~ Chimney Soot Santa ~

He's Ready!!!

here is my little guy ~

Chimney Soot Santa

 

I love how this quick little stitch turned out!

~  SOOOOO Old looking!!!

 I added a few 'extra touches' to the finish of this little pipe-smoking Santa ~

I used my PENCIL to create the pipe-smoke {drawn directly on the linen}
then DOUBLE-STITCHED his mustache for dimension 

{meaning: I stitched it once, then stitched over it again!}
and used Wool & Metallic threads for added effect, 

plus I added size # 11 Delica seed beads for snow and berries on the twig tree ~

finally I stuffed it with our own Organic Sawdust {available in our etsy shop}

 and added the beautiful tiny rick-rack trim from Lady Dot Creates!

STITCH COUNT: 37w x 61h

DMC floss :
644 & Metallic Silver

Gentle Art Simply Shaker Sampler Threads:
7061 Caramel Corn
7034 Gingersnap
7063 Onyx

The Gentle Art Simply Wool Threads:
7025-w Shaker White
0410-w Tarnished Gold
7082-w Piney Woods

Hand dyed rick-rack {7/32”} “Bird Nest”
From Lady Dot Creates

Model stitched 2 strands of floss over 2 threads of linen

- linen used on model:
30 count Parchment from Weeks Dye Works
 

perfect small size to stitch into a small pillow or pinkeep ~

or an ornament for your tinsel tree!

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

 

click HERE for the Paper/mailed pattern

click HERE for the PDF/download pattern

OH! almost forgot ~

Working on the Yule Mule Punch Needle Pattern

and that should be ready in our Etsy shop this evening :)

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Monday Musings ~

Good Monday Morning 

~ Friends & Folk ~ 

a lovely November day is ahead for us here on the Farm...

overcast with a bit warmer temps,

still the crispy leaves & slight snappy breeze reminds us what time of the year it is ~

Don't you just love magazines and books?

{well I do!}

I pulled out a few older issues of 

Inspirations Magazine last evening...just to revisit the beautiful photos and wording.

It truly lives up to it's reputation of being the 'World's most beautiful magazine'

here is the link if you choose to subscribe to the magazine 

and/or their most-fabulous newsletter via email:

https://www.inspirationsstudios.com/

and I just received this book:

Stitch Craft by the very talented Gayla Partridge {shown below}

it contains a beautiful array of her fabulously embroidered works with such detailed photos! 

I purchased my copy from Amazon Prime.

Speaking of embroidery...

I know you have seen this one previously ~ 

but I wanted to see how it looks in this little frame...

what do you think? frame it? or make another pillow?

I'm leaning towards to frame {hint hint} lol

the title of this work by me is

"Christmas Goose"

and yes, I am planning on releasing this as a pattern for those who have asked.

although this is a bit more detailed 

than my other split stitch embroidery patterns/designs,

~ it is very easy to do still! don't be intimidated Friends!!

I will be posting pictorials here on this blog of my step-by-step directions

 on how I stitch these kinds of works...

 

simple split stitch combined with DMC floss...

details like the face are 2 strands, and the rest is stitched with 3 strands ~

here is the other project 

that I will release a pattern for along with the aforementioned:

...remember him?

this is "Hello Holly Santa"

Adding beading to these tiny works is a fun thing to do as well...

just a sprinkling here & there really makes the finish pop!

OH! and I have a trick that I will share with you 

on how I achieve the shading in these small embroideries ~

{some of you might know, as I have shared that technique with a chosen few}

but I think those who don't know will be amazed!

Look for the patterns for these to be released sometime next week in my Etsy Shop...

I will post about that on FB & IG too :)

The other day, a friend came into the Studio wanting to learn needlepoint ~

she asked if I could show her the bare-bones basic, so I did.

I grabbed some old canvas {think it is either 7 or 10}, a black sharpie, a tapestry {blunt} needle

and for the fibers I used size #3 DMC Pearl Cotton, which I doubled...

and voila! this is what came of that:

 

now I know that my colors seem to fade and blend into one another,

and by looking at a black & white photo of this project you can clearly see there is no definition 

between my stitched motifs and the background itself....

~ it's a common technique for rug hookers to do this, 

to check the values on their rugs as we hook them.

 

but since this is the first project that I have needlepointed in forever,

and since it was just for fun, and also since I will be keeping this and making it into a cuff bracelet ~

I will ALSO add beading to it's surface...another sprinkling of beads if you will.

a little beady-bling!

can you see how shiny the threads are since I didn't use wool? 

and they got even shinier when I ironed this to block it...

a happy accident by using pearl cotton to do needlepoint with!

love when things like this happen....

 

Well Friends,

I am off to process orders, paint wooden products, 

~ and work on finished goods for our Christmas Open House which will be here before we know it!

wishing you all a beautiful day filled with Inspiration and Creativity!

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Autumn Sunday Musings ~

 Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

a wonderfully crisp October Sunday it is here on the farm!

I heard geese flying overhead this morning as I was waking up...

heading south to their winter homes.

but

I like to pretend this is what was making all that racket:

I have been a huge fan of Charles Wysocki since my childhood!

For those who have been following along on the progress of my embroidered Santa brooch,

I finished it yesterday ~ the addition of the beaded edge and berries just makes me smile ~

I just have to sew the pinback on and it will be fully finished off {FFO}
finished size approx. 2-1/2" x 2-1/4"
and yes this will be a pattern with detailed instructions.
I plan on a Youtube video tutorial for this type of embroidery
when I release this and {a few others} in the coming week or so ~

Of course,

I had to begin another brooch ~ so many irons in so many fires but that is me!

so
I drew one up on my osnaburg fabric and have put in a few start-stitches...
these help me with direction and shading as I stitch
~ and will be covered by my tiny little split stitches soon.
** Click on the Santa brooch photos to enlarge them, you'll see those tiny stitches!

It is a sleepy little fox nestled in the holly leaves ~

and I cannot wait to see this one come to life!

and I know my sweet friend Nancy B. will love it too...
🦊

of course I will add some beads to this one,
holly berries of course but perhaps a sprinkling of snow for the background?

Lately I have become a bit obsessed with beads
right along with my Tribe of enablers I mean Girlfriends!
adding beads to my work opens up a whole new way of designing for me ~

and speaking of beads...

I made all of these with the help of my friends

Sharon & Becky 

who are fabulous beaders and have the patience of Job with us

while we try to learn new things! I tend to cuss alot {really? shocking!}

while I bead...it helps me concentrate {not} 

and I thank my girls for putting up with me being the sailor/trucker in the room hahaha.

On the far left is an eyeglass chain, and the rest are bracelets ~

the one on the far right I just finished yesterday

... and holy cow that thing plucked my last nerve!

but

I muddled through and I love it.

friends Anita & Janice helped me through the last stages of it, 

as Janice was just beginning hers

~ and I was finishing mine up.

I may make another like the one on your middle-left, {blue beads & jump rings}

it was the easiest one for me to make and I have the perfect beads 

that I think will work nicely for another one.

Well folks ~
 I am off to grab my punchneedle, weavers cloth and threads!
a few new Christmas/Yuletide/Winter pattern models need to be worked on today! YAY!
I'll share some peeks of them, {and my progress on little sleepy fox embroidery soon.}
Oh.
I tend to post my progress photos on my Instagram page & FB too...
the links are up there on the right hand side of this blog
if you should care to follow me there.
❤♥❤

have a beautifully creative and peaceful day my sweet friends!!

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Tuesday Morning Musings ~

 Hello Friends & Folk!

and a happy blustery October Tuesday to you all!

Definitely my kind of weather,

but then again...

I am just a little Yankee farm-witch aren't I? 

the days & nights are getting cooler 

and the leaves have finally begun to resemble the season they are in...

we are in need of rain badly here though, 

and I continue to set bowls of water out for my fur, feather and insect friends

 in need of a drink or three ~

October is my very favorite month of all!

Saturday my Tribe was here in the Studio ~

there is never a dull moment when we gather...

we stitch, bead, hook & eat,

between laughter and outrageous outbursts 

of silliness that only a tribe member can understand lol!

Anita brought along a potful of heartwarming white chicken chili and toppings,

Nancy B made us a delicious batch of carrot/cardamom soup ~

Joan made raisin custard pie, and Nancy B also made her owl cupcakes!

one thing leads to another...

because we get inspired to make so many things!

an impromptu bead class had a few of us {me included} working on a new bracelet

and digging through jars of broken and salvageable jewelry parts ~

 

the only sane tribe member, is in the very background ~ LOL Sharon!

I'm back to doing embroidery ~ 

putting aside the uncounted cross stitch for now...

and working on new patterns, techniques and designs.

this little 2" x 2-1/2" Santa is in my hoop today:

 

 

watching these come to life before my eyes...

layer upon layer of thread and tiny stitches ~

this will be a finished brooch with a beaded edge!

What are you all working on?

autumn/halloween or have you shifted to winter/christmas?

are you hooking? stitching or punching?

do tell ...

Enjoy the rest of your day,

I hope to be back here with a finish in a few days.

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori

~ Victorian Christmas Cards ~

I have always had a fascination for antique postcards ~

any holiday...but the Christmas ones are quite strange indeed.

From their morbidity, to the just plain strange!

here are a few that have made me say...

 "....Hmmmm...."

I mean, 

creepy walking root-vegetable men?

or how about a kidnapping santa?

this one cracks me up - just look at their little legs!

 

a little too much eggnog perhaps?

 

and doesn't a cat-fight outside a tenement window just scream Happy Christmastide?

or would you prefer a gang of torch-carrying birds to lighten your way?

 

I especially adore the Krampus character, being that I love Halloween so very much ~

 he scared the H E double-hockey-sticks outta me as a child though!

this one stumps me:

 

ever heard of the Yule Goat?

or perhaps sled-riding, well dressed chickens?

 

but

I do prefer the plain old, 

creepy guy that we have all come to love the best though

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Friday Morning Musings ~

 Hello Friends & Folk ~

and...

it's Friday again! 

I wanted to let you all know that our Farm Shop & Studio will be 

C L O S E D 

tomorrow, Saturday October 6th ~ 

while we are working on finishing the Studio :)

{our Etsy Shop is always open!}

if you follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook,

you'll see that I have been flitting around from one type of needlework project to the next...

but ~

- it's still too hot for me to hook or work with wool -

- my hands bother me too much to punch at the moment -

- and my eyes aren't quite ready for counted cross stitching again...

so embroidery it is!

{but you already knew that, didn't you?}

 

my Belsnickle is coming along, 

with only a few more holly leaves to work in split and satin stitches...

 

then it will be on to the berries...

should they be traditional red? or white? or both?

or perhaps I should stitch them like tiny peppermint candies 

and call this body of work Peppermint Pig! 

{Hmmmmmmmm....I like that!}

the large blank area to the left of said pig and belsnickle

is where I might add some lettering...or not.

any suggestions?

 

our Nandina berry bushes are full of berries this year...

and I love their red and green leaves before turning blazing red in the winter ~

 

Please don't forget that we are CLOSED tomorrow ~ 

you wouldn't want to run into me when I am in my work clothes

 and swinging a hammer or covered in taping compound!

Blessings from the Farm 

~ Lori