Spooky Friends at Ghoultide Gathering!

I am so lucky that I live about 50 minutes away from the Ghoultide Gathering show.  It was a chilly gray day in Michigan but it didn't stop the crowds of shoppers from attending this fantastic Halloween show! 

Here is my dear friend, Lori Brechlin from Notforgotten Farm.  Her booth was prim perfect and not many items left for sale by the time I got there.

(we laughed at how un-photogenic we were!  But who cares when you only get to see each other once a year!)

 Here is the booth of friend Lori Ann Corelis.  That's Lori in the top hat. Her sweet creations always make me sigh with delight.  Can you see the item just to the right of the lady in the blue sweatshirt?  It was a dead bunny in a coffin!  It was actually pretty cool and not as macabre as you would think...and after all, it is Halloween, isn't it?!?! 

 On the way home, I picked up a couple of white and gray-green pumpkins for my front porch.  Fall has arrived in Michigan in all her splendor!

What's On My Frame?

As the days get shorter and darkness creeps earlier and earlier into the evenings, I have caught the bug to sit at my frame again!  I am working on an Ann Willey pattern, Welcomed Guests.

I have loved this pattern since it first came out.  I am doing something a little different with this pattern.  I am letting it speak to me and tell me what it wants to be.  I know, a little weird sounding, isn't it?  But originally, I thought of a light background.  The more I hooked, the more I realized that the rug really wanted a dark background. It might be that I am influenced by Ann's original work of art.  Still, a dark background just seemed like the right thing to do.  Another departure for me is the "brighter" leaves and veins.  They are not how I typically hook leaves, and yet I kept having the feeling that this is the way they wanted to be presented.

I am just about to start working on the face of the woman on the left.  I want to take my time with her and let her develop.  Once the face is hooked, she will have her own personality and things will start to get exciting!  I am not so sure if I like her hair yet, but she has given me permission to play around with it a little and we'll see what happens!  

So far, I am really having a lot of fun with my hooking!  I'll keep you updated.