Supper from the Garden

Finally got a good little crop of carrots from our garden. They've given us a bit of trouble in the past.
Supper was scrumptious last night!

Pine Tree make-do and Blue Bird Pin Keep

Standing 9 1/2 inches tall, this ole blue bird pin keep is made from painted and grunged muslin. He's firmly stuffed and attached to an old, antique textile bobbin. I've added rusty jingle bells and safety pins, a blank, stained hang-tag and a strip of cheesecloth for his scarf.
The Make-do Christmas Tree stands on an old branch we cut down from our yard. I've drilled a
hole to secure the tree and wrapped in moss, pip berries and preserved greenery. The tree is made from muslin, painted green, grunged and stained. It stands about 16 inches tall (including the greenery.)

(Credit for the crow pattern goes to Kentucky Primitives.)

Price: $48.00

Primitive Needle Felt Pear Cubby Tuck

Here's my newest creation using that trecherous felting needle. I'm new at it, so I haven't yet jabbed myself...still very careful with this tool.

I created it on a whim, just to see what I could do with my needle and wool.

This is a 4 inch tall x 2 inch wide pear I made from fabric, stuffed and completely covered in needle felted wool. Even the stem is felted.

Measuring 3 1/2" tall x 4 1/2 " long, I stained this old, leather baby shoe to enhance the signs of wear. I've packed it full of stuffing and made it into a pin keep. The fabric is an off-white background with a floral print in mustard and green. It's securely hand-stitched to the shoe using strong button thread. You can use it as a pin keep or display it along with your favorite antiques, as the display shoes.

$24.00

More of Gramma's Hip Huggers

I was outside working in the yard all day enjoying what few nice days we have left. I started out mowing the back yard and a bit of trimming with the weed eater. I'm getting itchy to start burning leaves, but after starting a small patch, decided I would really be embarrassed if I caught the neighbors corn on fire, so I hurry and stomped it out. It was such a beautiful day, I had to keep looking for more excuses to stay out and play. I decided to throw a coat of paint on the ole wicker furniture and clean up the deck a little. Hoping it's nice again tomorrow, I plan to touch up a few other faded deck chairs and finish getting the summer toys packed away til next spring. I worked til the sun went down plus another 30 minutes to finish painting by porch light and decided to come in and crash at the computer for awhile. Look what I came across. Up above, is Papa with our youngest hip hugger. Look at those beautiful brown eyes looking right at ya! I love going through old pictures of our grand-babies. They change so much from month to month.

I came across one of my favorites and realize I hadn't printed this one out yet. He's going in a frame tonight. This was taken on the day Papa and I took him to the merry-go-round thinking he'd love it, of course. Well, he let us know otherwise and screamed through the entire ride, clinging for dear life to Papa's neck. After he'd calmed down and he was sure we were far enough away from the noisy beast, we found a big, grassy hill that was better suited for him. He bravely rolled down the big hill, giggling all the way down. He was so proud of himself.

Look at that corn

I can't believe it's Halloween season already. I've been working on a few fall prims and watching the corn turn. I wish it could stay this green all winter long.
While trying to get a picture of my witch hanging on the door, I caught that beautiful background of corn.

OOAK Spellbound Cat in the Hat available on ebay

Here's my latest creation that I've listed on my ebay auction.
Measuring 14 inches tall, this auction is for a OOAK, witches cat, turned into a hat, designed and created by me. Looks like he got too close to the witches brew and found himself in a little predicament.

Join me for coffee?

Good morning! Anyone for coffee?

FINALLY, it's warm enough to start my mornings waking up by sitting on the back deck. The fields are getting planted and I will soon have that beautiful forest of corn in my back yard. It makes a beautiful privacy fence.
About 6 years ago, this was my dad's 80 acre field. He's retired now, but every time I step out the back door, I remember Bean walking, harvesting, planting season and mom bringing lunch out to us.

I got my little American Black Doll finished!

I finally got her finished and listed her on ebay Sunday.
She's a 27 inch tall Patriotic beauty holding her black baby doll and Uncle Sam cane.

I came across this pattern by Peddler Hill Primitives, and instantly fell in love with her.

All cooped up

Uh oh, we're starting to get nicer weather here. I'm getting antsy to get outdoors to play in the dirt, and these guys are, too.
These little chicks are still cooped up in the garage. Hubby made their chicken house inside the garage and it's just about nice enough outside to move it to it's permanent location in the backyard. I want it to be next to the grand-kids' playground so they're easy to watch from the deck. So cute!

I'll have to hurry and finish up the dolls I've started so I don't abandon them when that sun starts shining.
This gal should be done today. I think I'll list her on LPS to see if she can find a new home.

Early Folk Art Primitives listed today.

I finished a couple things this morning and added them to my web site.
The large Primitive Pin Keep is a OOAK Original, signed and dated by me. I love making these. I think I'm seriously addicted. Each one is unique. I love how this one turned out. It's very handy for
practical use!
I have a whole bolt of this 1850's Reproduction Blue fabric that I've been waiting for the right thing to use it on. I knew it was pin-keep fabric as soon as I got it.

Early Americana Pin Keep and Thimble Keep ~ 5 1/2 inch tall

Distressed pine wood Display Ladder painted Dark Blue ~ 36 inch tall

I accept RME payments.

I am a registered RME user and thrilled to now accept RME payments on my selling sites.
If you haven't heard of it, there's a new alternative to Paypal. It's a company called "Revolution Money Exchange" (RME).
It's free to register, free to accept and send payments online ... works a lot like Paypal only it's free.
Follow the "SIGN UP NOW" link and you will see my email in the message. Enter your email address and hit "Enter" to get started.


It takes about 5 minutes from the time you hit the link button to get yourself registered as a new RME customer.
They require the same information that any bank does, so you'll need to register your name, address, email and social security number correctly for the registration to clear.

Kickin' up some sawdust

I've been talking to myself about dusting the cobwebs off my woodworking equipment for months since I've reacquainted myself with a new website and ebay.Woodworking was one of my favorite pastimes for so many years. My daughter surprised me when she called to tell me that she wanted to learn woodworking, so I jumped on the chance to have her working with me!I searched my memory banks for some of the simpler things I made years ago and we came up with ladders, a wall shelf and bread boards. We made 2 ladders, so you'll have to go check it out on my ebay auction. It's one of my favorite pieces from years ago.We had so much fun making stuff. Hubby (Jerry) was on his half of the garage with the grandkids, working on his new chicken coop and we were on 'my' half working on furniture. I'll have to take pictures of his chicken coop and baby chickens to share. He bought some baby chicks on his way home from work on a whim last month. So we had to pick on him for putting the chickens before the coop.

Muddy Puppy Feet & Springs' First Robin

Spring is in the air here in Iowa. I have fresh trails of muddy puppy feet in the kitchen and hubby saw the first Robin yesterday! Those are sure signs that SPRING is returning from her LONG Wynter nap.

Poor garden... it's so drab and scraggly now. I've been watching the snow drifts stubbornly melt from my backyard garden through my kitchen window for a month. IT'S FREE AGAIN. Now we need a couple bright, sunny days with a good wind to dry it out. I walked through it today only to find out it's still too soggy to play in. I did walk through to take some pictures to start mapping out my plans for the year, though. Do you see that little patch of green on the upper left corner? It's alive!

I can't wait to see the green vines begin to stretch out again. My favorite barrels are waiting for new growth. This large one is always filled with a green sweet potato vine. It will spread into the tree and drape down across the ground in a couple months. Of course, my Castor Beans will soon tower over the area. They are my imaginary Palm Trees.
My little barrel will be filled with a red potato vine, with a "Palm Tree" towering in the background.
My medium barrel gets to be moved this year. Too much shade produced a weak and scraggly vine last year. As long as she doesn't fall apart, she'll be dragged over in front of the huge hollow trunk I sat in the back of the garden.
That's the back of my Garden Angel. She stands over 6 feet tall and her wingspan is about 5 feet wide. She holds my purple whatchamacallit vine.

I have a couple dolls to finish up today and some fabric orders to ship, then I'm off to the post office ---- then off to my rose garden to look for signs of life.

Stealing Space

I used to have an old trailor that I used for my crafting adiction. All my crafting fun was contained in one place. I used the front half for wood working and lumber storage, the back half for sewing, painting, inventory, supplies and office space. Hubby built a huge deck off the front so I could paint outside during the summer. I was so content out there in my beat up ole trailor.

After a dozen years of selling through craft shows and out of my home, I got completely burnt out. I couldn't get motivated to save my life! So, I went to work for someone else for a change. That lasted about 6 years before I got the itch to pick up a needle again.

I'm back home working for myself again and couldn't be happier. The old work shop is doomed for demolition this summer so I've taken over several rooms in the house. It's certainly not as convenient as the trailor. I have to keep things a lot more tidy so I spend a lot more time cleaning house than I had to before. Crafting is a messy job! With carpet in every room, I'm forced to use the kitchen as my staining and painting room. I have a lots of counter space, so I can't resist using this as my cutting and sewing room, too. I've taken over an upstairs bedroom for finished inventory. The front room used to be a 'Living Room', but is now an office/supply room.

I need to either build a house to live in or build a shop to work out of.

Another New Month

February! I'm not finished with January yet. I'm glad to see this cold Iowa winter month pass so quickly, but whew, it slid by fast. I can't flip my calendar til I get a couple things crossed off my January list.
Yesterday was the launch of a new primitive shop that I joined. Lemon Poppy Seeds I'm excited to be a part of such a wonderful group of talented, primitive artists. You must stop in for a tour. You will find some very familiar names associated with the extreme primitive artist community.

Gramma's Little Hip Huggers

What joy our beautiful grand-babies bring to our lives. We are so lucky to have them all close by so we can go snatch them up whenever 'Pappa' and I get the urge.

I just spent the last 7 weeks with two of our little ones (Ava & Corbin) as their daycare mom was on maternity leave. With today being the second day I'm waking up without them, I'm missing those morning snuggles.

My, how Ava's changed in 7 weeks. She's gone from crawling - to running, from no teeth, to 4 teeth, from sweet & mellow to sweet & sassy. We celebrated her first birthday while she was here and it's hard to believe a whole year has passed since she's been born.

In those 7 weeks, we gained a new one, too. Austin and his 1 1/2 year old sister spent Saturday with us while their mom and dad worked. Precious! Lily makes sure her new baby brother has all the attention he can handle. She gives him little love pats and hugs constantly and announces his every squeek and wiggle with concern.

Madisen is our oldest and is our little princess. She loves sewing and crafting with me. She taught me how to crochet last year - can you believe that! She loves creating things...just like gramma. To my surprise, she even likes making the primitive dolls with me and has never even wrinkled her nose at them (like her Pappa does).