~ Tuesday Morning Musings ~

…Good Morning!

our garden is growing!

~ my farmer is beaming!

squash, beans, tomatoes ~

corn onions & peppers…

leeks, white eggplant ~ lettuce!

cukes & zucchini too !

 A Happy Garden = A Happy Farmer

{hmmm….a sampler?}

lol

so,

here is my sewing box.

well, another sewing box…that is.

{I have many}

many.

this is the one I use for my cross stitch ~

{I have one for each of my needle crafting}

I generally dislike the fabrics that are on the sewing boxes we find at Joanns & other crafts stores…

but this one, with it's graphic black & white somehow appealed to me ~

{plus I knew I could 'fix' it by staining/painting it}

so

I simply spritzed it with my walnut/spice dye ~

then added my touch to the lid & innards ~

on went the little cross stitched piece first:

...then on to the embellishing part!

~ I love little charms, so I had to attach some of my very favorite ones ~

using rusty safety-pins of course ;)

buckels & clasps & keys and ribbons….

the little basketful of ducks & the spider-web came from Kathy Barrick ~

...love them, love her.

I added a red calico heart & a wool strawberry too ~

inside,

I stained it too.

then added old photographs, antique pins & needle books ~

the little tart-tin holds my beeswax & magnetic needle-minder, 

while my giant stork scissors wait patiently to help with another project.

a tangle of threads on a huge safety-pin
are waiting in the wings for my sampler-in-progress to be finished,
...then they will be safely tucked away below this tray.

yes, that is $$ you see clipped on to my tiny-but-powerful Ott light ~
... every girl needs Mad Money you know!

underneath the tray you'll find linen, tiny wooden hoops, a sketchbook ~

and a small plastic box that holds my DMC thread cards.

{I need to get a few more of these boxes ~ one for my Weeks' & another for my GAST threads!}

while at the PSS Retreat this past Spring, I had the pleasure of meeting the girls from

The Nebby Needle

and I bought these beautiful hand-dyed pins from them…

I will be using them in a future needlework finish, but for now ~

 they rest in my sewing box

...just being pretty to look at!

here is the progress I've made on my 'Huswifery' sampler ~

coming along nicely ~ and I'm loving the colors….

…and speaking of colors, since everyone has been sharing rainbows ~

~ here's mine.

and

Today is my sweet Mother's 85th birthday!

Elda Elizabeth Geiste Reed Berke Smith

 {a.k.a. 'Aunt Sissy' or 'Sis'}

the youngest of 6 children born to Pa German parents ~ born in 1930 in Harrisburg PA.

Happy Birthday Mommy ~ we love you a whole bunch!

see you soon ~

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori