~ New BEES, Old BEES ~ and Garden Thingies ~

 

 Hello hello Friends & Folk!

it is a Thursday evening...high winds and low temps here on the farm tonight.

April is being finicky and FICKLE for sure!

we have wonderful growth in our gardens, but the colder temps of the past 2 nights

~ are not being friendly to delicate blooms and buds.

...Fingers & toes crossed that all will survive!!

 

I wanted to share two new designs with you...

 this is

"The Bee Kind"

{Be kind to the BEE kind"

~and~

"Plant & Weed Quartet"

 

these {above} will be available tomorrow 4/23
in our Etsy shop, as both PDF and Mailed patterns...

 

 Do you LOVE bees ???????

{ or beekeeping, honey, knowing that by digesting honey you are supporting local beekeepers, treating your body to one of the very 1st-known natural antibiotics/healing agents., a natural humectant for your skin, an Earth-born gift that without we would perish from the planet???}

I love bees. Peter & Hannah & I kept bees for a short time when we first moved here to VA in 2003...we weren't successful, as our queens kept wanting to waylay to other lands...

we let them go, feeling they knew better than we ~ and have since been blessed by visits of offspring from our original hives each year ~

the tender and gentle workers perch on my fingertips as though they 'know' me...

I have been known to sing to them, and they, in turn, dance for me.

 

Between stitches,... I watch them flit from flow'r to flow'r ~ gathering their pollen to feed their young ~

knowing that we, in some small way are helping our neighbors gardens and crops come to fruition...

eating local honey has helped my allergies immensely also.

As a needlework designer, my love for bees creeps in.

here is a smattering of my earlier designs that include my beloved BEE-Friends:

"Blessed Bee' Punch needle

"Bee Good" punch needle

 

"Birds & Bees" punch needle

"BUZZbee" punch needle

 

"The Bee Sampler" cross stitch

"Keeping the Bees" punch needle

 

"Give Bees a Chance" cross stitch

 

 

 

 

www.Notforgottenfarm.etsy.com is our Etsy shop address ~

all paper/PDF patterns & Books are 20% OFF ~

 

thank you for visiting, come by again soon & Blessed be!

🌻

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Keeping Toasty & Farm Shop Closed ~

 Hello Friends & Folk!

❆❅❄ BBbbrrrrrrrrr!! ❄❅❆

Well ~ due to the frigid temps everywhere,

our little Needlework Shop here at the farm will AGAIN BE

C L O S E D 

tomorrow, Saturday January 6th.

~ please keep safe and warm and don't go out if you don't have to!

do you not LOVE these vintage woolen mittens????

 and, speaking of keeping warm...

my hands have been busy as usual ~ now punching the 2018 models for our 

Primitive Punch Needle Club

I have just re-opened the club for 2018 and have a few openings left!

2018 will be a bit different, as I will be designing a series of ornaments for PPNC club members...

with dear Henny Penny {below}as the first project!

she is a fluff-butt ~ 

especially from the back view of my work ~

 and I have already begun sketching up the next three for the year ~

it's been so cold that I have been huddled  in the farmhouse under blankets and double layers...

my embroidery is on hold for a little bit, but I will be working on the next one as soon as I can ~

in the meanwhile, Robin & Jenny {and Tiny Cat} are pinned to my wall and are good company

while I sit and stitch in my favorite chair:

 oh, yeah...it's His favorite chair too...

like a perch just for him to watch the puppies and goings-on of the farm ~

'oh, hey...'

 well I guess I'll have to wait until his nap is over ~

might be a while.

OH! I almost forgot...

I uploaded a *freebie* for the members of 

The Punch Needle Guild {my group on FB} 

 How are you keeping warm today?

and what's in your workbasket?

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ A Couple of Updates ~

Hello Friends & Folk ~

hoping wherever you are, you are safe & happy.

I wanted to let you know that I've updated my 

2017 - 2018 Class & Events Schedule over there on the right side of my blog...

 and will update it periodically as the new year draws closer.

灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬灬

And 

~ for those members who have not yet received their current kit for NFF's

Aug/Sept/Oct 2017

Primitive Punch Needle Club {PPNC}

They are coming! {I promise}

...we were late in initially shipping due to a back-order on threads,

and preparing for the huge Sauder Rug Hooking Week show..

 

www.notforgottenfarm.etsy.com

and sent out a batch a week or so ago.

so the final batch will be shipped this week....YAY!

Aug/Sept/Oct 2017 PPNC design: "Jack Pocket"

we have never-ever been this late shipping our club kits before, 

~ and hope that you can forgive us our tardiness!

 {Thank You Kindly for your Patience}

hello!

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Primitive Punch Needle Club Update ~

Hello!

a brief posting for you :)

wanted to say that the member's kits for our current Aug/Sept/Oct 2017

Primitive Punch Needle Club {PPNC} 

have begun shipping out...

BUT the remainder of them will not be shipped until I return from

 the Sauder Rug Hooking Week event ~ 

*sorry for any inconvenience and I thank you kindly in advance for your patience*

this is our current design, 

a sweet little Jack'O 𝓟ocket

 If you'd like to join in on the punching fun and become a member,

kindly click HERE

and If you sign up now as a new member, 

you will receive this design as your first kit .

ALSO ~

we are accepting members for our new Facebook group:

The Punch Needle Guild

you may click HERE to join in on that fun too!

enjoy the rest of your loverly afternoon my sweet friends!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Monday Amusements ~

 Hello & Happy Monday Friends and Folk ~

...what beautiful weather we have been having here in our parts of Virginia !

 this, 

the last day in July for the year 2017 is what I call a 'sparkler'.

high & dry

comfortable temps

bright sunshine

low humidity & slight breeze.

in another word: Perfect.

I have finished my huge

"When Pigs Fly"© punch needle design....

what a great time I had punching on this between 'other' projects 

and preparations for upcoming shows ~

here are a few detail shots first...

hello!

I added a ruched edge of beautiful & tattered silk Sari ribbon,

the shade is named 'coffee', but it has a purple-y/gray-ish/brown color to it and I love how it looks ~

i wonder who lives in my tiny little houses?

{{{{  by the look on Pig's face, he knows he's about to get it good  }}}}

and here is the whole shebang!

look at the movement in my background! 

can't you just feel the crisp night air whizzing past these two? 

Dear Goodwitch Mary Black...

you should have locked Pig away before retiring for the evening...

~ see what happens when you let a pig play with your broom?

{even the Moon knows the trouble Pig is in when Mary Black catches him}

this piece measures approx. 9-1/2" x16" when finished.

this is - to date, my largest punched piece and I am already designing more.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

the cross stitched version of this same design {with a few minor changes} 

is in the hands of one of my talented stitchers, so as soon as I receive it 

I will release them both soon as mailed/paper & PDF download ~

 this will also be available as a Rug Hooking pattern, 

on paper/mailed/PDF and perhaps on linen {not sure about on linen one though}.

    some of my friends have been seeing different 'things' in the darker background areas of this piece, like black cats and bats....what do you see?

I've also finished punching this little 'Jack Pocket' model for our next

Primitive Punch Needle Club ~ Aug/Sept/Oct '17

members will begin receiving their kits 2nd week of August.

and hello to you too!

If you are interested in Joining

 our exclusive club for those who love primitive punch needle, you can click HERE <---- nbsp="" p="">

{members can renew/join anytime!}

~ AND ~

Peter & I wanted to share with you 

this fabulous little Sewing Clamp that he made me last night!

{gotta love that man!} 

 he made this from our own replenish-able wood

 harvested here on the farm {like all of our wooden products}.

it is simply stained with a black walnut finish, lightly sanded and waxed for a mellow glow....

see how it clamps to my side table and handily-holds my thread spool?

BUT ~ it also clamps on to my Stitcher's Tray!

I placed one of my pincushions on top, and now it does double-duty ~

oooooooh!

and with our brains always thinkin', 

we thunk this up:

why not use it to hold my spools of wound DMC floss for when I punch?

so I did and it works perfectly...

first I use my Floss Winder Box to wind my DMC {or other skeined floss} 

onto my little wooden spools,

then I place the spool on my new Sewing Clamp 

that is clamped on to my Stitcher's Tray....

and there ya go.....

One happy happy happy Wife!

Floss Winder Box shown in Yellow Ochre paint

We think we might just offer these if there is enough interest....

so ~ let us know your thoughts please?

Oh! 

I could even design patterns for pincushions for the top too!

hey! cross stitch and punch needle, or wool applique too :)

my happy place.

Wishing you all a *sparkling* day my creative friends!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Background Check ~

 Hello Friends & Folk ~

it's Thursday! 

one more day til the weekend....

~ hoping to get a little kayaking in perhaps on Sunday,

if the cooler temps hold out for us :)

 So I am in the home stretch 

of finishing the humongous background of my 

'When Pigs Fly' punch needle design ~

and I am combining many different variegated colors of Valdani #8 pearl cotton

 with plain DMC black/310 cotton floss ~ 

this lends a great deal of movement to my background, 

as I wanted it to have an interesting background for my motifs to 'float' on...

the photo below shows the back, or 'working' side of my project ~

 after outlining my motifs a number of times with my variegated pearl cottons,

I intentionally leave 'spot's and places to go back in & fill with DMC black/310

and I ALWAYS use all 6 strands of floss when I work with my punch needle.

How you punch, meaning in which direction, 

really has the most to do with how static or not your background is...

I tend to keep my motifs simple, and love to play with my backgrounds....

and since they are usually where most of the punching is on my designs ~ 

that is where I want to add texture and fun!

 

Here are a few previous designs of mine

 that  have interesting backgrounds:

this one is all variegated pearl cotton from one ball ~ in beautiful blues...

this, too is all variegated pearl cottons...

but two different balls of two different colors:

 

now this one below, is ALL DMC floss... 

but I have chosen my thread colors to compliment one another and replicate stains & age:

see how fun mixing it up is?

don't let your background be boring!

 

for my Turkey & Tallowberries background, I wanted the look of an old hooked rug, that perhaps the maker ran out of the black wool and had to use what she had on-hand.

This is a favprite technique of mine to use with my punch needle and threads:

 

for my Farmhouse Chores Series, I used one color of variegated pearl cotton for all 4 designs ~

keeping them all cohesive ~ and can you see the movement in them? like the blue sky is being touched by a gentle breeze as my little Farmwife works away:

adding borders and edge-motifs helps to fill up a background a little quicker too, 

like the triangles on these two below:

 

For a lighter colored background, I used 2 different DMC colors...

same shade {white} but different values {bright & darker}:

 

and don't ever be afraid to add little surprises to your backgrounds! 

see the bottom-half of my design below?

see the little 'bubbles' of lighter thread colors set amongst the mostly-black background?

yep....fun and not boring ;)

There are so many ways to add interest to your punch needle ~ 

like mixing up threads, changing needle-depth for dimensional effect.

etc & so on...

 

This is where all of my punch needle models live:

in our humble little Needlework Shop here at the farm

 ♥

~ my chalkboard says it all ~ 

oh!

almost forgot ~ 

my passion fruit/flower vine has fruit!

wishing you all a beautifully creative day my friends...

 

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori