Canvas of the Day for Halloween and More

Today's Canvas of the Day is a small Melissa Shirley piece, one of her vintage holiday postcards.  These are always fun and pack a lot of detail into a small space.
http://store.apneedlearts.com/catonpumpkin.html

The border is easy.  Alternate black mosaic stitches stitched with Petite Very Velvet (or you may need regular Very Velvet to cover, I can't say without testing) with orange cotton floss in the same stitch slanted the other way.  Stitch the background in a soft gray thread without much shine (Impressions or Vineyards Silks would be nice) except skip the white dots.  They should be beads or perhaps tiny metallic cross stitches.  You can even make them silver or gray instead of white if you prefer.

The easiest way to do the pumpkin is in tent stitches in three shades of orange.  Go with silk and don't stitch the black areas of the eyes, nose or mouth at all.  Left empty, then emphasize the empty hole inside a carved pumpkin.  If you are feeling fancy, try stitching the pumpkin in vertical columns of slanted (on the side) or horizontal (in the middle) padded satin stitch.  This will make the shading harder but if you can pull it off, it'll be spectacular.  Tent stitch the inner part of the eye hole, and do little triangles for the teeth in slanted stitches.

Tent stitch the cat in a matte black thread using the same brand (Vineyards Silk or Impressions) of silk/wool blend as the gray background.  The witch's hat should be silk to contrast with the cat's fur.  The orange squares on the hat scream for a metallic stitch (long stitches to make the rectangle sides) with a black bead in the center.  The bow tie should be split stitches, shaded and in the same oranges as the pumpkin except for one lighter pumpkin color.

Use a glow in the dark orange for the eyes mixed with the black silk of the hat and top stitch the whiskers, nose and mouth.  Note the mouth should be the darkest orange you have mixed with a touch of red floss, silk if you have it.

In Rabbit Geisha news, I'm still working on the background.  As for those who are asking about the missing triangles scattered among the split pavilions, wait and see!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow