~ Laundry Room update & Folky Sunshine finish ~

G ood Wednesday Afternoon Friends & Folk!

a little rain, some clouds ~ but otherwise another splendid day indeed…

I wanted to share the progress of our laundry room/mud room renovation with you :)

here are the walls, all sheet rocked & painted ~

and the beautiful ceiling back up with new light fixture to boot!

{{ had to 'decorate' it somehow, so I hung sweet annie to dry in the window…}}

… the ceiling boards came out better than expected.

their new 'old' look is perfect for this old farmhouse ~

just a touch of satin poly to bring out the paint & woodgrain a bit,

but mostly leaving the original paint colors of white over greenish blue…

the pendant light was on sale at Lowes 

~ and has an antique nickel-silver finish and old fashioned bulb:

the dark stained wood beams and window/baseboard trim are next…

THEN

I can begin to move in our furniture!

… here are a couple of pieces that we had laying around ~

 the red cupboard was found in this old house when we moved in…

it was painted white over a hideous baby-powder-blue.

{nope.}

so we painted it oxblood red and distressed it severely, still using all of the original hardware.

the shelf-thing on top was an unfinished, unpainted ca. 1980's repro peg rack shelf

that I flipped upside down and did my magic on using black paint & 14k gold paint.

;)

{if you look closely on the top surface of the red cupboard, you'll see my 'faux' water-rings.}

I'm very happy at how these two pieces came out!

they will stay together and be used next to our washer & dryer…

the cupboard will hold detergent, irons & laundry sundries,

and the black shelf will hold my prim baskets & such.

didn't spend a dime on them, 

… except for elbow grease and a little paint 

;)

~ AND ~

here is the finish of that folky Sunshine punch that I have been working on ~

I mounted it to an early New England sap bucket…

and added fresh flowers.

I love saturated colors.

{can you tell?}

and I especially love the red, blue yellow & wood tones together.

I'll be bringing this finished piece to the 

Summer in the Valley show on Saturday July 9th

along with more of my finished punch needle folk art, patterns & stuff :)

don't wildflowers make you happy?

they do me…

 I will be heading up the dusty road bright & early tomorrow morning…

first to stop off in CT for a short visit with family,

then upward even more north to Sturbridge to teach a class at Ye Country Mercantile.

I have shipped the most recent orders out, 

but if you place an order from now until Monday June 27th, they will not ship until June 28th.

I'll have my iPad with me if you need to contact me for any reason ~ 

please email me or message me through FB.

Peter will be here at the farm if you should have any questions or concurs, you can call him.

I'll be sure to take lots of photos of our travels,

and will be back soon!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Good Day Sunshine ~

Happy Monday Friends & Folk!

~ we have had thee best weather here as of late ~ 

with yet another high & dry one scheduled for today...

I have been putting the good weather to good use,

working on finished items for upcoming shows, 

… and models for upcoming classes.

this is but one of the projects that has leapt from my needle & graced my hoop;

I like to switch between my favorite DMC floss colors and Valdani threads

to give my folk art needlework more movement & depth…

what you are seeing is the back of my project-in-progress,

thus the stray threads ~

most of the time,

 I will wind my DMC floss around one of our thread winders 

to keep my threads from tangling…

or I like to use one of our 

Farmhouse Ball Jars to hold balls of Valdani perle cottons as I punch;

~ but ~

when I'm in the throes of a creative-frenzy there is no organization for me!

{{ as you can tell by the nest of cotton floss close by my work }}

I just thread that needle and punch!

here is a view of the front of my sun;

notice the dimensional-effect it has 

~ from the different height adjustments on my Ultra Punch Needle… 

I will begin filling in the background and this will be adhered to an old zinc sap bucket 

that I found on my travels here in Virginia.

 I have a total of 4 buckets to put use for more of my finished punch-work, 

and they will accompany me to the 

Summer in the Valley show in Fishersville, VA on July the 9th.

{still have to trim away stray threads from the front}

This week,

I will be happily preparing the supplies for the "Sturbridge Peony" Class 

that I'll be teaching this Saturday, June 25th

at Ye Country Mercantile in Sturbridge, MA

{class project is below}

Joan & I are super-excited to visit with Doreen Piechota at her beautiful shoppe:

Ye Country Mercantile

click HERE to visit

and we are also looking forward to seeing those of you who have signed up for the class!!

I promise to behave and be on my best behavior ~ but I can get a little crazy ;)

Have a glorious 1st day of Summer my friends ~

may it be filled with sunshine for all!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ "Sturbridge Peony" class project ~

Good Morning Friends & Folk!

…a soggy morning once again ~

 seems like April showers don't want to leave us!

I've finished up the little project for the upcoming class at

Ye Country Mercantile

Saturday, June 25th 2016

www.yecountrymercantile.com

here is ~

I really love the colors & design in this ~

simple, primitive and folk-y

all rolled into one.

…the little basket has been punched on a higher setting 

on my ultra punch needle for added dimension ~

and wonderful, warm-toned Valdani perle cotton thread, 

in size #8 have been used too…

it's been mounted to one of Peter's sweet butter paddles

and I've added a touch of ribbon to it, too ~

I think there might still be a couple available openings for the class, 

so if you're interested in coming

please get in touch with Doreen at Ye Country Mercantile for the particulars :)

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Happy Chaos ~

…and Happy Tuesday to you

Friends & Folk!

May is a month of happy chaos for me ~

my worktable is piled with projects for magazine deadlines, class model projects and

finished goods for upcoming shows…

I am finishing up the class project model for the June 25 class at

Ye Country Mercantile

420 Main Street

Sturbridge, MA

{{click HERE for more class details & registration}}

I am SO excited to meet Doreen in person, 

and visit her loverly shop and see all of my student-friends ~

as well as re-visit my old stomping grounds again!

I grew up not far from Sturbridge {well, CT ~ but not that far for me}

and have visited the town of Sturbridge, Old Sturbridge Village, 

and the surrounding area ~ many many times...

I'll be sharing the finished class model tomorrow here on this blog ~

Valdani threads will be used for the project

along with the finished Butter Paddle that Peter makes for us…

can't wait to show you!

I've also been charting new cross stitch designs 

~ that will be flying out to my able-handed stitcher today

choosing the right threads & linens

is as much for for me as

designing them for you to stitch!

orders need shipped {thank you kindly} ~

pattern directions need to be typed

and photos need to be taken

…today.

creative-clutter on my desk

but I know where everything is 

{sure i do…}

;)

the calmness of our farm & the quietness of my sewing room

keeps me inspired and focused on the tasks at hand.

just hoping the sun will visit with us again today…

our grounds are saturated and spongey

but good for the gardens I guess.

Hoping you all have a beautiful day

doing what you love to do!!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori