~ Short & Sweet & Soggy too ~

 Just a quick

H E L L O friends & folk....

~ before I head out the door and into the rain.

much to do today, 

shipping orders, grocery shopping

and if I can fit it in ~ a trip to the salon for a {much-needed} pedicure.

Here are the few little watercolors I managed to paint yesterday,

and I will get back to my brush later this afternoon.

just

simple & folky & primsical

:)

These will be made into blank notecards and available soon ~

 'Pin Me'

 'Sampler Garden'

 &

 'Needle Pulling Thread'

Hope you like them!

 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

AND

in lieu of the impending heavy rains & strong winds

 in the forecast for tomorrow {Saturday}

our 

FARM SHOP 

will be 

CLOSED Saturday April 22nd

 sorry for any inconvenience my friends.

** please note that we do have friendly but rambunctious dogs  ~

and if the sign at the end of our driveway reads closed, the dogs will not be tied up, 

... and they will be so happy to see you ~ that they may jump on your vehicle!!

Now, we don't want that to happen ~ 

so kindly refrain from coming down our drive if our sign says shop is closed.

 

If you would like to schedule a visit to our Farm Shop on a day that we aren't usually open, 

please call us at 434-263-6508 or email me at notforgottenfarmwitch@gmail.com.

We are always happy to make time for you if you cannot come out on a regular Saturday.

 

Thanks for understanding my Friends

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ A Fine Line ~

 There is a famous quote among artists...

'Everything starts from a dot'

with the quote credited to Wassily Kandinsky, 

a Russian artist who lived from 1866 to 1944.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I hear this quote in my head every time I put pen to paper, 

thread to cloth or wool to linen.

most of the time, my thoughts are jotted down rapidly...

then translated into fine line drawing first, 

... and are finally applied to their textile medium, or watercolor paint.

I have long been a 'doodler' 

and enjoy keeping my sketchbooks filled with inspirational words 

and small quick rough drafts in pencil and ink.

you never know what will turn out from these impromptu pages,

but I've been mulling an idea in my mind for some time now

~ and I think it's time I put them together...

it's a punch needle pattern book called

The Garden of Weedin'

{yes, it is a word-play on the Garden of Eden scheme of things, 

and again, yes, intended primarily for punch needle ;) }

Like my other desktop-published books {printed/bound by me, right here at NFF}

 this one will be spiral bound so you can more easily trace your designs onto your weavers cloth

... and all pages are one-sided as well, so there isn't any confusing 'bleed-through' 

of another design coming through while you trace.

So

here is my draft cover;

Wassily Kandinsky
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/wassilykan380803.html Wassily Kandinsky

and 

here are small glimpses into the not-quite-ready pages ~

howdy

hello

 and the back cover too...

with a small excerpt of my idea for the book.

I am in the process of punching some of the designs from this book, 

so that you can better see the finished, intended & shall I say: UNIQUE use for it's patterns ~

as always, the threads I'm using will be Valdani & DMC {all 6 strands} in my favorite colors.

BUT

There are no color-placement instructions included in this book, 

as I want YOU to find your own colors to use for your own personal Garden of Weedin'...

There are 13 actual 'pattern' pages, 

with some pages having multiple patterns on them.

just lots of folky designs & 'primsical' motifs 

{my made-up word for primitive + whimsical}

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised...

at least I hope so!

Have a beautiful & creative day my sweet friends!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ on Ebay tonight ~

I don't offer them often, but when I do ~

 i like to let you know…

so here is my Ebay offering for Memorial Day 2016 

you can place your bid

HERE

if you are a lover of all things primitive, patriotic and whimsical ~

then I offer you a

5-day auction, no reserve

as always ~

best of luck biding
 and Thank you for your support! ~

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Monday Monday ~

Hello Friends & Folk!

and a very happy Monday to you ~

the sun is shining

{at the moment, at least}

but I don't trust it to stay long…it's been pretty absent for weeks now.

Hoping to get some laundry done & hung out to dry.

How many of you hang your fresh sheets on the line to dry? 

I always have & always will :)

Friday, Peter & I headed out to the Antiques Expo in Fishersville, VA

it was sunny that day too, saw some wonderful early textiles and samplers ~ 

always my inspiration for my needlework...

I'll show you my plunder in an upcoming post.

This week will be filled with finishing models for the upcoming release of our Summertime designs.

there will be a pleasant mixture of wool appliqué, punch needle and cross stitch patterns for those of you who like to mix things up a bit…and by that I mean joining punch needle & the wool appliqué with the cross stitch in the same design.

linen, cotton, wool & thread  ~
a prim-perfect combination

I'm still cross-stitching over one, as it goes fast and looks so very old to me.

… and since seeing all of the beautiful antique samplers at the show Saturday, 

I'm inspired to design more early-looking needlework patterns 

that will be incorporated with my more 'primsical' side.

Heading out to hang the wash between raindrops now ~

and hoping your day is filled with sunshine & stitches

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

~ Midweek Musings ~

… and a

 Happy Wednesday to you

~ Friends & Folk ~

More progress has been made on BeeWitched…

I've finished her dress and have moved on to the background ~

yay!

… since the 2 main motifs are so big, 

and have so many different colors & textures going on in them,

I decided to keep the background very plain… 

I chose a tone-on-tone 'black' 

{which consists of blacks, dark greens & brownish-ness}

all in the very same wool.

 and have big plans for the border though…

I will bring those colors back around for my finish!

"oh... hey Ig!"

"what's that you say…?"

Iggy is always chattering-on about something or another….

 ~}}}}}::O::{{{{{~

I've been in my sketchbooks again ~ just finished up this Lady last night…

"Witch Stitches"

 2016 ~ ©Notforgotten Farm ~ 

I love how her hair floats along with her sewing needfuls…

{{ can you see her little friend? }}

perhaps her tiny companion startled her ~ 

… or she is allowing her stitching tools to enjoy a bit of flight?

Her wizened face & gnarled hands hold many stories I'm sure.

{and I wonder what secrets that skeleton key on her waist can unlock?}

I enjoy sketching in my 'down-time'…

these penciled scratchings are the impetus for my needlework & folk art designs, 

even though these are much more detailed 

when rendered in pencil & ink, 

~ than in cotton thread or wool loops.

I like to flit between my more primitive & naive style

 to more of a 'fine-art' look…

and I usually can find my niche somewhere in there with my style

that I call

~ 'Primsical' ~ 

{{ not quite real but certainly not total imagination only }}

>>>>>>>>>O<<<<<<<<<

Hoping you can all find a little magic in your week!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

only a mother could love...or perhaps a prim lover??

auction is ending tonight, in about 1/2 an hour...

what a hoot she is!!! and she is SO excited! she just told me that she will even hoe the garden for her new keepers! WOW! I think I might keep here here!

thanks for your bids!!!

( I cannot WAIT for you to see the next doll)
...here's a hint:
What has four legs, a long tail and eats (well, plays with) mice???

watch my auction this Sunday to find out!
(of course I'll preview him here first)

 

Blessings from the Farm! Lori

What's on my Frame?

Howdy Folks!

Here's what I'm working on ~

little punched Hallo-heads...
(Halloweenie Heads)

these will be made into finished dolls for the
Ghoultide Show

I have a certain 'look' in my head of how I'll finish these,
... let's hope they'll turn out that way!

i tried to get a picture without those squiggly lines, sorry...
but you can see my progress...
I'm working on 6 at a time and will punch another dozen or two :)

this is the back of my work, of course...as you can tell by the threads & ends sticking up all over...
I love the colors I'm using, they're some of my favorites that I posted on a previous post.

here is the front of my work...still on the frame...that pumpkin on the middle-left is a faint lilac or lavender color...so old looking to me!

I LOVE their expressions! ha! they make me laugh...
especially the ones with 'shifty' eyes...they always look paranoid to me,
like someone is sneaking up on them to turn them into a delicious pie or some spiced muffins...

Hmmm...think I'll go bake someone...I mean something!

I should have these finished tomorrow, and will show you the results.

Hoping you all have a nice quiet Monday evening!!

Blessings from the Farm!

Lori