A Merry Hallowe'en ~

'Witch and Ghost make merry ~

on this the last of dear October's Days'

~ author unknown

Wishing you all a Happy Hallowe'en!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

Duck, Duck…..Punch!

Ethel: "Fray-ed! You'll never guess who's expecting!"

Fred: "Expecting what??"

Our once baby Black Swedish ducks,

{respectively named Fred & Ethel Mertz}

have now grown into big fat beautiful adults ~ 

the other day, while checking on them in their humble abode,

I came across these!

ELEVEN dirty duck eggs nestled down in Fred & Ethel's bed!!

this was taken before washing them,

but see the darker of the two? that is their patina….

Since it is too cold to hatch ducklings this time of year, 

and Ethel is happily producing eggs everyday ~

these will fill our bellies by the way of cakes, omelets and quiches :)

but you can bet your buttons that we will be announcing the arrival 

of the Mertz Brood come Springtime!

~ In other news ~

I am working hard every day to create finished goods for the upcoming

From Our Hands Show

I am always thinking of different finishes and new techniques to incorporate into my needle art ~

and am happy to say that what I am doing at the moment

 is filling my head with all kinds of crazy ideas

{in the best primitive & whimsical sense, of course ~}

here is a glimpse of what is on my frame at the moment:

*and please ignore the wonky red rubber-thing wrapped around my punch needle

another view:

as soon as I have this one finished, I'll share it with you ~

I'm excited to have you all see it and hear your thoughts on this!

and if you're in the neighborhood, stop in as

our Farm Shop is 

OPEN Today & Tomorrow

10:00 - 3:00

Wishing you all a beautifully creative October day!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

Coming Soon ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

just a friendly reminder 

for you please join 

the Artisans of Early Work Mercantile

{and myself}

for 

 ~~~:: A Log Cabin Christmas ::~~~

on November 1st and November 15th

at

www.earlyworkmercantile.net

… I will be offering a few holiday & winter-themed 

needful-things for your decorating or gift-giving pleasure … 

and I always get so excited to see what the other talented folks will be offering!!!!

{hey I like to shop too ya know!} 

Hoping your day is one filled with creativity and peace ~

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

Monday Musings ~

Happy Monday Friends & Folk

another nice cloudy Autumn day in late October ~ 

I am loving this weather!

Worked 12 hours punching yesterday ~ all while watching crazy horror movies on the tube!

it is Hallowe'en remember ;)

I finished a few more, now on to their backgrounds.

I especially love the Angel ~

inspired as usual from antique Fraktur designs & PA German folk art…

all lined up neat & tidy ~

next I will choose fabrics for their backings, 

and then add wool & embroidery embellishments.

these will all become sawdust pillows when they are finished…

Next, 

I'll be punching the lids for some paper mache boxes that I'll comb-paint.

I'll share them with you soon!

The first batch of the LSHC kits will be shipping out for members this week!

{THANK YOU all for bing so kind & patient with me this quarter ~}

Oct/Nove/Dec 2015 Little Stitches Handwork Club finished project

Our farm shop will be open 

 Friday, Oct 30th from 11:00 - 3:00 

 Saturday, October 31st from 10:00 - 4:00

come on out for a visit, bring your needlework, sit a spell with me and create!

{I'll be dressed in my Witchy Finery !!!}

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

Rug Hooking Class Photos ~

Good Sleepy Sunday Morning my Friends!

Yesterday was our rug hooking class here in the farm shop :)

… here are some snaps for you ~

…awaiting the students ~

the project was a small pumpkin mat 

{or pillow, purse, pocket, pin keep…however you wanted to finish it :)}

the class began with everyone learning how to transfer a paper pattern onto their linen rug backing ~

then how to cut their own strips by hand {scissors} or using a rug cutter ~

it was a full-house and lots of fun!

a flurry of activity especially when shoppers arrived ;)

Patti gifted me with that beautiful Fairytale pumpkin you see on my counter…

is so perfect it doesn't even look real!

{thank you again sweet Patti!}

we had three 'newbie' hookers ~

they each caught on quickly and did a great job of pulling their loops!

so proud of you ~

one left-hander in the group ~ it amazes me to watch her hook…

so different!

wool dust was floating, wool strips were flying and hands were a blur!

'some' of us even put their own special spin on the class project ~

I love that!

some of us have hooked before, but wanted a refresher ~

no problem! come on out ~

you are ALWAYS welcome here :)

there's that lefty again…

~ beautiful job my friend ~

I made pumpkin muffins and triple chocolate brownies with Reese's pieces on them ~

hey, have to keep those hookers fortified, right?

:)

beautiful hands ~

Thank you so much for coming out and sharing your day with us ~

Hoping you had as much fun as I did with you!!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

Rug Hooking Class & Open Today :)

Good Morning!

...we will be holding our 

Rug Hooking Class 

here in the farm shop today for preregistered students ~

we will also be OPEN for your shopping pleasure between 11:00 - 3:00 today as well!

stop by for a visit if you're in the neighborhood :)

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

Thank you & Congrats ~

~ and congratulations to Baiser Beauty on winning the

Martha Stewart American Made Audience Choice Award

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

Today ~

Positive thoughts

& hopes going up up & away ~

Today is the day!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

A Bakset Case ~ *UPDATED*

Hello Friends & Folk!

Yes, I've changed out my header & look to my blog yet once again ~

one thing for sure, you can always rely on me for being constant:

about changing things! ha!

We are eagerly awaiting the news from the American Made Contest, to see who the winner is ~

news that will hopefully come tomorrow sometime.

am I nervous about it?

naaaaah….

{yep!}

So in the meantime,

I am trying to keep my brain/hands busy {when are they not?} with things ~

like kitting up the current LSHC kits as mentioned in my previous posting, 

 ~ getting things prepared for our little rug hooking class here on Saturday ~

and in-between time, working on finished items for shows & open houses :)

lots of things in my basket, huh?

AND Speaking of baskets….

{what a corny segue…lol!}

Here is my basket that I use for all of my punch needle supplies ~

some of you have seen me toting this around to classes & shows, and you might have noticed 

that it was a natural-color with a green rim before, 

but

I had to paint it.

~ and I'm happy I did. now it looks older & more primitive to me :)

I lined the upper & lower compartments with wool fabric,

 so my supplies don't have a chance to sneak out between the woven spaces…

oh, and I tied some old blue calico to the handle with some brown ribbon to make my grip more comfy.

{and it looks sweet!}

since I punch So much, my poor fingers are all crooked from arthritis ~

that means I need to change out my punch needles often to give my hands a rest.

{you rug hookers out there know what I mean,

 we also change out our hooks to keep our hands from getting too tired}

I punch with my Cameo Ultra Punch Needle with Medium tip 98% of the time.

but, when I need a break I use this:

a tiny little punch needle! 

it is only about 4-1/2" long, and the diameter of the handle is MUCH smaller too,

... that helps with my fingers immensely.

BUT

This little wonder is NOT ADJUSTABLE ~ which means that your loop height will never change.

it makes the almost-same loop height as my Cameo if I have it on the #1, or lowest setting!!

It DOES however, accommodate all 6 strands of DMC floss, 

and/or the #8 Valdani Pearl Cotton that I love to work with ~ YAY!!!

and LOOK! the tip fits down into the hole of my Thread Ball Jars! 

whhaaaaat?!! 

perfecto :)

the purple rubber-ish grip on the handle is comfy as well…

and it has a little "divot" in it which corresponds to where the bevel of your needle-tip is :)

a very well thought out little tool, don't you think?

These Punch Needles will be available in my ETSY shop soon, 

as well as in our Farm Shop here at Notforgotten Farm

~ happy happy happy~

can you see the 'divot'? ~ just to the left of my farmwife thumb...

So, getting back to my basket ~

everything I need is in there…

wanna see?

;)

here are the contents of the top compartment ~ photo below:

pens, pencils…Cameo needle {with a piece of rubber tied 'round it for a more comfy grip}, 

wooden spool winder, rusty pins, sewing thread & needle, thread ball jar, small notebook 

and another small sweet-grass basket that holds my beeswax, tape measure and a little 'mad money'

:)

and here are the contents of the lower compartment ~ photo below:

WIPS {works in progress}, weavers cloth, extra threaders & punch needle, scissors…

and a beautiful box that holds my Valdani #8 pearl cottons in my palettes!

The blue calico-covered box was made by Linda Evans from Remember When Farm ~

I have a couple dozen in different sizes from her, but all of them are my favorite blue.

this one fits nicely in my basket and I am THRILLED about that!!

Having an organized {somewhat} basket of goods to work from keeps me {somewhat} sane…

and that in part will help me create a little better in the end ~

here are a couple of my WIP's waiting to be finished…

I'll share the actual finished projects soon too ~

Have a beauty-full day my friends,

use your hands & heart to create something wonderful!!!

**UPDATE**
my basket was purchased a couple of moons ago, at a shop in CT that was closing ~
 I was lucky to score it!! I will do my best to try & find a source for them for you all too!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

Iggy Approved ~

Iggy

{our Spokes-cat}

is always helping out around here…

why just this morning he found a spool of thread under the sofa for me!

{but I wonder how it got there in the first place?}

Here is the 

Oct/Nov/Dec 2015 Little Stitches Handwork Club kit model ~

"Sewing Basket ~ Scissors Keep"

{ scissors & basket is not included, sorry BUT scissors are in my Etsy shop!}

a neat little project to stitch up into a pillow ~

 and a place for your scissors to rest…

the kit includes:

 my hand dyed 30ct 'Ironstone' Linen

DMC Threads to complete project {full skeins}

Backing Fabric {reproduction Civil War era brown quilter's quality cotton}

and a length of White Silk Ribbon to tie your scissors with

oh, and of course the chart/graph & color photos ;)

it's pretty, I think…

the colors are more Holiday-ish, without it being in your face Christmas-y ~

so it can be used all year long.

here is a snap of the backing cotton fabric:

a nice deep brown w/ cream leaves & vines…

it's like a little present you can gift to yourself!

If you would like to Join or Renew your LSHC membership,

 ~ You may kindly Click HERE ~

I am in FULL WInter/Holiday swing here!

my sewing basket is full of punch needle projects, 

wool appliqué & other good things to be finished up for the upcoming

From Our Hands show

I'll be sharing a few previews of things soon!

~AND~

2 more days until we find out who has won the American Made Contest!

FINGERS CROSSED HERE :)

Hoping you all have a beautiful Autumn day my friends!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori