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Inspiration can come from all sorts of places, from the obvious to the less so. Below is my latest work in progress – a Little Red Riding Hood embroidery design for the January issue of the Bustle & Sew Magazine ….

No prizes for guessing who was the model – and inspiration – for the “not-very-scary-~~woof~~ ” sorry, WOLF! But inspiration also can be found in all sorts of strange and much less obvious places…. Rosie sent me a picture of her Christmas manicure…..

And I thought …. “I love the clean, simple shape of that reindeer head.” Then I thought…… “he would look great as a machine embroidery/applique project!”

So now I am proud to present to you my next Bustle & Sew Christmas gift ……

My Christmas Reindeer Tote Bag!

A good-sized, sturdy tote that’s quick and simple to make – and perfect for carrying home all your Christmas Shopping! If you’d like to make your own Christmas Reindeer Tote Bag then just CLICK HERE to download the free pattern.

Oh … and I nearly forgot to mention …. for this week only, I am offering a 25% discount on all orders that include a pattern from my Christmas Shop. Just enter code XMAS25 at checkout to claim your discount!

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Thank goodness … at last I have finished and uploaded the November issue of the Bustle & Sew ezine. I love putting all my ideas and creations into my ezine, but the days leading up to publication are always a little tense – there’s so much that can go wrong – and often does! Wonderfully, this month everything went smoothly, and everything’s ready to send out tomorrow. Just click below for your preview:

Or if you can’t view Flash, then CLICK HERE for the pdf version.

But all this work on the ezine isn’t the only reason that I’ve been a little bit quiet lately. When I was a child we didn’t really mark Halloween here in England – we had apple bobbing and other traditional customs of course – but Trick n Treat was completely unknown to us.

This has all changed now of course, and I know that the village children will be knocking on my door next week, anxious parents hovering in the background, full of excitement in their Halloween costumes. (This means that Ben will be full of excitement too as he loves greeting visitors, especially those with sticky faces needing to be washed and hands holding toffees and other delights not normally found within his reach!). They will be greeted with a large bowl of sweets, and on the doorstep a very witchy bunny or two …

Yes, I’ve been dressing up one of my bunnies as a witch all ready for Halloween, with a little felt witch’s hat and broom made from a bundle of twigs. If you’d like to make your own Halloween bunny (and they’re easy enough for a child to make), then just CLICK HERE to download your free pattern….

“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble……”

Hmmmm … no mention of a bunny by Shakespeare – though he does include tongue of dog – watch out Ben!!