~*I'm Still Here*~

Hello Dear Friends! Yes, I'm still here... just have continued to be busy. That is just the norm now ~ must be. I have pictures ~ gobs of 'em ~ adding up on my camera that I desperately need to get transferred to the computer. There are pictures of the birthday bash from a few weeks ago, lots of crafty things, and lots of trash~to~treasure pieces that I've been working on. I want to share them all with you. Once I can find a few minutes, I promise to get caught up! I really do!

I need to apologize to Judy. She sent me a photo of her finished, first needle punch project almost a week ago... and I'm just know getting a chance to share it. Judy, I'm sorry to take so long with the posting. You have really done a marvelous job! The fact that you are a fine quilter shows in your craftsmanship. WOW! Perfecto perfection! :) Judy used the freebie doodle ~*Boo Jack*~.



Thank you, Judy, for working with the doodle & sharing!

Please keep an eye out... more posts to be written, photos uploaded, and sharing in the near future!

Wishing you many warm smiles...

Betty

~*Sharing Some Stitchin's*~

Hello Dear Friends! I've got several goodies I wanna share with you today... all crafy too!

My dear friend Lori has been punchin' a huge flock (or would that be herd?) of sheep!



She does a show each Fall where she offers the most spectacular hand~dids. I sure wish I lived closer to Michigan so I could see 'em in person... and buy! Lori used my ~*Symple ~ Herb Filled Sheep Ornie*~ pattern to make these. Aren't they just darling? She used match sticks that she painted black for the legs, hand stitched the backs, and then added a hanger to each. I just LOVE how she used different floss to add yet more variety. Awesome! She is gonna sell out fast ~ isn't she?

This darling, Halloween pillow was stitched up by Kathy (no blog or online album). Kathy has done a great job with her stitching and her display. What a great lil' Halloween treat indeed! The pattern for this ditty is one of my freebies... ~*Boo Jack*~ Cross Stitch Chart. I also offered this as a freebie doodle to use for needle punch, rug hooking, or whatever your desired medium.



This next ditty was stitched up by Susan (no blog or online album). Susan will be offering her delightful wares at Lori Brechlin's... aka Notforgotten Farm upcoming gathering. (The gathering will be held at Lori's shop on September 19th. To get more information for the gathering ~ click here.) Susan stitched up this pillow with inspiration from my ~*School Girl Pocket*~ pattern. She stitched on orange prairie cloth, filled it with rags (clean I'm sure!), and added a lil' decoration of a bow with black & white beads. This has become a great display piece for Autumn. Wonderful, Susan!

~*~*~*~ I'm editing to add... I just found out that Susan has an Etsy Shoppe that she will be offering her fine ditties on soon. She said after Lori's show, she will be adding goodies up for offering. You might want to mark her shoppe as a favorite & plan to visit soon. Her shoppe is called Olde Threads. Great name huh? :) ~*~*~*~



You can see my pattern offerings at my Etsy Shoppe if you are interested. Also, remember my freebies are all in one spot too... just click here.

What have I been craftin' on you might ask? Well, I have more naked dollies...



I probably should get away from the computer now & get them dressed!

Warm smiles to you all...

Betty

~*Helping Others*~

Hello Dear Friends! It is with great joy that I tell you about my morning.

I'm sure you have heard, 'helping others is a great way to help ourselves.' The other day, Trinity had a dentist appointment. While I was waiting for him to have his teeth cleaned, I noticed a sign~up for a quilt raffle, several quilts actually. Next to the raffle was information about an ALS walk. The quilts that was being donated were beautiful, but I was more interested in the walk. My first thought was, "I've been walking a lot lately, It would be fun, maybe, to walk with a big bunch of people for a good cause." I didn't have any idea what ALS was and haven't ever walked in a group event such as this. After reading the paperwork about the walk, I learned ALS is more commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease" and that there is a sweet woman in our community, Kellie Johnson, that is currently suffering from this illness. After reading the materials, Trinity came out of the office with clean teeth and no cavities ~ time to go, but I held on to the registration information for the walk.

A few weeks passed and the date for the walk was approaching. I noticed the registration on the coffee table (one of my many catch-all spots) and I thought to myself, "I really should think more about walking, but don't want to go all alone." The friends and family members that I talked to about it were all busy or just unable to walk.

Last night, I decided I would walk ~ I would have the courage to go alone and walk for a good cause. I will donate some money and buy some raffle tickets too.



I am so thrilled that I went! There were probably 100 kind souls there ~ mostly set up as fund raising 'teams', but all were smiling and cheerful. The host of the walk, Dr. Ace, was the dentist that shares the office with our family dentist. After the walk, he noticed that I was there alone & came up to greet me. He asked if I had a connection with ALS. Well, I didn't other than I share the same community with these folks who were walking to support Ms. Johnson and friends/family that have had the disease. He told me that today's walk and quilt raffle raised over $31,000 for the local ALS chapter. They exceeded last year's walk & had a fabulous turn out. I left with a warm heart & a wonderful feeling. While I was scared to go alone & not really sure what I was doing... in the end, I did a small part to help someone else. That is a GREAT feeling!

For more information about ALS ~ click here

I'm not sure who won the quilts, but those folks will surely love them. I tried to snap a picture of the board showing the information ~



I've walked 3 miles today, my house is clean enough... tonight I'm crafting on something. I've got to figure out what, but then I'll be lost in craftin' concentration! I've got a few finishes from others to share with you & hope to update my blog again in the morning. So keep an eye open!

Warm smiles to you all...

Betty

~*Happy Birthday Mom*~

Hello Dear Friends! Please join me in wishing my Mom a Very Happy Birthday! Today is her day! This photo was taken of her last weekend at the family birthday celebration. Isn't she a pretty?



She has been filling her spare time embroidering lately. Well, what little spare time she has. She and my stepDad own and operate a dog grooming business together. (They hope to officially retire in a couple more years.) So on top of washing & beautifying a menagerie of dogs during the days and taking care of their beautiful home and gardens when they aren't at work... she doesn't have a lot of free time. She has, however, done many hand crafts over the years takes great pride in her craftsmanship. I have to thank her for planting that seed in me... among other great things she has done with me and for me over the years.

Because my Mom is so VERY proud of her gardens and extremely beautifully landscaped yard... I thought of her immediately when I saw this Stacy Nash pattern called Garden Gate Sewing Book & Pinkeep. I thought it fit my Mom perfectly... something to remind her of her gardens, a place to hold her embroidery needles, and something that looked old to mix with the antiques that fill her home.

I did simplify the pattern (because I was working on a deadline that was fast approaching) and change the colors to what I thought blended with my Mom's color scheme. But here is my version...



I stitched on a piece of Zweigart, 28 count Sand Quaker linen that I've hand dyed with my walnut mix. The floss used was all Weeks Dye Works hand dyed fibers ~ shades of Charcoal, Chestnut, Ivy, Brick, and Dolphin.

I made this open more like a pocket than a book. It simply lifts up... with a pocket for scissors and floss on the bottom, and a scrap piece of wool on the top for needles.



I'll be seeing her this afternoon so I can give it to her... along with a batch of Banana Nut Muffins I made last night. Hopefully she will be pleased with both gifts. :)

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

Wishing you all a day full of smiles...
Betty

~*It Is Monday... already?*~

Hello Dear Friends! It is shocking to me that it is already Monday! Where did the weekend go? We were having so much fun! Saturday was the monthly hooking at Judy Cripps' place. (It was GREAT... as usual. :) Lots more showed up to hook this month than did last month. My sweet SIL, Robin, was able to make it this time, and so were Sher and JoJo. It is always nice to see such happy hookers spending the day together!) Then yesterday was our big, family birthday bash. (We had over 30 here for food, fun, and go karting. It was a wonderful time! I'll share more about this later.) PLUS, this weekend was an online stitching retreat for one of the online, cross stitch groups I'm lucky to be a part of AND an anniversary party for another online group. (I didn't get to spend much time socializing with them because of all the other happenings of the weekend... but aren't our online friends just AWESOME?!)

I did receive an email this weekend sharing this darling ditty... :) ...



This awesome ditty was hooked by Rebecca. The pattern is the freebie ~*Halloween Cat*~. It is GREAT too! I just love the variegated wool used for the kitty body. Makes me think of my own lil' Sarah kitty. (she is black, gray, and kinda tort-like) Rebecca offers many of her fine wares for sale on Ebay with the seller id Goodwool. She is also a member of The Primitive Rug Hookers group (on Ebay). Have you searched the groups goodies lately? Click HERE or do a search with the letter PRHG to see 'em all. It is a fun search to do!

Well, I must get back to stitching. My Momma's birthday is Friday and I only have her present about half stitched. I'll show you all when I'm finished so you can see.

Wishing you all warm smiles,

Betty

~*Sharing More Fabulous Finishes*~

Hello Dear Friends! Thank you to all of you for the kind comments about my latest patterns. There are more in the works & I'm doing my best to stay focused. School started yesterday. Trinity is loving 2nd grade!

The monthly hook~in is tomorrow morning at Judy Cripps' & I really should be getting something together to take... I have no idea yet what it will be even... but I've gotten several emails of FABULOUS finishes that I wanna share with you first... ENJOY ~

This one is gonna win a Blue Ribbon ~ I'm sure of it! My good friend, Kathy, punched up the freebie doodle ~*Falling Leaves*~ and has plans to enter it in the Fair next month. Aren't the leaves and background... well the whole thing really!... just AMAZING?! Stunning, truly stunning!



I've got a few ~*Wicked*~ finishes to share! :)

These lil' pillows were stitched up by Cindy & she has them offered in her Etsy Shoppe! (along with a few other familiar sweets too) These lil' pillows do look so darling in her display, don't they? Cindy has suggested they would make great Halloween Hostess gifts & I totally agree! Very cool!



This one is from Dora... no blog yet she says. Dora pre-stained Osnaburg fabric with coffee. She pre-stained it because she used some overdyed threads (Weeks: Bright Leaf, Sweet Potato, Swamp Water, Gentle Art: Simply Shaker Grape Arbor and DMC 310). That is a really good idea! (Overdyed threads are great, but they can bleed if they get wet. It would be terrible to put in all that work & then have the fibers stain where you don't want them too.) Amazing work!



And this one if from Jen & is so simply, perfectly prim! Her words "All antiqued and wrinkled..." Just perfect!



I just LOVE all these finishes! Don't you?! Thank you Ladies for working with the doodles & charts... and for sharing! You have all made super works!

Time to gather up my stuff for the hook~in. Other than linen & wool... I'm still not sure what to take. Hummm.... guess I'll report back on that later!

Warm smiles to you all...
Betty

~*NEW Pattern Offerings!*~

Hello My Dear Friends! As promised... and without further delay... NEW cross stitch patterns are NOW available!

~*1857 Fall Sampler*~


~*Live Simply Faith*~ Pinkeep


~*Hallow Eve*~ Pinkeep


These are now loaded for offering in my Etsy Shoppe if you are interested in purchasing. ~OR~ you are free to email me directly or inquire at your local needlework shop.

They were all GREAT fun to stitch! I think each of them have a nice 'antique' quality to them.

I've already begun to think of new designs & am excited about keeping busy with craftin' now that the summer vacation is coming to an end. Trinity starts back to school on Thursday! WOW!

Warm smiles to you all...
Betty

~*Sharing More!*~

Hello Dear Friends! I've got more to share with you ~ more fabulous finishes that is!

This one is from Sam & such a unique finish too! Sam used the freebie ~*Black Cat & Jack*~. Isn't it interesting how she added her needlepunch to the lil' dust pan? It really is so neat to see all the different finishes of the freebies & this is no exception! Thank you, Sam, for punching & sharing!


These are not from a freebie pattern... but I wanted to share them anyway. My good friend, Sharon (who is just starting a blog & I'M SURE will keep it amusing with her witty sense of humor!) just punched up these dollies last week. This pattern is called ~* Punkin and Holly *~ and can be purchased directly from me for $10 if you are interested. (pattern has instructions for both dollies) Sharon does quality works always & has finished these lil' ones so sweetly!


Thank you, Sharon, for working with my patterns & sharing your finishes!

My NEXT post will be to announce my latest cross stitch finishes! I've got to take pictures & work up the covers... then they will be available. :)

Until then, warm smiles to you all...
Betty

~*More Fabulous Finishes!*~

Hello Dear Friends! Goodness, I feel like I'm behind on posting! It has been yet another busy weekend... seems that is the norm now days! (Have I said that before? probably!!!) There were several emails of fabulous finishes come to my inbox over the past few days ~ that I'm tickled to share with you. Take a look!

Karen has been craftin' up a storm! She has finished BOTH ~*Wicked*~ and ~*Halloween Cat*~! I love how she added the lil' extras on ~*Wicked*~... with the lace, buttons, and rusty pin. So sweet!





Karen is now offering her wares on Ebay. Both these pieces are for sale currently. Her Ebay id is krf89.

This one isn't a freebie, but I wanted to share with you just the same. This was stitched up by Ann. (no blog/album) She has stitched up my ~*Hope*~ pinkeep pattern and attached a linen string for hanging. I just love how sweetly, prim it is.



This one comes from Bill in Toulouse, Southwestern France. It was stitched as a gift for a friend using part of the ~*Spring Freebie*~. If finished so pretty & I'm sure is a treasured gift indeed!



It is so much fun & gives me such joy to see finishes from my charts & doodles! Thank you to all of you for stitching and sharing!

Wishing you all the warmest of smiles,
Betty