Happy Hallowe'en ~

However you say it…

~ A Blessed Samhain ~

~ Merry Hallow's Eve ~

~ Happy Hallowe'en ~

...have a good one!

{{ yes, Opossums are adorable! }}

remember to light a candle tonight

... in memory of your departed loved ones ~

&

don't eat too much of the candy, 

and brush your teeth good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND

To help celebrate the holiday,

we will be offering more of our

Hookinpunch© Adjustable Frames in our Etsy shop

TONIGHT at 6:00 sharp!

* Blessed be * 

Lori

Remembering...

...I forgot to show you my new jelly cupboard!!

Peter & I 

and my sister & brother in law, Louisea & Tom

went to the auction last friday night ~

I saw this beauty and had to have it!!

ca. 1800's ~ all hand-pegged

it is massive ~ yet elegant…

and now holds all of my dinnerware & silver ~

there are carved roman numerals on the bottoms of the drawers,

which thrills my woodworking hubby to pieces :)

I love the color and lines of this piece ~

the top 'rail' was an addition, most likely on the early 1900's...

I'm still punching away on finished goods for the upcoming 

From our Hands show…

here are some ornaments-in-progress:

hands, cats, hex signs, houses & tulips….

 Iggy loves when I'm sitting in my chair and working on something.

...he is usually sleeping with one eye open across from me, in Peter's chair ~

but he also can't let me walk around the house alone…

if I get up to get a drink or stretch a bit, he is right there ~ 

he's my furry shadow.

hello Mr. Ig

cannot believe it is thursday (again) ~ 

...today also marks the 5 year anniversary of my sister Jo-ene's passing.

time flies.

love one another best you can.

try to speak more kindly.

laugh as much as you can.

just be nice.

think positive thoughts.

choose to be HAPPY….

* Blessed be *

 Lori

Sneak Peek ~

Miss Felicia (aka 'Flea')

has finished one of the pattern models 

for my upcoming yuletide releases ~

here is a glimpse of

'Pomegranate Garden'

i love houses…especially tiny little houses made of tiny little x's...

 I wanted this t be a design that could usher in the holidays

 and be kept out a while ~

...i certainly would not want to wash all of those windows though.

a windblown angel watches over from his perch atop the roof ~

can you hear his wings fluttering in the breeze?

while tending to the loverly fruits in the garden ~

vines too ~ i love vines.

Miss Flea is working on 

'Cedar Waxwing'

a pretty design of the beautiful bird with brightly tipped-wings ~

do you love clove-studded orange pomanders?

well my little waxwing does ~

preview coming soon :)

Have a beautiful wednesday my friends ~

may your day be filled with peace & creativity!!

* Blessed be * 

Lori

Old is New again ~

Howdy Folks!

Hoping you all have been as busy as little worker-bees…

I know I have!

I wanted to say that I have listed THREE patterns in my Etsy shop ~

they are not new, 

but are being 'revisited' lately ~ 

the first one is

"Santa Crow"

I designed this one way back in 2003 

and recently the talented Elizabetta 

(www.elizabettapuntoevirgola.blogspot.com) 

has stitched this one and 

'Snow Angel" ~ below...

Santa Crow  design by ©Notforgotten Farm ~ stitched by Elizabetta

Snow Angel  design by ©Notforgotten Farm ~ stitched by Elizabetta

and here is an old favorite,

"Christmas Cat"

Christmas Cat  design by ©Notforgotten Farm ~ stitched by Felicia Martin

I also wanted to share a couple of photos that I took of my sister Louisea's handwork!!

she is a newbie-hooker/puncher and she and her hubby were visiting with us last week ~

I handed her an Oxford Punch (#10) some yarn and burlap, 

and look what she made ~

crow/star chairpad  & feather tree mat

GREAT JOB

 Louisea!!!!

hello beautiful sister

I am definitely in the throes of work for the upcoming

From our Hands show ~

and simply cannot believe that it is only 18 days away!!!

wha...WHAAAAT?????!!!!!

...so, I will sign off now and get back to work…

enjoy your beautiful

end-of-October day!!

P.S.

Don't forget to add your comment on the previous post to win tickets to the show!!!

* Blessed be *

 Lori

BAD NEWS ~ GOOD NEWS

:(

~ BAD NEWS FIRST ~

the "Giving Thanks" charts that were recently shipped

are corrupt charts ~

For some reason the grid lines are NOT showing up on the graphs sent.

I will gladly replace them for you by either snail mail or PDF via email.

*If you purchased the 'Giving Thanks' chart via Etsy ~

please email me with your Etsy transaction number for the chart purchased.

*If you have ordered the chart & paid by check 

you will need to please email me with your check number.

 let me know if you'd like me to email you a downloadable/printable replacement (PDF)

OR send you a replacement via snail mail.

You will need to include your email/shipping info 

depending on how you'd like to receive your replacement please.

I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Please remember that I'm just a 'human-bean' and am not trying to aggravate you ;)

my email address is Not4got@aol.com
or please call the shop at
434-263-6508
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and now the
~ GOOD NEWS ~
:)
I am giving away two free tickets to the
From our Hands Show!!!

{{{you KNOW you want to win!!!}}}

to be eligible to win,
just leave me a comment on this post only
make sure you include your name & email so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner ~
I will use the Random Number Generator to choose the winner from the number of comments,
and will announce the winner on
November 1st here on the blog 

The winners will be able to pick up their tickets at the gate at the opening of the show,
compliments of the
From our Hands show ~ and little ol' me ;)

Best of luck to you!!!!

* Blessed be * 

Lori

Coming along ~

So I am working on my project

using the Valdani #8 pearl cotton in variegated colors…

Yes, I am loving it

(shame on me for waiting so long)

the colors are inspiring and unusual for me ~

I'm very used to working with DMC threads (6 strands) in solid colors and using my techniques of choosing colors to enhance the old look we love …

but with these,

the 'work' is done!

punching along nicely ~

I love the little design I'm working on,

a momma-cat & her 5 little kittlings ~

...all snug on a rug :)

those little catkins are too cute!
…this is the back or working surface of the design on my frame.

and here is the front ~

wow ~ look at those colors!

each one has different markings

 Since I'm using pearl cotton,

I'm not so used to the twist in the ply, 

...so for some reason

I keep snagging my needle tip into the previous plops underneath and make a snag…

these are easily snipped off, BUT I want to train my hand to NOT make them in the first place ~

snags along the front of the design...

This will be finished

 and available at the From our Hands & Hearts show on November 15th

(this won't be a pattern)

love the colors, hate the snags!

here is the beginning of the background being filled-in ~

loving the blue :)

loving the process and progress ~

happy!

Shop will be open today

and tomorrow 10:00 - 3:00

come on in for a visit if you're in the neighborhood :)

* Blessed be *

 Lori

Frames are available ~

Good Morning!

Peter has allowed me to offer another batch of frames in our Etsy shop:

CLICK HERE

to get em while they're here!!!

* Blessed be *

 Lori

NEVER say never…..

I have succumbed.

I have gone to the dark side…

I have thrown in the towel of persistence and given up/

I am going to try punching with Valdani threads.

(G A S P)

tiny balls of temptation 

...for years (years!) 

I have always waived-away any thought of using Valdani threads 

for my punch needle work…

why?

…dunno.

stubborn

cheap thrifty

i guess.

really? me???? nahhhh.

I enjoy reading posts from fellow bloggers such as 

Doreen (Vermont Harvest) 

and Rebecca (Simple Quiet)

and love what they do with this thread…

their palettes are beautiful and so inspiring :)

I was rooting around my sewing room last night, and came across a basket buried deep within a shelf..

in the bottom of the basket I found them.

8 small balls sitting there looking at me ~

"hello!"

they said quietly….

I ignored them.

one of the balls somehow fell to the floor and rolled over to my slippered-foot

as if to say:

"can we come out to play now?"

I actually felt sorry for it.

after many minutes of kicking the little thing around,

I picked it up.

I swear it giggled…

so,

I grabbed my needle.

ugh.

threaded it with the end of the little ball.

ugh.

and punched a few loops….

Hmmmm……

why was I struggling so much with myself to use this?

I am such a non-conformist.

I  H A T E change.

I…I….

oh!

I LIKE it!

the 'star' on my needle is there to remind me that it is a newer needle ;)

 I began punching ~ 

the threads began filling in with painterly colors on my project…

wow, I thought.

please excuse the farm-wife hands and hangnails…haven't been to the big city for a manicure lately ;)

I had one problem though…

that little ball kept rolling away fro me as I worked.

So

I grabbed an old jar from my work shelf and plunked it in.

it works for me!

kerplunk!

Ok, to all of you who have heard me say the words:

I will NEVER use Valdani ~

…just scratch that will ya?

welcome to the dark side….

I will never again

say never to anything ~ before trying it first.

I will be ordering bucketfuls of Valdani from the company today 

...and enjoy being added as a Designer in their program.

and I'll show my finish soon :)

...so mote it be.

* Blessed be *

 Lori

My Hallowe'en Farmhouse ~

~ WELCOME ~

...so glad you're here for a visit ~ 

do come inside and sit a spell with me, 

...won't you?

doll by
The Burlap Owl
 hangs on our front door wreath

wart-y spinner gourds growing along our fence line...

our front porch...

leave your brooms outside, please!

little witch greets you in the foyer
she sits atop an old time clock from a defunct factory…
doll made by Deena Warner

enter into our dining room ~
fabulous purse was stitched by
 Theresa Meloon

a gaggle of ladies sit on our deacon's bench ~
dolls by Tina Lewonski & Tammy Speicher

our bonnet-topped cupboard (from Jewel Henley) holds beloved items ~

my dry sink is where my Pumpkin Pete doll resides ~
doll by Becky Carney
hooked rugs on wall by Sherry Kristoff (turkey rug)
and Bonnie Stahl (witch cat)
doll in high chair by Tammy Speicher

another view of ding room

on to the kitchen…

would you like a steaming mug of pine needle tea and a scone??

our humble heart of our farmhouse ~
doll on cupboard by Old n Worn

bittersweet & dried herbs hang above our heads ~

early goat weathervane from dear friend Pricsilla ~
on shelf is a small collection of red ware and salt/pepper shakers...

turning the corner into our keeping room…

...follow along now dearie ~

cozy corner of the back keeping room
october hooked rug by Sherry Kristoff
basket hooked rug by Lori Rippey

a view of the front of the keeping room, from the back side ;)

cozy

our mantel and wood stove ~
had to learn to live with the TV on the wall
(until Peter builds the cupboard for it ~ )

a couple of friends enjoying their Hallowe'en tree ~

a few headstone castings made by Netty LaCroix
and a sculpted angel by Cindy Baker

another view of back/keeping room
Peaches, our parrot hangs in the far window…
Barbara, our parakeet hangs in the other wind to the right (blue speck above tree)

hooked rugs and flickering light ~
hanging black jack hooking by Sherry Kristoff

snap of my quilt rack ~

hooked rug by Sherry Kristoff

MOST-awesome stenciled Witch Hat
by Misi Axel

jack on a box sits on our mantel
made by Old Threads

mohair witch bunny & squirrel by Lori Ann Corelis
Jack of the Lantern box made by Stacy Nash

cross stitched pillows made by Old Threads

Fall hooked rug made by Sherry Kristoff

another view of the Keeping room

I hope you've enjoyed your visit!

come by again soon ~

"…a cup of tea, a cookie….and you-hoo!!"

* Blessed be * 

Lori