Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A.T.H.A. newsletter ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!
another beautiful day here in Virginia...
sun & warm temps expected today ~ I am loving it!!!
I wanted to share my new
ATHA newsletter with you ~ I am a member of ATHA, region 3 here in VA,
((was a member of region 1 in CT))
(Association of Traditional Hooking Artists)

I am honored that so many of you enjoy my designs for rug hooking!!
and I'm especially thrilled when one of your adaptations of my designs makes it into a publication...
the following pics are of rugs that were taken at the 2011 Biennial
and are published in this issue:
a stunning cover (not my design) hooked by Cheryl D. Bollenbach
you can see my 'Glad Tidings' design
in the upper left hand corner of the left page, below:
it was hooked by Leanne Sitler and the pattern can be purchased at
www.Spruceridgestudios.com

the rug below is my
'Give Ye Thanks' pattern ~
it was hooked by Jan Winter and the pattern is also available from Kris at
www.Spruceridgestudios.com
I love how Jan hooked this, her colors are just beautiful!
Thanks to all of you who hook & share your work with us all :)

and, I just thought the picture, below, is so pretty...
the blue paint, the scrubbed top of my little table...
the way the sun touches the tulips in my little tin pitcher ~
~ SWEET ~
Have a wonderful, simply peaceful day, my Friends!!!
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Monday, January 30, 2012

A Token of Friendship ~ free pattern for you ~

For your support & Friendship,
your kind words & uplifting thoughts ~
and for just being you....
here is a little stitch that I've designed as my gift to you...

A Token of Friendship
a quick little project to make into a tuckable pillow, pinkeep or frame...
the threads are DMC
611 ~ (all letters)
918 ~ (hearts and date)
I stitched mine on osnaburg, 2 strands of floss over two threads...
then stained it well with a walnut dye ~
my little pillow is stuffed firmly with sawdust and backed with a
reproduction 1800's calico in red/beige floral...
I'm going to stitch a brown ribbon to the top so I can hang mine too.
Hope you all enjoy my little gift...
in the Spirit of Friendship!!!!
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Sunday, January 29, 2012

~ Simple * Farmhouse * Sunday ~

setting my needle and thread aside for a moment,
to share a couple pretty pictures with you ~
...it's a peaceful & beautiful Sunday afternoon
and the sun is brightly shining ~
I love the play of the light in this old farmhouse.....

this is a little pinkeep stitched by Susan Hoover (Olde Threads)
that hangs with two others in my kitchen window ~
they are prim perfect and impeccably stitched!!
I purchased them from her page on
www.primitivehandmadesmercantile.com
~ sweet & simple ~

I was poking around my herb garden and just had to snip
a couple bouquets of fresh lavender & some rosemary ~
yes, these are growing beautifully here in Virginia,
with this non-existent Winter we are having!
the house smells Soooo good ~
I love LOVE the shot above...
Peaceful * Quiet * Simple * Primitive * Farmhouse
....what's not to love about a Sunday afternoon?
~ my needle calls, off I go a stitching again ~
blessings from the farm,
Lori


Saturday, January 28, 2012

More Kitchen Progress ~

Oh he's been busy,
than Man O' Mine...
the lower cupboards & drawers are IN!
...the new counterops are IN!
the dishwasher is IN!
(and working...twice already in fact!)
the countertop to the right of the stove, next to the sink is only temporary...
Peter will be installing a custom butcher block cutting counter for us ~
Suzy says it is looking SWELL !!

here's a closer look at my drawer knobs & pulls....
nothin' fancy here folks ~
I'll start painting on the cupboards after the show on the 11th...
and show you the outcome of their finish :)
Making a potful of spaghetti & meatballs for dinner,
then Peter & I, Skyler & Hannah are heading out to the Bowling Alley!
(oh my poor knees...)
wanted to say THANK YOU to those who have purchased the new
Wool You be Mine? punch needle pattern...
thanks SO much!!!!!
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Friday, January 27, 2012

Wool Ewe be Mine? pattern release!

2 posts in one day!
just wanted to say that the Wool Ewe be Mine?
punch needle pattern has been released!
I've added a Buy It Now/Paypal button to the top of my sidebar
for your purchasing convenience.
However,
if you don't use paypal and would like to purchase
and pay by check,
money order or credit card,
kindly email me at not4got@aol.com
or call me at 434 263.6508
the patterns are printed and ready to ship!
(this will be added to my etsy shop & picturetrail as well)
Thanks my Friends!
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Kitchen Redux ~

it all started with a suggestion:
"Peter, can you finally install our dishwasher that we've been storing for eight years?"
his reply:
"ya know, I could do that for you..."
so he did.
then the counters needed replaced,
and we never had lower cabinets, so a trip to Lowes we go ~
the new counter top is beautiful, the lower cabinets are oak & will
receive my handpainted treament to match the top glass cabinets...
I will show more pics of the progress, as soon as I can.
and
have any of you seen these new lightbulbs?
the are AWESOME!
for those of us that love an older, dimmer and early look to our lighting,
not necessarily colonial lighting, but 1800's lighting,
THESE are da bomb!
they are mulit-filament bulbs and are exact replica's of the same ones
that Thos. Edison invented.
...way cool!
blessings from the farm,
Lori


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Farmhouse Pantry Goods ~

Sharing some photos of the boxes I painted yesterday,
and the finished spiced calico strawberries ~
my boxes came out SO old looking!
these will accompany me at the show on February 11th...
comb-painted and severely distressed,
and the taller heart boxes are a set of 3 ~ I call them Bride's Boxes.
the insides are washed with black paint then spiced...
the strawberries are filled with crushed walnut shells ~
love them piled into this old wood bowl.
such a pretty grouping!
(I want to keep them all)
Today I will be working with paperclay,
... and stitching on some small simple samplers.
Hoping you all have a beautiful wednesday!!!
blessings from the farm,
Lori


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Wonderful, exciting news to share!!!

Hello Friends & Folk!
Hold on to your needles!
there's a new Club in town!
featuring designs from
*Notforgotten Farm *
*Primitive Bettys*
&
*Pineberry Lane*
an exclusive, member's only club where you can sign up to receive
original cross stitch designs
from the three of us ~ woohoo!!!
If you're familiar with Jeanne's shop, Country Sampler in Spring Green, Wisconsin ~
and her 'Girl's Club', then you will not want to miss out on this!
for more info,
click on the Country Sampler links above...and visit Jeanne's BEAUTIFUL website.
I will be designing patterns for July/August & September/October
(again, woohoo!!)
~ SIGN UP NOW!!!!!
watch for more info to come on the designs and such soon :)
(p.s. the above revisited design is called 'Fraktur Angel' from (C)Notforgotten Farm
and is available for your purchase )








blessings from the farm,
Lori

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Strawberry Sunday ~

a basketful of juicy strawberries...
with fresh whipped sweet cream and a sprinkle of brown sugar.
well, ok...
these aren't real, or fresh ~ and I wouldn't put whipped cream on them...
but they are sweet!
I'm making these for the
Winter In the Valley Show
www.picturetrail.com/antiquesinthevalley

it's a GREAT show, for those that have been there you KNOW what I'm talking about!!!
so much good stuff!!!
hope you can come out and join us ~ on February 11th
(wow, that will be here before we know it!)
also, look for another of my picturetrail updates...
....I'll have finished goods for your amusement soon...

not sure of the date yet, but will let you know as soon as I narrow it down!
blessings from the farm,
Lori


Saturday, January 21, 2012

Winter Arrives....?

it's warm & snug in the old farmhouse,
and you can see Iggy in his comfy bed-upon-chair...
but we woke up to this:

...a "touch" of Winter ~
~ Frozen Nandina Berries ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...can you hear them crackle in the breeze?
~ Cardinal in the Butterfly Bush ~
Brrrrrrrr!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
icicles on the flag pole...
~ drip drip drip ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and poor Pinnochio...
looks like he's trapped in a cage of ice ~
Heehaw!
actually, "nocchi" loves this weather,
as does miss daisy...they are both sporting their winter woolies ~
I love when they get shaggy like this...they're so cute!

and speaking of cute,
nocchi has been chasing daisy around their paddock for two days now...
UM...with a green garden hose in his mouth.
(Peter gives them 'toys' like a picec of old green garden hose,
a slice of old rubber mat, and an old hoola-hoop)
they have 'real' toys too, like an equine excersize ball and other more expensive things,
but
like typical children, they prefer the box to the toys..
and, believe me when I tell you I've been out there 3 times
with my camera to snap a pic of the
garden-hose-chase...to no avail.
as soon as big-boy sees me witht he camera,
he drops the hose & stands there looking at me like...
"what?"
of course, miss daisy is screaming at me:
"did you SEE that Mom? did you see him chase me with that THING?"
(yes, my donkeys talk to me.)
So, if I can snap a pic of the fiasco, I will.
you will laugh your ass off.
(pun intended folks.)
Have a *SPARKLING* ice-y sugar coated day!
be safe & stay warm...
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Wool EWE be Mine?

Here is my little
"WOOL EWE be Mine?" design all finished...
I punched the background in striped rows...kinda looks like fabric to me!
then simply mounted the punch onto a double layer of wool.
...what do you think? (I like it!)

Now on my frame is another new pattern in the works,
"Primitive Hooker at Heart Punched Pins & Pouch"
(say that fast three times without spitting! bwahaha!!)
I'll share a sneak peek pic tomorrow...
but I must tell you now,
that my results from my biopsy results came back a little while ago and
they are BENIGN!
what a weird, wonderful word...benign.
Thank you Thank you Thank you
I can now exhale.

...my love & sore booby hugs to you all!
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Happy Wednesday!


...the sun is shining, the air is crisp and cold ~
although we don't have snowy weather, I am happy that today is here!!
I want to THANK all of you from the bottom of my heart for your well wishes ~
I hesitated to 'put out there' about the biopsy, but am now glad I did...because I now have a very strong army of fiercely positive women hoping the best for me!

~~~~~ THANK YOU ~~~~~

and, since I am starting a brand new day,
I thought I would share a few snaps with you...

here is a sweet, fat little mourning dove perched in the sun on our backyard feeder...
she just sat there blinking at me while I snapped away.

and, I did managed to punch a few loops last night...
here is a peek at

"Wool Ewe be Mine":

of course, this is the back...hence the backwards writing...
there will be a square background around the heart,
making the finished shape more of a squat rectangle...

I drew this up on friday night, then began punching it at Donna's show on saturday.
I'll work more on it this aft, then get to work on the other new patterns.

I have had a few of you email about the calendar that I've been working on,
and as for now it is on the back burner. I want to get new cross stitch and needle punch patterns out for you asap, so I will work mainly on them instead...

well friend-folk,
I am heading to the barn...
the singing donkeys & dancing sheep are getting rather noisy about their late breakfast...
(and yes, there WILL be a cross stitch pattern of them coming soon!!!!)


blessings from the farm,
Lori

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

What a Boob....

Hello Folks!

just chiming in here for a moment...
I've been keeping a secret from you all ~

I had an appointment for a double core biopsy today (right breast)
and am a bit sore...don't really want to dwell on anything negative, so I'm staying hopeful & positive that my results will come back good....hope to
get my results back either thursday or friday...
so, if you have a second to think a good thought, send up one for me?
I am trying to work on some new punch needle patterns,
but I am sore on that side so I can't. *blech*.
but I'll be back at it soon enough!
will show you sneak-peeks soon :)
....have a beautiful day my sweet Friends!!
blessings from the farm,
Lori

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Earlywork Update & Cabin Goods Show pics ~

Good Sunday Mornin' Friends & Folk!
it's COLD out! January weather is finally here...yay! hopefully it will stay cold like it's supposed to now and perhaps we'll get just a *little* snow sometime soon?

The pic above shows my January offerings for the Early Work Mercantile update
(www.earlyworkmercantile.com)
hop on over to see everyone's offerings!

AND
below are pics from the
Cabin Goods Show
(www.picturetrail.com/southernstarantiques)
at Don & Donna Smith's BEAUTIFUL log cabin ~
*warning*
LOTS of pics of wonderful stuff...grab a drool rag!


Tinker's Wagon



Millstone Mercantile's grouping of needfuls...

Mr. & Mrs. Millstone (above) working in their booth...
(Lee & Robin Harrison)
Hen House Primitives
(Cecilia Taylor)


King's Island Primitives
(Kathy Miller)

we had a great time at the show...thanks to all who came out & enjoyed the day with us,
and our thanks to Don & Donna for their hard work & hospitality ~
blessings from the farm,
Lori