrace a primitive/colonial style.

But when it comes to Halloween, I can't help but let vintage in.

I have an October soul and those colors, those graphics, those echoes of simpler times are irresistible. 

One of my main weaknesses: Pulp paper/papier mache Jack-o-Lanterns:

I have battery-operated candles in many of them, so they twinkle at night. 

Two of my favorites:

{Who doesn't love a cat face??}

{My only "two-faced" jack (he has a face on both sides)}

And I have a penchant for vintage noisemakers...

This year I displayed my horns mostly among the jacks but think I'll re-think that next year.

Dye cuts and honeycomb:

Vintage candy tins and boxes (and who doesn't need a case of embalming fluid??): 

Oh...there's more... 

Vintage Halloween books, framed vintage Halloween sheet music, 

pulp paper owls, Gurley candles, and....

I'll leave it at that...and this for now. 

I've only a bit more than 2 hours before October draws its final breath.

They say the veil between this world and the other thins then and, perhaps, it does. 

The shadows here have darkened and the sounds of this old house have quieted as if listening for something I cannot yet hear.

 But each year I gather more ghosts so I think I, too, need to listen.

Wishing you light in the dark corners of the night.

Happy Halloween.

Paper Play

Are there other things I should be doing?

As Mia would say, "Oh yeeesss...."

But....

It's Halloween Week!!!!!!!!

Every now and again I put my needle and thread down (yes, and my hook...except I think I put that down months and months ago and can't remember where 😉) and play at another craft.

Sometimes it's spun cotton, sometimes punching...and, often times, just playing with paper.

There is something very satisfying about making something just out of a simple piece of paper.

 One of my greatest loves is vintage Halloween but anything remotely vintage Halloween comes at a very dear price these days.

And, although I generally don't like "fakes," I couldn't resist making a few of these little treat boxes.

These are made out of heavy cardstock that I aged/distressed to look authentically old. (Both the tops and the bottoms of the boxes are aged.)

This one I made with a cellophaned opening...haven't figured out what I will put in it yet though.

And, when I tired of the boxes, I made this scarecrow pick:

He's on a nice long dowel but I just tucked him in with my vintage hand brooms.

{Scarecrow pick pattern is by Walnut Ridge Primitives}

********

On an unrelated and sad note, I wanted to mention that the hooking community lost an incredible artist the day before yesterday.

Marilyn (a/k/a "Good") Becker passed away.

Marilyn was not only a near and most dear neighbor, but an amazing fine-cut hooker and has had several rugs in Rug Hooking Celebration magazine.  She mastered the technique of mimicking a photograph in wool.

I've shared a few of her pieces over the years. You may remember her "Marry Me Mary" rug which was based on a photograph and memorialized her father's proposal of marriage to her mother.

Look closely and you can see the fur that Marilyn incorporated in her mother's coat.

Marilyn read my blog and whenever we were together would mention it and, if others were present, would tell them about it.

She was a dear soul, and I hope she is reading this on the other side.

 

 

One for the Crow...

...one to die, one to grow.

Just an old gardening rhyme with lots of variations:

"Four seeds in a row, one for the rook, one for the crow, one to die, and one to grow."

"Four seeds in a row, one for the rook, one for the crow, one will wither and one will grow."

"One for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow."

"One for the mouse, one for the crow, one to rot, one to grow."

"One for the wind and one for the crow, one to die and one to grow."

...and so many more one could write a book of nothing but these rhymes.

Anyway...that has little to do with this post.

The season to sow is long past. Sometimes I feel like I went to sleep sometime in April and woke up and it was the end of October.

 

Somehow there is less than one week until Halloween.

I've not gotten a fraction of the things done that I had hoped to (including blogposts), but I have gotten some of my Halloween up and a few (small) projects crossed off my list. 

Wow...have I veered off topic. 

Back to "One for the Crow"....

In addition to an old and prolific gardening rhyme, it's the name of this design by With Thy Needle & Thread.

I stitched these designs several years ago but was disappointed in the linen I used. It was the called-for 40 ct "Legacy" from Picture this Plus," but my pieces did not look like the model photos. 

I distressed the linen a bit after I completed the stitching, but they still were pale and sickly.  (These photos make them look closer to the models but they aren't really.)

However, after extended stays at both the Isle of Misfits and Castaways and The Isle of the Unfinished, they finally made it into these little pinkeeps.

Two littles off the list....

Now back to my other distractions.

The Sad Tale of Little Jack Trifle

Ahhh.... Poor Little Jack Trifle.

He's a winsome little fellow despite his beleaguered beginnings and melancholy mien.

His story began with Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching when she posted this adorable cucurbit's pattern on her blog. (Melisa graciously offers all her patterns free of charge.)

Since I haven't met many pumpkins a pumpkin I haven't loved, I had to stitch him.

 

So, shortly after his debut, stitch him I did.

I had thought I would make him into a "seasonal" insert for the hanging clock I purchased several years ago. (I posted the St. Patrick's Day insert here and the Christmas one here.)

I did not, however, do my math and he ended up far too small even for the small clock insert.

{Stitched on Osnaburg}

 

If possible, poor Jack's countenance seemed to become even more dejected.

To make his failure as a clock insert candidate even more painful, he ended up in my Basket of Shame on the Isle of the Unfinished...where he languished for several years.

Finally, I could no longer stand his sad little face looking up at me every time I went near the Isle of the Unfinished.

Sooo, I finally picked him up with the intention of finishing him into a little scissors fob.

But his sad, sad, eyes kept imploring me...he did not want to be a fob.... He wanted to be a clock insert.

He truly did. 

So, I assured Little Jack Trifle that I would do what I could and proceeded to build him a little basket of stitches which he could sit upon and which would give him a little more height.

He did not seem to mind that I just "winged" the basket part without a pattern. (I suspect his time in exile on the Isle of the Unfinished made him a bit desperate.)

But Little Jack still looked downcast.

I could not understand how he could be so mirthless as I thought the urn-like basket looked good on under him.

Then I saw it.... The last bottom row on the urn/basket was short one "x" on the left side.

Seriously??

Surely this must be the source of poor Jack's distress but correcting it would mean removing both my initials and the year as well as several other stitches given how I had stitched it.

Gah!

But if Lil' Jack ain't happy, well...you know.

So out they came, in went new stitches and my egregious error was corrected.

But it seemed that Jack's countenance had shifted,

ever so slightly, from sadness to apprehension. And could it be outright fright??

I was more than ready to be done with Mr. Trifle at this point but, given his long-suffering patience, I added a few bats to keep him company.

A bit happier? Not much...but I was done.

I decided to fully final-finish him into an insert before I changed my mind again (or completely lost my mind).

It's a simple and easy finish and one I've done dozens of times.  Simple and easy if one doesn't iron the fusible interfacing on the incorrect side.

Really????

😖

(No photos here as I quickly tried to undo the damage before the bond was completely cooled.)

My demeanor was now every bit as sour as Jack's and, just as I was beginning to think that I had, after all these years, finally met a pumpkin I did not love, I thought I saw a little tear in the corner of Jack's eye. 

I don't know if it was a bit of the interfacing left stuck to his face or simply confirmation that I had, indeed, lost my mind, but I knew I had to finish what I started.

So, albeit a bit worse for the wait and wear, Little Jack Trifle finally got his wish of becoming a clock insert.

He's not as crisp and sharp as he was when he started his life but, then again, neither am I.

And it may be just me, but I think he looks like he is doing his best to look the part of the proud little jack-o-lantern he is.

(Just don't anyone tell him that, in a matter of weeks, he will be replaced by a Christmas tree. 😬)

Extending the Branches....

 Many Several A few of you have asked for photos of "the wedding," and I am finally obliging.

. 

But a little backstory first as I know at least one person was a bit confused about the "order of things."

Well, the "order of things" went a bit wonky.

My son, "Little Crow," had proposed to his love and she accepted.

A date for the wedding was set and they were just about to proceed with the serious planning when they discovered they were expecting an "unexpected" blessing.

The wedding was accordingly postponed...and then postponed again when the little blessing arrived earlier than she was supposed to, and complications ensued.

A year later than planned, though, the wedding happened.

Now...on to the pictures.

{I was honored to have Miss Mia walk me down the aisle...}

{They had a cupcake bar so the actual "cake" was quite small. They already had the cake topper before they adopted their dog, so Mrs. Little Crow added the dog figurine on the bottom.}

A precious gift from Mrs. Little Crow.

Though I have lost much the past couple of years, I have also gained much and my heart is full.

(PS....Happy Belated Halloween...)

The Truth....

 

The truth is I never really want Halloween to come.

I just want it to always be October.

Yes, I love Halloween madly...but just imagine if it was always October and you could always be looking forward to it and anticipating it!

And when it's Halloween, we start all over again.

{View from my laundry room window.}

Just a thought....

Anway....

Fall came upon us fast and furious.  Like many of you going through droughts, I didn't know what we'd have for color - everything just looked brown and dead.

But it came - and was gone just as quickly it seems.

The harvest full moon was spectacular, although I'm disappointed I didn't catch the comet.

Due to the wedding, the work involved in the aftermath of the lightning strike, and a mess of doctor appointments and procedures, my Halloween decorating was significantly minimized this year.

Even if it weren't, you've mostly seen it all before in other years' posts so it's just me missing it.  😉

I do have a few new treasures. (So much for that promise....)

A little racoon paw holding a bouquet:

Definitely not everyone's cup of tea but, if you don't know it by now, neither am I.

And this little guy is "Comfy in the Crypt," by the very talented Cyn Tennant.

He's carved from clay and makes his crypt in an antique mold form.

It was difficult to get a great photo, but the detail is amazing.

I also finally finished up two cross stitch pieces.  The first is "October 31st 1693" by The Blackberry Rabbit.

This piece almost was given the Marly treatment (i.e., meeting its end by fire.)

It is stitched on a 32-count pre-printed linen by Fabric Flair.

First, I am NOT a fan of 32-count.

Used to be, but not anymore as it most usually (and did in this case) requires two strands of floss...which, in turn, requires railroading each stitch (if you're a stitcher, you know...if not, just know it makes stitching more time consuming).  I much prefer stitching on 36-count or, better yet, 40-count.

In addition, I struggled with judging the actual borders of the linen due to weird selvedge edges and misjudged.  I had the witch 3/4ths completed when I realized she was too high and if stitched as charted, I would cover the "October 31st 1693" header.

There was too much to rip out without seriously damaging the linen or my by-then fragile state of mind, so I ordered a new piece of linen and started over.

Then, to exacerbate my frustrations, the "newspaper print" on both pieces of linen was VERY light. 

I decided to distress it after it was stitched using a fine paintbrush and walnut stain.

I wish I hadn't distressed it, but I am NOT stitching this a third time!

And this is "Trick or Treat Cat" by M Designs.

Not necessarily my typical fare but it appealed to my love of vintage Halloween.

This was a kit (I think?) which was started by another stitcher who decided she didn't care to finish it so she offered it as a giveaway and I was the lucky winner.

I confess I undid quite a bit of what was stitched and really changed up the floss colors.  The "as charted" were just too neon for me.

I also removed a smiling Jack-o-Lantern in the lower left corner and added another bat instead.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Seven days and counting....